July 23rd, 2008

Okay sorry!!!!! Been a bit busy of late. You can read about some of what I have been up to over on My World . I have been cooking honestly, but nothing really spectacular. Just quick everyday type of meals.... I did find a new product, or rather Brian found it. A non dairy whip cream substitute. We were having Hamish and Yuk-kin around for lunch and I made a summer pudding and I wanted some whipping cream to go with it. But since Hamish can't have dairy it was going to be custard instead. Brian was picking some things up for me when he spied the Soya whipping cream. So never give up hope in searching for that special ingredient. It tastes sweet so you don't need to add sugar to it and personally it didn't need much whipping. And it was just perfect with the summer pudding.

This is the German side of the box.


And this is the English side of the box.

Summer Pudding

I did make a second summer pudding and Brian and I had it with Ice cream. Which was nice too. For all my friends who don't know what a summer pudding is.... Here is my recipe for it. Take a bowl and line it with cling film/saran wrap. Then take some white bread slices (the kind of bread you shouldn't be eating) and take the crusts off. (I gave the birds the crusts after I put some peanut butter on it for them. Boy did they like that!) Now you can butter the slices if you like but it isn't necessary. Place into the lined bowl, lining the sides and bottom with the bread. Making sure to overlap the slices a little.

In a sauce pan combine about 1/2 cup caster sugar and a little port or water or fruit juice, enough to disolve the sugar in. And boil this for about 10 minutes till it slightly thickens. Next add lots of fruit -- a mix of Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, currants, cherries, black berries.... I even added a gooseberry or two to the syrup and boil for another minute or so. (You will want to make sure to have loads of fruit and extra will be used for serving if you have more than enough.) Let cool slightly. With a slotted spoon, spoon the fruit into the bread lined bowl. Some of the juice is fine and reserve the rest of the juice and fruits. Once you have filled it as full as you can leaving about a 3/4 inch gap at the top. Cover with more crustless bread slices. And then the cling film. Now you will need to weight it down by placing the bowl inside a roasting tin or another bowl to catch the juices. And put a saucer on top. Then I put a plastic bag full of pennies ontop to weigh it down and into the fridge to set over night. This compacts the fruit and bread to help it hold it's shape. When serving unmold onto a plate and serve with the remaining juice and fruit. Also decorate with some fresh fruit and berries. Serve with custard, whipped cream or ice cream. Enjoy!!!! And it is good for you!!! Part of your 5 a day!!!! What a bonus!!!

You may have to fight Jingles off!!! He wasn't keen on the fruit, but enjoyed the ice cream. Silly cat!!!!


Update to post - The amount of fruit and bread will all depend on what size container you are using. For the one in the photo I used roughly about 6 cups of mixed fruit or a bit more. You can also make this in mini form by using ramekins. Also larger by using a larger bowl. Sorry if I have confused anyone on the recipe.

January 11th, 2007

Winter seems to be well and truely here as I am suffering from the winter blues at the moment. Hate getting those. Must make sure to get one of those special daylight bulbs for the computer or the craft room to help combat that blue mood.
The holidays were a bit rushed so I didn't get the chance to take alot of photos while I was cooking. I did however manage this one of my Poached pears using David Hall's recipe from Book The Cook. They came out really lovely and spicy and not too heavy for a refreshing dessert that Brian and I had the next day. We were just too stuffed to eat another bite on Boxing day.

I do wish to apologise as I have no idea whose blog I got this recipe from. I forgot to put the url down with the recipe. It is for Prawn Cigars with a Honey Mustard Apricot dipping sauce.
I did alter the recipe the second time I made these over the holidays. Just slightly and think I may have to do a little more, but they were really yummy!!!

First start out by toasting a 1/4 cup sesame seeds in a frying pan. Be careful and don't let them burn. Take some cleaned peeled cooked prawns and place in a food processor. I used a bag of frozen prawns. Add the sesame seeds, and here is where I made some changes as I like things with a bit more umph and flavour. Add 1 tablespoon of chopped ginger, 2 cloves garlic, zest and juice of 1 lime, 3 chopped green(spring) onions, 1 tablespoon each Sesame oil, and soy sauce and a tablespoon of cornstarch. I added some finely chopped red chilli too. Blitz all together in the processor till it makes a nice paste like mixture. It may well be similar to how you make prawn toasts. I will add a whole chilli chopped next time and maybe even more ginger.
Then with your phyllo dough under a damp cloth work with three sheets at a time. Brush each with either melted butter or olive oil. I brushed the top sheet then flipped and brushed the next sheet and finally the bottom sheet. Cut these in half lengthwise. So you have two rather long sheets... Now place the prawn mixture down the side of the sheets in a long narrow strip. Brush the pastry with a beaten egg wash and roll up to form cigar shapes. Cut each into half and then half again. Brush with egg wash and dip in sesame seeds. Place on a baking tray.

Bake these at 200 C for about 15 minutes. It makes alot!!! These can be made a day ahead and kept covered before baking.
The dipping sauce I changed slightly too as by the second time I made them I had ran out of Apricot preserves and just used a tin of drained apricots.
Put either 1/2 cup apricot preserves or drained tin of apricots into a blender (here again I think you might also add a few chopped dried apricots if you have them about)
1 tablespoon water, if using the tinned ones, omit this
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 teaspoon minced fresh peeled ginger
Again you can add some chilli's chopped fine to the sauce.
Blend until smooth.
These were so easy to make and made a great starter on both occasions that I made them. I will be playing around with the phyllo pastry more making canapes. Maybe mini spring rolls or how about pizza rolls.... Hmmmm definately like this recipe. Again I want to apologize to the person whose site I got it from I did desperately try to search for it again to give you credit. So if anyone runs across it please let me know so I can edit this post. Thanks!!!

Well the holidays are all about feasting and friends. My family and friends know I am a bit of a foodie and usually I end up with foodie type presents. My dear friend Marc, sent us a fab Christmas present of Stilton and port. I have never had a piece of stilton that large before in my life!!!! It was and is (yes we are still eating it) lovely!!!! Boxing day we had Ham, and it was a gorgeous ham!!! One that I won't forget the flavour of for some time. (I still have the bone out in the freezer waiting for a nice pot of soup.) So I decided to create a lovely dish using both gorgeous ingredients together and one that my husband would love for me to forget to use. But this has been the year of the Sprout in our household. I am determined to like them since they are supposed to be very very good for you. So here is my dish....


First take and put on a pan of boiling salt water and cook some pasta. I am also one of those that puts a bit of oil in the water. Not necessarily to stop the pasta from sticking, but to keep the pan from boiling over. The oil seems to keep the starch bubbles from forming. (Test it!!) You will still need to turn it down once it starts boiling. But you don't get the white foaming that sometimes occurs with pasta.
Okay back to the recipe.
Clean a couple of handfulls of sprouts and cut into thin slices. Chop one onion and if you have some mushrooms slice those too. Now stir fry for a few minutes in a large wok or frying pan. Toss in some chopped ham and the cooked pasta. Now add a couple tablespoons of either double cream or cream fraiche and some crumbled stilton. Once heated through serve up with some tomato wedges and more stilton crumbled over the top. YUM!!!!

I think I need to start working on my presentation skills.

So if anyone has any tips or hints I could sure use them. This dish may look a bit sloppy, but the flavours were out of this world!!!
First I started off braising some red cabbage with a chopped apple and some chopped onion. Bit of red wine, cider vinegar, brown sugar and some left over cranberries. Simmered for about 1 hour.
While that cooked I then cut in half and cleaned a butter nut squash. Using the bowl and about an inch of the squash neck (the rest of the squash I will use in another recipe). Clean out seeds and prick the skin all over with a knife. Now place in a baking tin cut side down with about 1/2 inch of water in the tin and bake for about 1/2 hour at 190C. Once baked take out of the oven and turn over. So the cavatiy is upwards. Now in this you put 1/2 chopped apple per half, some chopped pecans, some sultanas, sprinkle over some cinnamon and brown sugar. Dot with butter and pop back into the oven for another 1/2 hour. Making sure there is water in the tin. The last 10 minutes take out and top with some mature cheddar, red leichester or as I used some goats cheese. (this was a mild firm goats cheese not the soft one with the rind). It is finished when the squash is tender and the cheese has melted. I will use the goats cheese more often as this complimented the flavour of the other ingredients.
And to finish off the meal I pan fried two pork chops with some onions and mushrooms. Once cooked I added a bit of cider to reduce down to make a quick sauce. All of these went well together and complimented each other....Now if I could just make it look a bit better...

Also this month I fixed a Beef and Beer stew. I was wanting the rest of the beer to make some sourdough beer rolls with. So here is the stew....Which was quite yummy!!!!


Heat a large dutch oven with a bit of oil and fry off some braising steak that is cut into cubes. Fry about 5 minutes and then add a chopped onion and some chopped red pepper, sliced carrots, sliced mushrooms and sliced celery and fry for another 5 minutes. Just till softened. Sprinkle on some flour about 1 tablespoon, salt and pepper to taste. Chopped herbs of choice I used thyme and herbs de Provence add 1 cup beef broth and 1 cup Newcastle Brown ale. ( I think any ale or beer would work). Heat to boiling. Now I added about 4 to 5 rather thickly sliced potatoes to the top and then popped the lid on and into the oven for about 1 hour at 180C. Take lid off and let potatoes brown for about 20 minutes at 200C.

I served with a side salad of round lettuce leaves, chopped apples, pecans and crumbled stilton with a ceasar dressing.

We have been trying hard to have more fish in our diet here. And on the way home on Wednesday I stopped by the farm shop. The Fish monger is there on Wednesday's and Thursdays. So I checked to see what he had on offer. And bought some Haddock and some Cod.
The Haddock was about 1/2 the price of the cod and after the recipe I made we will definately be eatting more Haddock in our diets.

It is a recipe from a very old cook book I have by Robert Carrier
Take and skin and debone the fish. If you like the skin, then leave it on. We don't.
Butter a casserole dish.
Take and chop some onion and mushrooms finely and some chopped parsley about 2 tablespoons. Quickly sautee the onion and mushroom in a bit of butter or olive oil.
Spoon 1/2 of this mixture into the casserole dish and top with the fish. Sprinkle over the parsley salt and pepper. Then the other 1/2 of onion mixture. Top this with some white wine or double cream (I used wine) and pop into the oven till the fish is cooked. 180C for about 20 to 30 minutes. I served this along with some baked potatoes topped with mild goats cheese and a side salad and some microwaved cabbage. Very nice!!!
Another Christmas present this year was a cook book from my step son and partner called Fish by Hugh Fernley Whittingstall. I think this is to help us with our attempt to eat more fish. They also gave me the Auto Biography "RAW" by Anthony Worrall Thompson. And they found me a package of Orzo in a Greek shop in London!!!!!! And my friend Linda gave me another foodie gift...... one of my favs...... Hershey bars!!!!!


Jingles is desperatley trying to see what it is I am cooking now!!! I know he wants to become a chef!!

My dear friend Fiona at Cottage Smallholder has tagged me again with a meme...
8 Random Facts about myself.....
The rules: Link to the person who tagged you and post the rules on your blog. Share 8 random or weird things about yourself. Tag 8 people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs. Oh this is gonna be tough.....

1. I am an American living in Britain. I was born in Indiana and lived there most of my life with a few months here or there in Texas and Oklahoma. But technically I am a Hoosier.
2. I am a grandmother!!! My first granddaughter was born last May 8th. And yes I am very very proud of her as I am of both my Twin sons and daughter in-law and my Stepson and his partner too.
3. I have alot of intrests...... Mainly cooking, collecting recipes and cook books (well over 400)and desperately trying to be a foodie, but I also love my crafting as much as my cooking. So much so, that I have commandered the spare bedroom for a craft room and filled it to the ceiling with rubber stamps yarn and paper and even a spinning wheel.
4. I love animals almost more than people sometimes. I have always had an animal in my life and I would feel totally lost without them. Since moving here to Britain I haven't had a dog in my life and I do find that hard, so really enjoy visiting my friends dog Ben. And yes I spoil him rotten just like I spoil my cats. I believe animals have feelings and an intelligence about them like we have.
5. My husband and I are bird watchers. We aren't in the category of twitchers. We don't go rushing off to see a rare bird. If it should happen to be in one of the places we visit all the better, but we don't go to the other end of the country to see it. We enjoy nature and all the things in it.
6. I also enjoy physics. I like reading and studying Einstein and Stephen Hawking who amazes me. And I enjoy having coversations with Brian about things like Schrodinger's cat and what if, all sorts of things like that. Keeps me thinking.
7. And to go along with 6. I am a sci fi nut. I like Star Trek, Star wars, and all those types of movies. And reading Asimov and others too. But I tend to scare myself sometimes thinking about other life on other planets. So try not to watch movies that have alien Abductions in them.
8. I guess I am a hoarder.... Like I said earlier, I collect recipes and cookbooks. I collect craft supplies, clothes, plants, food, animals(when Brian lets me). This may come from when I was a kid. I am not sure. But it is one tough habit to break.

Okay shhhhheesh that was hard. :)
Now I am supposed to tag 8 more people so what I will do instead is the first 8 to visit are tagged. So please leave a comment and let us all know 8 random facts about you on your blog.

November 24th, 2007

I have been rather busy this past month but not too busy to cook. On the way home from work one day, I stopped by the farm shop and picked up some Cod from the fishmonger. I was looking for some halibut, but he said the awful storms we had a few weeks back had affected the fishing. But he should be back in a weeks time and should have some then.

I had been perusing my cooking magazines and I came across a recipe for Savoy cabbage with bacon and cod, they microwaved theirs, I rather fancied mine in the oven. I started off by frying the bacon till crispy and then just barely stir fried the cabbage and onions ( I snuck in some thinly sliced brussel sprouts, don't tell Brian). And then placed in a glass baking dish. Put the cod on top and sprinkled some black pepper and a bit of thyme on top. I forgot to add some chicken stock that they recommended, but instead I added a bit of white wine and some lemon juice.Then I popped the lid on and into the oven for about 20 minutes at 180 c. I also made my Butter bean mash to go with the fish dish and a lovely fresh salad.



Butter bean mash is easy, make potatoes as normal for mash and before adding to the bowl take a can of drained and rinsed butter beans and squish them with your fingers. Then add the mash and proceed as normal. The beans add a nice flavour and texture to the mash. I added my cloves of garlic to the potatoes while they were boiling so it wasn't too overpowering. Then put potatoes and garlic through the ricer. Add a bit of milk and butter and season with salt and pepper. Top with some grated cheddar cheese and just brown in the oven. I made the mash first and put it in with the fish in the oven.


A Trip to London
Almost no trip would be complete for us without seeing St. Paul's Cathedral. We always ride past it on a bus either going in or coming home. On the day this photo was taken it was a lovely Autumnal day and sorry for the specks of dirt and the glare, I took the photo from the top of a double decker bus.


We had two missions that day, actually three.... 1. To have lunch at our fav Italian restaurant Anacapri ..... 2. To check on Hamish's flat. They are off to Peru for two weeks and let us use the flat when they are away. Only thing is Brian doesn't like leaving the cats so we only stop for a rest and make sure things are okay. ......3. To see if I could find some Orzo. Well we managed two of the three. The ever elusive Orzo will have to be ordered off the internet I guess.


When you walk through this door you are greeted as long lost family. The head of the restaurant is so friendly and welcoming. Immediately upon sitting at a table you are looked after like no other place I know. They start bringing out the food even before you are presented with menus. There are fresh celery and carrot sticks with a lovely vinaigrette dressing. Olives, bread and butter and bread sticks are there to nibble while reading the vast menu of delicious options.

We both decided on the Mozzarella and tomato salad. I know it isn't very adventurous but it is really lovely!!! And the starters are as big as the mains!!!

Sorry for the olive pips. I just love black olives. We chose a nice Frascati wine to go with our meal.

I just love their Veal Milanese it melts in your mouth like butter and the spaghetti though it may look plain is so packed full of flavour. I wish I could make a plain tomato sauce that good. I would be a very happy woman if I could.


And Brian's main was veal medallions in a creamy mushroom sauce. I have had veal once in France that was so tough to chew that I sent it back and was really cross with them. Thinking that a French restaurant would know better!!! You only cook for just a bare minimum. And the chefs at Anacapri have it to perfection. They have some lovely pasta dishes that we have had before and loads more on their menu for all tastes. Hamish and Yuk-kin first introduced us to this lovely find....... The lucky sods only live a block away!!!!! I guess it is lucky we don't live so close, as we would probably be there every week and then it wouldn't be so special when we did go. Oh and if the starters and mains weren't enough you really should see the desserts!!!! They make a big presentation of the desserts. And you will usually have about 5 different ones brought to your table to tempt you. We opted for Cream Caramel (mine) and Cheese cake (Brian).


You will not need to lift the wine bottle to fill your glass and you won't go away hungry. The restaurant it's self is rather small, but the food and service sure aren't. So if you should find yourself in the Marleybone area of London around lunch or dinner time..... You would be hard pressed to find a much nicer restaurant than this one. I highly recommend it.

Comfort food
Okay you have been working away all day and it is cold outside and sleeting down with rain and you don't really feel much like cooking tonight.... well here you go.... Couldn't be any simpler than a good ole Sausage Hot Pot!!!

Very similar to Lancashire hot pot except it doesn't have lamb and you use baked beans and don't use mushrooms okay so maybe it is way different....
Start by browning some sausages in a frying pan, this will depend on how many you are cooking for. I usually go with the whole pack as I eat leftovers for lunches. You don't need to cook them fully, just brown well. And while those are browning throw in some chopped onion to slightly soften too. Place into a large ovenproof casserole dish. In the same frying pan saute some slices of carrot, celery and peeled pumpkin. Again giving them just a bit of colour, and just part cooking. Again put into the casserole dish. Now according to how many you are feeding, you can use one or two cans of baked beans. Mix these in and give a good stir. Now take about 4 peeled potatoes and slice really thin. I use my special gadget for this. Layer over the sausage mixture. Bake at 180 c for about 30 minutes covered. Next uncover and sprinkle some grated cheddar cheese over the top and back in the oven for another 20 minutes. Serve with a nice side salad. And this is as nice as a big fluffy blanket on a cold winters eve.

Thanksgiving
Even though I have lived here for 11 years we still celebrate Thanksgiving, but a scaled down version. We have a roast Chicken instead of a turkey. I do wish I could figure out how they have those gorgeous birds with the legs still attached and all golden brown. Then again those may be really dry, mine are never dry and are always falling off the bone.


And my pumpkin pies I have to make from scratch by roasting my pumpkin and then blending the flesh with two eggs, a bit of milk, some brown sugar and spices.

I even make my own pie crust from scratch, although I could buy this premade.

And then it is roasted potatoes and Stuffing balls rather than the traditional dressing I used to make.

And they do have cranberries here in the grocery, you can get fresh ones or already prepared cranberry jelly in a jar. Oh and instead of gravy I make bread sauce from a packet that is just gorgeous with chicken and roasted potatoes.

Ohhhhhh gotta save room for some pie!!!! Happy holidays everyone!!!!

October 5th, 2007

Well we have had a busy past couple of weeks here. We went to the farm shop to get some Lamb for our lunch last Saturday and while we were there I bought some lovely local sausages and so wanted to have them and try out Fiona's(Cottage Smallholder) Yorkshire pudding recipe. The puddings came out really light and airy!!! I was having problems with the recipe my step mom gave me ages ago. They just wouldn't rise... But that wasn't a problem with Fiona's recipe....
Yorkshire Puddings recipe

Thanks Fiona!!!!!

Last Saturday's Lunch
Brian's birthday was last Tuesday, so to celebrate his son and partner came for Saturday lunch. I wanted to do something special and something that I hadn't cooked for them before. I hope they are getting used to my experimenting now. I know Brian is after 10 years of marriage. Anyway I decided to go the Indian route this time. So I bought a leg of Lamb from the farm shop. I had to thaw it out as it was frozen. So on day two I started marinating it. I took and trimmed all the fat from the lamb. This in hindsight I think was the wrong thing to do. As it took away all the moisture from the lamb. I will do better next time.
Here is a recipe a friend gave me for
Raan
A Leg of Lamb about 1.5 to 1.75 kg
The recipe says to remove as much skin and fat fromt he lamb as possible. I think you need to leave a little bit of the fat on for moisture. This is where I was over zealous.
Prick the leg all over with a fork. Mak a pocket around the bone at the thick end of the leg cutting about 2 inches with a sharp knife. Cut 3 or 4 more pockets into the meat to put the spice rub to flavour the meat. I put the lamb onto a roasting tray so that I could collect the marinade in..... Then transfered it to a large plastic bag. So that it could rest in the refrigerator for 24 to 36 hours.

Spice mixture for rubbing into the lamb.Place all ingredients into a blender or food processor...
2 inch piece of ginger that has been peeled and chopped
6 peeled garlic cloves
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 tsp roasted cumin seeds **
Seeds from 6 green cardamon pods
8 whole cloves
1 tsp Turmeric
1 tsp Chilli powder
1 tsp salt
Blend this altogether and then rub all over the lamb and into the pockets

Now for the Marinade....
In the same blender or food processor place 5 oz. ground almonds and 5 fl oz plain yogurt(I used goats milk yogurt as my step son has a dairy intollerance) and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar.
Whizz together and then stir in another 5 oz. of yogurt. I think I would now put the lamb into the big plastic bag and cover with the marinade. Twist tie bag closed and then squish the marinade into the lamb. Put into a large bowl and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours.
Cooking....
Take the lamb from the fridge and let set at room temperature at least 1 hour before cooking. Pre-heat your oven to 220C. Put the lamb into a roasting tin and sqeeze out any of the remaining marinade out of the plastic bag over the top of the lamb.
Cook uncovered for 45 minutes.
Reduce your heat to 170C and cover with aluminum foil. Cook for 3 hours. (Now this may be a bit long!!!) Remove the foil and cook for another 3o minutes. Put onto a serving dish and keep warm until serving time. Now the recipe goes on to say to make a gravy with the contents of the roasting tray, but there was no way I could make a sauce from what was left it was a chargrilled mass in there.... So not too sure what part of the recipe that they have left out or over did........

The lamb was tender to say the least.... My stepson went to carve it and it just fell to pieces......It was full of flavour but a bit dry..... So I think if I were to make this again I may well cut the cooking time down and not trim all the fat off the leg next time. The leftovers made a really great Sheppards pie!!!
That was the main which I served along with some vegetable curry and a few other Indian recipes. Such as a fruited rice dish and some dahl.

The starters were Vegetable Samosas and Onion Bhajis.

The Samosas are lovely and quite easy to make. I don't make up my own pastry for these I use Phyllo instead. Much quicker and they are a healthier version as I bake mine rather than fry them in oil.
The recipe I use is adapted from The Really Useful Indian Cook Book by Purba Singh
Heat up 2 tsp of vegetable oil or ghee in a large frying pan over medium heat.
Add 1 Tablespoon curry powder, 1 finely chopped onion, 1 Tablespoon black mustard seeds, and 2 teaspoons of roasted cumin seeds** and cook, stirring for 3 minutes. Finely dice 2 medium sized potatoes and add this along with 125 ml of vegetable stock to the pan, cook stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Add 1 carrot finely diced and 125 g frozen peas to the pan next and cook for 2 minutes. Set aside and let cool.

Preheat oven to 200C. Take one sheet of phyllo (keeping others under a damp tea towel so they don't dry out) and brush it on both sides lightly with some oil. Place about two teaspoonsful of filling onto the dough on one corner. Now fold up into little triangles making sure to cover all the filling with the pastry. Place onto a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining sheets of pastry. If you like more pastry you can always use two sheets per samosa, but I only use one. You will need two lots of phyllo if you do it this way. Bake for abour 10 to 15 minutes until they are hot and a nice golden brown colour. Enjoy!!!

I have had a request by some friends for my Onion Bhaji recipe... So here goes. It is one of those things I have been trying for ages to perfect and I finally managed it last night.....
This will serve two or one very greedy person. (I know I could have ate the whole lot myself)
First cut onion in half and then into slices.....


Next take 4 Tablespoons of Gram(chickpea)flour and put into a small bowl and to this add the following....1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp chilli powder (I used mild), 1/2 tsp tumeric, 1/2 tsp cumin powder, 1/2 tsp coriander powder and 1 tsp paprika. Mix it all together...

And then mix into the onions. The moisture from the onions will start already to form the batter. To this add 1 tsp fresh lemon juice..

And start to add a bit of water... a teaspoon at a time and stir.

Keep going till you have a consistency as below.

Some onion will be showing through the batter but it will hold together into a ball it you press it together.

Put a pan of vegetable oil on the heat and making sure it is hot enough for frying.....
Your pan should never be filled over half way with oil. Be very careful when using hot oil and deep frying. You could use one of those deep frying gadgets if you like.

Take a small spoon full or using your fingers form a small ball and drop away from you into the hot oil...

Let it fry a bit before dropping in another. You can possibly cook 3 to 4 together depending on size. Don't let the oil bubble up too high.

Fry for about 3 to 4 minutes each...... Until they are a nice brown colour. Drain on kitchen towel...

Enjoy..... Serve with a wedge of lemon and some shredded lettuce for the true Indian restuarant fare....


** Some tips I have picked up in my adventures of Indian cookery are..... use fresh seeds when possible and dry fry in a frying pan to help release the oils. You just want them to toast a little and not change colour too much. Then using a mortar and pestle grind your own. Cumin seeds are really lovely done this way. Also on the samosas I would heat up the mustard seeds to help release some of the oils.

Another item I read recently is that Chickpea/Gram flour doesn't soak up oil when fried like normal flour does.

Another tip about using Gram flour, don't let it dry on your utensils or pans as this stuff can become like concrete. Wash or rinse straight away.

The same batter as the Bhajis could also be used on other vegetables to make Pakoras. I think I would use a bit more of the flour and more water to get a batter for dipping the vegetables in before frying. Experiment!!! Have fun, Be safe and best of all Enjoy your Adventures too!!!

Plums
The grocery store had plums on sale buy one punnet get another free..... so guess who bought two punnets. Brought them home and they have set for a week without getting soft. Brian kept saying they are still hard...... Okay not wanting to let them go to waste I decided to use them for cooking.... The September 2007 issue of Country Kitchen has some lovely recipes for using plums....
These are adapted from Anna Raymounds article Plump For Plums.

First take some nice plums I used about 2 to 3 and chopped up into a small bowl. Slice up some red onion about 1/2 and 1 green chilli deseeded and sliced. Mixed all together with 2 Tablespoons of sugar and zest of 1 lime and juice of 1/2 lime. Let set in the fridge for 1/2 hour.
Meanwhile cook some plain basmati rice and pan fry or grill two chicken breasts. Serve the chicken on the bed of rice covered with the plum salsa and serve with a side salad. YUM!!! Definately having this again!!!
And last night I did a pud for Brian and I after supper. I again basically followed Anna's instructions but scaled it down for just two puds rather than one giant pud.

Butter two small ramekins and sprinkle with a combination of cinnamon and sugar.

Destone the plum and chop into dices and fill the prepared ramekins. And add some chopped walnuts in and around the plum pieces. Sprinkle a little sugar over and some cinnamon.

Take about 3 tablespoons plain flour and crumble in some butter about 1 tablespoon. Add a tablespoon of dark brown sugar and about two tablespoons of porridge oats.

Bake at 180 C for about 30 to 40 minutes. Serve with Ice cream and enjoy!!!!

I am really glad I bought two punnets now!!!!!!!!

In the same issue was an article on Walnuts and how they are now considered one of the super foods. Full of Omega 3s and the likes. So I came up with a dish last night using some in the sauce. Not too sure how good this is for you, but it tasted nice....

Pan fry some chicken breasts in a little olive oil along with 1 chopped onion and some sliced celery. Until the chicken is cooked. Add in some roasted chopped walnuts and 1/2 pot of double cream. Then I stirred in some gorganzola cheese and two sliced fresh figs.... Serve over cooked pasta along with some crisp tender french beans and some fresh cherry tomatoes...... Nice comfort eating on a cold evening!!!!!! YUM