June 14th 2007

Fingers crossed the New cooker/stove should be on its way here next Wednesday!! We went into town last Tuesday and bought it. And I think all in all I did well, as this is a very very much better one than the one from the horrible shop!!!! It has a Wok burner and a super dooper grill that heats up in 15 seconds and a fan oven that has different settings for different foods...... one for cakes, one for breads, roast meats, chicken, fish and even one for letting dough rise!!! I really can't wait for it to get here. This is the one we bought.... Cannon
Brian had treated me to lunch on Tuesday so we weren't too hungry after getting home. And I did so want to use my ceps that I got at Borough Market. I think they also go by the name of Porchini mushrooms. I have never had these before and I think we will have them again if we can find them. Our local Sainsbury doesn't carry these.
Anyway this is how I prepared them. First I sliced them length ways in to ummm about 1/4 inch slices.

And then sauteed them in some butter (yes, I know not good for the diet, but they were special!!) Added a finely chopped clove of garlic, and a touch of brandy. Then I added some double cream, some fresh oregano and thyme leaves and a good dollop of light cream cheese(trying to not go overboard with the calories.) Then I toasted some slices of my homemade Tomato Bread under the grill. Served it on the bread and topped with some freshly grated parmesan and a sprig of fresh basil. They were very nice and I will definately be buying them again when I see them. They are a very very meaty mushroom and would be excellent grilled and then topped with some stilton and grilled onion to make a veggie sandwich. YUM!!!!


Sun-Dried Tomato Bread
I like the looks of this bread and it toasts up lovely, but I think I maybe improving on the flavour of the recipe just a tad....Possibly adding some dried oregano and basil and minced garlic to the dough. Oh, maybe some fennel seeds too!! But here is the recipe I started with...

350g strong plain flour( I used 250 white bread flour and 100g spelt wholegrain flour)
1tsp. salt
1 Tablespoon caster sugar
1 packet dried yeast
200 ml warm milk
2 to 3 Tablespoons tomato puree
5 Tablespoons olive oil
(I would add some dried herbs too and maybe some garlic)
I put all this into my bread maker putting the liquid ingredients on the bottom as my maker calls for it. I used the dough only setting.
Once it is done,Knock the dough back and then I then kneaded in a little flour along with 35g chopped sundried tomatoes (the kind packed in oil. You can use the oil from the tomatoes instead of the olive oil)and 1/2 of a chopped onion. I might also increase these amounts on the next loaves. Another addition would be olives either black or green would taste lovely. I added fresh oregano leaves, but they weren't strong enough. Knead till well blended and shape into two round loaves. Place on an oiled baking sheet and cover with a dish towel and let raise for 45 minutes. Preheat your oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas5. Bake for 45 minutes or until the loaves sound hollow. Leave to cool on a wire rack. Can be eaten warm or toasted and lovely with mozzarella grilled on it.

I have been in a baking mood lately, guess it could well be the impending arrival of the new cooker/stove that has me in the baking mood. My Blogging friend Wellunderstood from the Checkered Napkin blog made some lovely looking Blueberry muffins and I wanted to try the recipe with my new spelt flour.... So here is the results....

I used her recipe which can be found on her blog....Blueberry Muffins For the folks using metric I used 42g. butter, 56g granulated sugar and 250g flour and 250ml milk, but follow the rest of the ingredients that she has listed. The blueberries I used a punnet, but a mug full would work. And for the flour I used my spelt wholemeal flour. If you are interested in the benefits of spelt you can visit this website.Dovesfarm flour and this one that I purchased my flour from at the market stall Sharphampark. The muffins were really tasty and nutty. I think I may cut the flour measurement in half and then add the equal amount of corn meal (or in the UK use Polenta).

For supper last night I was hoping to grill outside on the BBQ, but Brian was too tired. So I cooked inside instead... But I did the sweet corn like I would on the BBQ. Wash your ears of corn and remove all the silks. Then place on a sheet of aluminum or is it aluminium foil. Then add what ever fresh herbs you have on hand.. and either some olive oil or a small knob of butter. Wrap up tight and either put on the BBQ or bake in the oven at 180°C for 25 to 30 minutes.

I also cooked some asparagus that we got at the market and I wanted to try them with the sunblushed tomatoes again.... (I did buy a rather large tub of the tomatoes and they are yummy!!!)

What I did was to sautee the asparagus in a small bit of butter(Yeah, I know but if you are going to use fat, use the real stuff!)Then once they were close to being done I added some of the chopped sunblushed tomatoes and added some fresh lemon juice. And again it tasted really yummy!!!!!

Then to finish off the meal I baked some thickish boneless pork chops in the oven along with the ears of corn. They were really easy, 15 minutes in a baking dish, turn over, spread on some grainy mustard bake another 5 minutes at 180°C then put a slice of cheddar cheese on top of each chop and pour over some double cream. Another 5 minutes and that is it! They were also very very yummy!!! I did use a special cheddar cheese that we bought on our Peak District tour. It was cheddar with garlic and onion.

There was nothing left on either plate at the end of the meal other than the empty cobs and a bit of the fat from the chops.
I also made a lovely salad with buttercrunch lettuce, and lots of fruit and cucumbers and sprinkled over some chunks of the Comte Cheese we bought at the market.

As if we had room for anymore to eat!!!! But we almost polished this lot off too....

Well it is no wonder this happened after he sat down to watch a bit of telly!!