The Solo Chef: Asparagus

Showing posts with label Asparagus. Show all posts

ALDI Ashfields Irish Style Pork Sausages Review

Cost at time of review: £1.35 Purchased From: ALDI
I'm a bit fussy when it comes to Pork Sausages. I used to like the Walls Pork Sausages but the price kept on going up and up and then they were hard to come by in the supermarkets.
Richmond sausages have always been a close second, not because they are nice and meaty (as they are most definitely not) but they are top quality mediocre sausages that always get eaten. Not amazing, but not terrible either and certainly enjoyable to eat!
The Ashfields (ALDI's own brand) Irish Style Pork Sausages sound like they are going to be very similar to that of the Richmond ones I am used to but at just £1.35 for a packet of 8 they've got to be worth a try.
On opening the packet the first thing I noticed is that (unlike the Richmond ones) they are actually linked together just as you'd expect to find at a proper butchers. The second thing I noticed was how light each sausage felt.
18 minutes at 180° in my Ninja Air Fryer (turning halfway of course) and they were done to perfection.
What better way to taste test some sausages than with some good old mashed potatoes?!
On cutting the sausages open, you can definitely see they are very well aerated and nowhere near as meaty as a proper butchers sausage, but then they're not trying to compete with a butchers sausage (they have other more expensive sausages that do that) they are clearly aiming them at people that normally by the Richmond Sausages.
Are they amazingly scrumptious (like my favourite Walls Sausages)? No.
Do they taste terrible? Again, no.
Would I buy them again? Absolutely!

In conclusion, they are clearly not a premium sausage (but they're not trying to be). I've tried a few cheap sausages in the past from other supermarkets and they've not tasted very nice so I have never purchased them again.

The ALDI Ashfields Irish Style Pork Sausages on the other hand, (although not particularly meaty) are not offensive in any way and at £1.35 for a packet of 8 they are an absolute bargain!

I have decided to award a (very) well deserved 3.5 stars out of 5

https://www.aldi.co.uk/product/ashfields-irish-style-pork-sausages-000000000000600040

ALDI Hollandaise Pour Over Sauce Review

Cost at time of review: £1.69 Purchased From: ALDI
A while ago, I not only tried Hollandaise Sauce for the first time, but I made it from scratch myself so I had no reference point to judge it on so had no idea exactly how it was supposed to taste so when I saw this in Aldi when I was doing my weekly shop I just had to give it a go...

4 minutes in a saucepan or around 3 minutes in the microwave I chose a different way to heat up this sauce and simply added it to the frying pan I had been cooking my Asparagus in.

After dishing up and having a taste, I can confirm this tastes 90% similar to the one I made myself with the only difference being is that the one I made was a bit zingier so I guess I added a bit more lemon juice than Aldi have.

All in all a very strong and well deserved 4.5 stars.

Aldi Hollandaise Pour Over Sauce

Beef Dripping Toad In The Hole

I'm on a mission to try and make Yorkshire Pudding that tastes like my Mum used to make! To turn it in to a meal I keep adding sausages to make it Toad In The Hole.

The first time I used Lard but yesterday I used Beef dripping and it was a lot tastier but still not quite right so I'll have to keep trying!

Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce

Portions: 1

Ingredients

Asparagus
1/2 tbsp White Wine Vinegar
2 Egg Yolks
115g Melted Butter
Lemon Juice (1/2 tbsp if 2 Medium Eggs or 1 tbsp if 2 Large Eggs)
Salt and Pepper
1 tbsp Cold Water

Equipment

Two Saucepans (1 for cooking the Asparagus and a smaller one for the Sauce)
Whisk

Instructions

Asparagus

Boil some water in a saucepan
Prepare your Asparagus and when the water has started boiling, drop in the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes until tender
Remove the Asparagus and pour over the Hollandaise Sauce and serve!

Hollandaise Sauce

Add the vinegar to a small pan and bring to a boil
Simmer the vinegar until it has reduced by half
Remove the pan from the heat and add 1 tbsp of cold water
Whisk in the Egg Yolks
Put the pan on to a low heat and continue whisking until the mixture has thickened and has started to become frothy
Remove from the heat and whisk in the Melted Butter
Whisk in the Lemon Juice
Add some Salt and Pepper and give one last swirl of the Whisk
Serve the sauce immediately over the drained Asparagus

It can be a little bit like patting your head whilst rubbing stomach as you need to try and make sure both the Asparagus and the Hollandaise sauce are ready at the same time!

Personally I like to warm a plate in the oven and then boil the water in one pan and the vinegar in another pan, I then set a timer for the Asparagus and continue to make the Hollandaise Sauce and then when the timer goes off I remove the Sauce off of the heat whilst I plate up the Asparagus (on the warmed plate) and cover it with tin foil - I can then continue to make the sauce and pour straight over the Asparagus once it's made!

Serving Suggestion(s)

Best served as a Starter before your Main Meal but you can also serve as a side.

Pressure Cooked Frozen Chicken Legs and Veg with Onion Gravy in a NinjaFoodi

Portions: 2

Ingredients

2 Chicken Legs
Carrots & Other Veg (I'm using mushrooms and mini corn cobs)
Asparagus
Butter
Garlic
Small Onion (finely chopped)
500ml of hot water
Gravy Granules

Equipment

Electric Pressure Cooker (I'm using a Ninja Foodi)
Small pan for the gravy
Frying Pan
Wooden Spoon
Sieve

Instructions

Mix to small teaspoons of Chicken Gravy Granules in to 500ml of water and pour in to your pressure cooker bowl
Place your (Frozen) Chicken Legs in to the pressure cooker
Set the Temperature to High and the Time to 15 minutes
Prepare whatever vegetables you fancy for you meal
If you're having some Asparagus then wait until there is 5 minutes cooking time left and then add the butter, garlic and Asparagus to the frying pan and start to cook it
When the time is up on the pressure cooker, stop the cooking and release the steam!
Remove the chicken breasts from the Pressure Cooker and put to one side
Add your vegetables to the Pressure Cooker
Either add the Chicken Legs back in to the Pressure Cooker to finsish them off or if like me you like the skin crispy, wrap them in tin foil to keep them warm and then crisp them up in the air fryer function.
Set the Pressure Cooker temperature to High and set the Time for 3-4 minutes (depending on how soft you like your veggies)
When the time is up, release the steam! Then strain the vegetables over a saucepan.
Keep the veggies that you have just strained warm (I put them in a dish/bowl with a bit of tin foil on the top)
Add the chopped onion to the saucepan and heat up to a gentle simmer
The onions will slowly start to soften. Check the consistency of the gravy and add more Gravy Granules until it is at the thickness you prefer
When the onions have softened and the gravy is nice and thick, you are ready to dish up!
Serve and enjoy!

Serving Suggestion(s)

Check the finished dish out on TikTok:

@thesolochef_official
What's for tea today?! I love my #NinjaFoodi #PressureCooker and can't believe how quick it easy to cook things (even from frozen) and how delicious they are! #TheSoloChef #Ninja #WhatsForTea
♬ original sound - TheSoloChef

How Long Do I Cook Roast Beef Joint for in a Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker Setting

250g beef joint for 20 minutes on High for Well Done.

After the cooking time, remove the beef, wrap in tinfoil and leave to rest.

Add your vegetables to the stock already in the Ninja Foodi and Pressure Cook for 3 minutes.

When the 3 minutes is up, place a sieve over a saucepand and carefully pour in the stock which you can now turn in to gravy!

Instead of using cornflour to thicken my gravy I always use Bisto Gravy granules to add flavour and thicken it.

MMmmm! Delicious! See it on TikTok below:

@thesolochef_official #WhatsForTea #TheSoloChef #UKfood #BritishFood #RoastBeef #NinjaFoodi #PressureCooker ♬ original sound - TheSoloChef

How Long To Cook 1kg of Gammon In A Pressure Cooker Ninja Foodi

12-15 minutes per 500g so 1kg pressure cooked for 30 minutes will come out lovely!

I like to add some stock, vegetables and bay leaves (not just water) so I can make a nice gravy when it's cooked.

Set the Pressure Cooker setting to High and time to 30 minutes.

Although it is perfectly cooked in 30 minutes in the pressure cooker, the fat wont be crispy but that is easily fixed by using the air fryer feature to turn it in to crackling should you so wish.

I was hungry and couldn't be bothered to wait any longer so left it as it was and served with some garlic butter Asparagus and some peas.

How Long Do You Cook Lamb Ribs In The Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker

20 minutes and they're done - 30 minutes and the meat falls off the bone! Place under a grill for 8 minutes a side on around 180 to crisp up the fat and make it litterally, melt in the mouth...

Moy Park Cheese and Bacon Kiev

Cost at time of review: £1.75 Purchased From: Company Shop

Also Available From Main Supermarkets:

Cost at time of review: £2.70 Supermarket: Asda

I've seen these a few times at the Company Shop when I've visited but not having heard of Moy Park before I wasn't sure if they'd be any good or not so this time I thought I'd give them a try.

20 minutes in my Tefal 9-in-1 Air Fryer was just enough time to cook some stringless beans, mushrooms and stringless beans...

It seems to have lost a bit of its shape, but I have to say compared to other brands of a similar product there was very little leakage of the Cheese and Bacon filling.

It doesn't look particularly appetising at this stage but once it was plated up with the garlic butter mushrooms, asparagus and stringless beans it started to look a bit more palatable.

On cutting open the Kiev there was a surprising amount of tasty filling.

It was a lot tastier than it looks! Not amazingly delicious from a 'proper' Kiev made by taking a whole chicken breast etc. but very acceptable for the price.

Overall I would say this is on par with the ALDI Roosters Kievs I've tried so a very reasonable 3 stars is awarded to the Moy Park Kievs

Asda Supermarket

Click here to find out more details on what the Company Shop is and how to Join.