New York Pastrami Pizza

When it comes to food, Marks and Spencer are streets ahead of other retailers in terms of changing and updating their stock to suit changes in fashion, seasons and tastes. One of the latest new arrivals on the shelves in a brilliant new range of limited edition pizzas with flavours such as hoisin duck, English breakfast and Spanish chorizo all presented in some rather fab packaging. With the big Man City v. Man U derby also on the menu for the evening, I opted for the New York Pastrami pizza from the new range, washed down with all-American Coors beer  and a side of plain green salad.

The pizza was a hit, a crispy base and well-matched toppings finished with a squirt of yellow mustard. Kasper had earlier enjoyed a plain cheese and tomato pizza from the kid's range and went to bed happy. James did not go to bed happy because Man City won.

Sunday Lunch To Go (Waitrose)

Of course, the problem with making a long but worthwhile journey is that you have to eventually make the return trip home. Not that we weren't looking forward to seeing James and getting back to Beverley, it was just that I knew we would be coming back to bare cupboards, not good on a Sunday when we almost always enjoy a roast.

James suggested swinging by Waitrose on the way back from picking us up at the train station. So with Kasper asleep in his car seat, I dived in (almost literally, since it had not stopped raining all day) to grab something for tea. I opted to get a load of stuff from their range of ready to cook items, including a 'Easy' chicken joint (£5.49), sage and onion stuffing (£2.29), roast potatoes (£1.99), and honey and rosemary chipolatas wrapped in bacon (£2.99).

It was all shove in the oven stuff, accompanied by microwavable vegetable packs of peas, leeks and spinach and broccoli (£1.99), carrot and butternut squash (£1.99) and Duchy Originals organic chicken gravy (£2.99). 

Despite the wet weather, we had wanted a light tasting dinner and this was it, the flavours were light, especially the herbs in the stuffing which tasted spring-like, and the chicken was moist. The vegetables maintained a crunch which meant they were perfect for James and me but a little on the chewy side for Kasper. The gravy was the buy of the lot, however, tasty without being salty. I also bought a bottle of white wine and a Bonne Maman two-pack creme brulee (£2.39) and Rachel's Organic Divine Rice Pudding (£1.29) for afters. A very easy Sunday meal.

Fish and Chips (Beamish)

It's my all-time favourite and not a meal I thought could be improved upon. That was until the museum at Beamish opened a fish and chip shop using a traditional coal-fired range. 

The smell of an open fire mixed with fish and chips bubbling away in beef dripping is  simply impossible to resist. You only need look at the length of the queue on a cold and wet Saturday April lunchtime to appreciate the draw. 

But with the traditional comes the temperamental and we waited a good 30 minutes for our food because of difficulties getting the fat to the right temperature. All of us, Kasper, my sister, Frances, her fella David and me plumped for 'dab and chips' - essentially a smaller version of fish and chips as far as I can ascertain - but goodness me, it was worth it. 

Served up in newspaper wrapping, drenched in salt and vinegar and washed down with a bottle of delicious dandelion and burdock, this simple supper was a real treat. Don't be tempted to get chips alone, the fish, in a light, crisp batter was the highlight and is not to be missed. 

Having sampled the fish and chips, we felt it would be rude not to visit the museum's pub - the Sun Inn - where my sister and I had half-a-pint of Beamish Hall real ale. David let the side down my ordering a Kronenbourg although James later reasoned that this was ok, as having been brewed since 1664, it was probably the oldest thing there.

10oz Horseshoe Gammon Steak with Pineapple

What reward could justify a 100 plus mile journey taken mainly on public transport with a two-and-a-half year old? Well, apart from the excitement of surprising my sister by arriving unannounced in her north-east village for a weekend visit, it was the thought of a hearty meal at traditional pub, The Shepherd and Shepherdess, in Beamish that sustained Kasper and me over four hours, two trains and one bus.


Known locally as 'The Shep', it has recently been refurbished and is warm and welcoming. Pub favourites such as burgers, cajun chicken, scampi and, of course, shepherd's pie are on offer on a good sized menu which shows the kitchen has decided to do what they do exceptionally well, instead of offering endless options done badly. 


I opted for gammon and pineapple (£10.95) which came with a fresh and interesting salad, homemade coleslaw and onion rings and moreish chips. It was delicious and just what I needed after a long journey. 

Pork Goulash with Herby Dumplings (from frozen)

Just when you thought it was time to bring on the salads, April brings rain, rain and more rain. So much, in fact, that we had to raid the freezer for something to eat as it was just too wet to venture out on foot. As such, the Pork Goulash with Herby Dumplings made a return from last week. It stood up to reheating pretty well, although the dumplings did disintegrate a bit, but that was ok as it added a nice thickness to the sauce. I'm going to stop typing now as the rain is so loud I can't hear myself think.

Home Made Chicken Nuggets, Chips and Beans

I've never really liked the taste of shop bought nuggets and I would rather eat my own hand than go to a KFC but these home made ones are delicious and a doddle to boot. The recipe is from one of the You Are What You Eat books which tied in with the TV series from ages ago. It's got some really useful ideas in it, including the neat trick in this recipe where you use toasted brown bread to make quick, crunchy and healthy breadcrumbs for the nuggets.

I employed my trusty Phillps cordless hand blender to whizz up the bread for the crumbs. I bought it a couple of years ago when Kasper was weaning and it has been an excellent buy, although the instructions obviously aren't clear enough for the tired mother as I once put some of the bits you're not supposed to in the dishwasher meaning I can't use the whisk attachment anymore.

Once the crumbs were made, I just had to beat some eggs and chop up chicken breasts into bite sized pieces. You could add dried chilli flakes or herbs to the crumbs for a different flavour but as the nuggets where for all of us, including Kasper, I kept them plain.

They took about 25 minutes in the oven but as this was a lot less than the frozen chips required, they did get a little overdone. I'm blaming James for this as he bought thick cut ones that take forever. He also got thick cut bread which I can't stand as it makes for stodgy toast and sandwiches. Must be a man thing.

Cheese Sandwich and Packet of Crisps

It was supposed to be leftover Shepherd's Pie but I just couldn't face it. I really enjoyed the pie with Kasper last night but found eating with him at 5pm just too early and as James is working late again I really didn't fancy warming it up and eating alone after he'd gone to bed so settled on a snack in front of the telly instead. It is Holby City night after all.

Shepherd's Pie

Good food is also about getting the balance right, fine tuning levels of the sweet, the sour, the spicy and the salty. Tonight's tea, however, was an example of how a dish can still taste good, even when the measurements are all wrong. I did Shepherd's Pie, a staple which meets the 'recipes to do when running out of stuff' criteria by requiring mainly store cupboard ingredients, meat which can easily be defrosted and veg that keeps well in the fridge. Lentils are used to bulk out the filling so only a very small amount of mince is required, just a tiny 250g packet will do.

Unfortunately, due to an error last week when I peeled the two sweet potatoes meant for this recipe when preparing the Fish Pie, the topping fell woefully short, barely covering the thick, robust filling.

Getting the ratios wrong did nothing to upset the flavour though and both Kasper and I really enjoyed the pie served with frozen peas, sweetcorn and cauliflower. We ate together tonight as James is working so it was a table for two.

Roast Pork and Sticky Toffee Pudding

We're having quite the culinary weekend, what with fish and chips on Friday, a curry last night and Sunday lunch out at the Wellington in Lund today. We had been expecting to treat the in-laws but a last minute back injury prevented them attending so it was just the three of us. The pub was extremely busy and as they now take reservations for lunch, we were very lucky to just turn up and get a table. It was roast pork with crackling and homemade stuffing for James and me while Kasper had roast beef. I was a bit worried when it was served as it was quite pink but he loved it, lots of tender meat and tasty vegetables soaked in homemade gravy which he ate up nicely.

We all cleared out plates but I had room for afters so went for sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream which I finished off with a little help from Kasper.

Bhindi Murgh

Takeaway night again as we enjoyed another evening with the in-laws. The food was from Dine Bangla in Beverley. It was only the second time we have been there but we have been really impressed. I had Bhindi Murgh, described as: "A dish very popular in Bengal. Diced pieces of chicken and fresh bhindi (okra) onions, garlic, ginger, coriander, selective spices and herbs, cooked into a medium yet moist sauce and is very distinct from other dishes due to the way it is prepared. Served with basmati lemon rice." It was delicious, warm but not too spicy and the lemon rice was a real revelation, I will definitely be ordering it again even if I have a different curry next time. At £8.95, it was more expensive than your average curry house but the quality made it seem well worth it with lots of fresh flavours and ingredients.

Fish and Chips

Friday night, fish and chips from Sullivans in Toll Gavel with plenty of salt and vinegar and peas on the side, followed by an evening stroll around Heron Lakes where the in-laws are staying for the weekend. Lovely.

(Apologies for the state of the cutlery in this shot, had already starting scoffing the chip supper before taking a pic).

Chunky Sausage and Tomato Pasta

Another easy recipe from the BBC Good Food website. It's really useful to get inspiration when doing the weekly shop online as you can easily check off all the ingredients in your virtual basket. A great tool so don't be put off by the pink makeover it has been given in recent days.

I didn't fry the sausages, choosing instead to pop them in the oven while I caught up with The Apprentice. The garlic and basil were from my collection of Waitrose frozen Cooks' Ingredients so there was little preparation involved.

The wine really does lift the dish, without it, the meal would be quite stodgy and as you boil it, little alcohol content is left so it is perfectly fine for families. Even so, 'reduce the wine' is not an instruction one should generally follow but is permissible in these circumstances as the need for 200ml required, quite clearly, the opening of a full bottle of Pinot Grigio.

A good tea but we couldn't really do it justice having scoffed lovely burgers at Frankie and Benny's ahead of a trip to the cinema earlier. The leftovers will make a nice lunch tomorrow though.

Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Pie

Yes, yes, I know. Another night, yet another pie. But I checked the Met Office before I did the weekly shop and it said wind, rain and cold so I thought, well, the answer to that, as with most things, is pie. Also, we were expecting our friend to come over from Sheffield. On his bike. (He’s into that sort of stuff, you can read his blog here). So I figured he would need a hearty meal after 60 miles of cycling hell. Unfortunately, calamity struck at Doncaster and he had to limp back home on the train, relatively unharmed and apparently very lucky. We still had another extra mouth to feed, however, in the guise of another pal. He gamely offered to eat extra portions to compensate for the missing guest although we may never know if chicken pie is restorative enough to the saddle sore to be immediately placed on Team GB’s diet sheets.

Facing the prospect of three men at the table (before our cyclist dropped out), I thought vegetables alone would not do as a side so served the pie up with potatoes roasted in Yorkshire Gold from the Wold Extra Virgin Cold Pressed Rapseed Oil, available locally here. I picked up a large bottle (750ml) from the Christmas festival in Beverley and still have about a quarter left. It is delicious and has loads of uses but is at its best on potatoes, producing a far richer flavour than even the best olive oil or fat.

The pie itself was a complete doddle. Using ready cooked chicken makes it very quick to prepare, even if carving a ready roasted bird is a bit of a messy job. I used Jus-Rol pastry too, another great time saver. The key with frozen pastry is in the defrosting – too long and it will dry out – but today’s three hours out on the side seemed to do the trick perfectly.

A great meal and a new favourite but surely one of the last times it will appear on our table as the weather ‘hots up’ for summer? 

Let’s hope so, but tonight was so chilly we lit the fire for the first time in ages.

Fish Pie with Swede and Potato Topping

It was all going so well. Put together this fish pie recipe in about 20 minutes while Kasper played with Play-Doh. It was a rainy morning so I'd decided to get the pie ready up to the point where you put it in the oven so we could go out for a walk to look at the diggers on the nearby Flemingate development.

The pie was very easy to assemble - I'd bought ready diced swede - and Philadelphia and stock make up the filling, there was no tricky white sauce to make.

The pie was in the fridge by lunchtime waiting to be popped in the oven when we were ready. Half-an-hour in the oven and a couple of minutes under the grill and it was ready.

Only by this time, Kasper was too tired to be bothered. It's not that he doesn't like fish, he loves it, it was just the digger excitement got the better of him. Plus I think he is growing, he looked about five when I came home from work yesterday. As such, it was an early night for him and he was snoring by 6.02pm. Frustrating, but all was forgiven by his final words: "Kiss my face", an instruction which I happily obliged.