Readymeal

They're 'meals' and they're 'ready' to put in the oven- they're readymeals! Brilliant!

Manufactured in the UK

Baked mushrooms

Tea tonight was inspired by Nigel Slater's fast supper recipie in The Observer.

Field mushrooms (England)
Onions (England)
Garlic
Breadcrumbs (UK)
Cheddar (UK)
Pine nuts ('Product of more than one country, packed in the UK')
Salad leaves ('Product of various countries, packed in the UK')
Tomatoes (Spain)
Pears (UK)
Sweetcorn (Israel)

Comfort

Pasta
Cream (UK)
Field mushrooms (UK)
Shallots (UK)
Parmesan (Italy)
Rocket, watercress, spinach (packed in the UK)
Tomatoes (Spain)

Carbon

Tonight’s dinner was very costly in terms of CO² emissions. With friends coming round we picked something from a recipe book rather than thinking in seasonal terms. Ok, so here’s the damage:

Wild salmon (Alaska)
Peas (product of the EU, packed in the UK)
Asparagus (Peru)
Mint (Israel)
Arborio rice (Italy)
Shallots (UK)
Wine (France)
Olives (Spain)
Crème brulee (UK)

More of the same

Sometimes you just hit a groove (or lose your imagination depending on your point of view).

Squash (unknown origin)
Spinach (UK)
Tomatoes (Spain)
Cheese (UK)

roast sweet potato salad

Sweet potatoes (Israel)
Mixed salad leaves - rocket, chard, spinach, tatsoi (UK)
Cheshire cheese (UK of course)
Grapes (not labelled)
Tomatoes (Spain)

Picked up some bagged salad from Asda which was a bit lazy really as we have chard and spinach growing on our plot right now ... 96p that's the price of convenience.

Welsh Fish Frenzy

This was from La Rochelle in Porthcawl in South Wales. I went for the full fish treatment- these prawns in chilli and garlic were especially good. We retired to the local 'wine bar' which had a top Karaoke night and a picture of ex-World Snooker Champion Joe Johnston. Funnily enough, Joe Johnston was my next door neighbour when I lived in Leeds many years ago fact fans.

Toad in the Hole

Veggie sausages (UK)
Eggs (UK)

Soups

Went through a new year's soup fad. ... It lasted about two days.

Mushrooms (UK)
Milk (UK)
Cream (UK)
Peas (UK)
Potatoes (home grown)

Stuffed peppers and squash

Butternut squash (Israel)
Peppers (Israel)
Onions (UK)
Tomatoes (Italy)
Kale (UK)
Cheddar (UK)

Broccoli risotto

Broccoli (Italy)
Rice (Italy)
Onion (UK)
Wine (France)
Pepper (Israel)

Salmon Fishcakes and Rosti

There are some advantages to having a M&S food store at Lime Street Station- these fish cakes from their 'Gastro Pub' range being one of them.

Fish Cakes (UK)
Potatoes (UK)
Spinach (Home grown)

Pumpkin pasta

Pasta (Italy)
Pumpkin (Spain)
Tomatoes (Spain)
Lentils ('Manufactured in the EC')
Parmesan (Italy)
Olive Oil (Italy)

Special Guest Star Christmas

After copious amounts of wine and Brie and Cranberry sandwhiches our friends' Christmas Eve party I inadvertently left our camera round at their house. Thankfully Emma and Matthew kindly agreed to photograph their Christmas lunch for a festive guest slot HMT (which I'm very pleased about as Emma is a fantastic cook). This looks like a very lovely nut and mushroom roast with a leek sauce and all the trimmings. Bostin' Steve Austin as Pop Will Eat Itself used to say.

Trout Cheese and Cheesecake

This was from the Horse and Farrier in Cumbria which is my brother and his wife's local. It's a brilliant rural pub and the local church choir singing carols added a very nice Christmas touch. I had a very nice sea bass with a mushroom risotto followed by a selection of cheeses which sounded much more exciting in the menu than they were in the flesh. The cheesecake was pretty spectacular though.