Fajita Filling!

Fancying a quick dinner, I thought about Fajitas but just made up extra filling to go with a light salad and some yoghurt ...

The chicken Fajita Filling is simply chicken strips fried off in a large skillet with some coconut oil, herbs and spices sprinkled over: paprika, turmeric, coriander, garlic powder, sea salt, black pepper and some marjoram, green pepper added then red cabbage.

Serve out with a leafy green salad and a bowl of probiotic natural yoghurt.

Eat, enjoy, feel replete.

Tuna & Salads

Not particularly special or interesting, just pretty ... enjoy!

Spicy Grilled Fish

Inspired by a Mexican dish of food I saw on the internet, I made my own grilled fish, black beans and rice with a little salad underneath and boiled egg with guacamole alongside.

It's all fairy self-explanatory ...

Gut and scale a fish, any fish - it was a sea bass for me, slash it and rub some paste in. My paste is a jerk seasoning of thyme, spring onions and Scotch Bonnet pepper with a little salt. Grill for 15 minutes each side.

Meanwhile cook your rice, your beans - the adventurous might want to combine these with some coconut milk for a Jamaican-style Rice & Peas; make a little salad, boil your eggs and make up a Holy Guacamole by blending avocado with lime juice and salt.

Plate up!

Mrs didn't like hers, which was great for me since leftovers make fantastic breakfasts ... just bung the lot into a skillet with some good fat: goose fat, for me.

I've said it before, but this is living proof that good, real food is simply a case of putting good ingredients together. No recipe, no method, just cook some real food and put it on a plate ... re-cook it and put it on a plate.

Guilty Pleasure ... Doritos, Cheese & Guac!

Fuck it all, Friday night!

It's hot, work was hard, here's to a weekend of fun, frivolity and relaxation, and what better than a few slugs of Tequila and a face full of fun?

Bag of Chilli Heatwave Doritos, grated Mexicana cheese, grill, serve out with bowls of guac.

Paleo? Not even close! Ancestral, barely! Worthy of a post here? Abso-fucking-lutely!

Cheats' Carne Asada

Carne Asada is simply grilled meat, nothing complex, nothing esoteric, nothing special, other than good, grilled meat and a bunch of salads.

Friday Night

Home, salad ingredients out, slug of Tequila (Salud!), time to kick back and get on with the preparation ...

I went with three salads, macerated red cabbage, marinated mushroom and green pepper, and a pico de gallo:

Shred red cabbage, pour over red wine vinegar and macerate for a good hour, turning regularly.

Slice mushrooms and green pepper, slosh over some avocado oil and some cider vinegar, add black pepper and marinate for a good hour.

Cut up some tomato and cucumber, fine chop a chilli and rough chop some coriander. Mix together and chill for a good hour.

On with the meat ....

You know what? I didn't have any meat, but I did have some burgers. 100% Venison burgers.

Flattened out a little more, grilled and sliced, it was passable ...

Served up with some avocado, boiled egg and a green chilli sauce of chopped green chillies, lime juice and avocado oil.

Gorgeous!

Yorkshire Tostada

Hispanic America, basically, a toasted tortilla loaded with great food!

Chilli, Pico de Gallo, Salsa, salad, soured cream, whatever ...

But, what's a Yorkshire Tostada?

I do have a great recipe for Manioc Toritilla, but tonight I made up something quite impromptu, crossed my fingers and blow me down! It worked!

It turned out more like a Yorkshire Pudding, but so what? We have a tradition here in Yorkshire, which has spread nation-wide, if not world-wide, whereupon pretty much anything can be loaded into a "Yorkshire" and enjoyed.

First let's get the Chilli on ...

Texan Chilli 'Bowl of Red'

Diced Beef & Dripping
Worcestershire Sauce
Black Pepper, Ground Coriander & Paprika
Regular Onion & Red Onion
Garlic, Ginger & Chillies
Diced Tomatoes
Beef Stock
Coriander

In a large skillet, brown off the diced beef (you'll want maybe 600g) in beef dripping.

Meanwhile, peel and rough chop a regular onion, a red onion, three or four garlic cloves, some ginger and de-seed a few red chillies. Blend together. I used a hand blender.

As the beef releases its liquid, slosh in some Worcestershire Sauce, add ground black pepper, ground coriander and some paprika. Allow the liquid to reduce, concentrating the flavours into the meat.

Pour in your onion blend and fry off for a few minutes before adding in the chopped tomatoes (200g, or so, will do). Stir together and pour in some beef stock (maybe a pint, more if you like) and settle the skillet on a gentle simmer to cook through.

Ideally, 3-4 will be perfect. If time is pressing, raise the heat to a gentle boil and keep topping up with water as the liquid reduced.

Manioc Yorkshire Pudding

Manioc Flour
Yoghurt
Egg
Baking Powder
Sea Salt
Beef Dripping

Using 1 cup of flour per person (I used Sour Starch, usually used for those Brazilian Cheese Puffs), add in yoghurt and stir with a fork until a thick dough forms. Keep adding yoghurt until you get that consistency.

Crack in an egg per person and whisk together.

While whisking the batter sort of stiffens, but when you stop it relaxes into a pouring batter.

Add a little sea salt and a teaspoon of baking powder per person, mix and leave to sit for a while.

Prepare a couple of baking tins in the oven with some beef dripping, maybe 200C (400F?), retrieve the tins and pour the batter in.

Place in the oven for 20-30 minutes at 180C (350F?) until risen and not sticky, doughy in the middle.

Salad

While the Yorkshire Puddings are cooking, shred up some lettuce, slice some cucumber, tomato, whatever you have to hand. Peel and slice an avocado.

Reduce your Chilli and add in a good amount of chopped coriander just before serving.

Serve

Ready? Place the Yorkshire Pudding in the middle of a round plate, border with sliced cucumber, load with shredded lettuce, some Chilli and crown with avocado, tomato, perhaps a few olives and a good slop of soured cream.

Champion! As we say here in Yorkshire.

Leftover Fish Taco Breakfast

Friday nights are for spicy, silly, messy fun ...

Most recently, we've been enjoying Fish Tacos. White fish, usually coley or pollock, large onion, lots of coconut oil, shredded peppers, spice mix and we're done. Pico de Gallo and guac alongside, usually some Mexicana cheese (cheddar with chillies mixed in) and some soured cream. The tacos? Cos lettuce leaves.

I always make too much and so, the morning after the night before, we get to enjoy it all over again ...

... simply re-heated, scrambled eggs or an omelette alongside.

Too gorgeous!

While I like Cos lettuce, I have tried primal-style tortilla before using manioc flour and it works out very well, but this morning, I happened upon this fantastic idea: One Ingredient 100% Mexican “NOT CORN” Tortillas— LEGIT! And Paleo

... next time!

Pescado a la Veracruzana

Fish in the style of Veracruz.

Highly colourful, seriously flavoursome and everything you'd expect from Mexican cuisine. Perfect for pepping up a bland piece of North Atlantic pollock.

Upon reading an ingredient list for Veracruz Sauce, you would not be the first person to double-take and think you were reading the recipe for a Mediterranean dish, but when you consider the influence of the Spanish upon the people of Veracruz, the penny drops.

Veracruz Sauce

Tomato as the base, onion, garlic, fennel, chillies, capers, olives, sea salt, black pepper and some parsley.

That was my sauce, started with some red palm oil, the onion, fennel and garlic softened and in with some chopped tomatoes, followed by de-seeded and shredded chillies, capers, olives, sea salt and black pepper.

Chopped parsley and set to simmer ...

Upon tasting, it was a little mild so I popped in a little naga jolokia paste!

Now it demands your attention! Phew!!!

Fish

North Atlantic pollock.

White fish, part of the cod family. Fished now as an alternative to cod, it's cheap, it fries, it bakes, it steams, it's versatile and simply put a damn good piece of fish.

You might have noticed that the more common oregano and marjoram do not feature in my sauce recipe? Well, I'm going to dust the fish with dried herbs: marjoram.

When you're ready to eat, simply fry these off in some of your favourite paleo fat - yes, goose fat for me. Three minutes each side will do admirably.

But first ...

Sweet Potato Wedges

Great on its own, but it's Friday night and we want a feast!

Take a sweet potato, wash it, cut into wedges and pop them into the oven for about half an hour in a little of your favourite paleo fat. Turn a couple of times during cooking.

Serve

Serve out with the wedges in the middle, spooning some of the sauce onto each plate, laying a piece of fish on and more sauce over.

I finished the dish with some diced Sharon Fruit.

Any Veracruzians out there, please tell me how I did ...

Turkey Tacos

... and breathe.

Friday night! We made it! Another week down and a great weekend beckons.

Let's let our hair down, have a drink and enjoy a really good meal - something quick, easy and nutritious.

On a Friday, we like something spicy. I happen to have some turkey breast in, some chicken breast, some peppers, an onion, chillies ... you're thinking what I'm thinking, right? Accompanied with marjoram, dried oregano, paprika and black pepper, we'll have our taco fillings.

Backup? Slice the meat into strips, slice the peppers into strips, slice the onion, de-seed the chillies and chop into small strips. Brown off the meat, add the onions, chillies and cook through, adding the peppers in last to warm through and just hold some texture.

Meanwhile, some accompaniments ...

Pico de Gallo - Cucumber, tomato, radish, spring onions and olives. Chop up.

Holy Guacamole - Avocado, lime juice and salt. Blend well, then blend some more.

Tacos - We also need tacos! Gem lettuce. Easy!

Beauty! 5 minutes of chopping, 10 minutes of cooking, little more chopping while that's going on and you're done ... dinner in 15 minutes.

Drinks? Tequila beforehand, red wine with.

Venison Chilli [Variation]

Friday night, again, and Chilli Night!

Having enjoyed Vension Chilli so much a couple of weeks ago, I happened upon a good deal for diced venison in the supermarket and fancied a repeat.

With a twist ...

Once again, the ingredients you'll need are:

• Venison & Smoked Bacon
• Mushrooms
• Coconut Oil
• Onion, Garlic & Chilli
• Cocoa Powder, Ground Coriander & Paprika
• Worcestershire Sauce, Chipotle Paste & Beef Stock
• Chopped Tomatoes
• Oregano & Marjoram
• Black Pepper & Smoked Sea Salt

Tonight's deviation:

• Guinness

Melt some coconut oil in a heavy based skillet, browning off the meat and dropping in a bunch of sliced mushrooms to soak up all the good fat.

Now, empty the cupboards!

Ground coriander, paprika, cocoa powder, black pepper, smoked sea salt ... just bung a load in! Sprinkle over the herbs and then a good splosh of Worcestershire Sauce and some Chipotle Paste (I used some Discovery brand which has no offensive ingredients, just chipotle, tomato vinegar and salt).

Pour in some Guinness. For two people and about a pound of meat, I used half a can of Draught Guinness.

Meanwhile chop up an onion, garlic and chillies, and blend together. Pour into the skillet and cook through.

Gently blend some chopped tomatoes, too. Pour these into the skillet and stir through, adding some beef stock.

Lower the heat and give it a couple of hours, topping up with water as necessary.

Tonight, served in rustic bowls, salad alongside and a ramekin of guacamole, this was a seriously gorgeous meal! Yoghurt crowning the chilli, perfect.

The Guinness added so much. Next time, I'll use a bottle of Foreign Extra ...

It struck me that this dish was very French. As I was cooking it, I thought to myself how French in style it was - maybe because it was me cooking, and French cuisine has had a big impact, maybe because it was actually just how many good, honest, rustic French dishes come about.

I don't know, but I'm marking up this method as "fusion".

Thoughts?

Venison Chilli

Friday Night!

Chilli Night! How about something a little bit different?

Vension Chilli!

I had some diced venison in and thought, "why not?".

If you want to try this, you'll need:

• Venison
• Mushrooms
• Coconut Oil
• Onion, Garlic & Chilli
• Cocoa Powder, Ground Coriander & Paprika
• Worcestershire Sauce, Chipotle Paste & Beef Stock
• Chopped Tomatoes
• Oregano & Marjoram
• Black Pepper & Smoked Sea Salt

Melt some coconut oil in a heavy based skillet, browning off the meat and dropping in a bunch of sliced mushrooms to soak up all the good fat.

Now, empty the cupboards!

Ground coriander, paprika, cocoa powder, black pepper, smoked sea salt ... just bung a load in! Sprinkle over the herbs and then a good splosh of Worcestershire Sauce and some Chipotle Paste (I used some Discovery brand which has no offensive ingredients, just chipotle, tomato vinegar and salt).

Meanwhile chop up an onion, garlic and chillies, and blend together. Pour into the skillet and cook through.

Gently blend some chopped tomatoes, too. Pour these into the skillet and stir through, adding some beef stock.

Lower the heat and give it a couple of hours, topping up with water as necessary.

Serve up with some rice or potatoes, perhaps tortilla, perhaps not ... some grated cheese, perhaps, shredded lettuce and most definitely Holy Guacamole.

Deep flavoured, sumptuous and seriously smoky! Definitely a do again ...

Carne Asada

Nothing magical or exotic, Carne Asada is a Mexican preparation of simple marinated and grilled meat.

Carne Asada can be put into tacos or burritos, or simply as is, as I'll be doing ...

The meat is rump steak, about two thirds of an inch thick.

The marinade is simply lime juice, sea salt and black pepper and the meat wants little more than, say, quarter of an hour to bathe in these flavours. Worcestershire Sauce might be a good addition, but don't think about Tabasco or chilli powder - once on the grill, your steak will turn into a chemical weapon!

Alongside, I'm going to have a simple salad of shredded crisp lettuce with radicchio. Red and green, crunchy and bitter. I'm also going to have a Pico de Gallo of tomato, cucumber and olives.

So, ready to eat?

Pre-heat your griddle pan until smoking hot, drop the meat on, turn when ready and set aside to rest for a couple of minutes before slicing through.

Serve on a large plate, meat in the middle, salads alongside, sliced avocado over, perhaps a splash of Tabasco over the meat ... and dig in!

Salud!

TexMex Frikadeller [Fun with Fusion]

Frikadeller are simply, Danish Meatballs, usually served with red cabbage alongside.

Most often made with pork, I made up a batch with turkey mince ... and gave it a little twist.

Friday night is our Tex Mex night. We have Chilli, Fajitas, Enchiladas, that sort of thing on a Friday, so tonight, is a kind of fusion - Danish Meatballs with a Red Cabbage Salad made Mexican (italicised).

I'm justifying it as a meeting of the two cultures somewhere, somehow, like how Enchiladas Suizas came to be - a meeting of Mexican and Swiss.

Ingredients

Frikadeller - turkey mince, cassava flour, lemon zest, ground coriander, paprika, black pepper, cayenne pepper, celery salt and dill, goose fat for frying

Salad - Red cabbage, tomato, cucumber, radish, spring onion, red chilli, green chilli, black pepper, dill and a sprinkle of cider vinegar

Sides - Holy Guacamole! ... with dill, and Greek yoghurt with lemon and dill.

Frikadeller

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl and begin forming meatballs. See? Nordic Meatballs ... but spicy!

In a couple of batches, fry off the meatballs in your favourite paleo fat (all together now ... "goose fat, for me"), flip after a couple of minutes and then roll them around the pan after another couple.

We'll cook through in the oven - this is just to seal them.

Mount up in an ovenproof dish and settle into the oven set to 200C for about 20 minutes.

Salad

Shred up all the ingredients, slosh the cider vinegar over and place in the fridge to chill.

Sides

Holy Guacamole is simply a case of blending avocado with lemon juice and a little sea salt. Today, I added dill. NordiScandiWegians love dill! Place in the fridge to chill.

Greek yoghurt with lemon juice, touch of sea salt and more dill. Place in the fridge to chill.

Serve

Big bowl of 'balls, bowl of salad, bowls of sides ... you don't need a map.

Eat, drink and wind down - it's Friday!

Aubergine Turkey Chilli Sweet Potato

I'm really into sweet potatoes at the moment and it's Friday: Chilli Night!

So, let's put them together ...

The Chilli Con Carne is a variant of my CCC 2.0 recipe based on turkey mince, which tonight includes aubergine ... or eggplant if you're language is that way inclined.

Ingredients

Chilli - turkey mince, coconut oil, onion, garlic, ginger, chilli, black pepper, sea salt, mushroom stock, chopped tomatoes, tomato purée, oregano, marjoram, cocoa powder, paprika and aubergine.

Sweet potato - erm, sweet potato and goose fat.

Salsa - tomato, cucumber and radish.

Chilli Con Carne

Oven on at 180C (350F) and pop a decent sized sweet potato in, cut in half and flesh side down on an ovenproof, spiked all over with a fork and smeared with goose fat.

That'll take about 30-40 minutes, which gives us ample time to make up a Chilli.

In a large heavy-based skillet, for two, brown off a pound of turkey mince. It's lean, so we can add in a good fat - coconut oil.

While the mince is browning, chop a good sized onion, three or four cloves of garlic, some ginger and chillies to your taste - I like it hot, so used a Scotch Bonnet pepper. Blend all that lot together.

With the mince now browned, pour in the onion sludge and muddle around to cook off the rawness.

Now, empty your spice cupboard! Actually, tonight we're a little reserved, but sprinkle over some oregano and marjoram - maybe a tablespoon each; black pepper - half a teaspoon, perhaps; paprika - a teaspoon-ish; cocoa powder - around half a teaspoon.

Pour in some mushroom stock. Beef stock will do admirably.

Pour in a carton of chopped tomatoes and give it a squirt of tomato purée.

Mix together and add a little water if necessary.

Cut off the outside centimetre of an aubergine. It's the dark skin we want here, to simulate the vibrant colour of red kidney beans. Chop into bean-sized pieces and stir into the Chilli.

Turkey mince cooks through really quickly, so leave the heat on high to reduce.

Salsa

Just slice up some tomato, cucumber and radish ... or whatever salad ingredients you have.

Serve

Sweet potato down, open it out a little, drop of butter, spoon over the chilli and scatter the salsa over. Eat, drink and enjoy your Friday night!

Enchiladas Suizas ... Cheesefest!

Last time I made this, it was for Pancake Day ... you know, Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, whatever you call it. Anyway, it's been about six months and we really fancied a Saturday night treat.

Treeeeeeeat!

Method was exactly the same as before ...

Filling

I made a beef mince and prawn stuffing with cauli rice.

Back up! Minced beef and prawn? Yes! It works! Simply brown off some minced beef with chopped onion, garlic, chilli and ginger, a good splash of Worcestershire Sauce (which I am let to believe that Mexicans love as Salsa Anglais), some tomato purée and beef stock. Pour in some chopped tomato (not too much, say, half a carton to a pound of beef). Simmer on for a couple of hours. Pour in some small prawns which folks from the US might call shrimp. Steam some cauliflower florets, crush with a fork and stir into the meat - this is the rice.

Pancakes

Make up some manioc tortilla. Something like a cup of manioc flour to four eggs to half a cup of grated parmesan will do perfectly. I hate parmesan, so used pecorino, a hard sheep cheese. Manchego would do equally well. This will make about six to eight 6" tortilla, so adjust accordingly.

Likewise, a pound on mince, a cup of prawns and a reasonable cauliflower will fill those 6-8.

Go on ... roll 'em up!

Roll up! Roll up!

Cheese Sauce

Now for the Swiss bit ...

Understand that we don't need much. No need to go all neolithic and drown this great food in cheese; just a little will do just fine. I used a blend of mature and medium cheddar. Some. I don't measure, so don't know how much, so "some" will have to do as my explanation.

Cheese, grated, melted in single cream. No need for flour. No need for thickener. If you get the cheese to cream right, it works. Grated the cheese, then on a low heat add as little cream as you think you will get away with and only add more if you cannot get the cheese to melt without going hard them moment the pan is lifted off the stove.

Pour the sauce over and pop it into the oven at 175C for about 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile ...

Pico de Gallo

While these Enchiladas are gorgeous on their own, just a little Pico de Gallo perfects the dish.

Simply chop up some tomato, cucumber, spring onions and add in some sweetcorn, omitting the later if it's not a part of your ancestral diet.

Serve

Collect the Enchiladas from the oven, serving a couple each and scattering the Pico de Gallo over.

Dig in and enjoy!

Duck! Fajita?

Duck! Fajita?

No, Duck Fajita!

Fancy something a little different? I was looking back through some food pictures and reminded just how good some birds are.

I can take or leave chicken, besides which most are factory slaughtered in a manner which I am not happy with; likewise, turkey.

Seasonal game birds are always good, preferably with warnings around shot in the meat, but also small production farms who can bring up ethically reared and slaughtered birds: duck and goose, namely.

My local supermarket carries a reasonable stock of Gressingham Duck Company products. Pushing aside the Duck in Plum Sauce, Duck in Orange Sauce  and Spicy Aromatic Duck, I found a container of what was labelled "Mini Breasts". In reality, I think these are the offcuts of trimmed breast, but there was a good amount at a good price.

But, what to do with them?

Pepped up with a dipping sauce and served with rice pancakes was one suggestion, nice salad of mooli and cucumber juliennes alongside.

What about fusion?

Take just that notion and go Mexican? It is Friday night afterall: Mexican Night!

So, duck, sweet red peppers, cucumber, tomato, marjoram, chilli, ginger, garlic and chives left to marinate in lime juice for a good hour, some fajitas made up with polvidho azedo (Manchego in place of the pecorino, here) and a guacamole alongside, chilli sauce for flavour.

I make up one from Maggi Chilli Sauce (which is just Chilli and a little sugar), Worcestershire Sauce, Tomato Ketchup (British Heinz brand is not quite as evil as it is in the US) and a little lemon juice. Relax! It's a condiment. You can do better, I'm sure! Please do.

... and there we are: Fajitas, done a little different.

Basa Veracruz

Friday night! We made it!

Time to kick back with some simple, tasty and good food ...

Veracruz is in Mexico. Veracruz Sauce is from Veracruz. Veracruz is on the coast. Veracruz Sauce works perfectly over fish ... any fish.

Here, Basa ... there Basa, everywhere a Basa Basa?

Where was I? Oh yes, fish ... use any fish you like. Veracruz is a simple sauce, easily made up and in no way supposed to be high-brow, complicated or flounced up. This is simple eating.

I began with some lard. I am in no way a connoisseur of Mexican food, but I read ... I had read that Mexicans love lard, so that's where I started.

Some finely chopped onions went in - white and red, just white, just red, your choice. I had a white onion, so that's what I used. When sweating onions, I like to add just a little sea salt, which I think brings out the liquid in the onion and enhances the natural sweetness.

Give them a few minutes before introducing them to some garlic, ginger and chillies. Some, a little, a lot, your choice.

Now, pour over some chopped tomatoes.

Add some herbs. I went wild and used oregano, marjoram and thyme. I went even more wild and dropped in a dried Scotch Bonnet (forgetting I'd already added chillies). Not knowing a whole heap about Mexican food, I guess a chipotle would have been better, which I do have in, but I love the taste of Scotch Bonnet.

Mexican oregano is very different to our oregano. I don't even think it's the same herb, even, and have garnered that it is more like our marjoram in scent and flavour. Thyme accompanies the Scotch Bonnet perfectly and gives that Caribbean flava. I got lost ... we'll call it fusion.

Drop in some olives and some capers.

... and that's Veracruz Sauce.

Let it simmer and reduce, combining all those flavours ... which you can enhance with some Salsa Anglais (Worcestershire Sauce) if you like. Apparently, Mexicans go loco for the stuff and why not? It's gorgeous!

Sauce ready?

Steam some fish or pan fry it. Either, any method ... just cook some fish through. Actually, ceviche is gorgeous with this sauce. I went with lightly pan-fried basa in lard.

Fish down, sauce over ... garnish with something or other, like scallions (spring onions) or chives.

I served this with a marinated mushroom and pepper salad.

Ahead of time, simply chop some mushrooms, green and red peppers, a red onion and some chilli.

Mix well and slosh over cider vinegar.

Add black pepper, a little sea salt and some chopped dill.

Turn frequently, but do allow the marinade to do its thing for about an hour.

Pour off the juices and serve out with fresh dill.

... there you go. Bonus recipe. Enjoy.

Chilli Con Carne 2.0

Good evening, folks ... it's Friday night and time to kick back, enjoy the evening and eat Chilli!

For many, Chilli is about the beef. It's diced or minced beef. Beef. Got it?

That said, there's no reason why we couldn't make it with other meats. I know ... I know ... some folks half and half with pork, but let's look outside the box.

Turkey Mince!

Yes, minced turkey. It's a lean meat, which means you can couple it with your favourite paleo fat, takes on flavours well and cooks quickly.

My regular method is to hand blend onion, garlic, ginger and chilli to fry off after thoroughly browning beef mince. Add in beef stock, tomatoes, tomato puree, Worcestershire Sauce (Salsa Anglais), paprika, ground coriander, ground cumin, oregano, marjoram and black pepper. Water and let it simmer for a couple of hours.

Turkey mince is a lot quicker ... and gives us an opportunity to do things just a little differently.

Brown off some mince. One pound between two is plenty.

Finely dice an onion, crush some garlic and shred some ginger.

Make a well in the meat, drop in a good cube of coconut oil and in go the onion, garlic and ginger. Stir around and get it well cooked.

One carton of chopped tomatoes, some tomato puree, ground coriander, ground cumin, black pepper, oregano and marjoram. No Worcestershire Sauce this time.

Now, we need some colour and crunch. You could put just about any vegetable in for some interest, but I want to make the chillies the big deal.

I have some large (and so, mild) cooking chillies. Sorry, no idea on variety - they're just sold in bags as 'Chillies', but I know they're quite mild ... which is great, because we can add a lot in.

Several chillies, red and green, sliced up.

Chicken stock, water and on a good simmer, reduce.

Maybe 30 minutes later, we're ready to eat! See, I said it was quick!

Meanwhile, simply make some accompaniments ...

Holy Guacamole, Pico de Gallo and some wraps: British Cos lettuce leaves.

... and your favourite Tequila alongside.

Yeah, the speed on this could be a new favourite for 'Chilli Night'. Chilli Con Carne 2.0, indeed!

Fun with Chilli Con Carne

I've got new plates!

I know ... I know ... it's very sad to be so excited about new plates, but I really enjoy the artistic side of cooking.

I seem to put nutritionally balanced and flavoursome ingredients together, but it's the plating that thrills me - the arrangement and the garnish.

Yes, sad, I know ... new plates offer all manner of new ways of arranging and presenting.

Friday night ... Chilli Night!

My standard Chilli is a pound of minced beef, a carton of chopped tomatoes, an onion, garlic, ginger, chilli, another chilli, another chilli,  black pepper, oregano, paprika and both chicken and beef stock.

[Edit: I also drop in a chunk of dark chocolate. Thanks for the total recall in the comments, Jean ... actually, the week after I tried some cocoa powder and it worked out really well. Thanks for the tip.]

Chillies, I tend to use Scotch Bonnet for the fire, then Japaneno for the crunch. Sometimes, I smoke it up a bit with Chipotle. Ginger, garlic, black pepper and paprika offer other types of fire flavours.

I brown off the meat, blend up onion, garlic, ginger and initial chilli, pour in to cook through, add the tomatoes and the stock, black pepper, paprika and oregano and let it go for a couple of hours simmering away.

Later on, in goes some Worcestershire Sauce (Salsa Anglais, as Mexicans call it) and more chilli.

Alongside, like all manner of dips, bowls of this, that and the other, but tonight ... a little different:

• Avocado rice
• Macerated red cabbage

Avocado rice is simple. Blend an avocado with a little sea salt. Blend it really well. Steam some cauliflower florets and then crush into the guacamole.

Macerated red cabbage is just a case of shredding some red cabbage and steeping it in red wine vinegar. The sweetness really comes out, it softens a little and bleeds a little.

Ready to serve?

It's a rectangular plate, so Chilli Con Carne for about half of the plate, some avocado rice and then some macerated red cabbage at the far end. Garnish ... nice!

Huge fun!

Pancake Day Enchiladas Suizas

Shrove Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Pancake Day ...

Whatever you call it, we just had it and for dinner, we had a treat!

Enchiladas Suizas

From Wikipedia: "Suiza, or Swiss, is an adjective that indicates the dish is topped with a white, milk or cream-based sauce, such as Béchamel. This appellation is derived from Swiss immigrants to Mexico who established dairies to produce cream and cheese."

Fusion food - Swiss/Mexican? How cool!

We need something for the filling. I made a beef mince and prawn stuffing with cauli rice.

Back up! Minced beef and prawn? Yes! It works! Simply brown off some minced beef with chopped onion, garlic, chilli and ginger, a good splash of Worcestershire Sauce (which I am let to believe that Mexicans love as Salsa Anglais), some tomato purée and beef stock. Pour in some chopped tomato (not too much, say, half a carton to a pound of beef). Simmer on for a couple of hours. Pour in some small prawns which folks from the US might call shrimp. Steam some cauliflower florets, crush with a fork and stir into the meat - this is the rice.

Make up some manioc tortilla. Something like a cup of manioc flour to four eggs to half a cup of grated parmesan will do perfectly. I hate parmesan, so used pecorino, a hard sheep cheese. Manchego would do equally well. This will make about six to eight 6" tortilla, so adjust accordingly.

Likewise, a pound on mince, a cup of prawns and a reasonable cauliflower will fill those 6-8.

Ready to get busy?

Stuff the tortilla ...

... roll it up ...

... repeat ...

Now for the cheese sauce ...

Notice we don't need much. No need to go all neolithic and drown this great food in cheese; just a little will do just fine. I used a blend of mature and medium cheddar. Some. I don't measure, so don't know how much, so "some" will have to do as my explanation.

Cheese sauce ...

Cheese, grated, melted in single cream. No need for flour. No need for thickener. If you get the cheese to cream right, it works. Grated the cheese, then on a low heat add as little cream as you think you will get away with and only add more if you cannot get the cheese to melt without going hard them moment the pan is lifted off the stove.

... pour over ...

... into the oven at 175C for 15 minutes ...

... serve out!

Yes, inevitably, some of the filling falls out, so just heap it back up onto the plate. Fantastic flavours, textures and a superb dish!

Do you like the dish? That's a neolithic artefact!