Brazilian Soup This is a recipe for a Brazilian Soup that will warm your cockles. It is really a very simple meat and vegetable soup, that we would call a stew in the UK. You make this with a vegetable broth. It is great to eat as a main course for lunch or dinner with some crusty buttered bread, or as a starter. We often make a large pan that we then keep in the fridge. Then you can heat up a suitable portion in the microwave when you are feeling peckish.   Soup ready to simmer in the pan   Brazilian Soups When we think about soup in Brazil were normally think of fish soups. There ..read more

Marmite Crumpets Marmite crumpets are one of our favourite go-to snacks. You can eat marmite crumpets for breakfast, lunch, tea-time, elevenses or dinner, and are a great alternative to Marmite on toast. The wonderful thing about crumpets is that the butter melts and is held in the crumpet. So you can surreptitiously add more butter than you are allowed! What is a crumpet? A crumpet is a spongy griddle bread that you make from a batter of water, flour and yeast. They are circular and about 8 cm in diameter and 2 cm thick, have holes in the top and a browned, sealed base. The countries of the U ..read more

Truffle Pasta When you are short of time but still want a simple tasty meal, a truffle delicious pasta is the way to go. Ready in no time and absolutely scrumptious! For this easy recipe we used some ready-made fresh Tagliolini pasta with infused truffle from Lidl, which was easy to cook and tasted wonderful. My wife cooked this for me a few weeks ago, when we were rushed for time, and it was superb. Best Truffle Pasta These days there are plenty of different pasta types available in the stores, in different pasta shapes that you can purchase. If you want to splash out you could, of course, u ..read more

Marmite Pasta This easy Marmite Pasta dish is probably the cheapest and easiest recipe on this site. It is perfect for a quick meal when you do not have many ingredients in your pantry. This recipe only has three ingredients, but thanks to the versatility of Marmite it provides a healthy and tasty meal which is extremely cheap. It is great for students and busy people with little time on their hands. What is Marmite? For those of you who have not tried Marmite, you must add it to your bucket list. Marmite is a savoury spread from the UK and is a by-product of brewing beer. During Covid there w ..read more

Shrimp Pastel Recipe This is a simple recipe for shrimp pastel. Pastel is a type of snack that you often find in Brazil (and Portugal). Pastels are a type of pastry or pie filled with all sorts of fillings, like cheese, chicken, meat or fish. You eat pastels as a snack or starter, or even as a main course. This shrimp pastel recipe is for the shrimp (or prawn) filling. The special pastry dough (which I bought ready-made), is folded over the filling and deep fried in oil to produce a delicious crispy snack which is best eaten hot.   Cooking the garlic, ginger and shrimp   When I use ..read more

Ham and Cheese Toastie This is a simple recipe for a ham and cheese toastie.  I have made this recipe a little bit special by using some Swiss raclette cheese to add some class to the recipe. Where I come from, a toastie is a hot sandwich made in a toastie-maker or sandwich maker. Look at the recipe card below to see what I mean. Normally we put butter on the outside to toast the outside of the toastie. The other ingredients go into the sandwich. But as the sandwich maker normally seals the sandwich at the edges, it makes it very different to this recipe. In this cheese and ham toastie r ..read more

Erwtensoep Erwtensoep, or green split pea soup, is very typical Dutch food. It is commonly eaten during the winter months when people need something hearty to warm themselves up. In Holland it is also known as ‘snert’. Normally Erwtensoep is made with green split peas. But in this recipe I used simple frozen peas, as I was unable to find the split peas in my present location. I was inspired to make this again after eating snert last week in the Netherlands. This pea soup is normally very thick and contains pork hidden away in the ingredients. So do not expect it to be vegetarian. It is not. Al ..read more

This post will display some of the products you can purchase directly from Gav’s Kitchen. All of these products I use to help me save time in the kitchen, and produce healthy meals for my family. Clicking on the links on this page will bring you to another site. I developed the meal plan below to help me reduce time shopping for ingredients for a variety of meals. It includes a spreadsheet to calculate your shopping list, depending on your family size, for 14 different recipes that we make regularly. Plan for a week or longer in less than 2 minutes! Spending too much time preparing food for ..read more

Burrito Burger This recipe shows you how to combine a burger and a burrito to make a burrito burger. This is another simple recipe shown to us by one of our Ukrainian guests. It is a quick and easy way to make a bespoke burger that you can tailor-make to your own tastes. And you only need a single pan. Basic ingredients Savour the Fusion: The Irresistible Charm of the Burrito Burger In the world of culinary innovation, the Burrito Burger is a testament to the union of two beloved comfort foods: the classic American burger and the flavorful Mexican burrito. This unique creation encapsulates t ..read more

Spanish Omelette with Bacon and Cheese This easy recipe is for a Spanish Omelette with bacon and cheese. It is quick to make and is perfect for using up precooked potatoes if you have any leftovers.  What is a Spanish Omelette? Spanish Omelette (or tortilla) is celebrated as a national dish in Spain and a traditional Spanish Omelette is normally made with onions, eggs and potatoes. But Spanish omelettes have enormous versatility and can be combined with other ingredients. This Spanish Omelette recipe includes bacon and cheese to give it some extra variation. It is a hearty dish and super ..read more