Wednesday 29 April 2009

Dhal

Anything I make in my house that has lentils in, in any shape or form is called "lentily goodness". I don't know why, it just is. Hubby isn't the biggest fan of lentils, whereas I love them, so maybe its me trying to convince him that whatever I have made is going to be great!

Something I never order when we go out to Indian restaurants, or have takeaway is Dhal. Therefore I have no way of knowing if what I am making is right. I realise its in no way authentic as its a recipe borrowed from about 3 others, and then bits of my own ideas thrown in. All I know is that is tastes good! I have been known to make a batch and stand by the cooker with a saucepan and wooden spoon in hand, shovelling unceremoniously. I often take a little pot from the freezer for my lunch at work, and its great served with a salsa type mix of chopped tomatoes, onions and cucumber. Its equally as good served with a meat curry and rice, or stirred through any leftover curry to bulk it out a bit.

Very comforting, and can be made as spicy as you like it.

Dhal

half tsp of fennel seeds
half tsp of cumin seeds
1tsp garam masala
1tsp medium curry powder
1/2tsp ground coriander
1tsp ground turmeric
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
2 inch piece of ginger peeled
300mls water
400mls coconut milk, can use low fat
1 small dried chilli, or fresh chillis to your taste
tea spoon sea salt
olive oil
200grams small red lentils
50grams green lentils


1) put spices in a pan and dry fry for a couple of minutes

2) take spices, onion, garlic, chilli and ginger and blitz in a blender to form a paste

3) fry the paste in a little hot oil for 5 minutes

4) add the lentils, water and coconut milk. Bring to the boil and then simmer gently until lentils are cooked through, usually about 20-30 minutes. I sometimes cook for maybe 40 minutes to get a nice thick creamy texture.

5) check seasoning and serve



optional 6) you can fry some sliced onions, curry leave and mustard seeds until they start to pop and pour over the dhal before serving

Pea & Mint Soup

Making Soup. I think this has to be one of the most satisfying things you can do in a kitchen. Whether its making soup for a special occasion, following a recipe to the letter, or just using up odds and ends to make a comforting bowl of goodness.
I was supposed to go to the gym last night, but it started to rain and it put me off. Instead I went home and got busy in the kitchen whilst I waited for hubby.

First stop after sorting out the tea was to make some soup. Something cheap, but it had to be undoubtedly cheerful. Now that spring has officially sprung, I'm not craving those thick warm, stew like soups of the winter months. I need something zingy and with colour.

And this is where pea and mint soup hits all the spots. Its bright green vibrancy reminds you of the rolling hills outside. The mint adds this amazing freshness and overalls its quite healthy so gives you that boost you need.

However it did mean I had to venture out into the garden in the rain to get some mint. I so much prefer the soft fluffy mint with large downy leaves, to that horrid stuff the supermarkets sell. The leaves on that stuff are almost crunchy and brittle.

My mum and dad used to have the best mint patch in the world. It was roughly a metre square patch by the back door full of mint plants at least a 18 inches high. Magnificent. Anyway I pinched some and after a poor crop last year, I am obviously doing something right as it is popping up all over the place in my one of my raised beds. Last week I had one tiny spike poking through, yesterday there were 3 big plants in the middle of my lettuces, some more showing through the rosemary, and a bit more over in the corner!

I know it bothers some people, and they say if you are planting it in a bed you should put it in a pot first so the roots cant spread, but I love mint and am happy to have as much of it as I can. Especially when summer comes and I need it for my Pimms!

Anyway pea and mint soup is about the easiest and tastiest thing you can make.

Pea & Mint Soup

2 large onions chopped
small knob of butter
splash of olive oil
1kg frozen peas
15g of fresh mint. the soft fluffy kind is best
1 1/2 pints of veg/chicken stock
salt and pepper


1) heat the oil and butter in the pan and add the onions. fry off for 10 minutes until soft

2) add the frozen peas, and stir to coat in the butter/onion. You might need to put the lid on a leave for 5 minutes before you do this, if like me your peas were all stuck together!

3) add the stock, and leave until it comes to the boil

4) take off the heat and blend, I used a hand blender

5) check seasoning, and serve


This recipe makes 5 pints of soup, so perfect for freezing in individual portions for lunches.




I added a swirl of soya cream for the photo but it doesn't really need it to be honest. The peas and mint add such a great flavour that it can carry itself quite easily. The photo does make the soup look a little thin, but that's only because by the time I had finished setting things up the peas had sunk to the bottom. When blending I like to leave a little texture. I don't think this is the sort of soup that suits being really smooth, but its entirely up to you.

Wednesday 22 April 2009

Beetroot Rissotto

Whilst round at my parents recently I noticed a Slimmers World cook book out on the table. It appears this is my mums attempt to lose weight for our holiday to Cuba in a little over 7 weeks time. That makes her, my sister and myself all desperate to lose at least half a stone!

Anyway, I was flicking through as I do, and saw a recipe for a beetroot risotto. I didn't have time to write down the recipe, but it has stuck with me since and I have been desperate to make it. I had two small raw beetroots in the fridge left over from mothers day which seemed to have lasted rather well, plus we always have risotto rice in. The only thing I was lacking was any decent stock, having used up my freezer reserves of homemade chicken and vegetable stocks.

Following a discussion on the BBC Food Boards, I discovered that the new Knorr Stock Pots were on offer in Sainsburys for half price. Eight pots for 99p cannot be ignored as a handy store cupboard standby.

Beetroot Risotto
2 raw beetroot, peeled and grated (wear gloves if you have them!)
200g of risotto rice
1 onion, finely chopped
half tsp of fennel seeds toasted and crushed
half tsp cumin seeds toasted and crushed
2 pints of stock (made with one little stock pot) needs to be simmering in a separate pan
sour cream
fennel fronds


salt and pepper

1) sweat onion in a little oil or butter for a few minutes. add rice and spices and cook on a gentle heat for another few minutes or until the grains of rice have cracks appearing on them. add in the grated beetroot and stir until incorporated with the rice

(I love the colours in this photo. The dark purple of the beetroot starts to turn the rice pink as soon as you stir and it gives you this fantastic mottled effect)

2) add a ladle full of stock, stir gently until all the stock has absorbed. repeat until all the stock has been added and the rice grains are creamy when bitten into. should take about 45 mins

3) season to taste and serve a bowl full of the risotto with a spoonful of sour cream and fennel fronds to garnish.

I think next time I will add a little more of the spices, but overall it was a really good risotto. I loved the colour and the flavour was ever so subtly earthy. I would have been happier if the colour of the beetroot had bled as much, I liked the darker flecks as it was cooking, but I suppose thats the nature of beetroot. Everything goes pink!


Weekend in West Sussex - Sunday

On the Sunday we started with a lovely breakfast in the hotel. Nice meaty sausages, crispy hash browns, and some lovely ripe sweet grilled tomatoes. Not too much as we knew we were going for a day out in Brighton, somewhere I had only passed through on my travels with work and hubby had never been to.

Upon arrival in Brighton we first navigated the weirdest underground parking system we had ever encountered, and then stripped off our jackets for a walk along the beach. Wonderful weather meant that the world and his wife were out for the day in Brighton but it just made everything seem more summery rather than crowded if you know what I mean.




We decided that we could happily share fish and chips, so after stalking a few people to see what they were eating, we found what looked like a good contender. Cod and chips once and a can of coke. Carried over to the beach, where we settled down with our little wooden forks. Heaven. Creamy soft fish, crispy batter and hot chips just the way I like them. (horrid picture, sorry about that. I seem to have the fluffiest hair in the world!)


After a couple of hours of wandering the beach and the pier we decided we better head home. However I had spotted a lovely looking place for an ice cream, The World Famous Pump Room right on the beach just about in line with the Grand Hotel. Their ice cream is made on a local farm and they have lots of lovely flavours. OH went for Amaretto and I opted for Lemon Meringue. I know I shouldn't as dairy really does not agree with me, but my goodness it was good. One scoop served in a crisp sugar cone lasted me a good 20 minutes back to the car and out of Brighton.


Sunday night we had dinner in the hotel planned. Hubby had scoped out the menu earlier in the day and said there were some decent looking options. So we settled down (quite uncomfortably close to the next table in my opinion) and placed our orders. Mackerel pate for me, and I actually cant remember what hubby had, followed by roast Topside of beef for hubby and stuffed sea bass with leek, ginger and fennel for me.

First we were served our wine. Id gone for nice Sancerre and the poor waiter took about 10 minutes to get the cork out, snapping it in the process. He poured some and asked if I wanted to taste it. Well I would have done if there weren't tonnes of bits of cork floating in my glass. After speaking to the manager we managed to get them to get us a new bottle. This was followed by them serving me normal pate instead of mackerel. Tasty starters but not overly impressive.

All was about to change. OHs beef with horseradish mash was divine apparently. I wouldn't know, I don't really eat beef so declined a sample. My sea bass however was out of this world. Two fillets of seabass sandwiched together by a slow cooked, soft sweet caramelised mix of leeks and fennel with the not overpowering addition of fresh ginger. Served with saffron potatoes and some buttery cabbage and broccoli, I could have happily eaten this dish again and again.
Sorry about the fact that there is a large proportion of me in the picture. Being very close to the next table I didn't feel overly comfortable taking pictures of the food, so hubby pretended to take one of me, but moved it down to the get the fish instead!

We don't normally do desserts but had to finish off with one as they were paying! OH opted for Baileys creme brulee which he really enjoyed and I had date and ginger pudding. Perfect texture and size, accompanied by creme fraiche to offset the richness. Again shouldn't have eaten the dairy but what the hey!

Overall an enjoyable weekend away. Food wasn't as perfect as I would have liked on the Saturday, but serves me right for not booking somewhere before 4pm on the day.

Tuesday 21 April 2009

Weekend in West Sussex - Saturday


Despite the fact that I am not loving my job at the moment, I cant really complain. We regularly get invited by hotels to go and sample their wares. They invite us down, feed us, ply us with alcohol, let us stay in their sumptuous bedrooms and then after a full English the next day we toddle of home. Sometimes these little trips are for two nights, sometimes they are open to members of staff only, sometimes we can take partners, sometimes there are groups from other companies there.


Anyway, a few months ago the Hilton Avisford Park, Arundel came into the work and gave us two vouchers entitling us to a free two nights stay at the hotel with free dinner on one night. Lucky old me got my name pulled out of the hat for one of the vouchers. We had to use it by the end of May and last weekend was the only time we had free. So off we went. Its a bit of trek from Cheshire, but we set off about 10:30am, took some A road routes to avoid the standard tailbacks on the M6 and were soon well on our way.


Normally we take sandwiches, but we didn't have anything in the fridge so decided to stop at some services on the way. Now I am not one for a Ginsters pasty, or Scotch egg, but providing you can find a services with a Costa Coffee, or even an M&S you can do OK. We decided to go the Costa Coffee route and filled up on panini's and soya milk hot chocolate.


If we had realised we came off the motorway quite so early, we would have maybe postponed lunch and stopped in one of the many quaint little villages along the way. We went past so many country pubs, each one looking better than the last. Eventually half an hour from our destination we decided that we couldn't pass up the sunshine and we had to stop for a drink. We went to this lovely pub called The Mulberry Bush or Mulberry Tree which has a sister property somewhere. Stoopid me me thought she would be able to find a web link to the place and I cant. Anyway i had a lovely Pimms, and OH had an Old Speckled Hen.


As dinner was included on one night, I thought it best to have this on the Sunday night, as we would stand more chance of finding somewhere to eat on the Saturday. What I should have realised that being a Saturday it would give us less chance of finding somewhere to eat! Especially as the weather was gorgeous. We stopped in Arundel on the way to the hotel, to case the joint and get some cash. Thanks to the lovely folks on the BBC Food Boards, I had some suggestions for dinner. First option was the George and Dragon at Burpham. Armed with the phone number we rang, and rang, and rang. Not wanting to hedge our bets and book a taxi out there for it to be shut, we got back in the car and went for a little drive. It was shut with no signs up saying what time it would open, so rather than risk it we gave up on that idea. We tried Arundel House on the High Street but they had just re-opened that day after a refurb and were fully booked. We tried Butlers on Tarrant Street, but they only had one table which was next to the service door. Thanks but no thanks.


On our way back to the hotel we went past another pub called The White Swan. We stopped off to investigate and it looked really nice on the inside. We had a gander at the menu and it all looked fairly decent. So later that evening we hopped in a taxi and made our way back.


It was quite quiet when we got there with only about 3 other tables eating, and one couple having drinks at the bar. We decided to have a drink whilst we read the menu, and having made our decisions were led to the table. They started off by saying they didn't have one thing on the menu which was scampi. No problem there, neither of us wanted it. Then she came back 10 minutes later to say they also didn't have the seabass(my choice) and one other thing which I cant remember. So I had to change my mind. There were a few other things on the menu, but nothing really grabbed me like the grilled seabass on a white wine risotto had done, so I resorted to the starter of fish cakes, but served as a main with chips and veg.


For starter I had leek and potato soup, which was homemade and nice, but far to peppery. OH had duck terrine, with Tacklemans chutney and Melba toast. For mains, I had the above mentioned fish cake and OH had his all time favourite of steak with peppercorn sauce, onion rings, chips and roasted vine tomatoes. The service was good throughout the meal, but the place lacked atmosphere to be honest. We then had a terrible end, when they brought us the bill with an extra £2 added onto the steak, an extra 70p on the fishcakes and a few more pennies here and there. All in all they tried to charge us an extra £4.20p. We spoke to the girl who served us and it appears it was something to do with the computer, and she was very apologetic and took the money off as she should. They also didn't seem to charge us for the drink we had in the bar before the meal, so I did still leave a tip!





Top Photo - Hubbys pate and chutney


Bottom Photos - Sorry about the messy picture of hubbys steak, he started eating before I could take a picture. The mustard on the top left of the plate just about blew his head off the poor mite!

African Curry

Ok I will admit it, I don't make my own curry paste. You are now free to tut away to yourself.

Ive tried, I promise, it just never seems to have the correct depth of flavour I crave and therefore it is easier using a jar! If I lived nearer to Manchester or actually went into Manchester on a more regular basis than once every six months and did more than visit the Arndale I would take advantage of the local ethnic shops and would buy my pastes from there. However I'm too lazy, so my curry pastes are normally from Asda who do a fantastic ethnic range, and my Thai paste are usually Sainsburys own as I find the Bart ones too spicy.


Recently while perusing the aisles of Asda we came across this paste.

The description is as follows; Balangwu, Suya Paste - spicy hausa/fulani peanut cooking paste.

Ingredients; groundnut paste, pepper, ginger, clove, nutmeg, spices, groundnut oil.

As you can see its a little vague!! Who knows what "spices" covers, considering it specifically mentions pepper, ginger etc.

Now hubby doesn't do much cooking in our house. He likes to come in and stir things whilst I'm cooking, and he does a mean chilli when he sets his mind to it, but its usually a once every few months occurrence. Anyway after all my baking and creating over Easter Weekend (which included Nachos for 10) I think he felt it was his turn and that curry was the order of the day. Obviously it couldn't be made with whatever meat we had in the freezer, it had to be made with what it suggested on the back of the label which was lamb! Well it would be wouldn't it! So off I toddle to Sainsburys and come back with a cheap and cheerful pack of neck fillet.

Hubby shut himself in the kitchen and proceeded to make this culinary masterpiece.

African Curry

200g lamb neck fillet cut in chunks
1 large onion chopped
2 dessert spoons of curry paste
1 red pepper chopped
as many mushrooms as you like chopped
half pint of water
2tbs of peanut butter
2tbs of coconut cream

brown rice to serve

1) fry off onion and add curry paste. cook out for 5 minutes
2) add lamb neck and brown
3) add in peanut butter, coconut cream and half pint of water
4) leave to simmer for 1hr or until lamb is very tender
5) add in mushrooms and peppers for the last 10 minutes
6) serve with brown rice


The curry paste is VERY hot. It recommends 2-3 dessertspoons and it certainly made our noses run! On the jar it just advises using the paste with water, but the addition of the coconut made it a creamier and more to our liking. Despite the spiciness it was a really good curry. Lots of flavour and quite addictive. We will definitely make this again and I have already mixed a bit of the paste in with some coconut cream as a marinade for some chicken legs which are in the freezer waiting for a suitable BBQ day!

Wednesday 15 April 2009

Easter Bunny Biccies

I have been a little stressed recently for reasons I shall go into on another post when the time comes, and as I have mentioned before I find the best way for dealing with stress is to shut myself in the kitchen with Heart FM (I love hearing about the congestion on the M25 - makes me relish not living down south) and create. Whether its stuff for the freezer, or treats for the office, it always seems to relax me.

Anyway, I knew we were off the pub on Friday night with friends, and we had hubbys parents coming on Saturday as we were off to a family friends birthday so I thought some baking was in order. A while ago whilst shopping at Cheshire Oaks we were in one of the kitchen shops and I saw this really cute little bunny head shaped cutter. Now we have a rabbit called rather unimaginatively Peter. But there is a snag...we thought it was a boy and its actually a girl! But Pete works for both. So anyway in homage to Pete the cutter was bought and was used to make these rather cute little biccies.

Easter Biccies (sort of based on a recipe from The Cooks Encyclopedia of Cookies Biscuits and Bars)
175g salted butter
300g sugar
1 egg and 1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
300g plain flour
2 tsp ground mixed spice

Pre-heat oven to 190deg.

1) Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until light and fluffy
2) Mix in the egg and egg yolk, along with the vanilla essence.
3) Sift in the flour and mixed spice and mix together. Gather the dough in a ball, cover in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
4) Once chilled, roll out the dough on a floured surface until 3mm thick. I made some slightly thicker, but they do puff slightly in the oven.
5) Stamp out the shapes with cutter. The recipe said it made 30, but once again something happened in my mixing bowl and I ended up with hundreds!
6) Bake for about 8 minutes until lightly golden. They will spread slightly in the oven, so make sure they are spaced out on the tray. If you let them go too brown they are fine, just a little crispier.
7) Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Once cook decorate with a little icing coloured with food colouring. Once the icing had set I then popped 5 into a little cellophane bag and tied with a nice piece of ribbon. Forgot to take a picture but they made lovely little Easter gifts. The girls appreciated them and took them home from the pub to eat at a sensible time with a cup of tea. The boys however ate them in the pub!



Easter bunnies waiting to be iced

Easter bunnies iced and waiting to be eaten!

Good Friday Fish Day


Ok so I am not religious in the slightest, however I still do the old fish on Good Friday thing. Don't know why, I think its something my parents always did even though they aren't religious either!


We did cheat slightly by having left over pulled pork in pittas for lunch, but I am sure being frugal lets you off.


Anyway, I am a big smoked salmon fan. Hubby not so fussed, but will eat it and does claim to enjoy it every now and again. Those packs of value smoked salmon trimmings are really quite good when you are working to a budget and we often have a pack in the freezer.


We were off to the pub later on Friday night and as it was my turn to drive I thought I'd better line hubby's stomach with pasta. He is a PROPER beer drinker and we go to what is probably one of the most run down little pubs in our home town. From the outside the paint is crumbling, and the inside is filled with old men huddled round little tables, and there is a stroppy old bar woman who once shouted at us to "not f~%k with the fire". The beer is therefore the only reason we go there. Hubby and his mates usually work from left to right across the hand pumps, so it can turn quite messy!



Smoked Salmon Vodka Pasta (serves 2)
1 onion
half a pot of Alpro soya cream (or Elmlea for you normal peeps)
half a bag of washed spinach
50ml vodka
half table spoon of tomato puree
1 packet of smoked salmon trimmings
100g of pasta per person
pepper


1) Put pasta on to boil
2) For the sauce start by sweating the onion in a little oil until translucent. Add the tomato puree and cook out on low for 5 minutes (may need a splash of water)
3) Add the vodka and reduce
4) Add the spinach, and soya cream and heat until the spinach is wilted.
5) Add in the salmon and season with black pepper.
6) Drain the pasta and return to the pan. Pour the sauce over the pasta, stir through to coat and serve.

Friday 10 April 2009

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

We have two types of "nice" dinners in our house. First are the type that involve meticulous planning, lots of time spent in the kitchen, other people are usually invited and it definitely calls for us to be sat at the dining table with napkins.

The second type are still classed as a "nice" dinner, but take a completely different format. They usually happen on a Friday night, or the night before a day off. Its normally just me and hubby, and involves some form of finger food eaten whilst sat on the sofa. Wine is usually the standard accompaniment and instead of napkins we resort to kitchen roll. A lot less formal, but it doesn't mean the meal is any less of a success!

So bearing in mind that Thursday night was officially the start of one life's little joys, a four day bank holiday weekend, it was only right that we needed one of the second type of "nice" dinner.

I knew I had a boneless pork shoulder in the freezer, and didn't need any time to think about what I would make with it. And I sure as hell knew that hubby would have no complaints if I said we were having pulled pork for tea!

Pulled Pork
2kg Boneless Pork Shoulder (keep the string on)
1 onion peeled and roughly chopped in big chunks
3 cloves of garlic squashed with the flat blade of a knife and chopped in half
2 tsp paprika
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1/2 tbsp soft brown sugar
1 1/2 cups of homemade chicken stock (can use a cube)
2/3 cup of apple juice
3 squirts of Ainsley Harriott BBQ spray (can use tbsp of a standard BBQ sauce)
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
squirt of tomato ketchup



1) The night before place all ingredients in a jug and mix together. Place the pork in a bowl, stab it a couple of times with a knife and pour over the mixture. Cover with cling film and chill overnight.


2) The next day, place the pork and marinade in the slow cooker and cook on low for 10 hours.



3) Remove pork from slow cooker and set to one side.

4) Pour the juices into a saucepan, and boil on high to reduce. You want to be left with a thick sauce, so it may take 20 minutes or so.

5) Whilst this is reducing, remove the string and any fat from the pork, and shred with two forks. The meat should be well cooked and shred easily.

6) Once the meat is shredded and the sauce is reduced, remove any fat and pour the sauce over the meat and stir to coat.


7) Serve pulled pork with whatever you fancy. On this occasion
we served with soft white rolls, shop bought coleslaw (I'm embarrassed that I didn't make my own!), and roasted new potatoes. On previous occasions I've served with with homemade winter coleslaw, salad and oven baked jacket spuds which was a very dreamy combination. The meat can also be used to fill wraps, along with all sorts of salady bits and pieces.


We finished the meal with a bottle of the ever-so wonderful Lindemans Tollana Semillon Chardonnay. Possibly my favourite wine of the moment, and usually on special offer in Sainsbury's on a quite regular basis!

Wednesday 8 April 2009

Random Aubergine Thing

Well that's how hubby described it to my sister! Id bought an aubergine in the weekly shop with a mind to making moussaka. However upon checking the old bank balance and realising that lamb mince was a little extravagant for a week-before-pay-day meal I thought I better make something else. Rooting through the freezer threw up half a pack of pork mince, and I knew the cupboards were full of spices and the fridge full of veggies. So thinking cap on - and here's what I came up with

Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo, which is very unlike me, I'm usually snapping everything we eat at the minute. I will be making again though so will add a photo in the not too distant future.

Random Aubergine Thing
250g of pork mince (could use lamb)
1 onion finely chopped
2 crushed garlic cloves
5 chopped dried apricots
2 chopped dried figs
Half small courgette diced
8 mushrooms diced
Half an orange pepper diced
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp tom puree
2 level tbsp ground almonds
Chopped parsley
1 cup veg stock
1 large aubergine
S&P

For the cheesy sauce (I made a lot as can never get quantities of cheese sauce right!)
50g butter
50g flour (approx)
1 carton of Soya cream (or about 250ml milk)
1/2 cup veg stock (you probably wont need it unless the sauce is too thick - as I used soya cream I needed it)
Grated nutmeg
Black pepper
50g grated cheese

1) slice aubergine in half length ways, scoop out the insides, dice it up and put to one side. Scoop out insides to leave a "shell", brush with oil, sprinkle with a little extra cumin and bake in oven 200 deg for 15mins or until cooked
2) fry off pork mince, onion and garlic. Add spices, dried fruit and tom puree. Stir and cook for 2 mins
3) add in diced veggies including the insides of the aubergine and cook for another 2 mins. Add ground almonds, stir until incorporated and then add veg stock.
4) cook for 10 mins until sauce is thickened and veggies are cooked. Season and cover to keep warm
5) make sauce by melting butter in a small saucepan. Add lots of grated nutmeg and a little black pepper. Add in a little of the flour and whisk in. Keep adding a little flour until you get a thick goo. Add the milk a little at a time and keep whisking until smooth. Add some grated cheese and stir until melted. Should be a thick dropping consistency.
6) spoon your pork mix into the hollowed out aubergine, make sure to mound it up. Cover the top with as much or as little cheese sauce as you want and bake in a 250deg oven for 10 mins, until cheese sauce is just turning golden.
7) serve with some little roasted potatoes sprinkled with sea salt, and some salad.

I had leftover mince and leftover cheese sauce. Bunged em both in a little pot and heated up in microwave at work for my lunch. Oh My God it was heavenly!!! Leftovers rule!