One of the odd things that my fussy husband doesn't like is lemons.Usually that's not a problem but I'm still working my way through the gorgeous Gino's book and I do like lemons. A couple of weeks ago, I made Chicken with Lemon Butter and he actually liked it. I halved the amount of lemon and used ones grown locally which are very fragrant and not so tart. My hands smell of lemon now as I've just made another recipe with lemon in it and it smells like lemon blossom, very heady(really pushing the boundaries here as it has tomatoes here; if I threw in mushrooms as well I'd be in the divorce courts tomorrow).
1) Slice 4 skinless chicken breasts in half horizontally.
2) Put 50g plain flour, salt and peeper onto a plate and coat the chicken pieces.
3) Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 30g butter (the oil will stop the butter burning) in a large frying pan and fry each chicken fillet on both sides until golden brown and cooked through. Try doing this in batches as they will brown quicker. keep them warm as you once you have removed them from the frying pan.
4) Deglaze the pan once you've finished with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and 4 tablespoons of chicken stock. Bring to the boil.
5) Add a bunch of chopped parsley and 30g of butter to the sauce and stir vigorously until creamy.
6) Serve up the chicken with the sauce ladled over it. If you're feeling healthy you could serve with salad but we had chips and veg.
Yummy!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Rosie's frute cupcakes
When you're six,the world's your oyster, but there's a good chance that my daughter Rose (aka the Wrigglebottom) will grow up to be a great cook. Every now and again she decides to create a recipe and then insists that we cook it. Normally they need a bit of tweaking to work but generally the basics are right. On Friday she created a recipe for frute cupcakes and today we had a go.
1) Heat the oven to 180C.
2) Melt 125g butter in a pan.
3) Take the saucepan off the stove and add 200g caster sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 3 ripe bananas (mashed). Stir with a wooden spoon.
4) Add 2 large eggs and 4 tablespoons of milk. Stir again (there's a lot of stirring).
5) Add 300g plain flour, 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda and 0.5 teaspoons of baking powder and stir agin until the only lumps left are banana not flour.
6) Line a muffin tin with 12 paper cases and spoon the mixture equally into the cases.
7) Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.
8) Take out of the oven and leave to cool.
9) While the cakes are cooling slice about 6large strawberries vertically.
10) Top each cupcake with a swirl of readymade green icing.
11) Place 2 slice of strawberry and 3 blue berries on the top of each of 11 cupcakes. On the 12th put a whole strawberry on top surrounded by 4 blueberries (the Wrigglebottom can be very specific).
Serve to amazed family and friends
1) Heat the oven to 180C.
2) Melt 125g butter in a pan.
3) Take the saucepan off the stove and add 200g caster sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 3 ripe bananas (mashed). Stir with a wooden spoon.
4) Add 2 large eggs and 4 tablespoons of milk. Stir again (there's a lot of stirring).
5) Add 300g plain flour, 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda and 0.5 teaspoons of baking powder and stir agin until the only lumps left are banana not flour.
6) Line a muffin tin with 12 paper cases and spoon the mixture equally into the cases.
7) Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.
8) Take out of the oven and leave to cool.
9) While the cakes are cooling slice about 6large strawberries vertically.
10) Top each cupcake with a swirl of readymade green icing.
11) Place 2 slice of strawberry and 3 blue berries on the top of each of 11 cupcakes. On the 12th put a whole strawberry on top surrounded by 4 blueberries (the Wrigglebottom can be very specific).
Serve to amazed family and friends
Friday, March 11, 2011
Spring has sprung!
It's official! The clocks may not have changed yet but the daffs are out as are the celandines and primroses. Our mimosa is covered in bloom and scenting the driveway and half the road. The magnolia in the background is stunning and holding on to its petals better than usual (usually the first good gust strips half the tree).
We went for a walk at lunchtime and didn't need hats and gloves. In fact by the end I was regretting that I hadn't put on a lighter coat. On Monday we were virtually hiding below the hedge line because the wind was so bitter.
However, it is not time to put away the stew pot yet. I was planning on doing Sausage Casserole (see post from 6 February) but when I opened the fridge I realised I also had some beef shin so rather than cook stew tonight and tomorrow,I thought that I would cook them both tonight as the beef casserole takes about three or four hours to cook to make sure that all of the meat is meltingly tender.
1) Heat some olive oil in a frying pan on a high heat and throw in about half a pound of smoked streaky bacon (450g) chopped into chunks. If you're feeling rich you could use pancetta but it's really not necessary.
2) When it's brown and slightly crispy remove it to your casserole pan.
3) Chop about 2lb (1kg) of beef shin into good sized chunks. If it still has the bone in you'll probably need about 2.5lb or 1.25kg.
4) Fry the beef in batches until brown on all sides removing the done bits to the casserole. If you put too much in the pan it will braise not brown.
5) Deglaze the pan with a large glass of red wine (whichever wine you fancy that night will do)and then tip the wine in the casserole.
6) Whilst all the frying is going on roughly chop 2 large carrots, a very large onion or 2 medium ones and about 4 sticks of celery.
7) Heat some more oil and gently fry the vegetables.
8) Tip the vegetables into the casserole and a couple of tablespoons of passata and enough beef stock and water to cover it all.
9) Season and add a bay leaf and some thyme (or whatever herbs you have to hand)
10) Put the lid on the casserole and bring to the boil.
11) Turn the heat down as low as it will go and cook for 3 to 4 hours until you can shred the beef with a fork. Check on the pot occasionally to make sure it hasn't dried out too much and add stock or water if necessary.
12) Serve with Marvellous Mash
We went for a walk at lunchtime and didn't need hats and gloves. In fact by the end I was regretting that I hadn't put on a lighter coat. On Monday we were virtually hiding below the hedge line because the wind was so bitter.
However, it is not time to put away the stew pot yet. I was planning on doing Sausage Casserole (see post from 6 February) but when I opened the fridge I realised I also had some beef shin so rather than cook stew tonight and tomorrow,I thought that I would cook them both tonight as the beef casserole takes about three or four hours to cook to make sure that all of the meat is meltingly tender.
1) Heat some olive oil in a frying pan on a high heat and throw in about half a pound of smoked streaky bacon (450g) chopped into chunks. If you're feeling rich you could use pancetta but it's really not necessary.
2) When it's brown and slightly crispy remove it to your casserole pan.
3) Chop about 2lb (1kg) of beef shin into good sized chunks. If it still has the bone in you'll probably need about 2.5lb or 1.25kg.
4) Fry the beef in batches until brown on all sides removing the done bits to the casserole. If you put too much in the pan it will braise not brown.
5) Deglaze the pan with a large glass of red wine (whichever wine you fancy that night will do)and then tip the wine in the casserole.
6) Whilst all the frying is going on roughly chop 2 large carrots, a very large onion or 2 medium ones and about 4 sticks of celery.
7) Heat some more oil and gently fry the vegetables.
8) Tip the vegetables into the casserole and a couple of tablespoons of passata and enough beef stock and water to cover it all.
9) Season and add a bay leaf and some thyme (or whatever herbs you have to hand)
10) Put the lid on the casserole and bring to the boil.
11) Turn the heat down as low as it will go and cook for 3 to 4 hours until you can shred the beef with a fork. Check on the pot occasionally to make sure it hasn't dried out too much and add stock or water if necessary.
12) Serve with Marvellous Mash
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Gino d'Acampo is a god
Ciao tutti!
We're in love with everything Italian in our household at the moment. We're booked on a 10 day holiday in May so Bonzo and I are both trying to learn Italian (part of the reason I haven't written anything lately). I'm also working my way through Gino d'Acampo's book "The Italian Diet" (www.ginodacampo.com). I'm not on a diet but I picked the book up in an upmarket shop in town and the recipes are very good.
Tonight I'm cooking his tuna and anchovy fishcakes for the Wrigglebottom and I, as Bonzo is out with a mate for a Ruby (curry for the Canadians amongst us). I'll let you know about that when we've tasted it. Earlier in the week, I cooked light spicy meatballs with tomato sauce (Polpette di carni piccanti). Bonzo doesn't like tomato sauce but even he gave them an 8 out of 10.
1) Mix 500g lean minced beef, 2 crushed garlic cloves (4 seemed a bit much),100g white breadcrumbs, 4 tablespoons chopped flat leaf or continental parsley,40g finely grated parmesan, 1 teaspoon of dried chilli flakes,half a teaspoon of paprika,salt and pepper with an egg in large bowl with your hands. You could do it with a spoon, but, believe me, hands are much quicker.
2) Divide the mixture into 12 and shape into small balls. Leave the balls on a plate in the fridge for 20 minutes if you have time as they are then less likely to fall apart in the pan.
3) Heat a couple of table spoons of oil in a frying pan and fry the meatballs in batches until they are golden brown.
4) In a separate pan, heat a bottle of passata (not 2) and add shredded basil leaves and a decent amount of salt (tomatoes need salt). As each meatball turns golden pop it into the passata.
5) When all the meat balls are done, pop the lid on the saucepan and put it on a low heat for between 20 minutes and an hour depending on how much time you have. Stir occasionally to make sure the meatballs are all coated and add water if the tomato sauce gets too thick.
6) Serve with rice or pasta, spooning the sauce over the meatballs.
Buon appetito!
PS He'sa god becuase he looks good and his recipes are easy and tasty. Can't ask for more than that....
We're in love with everything Italian in our household at the moment. We're booked on a 10 day holiday in May so Bonzo and I are both trying to learn Italian (part of the reason I haven't written anything lately). I'm also working my way through Gino d'Acampo's book "The Italian Diet" (www.ginodacampo.com). I'm not on a diet but I picked the book up in an upmarket shop in town and the recipes are very good.
Tonight I'm cooking his tuna and anchovy fishcakes for the Wrigglebottom and I, as Bonzo is out with a mate for a Ruby (curry for the Canadians amongst us). I'll let you know about that when we've tasted it. Earlier in the week, I cooked light spicy meatballs with tomato sauce (Polpette di carni piccanti). Bonzo doesn't like tomato sauce but even he gave them an 8 out of 10.
1) Mix 500g lean minced beef, 2 crushed garlic cloves (4 seemed a bit much),100g white breadcrumbs, 4 tablespoons chopped flat leaf or continental parsley,40g finely grated parmesan, 1 teaspoon of dried chilli flakes,half a teaspoon of paprika,salt and pepper with an egg in large bowl with your hands. You could do it with a spoon, but, believe me, hands are much quicker.
2) Divide the mixture into 12 and shape into small balls. Leave the balls on a plate in the fridge for 20 minutes if you have time as they are then less likely to fall apart in the pan.
3) Heat a couple of table spoons of oil in a frying pan and fry the meatballs in batches until they are golden brown.
4) In a separate pan, heat a bottle of passata (not 2) and add shredded basil leaves and a decent amount of salt (tomatoes need salt). As each meatball turns golden pop it into the passata.
5) When all the meat balls are done, pop the lid on the saucepan and put it on a low heat for between 20 minutes and an hour depending on how much time you have. Stir occasionally to make sure the meatballs are all coated and add water if the tomato sauce gets too thick.
6) Serve with rice or pasta, spooning the sauce over the meatballs.
Buon appetito!
PS He'sa god becuase he looks good and his recipes are easy and tasty. Can't ask for more than that....
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
2 for 1 Italian Style
Free-range chicken can be a bit pricey so I try to make as much of one chicken as I can. As there are only 3 of us, even a 4lb chicken ends up with leftovers.
I bought Gino D'Acampo's iDiet a couple of weeks ago when Bonzo and I had the day off for his birthday. It all looked great so I'm having a Gino week. On Saturday, the Wrigglebottom and I cooked pizza which is one of her favourite things. The verdict was "not as good as Pepe's" but she still ate quite a bit. To be honest that's as much about the fact that Pepe lets her help cook her own pizza when we go to his pizzeria (Bella's in St Peter Port) as Signor D'Acampo's recipe.
On Sunday, I did Gino's roasted chicken with rosemary and courgettes (The Italian Diet, p147;http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/448703/Gino-D-Acampo-s-roasted-chicken). The chicken was delicious and very quick to cook as it's cut in half and then slashed but I'd probably do the vegetables separately as the potatoes weren't quite crispy enough and the other veg were over done.
On Monday I stripped the chicken carcass bare and made chicken & pea risotto (p125, which scored a 9 all round and only took 35 mins to make including said chicken stripping.
1) Strip your chicken and cut into 1cm chunks.
2) Heat olive oil in a large saucepan.
3) Chop an onion finely.
4) Fry the onion gently for 4 mins. At this stage you would normally add the rosemary but as our chicken had already been cooked with rosemary, I didn't bother.
5) Put 300ml of chicken stock or a mix of stock and water (ie 1 packet of Knorr stock plus enough water to make up the difference) on to heat through in a separate pan.
6) Add 90g of risotto rice per person to the onions and fry for 3 minutes stirring continuously.
7) Add 50ml white wine per person to the rice and onions and cook for 3 minutes until it has almost evaporated.
8) Add a little of the warm stock and stir occasionally until it has been absorbed by the rice.
9) Continue adding the stock a little at a time until you've used it all. Season well.
10) After about 15 mins add 35g peas per person and the chicken and cook for a further 5 inutes over a low heat until the rice is thoroughly cooked and the chicken is hot.
11) Remove the pan from the heat and quickly stir in about 25g butter (for 4 people) ubntil creamy.
12) Finally, add 10g parmesan per person and serve immediately.
Heaven on a plate. Grazie, Gino.
I bought Gino D'Acampo's iDiet a couple of weeks ago when Bonzo and I had the day off for his birthday. It all looked great so I'm having a Gino week. On Saturday, the Wrigglebottom and I cooked pizza which is one of her favourite things. The verdict was "not as good as Pepe's" but she still ate quite a bit. To be honest that's as much about the fact that Pepe lets her help cook her own pizza when we go to his pizzeria (Bella's in St Peter Port) as Signor D'Acampo's recipe.
On Sunday, I did Gino's roasted chicken with rosemary and courgettes (The Italian Diet, p147;http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/448703/Gino-D-Acampo-s-roasted-chicken). The chicken was delicious and very quick to cook as it's cut in half and then slashed but I'd probably do the vegetables separately as the potatoes weren't quite crispy enough and the other veg were over done.
On Monday I stripped the chicken carcass bare and made chicken & pea risotto (p125, which scored a 9 all round and only took 35 mins to make including said chicken stripping.
1) Strip your chicken and cut into 1cm chunks.
2) Heat olive oil in a large saucepan.
3) Chop an onion finely.
4) Fry the onion gently for 4 mins. At this stage you would normally add the rosemary but as our chicken had already been cooked with rosemary, I didn't bother.
5) Put 300ml of chicken stock or a mix of stock and water (ie 1 packet of Knorr stock plus enough water to make up the difference) on to heat through in a separate pan.
6) Add 90g of risotto rice per person to the onions and fry for 3 minutes stirring continuously.
7) Add 50ml white wine per person to the rice and onions and cook for 3 minutes until it has almost evaporated.
8) Add a little of the warm stock and stir occasionally until it has been absorbed by the rice.
9) Continue adding the stock a little at a time until you've used it all. Season well.
10) After about 15 mins add 35g peas per person and the chicken and cook for a further 5 inutes over a low heat until the rice is thoroughly cooked and the chicken is hot.
11) Remove the pan from the heat and quickly stir in about 25g butter (for 4 people) ubntil creamy.
12) Finally, add 10g parmesan per person and serve immediately.
Heaven on a plate. Grazie, Gino.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Sausage casserole
My friend Pat has pointed out that mentioning sausage casserole and then not writing about it is a bit off so here it is...
1) Heat oil in an oven proof casserole and brown enough good pork sausages for the diners (in our case that's 8).
2) Heat the oven to 180C
3) Meanwhile chop up a red onion and a couple of sticks of celery plus whatever stew veg you like if you want to bulk it out a bit.
4) Remove the sausages to a warm plate and sweat the veg in the oil & fat for about 5 minutes.
5) Add a tablespoon of plain flour,stir and cook for 1 minute.
6) Pour in a pint of cider or if you live in canada where I'm guessing it's a bit hard to come by, use apple juice (we had apple juice on Friday and it was great). Stir to make sure you get all the brown bits off the bottom of the casserole.
7) Tip the sausages back in and bring to the boil.
8) Put a lid on the casserole (or tin foil if the casserole doesn't have a lid) and put in the oven. Leave there for about 30 minutes.
9) If you like fruit with your meat (Bonzo doesn't), you can core, peel and slice a couple of ripe apples,fry gently in a little butter until brown around the edges and pop them on top of the casserole when you dish it out.
While it's cooking, make Marvellous Mash potato (see previous recipe).
Bon appetit!
1) Heat oil in an oven proof casserole and brown enough good pork sausages for the diners (in our case that's 8).
2) Heat the oven to 180C
3) Meanwhile chop up a red onion and a couple of sticks of celery plus whatever stew veg you like if you want to bulk it out a bit.
4) Remove the sausages to a warm plate and sweat the veg in the oil & fat for about 5 minutes.
5) Add a tablespoon of plain flour,stir and cook for 1 minute.
6) Pour in a pint of cider or if you live in canada where I'm guessing it's a bit hard to come by, use apple juice (we had apple juice on Friday and it was great). Stir to make sure you get all the brown bits off the bottom of the casserole.
7) Tip the sausages back in and bring to the boil.
8) Put a lid on the casserole (or tin foil if the casserole doesn't have a lid) and put in the oven. Leave there for about 30 minutes.
9) If you like fruit with your meat (Bonzo doesn't), you can core, peel and slice a couple of ripe apples,fry gently in a little butter until brown around the edges and pop them on top of the casserole when you dish it out.
While it's cooking, make Marvellous Mash potato (see previous recipe).
Bon appetit!
Friday, February 4, 2011
Marvellous Mash
When I was a child I was a really fussy eater - fussier than Bonzo and the Wrigglebottom put together. I didn't like potatoes much and once went a whole year without eating them. Well I was a teenager...The thing I hated most was my mum's mashed potatoes. They were tasteless and full of lumps. A few years ago I discovered the secret to great mashed potato and as I'm about to make some to go with sausage casserole, I'll let you in on it.
1) Use the right potatoes. I always use Maris Piper but any floury potato would work almost as well.
2) Peel them and cut them small then boil in water for about 20 minutes or until they are really soft.
3) Drain and give a bit of a shake to get rid of as much water as possible.
4) Use a potato ricer to mash them. This is the real secret as it means you get no lumps.
5) Add a good knob of butter, salt and white or black pepper plus a dollop of Dijon mustard.
6) Grate about a handful of strong cheddar into the potato.
7) Stir hard with a wooden spoon until smooth.
That's all there is to it. Absolutely foolproof. Best go and boil the spuds now...
1) Use the right potatoes. I always use Maris Piper but any floury potato would work almost as well.
2) Peel them and cut them small then boil in water for about 20 minutes or until they are really soft.
3) Drain and give a bit of a shake to get rid of as much water as possible.
4) Use a potato ricer to mash them. This is the real secret as it means you get no lumps.
5) Add a good knob of butter, salt and white or black pepper plus a dollop of Dijon mustard.
6) Grate about a handful of strong cheddar into the potato.
7) Stir hard with a wooden spoon until smooth.
That's all there is to it. Absolutely foolproof. Best go and boil the spuds now...
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Best breakfast pancakes
Every morning, except when we're on holiday, Bonzo has a large bowl with 4 types of cereal - weetabix on top, cornflakes and one other flaky type thing int he middle and something a bit more substantial on the bottom, full cream Guernsey milk and a very large mug of sweet black freshly brewed coffee. The Wrigglebottom and I like to mix it up a bit more. One of our favourites is breakfast pancakes, originally Nigella's recipe (How to be a Domestic Goddess, p77, http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/american-breakfast-pancakes-141) but now much adapted as I think are all recipes that you do often. We like them with real maple syrup or blueberries poached in a little water and sugar.
1) Melt 30g of butter in a small pan on a low heat;
2) Measure out 225g plain flour and add 1 dessertspoon of baking powder (Nigella's tablespoon is way too much), a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of sugar. If you leave the pan on the scales you save washing up another bowl;
3) In a wide necked measuring jug, break 2 large eggs & beat a little;
4) Add 300ml of milk (any kind) to the eggs;
5) By this time your butter should be melted so take it off the heat and let it rest for about a minute;
6) Pour the butter into the eggs & milk and mix;
7) Add the flour mixture and mix until most of the lumps have disappeared. Leave it to stand for about 5 mins whilst you make the rest of the breakfast;
8) Heat a heavy based non-stick pan over a high heat with no butter or oil. The melted butter in the mix will provide all the lubrication that you need and means you don't end up with greasy pancakes;
9) Using a tablespoon, spoon the mixture in dollops into the pan. I usually do 3 at a time as this gives room for manoeuvre.
10) When bubbles start appearing on the upper side, flip them over. This should take about a minute but keep an eye on them and turn down the heat if they're cooking really quickly.
11) Leave for about another 30 seconds and remove to a warm plate. Cover with a clean tea towel to keep warm.
12) Continue until you have as many as you think you'll need. The mixture makes about 20 pancakes but if you don't need that many either halve the ingredients or leave the rest in the fridge for the following day (which is what I did yesterday).
13) If you're using the mixture the next day you may need to add a little milk to loosen it.
A real breakfast treat and less than 15 mins between bed and breakfast!
1) Melt 30g of butter in a small pan on a low heat;
2) Measure out 225g plain flour and add 1 dessertspoon of baking powder (Nigella's tablespoon is way too much), a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of sugar. If you leave the pan on the scales you save washing up another bowl;
3) In a wide necked measuring jug, break 2 large eggs & beat a little;
4) Add 300ml of milk (any kind) to the eggs;
5) By this time your butter should be melted so take it off the heat and let it rest for about a minute;
6) Pour the butter into the eggs & milk and mix;
7) Add the flour mixture and mix until most of the lumps have disappeared. Leave it to stand for about 5 mins whilst you make the rest of the breakfast;
8) Heat a heavy based non-stick pan over a high heat with no butter or oil. The melted butter in the mix will provide all the lubrication that you need and means you don't end up with greasy pancakes;
9) Using a tablespoon, spoon the mixture in dollops into the pan. I usually do 3 at a time as this gives room for manoeuvre.
10) When bubbles start appearing on the upper side, flip them over. This should take about a minute but keep an eye on them and turn down the heat if they're cooking really quickly.
11) Leave for about another 30 seconds and remove to a warm plate. Cover with a clean tea towel to keep warm.
12) Continue until you have as many as you think you'll need. The mixture makes about 20 pancakes but if you don't need that many either halve the ingredients or leave the rest in the fridge for the following day (which is what I did yesterday).
13) If you're using the mixture the next day you may need to add a little milk to loosen it.
A real breakfast treat and less than 15 mins between bed and breakfast!
Friday, January 28, 2011
Gorgeous Ganache
I haven't cooked much this week through a combination of circumstances but I did make a great discovery on Monday. It was Bonzo's birthday and Wrigglebottom insisted that we needed to bake him a chocolate cake with chocolate icing in the middle. As it happened, I had just been flicking through Paul A Young's 'Adventures in Chocolate' (http://www.paulayoung.co.uk/store/) which is very true to its name. So much so that even my chocaholic husband might draw the line at some things. Paul has a couple of shops, one of which is around the back of the Bank of England. We stumbled across it when we were in London for my second graduation last year.
Cutting to the chase....I decided that we should make a ganache to sandwich our chocolate sponges together. In my twenties, Delia's chocolate mousse was my standard dessert for dinner parties and it never went wrong. Recently,I have had much more patchy results melting chocolate. Paul's method was perfect!
1) I used a combination of 200g milk chocolate (Green & Black) plus 50g of 70% dark chocolate from Hotel Chocolat. Break into small pieces (ideal job for small Wrigglebottom fingers) in a medium sized bowl;
2) Heat 250g of double cream (or 140g of Guernsey double cream,a spoonful of sour cream and a slosh of full cream Guernsey milk, in our case) in a pan with 100g of light muscovado sugar.
3) Bring to the boil and simmer for 1 minute.
4) Set aside to cool for at least one minute. This is the real trick and will ensure that the cocoa butter doesn't separate. You don't want to scald the chocolate but you still want the cream and sugar mixture to be hot enough to melt the chocolate.
5) Pour the cream mixture onto thte chocolate and stir like mad with a spatula. Keep on going until all the chocolate has melted and the mixture is thick and glossy.
6) Spread on your chocolate sponge base and sandwich together.
7) Use royal is=cing and a whole load of food colouring to turn in to Saturn(well it was his birthday cake).
If you leave the ganache in the fridge for a couple of hours to set you can then make truffles with it.
Molto bene!
Cutting to the chase....I decided that we should make a ganache to sandwich our chocolate sponges together. In my twenties, Delia's chocolate mousse was my standard dessert for dinner parties and it never went wrong. Recently,I have had much more patchy results melting chocolate. Paul's method was perfect!
1) I used a combination of 200g milk chocolate (Green & Black) plus 50g of 70% dark chocolate from Hotel Chocolat. Break into small pieces (ideal job for small Wrigglebottom fingers) in a medium sized bowl;
2) Heat 250g of double cream (or 140g of Guernsey double cream,a spoonful of sour cream and a slosh of full cream Guernsey milk, in our case) in a pan with 100g of light muscovado sugar.
3) Bring to the boil and simmer for 1 minute.
4) Set aside to cool for at least one minute. This is the real trick and will ensure that the cocoa butter doesn't separate. You don't want to scald the chocolate but you still want the cream and sugar mixture to be hot enough to melt the chocolate.
5) Pour the cream mixture onto thte chocolate and stir like mad with a spatula. Keep on going until all the chocolate has melted and the mixture is thick and glossy.
6) Spread on your chocolate sponge base and sandwich together.
7) Use royal is=cing and a whole load of food colouring to turn in to Saturn(well it was his birthday cake).
If you leave the ganache in the fridge for a couple of hours to set you can then make truffles with it.
Molto bene!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Terrific Turbot
We seem to have eaten a lot of fish since Christmas. Not sure whether it's made any difference on the scales.I might check tomorrow. Last time I went into Seafresh, I was challenged as I almost always buy the same fish - haddock,smoked haddock, sea bass,salmon. Well I suppose at least one of those is not in the top 5 and line caught. The fish I was challenged with was pout. It looks a bit like a small whiting but I can't find any recipes for it so I might work up to it. It's also Bonzo's birthday tomorrow and on request we're not going out and I'm not cooking anything fancy (well that's what he thinks!) so I decided that I'd treat us to a turbot. When you see them on the TV they're always huge because restaurants like doing steaks rather than the whole fish. I bought a fish that was just over 3lb which was more than enough for the three of us.
The great thing about fish (apart from the fact that it's good for you) is that it's best not to muck around with it too much and it doesn't take too long to cook.
1) Heat the oven to 200C
2) If the fishmonger hasn't already done it, cut the frill off round the edge and any other fins (the tail as well if it doesn't fit in the pan). This will make it easier to skin the fish when it's cooked.
3) Put it in a roasting pan,dark side up and season.
4) Carefully pour a pint of water around the fish to make sure that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan and stays nice and moist. Put the pan in the oven for 30 mins or until the fish is cooked.
5) Put 3oz/75g butter in a small pan and melt on a low heat.
6) Finely chop about a handful of mixed herbs (chives, parsley,thyme leaves, dill). Throw them into the melted butter and set aside.
7) When the fish is cooked, remove it from the pan and keep warm.
8) Put the pan on top of the oven and boil the cooking liquid quickly until you have about 2 tablespoons of liquid left.
9) Whilst this is happening carefully peel the upper layer of skin off the fish. With a fish slice or pallet knife, ease the top two fillets away from the bone and plate up.
10) Remove the head and bone and lever the second two fillets away form the lower skin and plate.
11) Pour the cooking liquor into the warm herb butter and give it a good whisk. Pour the sauce over the fillets and serve.
I'd give this a 4 for prep. Dealing with a whole fish is a bit scary. Bonzo gave it an eight, Rosie a 10,I'd give it a 9 but only because I ate too much and I kept thinking about how expensive it was. It was so much better than the Horrid Haddock. So a 13 overall (must do a leader board). I will definitely try anew fish next time I go (even if it means taking 5 cookbooks with me).
Bon appetit!
The great thing about fish (apart from the fact that it's good for you) is that it's best not to muck around with it too much and it doesn't take too long to cook.
1) Heat the oven to 200C
2) If the fishmonger hasn't already done it, cut the frill off round the edge and any other fins (the tail as well if it doesn't fit in the pan). This will make it easier to skin the fish when it's cooked.
3) Put it in a roasting pan,dark side up and season.
4) Carefully pour a pint of water around the fish to make sure that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan and stays nice and moist. Put the pan in the oven for 30 mins or until the fish is cooked.
5) Put 3oz/75g butter in a small pan and melt on a low heat.
6) Finely chop about a handful of mixed herbs (chives, parsley,thyme leaves, dill). Throw them into the melted butter and set aside.
7) When the fish is cooked, remove it from the pan and keep warm.
8) Put the pan on top of the oven and boil the cooking liquid quickly until you have about 2 tablespoons of liquid left.
9) Whilst this is happening carefully peel the upper layer of skin off the fish. With a fish slice or pallet knife, ease the top two fillets away from the bone and plate up.
10) Remove the head and bone and lever the second two fillets away form the lower skin and plate.
11) Pour the cooking liquor into the warm herb butter and give it a good whisk. Pour the sauce over the fillets and serve.
I'd give this a 4 for prep. Dealing with a whole fish is a bit scary. Bonzo gave it an eight, Rosie a 10,I'd give it a 9 but only because I ate too much and I kept thinking about how expensive it was. It was so much better than the Horrid Haddock. So a 13 overall (must do a leader board). I will definitely try anew fish next time I go (even if it means taking 5 cookbooks with me).
Bon appetit!
Friday, January 21, 2011
Meat loaf
I don't know why I've never tried this before. It was really easy and stretched a pound and a half of meat so far that Bonzo and Wrigglebottom had less than half of it for dinner last night. I had some with salad for lunch and it was lush as my friend gloshawk would say.
1) Heat oven to 180C (about 160C) for fan ovens;
2) Mix 225g of white bread cut up into cubes with 1 egg and 125ml milk in a large mixing bowl. At this stage in the week there's usually not much bread left in our house so I raided the fridge and used frozen breadcrumbs and a couple of crumpets (after I'd defrosted them). Leave to soak whilst you gather the rest of the ingredients.
3) Peel and chop a medium onion, 2 sticks of celery and a small bunch of parsley finely.
4) Mash the bread mixture (didn't have to do much of that in my case)
5) Add the veg and herbs to the bread mixture.
6) Add225g of minced pork or sausage meat and 450g of minced beef. I used some sausage meat that I had in the freezer left over from Christmas. At Forest Stores even the sausage meat and mince are better than the supermarkets.
7) Finally add a pinch of dried mixed herbs, 2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard and a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.
8) Mix it altogether. You could use a wooden spoon but honestly it's much quicker and easier with your hands.
9) Grease a loaf tin with and line the bottom with greaseproof paper. The original recipe doesn't say this but I left about half the loaf in the tin when I turned it out because I didn't do this.
10) Tip the mixture into the tin and bake in the oven for 45 minutes.
11) Use a palette knife to loosen the meat loaf and turn it out.
I served it with mash potato (must give my tips on really good mash some time), carrots and gravy.
I give it a 4.5 for prep. Would have been a 5 except for the greased loaf tin. Wrigglebottom gave it a 10 (think that might have been for the mash though) and Bonzo a 7. OK for a school night he said which was a bit rich as I was going out and generally the deal is that I don't cook if I'm not going to eat! So 13 overall and I will work on it to make it better than a school night dinner!
Thanks to my friend Vaunda who fed 8 of us on homemade lasagne, risotto and a selection of desserts last night. Delish!
Bon appetit!
1) Heat oven to 180C (about 160C) for fan ovens;
2) Mix 225g of white bread cut up into cubes with 1 egg and 125ml milk in a large mixing bowl. At this stage in the week there's usually not much bread left in our house so I raided the fridge and used frozen breadcrumbs and a couple of crumpets (after I'd defrosted them). Leave to soak whilst you gather the rest of the ingredients.
3) Peel and chop a medium onion, 2 sticks of celery and a small bunch of parsley finely.
4) Mash the bread mixture (didn't have to do much of that in my case)
5) Add the veg and herbs to the bread mixture.
6) Add225g of minced pork or sausage meat and 450g of minced beef. I used some sausage meat that I had in the freezer left over from Christmas. At Forest Stores even the sausage meat and mince are better than the supermarkets.
7) Finally add a pinch of dried mixed herbs, 2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard and a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.
8) Mix it altogether. You could use a wooden spoon but honestly it's much quicker and easier with your hands.
9) Grease a loaf tin with and line the bottom with greaseproof paper. The original recipe doesn't say this but I left about half the loaf in the tin when I turned it out because I didn't do this.
10) Tip the mixture into the tin and bake in the oven for 45 minutes.
11) Use a palette knife to loosen the meat loaf and turn it out.
I served it with mash potato (must give my tips on really good mash some time), carrots and gravy.
I give it a 4.5 for prep. Would have been a 5 except for the greased loaf tin. Wrigglebottom gave it a 10 (think that might have been for the mash though) and Bonzo a 7. OK for a school night he said which was a bit rich as I was going out and generally the deal is that I don't cook if I'm not going to eat! So 13 overall and I will work on it to make it better than a school night dinner!
Thanks to my friend Vaunda who fed 8 of us on homemade lasagne, risotto and a selection of desserts last night. Delish!
Bon appetit!
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Crispy Pork Belly
This is based on Bill Granger recipe (Holidays, page 112). I did consider Shaun Rankin's version in my new recipe book but his called for using about 2lb of salt which seemed a bit extreme and I didn't have it.
The pork belly came from my local butchers' at Forest Stores who helpfully scored the rind more to allow the 2 tablespoons of salt to soak in. Bill says to leave the belly salting for 30 mins. Given how long the pork needed to be in the oven (2 hours 20 mins plus 15 mins resting) that wasn't going to work for me - we'd have eaten at 10pm. As a compromise, I salted it before I went to work and left it in the fridge.
When I got home, I turned on the oven to 220C (200C for a fan oven) and washed the salt off the pork. I dried it with paper towel and then put it in a deep roasting tim. Drizzled with olive oil (to stop it sticking) and seasoned with more Maldon salt and freshly ground black pepper. The pork went into the pan skin side down and then into the oven for 30 mins. Given that the piece of pork was not as big as Bill's I decide that I wouldn't need quite as long (and didn't have enough time anyway) so once it had done it's first 30 mins I turned the oven down to 190C (should have been 170C for a fan oven) for an hour. Whilst it was cooking, I cut some Maris Piper potatoes into wedges (no peeling), drizzled them with olive oil and salt and put them on the top shelf of the oven having moved the pork to the middle shelf. After the hour, I moved turned the pork over, moved it to the top shelf, gave the potatoes another 10 mins on the middle shelf. Having removed the potatoes, I cooked up some sweet local carrots. The pork came out of the oven after another 10 mins and rested very briefly whilst I made gravy from the carrot water and dished up the rest.
There was enough pork for us plus one other (still in the fridge waiting for me to decide what to do with it). I'd give it about 4.5 for prep, Bonzo and I both gave it an 8,Wrigglebottom gave it a 9 even though she found the potatoes a bit salty so about 13 overall. It was sweet, salty and had great crackling. I'd definitely do this one again but on the weekend so that I could cook it long and slow and let it rest which I think would have made all the difference to the texture.
Bon appetit!
The pork belly came from my local butchers' at Forest Stores who helpfully scored the rind more to allow the 2 tablespoons of salt to soak in. Bill says to leave the belly salting for 30 mins. Given how long the pork needed to be in the oven (2 hours 20 mins plus 15 mins resting) that wasn't going to work for me - we'd have eaten at 10pm. As a compromise, I salted it before I went to work and left it in the fridge.
When I got home, I turned on the oven to 220C (200C for a fan oven) and washed the salt off the pork. I dried it with paper towel and then put it in a deep roasting tim. Drizzled with olive oil (to stop it sticking) and seasoned with more Maldon salt and freshly ground black pepper. The pork went into the pan skin side down and then into the oven for 30 mins. Given that the piece of pork was not as big as Bill's I decide that I wouldn't need quite as long (and didn't have enough time anyway) so once it had done it's first 30 mins I turned the oven down to 190C (should have been 170C for a fan oven) for an hour. Whilst it was cooking, I cut some Maris Piper potatoes into wedges (no peeling), drizzled them with olive oil and salt and put them on the top shelf of the oven having moved the pork to the middle shelf. After the hour, I moved turned the pork over, moved it to the top shelf, gave the potatoes another 10 mins on the middle shelf. Having removed the potatoes, I cooked up some sweet local carrots. The pork came out of the oven after another 10 mins and rested very briefly whilst I made gravy from the carrot water and dished up the rest.
There was enough pork for us plus one other (still in the fridge waiting for me to decide what to do with it). I'd give it about 4.5 for prep, Bonzo and I both gave it an 8,Wrigglebottom gave it a 9 even though she found the potatoes a bit salty so about 13 overall. It was sweet, salty and had great crackling. I'd definitely do this one again but on the weekend so that I could cook it long and slow and let it rest which I think would have made all the difference to the texture.
Bon appetit!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Horrible Haddock
Since I started this we have been eating a lot more fish. Nothing to do with the Great Fish Fight,just complete coincidence. At least, here in Guernsey we don't have to cope with quotas as as I'm aware because we have our own fishing limits. I also know quite a lot of fishermen and have 2 local fishmongers that buy local line caught fish if at all possible.
Was planning on a Malay Fish Curry but we had Thai on Saturday and if I do curry I have to find something else for the Wrigglebottom. Scratched around on the BBC website and found http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3605/couscous-and-fish-in-a-bag. I thought it would be fine as I used a Dishy recipe a bit like this for trout a few weeks back. The problems started with the bag. We're out of tinfoil despite me putting it on the list twice so I had to make do with baking parchment. The first bag collapsed so I ended up using a dish and covering that. I did a large dish for us and a smaller one for the Wrigglebottom with no lemon or herbs and put all the fish in skin side up which meant that I could easily take the skin off before serving. I covered both dishes with the baking parchment and left them 10 minutes longer than the recipe said (having learnt from the Bass en Papillote incident.
What I's do differently next time:
1) No-one needs 100g of dried couscous. Probably half of this would do;
2) Couscous needs spices not herbs;
3) Bonzo pointed out that it needs some kind of sauce. To be honest the amount of vegetable stock given is inadequate but I think Bonzo's right and would do a sauce.
4) Use an oily fish not a white one. I might even give mackerel a go.
Overall, pretty tasteless and samey. Waste of good haddock really. The Wrigglebottom hardly ate any. I gave up on the couscous and had too much fish. 4 for prep as it's fairly easy as long as you use foil or a dish. 6 from me, 7 from Bonzo, not much from Wrigglebottom so won't be doing this one agian without a major makeover.
Better luck tomorrow....
Was planning on a Malay Fish Curry but we had Thai on Saturday and if I do curry I have to find something else for the Wrigglebottom. Scratched around on the BBC website and found http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3605/couscous-and-fish-in-a-bag. I thought it would be fine as I used a Dishy recipe a bit like this for trout a few weeks back. The problems started with the bag. We're out of tinfoil despite me putting it on the list twice so I had to make do with baking parchment. The first bag collapsed so I ended up using a dish and covering that. I did a large dish for us and a smaller one for the Wrigglebottom with no lemon or herbs and put all the fish in skin side up which meant that I could easily take the skin off before serving. I covered both dishes with the baking parchment and left them 10 minutes longer than the recipe said (having learnt from the Bass en Papillote incident.
What I's do differently next time:
1) No-one needs 100g of dried couscous. Probably half of this would do;
2) Couscous needs spices not herbs;
3) Bonzo pointed out that it needs some kind of sauce. To be honest the amount of vegetable stock given is inadequate but I think Bonzo's right and would do a sauce.
4) Use an oily fish not a white one. I might even give mackerel a go.
Overall, pretty tasteless and samey. Waste of good haddock really. The Wrigglebottom hardly ate any. I gave up on the couscous and had too much fish. 4 for prep as it's fairly easy as long as you use foil or a dish. 6 from me, 7 from Bonzo, not much from Wrigglebottom so won't be doing this one agian without a major makeover.
Better luck tomorrow....
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Baked Asian Salmon
Friday night is a bit hectic as the Wrigglebottom swims at 6pm and I generally don't get home to 5:20. By the time we're home from swimming it's after 7 so whatever I cook needs to be quick. If the Outlaw Granny has give her her dinner I can be a bit adventurous but she's currently suffering with her back. I had planned to do Ginger & Chilli Salmon by Levi Root on his app but the internet was down again and I couldn't find it on my iPhone so I made it up instead!
Heat the oven to 200C
1) Chop 2 spring onions. Place in a baking dish just big enough to squeeze the salmon that you're cooking in;
2) Add about 2cm root ginger. I keep mine in the freezer so that it doesn't get all wizened and then grate it finely. It stays fresh goes a lot further, doesn't need to be peeled and doesn't give anyone a nasty shock because there are no big lumps.
3) Add the rind and juice of 1 lime. Roll the lime on a hard surface before you grate it and it will be a lot easier to squeeze.
4) Add a tablespoon of dark soy and about 50ml of shaoshing rice wine or sake if you have it.
5) Put the salmon fillets in skin side down;
6) Cover with foil or baking paper and put in the oven for 10-15 mins depending on the number of salmon steaks. You want the salmon to be just cooked.
Serve with plain boiled rice and steamed veg. That's got to be the healthiest thing I've cooked since Christmas day!
Ease of prep 5; Bonzo 7 because he doesn't like soy that much; Wrigglebottom 9 because she loves fish, rice & veg even if she could taste the lime and an 8 from me. I left it in about 2 minutes longer than I would have liked and it would have benefitted from chilli but then the Wrigglebottom wouldn't have eaten it. Total score 14/15 so will definitely work on this one.
Bon appetit!
Heat the oven to 200C
1) Chop 2 spring onions. Place in a baking dish just big enough to squeeze the salmon that you're cooking in;
2) Add about 2cm root ginger. I keep mine in the freezer so that it doesn't get all wizened and then grate it finely. It stays fresh goes a lot further, doesn't need to be peeled and doesn't give anyone a nasty shock because there are no big lumps.
3) Add the rind and juice of 1 lime. Roll the lime on a hard surface before you grate it and it will be a lot easier to squeeze.
4) Add a tablespoon of dark soy and about 50ml of shaoshing rice wine or sake if you have it.
5) Put the salmon fillets in skin side down;
6) Cover with foil or baking paper and put in the oven for 10-15 mins depending on the number of salmon steaks. You want the salmon to be just cooked.
Serve with plain boiled rice and steamed veg. That's got to be the healthiest thing I've cooked since Christmas day!
Ease of prep 5; Bonzo 7 because he doesn't like soy that much; Wrigglebottom 9 because she loves fish, rice & veg even if she could taste the lime and an 8 from me. I left it in about 2 minutes longer than I would have liked and it would have benefitted from chilli but then the Wrigglebottom wouldn't have eaten it. Total score 14/15 so will definitely work on this one.
Bon appetit!
Friday, January 14, 2011
Chicken in White Wine
Last night, I had planned to make Dishy's Coq au Vin ie Chicken in Red Wine but decided against it for a number of reasons:-
1) It was 5:50pm amd the recipe said that it would take 30 mins prep and 2 hours to cook;
2) The Wrigglebottom doesn't like red wine in her gravy let alone as the main component of a sauce and her taste buds are way to sharp for me to sneak that one by;
3) I was shattered.
Bearing this in mind, I decided on a knock off version of Nigella's Coq au Riesling (page 119, Nigella Express). It's a knock off because Bonzo doesn't like fungi anf Wrigglebottom objects to spice which includes herbs! So this is what it looks like:
1) Heat vegetable oil in a deep saucepan;
2) Add about 100g of bacon lardons or chopped smoekd bacon and fry for about 2 mins on fairly high heat;
3) Chop 2 leeks finely and add to bacon;
3) Remove skin from whatever chicken you have. Last night I used chicken legs but you could use breasts, thighs or drumsticks. Anything with a bone in will give a tastier, thicker sauce;
4) Add chicken to leeks & bacon;
5) Absolutely no mushrooms;
6) Add almost a bottle of white wine. I used Sauvignon Blanc last night and used all but the cook's glass. That was probably a bit too much so half a bottle would probably do.
7) Add two bay leaves, salt and pepper; the bay leaves can be fished out before the Wrigglebottom sees them.
8) Bring to the boil and then put on a low heat with a lid on until the chicken is cooked about 30 mins minimum. At the end of the day you're looking for a sauce that stays on the plate so top it up if it looks too dry and take the lid off if there's too much liquid.
9) Serve it up with noodles, rice or potatoes.
If you want to tart it up a bit you can add cream and chopped dill before serving.
This gets a 5 for prep as it only takes 10 mins to prepare. It got a 10 from me, a 9 from Bonzo and Wrigglebottom almost ate a whole chicken leg and just left some of her leeks as she's not keen on the onion family so I make that about 8.5 average so 13.5 overall.
Bon appetit!
1) It was 5:50pm amd the recipe said that it would take 30 mins prep and 2 hours to cook;
2) The Wrigglebottom doesn't like red wine in her gravy let alone as the main component of a sauce and her taste buds are way to sharp for me to sneak that one by;
3) I was shattered.
Bearing this in mind, I decided on a knock off version of Nigella's Coq au Riesling (page 119, Nigella Express). It's a knock off because Bonzo doesn't like fungi anf Wrigglebottom objects to spice which includes herbs! So this is what it looks like:
1) Heat vegetable oil in a deep saucepan;
2) Add about 100g of bacon lardons or chopped smoekd bacon and fry for about 2 mins on fairly high heat;
3) Chop 2 leeks finely and add to bacon;
3) Remove skin from whatever chicken you have. Last night I used chicken legs but you could use breasts, thighs or drumsticks. Anything with a bone in will give a tastier, thicker sauce;
4) Add chicken to leeks & bacon;
5) Absolutely no mushrooms;
6) Add almost a bottle of white wine. I used Sauvignon Blanc last night and used all but the cook's glass. That was probably a bit too much so half a bottle would probably do.
7) Add two bay leaves, salt and pepper; the bay leaves can be fished out before the Wrigglebottom sees them.
8) Bring to the boil and then put on a low heat with a lid on until the chicken is cooked about 30 mins minimum. At the end of the day you're looking for a sauce that stays on the plate so top it up if it looks too dry and take the lid off if there's too much liquid.
9) Serve it up with noodles, rice or potatoes.
If you want to tart it up a bit you can add cream and chopped dill before serving.
This gets a 5 for prep as it only takes 10 mins to prepare. It got a 10 from me, a 9 from Bonzo and Wrigglebottom almost ate a whole chicken leg and just left some of her leeks as she's not keen on the onion family so I make that about 8.5 average so 13.5 overall.
Bon appetit!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Steak and Kidney Pie
This recipe started out on Dishy (Dishyapp.com). Bonzo doesn't eat fungi so this doesn't include mushrooms but it doesn't suffer from the lack. Although it takes a while to cook, hence not suitable for my Friday evenings, it is worth the effort.
1) Heat some oil in a large saucepan;
2) Cut 400g of braising steak into 2cm cubes and dry with kitchen towel (learnt this from Julie and Julia and their Boeuf Bourgignon) which helps it to brown;
3) Brown the steak in batches. Again, doing this means that the meat browns rather than boiling in it s own juices and coming out grey;
4) Dissect 400g of lamb kidneys, removing the white grisly bits. Dry with a kitchen towel;
5) Brown the kidney in batches;
6) Whilst all this frying is going on, finely chop a medium onion and two medium carrots;
7) Once all the meat is browned, add more oil to the pan if needed then sweat off the onion and carrots on a mdium hat ie soften without browning;
8) Tip the meat back into the pan and add a tablespoon of plain flour. Cook for one minute;
9) Add 450ml of beef stock (1 sachet of Knorr stock in my case);
10) Add a teaspoon of dried mixed herbs plus salt and pepper to taste;
11) Bring to the boil and then put on a very low heat to simmer (with the lid on) for 2 hours or until the meat is soft;
12) Heat the oven to 200C;
13) Tip the stew into a pie dish;
14) Roll out sufficient defrosted puff pastry to cover the dish. I usually buy ready rolled. Trim it to size and press it into the pie dish to seal. No need for egg or milk wash;
15) Put in the oven for however long it tells you on the puff pastry packet.
Confession time: Saturday is strictly my husband's turn to cook. I put the pie in; he was in the kitchen; I assumed that he was watching it. Not completely ruined as he did his duty and cut the burnt bits off. Just enough to feed three of us without any extra potatoes or veg.
I'd give it a 3 for preparation as frying the meat in batches is a bit of a faff but well worth it. I forgot to ask the others for a score but Bonzo cleared his plate including the pattern and the Wrigglebottom didn't. I reckon that makes it about an 8.5 so 11.5 overall. That would mean that it wouldn't make it onto the list but I think I'd have ariot on my hands if I didn't make it again this year!
Still to come - waffles with honey, yoghurt and pecans, roast chicken on a weeknight and chicken pie....
Bon appetit!
Welcome
/*****--/I started this blog over the Christmas period to give myself a creative outlet that would also indulge my love of food. I am a full time working mother and do most of the cooking in our house as well as the shopping. My husband, Bonzo does cook but only on weekends and never what I expect him to do with the ingredients supplied. Both he and my daughter, the Wrigglebottom can be pretty fussy about ingredients. Her taste buds are far too sharp for a 6 year old so it's pretty difficult to sneak anything past her. We like eating food made from good quality ingredients but I don't have a huge amount of time to cook if I'm going to spend any time with her after school. Consequently, I look for simple recipes with bags of flavour that can be prepared and cooked in less than half an hour. Or require that much prep time and then can be left in the oven until we're ready to eat. I also adapt recipes to exclude or replace ingredients that they don't like or that I don't have. Where I've adapted a recipe I'll reference it. Where I've made it up or it was so long ago and the adaptations are multiple I will probably have forgotten where I got it in the first place.
I have a very simple scoring system:
1-5 for prep time with 5 for 20 minutes or less, 4 for 30 minutes etc. Anything more than an hour for a single dish is something Bonzo would cook with a Heston Blumenthal book in one hand.
1-10 for taste. All diners get to score the dish and then it's average.
Anything with a total of 12.5 or more goes on the cook again list, If it's a real favourite but takes a bit more time then it also gets included on the list.
Please feel free to comment, make suggestions about improvements or ask questions.
Bon appetit1
I have a very simple scoring system:
1-5 for prep time with 5 for 20 minutes or less, 4 for 30 minutes etc. Anything more than an hour for a single dish is something Bonzo would cook with a Heston Blumenthal book in one hand.
1-10 for taste. All diners get to score the dish and then it's average.
Anything with a total of 12.5 or more goes on the cook again list, If it's a real favourite but takes a bit more time then it also gets included on the list.
Please feel free to comment, make suggestions about improvements or ask questions.
Bon appetit1
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