More Cottage Pie

Yes. It's still good 2 days later...

Nando's, Cambridge

I haven't often been to Nando's (this is my third time ever and I have a medium quarter of chicken with spicy rice, side salad and a beer) and it got me thinking back to when I was a kid and on the occasion that the family would go on Saturday shopping trips to Peterborough. Shopping would take place in the morning followed by a treat for my sis and I at lunchtime by going to a fast food outlet, pretty much always the KFC opposite the London Road Stadium, the reasoning behind this is that you could tell what animal the food came here was from. I should take Mum and Dad to Nando's sometime where here too, the animal of origin is very obvious. And reasonably tasty.

Cottage Pie

Lovely; we're really into winter now that the Cottage Pie has come out! And She has made absolutely loads of it to her own recipe including baked beans, gravy, grated nutmeg and melted cheese to the usual ingredients of minced beef, potato mash and onion. Despite our best efforts there's half left for another tasty day.

Cottage pie

Chicken Pizza

I was looking forward to making a comforting chicken risotto today, so took the time to buy a rottiserie chicken, parmesan cheese and rocket, only to get home, open the cupboard and find that I have no risotto rice. Damn. I do however have a fresh margherita pizza which I shred some of the chicken over before baking to make a basic Chicken Pizza. Risotto will have to wait.

Chicken pizza

Bean & Bacon Soup

Yet more pork! Yes, I don't mind if I do, as I have a warming bowl of New Covent Garden Soup Company's Bean & Bacon Soup with warmed pitta bread before heading to the pub.

Bean & bacon soup

Pork, Apple, Potatoes

Plenty of pork this week, I must have missed it in the Islamic Republic of Tunisia and more of it today with the classic flavour pairings: Pork, Apple and Potatoes. My thanks to HFW.
Little roast potatoes with softened apple wedges and pan fried pork loin steaks. I serve these with sautéed leeks using the pan juices from the cooking of the pork. Tasty. There are also sage leaves in this which I've decided that I don't like. They're kind of mothbally.

Pork, apple, potatoes

Burger King

With it having gone dark and my stomach rumbling, I unfortunately find myself far from home without any food on me, so I treat myself to a Burger King, the London Kings Cross branch. Brilliant. A Bacon Double Cheeseburger XL meal which I wolf down with some enjoyment. It's only afterwards that the pangs of regret come on.

Gammon, Pineapple & Chips

Gammon & Pineapple. A retro pub classic, quite untrendy now but the sweet, almost sharp, pineapple counteracts the saltiness of the pork very nicely in a number of dishes, the other obvious one being Hawaiian pizza. It wouldn't be a pub classic if it wasn't served with chips would it? And I see no reason here to defy tradition.

Gammon, pineapple & chips

Tuna and Mushroom Spaghetti

Her turn to cook today and a quick, but tasty dinner is what she makes, which is some kind of Tuna and Mushroom stirred into Spaghetti with peas, creme fraiche and dried chilli flakes. About 3 quarters of the way through cooking, I hear cursing from the kitchen and and warning not to come in as asthetically the dish doesn't measure up to her standards. Indeed a peek over her shoulder reveals a mess of spaghetti, tinned tuna flakes and crème fraiche - but once on the tongue it tastes just fine.

Tuna and mushroom spaghetti

Chicken Stir Fry

A change of tact after the past week of stews with a Chicken Stir Fry. I still can't do these properly as my wok cannot get hot enough, but it still makes a nice change; the hotness and spice of fresh cut chilli and ginger complementing nicely the fresh pak choi and chicken.

Chicken stir fry

Tunisian Food

From my research I see that Tunisian food is not the greatest in the world, so it's a good thing that my holiday is in an all inclusive hotel in Hammamet. Or maybe not. Actually the food is good enough and everyday comes in a buffet format with fresh bread, a salad bar...

A selection from the salad bar

...mains counter and a desserts area. The mains are an approximation of Tunisian food, typically a tasty beef stew most nights with rice or couscous, some kind of baked chicken and roasted vegetables, usually peppers or aubergine. Tunisian food, I'd imagine would be a lot more spicy.

Mains

The most genuinely Tunisian dish we had on our travels was some kind of egg fried so the yolk is still runny, inside a thin fried pastry. A bit strange and I can't say I'm overly enamoured with it.