Recipes

Fennel and vodka risotto - it's bloody lush! The smell of it cooking makes you feel fairly hammered. The fennel goes in at the same time as the onion and garlic, and you also marinate the green fennel tops with a tumbler of vodka and juice of half a lemon, which gets added at the end of the risotto process.

Slow cooked Italian sausage pasta. I think it was a River cafe thing once but it's bloody tasty as all get out! look it up or I'll give you the recipe if you like on here. well worth a try

sorry Liana, it's a mix of syrup and lemon juice. Just mix a couple of tablespoons of sugar with 7-9 ounce of lemon juice, that'll do it!

Sliced Mushrooms, fried in garlic. Add meditteranean herbs (fresh from garden if you have). Lots of black pepper. Then add a touch of milk (tortoise) and some double cream. Makes a great quick sauce to go with your penne.

yep, recipes please... (as long as it doesnt have cider or apple juice in it - sausage casseroles with apple flavouring make me boke) here's my kids favourite pasta. boil up a bag of twisty pasta (fusilli?) and rinse in COLD water, set aside. open two large tins of sweetcorn and a tin of tuna chop a bunch of spring onions and a large red pepper grate a smidge of ginger slowly fry the spring onion and red pepper in a bit of oil, set aside to cool add them, with the other ingredients, along with plenty of mayonnaise. Heat up masses of garlic bread, and serve in a big bowl with salad. Yum. Starved now.

who wants a quick sauce? I want a slow one that takes ages to get its flavour from red wine and garlic and cream and freshly grated parmesan and nutmeg etc

That sounds fab Leg. Will do it for andrew next time he pops over :o)

the muffin recipe is from Nigella Lawson's How to be a Domestic Goddess, but I swapped the white flour for wholemeal... If you don't have it I will post it tomorrow. They are really nice - and no sugar! I can suggest you a million webistes with lovely recipes on because I used to be a Food Editor.....

Aw, I read that as Liana responding to Ely's very nice-sounding pasta sauce. I'd have come to Wainfleet for that.

Go to Spar. Buy Hustler chicken sandwich. (on special offer at 90p each) Unpack and microwave for 70 secs. Scoff. For twice the pleasure, have two. Oh, I just did!

Mussels steamed in cream, white wine and chives are very delicious for those of us who like seafood. I like lamb cooked in red wine with rosemary and lots of garlic too. Mashed potatoe/parsnip combo mixed with gruyere cheese and loads of pepper and olive oil is particularly good comfort food. any kind of fish grilled with lemon/olive oil/garlic/ salt/ pepper and maybe some dill or tarragon (wrapped in foil) is the best thing with a salad. red onion, courgette, mushroom, red peppers, cherry tomatoes, aubergines, all slices and mixed with garlic, salt and pepper and cider or balsamic vinegar, and roasted or grilled in the oven are delicious, especially with a cheesy jacket potato - or even better a jacket sweet potato.

a staple diet of the unemployed living in B&Bs not much.. could you try and help us get a diet living on 44 pound a week while having no cooking facilities, that would be good if you could

I have one hob ring in my flat... just the one and it works on electric and is very slow. It takes 15 minutes to boil a pan of water. With that and tins of various things, plus cheap veg off Norwich market, I manage to eat rather king like sometimes. Lentils are very versatile.

hey stephen, i used to have one ring hob like fergal - you can sometimes pick one up in a charity shop for next to nothing mate - once you got one of those, you can make all sorts of one pot meals, like that pasta thing i posted up there.

I got mine for £8 at a jumble sale. I am an expert on one pot cookery if you want any recipes for that.

I used to heat up a tin of sweetcorn and make a massive bowl of smash mashed potatoes. All mixed in together with tomato ketchup. I loved it. My taste in food has matured somewhat.

I do this really nice mashed potato/parsnip/swede/cheese combo. I go to the supermarket just before it closes and get loads of veg and fruit for cheap. Yum. I also live above a chip shop and the owner sometimes gives me crispy bits.

Actually stephen, i dont know if you use ebay, but there's a two ring hob on there for 1.45 at the moment.

I used to boil pasta, drain out most of the water, then stir in a cup-a-soup and tuna or whatever else was handy. If you eat it straight out of the pot it saves washing a plate up too.

I used to leave my washing up for so long that it was a regular occurence to eat out of the gravy boat.

Hayley, when I lived alone, I used to eat 'one-pot' stews. All tinned ingredients in one saucepan. Heated and eaten out of the pan with a spoon which I licked clean post scoff. If you leave the dirty pan outside over night the cats will lick it clean. NO washing up! It's gotta be a winner?

It's just gotta, I would say. I boiled a chicken in a pot the other day, skimmed off the gooey fat stuff, then steamed veg over the top. It was very tasty. Don't try that without skimming off the fat though, which I did once before and ended up eating purple sprouting brocolli and green beans that tasted like someone had used them as slippers to skate their way through an oil-spill. i.e. disgusting and faintly sinister.

Take one large red onion and chop in half. Stuff it with chopped red onion and butter. Serve with vodka and fresh red onion juice on the rocks.

Planet Hollywood's The Terminator ½ oz vodka ½ oz white rum ½ oz gin ½ oz Grand Marnier ½ oz Kahlua 2 oz sweet & sour mix 1 oz cranberry juice 1 splash beer combine crushed ice with all ingredients except beer, in a tumbler. Shake. Pour a splash of beer on top and serve with a straw or whatever.

what is sweet and sour mix? I have all the rest, I am ashamed to say. During my more flush moments, I tend to stock up the drinks cupboard for solace in my less wealthy moments.

It's Spring for Heaven's sake Jude. Get some variety... Put a bit of Spring onion in your vodka too.

I long for a drinks cabinet. The last alcoholic drink I had was a glass of bloody Hock out of a box. I remember my days of gin and tonics followed by a nice Sancerre and then a frisky Rioja. *sighs but know she sounds a *******

toast bread Liberally apply butter and double gloucester cheese Melt cheese Take 1 large red onion, chop and put on cheese grill for another minute yuuum

I wonder if I should put up my home made Baileys recipe...

now now Jude, what did we say about Red onions? fight it or you'll end up in a cult!

I like onions that have been soaked over night in beetroot vinegar. If you chunk them just right you can get the perfect sweet/sour flavour, a lovely colour and they're great with beef sandwitches.