Help!  I'm about to go away for a few days, then back one day and away for a week's holiday. So am clearing the fridge, and found the following, cabbage, carrots, celery, half a leek, a bag of potatoes and 11 eggs.  What to do?!

One idea would be bubble and squeak but I remember when the children were little they loved this recipe by Madhur Jaffrey.  This amount just fits in my frying pan:

Gujerati Cabbage with Carrots

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Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking, by Madhur Jaffrey, Barron's, Woodbury, NY, 1983. ISBN 0-8120-2700-0.

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A good, quick dish that might put cabbage into its most edible form. Unfortunately, it doesn't keep too well (it will start smelling strong, even though it will taste fine).

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Ingredients

• 12 oz cabbage (about 1/4 of a medium green head)
• 12 oz carrots
• half a chilli (or chilli powder)
• 4 tablespoons oil
• A pinch of ground asafetida (optional)
• 1 tablespoon whole black mustard seed
• 1 teaspoons salt
• half a teaspoon sugar
• 4 heaped tablespoons chopped fresh green coriander (optional)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

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Directions

1. Shred the cabbage and grate the carrots coarsely. 
2. Cut the green chili into thin, long strips.
3. Heat the oil in a wide pan over a medium-high heat. 
4. When hot, put in the asafetida. 
5. A second later, put in the mustard seeds (and a lid on top for when the seeds begin to pop!). 
6. Then add the dried red chili. Stir once. 
7. The chili should turn dark red in seconds. 
8. Now put in the cabbage and carrots. 
9. Turn the heat down to medium and stir the vegetables around for half a minute. 
10. Add the salt, sugar, and green coriander. 
11. Stir and cook until vegetables are just done and retain some of the their crispness. 
12. Add the lemon juice and stir to mix.

The celery and half leek will be made into some soup to put in the freezer, for us to enjoy on my return.
... and as for the eggs: omelettes; scrambled egg; souffle (for another recipe page); sponge puddings; bread and butter pudding ....

Ways to use up chocolate


A very useful page for all those who can't think what to do with their Easter stash of chocolate

Chocolate Fridge Cake (or what we used to call Broken Biscuit Cake): 

• 250g/8oz digestive biscuits
• 150g/5oz milk chocolate
• 150g/5oz dark chocolate
• 100g/3½oz unsalted butter
• 150g/5oz golden syrup
• 100g/3½oz dried apricots, chopped
• 75g/2½oz raisins
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 60g/2oz pecans, chopped (optional)
  
  
  I'm not too keen on raisins and other dried fruit in these types of confection, so will perhaps just stick to the nuts.

  
  
  Incidentally, I made the above recently but didn't have lots of raisins and apricots so used a combination of raisins, sliced dates, dessicated coconut and sliced almonds.  It was pretty good.
  
  But I made too much of this mixture, so have been having it my porridge and it's a delicious combination (never would have though of putting coconut in porridge but it seems to work!).

  
  

  
  

  Awsome Broken Biscuit Cake (http://thecodetrain.co.uk/2009/04/how-to-make-awesome-broken-biscuit-cake/)

  To make Broken Biscuit Cake, you’ll need the following:

  1. 250g biscuits. (It’s good to have a mix of types and textures.)
  2. 300g milk chocolate (150g of this is to be melted to go on top)
  3. 150g dark chocolate.
  4. 100g unsalted butter.
  5. 150g golden syrup.
  6. 75g raisins.

  
  

  and.....
• Avocadochocolate cake: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chocolate-avocado-cake

Some recipes from Lorraine Pascale* 

Here are some delicious recipes from Lorraine's 'Last Minute Christmas' book.  How can anyone so slim be so good at cooking?!!

Special Mince Pies

Puff paste
Mincemeat fortified with vanilla extract, port and orange zest

1. Roll out a 300cm square of puff paste and divide into four.
2. Put a blob of fortified mincemeat in the middle of each one. 
3. Cut into each corner and fold in one side, making a whirligig shape
4. Secure with a little beaten egg.
5. Put a shape on top, such as a star.
6. Brush over with beaten egg and cook.
7. When removed from the oven put on wire rack.
8. Glaze with a little maple syrup.
9. Lastly, sprinkle over some icing sugar.

Irish Cream

Cream

Coffee

Grated Chocolate

Whisky (or Whiskey)

Condensed milk

Vanilla extract

Raised Pie

• Roast and whizz 600g pecan, cashew, hazelnuts.
• Put 4 Leeks, Rosemary, Thyme, Garlic, Sage leaves, Mushrooms into a bowl.
• Add the nuts.
• Add Cheese and 3 Eggs.
• Make pastry with 300g Flour, 1 Egg, 15ml water and some butter (melted).
• Line 7" tin with a loose bottom with the pastry.
• Add half the filling.
• Then add some dried Cranberries or Apricots.
• Add rest of filling.
• Put on lid of pastry.
• Cook at 200C for about 40 minutes.
• Turn out of tin, then glaze and put some cranberries on top ten minutes before the end of the cooking.

Stained Glass Window Biscuits

100g butter

100g soft brown Sugar

2 tbsp Syrup

1 tsp Treacle

1 tbsp Cinnamon

1 tbsp Ginger

pinch ground Cloves

1. Melt all the above ingredients together.
2. Then add half a teaspoon of bicarb and 250g flour.
3. Rest for five minutes, no longer.
4. Roll to 1 cm thick and cut into shapes.
5. Cut out a shape from the middle and fill the middle with crushed boiled sweets.
6. Cook on greaseproof paper/baking parchment.

Sage and Rosemary Turkey

to follow ...

Spiced Roast Lamb

1.5 kg Potatoes

1 Garlic head

1 tsp Cumin, 2 tsp Coriander, 1 tsp Paprika - ground in a pestle.

1. Have the lamb at room temperature.
2. Scatter potatoes in roasting tin. 
3. Put lamb on top, into holes in the meat insert garlic.
4. Brush the top with lots of Harissa and some s&p and the ground spices.
5. Cook, then rest.

And my favourite:

CHOCoLATE DELIGHT

• Gently melt 300g dark Chocolate and 300g light Chocolate in a pan.
• Pour the dark chocolate onto parchment paper.
• Then add the light chocolate, swirling ever so slightly.
• Add 50g dried fruit adn 50g mixed nuts.
• Leave to set and then break into chunks.
• Makes a super present!

* http://www.lorrainepascale.com/category:recipes