Simple but tasty starter

angeldelight

Somehow I've landed myself cooking dinner for the mammy on mother's day... whole 3 course affair. Only problem is I never really cook so I don't know what to do. Found nice recipe for a lemon & lime tart for dessert that I think I can manage, and one for a nice chicken tikka masala for mains but the starter is proving tricky. Something simple and with lots of instructions would be good! She doesn't really like fish apart from smoked salmon. Spent the last hour trawling through the BBC food site but can't really see anything that catches my eye

olaola

Avoca do a SAVAGE smoked salmon terrine. Head down and pick up a few slices and save yourself the hassle! Grab a loaf of brown bread too while you're at it. And taa-daa!!

Raytown Rocks

Bruschetta ( sp)
Tomato,basil,garlic,olive oil. chop everythink really well, Put them all together and mix very well.
Place on top of toasted, sliced french stick.
simple,quick, tasty, and light.


please note, username does not relate to occupation

Alun

I did one the other day that was advertised on the ad breaks during a program on UTV or Ch4.

Take a big field mushroom, big chunk of stilton cheese on the middle, wrap in parma ham and stick in the oven. Serve warm on a bed of rocket. Can't get much simpler than that. I modified it slightly by dribbling a bit of olive oil over the mushroom first, and seasoning it a bit, but I'm not sure whether that was absolutely necessary.

tSubh Dearg

Tomato Surprise

Take a big beef tomato (one for each person eating) Cut off top and scoop out seeds. Break egg into hollow of tomato put in med-high oven for approx 20 mins. Serve. A bit of seasoning never goes astray too.

Schlemm

Pea soup! Easy to make and it will take about an hour, but you can make it in advance (eg, the night before or earlier that day) and heat it up when you need it! Plus it's super tasty and you can impress the Mammy with your amazing newly discovered culinary skills!

You will need:
1 onion, peeled and chopped.
1 medium potato, peeled and chopped (wedge shaped bits are good).
50g (2oz) buttter.
2 pints (1.2 litres) Vegetable Stock (you can get veg stock cubes in most supermarkets).
350g/12oz petit pois (frozen peas are best, and make sure you cook them before you use them).
300 ml (a half pint) of cold milk.

1. In a frying pan, sweat the onion and potato in the butter over a low heat for 10 minutes (basically this means warming them without colouring them or burning them...they should go slightly translucent is all. Keep stirring them around in the pan as they heat up).

2. Transfer the onion and potato to a saucepan and add the 2 pints of veg stock. Bring to the boil and once it has started boiling, reduce the heat, cover the pot and simmer for 20 minutes or until the potato is soft. When it is simmering, it should be bubbling a wee bit but not boiling.

3. Remove the lid and turn up the heat. Now add the peas and cover the pot again. Allow to simmer for another 2 minutes.

4. Remove the pot from the heat and puree the mixture, adding the cold milk as you do so. Season with salt and pepper and serve with brown bread and butter. If you want to pop it in the fridge for later, make sure it has cooled down first.

frizzefreckles

Alun wrote:

I did one the other day that was advertised on the ad breaks during a program on UTV or Ch4.

Take a big field mushroom, big chunk of stilton cheese on the middle, wrap in parma ham and stick in the oven. Serve warm on a bed of rocket. Can't get much simpler than that. I modified it slightly by dribbling a bit of olive oil over the mushroom first, and seasoning it a bit, but I'm not sure whether that was absolutely necessary.

hi alun i'm thinking of trying this myself on sunday and was wondering how hot did you have the oven and how long did you leave it in for? i'm a complete novice when it comes to cooking !