Salmon sandwiches, Sunday tea, 12th February 2012

Tonight we enjoyed salmon sandwiches made with freshly baked white bread, together with a few tomatoes and some hand cooked 'Real' sea salt crisps cooked in sunflower oil (that's what it says on the bag anyway). Plus a glass (or two) of chilled Spanish Cava. Delicious. If you closed your eyes it would take you back to those lovely sunny summer afternoons. Its known as a Mum's speciality sandwich, only she can make them as good as this.

Wim-Wams, Saturday night 11th February 2012

Today was our chefs day off, and so it was down to me to cook something special as a way of thanks for all the really top class meals she prepares for me and our family. The meal has now been given the name of 'Wim-Wams' because throughout the day I was forever being asked what I was making for tea. Now I happen to know that when our chef was a young girl she used to forever ask her mother(Peg) what she was cooking for tea. Peg would invariably reply, "wim-wams". I think this used to satisfy the young Christine who would run off happily to play, hop-skip-and-jump until her tea was ready.
The meal of Wim-Wams consisted of, large prawns, mussels, small tomatoes, bean sprouts fried quickly in a wok in a rich sauce of ginger, garlic, & 5 chinese spices (yes, from Tesco's). Plus a diet buster of freshly baked garlic bread, all washed down with a Spanish wine from La Mancha.
So what did this gourmet meal score?.....8.5/10.   Not bad. May have scored higher if I'd supplied serviettes, and a better candle!

Shall it be Salmon or Gammon? 10th February 2012

Our Chef, Christine tonight presented me with a choice between pan seared fillet of salmon with couscous, with fresh Lincolnshire cabbage & carrots, or pan seared gammon with veg & potatoes. Despite both platters looking extremely tasty I chose the meat dish as I don't care for couscous (especially if its Ainsley Harriet's, which this wasn't)
Both dishes scored 9/10, but the chef was heard to comment that the Salmon from Lidl was much better than Tesco's, and none of this was as good salmon she could buy in Spain.

Fish Cakes & a long forgotten sweet for afters, 8th February 2012

Yes, fresh home made fish cakes and Angel Delight, what could be better on a dark, miserable winter's night.
Fresh cod cheeks, mashed potato, mixed herbs all rolled together in home made bread crumbs and then fried in Cholesterol free rice bran oil. Served on a plate with a slice of freshly baked homemade bread, and not forgetting a healthy measure of Heinz tomato sauce. I almost forgot to include a serving of local steamed broccoli, for the health freaks!
And to round off a lovely meal, who can forget those Sunday teas of 30 years ago, when we had a dish of cold Angel Delight. Tonight's meal with a difference scored 9/10.  Ah, nostalgia!!

Healthy Lo-Cal., Rolled Chicken Breast, 7th February 2012

Our chef, Christine presented this low calorie main meal which had been adapted from a Gino D'Acampo recipe. (I know there are some chips on the plate, but that it's what the diner's asked for!).
Two chicken breasts were beaten to an inch of their lives with a rolling pin and were rolled around a mixture of fresh carrot, mushrooms,a seedless beef tomato, red pepper, garlic, & rosemary which had all been been ground together. Each breast was wrapped in baking paper in the shape of a cracker & then placed into a pre-heated oven for 30 minutes at 200oC.
After cooking, the Rolled chicken breast was sliced into sections and served with home cooked chips.
Considering that the roll was only 125 calories it was very tasty.  After consultation, our chef and a diner agreed a score of 7/10. The dish would actually have been much better with less roll and an assortment of vegetables.  This dish is a well worth repeating 

Healthy Breakfast ? 6th February 2012

On this cold winters morning with snow & freezing fog the choice of breakfast was difficult. Should it be a 'Full English' or a healthy 4 weetabix with banana and semi skimmed milk? I like to keep healthy so the choice was easy; there wasn't any bacon in the cupboard, so it had to be cereal.
This modest breakfast 'snap' gained a mark of 7/10, but more marks could have been gained if I had served the meal on a bed of Grapenuts. Remember them? Delicious.

Antique Spaghetti, 1st February 2012

On this night our chef came up with a surprise meal from the past. Yes it was Spaghetti Bolognaise and was created from a secret recipe known only to our chef and Heinz 57. It turned out to be a perfect replica of the meals gone by and was very much enjoyed by all the family in those olden days. Today's meal gained a mark of 8/10, and would have scored higher if we had been allowed (good health reasons) to have grated cheddar cheese on the top. Well done chef.