We have a winner!

Congratulations to Amy, who posted on the 'French Onion Soup' blog. The Random Number Generator zeroed in on her and she has requested a signed copy of 'Mourning Jack',

Many thanks to all of you for taking part, leaving a comment and having a look at the recipes. If any of you decide to give them a try, let me know how you got on!

S.A.Meade
(Sue)

xxxx

The last recipe! Mourning Jack Give away.

Good evening, everyone. Today's dish is linguine with Italian sausage. Ade had this on the menu at 'The Bay Horse'. It's a nice comforting, hearty dish. Sadly, I have yet to find any Italian sausage in the UK (no jokes please). So this recipe will make me weep with longing as I type it.

Tomorrow night, the lucky winner will be announced. ;)

For the sauce:
1 small onion, very finely chopped
1 carton of passata
About 1/2 cup of water (I add it to the empty passata carton and swish it around to get the last bits of sauce)
oregano
garlic powder
basil
parsley
brown sugar
Italian sausage, cooked and chopped.

Soften onion until transparent, in olive  oil. Pour in the passata, add 1 teaspoon of oregano, garlic powder, basil and parsley.  Simmer for a little while. Add enough brown sugar to take the acid 'edge' off the tomato-based sauce. Add the chopped sausage and simmer a little more.

Serve over linguine with plenty of freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.

Don't forget to leave a comment and you could win a copy of 'Mourning Jack'.

You can find my books here

Give-away - Today's recipe.

Hello and welcome to today's recipe. This is a dish that Cal made for Ade. It's a great summer main course, although I've been known to make it as an alternative Christmas Dinner when the prospect of wrestling a turkey into an oven was just too much.

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Tuna steaks - Cal style. (serves 2)

2 tuna steaks
Juice from one lime
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
oregano
basil
salt.

Marinate the tuna in a mixture of the lime juice, olive oil and garlic. The longer the better.

Saute the pepper until at the desired consistency. I like a bit of crunch to mine because overcooked bell pepper squicks me out. Pour in the tomatoes, add about a teaspoon of the oregano and basil and salt to taste. Simmer.

While the sauce is simmering, grill the tuna steaks.

Serve the steaks with a bit of the sauce on top. As much or as little as you like. Nice with a green salad and baked potato.

Don't forget. Leave a comment and you could win a signed copy of 'Mourning Jack' or a PDF copy, whichever floats your boat.

You can buy my books here

Ade's Dish of the Day - Give away.

Today, it's raining and miserable here. Not that I'm complaining. It's better than 110F and not a cloud in sight. As promised, here's another dish from 'Mourning Jack'. Feel free to leave a comment and you could win either a PDF copy of the book or a signed print copy.

One of Ade's dishes from 'The Bay Horse' menu was 'Chicken Paprika'. It's a Hungarian dish and it's a favourite in this house.

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4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts;
1 onion, finely chopped;
chicken stock or vegetable stock;
Paprika;
Caraway seeds;
Sour cream:

Cut the chicken into bite-sized morsels, saute until lightly browned. Remove from pan and set to one side.
Saute the onion until soft and transparent. Add about a tablespoon of paprika and about a teaspoon of caraway seeds. Stir and cook for a minute. Return the chicken to the pan, add enough stock to cover the chicken and simmer for about 20 minutes to 30 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan again and set to one side, keep warm. If the sauce is still a bit runny, turn up the heat and simmer until the sauce has reduced a bit. Add sour cream, enough to turn the sauce to a nice rosy pink. Return the chicken, stir. Then serve. I like it with pasta or if I'm in the mood, I'll make spaetzle.

Enjoy!

You can find my books here

Giveaway - Day Two - A fishy Dish

Sorry for the delayed post today, life got in the way. While I'm here, I want to say thank you to the lovely readers who buy my books. I can't even find the words to thank you enough. I do know that your support means the world to me. So, because I'm happy, here's another easy recipe.

Today's recipe is one of the dishes Ade prepares at 'The Bay Horse'. If you happen to come by a nice slab of salmon then this is the recipe for you.

Salmon with a Dill Cream sauce.

Salmon fillets
Butter
Lemon
Fresh Dill
Double cream (half and half if you live in the US).
Salt and Pepper

For the sauce:
One oz butter
One tablespoon plain (all purpose) flour
Double cream
More fresh dill, finely chopped.

Brush aluminium foil lightly with some olive oil.
Place salmon fillet(s) on foil. (If cooking more than one fillet, they each get their own foil package)
Dot fillet with butter (as much or as little as you like - it's your cholesterol)
Sprinkle with lemon juice, salt and pepper.
Place as much or as little fresh dill on the fish as you like.
Wrap parcel so that there's a little room for steam do develop while the fish cooks.

Place in 180C oven.

While fish is cooking, make a roux with the butter and flour. Slowly stir in the cream until the sauce reaches the desired consistency. When you've got it where you want it, stir in the finely chopped dill.

Remove fish from oven, add the sauce and...enjoy.
Goes beautifully with fresh green  beans and lovely little new potatoes.

Don't forget to leave a comment! You could win a signed print copy of 'Mourning Jack' or a PDF, whatever floats your boat. :)

You can find my books here

Food and a give-away!

To celebrate 'Mourning Jack' being released in paperback, I thought it would be fun to indulge in the food porn side of the story. Ade, the narrator, is a chef and he does a fair bit of cooking during the course of the book. So, this week, I'll be posting one of Ade's recipes every day. Then, on Friday, you can vote on which dish you'd love to eat or make and give your reason why you'd like to try that dish. On Saturday I'll choose a winner who can pick either a PDF of 'Mourning Jack' or a signed print copy.

Today's recipe is Ade's French Onion Soup. It's dead easy to make and it's not pricey. A great lunch for a cold rainy day.

3 medium or 2 large onions, quartered, then cut into thin slices.
1 small leek, finely chopped.
1 tablespoon flour
2 beef stock cubes
Worcestershire sauce (to taste)
salt and pepper

French bread
Grated cheese

Saute the onions and leek in butter and olive oil until soft and transparent.
Stir in flour and cook for one minute.
Stir in a kettle and a  half of boiling water.
Crumble in stock cubes, stir until cubes dissolved.
Add Worcestershire sauce to taste (some like loads, some don't)
Salt and pepper.

Simmer for at least 30 minutes.

Prior to serving, toast one side of bread under grill. Turn over, sprinkle with grated cheese.
When cheese melted and bubbling. Spoon soup into bowls, add the toast to each bowl.
Serve.

My books can be found here