Robbinn's Recipes

A lovely neighbour gave me a bowlful of windfall pears;  unripe but in perfect condition and quite large. I decided to keep a few to make my favourite Roasted Chicken, Pear and Beetroot salad later in the week, but wanted something quick and easy for dessert. Pears, as long as they are not too ripe, are delicious roasted so I decided to try a recipe which I had a vague memory of seeing –…

Spicy Rubbed Pork Tenderloin & Roasted Vegetables

This recipe is so quick, simple and uses just one large baking tray for cooking. The tenderloin doesn’t take long to cook so be careful not to overdo it. The meat is really tender and flavoursome and you can change the vegetables as you wish, but the sprouts really do go well with the flavours. Unfortunately I had no green beans when I made this dish so I added baby carrots which were lovely,…

Balsamic Pork Steaks with Apple

Apple and pork is a match made in heaven but add balsamic vinegar and a few herbs and the result is startling. Sweet, yet tangy and very, very tasty.

This dish is extremely quick to prepare – you don’t even have to peel the apples – and takes only minutes to cook. Very lightly steamed Savoy cabbage was the perfect vegetable to accompany the pork and plain mashed potatoes were a nice…

Parmesan Coated Spinach and Smoked Salmon Roulade

This is one dish which benefits from being made at least a day (if not two) in advance.  Leaving it to ‘set’ in the fridge makes it hold its shape perfectly when sliced and also leaves the way clear to have more time with your guests or prepare other dishes.

I served this beautiful Roulade for lunch on Christmas Day as part of a smorgasbord of various cheeses, homemade jellies, olives, crackers…

Red Cabbage (Slow Cooker)

Christmas isn’t Christmas in our house without a large bowlful of spicy red cabbage.  Delicious hot with most meats, or cold with the leftovers.

This recipe is perfect as it can be made well in advance and popped in the freezer just remembering to take it out the day before you need it, to allow it to defrost slowly.

This year I used my larger slow cooker and doubled the recipe so I would have…

Christmas is coming so I am always on the lookout for new recipes to try and this one caught my eye.   There is nothing nicer than nibbling on slightly spicy, smoky nuts and seeds which are homemade.

The ratio of nuts and seeds can be adjusted to suit your taste, as well as adding slightly more spices for a hotter mix.  I used local raw honey for my first batch and it was delicious.

INGREDIENTS:

African Sweet Potato Stew

Just the recipe I needed to find on a dreary, rainy Autumn day whilst my husband was out.   I lit the log-burner, had 60s music blasting out of my Echo and I was in heaven.

I had to adapt the recipe to cater for what was in my cupboard but the end result was absolutely delicious.  The original recipe called for fresh coriander which I didn’t have.  It also suggested using peanut butter.  As I had…

Special Fruit and Nut Rice

I have been making this ‘special’ fruit and nut rice for years.  It has always been a firm favourite in my family and such a handy dish to have in the freezer as it is delicious with curry and most hot meals, as well as being a tempting side dish to have on the table to go with salads and cold meals etc.

I have no idea where the recipe came from as it was written on a scrap of paper from probably…

This recipe came at just the right time as I was given a bag of delicious home-grown courgettes recently.

So easy to make and extremely tasty, this salad can be served on its own or as a side dish for another meal.   I chose to serve it with some roasted sweet potato ‘chips’ and it was the perfect summer evening meal.

INGREDIENTS: Serves 2 as a main course

2 or 3 courgettes (depending on size) 50g…

Everyone needs a treat sometimes and these are the perfect ‘sweets’ to hide in the cupboard.  I say hide, because if you leave them out they definitely don’t last very long!

I made a batch of these marshmallows recently when my grand-children came to stay and I managed to make them last for the whole week, just letting them have one or two occasionally.  They really did go down a treat and both…

Sticky Chicken with Roasted Cashews

The original recipe called for ketchup which I don’t use but I have tiny tubs of a tomato sauce in my freezer which I make in bulk from …..you’ve guessed it …tomatoes plus onions, herbs etc.  No two batches are ever the same but it’s what we use instead of ketchup and it’s delicious and fresh tasting.

I dry-fried my cashews in a pan on the hob to roast them and probably added far more than 1/2…

Who doesn’t like having a container of ice-cream in the freezer?  Especially if you are a chocolate lover and summer is almost upon us.

I was amazed at how creamy this ice-cream was but as with many home-made ice-creams, it does need to be taken out of the freezer at least 20 minutes to half-an-hour before using at it freezes ‘hard’.

INGREDIENTS:

2 x 14oz cans coconut cream or full-fat coconut…

June 2019 – Updated Biography

Has it really been over a year since we moved into our beautiful new home on the Isle of Wight?

5th March 2018 was the day we finally received the keys and we moved in the following week during what was to be the “Beast from the East”.  Rain, snow, hail and cold, cold weather.  At least we found our heating worked really well.   I was even dared by my daughter-in-law Sarena of Boost and Balance,…

Fresh Fig and Vanilla Cream Pie with Almond Crust

I used ideas from two recipes to make my Cream Pie.  The pie crust and idea came from the original recipe of Vanilla Cream Pie with Fresh Figs from Eleanor Ozich but I made a richer filling similar to the White Chocolate Tart by Catherine Bachelor.

This pie was absolutely delicious although I could have sliced my figs a bit finer but they were very ripe and a bit squishy.    Deliciously rich, so…

‘Healthy’ Fish and Chips

Dukkah is an Egyptian spice mix which I hadn’t used before but it sounded very interesting and I was eager to taste it.  Made from a mix of roasted hazelnuts, sesame seeds, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, seasalt, thyme and black peppercorns I bought a packet of ready-made mix but there seems to be various recipes around to make your own and the exact ingredients vary from family to family.

We eat…

‘Cheddar’ Drop Biscuits – Dairy and grain free

For anyone following a dairy-free, grain-free, gluten-free, sugar-free diet these lovely Keto ‘Cheddar’ Drop Biscuits from Healthful Pursuit are absolutely delicious and extremely tasty as well as being low-carb.   Cheesy, with a slight ‘hit’ from the mustard powder,  it was very difficult to try just one!    They are a little bit addictive….

I decided to use coconut oil in my first batch of…