In My Tropical Kitchen, February 2026

 Whenever it's time to begin writing my kitchen update each month, I always hope I have something interesting to share with you. Then I look at all my food photos for the month, take a quick look back at my Happy Retirees Kitchen posts and think, Thank Goodness, looks like I did some delicious cooking after all that's worth talking about. Where did January go and I hope you are cruising nicely into February.

Now about what I cooked. I won't be giving you a day by day account, I don't think you need that, just the highlights will set the scene. 

I've rediscovered gnocchi in a big way. I found my recipe for Zucchini and Ricotta Gnocchi with a lemon sauce, so delicious and soothing. I'll be making this again, while there are heaps of zucchini around. I plan to post a revised recipe, so please watch this space. 

Gnocchi, and that's potato gnocchi, is so versatile. A traybake is this cook's best friend when time is at a premium and inspiration is on the backburner, but some delicious and soothing food is needed for the hungry people in my life. When there was a packet of potato gnocchi in the refrigerator, it went thoughtfully into this traybake to make chicken and vegetables a memorable meal. Food doesn't always need to be "fancy" to be just what we need and enjoy. 

 

This photo tells it all about the ingredients, which can be versatile and only limited by your imagination and what you have on hand. Gnocchi, fresh or frozen green broccoli, cherry tomatoes, a red capsicum, perhaps some green olives, a cup of chicken stock, some Italian mixed herbs or fresh herbs from your garden, chicken (I used chicken fillet but I suggest you use thighs when in a hurry) all thoughtfully baked together and served with some extra pasta, or grated cheese, if you wish. It's a one pan dish. Satisfaction guaranteed, and the cook can very importantly sit and relax with a beverage whilst it's cooking.  Perfect for a mid-week meal, and will stretch the budget as well. 

Cabbage is a very economical, long lasting, crunchy and versatile vegetable to have on hand in the vegetable crisper, and combined with beef mince, onion, some curry powder, and some mango chutney it very quickly becomes a delicious and nutritious mid-week meal. This is my Beef Chow Mein with Mango Chutney, which is on rotation in this house, we just love it. Quietly and thoughtfully add some extra vegetables such as carrot and zucchini when no-one is looking, serve with a fresh salad, and your job is done. This dish is an appetising way to use up some of your Christmas mango chutney, and the meal doesn't have to be spicy if that isn't your thing, or it can be. Throw in a chilli if you wish. Sprinkle with some of those crispy Chang's original Fried noodles as well to really bring oohs and aahs at the table. Food should be fun as well. I also added some delicious Lime Pickle on the side, a gift from Mr. S, and we loved it. 

Here's another very easy and tasty Chicken traybake, loosely based on Chicken Marbella, one of my favourite meals. Chicken pieces, prunes, capers, sundried tomatoes, some cauliflower pieces eased in because I had them, dried oregano, chorizo, white wine, ground black pepper, and a garnish of parsley, brought delicious Mediterranean flavours to the table. 

There are a few new recipe books ready to be explored, the top two are on loan from the library.

Crumbs, this was a good buy.

Microwaveable bowl cozies or fabric bowl holders, are perfect for transferring and holding bowls of delicious hot lentil soup, or any hot bowls of food straight from the microwave. Generally available from craft shops or online. I bought these from a good friend who had a whole pile of them she had sewn together. A bowl or two of my authentically Scottish Lentil soup, recipe given to me by our Scottish friend Calum, was perfect during this recent rain event. Not surprisingly I made enough to feed an army really, but that is how soup should be, a large pot that keeps on giving. My variations to Calum's original recipe for this batch were 2 chopped onions fried with 4 rashers of chopped bacon before adding the other ingredients, 1 1/2 large mugs of red lentils, 4 chopped ripe tomatoes, no celery, lots of black pepper,  3 chicken stock cubes dissolved in water, and it was one of my best ever. Finely chopped parsley and parmesan cheese were the finishing touch.

So to my regular readers, here's a quick catchup on those dishes which I loved cooking, enjoyed eating, and wrote a post about during January, and I hope you enjoyed them too. If you have only just found me at HRK, I hope you enjoy and feel a little inspired by what I have cooked. Food not only opens mouths, it also opens minds.

Good Italian food really works a treat, and can be produced at home in your kitchen.

Homemade Ricotta and Parmesan Ravioli with Sage Butter. So delicious.

This was Mr. HRKs cooking project which we all helped with. 

More Italian inspired food bathed with Sage Butter. Because it is simple to cook and delicious and we also need to use the leaves from our fresh sage bush as often as we can.
Pan Fried Sage Butter Gnocchi from Ben @ Havoc in the Kitchen. Check him out.

Creamy Fried Pork with Apple and Leek

How can it be possible that a Pork based meal served with a delicious creamy sauce is still healthy and low in calories? This one ticks all the boxes, from the Ultimate Fast 800 recipe book.

Just a few enticing sweet dishes.

Desserts and cakes celebrated the January fruits that were in season. 

I revisited this Sweet and Salty Cheesecake with a Cherry Compote. Amazing.

Mangoes are our favourite in season fruit over Christmas and while the season lasts into January, we did our best to enjoy them to the fullest eaten fresh, and in desserts. We also froze some which went into this Mango Mousse.

Tropical Mango Mousse was the perfect dessert to enjoy on a warm January evening, and with small meringues of course in memory of pavlova. I never attempt to make a pavlova when there is rain and humidity around.

Plum cake anyone? Yes please. Meize's Plum cake is simply the best.

A very special post Christmas foodie gift from special friends, these Flavour Pearls from Peninsula Larder promise to take foods to new heights.

Beautifully packaged.

As well as Kitchen and cooking time, January for us was a medley of:-

 Watching Test Cricket early in the month where the Aussie Cricket team retained the Ashes.

 Excitement at the thought of the Australian Open Tennis tournament starting in Melbourne on January 12th and watching a lot of sensational tennis. Always sad when it ends.

Hoping for some rain to break the heat, but turning on the air-conditioning when the temperatures soar towards 35 degrees C. 

Reading some great books.

Listening to our favourite music and watching some music videos. 

Catching some enjoyable movies and a few series on Netflix.

 Cooking and eating delicious food, and trying to include some low calorie recipes in the planning.

Weekly Mahjong

Exercising, both of us playing Pickleball twice a week, Mr. HRK playing as often as he can. 

Weekly Gym sessions for me.

Frequent phone conversations with our daughter.

Looking forward to talking to our three grandchildren and Matthew and Myrtille in France every Sunday afternoon.

Catching up with and enjoying time with good friends.

Gardening before the heat sends us back inside.

Now I know where January went after that little review.

Once again it's time to be sending this post to Sherry of Sherry's Pickings for the monthly 

In My Kitchen event. If you would like to join in, send your post to Sherry by the 13th of the month. Or just head over to her blog to visit more kitchens. Thanks for hosting this event once again Sherry, it's a lovely initiative and unites all of the keen bloggers and cooks around the world. I'm looking forward to taking part for another year.

That's all for now my friends, it's time for lunch. Just a simple salad today.

Warm wishes to you all, 

Pauline