October 8th,2008

Tomatoes
The homegrown tomato have been doing exceptionally well after the initial panic of the plants not setting fruit. I think there were lots of folks having the same problem with their plants as I did and they set fruit rather late. These were started from seed back in February here and I nurtured them and tended their every need until it was time for them to go outside in their grow bags. This year I had even bought special grow bag supports to help them on their way to huge plants. And that they were!!! One was so tall it was twining into the honeysuckle bush! And this was my prize tomato!!!

I went out every day and inspected it and could hardly wait till it ripened. And we could enjoy it. Every visitor to the garden had to witness it's growth and oooooh and aaaaaaaah over it. And yet I waited for it to turn red.... well it started to turn a bit cold here and I thought hmm not warm enough at night for it to turn red.... So I picked it and some others that were just starting to turn.... and it ripened inside and turned a lovely shade of red with it's tiger stripes.

And yes it was well worth the wait and how else to eat this but just on it's own. No adornments, no cooking involved.... just as it was and it was very lovely and had a flavour all it's own to just savour.

The garden has produced quite an abundance of crops for me to use in my cooking and if you could just see our little garden you would be amazed at what I get from it.

The tomato plants that I worried over are now finally gone, but we are still enjoying their fruits and I am already thinking of next years crop and I may well start this next lot in January!!!

Sweet Corn and Potato Veggy Cakes

The tiny sweet corn is from our garden. Again next year I plan to start these a bit earlier and maybe try more than just the three plants that I had. The potato cakes were a bit of an experiment. I took some mashed potatoes and added some leftover veggies from the supper the previous night. With the way the economy is and all the talk about recycling and using up food and stuff I thought I would have a go at trying to do my part. To the mash just mix in any leftover chopped veg you have and an egg. Mix together and add a handful of shredded cheese. Form into patties and dip into an egg wash and then into flour. You can let sit for up to an hour or so in the fridge to firm up. Then fry in hot oil until heated through and golden. I made a tomato red pepper sauce to go over them... Just heat some chopped tinned tomatoes or use fresh and some chopped red pepper and some chopped onion. Heat through with a tsp of sugar and some balsamic vinegar. You can add some oregano and black pepper too if desired. Serve hot over the potato veggy cakes.

Veggy Fritters or Veggy Pancakes

Again trying to do my bit and using up some leftover veg I mixed the chopped veg with some chopped fresh chard leaves and some finely minced garlic to about a cup and a half of bisquick mix (it is an American flour shortening mix that is a base for all sorts of things like cakes, pancakes, scones, breads, etc.... A very versatile mix.) an egg, and some milk to make the right consistency. Fry in batches in olive or vegetable oil. Keeping them warm in the oven until ready to serve. You can serve with the tomato sauce as described in the potato cake recipe, but I just love them plain. And are great cold the next day. Again a handful of grated cheese is also very nice as is your choice of herbs.

Grilled Goats Cheese and Beetroot Stuffed Peppers

Okay first off you start by planting and growing some beet root. Sorry, you can buy some too... But this was from our garden. And was just boiled until tender. Then sliced. Take some Romano peppers and cut a slit in the side and deseed. Then rub with olive oil and place in the oven to partially cook.... take out and fill with alternate slices of beetroot and goats cheese. Sprinkle over some balsamic vinegar and some olive oil and a sprinkling of pine nuts and a grinding of fresh black pepper. Then back under a grill until melted and golden. Serve with salad fresh from the garden if possible with more fresh tomatoes and some cucumber chopped.

Gingersnaps
For some strange reason I have been craving ginger lately. Maybe it is because the weather here has turned cool and we have had several days that would rival any winter day we have had since I moved here. So maybe it is the warming qualities of ginger that I am wanting to rid the chill of the approaching winter chill. There is one thing that I think could make these even better and I have yet to try it, but I am thinking maybe some chopped up chunks of stemmed ginger mixed in right before baking. I will report back on this when I remember to by some stemmed ginger from the grocery store.

Gingersnaps
1 cup granulated sugar
¾ cup butter or margarine
1 egg
¼ cup black treacle or molasses
2 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons baking soda(bicarbonate)
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon or more ground ginger
Preheat oven to 180C. Cream sugar and butter. Beat in the egg and treacle. Stir in remaining ingredients until well mixed. If desired, chill dough for easier handling. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in granulated sugar. Place 2 inches apart on a greased baking sheet(I use the non stick Teflon sheets). Bake 9 to 12 minutes or until the edges are set. About 48 cookies.
If you use self rising flour, omit the bicarb and salt.

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....

July 13th 2007

Ohhhhhhh Friday the 13th!!! Hmm didn't realize it until I went to write this blog. Not really supersticious here, but find the number 13 actually lucky for me as that is the day my twin sons were born. I don't think it was on a Friday though.
It has been a bit of a busy week here. Cooking and gardening. The poor Courgettes that I was sooooo counting on have been hit by Mildew from all the weird weather we have been having.

We got some stuff from the garden centre and are trying to save the plants. We are also cutting off any infected leaves and hope that this will work. So far so good...

Recipes from France
Every time we take a coach trip to France or Belgium or visit another country I pick up some cooking magazines. I attempt (sometimes very badly) to translate the recipes. Some you can just about look at and figure out the way it should be cooked or what the ingredients are. I have had one or two successes in the past, but this wasn't one of them.

The recipe is for Cod fillets to be baked on some Courgette strips. You take some courgettes and using a vegetable peeler cut it into long strips. Overlapping the strips as shown. Then place on the piece of cod and some lemon zest, chopped red pepper sprinkle on some salt and pepper and sesame seed. Well I thought hmmmm maybe a little sesame oil would be nice. Nope don't do it!!! It is too harsh for the fish. I think next time I would prefer garlic and some onion, maybe a bit of parmesan....

Any way you wrap up the fish and sprinkle on more sesame seeds and chopped pepper and then a good splash of white wine and lemon juice. Bake in the oven ummm 180 for about 15 to 20 minutes.

I served it with some fried potatoes and mixed veg done in the microwave, some tomato salad and some lemon slices. It wasn't really horrible, but just not as nice as it looks if you see what I mean. I will try it again, but will do a bit of my own thing next time adding the garlic, some oregano and onion to the dish. I am still trying hard to learn to like eating fish so I do try to use strong flavours with my fish.

My next edible failure was a savoury cake recipe. I can read and understand some of the ingredients and measurements okay, but when it comes to some of the actual terms for the cooking techniques. Well this is where I have a bit of a problem. But then again I learn from each and every mistake.

The batter looked good and it is one that uses yeast.
And then here is where the problem came in.... The courgettes, they are supposed to be grated and I know the french term for that is rape, but it was what I was supposed to do once I had grated the Courgettes that the problem started. Courgettes are mostly water..... And what I should have done was grate them and then drain them as they made the cake way too moist after it baked. I will know better next time.


Anyway, you add courgettes, chopped ham and grated swiss(emmental) Cheese to the batter and then bake. Here again I am learning about my new cooker. It seems I have a fan oven that doesn't work like the old fan oven. The old one I would have to take the temperature down by at least 10 degrees and keep an eye on the time as it would cook in a lot shorter time. Nope not this new cooker, the fan assist on it seems to cook very very gently and where I used to turn the temp down I now turn it up. Also for the last 10 minutes I am finding I take it off fan assist and use the normal oven setting to get things to brown.


So it was a bit on the flat and very dense extra extra moist side. It was still edible and I will be trying this again. Once I perfect the end results I will publish my recipe.

Red Currants

Now on the other hand all this rain has been excellent for my red Currant bush. So much so, that I have gone onto the internet in search of recipes for using them. I came across this lovely tart.
Red Currant Tart
It is very quick and a very pretty way to use the little gems!!! Brian ate 3 pieces the first night and it was polished off the next night. So I think it was a hit.

Starters
We are having my Stepson and his lovely lady coming over for lunch in a week or so and I always like to fix something new for them and show off a bit. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I have one limitation and that is no dairy. My step son is dairy intollerant. So I try to find different things I can use instead. He can have goats milk, soya milk and margarines that don't contain dairy, so actually I am not that limited in my cooking. It is a bit of a challenge to come up with something he can have. They both love fish and are the reason I am trying hard to learn to like eating fish. And since I have gotten to know them and the meals we have had together I have learnt to like cod, sword fish, fresh tuna, monk fish, halibut, white crab meat(still not too keen on the brown meat), prawns and langostines. Not bad for someone that wouldn't eat any fish when she first arrived here in Britian almost 11 years ago.
So for our starter I have decided on this recipe that I found in Prue Leith's Cookery Bible. It is for Avacado Mousse with prawns. And as normal I can't leave well enough alone.
I cut the recipe into half for Brian and I to try before I fixed it for my guests. I used goats milk yogurt instead of greek and when the day comes I will be adding some white crab meat to the mousse mixture. The prawns now are my own recipe.

I will give you my version of the recipe and if you want the original let me know and I can email it to you.
Prue 's Avacado Mousse...
8 grams or 1/2 packet of powdered gelatine
1 ripe avacado
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper.
1/2 cup /1/4 pint /145ml goat's milk yogurt.
Ligtly oil two small ramekins. Put 3 Tablespoons of water into a small sauce pan and sprinkle over the gelatine powder. Leave for about 5 minutes until spongy. Peel and mash the avacado until smooth. Add lemon juice and salt and pepper to the avacado. (I think this is where I will be adding some white crab meat. I guess you could also used some small prawns or chopped up bigger ones too.) Place the gelatine over a lowish heat until liquid and clear. Then stir into the avacado mix. Fold in the yogurt using a metal spoon. Pour into prepared ramekins and refrigerate till set. Dip the ramekins into very hot water to help unmold. I turned mine out onto a bed of lettuce leaves topped with the prawns and served with some cherry tomato halves.
(These could be made the day ahead.)

Now for the Prawns. Her recipe calls for prawns in a french dressing. This is my own recipe for the Prawn part of the dish.
Take about 4 or 5 large prawns per person, I used frozen cooked large tiger prawns. Thaw and devein. Then add to a small bowl the prawns some finely chopped red pepper(capsium) about a tablespoon or so, same amount of chopped onion, spring onion would be nice. A dash of dried chili flakes, or finely chopped hot chili pepper, not too much unless you like it hot. Zest and juice of 1 lime. Honey to taste. 1 Tablespoon olive oil or you can use rape seed oil. A splash of white wine, any that happens to be open or that you are drinking at the time. Let this all marinate for about an hour. Serve the prawns over the mousse, drizzling some of the marinade liquid over the lettuce leaves.
Enjoy!!! Serve with some wholegrain crackers or some nice crusty bread.
Brian and I both enjoyed it last night. We found it quite fresh tasting and really yummy!!! Hopefully so will my stepson and his young lady. I can't wait to try it with the crab meat addition.

Leftovers Challenge
Okay I decied on Wednesday to roast a whole chicken. A lovely treat especially mid week. The cats start to hang around when it reaches a certain point in the oven when the aroma of the roasting chicken makes it's way through the whole house. Jingles will almost become aggressive as he waits in the kitchen beside his bowl for his share of the chicken. Cheeky on the other hand sometimes will eat it and sometimes won't. He is a very strange cat at times when it comes to food. Jingles is definately my foodie cat. He will sometimes sit and watch me cook. He does try different things too. Silly cat!!!
Anyway, what I want to know is how others use the leftovers. I sometimes make chicken soup, and definatley have chicken sarnies for a day or two. And Jingles enjoys the occasional tidbit that comes his way. And sometimes I make a chicken casserole like the one below.

So how do you use leftovers???? I would love to know and also would love to try new and different recipes for using leftover chicken. So if you could either post them on the comments, email me or post on your blog I would be ever so grateful!!!