SouthseaScene

This evening we craved something wholesome and bought a couple of good looking rib steak. Usually 150 grm is about the right amount per person. We thought we would try a new sauce and mushroom sounds just the ingredient for an autumn evening. Ingredients: 1 shallot thinly sliced 150 g mushrooms 2 cloves of garlic chopped finely 25 g butter 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 500 ml stock 150 ml Marsala wine We fried some shallots, garlic and sliced Chestnut mushrooms in some butter and olive oil. Once it has been frying for about 5 minutes, add a tablespoon of plain flour and mix well. Next pour 500 ml of stock slowly into the pan, making sure everything is blended well. Continue stirring and then add the 150 ml Marsala wine into the mixture. Simmer and stir until the sauce is reduced to 1/3 of the original quantity. This should take about 20 minutes. Serve with the steak which has been grilled for 5 minutes on each side. A jacket potato and some steamed carrots are good com...

Friends came over and one of them was a vegetarian, so I opted to serve an Indonesia Rijtafel style meal allowing everyone to choose what and how much to have on their plate. For the vegetarian friend I made Telur Pindang or pickled eggs. The recipe serves 6 people for starter or as part of a larger meal. Telur Pindang Ingredients: 6 eggs, hard-boiled and peeled 1 small onion thinly sliced 1 garlic clove, crushed 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced 2 medium ripe tomatoes, skinned and chopped 1/2 tsp ginger 1 tbsp dark brown sugar 1 tbsp white vinegar 100ml water Heat the oil in the saucepan and saute theonion, garlic and chillies until the onion is soft (about 5 minutes). add the chopped tomatoes and ginger and cook, stirring, until the tomato has pulped. Add the remaining ingredients, bring the mixture to a boil, stir well, cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Half the eggs and serve on the plate covered with the sauce. Normally...

Cooking for Valentine's Day need not be complicated. In fact, the joy is in preparing something to savour together. It's all about sharing the experience. So try this recipe for a romantic dinner. Ingredients: 1 tbsp vegetable oil 100g minced beef 1 small carrot, diced 1 small stick of celery, diced 1 small onion, diced 1 tsp thyme, fresh or dried salt and pepper puff pastry Heat the oil in a pan and add the onion, carrots and celery. Fry on medium heat for 5 minutes and let it sweat a little. Then add the mince and garlic, stir for 5 minutes or until the meat has turned brown. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spoon the mixture into two small baking dishes; heart-shaped ramekins if you have them. Roll the puff pastry and cut into shape to cover the top of the baking dishes. You can add pastry hearts or initials if you want make it even more special. Pre-heat the oven as the pastry perform much better in a preheated oven. Bake for 15 minutes or ...

I just love to cook and it's nonsense when people say you need a lot of time to cook a meal. As a working professional with an equally busy social life, I do sometimes find myself having to rustle up something quickly. You can find the following ingredients quite easily at your nearest Tesco Express: Prawns - 150 g pack serves 2 generously and 3 at a stretch Linguine - 75 g per person Garlic - 1 clove, crushed and diced Red chilli - 1 medium, diced Butter - 25 g Parmesan - 25 g, grated Sliced spring onions, if available - it just makes the meal a bit more moreish Half a lemon Boil some water in the pan and add the linguine. Set the timer to 10 minute as it takes the linguine 8-10 minutes to cook. Then melt the butter in a pan and add the spring onions, garlic and chilli. Fry it gently and as the timer shows 3 minutes to go, add the prawns and salt and pepper and drain the linguine into the pan with a little of the water to keep everything moist. Only co...