Simply Corned-beef Hash

This a versatile dish you can use at just about any mealtime. Serve with beans for a hearty brunch, on it's own as a filling lunch or topped with an oozy, poached egg for supper. It is definitely a dish to help you out if the purse has decided to go on a diet! My dad argues with me that this is not true corned beef hash as it isn't mashed potato and corned beef mixed together, I get the feeling it's like the 'panhag' and everyone has their own take on it. This is mine. 

Tin of corned beef roughly chopped

2 large potatoes cubed

200g black pudding chopped

Large onion sliced

Splash of Worcester sauce 

In a frying pan on a medium heat with some oil fry the onions.

In another pan boil the cubed potato pieces for roughly 5 minutes or until soft.

Put the black pudding and corned beef into the pan with the onion and fry off while the potato cooks add a dash of Worcester sauce.

Drain the potatoes add to the frying pan and cook while your beans heat up or you poach an egg.

Serve and enjoy.

Pasta Cheat

During the hellish ordeal that is weekend shopping, I came up with my next dish. As I sat in Frankie and Benny's watching the rush of people enter, eat and leave the restaurant, I wondered how many of us actually wanted to be there. Who was there by choice, or because it's the weekend thing to do or actually felt they just had to be there. I don't mean just eating out, but shopping. I really hate it, pushing through crowds of people all racing around trying to complete their missions. Sitting in queues of traffic getting angrier and angrier waiting to get to our destination as quickly as we can so we can get home again. I still can't get my head around the fact that people do this for pleasure. Give me the woods or the beach and I'm in heaven. That's not to say I didn't enjoy myself, we had a lovely family day out and it's all about compromise and doing things that everybody enjoys. Watching my youngest two children's faces light up because they are getting treated to a dessert and a balloon, they really are that easily pleased, is a lovely thing even if it isn't my cup of tea. Considering I got my inspiration for this next dish while I was there it wasn't all bad. So here's my recipe for bacon and mushroom tagliatelle. Combat the 'carb coma' by serving with a large fresh salad instead of garlic bread like I did!

Bacon (I used Asda smartprice smoked back bacon for £1.20 312gm)

250g mushrooms (mine were 25p from the Spar bargain!)

Tin of cream of chicken/= or mushroom soup

2 tsp dried thyme 

2 tsp garlic powder

400g tagliatelle

Finely grated cheddar to sprinkle on top

Slice the mushrooms and bacon

On a high heat fry them for 15 minutes or until golden

Add the thyme

Cover the tagliatelle with boiling water and simmer for 10 minutes

Heat the soup

Drain the cooked pasta, add the soup, bacon and mushrooms and serve with a sprinkle of cheese on top.