Scallops Friday

Last Friday became the day that I first tried to cook scallops. For a little guidance, I based my method loosely on a recipe from my favourite cookbook of the moment, Jamie's Kitchen, a 2002 release from the TV chef. The recipe that I chose bases the scallops around pancetta and thyme and it was really yummy. Since I had a bunch of Thyme for the scallops, I decided to make a side of fondant potatoes. I served these with steamed greens and crème fresh, and finished the whole thing with a pan sauce from the scallops and pancetta. A real Friday treat.

Leftover Roast Lamb Recipe # 1

I like to get a bit of an idea in my mind of which leftover lamb recipes I that I want to make before I buy the joint of meat. I'll usually base my meal plan and shopping lists for the week on these lamb leftovers if I am roasting a large joint, or I will portion and freeze the meat if I am in the mood for some different things.

The great thing about leftover roasted meat is that the meat, as well as being beautifully cooked, will still contain the extra flavour enhancements from any rubs or seasoning. I like at least one of my leftover meals to be a little bit spicy and the following is one of my most commonly used combinations and a great way to vamp up dull looking leftovers. The below ingredients list is a list of what I used for the last spiced lamb that I made and it is very versatile. I also add any fresh greens or fresh tomatoes that I have to add a bit more colour.

Ingredients

• 250g cooked leftover lamb
• 50g chorizo
• 1 400g tin of good quality chopped or plum tomatoes
• 200g frozen spinach
• 100g mushrooms
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1 fresh red chili
• 2 shallots
• 2 tablespoons tomato puree
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon hot chili powder
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Step one -

I like to create a spicy base to the dish by cooking the shallots and chili in the olive oil in a large sauce pan until soft, and then adding the garlic, chili powder, paprika, cinnamon and half of the tomato puree to the mixture to make a tasty paste. I cook this paste on a low-medium for about 5 minutes to help draw out the flavours from the spices.

Step two -

I then add the lamb and chorizo and cook for a further few minutes, ensuring that I have completely coated the meat in the spicy paste.

Leftover Lamb and Chorizo

Step three -

Once I feel like the lamb has taken in much of the new flavours, I will add the tin of chopped tomatoes, the second half of the puree and frozen spinach, and increase the heat to high. Season with freshly ground black pepper and sea salt to taste.

Step four -

I love serving with spaghetti!

Once this has heated through thoroughly I turn it down to low, add the mushrooms and any fresh greens and then simmer gently for 1 hour. I check the mixture every 15 minutes and add a dash of water if necessary.

And Serve!

My favourite accompaniment to this dish is spaghetti. I have also served it with basmati rice or roasted potatoes.

Happy cooking and/or eating!

For the Love of Lamb!

As a typical Welsh, I love lamb! It is the meat that I will always go for and plan recipes around, and I could eat it all day long. I like to roast a large joint (a leg or a shoulder) and then portion the leftovers to make lamb based meals throughout the following week. My plan is to write a few lines about my love of a lamb roast and then follow this post with some specific recipes leftover lamb recipes and thrifty tips.

Rosemary and Anchovy Rub

Pre-oven lamb shoulder

I could roast a joint of lamb with nothing but salt and pepper and be a happy lady, but I have learnt a few great ingredient combinations to make different tasty rubs for the meat.

Lamb, Gravy and Sides

My favourite rub for a piece of lamb is a classic Italian combination of Rosemary, garlic, anchovy and lemon. I love the effect of the fresh lemon on the rich meat and how the anchovy escapes from being fishy and adds a wonderful depth of savoury flavour. I always add an abundance of pepper to most of my food, with the exception of cereal, and so another of my favourite rubs is a peppercorn and garlic combination. For a rich sweetness and fruity depth of flavour I also love to coat a lamb joint with red current jelly, or pomegranate molasses for an extra special treat.


I like my lamb cooked pretty pink and I am always mindful of effective cooking times and temperatures for different joints of lamb. I love to create different flavour gravies, usually depending on what I have in the cupboard at the time. I am not the biggest fan of mint (yes, the classic lamb sidekick) and instead I always have a jar of red current jelly in the fridge to add a tablespoon to the rich sauce.

Lamb tastes great, and my love for the meat has given me the opportunity to adapt old and create new recipes to enjoy my favourite food in endless flavour combinations. I am really excited to share some of the things that I have done with it!

Thoughts on Spices

Nutley's Spice Jars

I have always been a little bit intimated by spices, and I didn't know much about them aside from a handful of recipes that I knew with very common spices. I am happy to now have the space to store more things, but I still did not want to buy all of the herbs and spices that I could find straight away. The main reason for this was that I knew that spices became less pungent over time, but also I did not want to become intimated by too many spices that I did not know how to cook with. So when I started building up a collection, I decided to buy my spices as and when I needed them.

Seedy

I like to get my spices from a world food shop (or the world food aisle in Sainsbury's), as they are much cheaper and have better variety. I made the mistake of buying a couple the small jars of spices from the spices and herbs section of my supermarket, but these are much more expensive than the bags of spices and in my opinion you are mainly just paying for the jar and brand. I purchased a set of 12 Nutley's 156ml spice jars from Amazon and a full pack of vinyl herb and spice labels, so that I could buy and store the cheaper bags of spices.

The spices in my kitchen that have been continuously used up and repurchased are black peppercorns, salt, chili powder, paprika and cinnamon. Then there are other spices, that maybe because of my taste, have been far more neglected and used only 2-3 time, such as cloves and fennel seeds. I think that decanting the spices into the same jars is a good way of realising which spices are used more and less.

I have become a massive spice geek and wanted to talk about them before I went on to any recipes, but I am still a bit of a novice and would love any advice on getting the best quality and spice.

Happy cooking xx

My Own Kitchen

I have always cooked, and since my first experience of food creation, watching my mother create a gravy from meat juices and advising me to stir in a figure of eight, I have wanted to be able to cook everything. My development in this venture was a slow one, growing up as a fussy child with an assistance that scrambled eggs were best cooked in the microwave without any seasoning. But as time has passed Julia Child has fixed my egg mistakes and I have learnt to love all food.

Spice collection

I spent my university years hating convenience foods and the idea that all students lived on eggy bread (as delicious as it is), and spent way too much studying time making home-cooked meals with my favourite housemate. But as fun as this always was, a house-share with five other girls did not allow much kitchen storage space and was not helpful in allowing me to develop a proper spice collection or larder, preventing me from becoming the super university master chef that was my destiny. I think that anyone reading this who is currently or has previously lived in a house share will understand how difficult it is to spend a long period of dinner time taking up too much worktop and cooker space on a daily basis, without annoying everyone.

Tiny larder

So now we get to the origins of the blog title and my little Scunthorpe kitchen. I am not from Scunthorpe and I moved to the town in August from South Wales, to move in with my boyfriend and to begin an exciting new job. I knew that I wanted to cook a lot as soon as I moved into my very own kitchen, but I could not have predicted the cooking frenzy that I was soon to fall into. My kitchen has abundant space that I had never had before and my storage dreams have come true. The town has a wonderful food market and an array of butchers and world food shops and I have loved exploring and getting inspired.

So as an alternative to bombarding my family and friends with constant food pictures and food talk, I have decided to document the development of my cooking and create this online diary of my favourite hobby. My first job will be to catch up and post all of my favourite meals that I have cooked over the last five months!