The Kitchen Guru

Food for family and friends  I try not to watch daytime television, but the other day when at my mothers, “Lose Women” was on in the background. Someone was discussing being invited to a friend for dinner and was presented with a supermarket microwave meal complete with microwavable dish. This got me thinking about simple family meals that you could share with friends. One meal that is a popular family meal and with little effort can be dressed up for friends is Spaghetti and meatballs, you can easily convert this recipe if your guests are gluten free, so no one has to miss out. This meal can be prepared and cooked from scratch within 45 minutes. This recipe serves 6-8 people and freezes well. For the meatballs 1 kilo minced meat, you can chose beef, turkey, chicken, or lamb. 1 very large onion peeled ½ cup parsley ½ cup coriander 2 cloves of garlic 2 eggs beaten ¾ cup of bread crumbs, I use gluten free bread, but you can use any bread crumbs, matzo meal, or cornflakes ground down. ½ t

 Beef Pot Roast for 4 Pot roast is the ultimate winter meal, that is so easy to prepare and full of flavor and satisfying, it is equally good for a family meal or to serve to guests. You can cook it the traditional method or in a slow cooker! The results are equally as good, but a slow cooker is more economical. The hardest thing about this recipe is gathering all the ingredients! Ingredients 1 kilo chuck roast, round roast, or briskets. Ask your butcher to roll it for you 2 cloves garlic peeled and chopped 2 bay leaf 2 red onions peeled and cut into ¼ 2 celery stalks cut into chunks 2 carrots cut into chunks 1 parsnip cut into chunks ½ swede cut into chunks I tin of chopped tomatoes 500ml red wine 250ml beef stock ½ teaspoon mixed herbs ½ cup fresh parsley ½ teaspoon brown sugar Salt and pepper to taste If cooking in the oven – Preheat oven 160C/Gas 3/fan oven 140C Place the meat in a large Dutch oven (casserole dish) Place the vegetables garlic, bay leaves and herbs around the beef.