Return of the chef...

Annnnnnd I'm back.

One of the things that frustrated me most about living in limbo was not having a kitchen I felt comfortable cooking in. But fortunately the new flat has a shiny new one, about three times the size of the old one. So I've been taking advantage of this to throw myself back into my love of cooking. So a few old favourites have been revisited - kedgeree, chilli and bobotie. However, I've also been reinspired by my list of things to learn to cook and had a bash at a couple of them...

Up first - meatloaf. I've heard meatloaf talked about a lot, but never actually tried it or thought much about what's actually in it... So when Helen picked it off the list following an offer to cook for her, I went on a hunt for recipies... I ended up with an amalgamation of two different recipies. Here's the rough outline:

800g beef mince (I used lean)
200g pork mince (Again, I used lean stuff)
~90g breadcrumbs (2 thick slices of bread)
1 egg
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp mustard
2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp paprika
1 onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp sage leaves
1 tbsp parsley
salt and pepper

Mix it all in a bowl, pop in a loaf tin and place the tin in a baking tray with an inch of hot water in. Cover the loaf tin with foil. Cook at 150deg C for 2 hrs ish - I took off the foil for the last 10 mins... I also drained off all the fat (despite using lean mince). Wait til cooled then turn out of the tin. I served with mash, peas and gravy.

The verdict - I was distinctly "Meh" about it to be honest... It tasted nice enough, but if I'm going to have a big hunk of meat, I'd pick a tasty stake, not some mince... Maybe my recipe wasn't the best, but it's just not my kind of food - I froze the rest in slices and am thinking it'd be better chopped up and thrown in a tomato type pasta sauce... We shall see.

Here's the slightly crummy photo of the resulting dinner...


Second in the experimentation stakes was mussels and chips. I *love* mussels, but have always had a bit of a fear of cooking them, mainly due to the fear of food poisoning someone. But I embraced the fear and found a willing victim (my sis). Mussels were purchased from the fishmongers round the corner, washed and sorted to get rid of the bad ones. I decided to go classic with the recipe, which is roughly as follows:

700g ish of Mussels (enough for 2 smallish appetites for a main meal) - scrubbed and any open/broken ones discarded
25g butter
1 onion/2-3 shallots
2 cloves garlic
200ml white wine
1 bay leaf

Add the butter to a large deep pan. When hot, add the shallots, garlic, bay leaf and wine to the pan. Cook until the shallots go translucent, then add the mussels. Replace the lid and cook over a high heat for 2 minutes. Strain the mussels off, reduce the sauce slightly and return the mussels. Serve with home made chips (I chopped up some potatoes, tossed them in oil, salt and pepper and bunged them on a baking tray in the oven for 45 minutes or so).

All I have to say is - YUM. A definite success.

A few photies for you: