August 8th, 2007

Brian is finally feeling much better thanks to the meds and all the smoothies. The latest smoothies have been extra cold!!!! And extra fruity!!! The last trip I had to the grocery store I picked up some Scottish strawberries and they really did smell like proper strawberries and some lovely big red raspberries and some blue berries. Once i got home I separated them out into 4 containers with a mix of each berries. Then froze them. I pull out one container of frozen berries and put them in the blender then add a banana, and a nectarine and since the Cranberry blueberry juice was on sale I picked up loads of that too and put a bit of it in the blender. Then whizz up and if needed more ice cubes and some lemonade for a bit of fizz. They have been really tasty!!!! They were very cooling for the few days we had of hot weather.

This was yesterdays lunch. Smoothie and a salad. I picked up some lovely Belgium ham from the deli counter and decided to have it with some melon and a nice slice of brie on a bed of lettuce.


German cooking magazine recipe....


My German recipe translation is just a little better than my French. And this recipe you could almost figure out just by looking at it.
Take a plate and line with lettuce leaves some tomatoe slices and a sprinkling of sliced onion. (I added some blanched green beans too!!)
Take some tuna filets and marinate in the juice of 1/2 lemon, some olive oil, zest of lemon and some chopped parsley. I added a splash of terryaki sauce, pinch of salt and some fresh ground black pepper.
Heated up my cast iron grill pan till it was smoking hot and then seared the tuna on each side. Cook to desired doneness and drizzle with a dressing of lemon juice, olive oil, lemon zest and chopped parsely. Very nice and light for a hot summers evening. You can substitute chicken, pork chops, or swordfish for the tuna. And other ingredients can be added to the salad. I made chicken and added some boiled potatoes the next night.
Here is the German version
Tunfischsteaks mit Zitronenhaube
Zutaten für 4 personen:
4 Tunfischsteaks (à ca. 150g)
Saft und abgeriebene Schale von 1 unbehandelten zitrone
3-4 EL Olivenöl
Salz, weisser Peffer
1 Bund galatte Petersilie
1 TL grobkörniges Meersalz
1 Römersalat (ca. 300g)
3 Tomaten (ca. 175g)
1 mittelgrosse zwiebel
evtl. zitronenespalten
zum Garnieren
1. Tunfisch mit zitronensaft beträufeln. 2 Esslöffel Öl in einer Pfanne erhitzen. Tunfischsteaks mit Küchenpapier abtupfen und im Öl von jeder Seite bei mittlerer Hitze 3-4 Minute braten. Mit Salz und Pfeffer würzen.
2. Petersilienblätter abzupfen und fein hacken. Mit Zitronenschale und Meersalz mischen. Salat in mundgerechte Stüke schneiden, Tomaten in Scheiben und zwiebel in Ringe schneiden.
3. Eine grosse Platte mit Römersalat, Tomaten und Zwiebelringen auslegen. Steaks darauf anrichten. Mit der Petersilien-Zitronen-Mischung bestreuen und alles mit 1-2 Esslöffel Öl beträufeln. Nach Belieben mit Zitronenespalten garniert servieren.

Not sure I have said this before, but I really do love my new stove!!!!
When we had the new stove installed the installer said our extractor fan was too close to the top of the stove so it had to go. Brian and I had put the new one in and it just about covered the hole from the old extractor fan that wasn't working. So I came up with a brill idea to get a stainless steel backsplash to cover the tiles and the gaping hole. I was lucky and found one for sale on Ebay. It arrived the other day and we also bought some industrial glue off another person on ebay. These things can run rather expensive in the shops and I priced one for around £100. in the local shop. But mine only cost £40.00 and that included the glue, which we have loads left to fix one or two other things around the house with. And I think it looks darn good for a Pat and Brian DIY project.

Before (Big gaping hole!!!)

After (Nice and shiny!!! No ugly gaping hole!!!)

The night before last I used my wok again. Boy does the wok and wok burner ever cook quick!!!! I now have to make sure that I start the rice and it is done before I cook the other dishes.
This is a super quick and really yummy stir fry....

Szechuan Chicken - serves 4
2 chicken breast skinned and boned
pinch salt
1/2 egg white lightly beaten
2 tsp. cornflour(starch) paste(mix with a little water)
1 green pepper, cored and seeded
1 chopped chili pepper(optional and use the one you like most or even part of one)
4 tablespoons peanut(groundnut) oil
dried chili flakes
1 to 2 spring onions chopped into 1 inch pieces
small piece of ginger peeled and chopped fine
1 to 2 tablespoons bean paste or hoisin sauce
1 Tablespoon dry sherry
1 Tablespoon Terriyaki sauce
115 g roasted cashew nuts
few drops of sesame oil
Cooked rice.

First make sure the rice is cooked and hot. Roast the cashew nuts. I did mine in a dry nonstick pan on the hob.
Next chop your chicken breasts up into small cubes about the size of a lump of sugar. Mix in a small bowl the chicken, salt, egg white and cornflour paste.
Cut the green pepper into chunks about the same size as the chicken pieces.
Heat the groundnut(peanut) oil in a preheated wok. Stir fry the chicken cubes for about 1 minute or until the colour changes. Remove from the wok with a slotted spoon and keep warm. Add the green pepper, chillie flakes spring onion and ginger and stir fry for about 1 minute. Then add the chicken, bean paste, Terriyaki sauce and sherry. Blend well and cook for 1 minute more. Finally add the cashew nuts and sesame oil. Serve over hot rice.
(you can add chili peppers if you like it spicier)
I also served it with some stirfried beansprouts.
Take about two good handfulls of beansprouts, 2 to 3 chopped green onions and stir fry in some peanut oil for a couple of minutes. Toss in a teaspoon of brown sugar and a few drops of sesame oil. Serve. And yes it is that quick.



Today's Lunch

Today's lunch is thanks to another fellow Food blogger....Thyme For Cooking It is their Caprese Pasta salad with Salami scroll down through the pasta recipes for this one. It really is tasty and just the right recipe for todays lunch!!! Thanks!!!