Spaghetti And Meatballs

1 Onion
2 Cloves of Garlic
2 Red Roasted Peppers from Oil
3 -4 Sundried Tomatoes
1 Good Glug of Ruby Port
2 Tins of Tomatoes
1 Tbl Fresh Oregano chopped finely
Salt and Pepper

Method:

• Brown the meatballs well in a frying pan.
• I like to use an electric mini chopper for this as it means that if there are kids visiting, then they won't know that there are any yucky veggies in it!
• Put the onion and garlic in the mini chopper and mince finely.
• Put the onion and garlic mixture into a cold pot with some olive oil and turn onto a medium low heat.  having the oil cold gives me the time to potter and prepare some of the other ingredients without me having to constantly watch the pot. 
• Sprinkle a good pinch of coarse sea salt over the onions to stop them from browning. Careful not to forget to take this into account when seasoning the sauce later on.
• Put the sun-dried tomatoes and roasted peppers into the mini chopper and puree. Add to the softened onion mixture.
• Pour in the glug of port and reduce down to remove the alcohol.
• Add the tins of tomatoes to the pot along with the browned meatballs.
• Season well with pepper and only a tiny bit of extra salt if necessary, remembering that salt was already added to the onions.
• Only partially cover the pot with the lid and allow to gently simmer until the meatballs are cooked and the sauce has reduced down and the flavour has become more concentrated.

Sunday Roast Dinner

A Sunday dinner with all of the trimmings.  A simple roast chicken with creamy potato gratin, classic stuffing and honey roast beetroot and parsnips. This ones for you bro.......

A Classic Roast Dinner

Ingredients:

1 Organic Free Range Chicken

Stuffing:

1/2 Loaf Stale Bread

1 Handful of Sage and Parsley

1 Onion, chopped finely

4 Tbs Butter, melted

Roast Vegetables:

3-4 Fresh Beetroot

4 Parsnips

Runny Honey

Potato Gratin:

8-10 Potatoes, not too waxy but not too floury either!

2 Large Onions, very finely sliced

500ml Fresh Cream

4 Cloves of Garlic, peeled and slightly crushed

100g Gruyere Cheese, finely grated

Freshly Ground Pepper

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C.
• While waiting for the oven to heat begin to prepare the gratin. 
• Warm the cream with the garlic to just below boiling point, then take off the heat and let it infuse.
• Peel and finely slice the onions and potatoes.
• Butter an oven dish and place a layer of potatoes on the bottom, followed by a layer of onion and a good grating of Gruyere cheese. Repeat these layers until the dish is full, ending with a layer of potatoes.
• Pour the infused cream over the potatoes and cover with a layer of grated cheese.
• Place it in the oven 30 mins after the chicken first goes in.
• Roast for 1- 1&1/2 hours until the potatoes are tender and break up under a fork. If the top looks like it will burn before it is cooked then cover it with some tin foil.

• Salt the chicken well and place in the oven uncovered. The Chicken will probably take 1 1/2 hours to cook.  Best test to know when it is done is to take two forks and place them between the breast and the leg, if it pulls away easily and the juices are clear then it is cooked.
• Take the chicken out of the oven and allow to sit for at least half an hour before serving.

• Clean and chop the beetroot into large chunks and place on a roasting tray and put into the oven when the chicken comes out.
• Peel and cut the parsnips lengthwise. If possible cut away some of the inner core that runs inside the parsnips as this sometimes can be bitter when roasted.
• Melt 2 tbs of butter in a frying pan and fry the parsnips until they are nicely browned.
• Remove the tray of beetroot from the oven and add the parsnips.  Cover in a good layer of runny honey and mix to ensure that everything has a good coating.
• This will take 30 mins in the oven.  They may take a little longer if the parsnips are quite chunky.

• Now last but not least, on to the stuffing.  Place the bread into a blender and make into fine breadcrumbs.
• Very finely chop the onion and sage and add this to the crumbs.
• Melt the butter and stir well into the breadcrumb mixture.  The mix should be quite sticky, enough to be able to make a ball in the palm of your hand. 
• Place in a roasting tin and press down with the back of a wooden spoon.
• Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes until crispy on top.

Now sit down and enjoy a nice Sunday roast dinner together