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SUNDAY ROAST DINNER IN THE MICROWAVE  The Roast Dinner on a Sunday, Mid-Week or even Christmas Day can be quite a task. The trick is to make sure that everything on the plate is piping hot and your onto a winner. Older generations have the view that the Roast Dinner is something a bit special, especially those who lived through the years where food was on the ration, where plates were rarely filled up for over a decade as rationing continued for nine years after the end of world war 2.  Due to the respect of the Roast Dinner, it is considered to be Englands National Dish. The french actually refer to us as Ros Bifs (Roast Beefs) The origins of the Roast Dinner are from people basically cooking a large meal for after church on a Sunday. Some families would fast before going to church, and would required a large meal for later. The meat would cook while the family were at the church service, and the veg was cooked when they returned. During the reign of
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SALADS With Summer on the way, people feel less inclined to eat heavy wintery meals and start moving towards lighter and healthier options, such as chicken or fish dishes, barbeque, and of course, Salads. Traditionally a salad is considered to be a cold dish of lettuce or leaf, accompanied by a bit of garnish, such as tomato and cucumber. A salad is a mix of ingredients, usually fruit and vegetable's with a dressing or sauce, usually served cold. Not all salads are cold, not all salads are dressed and not all salads are meat free. Although an original Caesar Salad didn't contain anchovies, over the years, anchovies have been added as an option, even though Caesar Cardini who created the salad hated the idea of anchovies being added.  Caesar Salad  The Caesar Salad, a firm favorite in many restaurants, was originally created in the 1920's. As the story goes, a Fourth of July rush depleted the kitchen's supplies. Cardini had to make do with what h
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Potatoes The humble Potato, originally from South America, I think Peru and Bolivia, a wild tuber that was cultivated and domesticated over a large area to become the world’s fourth largest food crop. It has become a main staple in America and Europe, and has around 5000 varieties worldwide. The plant itself is highly toxic, containing high levels of glycoalkaloids, the actual potato itself must always be cooked before eating, and if the potato is green, it has not fully grown and should not be used. I’m going to do this as though you have no idea what to do with a potato, because everyone has different degree’s of ability and knowledge. I recently worked with a young girl of eighteen years old, and she had no idea of how a mop worked, and I had to show her. Unbelievable! The other girl, who was, I think, nineteen had that weekend, stripped down and rebuilt a 50cc moped engine. Swings and roundabouts, as they say. Cooking the potato is quite a simple thing re
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Vegetarian and Meat-Free

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Vegetarian and Meat-Free I ' ve been looking into Vegetarian dishes for quite some time, as my daughter was unable to eat meat after giving birth. She was never one for red meat anyway, but now cannot eat any kind of meat or fish. When I cook a meal for the family, I sometimes cook four completely different meals, but most of the time I cook the same for everyone, which can be challenging when it's something like a Roast Dinner, and there is a veggie in the fray. There are two types here, there is Vegetarian, where the meal has been designed with vegetarians in mind, and there is Meat-free, where the meat of an established dish has been replaced with non-meat ingredients. But in saying that, it's not wrong to say Vegetarian L asagne as opposed to saying Meat-free Lasagne. It really doesn't matter, just don't mix up vegetarian with vegan, they are two completely different things. The basic rule of thumb is to simple depart any meat, so when cooki
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