Fettucine, Smoked Trout, Asparagus and Peas

Meal 117 - December 30th - Fettucine, Smoked Trout, Asparagus and Peas
 
Ah pasta. We've had our ups and downs and there have been a few disasters in there, but on the whole I've enjoyed cooking the 15 minute pasta meals. Most of Lolz's low ratings have come not because they've tasted particularly awful (well, maybe that prawn linguine...) but because of the amount the ingredients cost (compared to an average chuck it together pasta dinner) and the amount of washing she is subjected to. From a purely taste perspective (arguably the most important of all perspectives) they've often been above average. Some of my particular favourites have been the broccoli pasta, pasta pesto, chorizo carbonara and the fantastic salsa verde tuna - it's really only been the tomato sauce based ones which have been disappointing.

Arnold Bennett Fritata, Foccacia and Emmental Waldorf Salad

Meal 112 - December 22nd - Arnold Bennett Frittata, Foccacia and Emmental Waldorf Salad

With the granola proving to be such a shambles, and having plans for the afternoon, I had no option but to return almost immediately to the kitchen to cook what is effectively the second course of our brunch. With neither of us having eaten much granola though, this wasn't necessarily a bad thing. I have no idea who Arnold Bennett is or what he has to do with frittatas but this looked like a much more straightforward meal to cook. It didn't go quite according to plan though...

Lamb Lollipops, Curry Sauce, Rice and Peas

Meal 107 - December 14th - Lamb Lollipops, Curry Sauce, Rice and Peas

Lolz got up very early this morning (well, early for a Saturday) to go and do her Christmas shopping and she assures me that everything she bought was for me, and she let me watch a truly abysmal game of football whilst she did the wrapping up, so I thought it only fair that I treat her to a nice 15 minute meal tonight. I decided to make lamb lollipops (slim pickings now with Lolz and her new found fussiness), which, continuing our recent gastronomic world tour, sounded like it might be taking us to some kind of Willy Wonka spin off business. I was excited and scared.

Chilli Con Carne Meatballs

Meal 106 - December 13th - Chilli Con Carne Meatballs

I'm having a bit of a disastrous December, and not just because I have not yet started my Christmas shopping. Two bouts of sickness has meant, nearly two weeks into the month I have only cooked two 15 minute meals. My grand plan of cooking the remaining sixteen 15 minute meals is in serious jeopardy. It doesn't help that Lolz is now threatening to refuse to eat any more fish meals. Still, at least her stomach is now functioning as normal and she chose this chilli con carne/meatball combo as meal number 106, as we continued our gastronomic world tour, which has already taken us to Mexico, Greece and Morocco in the last couple of weeks...

Baked Whole Trout, Jersey Royals, Peas and Mustard Sauce

Meal 101 - November 25th - Baked Whole Trout, Jersey Royals, Peas and Mustard Sauce

The half marathon went well thanks, a solid 1h 38. To achieve that I'd had to consume a mouthwatering cocktail of pasta, porridge, bananas, lucozade and energy gels (not all at the same time obviously) and followed that up with a post race burger and big fry up the following morning. It was time to get back to eating some normal food, and after a 15 minute meal-less weekend, time to return to the challenge. My book is starting to look rather battered and there aren't many recipes that are yet to be crossed off the list but I'd had my eye on this trout recipe for a while and with the day off work, knew we could get to the fishmongers to buy some good quality fish.

Chicken Cacciatore, Spaghetti and Smoky Tomato Sauce

Meal 99 - November 19th - Chicken Cacciatore, Spaghetti and Smoky Tomato Sauce

Thick and fast these 15 minute meals are coming now. If I'm not cooking them I'm writing about them and if I'm not writing about them... well... I should be. I seem to constantly be about three posts behind where I actually am - I'm writing this about a week after I cooked it. But I guess that's what happens when it gets to the point where I have to pretty much cook a meal every other day in order to complete the challenge. I hope Lolz isn't expecting a crazy New Years Eve - on December 31st I'll be cooking my way through whatever is still left to do and so our midnight champagne may well be accompanied by some steak medallions or camembert parcels or one of the other 20 meals I have yet to cook...

Butterflied Sardines, Tuscan Bread Salad

Meal 97 - November 15th - Butterflied Sardines, Tuscan Bread Salad

It's Friday today. Most people will be looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend, but not me. I have a cold, I have to get up at 5:45 tomorrow morning to go to work, and I need to fit in a decent run. This doesn't really have any bearing on tonight's 15 minute meal, I just felt the need to vent a little bit. But anyway, in spite of everything I have to look forward to tomorrow (or perhaps because of - I sure as hell won't want to do any cooking then) I decided to make it a 15 minute meal Friday, and we had butterflied sardines and Tuscan bread salad on the menu.

Lamb Kofte, Pitta & Greek Salad

Meal 92 - October 31st - Lamb Kofte, Pitta & Greek Salad

I can't claim to have the biggest collection of JO recipe books (currently just the four) but I do like to have a bit of a flick through from time to time, and when I'm in a bookshop I'll often pick up another one and see what I'm missing. As a result you do see certain dishes which run through the back catalogue. There's sausage pasta, a version of which seems to appear in every Jamie book. There's braised peas and lettuce, the 15 minute version of which I'm yet to actually do. Today I'm doing Greek salad, perhaps not really a Jamie signature dish, but it's one of my fave recipes in the "Jamie does..." book and so inevitably, I'm going to compare them.

Korean Fried Rice, Steak, Mushrooms and Pickles

Meal 91 - October 29th - Korean Fried Rice, Steak, Mushrooms and Pickles

Sirloin steak is one of those ingredients where you just don't want to faff about with it too much. There's a reason why most restaurants serve it - and most recipes tell you to cook it - as simply as possible: it is melt-in-the-mouth delicious. As long as you don't mess around too much, you can't really go too far wrong. Which boded (bade?) well because this dish looked mental.

Classic Cheese & Mushroom - Viva La Toastie

Meal 90 - October 27th - Classic Cheese & Mushroom - Viva La Toastie

I think the mark of a true chef (other than Michelin stars - and I'm probably still a few years off that level) is an ability to change a recipe depending on circumstances. To be able to freestyle a little depending on what is in your fridge, or what mood you are in. Today's breakfast (our fourth and final toastie) was supposed to be a classic cheese and mushroom but instead turned out to be a classic cheese. Lolz didn't want to buy a whole box of mushrooms when the recipe only called for three and I was only too happy to agree.

Chorizo & Squid, Greek Style Couscous Salad

Meal 86 - October 17th - Chorizo & Squid, Greek Style Couscous Salad

You could argue that squid deserves it's own chapter in 15 minute meals. Not just because it isn't a fish, but because it has three meals to it's name - not bad for a rather marginalised member of the seafood community. I had never actually cooked squid before starting this challenge - now I can say I have griddled it, made it into "squidballs" and today I would be completing the trilogy by frying it with chorizo and peppers. And this looked like it would be the best of the three...

Crispy Duck, Hoi Sin Lettuce Parcels

Meal 84 - October 10th - Crispy Duck, Hoi Sin Lettuce Parcels

And you thought it was just chicken, beef, pork, lamb, fish, pasta, veggie, soups and sarnies? Nope, hiding at the back of the chicken section is this 15 minute version of the Chinese restaurant favourite, which I thought I would have a "quack" at tonight...

Glazed Sizzling Chops, Sweet Tomato & Asparagus Lasagnetti

Meal 81 - October 1st - Glazed Sizzling Chops, Sweet Tomato & Asparagus Lasagnetti

Although many of my 15 minute meal choices are dictated by what is in the fridge or what mood we are in, I have been trying to rotate around the various chapters so that I don't run out of chicken dishes by mid-October or still have 8 fish to do in December. I actually rigged up a spreadsheet to tell me what percentage of each chapter I had left to cook (I love a good spreadsheet) and it told me that it was time for some lamb.

Moroccan Bream, Couscous, Pomegranate and Harissa

Meal 79 - September 25th - Moroccan Bream, Couscous, Pomegranate and Harissa

A weekend away forced a brief hiatus on my 15 minute meal challenge but it was nonetheless a weekend with several noteworthy events of the culinary kind. We were headed down to Cornwall for my sister's wedding and being a journey of several hundred miles, we stopped en route several times. The first stop was at a service station in a town called Wincanton, for petrol. We popped into the adjoining Morrison's for a bit of liquid refreshment and I couldn't believe what I saw. Let me just explain first of all that Wincanton is a small town with a population of about four thousand. According to the Wikitravel website, it's third most popular attraction is the A303 bypass. Morrison's, meanwhile, is generally regarded a fairly downmarket chain of supermarket. And yet in this Morrison's in sleepy Wincanton I was greeted by an array of fresh fruit and veg to rival even the finest supermarket we came across in the Loire Valley a couple of months ago. It even had a little sprinkler system to keep the produce refreshed.

Sizzling Chicken Fajitas, Grilled Peppers, Salsa, Rice and Beans

Meal 70 - August 23rd - Sizzling Chicken Fajitas, Grilled Peppers, Salsa, Rice and Beans

It's Friday again, bank holiday weekend again and another opportunity to tick a few more 15 minute meals off my list. For some reason I haven't done any chicken meals for over two months so I decided to fix that anomaly by attempting these sizzling fajitas. Fajitas are something which I used to cook on a semi regular basis, particularly as a quick, risk free option to cook for friends, but to be honest I always used pre-made fajita spice mix - I've never really considered the DIY option. According to Jamie, that DIY option consists merely of a heaped teaspoon of sweet smoked paprika. Have I been wasting my money on this pre-made stuff all this time, or is this Jamie equivalent overly simplified in order to save time, money and calories?

Crab Bolognese and Crunch Fennel Salad

Meal 68 - August 17th - Crab Bolognese and Crunch Fennel Salad

This weekend marks the return of Premier League  and I'm writing this post just as THFC kick off their opening match against Crystal Palace. I'm a little nervous - Palace are newly promoted and are most people's favourites for relegation but Tottenham have a knack of cocking things up. Anyway, speaking of cocking things up, I decided to attempt another crab dish, just a couple of weeks after my last one, which, I'm sure you'll remember was a disaster.

The Best Fish Baps, Mushy Peas and Tartare Sauce

Meal 63 - August 3rd - The Best Fish Baps, Mushy Peas and Tartare Sauce

It's a sunny Saturday afternoon and, rather than our regular Saturday evening 15 minute meal, I decided to make an impromptu lunch before we head to the park to catch some rays and drink some ale. You may remember that my last attempt at a fish dish was a bit of a disaster so, rather than let that memory linger and cloud my views on the 15 minute meals fish section which has, on the whole, been excellent, I decided to dive right back in and tackle the issue head on. (How many fishing puns can you spot there!)

Black Bean Beef Burgers, Noodles and Pickle Salad

Meal 52 - June 21st - Black Bean Beef Burgers, Noodles and Pickle Salad

Well I'm pleased to report that we did successfully make it to Brighton last weekend. Fuelled by the Incredibly Delicious Chicken Salad and Lolz's pear tart, not to mention an army of Jelly Babies, we negotiated rain, shine, hills, bike jams and even some brake issues before we caught sight of Brighton beach at around 6:30. It wasn't quite 15 minute meals standard but I think I'd thoroughly earned the greasy chicken and chips from the beachfront caff which I ate before heading home (in the car, obviously, although Lolz did make me drive). A busy week meant this was my first post bike ride opportunity to return to my 15 minute meal challenge and with various other trips away over the next few weeks I knew I'd have to make this weekend count - I will be aiming to add three meals to my tally before returning to work on Monday.

Grilled Cajun Prawns, Sweet Potato Mash and Holy Trinity Veg

Meal 46 - May 25th - Grilled Cajun Prawns, Sweet Potato Mash and Holy Trinity Veg

This week, Lolz bumped into Masterchef presenter Gregg Wallace on the tube. I say "bumped in to" - apparently he got into her carriage, she smiled at him awkwardly and proceeded to Tweet about it. It's not unusual to celeb spot in London - I once bumped into The Hoff in Brent Cross shopping centre* but what is was surprising is that Gregg retweeted her. Rather than be concerned about the fact that he ends up dating most women who tweet him I decided that this was a sure sign that BBC bigwigs and experts in the culinary industry have spotted my cooking/blogging talent and I would shortly be securing some celebrity endorsements and, possibly, my own TV show.

Orange Super Smoothie

Meal 42 - May 11th - Orange Super Smoothie

It's been a bit of a funny old week - a change appears to have occurred whereby Lolz has become chef and I am chief washer-upper. Desperate to redress this balance (I don't like washing up) but wanting to ease myself back in to the 15 minute meal routine, I decided to make a nice straightforward smoothie. This had the added benefit of using up the copious amount of oranges we have accrued from our weekly veg boxes.