Spice Up Your Mash!

A few suggestions to spice up the plain old mashed potatoes

Assuming potatoes have been mashed with small blob of butter and a little milk;

Add 1 clove of crushed garlic, freshly ground black pepper and finely chopped spring onion, when mixed sprinkle with Parmesan cheese; or

Add 1 tablespoon of grated cheese and two finely chopped spring onions; or

Add 1 tablespoon of horseradish sauce and a little sour cream; or

For an adventurous meal, try mixing mashed potatoes (about 3 potatoes boiled and mashed) with 1 tin of baked beans and 1 small tin of tuna (drained), season with salt and pepper. Sounds like strange combination but tastes great!

Tuna Pasta Salad

Very quick and easy recipe for light lunch

Cook 250g pasta, drain and rinse under cold water

In a large bowl mix together; 1 small tin of tuna chunks , drained (in spring water is healthiest option), 1 small tin of sweetcorn, 1 small red onion finely chopped, 3 medium sized gherkins thinly sliced, 1 tomato finely chopped, 1 tablespoon of black olives halved.

Add the drained pasta to the bowl and mix well.

In a small bowl mix together 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar, a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of English mustard and 4 tablespoons of mayonnaise.

Pour the dressing over the tuna pasta and stir well to ensure all pasta coated in mayo dressing. Season with salt, pepper or aromat seasoning and serve.

Pork Roast in Cider

Nice idea for Sunday roast, pork roast with cider and apples and you can add the potatoes and parsnips (also any other vegetables you fancy experimenting with such as carrots, sprouts, swede) to the roasting pan as well to give some extra flavour to the veg.

Heat the oven to Gas Mark 5.

In a medium sized roasting tin put the joint of pork (I used a leg joint), pour over half a cup of dry cider and add to the pan 1 apple roughly chopped. Season with freshly ground pepper and aromat seasoning and place in oven. Cook for length of time as directed on meat packaging according to the weight (usually half hour per pound plus a further 35 minutes) basting occasionally during cooking with the juices in the pan, ensuring that it is thoroughly cooked through before removing from oven. Serve with freshly cooked vegetables, apple sauce, sage and onion stuffing and gravy.

Chilli Bean Burgers

Very simple recipe for quick and easy burgers, healthy as they contain kidney beans, onion, garlic and lean minced beef. Also dry fried and then finished of in oven to provide a burger with a little less fat content. Can also be cooked over hotcoals on braai.

You will need to mix together in a large bowl the following ingredients:-

500g lean minced beef
1 tin of kidney beans, drained and rinsed under running water
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 onion, finely diced
1 or 2 whole red chili peppers (only use one if you don't want a hot chili burger)
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon each of oregano and marjoram
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Mix together all the ingredients ensuring that everything is blended well together. Shape into small patties (or meatballs if preferred).

Heat griddle pan and when very hot cook 4 patties/burgers at a time, cook on each side for approx 5 minutes then place on baking tray. When all burgers have been browned on each side for 5 minutes cook for a further 20 - 30 minutes in a hot oven. For serving I would suggest savory rice or baked potato, a pasta sauce and side salad.