It's the end of the week and time to get rid of a few bits in the refrigerator before I do my grocery shop for the next week.  The bits I have leftover that are not large enough to be or make a meal on their own, but put together with other things can make a really tasty meal indeed!

Rice wasn't something we ate a lot of when I was growing up.  My brother wouldn't eat it at all, my mother didn't like it either and when she did cook it, it was always minute rice, which is a sort of instant rice product they have in North America.  Not exactly nutritionally sound    . . . but we did not know that then.  She always made it taste good when she did make it.  She would chop up celery and onion and add some herbs . . .  usually oregano.  That was her favourite add in . . .

This is a recipe I had bookmarked a long time ago in a little cookery book I have from the BBC Good Food people, entitled 101 Storecupboard Suppers.  I love the little BBC Good Food Books.  They are not that expensive and are usually chocker block full of recipes that I want to cook.  I know . . . I know . . . I have enough cookbooks, but as any food enthusiast knows, you can never have too many!  (Todd doth protest!)

 

It doesn't take much to mak the Toddster incredibly happy.   He's a simple man with simple tastes.   Rice pudding does it for him every time.  I am one of those cooks who can't leave well enough alone however  . . .  and today I just about outdid myself with this lovely version of rice pudding I created just for him.  I had been sent a lovely jar of Manuka Honey a while back and I decided that it would be perfect for both sweetening and flavouring this delicious dessert.

I think fish fingers have to be most kiddies favourite meal.   Kids just love bits of food that they can pick up with their hands and dip.  My children were no different.  Fish fingers, chicken nuggets, chicken wings . . .  kids just love to eat with their hands!



The long and short of it is . . . fish fingers are very budget and family friendly.   Today I wanted to show you how you can create something delicious with them you probably would have never thought of.  Polynesian Fish Fingers.  



Maybe calling them Polynesian is a bit of a stretch, but it does encompass some tropical flavours . . . such as soy and pineapple . . .  and rice.  I can see you rolling your eyes, but hear me out.  This is not so strange a mix as one might think.   Mild flavoured fish actually goes very well with fruity flavours . . .  and sweet and sour is also a great flavour to add.



Add to that the convenience of using already cooked basamati rice and frozen peas, mixed together in a pineapple sweet and sour sauce, and sweet pineapple chunks and you have a winning combination all round.  It's really quick to make as well, which makes it the perfect meal for a week night supper when everybody has plans and not a lot of time to throw a meal together or sit and eat it.  A salad on the side goes very well.



This is a great store cupboard meal that you can have on the table in not much more than half an hour.   I always have packets of cooked basamati rice in my cupboard, pineapple chunks in the larder and frozen fish fingers in the freezer, not to mention frozen peas.  I think you will find that this meal is not only very tasty and pretty to look at, but very economical, quick to make and deliciously different to boot!  I hope you will give it the old college try!



*Polynesian Fish Fingers*

NOTE:  I reserved some of the thawed frozen peas to garnish the casserole for photography purposes.  Normally they will be kind of blah looking, but it still tastes gorgeous even with blah looking peas.  I like to use Frozen Petit Pois.  They are the only kind I like.  Yes, I am spoiled and a bit picky sometimes, although you wouldn't think it if I'm eating fish fingers would you?  I guess I'm one big enigma!

Spam was not something which we ever had when I was growing up.  I am not sure why that was.  We never had tinned meat of any kind except for deviled ham, which my mother sometimes bought to make our sandwiches for lunch with.  It came in a tin which was placed inside a paper wrapper decorated with little red devils.  I am not sure, but I think the devils somehow made it taste better!



The one and only tme I can remember ever enountering Spam was at school.  A boy in my class wanted to trade his Spam sandwiches with my peanut butter ones.   I wouldn't trade because I did not know what Spam was and I was a bit afraid of trying something that I had never had before.   Besides, I really liked peanut butter.

 

I was very lucky.  I grew up in a country that was untouched by war in my lifetime and I had a father with a really good job.  People over here in the UK have not been that lucky.     Having been through two World Wars, and rationing, etc.  tinned meat is something which has pretty much been a staple on family tables for a long time.




I am ashamed to say I had never eaten it until I came over here, but I have to say . . . I quite like it actually!  You can buy the low fat one, and so it's not all that bad for you.  It's economical and quite tasty.   I made Spam Fritters last year and they were delicious.  When I saw a recipe recently on  unihomemaker.com  I just had to bookmark it to try here at home.  It looked really tasty.



I changed it a tiny bit.  I made use of store cupboard ingredients and used a pouch of the already cooked Uncle Ben's brown basamati rice that I always have in the cupboard and I added some shredded savoy cabbage both for colour and taste.  We like cabbage in our fried rice.



I also grated my carrot instead of cutting it into chunks, which meant it cooked much faster.   I was going to add some grated swede, but forgot.   Oh, and pineapple chunks.  I thought they would be really good, but it was bucketing down and the pineapple was out in the shed.  I didn't fancy getting wet.  But I reckon some pineapple chunks would go really well in this.  

 

In any case, I really hope that you will try this.  It's really, REALLY tasty and is now on our favourite list as Casa de Rayner.  I spose you could use leftover ham if you wanted to, but the Spam was really tasty.  In fact I am craving it again already.   I know . . . I'm such a glutton.




Beat the eggs and cream together.  Coat a large skillet lightly with olive oil and heat.   Dump in the eggs and quickly scramble them.  Remove the scrambled egg to a bowl and keep warm.  Add a bit more oil to the pan.   Add the spam and brown it well on all sides.   Scoop out and keep warm with the egg.  Add the chopped onions, garlic and shallot.   Cook to wilt and then add the carrots and cabbage.   Cook, stirring, until wilted.   Add the curry powder, salt, pepper and soy.   Stir in the rice and return the eggs and spam to the pan.   Stir in the frozen peas.  Heat through.  Check for seasoning and adjust as necessary.  Serve hot.



Did you know that the 3rd to the 9th March 2014 is Spam Appreciation week?  Neither did I, but it's official.  2014 is going to be a fab year to remember for the iconic meat SPAM ® Chopped Pork and Ham, as  the Monty Python gang reunite, and a whole new generation of people get to enjoy their humor and acquaint themselves with their favourite meat!  This is no better time to realize just how unique, tasty and versatile SPAM with it's incredible 75+ year history can be.

To honor and celebrate this special week, fans are again being asked to demonstrate their love of SPAM ® by uploading a video, photo, drawing, or even writing a short sentence to show their appreciation of SPAM ® products.  There are five theatre wekeend breaks to be won courtesy of Show and Stay, plus 100 runner up prizes.   The competition opened on the 20th of January and will be closing on the 28th February, 2914.  The best entries will then be displayed on
www. spam-uk.com for appreciation.

Here's the video that won last year's competition.



A few facts about SPAM®

• More then seven billion cans of SPAM products have been opened since it's launch in 1937
• They may only be islands, but Hawaii and Guam go crazy for the stuff.  In Aloha State more than 7 million of the products are sold per year and Hawaii even hosts its own SPAM JAM festival in Honolulu.  While in Guam an average of 16 SPAM ® products are consumed by every person per year.
• SPAM ® Chopped Pork and Ham is made from more than 90% prime shoulder pork and ham.
• Clebrity SPAM® fans include James May and Heston Blumenthal.
• In South Korea, SPAM ® Chopped Pork and Ham is considered a gourmet delicacy and is often given as a gift.

So now you know it all!

SPAM ®, it's not just a fad to follow . . . it's dinner.