A sudden passion for steamed cabbage

I appear to  have developed a passion for steamed cabbage of late. In the latter part of last week I made a big chicken casserole with lots of nice fresh veg and garlic and added some shredded steamed cabbage and today I made a pork chop dinner (from the local butcher) with mashed potatoes and mashed carrots plus steamed spring cabbage and a few capers. I'm even considering making my own sauerkraut!

Waste Not Want Not.

I do hate waste and as the pennies are tight at the moment I have been utilising what food I have in creatively. One night I made four different types of curry when I found some sauces on offer for a pound a jar. Along with some chicken breasts, some peppers and a few mushrooms I happened to have in I spent the evening cooking and once the food had cooled I created four different batches of one person curry for the freezer. The whole lot probably only cost me about £7 for four meals and I can leave the tub to defrost during the day to then warm up at night.

Just yesterday I made some patatas bravas by using up the remaining  home made tomato based sauce that I had made for a pork stew. There were a few bits of cooked pork left in the stew so I ditched those. Then I added some paprika and once my roast potatoes had cooked I drained away the cooking oil and spread the spicy tomato based sauce over the potatoes and returned them to the oven for half an hour to warm through. The patatas bravas were great just eaten on their own.

Tip: If you shop at a Tesco that has a meat counter then check out the pork shoulder at only £3.75 a kilo. It is ridiculously cheap and this is the regular price not a limited offer.

Rick Stein's Long Weekends hardback book and Kindle version now on sale.

Having already become over-excited by Rick Stein's new (partly shown) television series Rick Stein's Long Weekends I was keen to see what other destinations Rick is going to later in the year when the series resumes. The new book to accompany the series has just been released and has already become number best seller on the Amazon Mediterranean Foods listing. Having seen the book I can certainly see why. With over a hundred recipes and some utterly gorgeous food and destination pictures I would say that it is one of Rick Stein's best books to date.

The recipes are all inspired by Rick's Long Weekend trips to Bordeaux, Berlin, Reykjavik, Vienna, Bologna, Copenhagen, Cadiz, Lisbon, Palermo and Thessalonika.

Rick describes them thus: These are recipes to cater for all your weekend meals. For a quick Friday night supper Icelandic breaded lamb chops will do the trick and Huevos a la Flamenca makes a tasty Saturday lunch. Viennese Tafelspitz is perfect for Sunday lunch and of course no weekend would be complete without Portuguese custard tart or Berliner Doughnuts for an afternoon treat.

Accompanied by beautiful photography of the food and locations and, complimented by Rick Stein's personal memories and travel tips for each city. Rick will inspire you to re-create the magic of a long weekend in your own home with his luscious recipes.

This book is so lovely I almost feel inspired to lick the pages of superb recipes and stunningly rich pictures.

Both hardback and Kindle versions can be ordered through the links on this blog post.

Phil xx