August 18th, 2008

Pastry
There is one thing that I rarely buy here and that is shortcrust pastry premade. I more often than not make my own. I will buy phyllo or Puff, but not shortcrust. And at this point in time I haven't made the watercrust pastry that pork pies are famous for. I guess I need to give that a go sometime.
I hardly ever measure my flour, butter, salt and water for my pastry. There are loads of recipes out there on quantities to use. Once you find the one that works best then stick to it and practice. So make pies!!!! This day I wanted to make a vegetable and ham quiche to use up some of the garden produce.

First off make sure you rub your butter and salt into your flour. Until it looks like this....

I tend to only use the tips of my fingers on my right hand. As someone somewhere said that if you need to answer the phone or do something then have one hand clean. So I try to stick to this rule.

Next add just enough cold water to get your dough to come together into a ball. At this stage you can cover it with cling film and let it rest in the refrigerator. But I never have that luxury of time to let it rest.

Make sure your surface and your rolling pin have plenty of flour on them. Turn the pastry a quarter of a turn and I even turn mine over while rolling out to the desired thickness.
Oh you may see specks in my pastry. By now you should know I never leave well enough alone or follow a recipe to the letter. Since I was making a quiche I added in some dried herbs with the flour and butter. You can add all sorts at the beginning. Sugar for extra sweetness in desserts and to help in the browning and crisping. Or Cheese for a savoury crust too. These little things are what make the dishes special.

Once the pastry is rolled out to the desired thickness and size then fold it in half.

And then half again.

My grand mother taught me this trick.... Bring your dish to the pastry.

And just put it over the edge like this. I have seen where folks use the rolling pin but I always have trouble with that method. This one seems to work for me.

Then basically unfold your pastry into your pie dish.

You can make adjustments if need be.

Now gently lift the edges and lightly pat down so the pastry doesn't tear. If you should happen to get a tear, not to worry. Take a bit of the over hang and brush the tear with water and gently press the extra bit into the tear. Don't be afraid to work with pastry. The more you do it the better you get.

You can flute the edges or just leave to over hang and then trim after wards. I just basically pushed mine up a bit and made a lip.

Next line with baking parchment and fill with baking beans. These are little ceramic beads that you can get at any cooking shop. Or just use dried beans to keep the pastry flat. I never prick the bottom of my pastry as I plan to pour a liquid into it and I don't want it seeping out if possible. This by the way is called Blind baking. Put into about a 180C (350F)oven for about 10 to 15 minutes. Keep an eye on it as you don't want it to brown, just set a bit. Then remove the beans and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes.

Now for the quiche bit..... This is really nice with layered Phyllo pastry too. With herbs between the buttered layers of phyllo.

Either blanch or saute your vegetables first. I had broccoli, courgettes, Chard stalks and some sugar snap peas that I cooked for a minute or two in the microwave. Just to soften a bit. Then sauteed some mushrooms, onion, and red pepper with a bit of garlic. And at the last minute I put in some Chopped chard leaves just to wilt.

I next tucked in some sliced torn ham, and some cubed pieces of Gruyere cheese. And sprinkled over some fresh herb leaves and flowers. You can use dry too. Here I used thyme, Oregano, basil and some chive and sage. Then sprinkle over the top some grated cheese. This again is according to taste and to what is at hand. I used some Cheddar and some Parmesan.

Next is the custard mix..... Take a large measuring jug, mine is 500ml. Put in 3 to 4 eggs, I should have used 4 as the vegetables were a bit on the juicy side. Add in about 2 heaping tablespoons of creme fraiche or double cream and then top up to the measure with milk.

You can add some salt, freshly grated black pepper and herbs to this mix too.


Next pour this mixture into the quiche. Making sure to get evenly poured around the dish.
Bake in a 190 to 200C (375-400F) oven for about 30 to 45 minutes. Testing it for doneness by sticking a butter knife in to see if it comes out clean in the middle. If not then stick it in longer.
Ideally you should let your quiche set for at least 10 t0 15 minutes before serving. But when you have three hungry adults who have been smelling it baking, well.......

As I said it was a little on the juicy side. The remedy to that would have been to add another egg and it would have helped. Also I think if I had used double cream instead of cream fraiche too that could have helped also. But as you can tell there was nothing at all wrong with the flavour. That piece was wolfed done by me the next day for breakfast. YUM!!!! Quiches can be eaten either hot or cold.

Sliced White Bread
All of a sudden Brian and I have been buying loaves of sliced white bread. It started out because of the summer puddings I have been making. We haven't bought a loaf in years, not since we started doing our own baking in the bread machine. And if we did it was never just plain sliced white bread.
But we have been really bad here lately and I expect we have gone through at least 4 loaves in the last few months. Besides the summer puddings, we have been enjoying good ole peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! And who can resist a good ole grilled sarnie!!!

These contained nice slices of smoked ham, mature cheddar and slices of onion and a good Dijon mustard. We do try to limit ourselves to just one sandwich per lunch. I serve with a fresh salad of lettuces from the garden so feel it is a little healthy.

And these lovely toasted slices are covered in grilled portebello mushrooms that have been drizzled with olive oil, minced garlic and some slices of mozzarella cheese. Again served on a fresh garden salad.
Well besides my tagine I bought us a slicer..... Now I just need a decent white bread recipe.... And we will be back to baking our own. I did make a Delicious loaf of rye bread this past week and another of light wholemeal. So we are going back to the healthy bread baking. The slicer works brilliant by the way. And hopefully soon I can get a roast and try it out on that.

Lamb Tagine

I am really enjoying Tagine cooking!!!!! Talk about easy!!!! I bought some lamb steaks and just pan fried them in a little olive oil and the spice blend from Barts (Baharat). Then added some sliced carrots and onions and some garlic chopped. Added this to the tagine base and poured some orange juice into the pan to deglaze. Added to the lamb and carrots... Little salt and pepper and a cinnamon stick, and 4 whole cloves and sprinkled more Baharat over. Then into the oven 180 for 1 hour. While that was cooking soaked some dried apricots and prunes. Then put into the tagine with a good drizzle of honey. Back into the oven for another 1/2 hour. You can take the lid off and cook for a bit longer if your liquid hasn't thickened or cheat like me and add a bit of chicken bisto (gravy mix) to the pot and stir and back for another 5 to 10 minutes. While this was cooking I made some plain basmati rice. Brian cleaned his plate and gave his approval by saying we could have it again.

April 29th, 2008

Retirement is keeping me on the busy side here. I thought when you retired you retired.... well it seems to be busier here than before I retired, but one thing is I am not feeling so tired. Well except for the late nights we have been staying up watching telly. I still get up fairly early but take the mornings in my stride so far. So yes, I am enjoying the retirement.



Since this is a food blog, I thought I would mention a situation we are having with the cats and their diets. We took Cheeky in for his yearly check up and the vet has suggested we put him on a diet. Seems he is a bit overweight...and she is concerned about diabetes and arthritis in his later years. So we are trying to get his weight down here. The problem is we have two cats. And the other one is probably underweight. Jingles has an eating problem and has to have food little and often, so when he eats, Cheeky thinks he has to too. I have been desperately trying to exercise Cheeky too. We do a sort of push up the stairs and then run down them, catch the mouse on the string and feathers on a fishing rod. The thing is, Cheeky is just plain lazy. He lays down to play, I have to tap his back legs to get him to go up the stairs with my fingers and careful he doesn't sit on them in the process. So this is proving to be a challenge and if anyone has any tips on cat dieting I would appreciate them.


Miss Mag's Tea Bread
When I first moved to the UK I wasn't allowed to work for about 6 months or so, but when I did finally get my first job here I met a lovely lady that I dubbed Miss Mags. She was really sweet to me and this is a recipe she shared with me and when I bake it I always think of her.

Take 1 cup of Tea and soak 1 cup of dried mixed fruit in it for about an hour or you can do over night, mixed with 1 cup of brown sugar.
Once the fruit has soaked, add in 1 egg, 2 cups self rising flour.
Bake at 170C for about 1 hour in a well greased and floured loaf tin.
That is it. Really quick and easy and tastes lovely.
Now you should know me by now, I can't leave well enough alone and this bread can change from time to time to something totally different with different additions.
Sometimes instead of the mixed dried fruit, I will use dried apricots, or a mix of my own dried fruits. Fig is lovely in it. Also I will sometimes add nuts. And sometimes a big heaping tablespoon of marmalade is lovely, the one with lots of rind in it. Also you can top it before baking with some cinnamon and sugar mixed for a lovely coating. It is great served with butter or with cream cheese and a nice cup of tea. Thanks Mags!!!

Spinach

My spinach is doing really well in the garden and coming up with recipes to use it has been fun and challenging, because Brian doesn't like cooked spinach. I on the other hand love it. So I have been sneaking it into lots of different dishes lately.
Risotto is excellent for adding all sorts of veggies to that folks don't like as sometimes they really can't taste it separately from all the other ingredients.
This one I made with mushroom, onion, Smoked sausage, butternut squash and the chopped spinach and chard. It really turned out nice.

I have also been disguising it stuffed in chicken breasts. Take some cream cheese and mix with some sauteed onion and garlic, a few chopped herbs, and some quick stir fried spinach that has been chopped. Add in some pine nuts for texture. Cut a slit into your chicken breast and stuff. Place into a baking dish with oil and sliced onions, top the chicken breasts with bread crumbs and a drizzle of oil and herbs. Bake for about 40 to 50 minutes at 180 to 190 C(Fan) until chicken is cooked.

I served on a bed of spinach and bean spaghetti.
For the spaghetti, I boiled a big pot of water and cooked the pasta as normal. For the sauce, take a large frying pan (I use my non stick wok) and saute some chopped onion and garlic, mushrooms and red pepper chopped. About 5 minutes, next add in a tin of Cannelini beans that have been drained and rinsed and a tin of chopped tomatoes. Add in seasonings and herbs to taste then toss in the spaghetti and right before serving toss in some spinach and cook just till wilted. Sprinkle over some fresh grated Parmesan and enjoy.

Now what to do with left over spaghetti. Usually I have it the next day for breakfast, but I accidentally cooked even more than I could eat for breakfast. So I had a look through my cooking magazines and found this recipe for using up the spaghetti. It is from an old copy of BBC Good Food Vegetarian, December 1999. Yes, I keep all my old cooking mags.

Courgette and Spaghetti Fritata

This is my version. Preheat your grill/broiler.
Saute in some olive oil a chopped onion, chopped clove of garlic and some chopped red bell pepper. Cook for about 3 to 5 minutes. Then add in 1 large courgette that has been cut into long thin strips. Some fresh oregano. Toss in your leftover spaghetti. Mix well. (Now make sure and use a non stick pan for this or you will have a mess on your hands.) Add in 3 well beaten eggs and some grated Parmesan. Cook over moderate heat till the base is set. Then place under the grill and cook until golden brown. Garnish with shavings or gratings of fresh Parmesan cheese and some warmed up tomato sauce.
Really quick and a super yummy way to use up the spaghetti. And I could have added in some more spinach!!! Maybe next time.

Merry Christmas!! And Happy New Year!!!

I would like to appologize for not writing sooner. I had all these great plans and recipes I wanted to share this month. But time and the flu had gotten the better of me. I would like to thank my dear friend Fiona over at the Cottage Smallholder for nominating me for the Happy Meme and the True Blue award. Thanks!!!!

For the first one I am to list 8 things that make me happy...
1. My husband reading to me or just holding my hand.
2. Seeing photos of my little Grand Daughter.
3. Hearing from my family and friends.
4. The cats. Especially when they are in a snuggle mood.
5. When a recipe or meal comes out as planned.
6. Hearing a robin sing and watching them bob around with their little chests puffed out.
7. Making cards or gifts for others.
8. A flower, a song, the taste of chocolate, a baby animal.... I think I could go on and on....

Now to nominate 8 folks for the Happy Meme......
Granny Pat
The Crafty Gardener
Amanda
Katie
Wendy
David
Charlotte
Cynthia


The True Blue award.

I think this is an award given to say thanks for the comments and reading on a regular basis.
As such I would like to award it back to my friend Fiona as she is a True Blue Blogger, commenting on my blog and answering me on her blog.
I would also like to award it to
Cynthia
Amanda
Charlotte
David
Katiez
Patricia
Joanna
And everyone that actually reads my blogs and comments. You all are true blue Friends!!! thanks!!!

Herman and the Potato Bread dough.....
Amanda at Little Foodies blog posted on her blog back in November about trying the potato bread recipe that all at the Daring Bakers were trying out.... So I decided to give it a try with Herman and to see how I got on with it. The dough is very wet and very very sticky. Like she said in her blog, I think the yeast loves Potatoes. The recipe can be found here at Tanna's blog My Kitchen in Half Cups. I cut the recipe in half as I know from experience this would produce more bread than Brian and I could eat in a weeks time. And for 1/2 cup of the potato water and 1/2 cup of the flour I substituted 1 cup of Herman. You will need more flour..... I didn't use the bread maker on this one instead I used the largest bowl I have my large mixing bowl. And it was just barely big enough to hold half the recipe!!!

I ended up making a foccacia with half the dough.

And Rolls with the other half. This was a new and different texture and flavour experience. And one I plan to do again and again.



Christmas Cookies

Okay I had best intentions to bake lots of Christmas goodies this year. And to send some to my sons back in the US. But coming down with the flu really put a hamper on getting them done. I did bake a batch of Snickerdoodles, but they seemed to have disappeared already, so after I finish typing this blog I am off to bake another batch. They are becoming the fav cookies around here. And never stick around long enough to ever go stale. Good thing the recipe makes a big batch..... Not good for dieters....
Snicker Doodles
1 cup Shortening/margarine/butter, softened
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 cup all purpose/plain flour
2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda/bicarbonate of soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
And Cinnamon and sugar for rolling
Heat oven to 400 F/200 C. Mix shortening, sugar and eggs thouroughly. Blend all dry ingredients together and stir into the egg mix. Roll into balls the size of small walnuts. Then roll into a mix of 2 tablespoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon. (I like more cinnamon). Place about 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes. I use one of those teflon baking sheets on my baking trays. No mess!!!

Rolling in the cinnamon sugar mix.

On the baking tray.

Warm from the oven!!! Warning they disappear fast!!! Can't eat just one!!!

Magic Bars
This is another recipe I make at this time of the year and another bad for the diet recipe. But ohhhh they are soooooooo nice!!!
Take 1/2 cup butter or margarine and place in a baking dish that is 13x9 inches and place into a preheating oven at 325 for glass(which I use) or 350 for metal. Once the butter has melted stir in 1 1/2 cups of graham cracker/digestive biscuit crumbs and press into the bottom of the pan.
Next pour on one ( 14 oz) Can of Condensed Milk (NOT EVAPORATED). Then sprinkle on 1 cup of chocolate chips, 1 cup of flaked coconut and 1 cup chopped nuts (I use pecans). Then bake for 25 to 30 minutes until lightly browned. Cool. Chill throughly and cut into bars.

You can add other ingredients but I like them with just the chocolate, coconut and pecans.

People Chow
Another recipe I make at this time of the year is people chow. This is my own version of the recipes that are out and about.
Take 1 bar of good chocolate or 1 cup of chocolate chips and melt in the microwave with about 1 cup of peanut butter and about 1 large tablespoon butter or margarine.
Take a very large bowl of mixed cereals, (depends what country you are in) US I would use Chex and Cherrios here in Britain I use Shreddies or equivalent and cherrios. You can add other things like peanuts, or other nuts, raisins or currants. Mix all together with the melted chocolate mixture. Then in a large plastic bag pour in about 1/2 cup icing/powdered sugar. And fill as much as you can of the cereal mixture and shake to coat with the sugar. Keep repeating the icing/powdered sugar shaking until all the cereal is coated. Pour into large containers and enjoy. You can add other bits to this now too if you like, such as M&M's or Smarties, Cinnamon red hots or what you think might go well with the mix. Be warned it is very morish and you will get powdered/icing sugar all over your fingers and clothes.


I will try to add more recipes at a later date of other things I like to make for Christmas as presents to hand out to friends and family. Sorry for not getting done in time for this year. But you will be ahead for next year.

Cold Weather Food
When the weather turns cold and you are needing something to stick to your ribs this is a nice dish to make.
Corn Bread and Lentil stew.
When I moved here to Britain I didn't ship over my cast iron pans. Thinking the shipping cost would be more expensive than the pans were worth. That is wrong. If you move take the things you think aren't important, because you may have a hard time finding them. I was lucky and I did find a cast iron skillet. I am still in search of the corn bread stick pan like I used to have.
Anyway this is the only way to make proper cornbread is in a skillet. I also have had to improvise and instead of cornmeal here I use Polenta to make my cornbread. Almost the same but there is a difference.
Cornbread

1 cup corn meal/polenta
1 cup all purpose/plain flour
1/4 cup sugar/granulated
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/4 cup about 56 grams butter (melted)
Pre heat the oven to 425 F or 200 to 210 C Depends how hot your oven is.
Take your skillet (mine is roughly 8 to 9 inches in diameter) and place your butter into the skillet I add just a tiny bit more. Now place into the preheating oven till melted.
Mix your dry ingredients together in a large bowl and then add the milk and egg and stir till blended. Once your butter is melted then take your preheated skillet out of the oven and swirl the butter around the pan and then pour the melted butter into the cornbread mixture and stir till the butter is combined. Place into the skillet and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes just till a lovely golden brown. You can test the centre with a toothpick for doneness. It should come out clean. This is how I have always made my cornbread. There is a southern version that uses Buttermilk I think and no sugar. I remember when I was a kid eating some lovely cornbread when I went to Kentucky, but haven't been able to duplicate it.

Lentil Stew

I adapted this recipe from an old Light and Tasty magazine that I have.
1 Package of Low fat smoked sausage
2 to 4 medium carrots, sliced
2 to 4 ribs of celery, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons olive oil
3 cups water
2 to 4 medium potatoes, diced
1 cup of chicken stock could be from homemade or canned or made with stock cube
1 cup dry green lentils
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 can of chopped tomatoes
chopped chilli peppers
In a large Dutch oven, cook the sausage, carrots, celery, oniona and garlic in oil until vegetables are almost tender. About 5 minutes. Stir in water, potatoes, broth, lentils, cumin and cayenne. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 40 minutes or until potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally. Add the tomatoes and chillis to taste along with any seasonings. This is when I add salt as I have found out with dried beans if you add salt early on they don't soften. I also add a bit of oregano and thyme as it gives it a better flavour. Heat through and serve with Hot cornbread and butter.

Brian and I are always laughing that Jingles is going to be the first Cordon Bleu Cat Chef. (not that I am anywhere near being a Cordon Bleu chef) But he is very very interested in watching me cook. I sometimes let him see or smell what it is I am doing. It is so funny having a cat so interested in the process of cooking.

Have a very Merry Christmas all and A Happy New Year!!!

November 7th, 2007

Sorry for not updating the blog sooner.... Been a bit busy. Lots of cooking going on though....

Over halfterm a few weeks back my friend Linda and her two kids came by for a crafting day. We get out loads of crafting stuff and make some greeting cards. Mostly we chat, laugh and eat. The kids really enjoy coming by and I usually try to make them something to eat that they haven't had before or that is a classic American type of dish. So Naomi requested meatloaf this time. Okay.... I thought and thought and thought about it and came up with a meatloaf tasting party. We had three different meatloaves to try. Of course I had to make my traditional American version and then there was the German recipe I translated that has become my favourite lately and a new Chicken version.



And what goes with Meatloaf but Mashed potatoes, gravy and sweet corn.


The German recipe won hands down. And then the American version came in second. And the Chicken one... well lets just say I won't be doing that one again.... Although it was Elliots favourite.

And what else goes with meatloaf, but lots and lots of good ole ketchup!!!

This is roughly how I make American meatloaf (I think each family has their own recipes)
Take one pack of mince/hamburger and place the meat into a large bowl.
I add 1/2 finely chopped onion that has been sauteed in a little olive oil.
1/2 red bell pepper/capsium chopped fine and sauteed with the onion.
Add to the meat along with a good hand full of fresh bread crumbs (may need more if the mixture is too wet), a raw egg and about 1/3 cup of ketchup. Salt and pepper to taste and you can add different herbs as you like. Sometimes it is parsley and sometimes oregano or thyme. Get your hands in there and mix well. Adding more crumbs if needed. You don't want it really wet but you don't want it over dry either.
Now shape into a loaf type of shape on a baking tin and cover over the top more ketchup. Bake in a preheated 180 C and about 350 F oven for about 30 to 40 minutes. That is about it. Serve with a brown beef gravy, mashed potatoes and sweet corn. And lots of ketchup. If you have left overs, slice sort of thick and make cold meatloaf sandwiches with more ketchup the next day.

The German translated version
about 20 g bread crumbs
1 kg mince
2 eggs
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
salt and pepper
2 large red peppers, finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 bunch parsley, finely chopped
150g. feta cheese(although I think the recipe calls for a fresh cheese with herbs)
Take 10 g of the bread crumbs and mix with the mince, one egg, and the mustard and salt and pepper to taste. Mix in 1/2 of the onion, pepper and parsley. Mix well and then spread out on a sheet of foil, so you have a bit of a rectangle about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick.
Take the feta cheese and crumble into a small bowl. Add the remaining 10 g of bread crumbs, egg, parsley, onion and pepper. Mix well. spread ontop of the meat mixture and then roll up jelly roll fashion. Bake at 180 C for about 30-40 minutes. You can leave the foil on and then remove the last 15 minutes of baking. You can try different cheeses in this recipe as I am sure others would work as well as feta or cream cheese.

I also made a really nice dessert, but can't find the magazine that I got the recipe from. But it is farely simple to make. It was called Flapjack Trifle. Take about 1 cup of porridge oats and toast in a non stick frying pan with about 1 tablespoon of butter and 2 to 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar. You can add mixed spice or cinnamon too. I did the mixed spice, but next time will try cinnamon. Toast this over a slow heat for about 5 - 10 minutes stirring all the time, then transfer to a bowl to cool. This will get crunchy once it cools.
Next peel and core about 9 small cox's apples, in the US I would use winesaps or granny smiths. Fry in a little butter for about 10 minutes adding a few spoonfulls of brown sugar and some more mixed spice or cinnamon. Let these cool.
Layer 1/2 the apples into a pretty glass bowl, then top with some of the oats, another layer of apples and then oats, saving back some oats for the very top.
Then the recipe called for some black currant colis. Okay couldn't find that..... so substituted one of those tall skinny jars of black currant only/all fruit preserves. Spread this over next. Then top with some fresh custard (I used a packet of Birds Instant custard that I made up with boiling water) in the US you could substitute some instant vanilla pudding and possibly some rasbperry or black berry jam for the black currant.
Next top with stiffly whipped double cream which I whipped with a little caster sugar(extra fine sugar) and topped with the remaining oats. (Americans can use CoolWhip instead)
This was really lovely!!!!! And I will definately be making this again and again. Although it didn't have the traditional trifle ingredients of sponge cake, sherry, and jelly, it was my very first trifle I have made.

Disaster strikes!!! Okay it just happens to the best of us. I have been wanting to try for ages and ages to make Gnocchi from scratch. I have read I don't know how many recipes about how to go about doing it. And since I had some leftover mashed potatoes from the Meatloaf tasting, I thought I would give it a try. I did good mixing in flour and salt and pepper and creating a dough that held it's shape. I made the little sausage rolls like it said... And I then cut into little bite size pieces and even rolled them with a fork just like it showed in the photos. Put onto a floured cloth covered dish while I finished the rest. Got my water boiling hot... Put them in and then fished them out when they floated on the surface. I should have stopped there.... and just served with a tomato sauce and I think I would have been happy. But NO..... I had to get creative, didn't I...... I remebered in Austria that in one of the restuarants we had something very similar and they had fried theirs in a bit of butter to brown. I thought hmmm that sounds yummy..... Don't do it.... Just don't..... I had this gloopy glutinous mess that took forever to brown. It did however taste nice.... but it didn't resemble the slightest bit of a recognizable Gnocchi.... Oh well.... Here they are before I ruined them.

HERMAN UPDATE

Herman is still going strong....

I have been using him at least once a week and sometimes twice to make rolls or bread....

To make a loaf of sourdough bread I took 1 cup of herman and added him to the bread machine pan....making sure to feed the remaining herman.(1 cup warm water and 1 cup strong bread flour). Add to the bread pan 240ml warm water,1 tsp salt, 1 tablespoon sugar, 3 -3 1/2 cups bread flour and a pkt of yeast. Put on the dough setting and let go until ready to shape and bake.

Turn out onto a floured board and shape into a loaf shape. Put onto a cornmeal/polenta sprinkled baking tray. Cover and let rise till doubled about 1/2 hour or so.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F and place a pan of boiling water on the bottom shelf.

Bake for 10 minutes then brush with a mixture of boiled 1 tsp cornstarch and 120ml water. Continute baking another 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown.

I think I may add a bit of spelt flour next time as it adds a lovely flavour to the bread.

Here I have sliced some of the bread and then toasted under the grill/broiler with a little olive oil brushed on the slices and just a slight spread of butter. Once out of the oven rub with a peeled garlic clove. I slice off one end of the garlic clove and then make a few crosswise cuts to help the juice flow.

YUM!!!!

Served here with a nice autumnal supper of baked chicken breasts in a mushroom, bacon onion sauce, baked potato and mixed microwaved veg.

Our Anniversary was the end of last week. 11 years now. And for a treat Brian took me to Borough Market in London. We had lunch at the restaurant Fish. It was warm enough to even sit outside!!!

We enjoy people watching so enjoyed sitting outside, it will probably be the last time till the next warm spring day. We were informed if you want to eat lunch there on a Friday you really should book as they were booked solid for indoor dining.

We started lunch with some Thai Crab cakes. Watch that sauce as it was a bit hot. But lovely!!!
And for our main (I must appologise I forgot to take a photo before diving in that is why the batter is a little broken) the absolute best fish and chips and mushy peas I have ever eaten. The fish is so melt in your mouth lovely. The batter on the outside is so crispy and delicous. The chips are proper chips and the mushy peas just bring it all together nicely. I did however find the tartare sauce lacking something this time. Maybe a few more gherkins or capers would have made it a bit better. But overall it was delicious!!!

We opted for another lovely glass of Sauvignon Blanc rather than desert.

While eating our meal we were entertained by the customers to the raclette stall. It looked really yummy, but ooooooooh so bad for you. All that melted gooey cheese..... YUM!!!

Then off for a bit of a shop.... Lovely produce displayed with pride was such a refreshing sight to see...

And the variety!!!! See that big thing that looks like a bolder...... well that is a giant puffball mushroom!!! And yes, I had to try it. So along with a slab of puffball mushroom, I bought some ceps, a couple of yellow and tiger striped tomatoes.

A giant daikon radish. 4 quinces and a big slab of Comte Cheese. Brian really isn't one much for shopping. I think that was about all.... I did look all over the place for some orzo pasta and no luck. I guess I will have to resort to ordering it off the internet.

Back home and the next day I decided to start cooking our goodies.... So Saturday I made a steak and mushroom and guiness pie using the puffball and some chestnut mushrooms I had in the fridge. I can honestly say I wasn't overly keen on the puffball. So don't think I will bother with it again. Maybe I should have cooked it a bit differently I don't know. The Pie was lovely however.

Sorry but I forgot to take a photo of the puffball before I chopped it up. It looked a bit like a Marshmallow steak.

To me the puffball seemed a bit rubbery and had a bit of a metal taste. Not sure if that is a good thing or not. Anyway, I can say I tried it.

Fiona over at The Cottage Smallholder had a recipe for using quinces. She wrote about this lovely creation called Membrillo that she served with cheese. And also has a recipe for making quince jelly. So this is why I bought the quinces. I just had to try both recipes.... So I spent the day making quince jelly and then taking the pulp that was left over and made the membrillo (which I haven't tried yet with cheese. Saving that for tonight I think.)

As always I sort of followed the recipe. I only used two of my quinces, since I could only find a few empty jars. I really must get some jars in and not let Brian put them in the recycle bin. First I noticed that quinces are really tough to cut into. They look to be a cross between an apple and a pear. And you know that really pithy bitter taste that sometimes apples and some pears have, that is what a raw quince tastes like. The aftertaste is a bit fruity though. So busy with making the jelly....

I boiled the chunks of pulp like Fiona's recipe and then boiled the strained juice and added lemon juice and sugar and here is what I ended up with....

Beautiful and really tasty too!!!! Especially served with some fresh baked Herman rolls!!!

To make the membrillo I took the leftover pulp from making the jelly and pressed it through a sieve adding a touch of hot water that I boiled in the kettle to help the process a little. Added sugar and lemon juice as per Fiona's recipe and boiled the pulp down till it turned a darker colour and became quite thick. Being careful not to let it burn.

I will let you know how it is with some Comte cheese. I just love this cheese. It is a bit of a cross between a nice cheddar and a parmesan. Really lovely flavour and a hard cheese. Great for melting too!!

And for supper that night.. I sliced up the ceps and fried them in a bit of butter with some sliced onions.... a bit of leftover sliced ham and a dash of cream and sherry, chopped clove of garlic, served over some grilled split herman rolls which I rubbed with garlic after coming out of the oven. Topped the rolls with the mushroom mixture... grated on some comte cheese and back under the grill for a little browning. Sprinkle of chopped fresh chives and wow!!!!!!

Quick and yummy!!!

And since I found out how easy Trifles were to make..... I thought I would try a traditional one with the sherry, sponge, and jelly!!!

Yes it was nice..... And I have the ingredients to make another..... Hmmmmmm off now to do a bit of cooking....