Menu Planning Monday

It's menu planning Monday again. I love to try new recipes and this week has two new recipes and three tried and true favourites.

Monday:

Toad in the Hole (recipe found here, at the bottom of this previous post). Requested by Larry, who rarely asks for anything specific, so it is my great pleasure when he does mention a favourite meal. Today I will be using Cumberland sausages and serving it with a green salad on the side.  

Toad in the Hole

Tuesday:

Scottish Smoked Haddock Supper- The first of our new recipes, made with smoked haddock poached in milk, served on whole grain toast with a rarebit sauce. We'll have some spinach on the side.

Wednesday:

Guinness Burgers- I have made these once before and they were a huge hit. I use  lean steak mince and will be using smoked Gouda for the cheese this time. We will have chips (oven fries) and a green salad with these.

Thursday: 

Spanish Chicken with Chorizo and Potatoes- another new recipe for us.  I plan to make half this recipe because it makes two pans. Since my chorizo is cured I will add it half way through the cooking time and I am going to put in some cherry tomatoes and green beans as well. I will be using lemon zest instead of orange because no one, except me, really eats oranges here but I always have lemons on hand. (Connor's idea of eating oranges is to suck the juice out and leave the rest.) This is a whole meal in one pan so I will just serve it with some nice French bread to soak up all the juices.

Friday:

"Gourmet" Baked Beans on Toast (recipe found here) An oldie but a goodie and one of mine and Larry's favourite quick meals.

Saturday:

Date night

Sunday: 

We will be having a takeaway tonight because Larry and I are going to the Perth Races with a crowd of people from our local. We went last year and had a great time and expect it to be even more fun this year. Last year it was rainy and cold and this year it looks like it will be a beautiful sunny day. All of the girls get together and we each bring something(s) to share and we end up with a very nice picnic lunch. I am bringing dessert. I haven't decided all what I am making but I know peanut butter cookies will be one of the things.

Scottish Smoked Haddock Supper 

photo and recipe courtesy of 

Fish is the Dish

Spanish Chicken with Chorizo and Potatoes
photo and recipe courtesy of
Pick Yin

Guinness Bacon Cheeseburgers
photo and recipe courtesy of
Care's Kitchen

Friday Fish

Friday is usually beans on toast night but tonight we will be having something a little different.  Larry and I have a friend, Jackie, who will be 90 this September.  He is a wonderful man and treats Larry like a son.  The other day he came up to me and asked if I had anything planned for tea tonight (Friday) because if not, the fish man will be stopping so he is going to get some golden cutlets for us.  Golden cutlets are fillets of smoked haddock and they are Larry's absolute favourite fish.  Jackie knows this and every so often surprises him with some.  Usually I just put it under the grill and we have it on buttered toast but tonight I have decided to try something different.  I found this recipe and photo at Delia Online.  It looks quick, easy, yummy and not too unhealthy.  The only change I will make is to substitute finely chopped spring/green onion tops for the chives as that is what I have in the fridge today.  We will have it with a nice Greek Salad and some fresh bread.

Smoked Haddock with Creme Fraiche, Chive and Butter Sauce

For the salad, we will use mixed greens (from a bag), black olives, pickled yellow peppers, red onion and feta cheese.  I make my own salad dressing which we absolutely love on pretty much anything and everything!  You can easily switch out ingredients to change the flavour or to use what you have on hand.  If you want a nice emulsified dressing you need to use a blender, food processor or stick blender, if  you don't care if you have to shake the dressing before using you can just finely mince the garlic and shallot and then mix it up in a cruet.  Make this up at least a few hours before serving to allow the dried herbs to soften and the fresh garlic to mellow.  You could use all fresh garlic instead of half powder but you might find you need to add a bit of sugar if you do, to cut the sharpness of the garlic.

Greek Salad Dressing

In a blender combine until smooth(ish):

1 Teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 Teaspoon sea salt (adjust to taste)

Juice of one lemon plus enough balsamic vinegar to make 3 ounces

3 ounces red wine vinegar

2 cloves of garlic, peeled

1 shallot, peeled and cut in half

1 Teaspoon onion powder

1 Teaspoon garlic powder

1 Tablespoon dijon mustard

With the blender still running, slowly add 6 ounces of olive oil so the mixture emulsifies.  Turn the blender off and add 2 Teaspoons each of dried basil and oregano and just pulse to combine, you don't want to make them invisible.  Pour into your cruet or bottle and store in the fridge.  This dressing tastes best served at room temperature so remove from the fridge about an hour before you want to eat. This is also delicious used to marinate meat for grilling.