Lemons, watermelon and ...

It's my turn to say that I haven't checked the site in a while. Mary Jane has posted an interesting recipe with watermelon and cucumber. I must admit that I don't have many watermelon leftovers. Watermelons are not as plentiful in the UK as they are in Canada or the United States but I will keep it in mind.

She says that she likes the lemon recipes. I have a lemon obsession. One of my favorite drinks at the moment is boiling water, juice of a half or whole lemon and mint leaves to taste. It's wonderfully refreshing.

Naomi wants to know where to find madeleine tins. I bought mine in France but surely they are available somewhere in the UK. I will start looking. Unfortunately, I still haven't made the madeleines. I am moving shortly and will have a more reliable oven so I will definitely try that recipe.

I am weeding my cook books in advance of moving. I really should curb my habit of buying so many. For the most part, I get them from the Oxfam charity shop in Egham, a nearby town. At least they aren't that expensive. I have made a vow to only have things in my new house which are either useful or beautiful. That should eliminate a lot of things, including certain items in my kitchen!

Pea and Sausage Soup!

Here's a recipe for another really yummy soup I used to make (and will be making again now that I've remembered it!)

The measurements aren't exact. I just make it up depending on what I have in the house.

Sausages - cut into pieces

Flour

Stock (of any sort)

At least two tins of mushy peas (or you could use frozen peas I guess!)

Seasoning.

Fry the sausages until cooked. Add the flour and stir around until it has been absorbed by the sausage fat (making a roux). Add the stock gradually allowing it to thicken before adding more. Add the mushy peas and simmer. Add the seasoning and serve with bread or biscuits. Simples.

I like experimenting with different types of sausage; Tescos do some sweet chilli sausages which are really good in the soup.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

400g Chicken (or pork)

12g Sugar

50 ml Soy Sauce

50g Cornflour

1 Clove of garlic - crushed

25g Fresh ginger

1 Onion chopped

1 Pepper, green or red

1 Chilli - chopped

2 Pineapple rings - cut into chunks

100 ml White vinegar

150g Brown Sugar

125 ml Tomato ketchup

1 Tbls Worcester sauce

Cut the meat into chunks and marinade in soy sauce and sugar for 30mins. Meanwhile, prepare the vegetable. Then, boil the vinegar and brown sugar in a sauce pan.

Add the ketchup and Worcester sauce. Leave to simmer.

Take a wok and add enough oil to coat the bottom and heat. Add the chopper garlic and ginger and stir fry for 1 minute. Add the onion, pepper and chilli and stir fry for 3-4 minutes. Stir in the sweet and sour sauce and allow to simmer. Add the pineapple chunks and cook on a low heat. Pass the chicken through the cornflour and deep fry until cooked. Drain and add to the sauce and cook for a further 3-4 minutes. Serve with rice.

I don't deep fry the chicken I just add it to the sauce to cook. It's a good idea to coat it in some corn flour though as this thickens the sauce. I don't add chillis either but sometimes put in thinly sliced carrot. You can also play with the amout of sugar and vinegar you put in to get in sweeter or more sour depending on your taste. It tastes so close to the Sweet and Sour Chicken from the Take Away and is probably better for you! Granted, this is not one for the diabetics amongst us!

Houmous without sesame seeds

1 red pepper
400g can chick peas, drained
1 large clove of garlic
1T lemon juice
1/2 t each ground cumin, ground coriander and chilli powder
A little sea salt and black pepper
1-2 T natural yogurt

1. Cook the red pepper under a hot grill, turning frequently, until the skin turns black. Place in a polythene bag. When cold, peel off the skin and deseed.

2. Place all the ingredients in a food processor and blend to a rough purée. Season to taste and turn into a bowl. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour to give the flavours a chance to develop.

Caramel croissant pudding by Nigella!

(North American measurements to follow)

2 stale croissants

100g caster sugar

2 x 15ml tbsp water

125ml double cream

125ml full-fat milk

2 x 15ml tbsp bourbon

2 eggs, beaten

1 Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4.

2 Tear the croissants into pieces and put in a small gratin dish; I use a cast iron oval one with a capacity of about 500ml.

3 Put the caster sugar and water into a saucepan, and swirl around to help dissolve the sugar before putting the saucepan on the hob over a medium to high heat.

4 Caramelize the sugar and water mixture by letting it bubble away, without stirring, until it all turns a deep amber colour; this will take 3 to 5 minutes. Keep looking but don’t be too timid.

5 Turn the heat down to low and add the cream – ignoring all spluttering – and, whisking away, the milk and bourbon. Any solid toffee that forms in the pan will dissolve easily if you keep whisking over a low heat. Take off the heat and, still whisking, add the beaten eggs. Pour the caramel bourbon custard over the croissants and leave to steep for 10 minutes if the croissants are very stale.

6 Place in the oven for 20 minutes.

Nigella Lawson

Time to hit the hedgerows - Elderberries

I spent 4 days in New York and then another 5 and 1/2 days on the Queen Mary 2 coming back to the UK. I had hoped to visit some cookery book stores but unfortunately I only went into two book stores, one was a generalist and the other a French language store. However, I did experience some interesting food both in the city and on the ship.

The impression I have of New York is one of a city full of places to dine or to buy food to go. I went out early every morning and bought a take away breakfast. Near my hotel was near Briant Park where I sat under trees and watched New York wake up and pass by. More about New York and the Queen Mary 2 later.

I came back to England to discover various hedgerow fruits ready to be picked. Just nearby to the house are ripe blackberries and in Emma's garden (number 2 daughter) there are elderberries. Both of us were wondering what we could do with them and so I have been doing some research. At this site, you'll find some important information about Elderberries. Did you know that they had cyanide in them unless they are cooked?

Homemade Blackberry Jam

6 lb. blackberries
1/4 pint water (5 fl. oz)
Rind and juice of 2 lemons
6 lb. sugar

Instructions

1. Put the cleaned fruit, the water and lemon rind and juice in the sauce pan.

2. Simmer until the fruit is soft.

3. Stir in the sugar and boil rapidly until setting point is reached.

4. Remove from the heat, skim, pot, cover, and label.

10 jars (depending on your size of jar)

Pesto Sauce

I have a pot of basil growing in my garden and last night, I had a craving for pesto sauce to go with some pasta. First I wondered how healthy it might be and then whether or not it was cost effective to make your own. The ingredients are as follows:

basil leaves
pine nuts (or walnuts) (so not good for people with a nut allergy)
olive oil
Parmesan cheese
garlic

I suppose it depends on whether or not you use these items in other recipes. This is more of a summer dish and so you could grow basil in a pot in the garden or in a window box. That would make it cost effective. I think that you would need the entire window box because it takes quite a lot of basil to make the sauce (1 cup of leaves for two to 3 servings).

Many people use olive oil already and if you use it sparingly it should last a long time. I have found that it is cheaper in cans (larger quantity, therefore cheaper per unit).

Pine nuts are not that expensive but I wonder what else you could use them in. Some accidentally got into my granola and they were fine but I think they may be quite oily. Perhaps they would be good in salads as well.

Garlic can easily be grown in the window box with the garlic. I say this but I have never tried to grow garlic. I shall look it up and report back! I don't think it is that expensive and many people already use it in other recipes.

Parmesan cheese can be expensive. It is cheaper if you buy it in blocks and not already grated!

So, here is my recipe. I halved the quantities in the Silver Palate Cookbook (p. 80, 1979) but still found that there was too much olive oil. I would suggest trying it with 1/4 cup of oil instead.

1C basil leaves, washed and patted dry
2 gook sized cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
1/2C chopped walnuts or pine nuts
1/2C olive oil (I suggest 1/4 or a 1/3 C)
1/2C grated Parmesan cheese
(1T Romano cheese - I didn't use this cheese and it was fine)
salt and pepper to taste

I find this enough with a bowl of pasta to feed me in the evening but if you want to flesh out the meal, you could have a salad to start with.

My courgettes (zucchinis) are growing in leaps and bounds so I will be looking for recipes. Any suggestions?

Food from the highways and byways

Along my road we are anticipating a bumper crop of blackberries. They won't be ready for another 3 or 4 weeks but I am already planning jams, pies and ice cream. I have also discovered a number of apple trees at a near by round-about which could supplement my lone tree if it doesn't crop well this year. What a surprise to find some recipes in the Guardian today which should help me put some of these fruits away for the winter months.

Blackberry and apple leather

Makes 2 sheets of 24 x30cm

500g blackberries
500g peeled, cored and chopped
cooking apples (2-3 large apples)
juice of 1 lemon
150g honey

1. Preheat the oven to 60C. Line two baking sheets, measuring about 24 x 30cm, with baking parchment.

2. Put the blackberries, apples and lemon juice into a pan. Cook gently until soft and pulpy, about 20 minutes. Rub the mixture through a sieve or mouli into a bowl; you should have about 700g smooth fruit puree. Add honey and mix well.

3. Divide the puree between the two baking sheets. Spread it out lightly with the back of a spoon until the puree covers the sheets in a thin, even layer. Put the baking sheets in the oven and leave for 12-18 hours, until the fruit puree is completely dry and peels off the parchment easily.

4. Roll up the leather in greaseproof paper and store in an airtight tin. Use within 5 months.

Guardian, Perfectly Preserved, July 21, 2008

Another Banana Recipe

Banana Smoothy

Into blender toss 2 small or 1 1/2 large bananas. Frozen bananas would work even better.

Spoon in a very large tablespoon or two of unsweetened frozen orange juice concentrate.

Pour in about 3 cups of cold low or non fat soy or cow milk.

Add 3 or 4 ice cubes.

Whiz on high till smooth and creamy. Enjoy...

Mary Jane

Cornell Recipe

The Cornell Bread recipe was developed by Cornell University in the 1930's to increase the nutritional value of bread. I used it years ago and have just remembered it again and thought that if one was using the least expensive flour to make bread, perhaps this recipe would allow for a more nutritional loaf. To each cup add one teaspoon each of soy flour, dried skimmed milk powder, and wheat germ.

Cornell Formula White Bread

3 cups warm water
2 packages active dry yeast
2 T honey or sugar
3 t salt
2 T vegetable oil
6 C unbleached flour
1/2 C full-fat soy flour
3/4 C nonfat dry milk
3 T wheat germ

1. In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in honey, salt, and oil.

2. Combine three cups of the unbleached flour with soy flour, dry mild, and wheat germ to yeast mixture. Add more flour, i/2 C at a time, to make dough stiff enough to knead.

3. Turn dough onto a lightly floured board. Knead about ten minutes or until smooth and elastic, adding four as needed to keep the dough from sticking.

4. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turning to oil the top. Cover with a clean towel and let rise in a warm place until double; about one hour.

5. Punch dough down and turn only lightly oiled board. Divide into three equal portions and share each into a loaf. Place in greased 8 x 4 inch pans. Cover with a clean towel and let rise until double; about one hour.

6. Preheat over to 400F (200Celcius). Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until bread sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from pan and cool on wire rach.

Makes 3 loaves

Fresh Glazed Strawberry Pie

As mentioned in the previous post, we made strawberry pie for Canada Day. Here is the recipe:

1 baked pastry shell
1 quart (or more) fresh strawberries (4-8oz cups)
3 T(ablespoons) cornstarch (cornflour in UK)
1 c(up) sugar (white)
1 T butter
1/2 c water
1 T lemon juice
whipped cream

1. Arrange the best looking berries in the cooked pie shell.

2. Crush the remaining berries.

3. Combine the cornstarch (cornflour) and sugar. Stir in crushed berries and water.

4. Cook gently till thick and clear.

5. Remove from heat, add butter and lemon juice. Cool.

6. Pour onto pie. Top with whipped cream.

Mary Jane's Strawberry Jam in Winter

Strawberry Jam in Winter....

Make when frozen strawberries are found on sale.

I buy a bag of frozen strawberries and it on the counter for about 20 minutes to thaw a bit.

I put the thawing berries into a pot with about a cup of brown sugar and the juice of a juicy lemon.

I cook the ingredients over medium heat till it is at stage where it darkens, thickens and "spits" at you. You need to stir constantly or it will burn.

Then I take it off the heat and let it cool a bit before putting into some jars. When fully cooled, the jars of jam must be refrigerated (at least I think they "must" refrigerated but I may be wrong).

I've played with this one a bit. I like it with orange rind grated into it but Mike prefers it without.

It's more like strawberry preserves than strawberry jam.

I don't think I'll ever use fresh strawberries for jam again as the frozen ones here are usually very good for jam and usually cheaper than fresh even when fresh are at their peak. mj

Strawberry Jam

Mary Jane said that she had made jam from frozen strawberries. I haven't been able to find such a recipe but I have come up with the following that might be of interest:

750g strawberry
125g granulated sugar
a squeeze of lemon juice

1. Rinse and hull the strawberries but don't dry them.
2. Pile them into a stainless steel or enamel pan with the sugar.
3. Roughly crush the fruit with your hands or a fork then place the pan over a low to medium heat.
4. Stir occasionally for 15-20 minutes, spooning off the pink froth as you go.
5. The jam should be thick enough to fall slowly from the spoon, like syrup, but nowhere near thick enough to set.
6. Pour into a bowl and serve with scones, (where it will drip down your fingers), or slices cut from a sponge cake, spoon over goat's yogurt or allow to cool and stir into a mess of whipped cream, fresh berries and crumbled meringue.
(Nigel Slater, Observer, June 22, 2008)

Strawberry Jam

1KG strawberries
800 g granulated sugar
the juice of a large lemon

1. Wash and hull the berries. Keep the small ones whole and halve or even quarter the large ones.

2. Put them into a stainless-steel pas with the sugar and lemon juice and bring to the boil.

3. Boil rapidly for 15 minutes or until the fruit is starting to look soft and translucent.

4. Skim off the pink froth that appears on the top then spoon into the sterilised jars, seal carefully and leave to cool.

(A fairly light set)

Houmus, hummus, houmous

However you spell it, it is still a chick pea and tahini dip. According to a Guardian writer, it's easy to make and much less expensive to do it yourself. I have two cans of chick peas in the cupboard and a jar of tahini, a give away from the cupboard of a colleague. I have lots of olive oil and some lemons so I definitely feel an evening of humous making coming on. I have various recipes to choose from and here they are below:

From 'the Art of Syrian Cooking' by Zeinab Al-Abed, a former colleague:

1 lb. of dried chick peas
3 cloves of garlic
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 lemons, juice
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 cup (4 oz) Tahini
3 tablespoons of plain yogurt
salt to taste

1. Soak chick peas overnight, then boil for 45 minutes until they are soft.
2. Put chick peas, garlic, lemon juice and 2 cups of water (not mentioned in the ingredient list!), yogurt, salt to taste and tahini in a blender and blend at medium speed for two minutes.
3. Put in a bowl and sprinkle cumin on top, then add some olive oil.
4. Eat with pita bread.

Note: If I use this recipe I will use canned beans. However, dried beans would be less expensive.

Recipe 2: From 'Moosewood Cookbook' by Mollie Katzen. I love the illustrations in this vegetarian cookbook. Recipes are great too!

1 1/2 cups (a cup = 8 fl. oz) raw chickpeas soaked and boiled (I'm sure that canned beans are fine)
3 medium cloves minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
dash of tamari (I have no idea what that is)
juice from 2 medium lemons
3/4 cups of tahini
1/4 cup (packed) finely minced parsley
lots of black pepper and dash of cayenne
1/4 cup minced scallions

1. Mash chickpeas to a thick paste, using a food mill or grinder or masher
2. Combine everything and chill thoroughly.
3. Taste to correct seasonings. Some people like extra garlic, tamari or tahini.

Recipe 3: From 'The Silver Palate Cookbook: Hummus bi tahini

4 cups (about 2 1/2 cans) chick peas, drained
1/2 cups of tahini
1/3 cup warm water
juice of 2 or 3 lemons
4 or more garlic cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons group cumin seed
freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Combine chick-peas, tahini, warm water, olive oil and juice of 1 lemon in the bowl of a food processor (or a blender). Process until smooth and creamy, pausing once or twice to scrape down sides of the bowl with a spatula.

2. Add garlic, salt, cuminseed and pepper to taste, and process to blend. Taste and correct seasoning if necessary. Add more lemon juice to taste. Crape into a storage container, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

So, tomorrow night I will choose one of these and try it out.

How to save money according to a newspaper!

This morning, the Observer (which is the Sunday version of the Guardian), an English newspaper, included a section entitled 'How To Save Money: Shopping & Leisure'. I've had a look through and there are some good ideas, but when they come to the suggestions about food shopping and cooking, there are a few problems. Yes, the ideas are good and would save money. However, they forget that people buy a lot of products because they will save time.

One suggestion was to make your own pasta sauce instead of buying one. Some sauces can be put together easily and quickly and yes, they do taste better and you do know what went into them. However, it takes time to track down recipes if you have never made your own sauces before. Moreover, certain sauces, such as bolognese, take 15 minutes to prepare but up to 3 hours to simmer. So, pasta sauce suggestions please! One of next post will concentrate on those.

Another idea was to make your own hummus. I have tried this several times without making a hummus I like as much as the one I buy. However, I will try again this summer and see what I can come up with. Recipes for that would be appreciated as well.

It is also suggested that instead of buying packaged salad that you buy a 'proper' lettuce and grow much of the rest yourself. I'm sure that you can see the problem with this as well. Many people don't have the time or a place to grew salad greens. And if you do, you need to have made the philosophical decision to spend more time and energy on sourcing and preparing your food.

This leads us back to the previous post about the necessity to make a conscious decision to change and to adopt a 'plan'. I made the decision years ago. In fact I can't even remember when. I am a product of the late 60's so perhaps my beliefs were formed then. However, I do from time to time stray and buy time saving products. In the past I have felt guilty about this but not any more. Sometimes, you just need to take the easy way out but obviously, not all the time if you want to save money and eat better.

Here is a link to my bolognese sauce. As I said, it take a lot of simmering so you need to do this as soon as you get in at night to be ready for the next evening or make it on the weekend.