Quick & Simple Suppers

For neither of these recipes have I put quantities, use as much or as little as you like as both are scalable and either can be made at the drop of a hat.

Passing by my corner shop in evening on the way home is always an adventure so it normally depends on what they have as to what is cooked for supper.  Mushrooms and green vegetables are always a great standby, especially if you have some chunky bread or a can make a quick mash alongside (but then, that's another story - a mash of what?  Potato (regular or sweet), chickpeas or butter beans, or maybe, as with last summer, my broad bean and basil mash went down a treat!).

Mushrooms on toast

One of my personal favourites for the a quick tea, with really fleshy Portobello mushrooms, sliced thickly and fried with a little smoked garlic in half salted butter and half extra virgin oil.  A little added sweetness is provided by a red pepper, cut in half and sliced thinly into half-moons which are softened along with the mushrooms.

Topped with roughly chopped mint and a half teaspoon of caraway seeds a few minutes before serving on  sourdough toast, just the best.

Here I've also set these under the grill topped with goat's cheese.

Crispy bacon with steamed chard

Another quick supper which takes less than 20 minutes to prepare and cook. 

Strip your cleaned chard and add, along with a sliced red pepper, and a crushed garlic clove to a heavy bottomed saucepan along with a little olive oil and a couple of spoonful's of cold water (none however, if you haven't shaken your chard too vigorously after washing) on a medium heat.  Cover tightly and shake the saucepan after a few minutes and again another five minutes later.  The chard should be more or less cooked at the is point, so add a shot of sweet sherry and cover again before returning to a very low heat.

In a separate pan, heat through a generous knob of butter and a tablespoon of extra virgin oil and add to this 75 grams of chopped salty bacon.  Fry until crispy.  Then, add to this the chard mixture and fold through and serve with bread and butter.