The Recycled Cook

The Recycled Cook Mushrooms on Toast (with a twist) A nice healthy vegetarian breakfast blog today (well healthyish), taking that old favourite, mushrooms on toast and giving it a bit of a twist. As with all of my recipes there are no formal rules or rigid quantities as much of it is down to what you happen to have in your fridge and your own creativity.  I used a mixture of Browncap and Field mushrooms but any variety that takes your fancy will work just as well. For me the best tasting are wild mushrooms and sometimes I will go and forage for them but it is not something you should do unless you are very familiar with picking them. I learnt by going out with experts but will still rely heavily on some very good reference books, even with them I take the view that if I am not certain of the variety I will leave it alone. My advice is do not pick your own unless you are either with someone who knows what they are doing or you take the trouble to learn thoroughly, gettin...

The Recycled Cook By Adrian Sleeman Basque scrambled eggs (Piperrada / Piperade) A nice easy breakfast blog today, Piperrada (Spanish) or Piperade (French) Basque scrambled eggs is another of those dishes that uses left overs well. Unlike our scrambled eggs it is made in the frying pan rather than in a saucepan or Bain-Marie .  I don't even consider microwaved scrambled eggs as a recognisable version of the above.  Start by simply sweating off onions, peppers and chorizo in olive oil in a frying pan. I like to use home made garlic infused oil to add that extra Spanish (Basque) flavour. When softened to your liking add some roughly chopped coriander or parsley (just tear it with your hands and remove the tougher stalks) and some crushed chopped garlic if you are a fan as I am. You can set these aside and finish the dish later if you like or even prepare this part the night before if you want an effortless breakfast next day. Once you have decided on a time ...

The Recycled Cook By Adrian Sleeman Lentils and sausage In the spirit of recycled cooking, today I am revisiting a previous blog of mine, Lentils  that great alternative and versatile staple much loved by health food shops and Indian restaurants. While trying to find something to make for dinner yesterday I remembered that I had two lots of leftover lentils in the freezer, along with a tomato based sauce that had once accompanied a pasta dish. Be creative and see what else you could add to change the character of the original dish. Before I froze the sauce I pushed it through a conical sieve (also known as a Chinois because of its resemblance to a traditional Chinese hat). Lentils and Tomato sauce Chinois Just combine the sauce with the lentils, heat through and reduce until it reaches the desired consistency. Taste and adjust the seasoning, in this case I added a little  Pimenton  (smoked paprika) and some coarse ground black pepper. Be careful w...

The Recycled Cook By Adrian Sleeman Flamenco Eggs The Spanish name for this is "Huevos Flamencos"  and for me this sums up what Mediterranean cooking is all about, flavour and colour. and it is a great dish to have as an alternative to your usual breakfast. It also makes a delicious supper dish. Flamenco on a plate. As with all of my dishes it is not a rigid recipe, is easily adapted depending on what you have left over in your fridge and making a vegetarian option is just a case of substituting the meat for a suitable vegetable, such as Courgette or Aubergine.  Start by sweating off some chopped onion and Chorizo (if using) over a medium heat until softened, then add crushed garlic to taste, being careful not to catch this or it will be bitter. Set aside and keep warm. Next gently mix some eggs, do not over beat as ideally you want a mix of yolk and egg white in the finished dish. This is not after all a "Tortilla"  Chop whatever left over veget...

The Recycled Cook By Adrian Sleeman Fabada Asturiana This is a rustic bean casserole that originated in the Asturia region of Northern Spain. It gets its name from Fava beans that are traditionally used to create this dish although you can use any large white bean. I prefer to use Butter beans as they give a rich creaminess to the dish. If you can find the Spanish variety, usually sold in large glass jars, they are amazing otherwise just use a tin from your supermarket. If you want to be authentic and have patience soak dried beans overnight, personally I don't see the difference. Like all stews there is no fixed recipe and as this is a blog which focuses on using leftover food to create tasty, cost effective dishes it is good to use what you have already got in your fridge. The base of this dish is ham in its various forms, Ham hock, Chorizo, Black pudding (Morzilla) and even bacon if you want. Home made Fabada In a way there are many similarities with Welsh ...

The Recycled Cook By Adrian Sleeman Rice, the world's number one staple This is without doubt the  most widely consumed  staple food  for a large part of the world's human population, especially in South East Asia.  Rice  is the  seed  of the  grass  species  Oryza sativa  (Asian rice) or  Oryza glaberrima   (African rice).  Rice was first domesticated by the Chinese over 10,000  years ago    in the  Pearl River  valley region of  China .   From East Asia, rice as a food staple spread to South East and Southern Asia.  Rice was eventually  introduced to Europe through India, and to the Americas through European colonisation.  Growing up in wales for me rice was usually served as a milky pudding with a lovely skin on top but over the years and with much travel I have learned that rice is probably the most versatile staple in the world. We are now of course ...

The Recycled Cook By Adrian Sleeman Make more of L entils Here is one of my favourite dishes for using up odds and ends that makes a great alternative to potatoes or rice as a staple food. It can be used as a base for a meal or stand alone as the meal itself. Lentils originate in Asia and North Africa and are one of our oldest sources of food known to man. This humble relative of the common garden pea is a rich in protein and carbohydrates and is also also a good source of calcium, phosphorus, iron and B vitamins. There are several different varieties of lentil readily available, most commonly Brown, Red and Green lentils, although Puy and Yellow are stocked in many health and specialist shops.  Which type of lentil you use depends on the kind of dish. They are usually bought dried and it is important to rinse them well before cooking with them. You can soak them to reduce cooking time but to be honest I prefer not to as they absorb so much more flavour that way....