Magic mushrooms

An unknown man commented to me in the street today "You're dressed for the weather"... It didn't sound entirely complimentary. In other news, my housekeeping skills have been especially poor these past few days and I've really been scraping the barrel/bottom of the fridge. But I found a pack of mushrooms - best before a couple of days ago - and squeezed two tasty meals out of them. Necessity is the mother of invention.

Fun guys in the woods

Bacon and mushroom spaghetti for one

Put half a pack of sliced mushrooms, half a pack of lardons and a half a thinly sliced onion in a frying pan with a small knob of butter and cook until everything is soft. Meanwhile cook a handful of spaghetti. Beat an egg, add a splash of double cream and plenty of pepper and set aside for a moment. Drain the pasta and tip it into the frying pan with all the lovely stuff. Pour in the egg and cream mixture and stir well over a low heat for a couple of minutes before serving with grated Parmesan.

Cheese and mushroom quesadilla for one

Cook half a thinly sliced onion and half a pack of sliced mushrooms together in a pan with a small knob of butter. Meanwhile heat the oven to about 200/gas 6 and grate a handful of cheese. Place a flour tortilla on a baking sheet then cover it with the cheese and mushroom/onion mix. Top with another tortilla and bake for about 5-10 minutes until lightly browned on top. Eat hot with leftover salsa and guacamole.

Finger-lickin'-chicken fajitas

At the risk of turning into my ex-boyfriend's mother, who cooked the same meals on a 

seven day rotation, I often cook fajitas on Wednesdays as both children are home from school at a reasonable time and we all love them. So, no culinary compromises today, and you could even enlist their help with avocado-mashing, cheese grating, and pudding.  

Take one chicken...

Finger-lickin' chicken fajitas

Chicken (thigh fillets, trimmed of fat, are our preference)

An onion or 2

Red pepper

Fajita seasoning 

Flour tortillas

Accompaniments:

Salsa

Sour cream

Grated cheese

Guacamole (easily made with a soft avocado mushed up with half a clove of crushed garlic, some lime juice and salt)

Chop onions and pepper and fry over a medium heat until soft. Remove from pan, turn up the heat, add a splosh of oil and fry the chicken which you have cut into strips. Add about a tablespoon of fajita seasoning and mix well. When the chicken is nearly done tip the onions and peppers back into the pan and mix again. I serve a little heap of this on a tortilla and let everyone help themselves to the accompaniments. 

Back to mothers-in-law... Mine is (in)famous for her outlandish culinary creations but here's one which is definitely worth sharing. No baking required - but it's dangerously more-ish.

Rice Crispie Toffee Crunch

4oz butter

4oz toffees

4oz marshmallows

5oz Rice Crispies 

Melt butter, toffee and marshmallows together in a pan, slowly. Add Rice Crispies and stir well. Put into a greased tin and cut up when cool and set. Can be topped with melted chocolate of your choice, but I think this is gilding the lily. Here's one I made earlier this year for the jubilee celebrations: