Listening- Songs of the Auvergne
Roddy Frame
Watching- All the episodes of Gavin and Stacey that I missed because I was "Stichin'" and re-runs of Dynasty.
Wearing- Ecco boots- it's snowy out!
Surfing- Awful Library Books, I want so many of them.
Buying- Dream Cream from Lush, lovely even on inflamed skin.
Making-A canvas for Gary.
Mood- Relentlessly positive and delighted to be free of dieting.
Sunday 3 January 2010
Happy New Year
I'm feeling really good about the coming year and hope it brings us all happiness and fulfilment. I'm going to change this blog a little, it will still have lots about food and cooking but I'm also going to include some of my other obsessions. I'll talk about what I'm crafting, watching, reading, listening to and thinking. I'll show you some of my favourite websites and share more about my life. It'll be a kind of on-line diary, self-indulgent and fun (for me!).
Thursday 26 November 2009
Graze
I had a lovely surprise this afternoon when a cardboard box full of wholesome yumminess arrived on my desk. Graze send boxes of fruit and nuts to you at work but as I usually don't know where I'll be working this is the first time I've ordered from them. I recommend them wholeheartedly, they're not cheap but I think they're good value when you consider the variety you get in your box. And it's like getting a present at work.
I had fresh pineapple, dried raspberries, and a mixture of pecans, cranberries and almonds. It was all delicious.
This isn't a picture of my box, I'm not called Stephen, but I couldn't take a picture of my box in the classroom (snigger).
If you want to try Graze go to their website at www.graze.com and see their offers. If you quote CL12ZZKL I get money off my nest order which would be most welcome. I don't know what's happened to the typeface, odd isn't it!
Sunday 22 November 2009
Warm Winter Salad
I'm not sure that this is a salad, but it's delicious whatever it is. Clearly my appetite is returning as I was tempted by the wood-pigeon breasts my local butcher was selling, you don't get much more free-range than wild game so I prefer buying them to buying farmed meat. It's also kind of appropriate as I know my Dad has trouble with pigeons eating his cabbages.
Fry some chopped streaky bacon until half-way to crispy and then add finely chopped red onion. Cook til the bacon is crispy and the onion soft and then put in the garlic- use a garlic press or chop and squish with your knife. Add the pigeon breast cut into strips and cook until brown. Add sliced and chopped Savoy cabbage and stir. If the mixture looks like sticking add a little water as this will also have the affect of steaming the cabbage. Add seasoning and eat with crusty bread or mash. If you want to make it a bit more luxurious you could stir a little cream through.
- Four pigeon breasts
- Half a savoy cabbage
- 1 small red onion
- 4 rashers of streaky bacon
- 2 cloves garlic
- salt and pepper
Fry some chopped streaky bacon until half-way to crispy and then add finely chopped red onion. Cook til the bacon is crispy and the onion soft and then put in the garlic- use a garlic press or chop and squish with your knife. Add the pigeon breast cut into strips and cook until brown. Add sliced and chopped Savoy cabbage and stir. If the mixture looks like sticking add a little water as this will also have the affect of steaming the cabbage. Add seasoning and eat with crusty bread or mash. If you want to make it a bit more luxurious you could stir a little cream through.
Chicken Livers and Spaghetti
I've finally started to feel better this weekend and have felt like cooking for the first time in more than five weeks. Last night Gary came round to help me with a hair emergency and I made a quick but hearty pasta dish. Even if you've never liked liver this is worth a try as this is nothing like the tough and bitter liver of your childhood, even my liver-phobic ex loved this. We had this on it's own but it would be lovely with a strong-tasting green salad like rocket or watercress. These quantities served two, but with enough pasta and a salad it could serve three or four.
Add the chopped red onions and continue to cook on a low heat until the bacon is crisp and the onions soft.
Add the livers and turn the heat up to a moderate to high heat. I don't really like handling them so I bung them in and once they start cooking I cut them into smaller pieces with kitchen scissors. Keep the mixture moving so it doesn't burn and cook for the minimum amount of time to brown the livers and cook them to your taste. They don't need to be cooked right through and I often leave them pink, but if I have friends round I cook them til the pink is JUST gone. This only takes a few minutes and you need to be really careful as over-cooked liver is tough and only good for the bin.
Add the brandy- make sure the heat is high enough to burn off the alcohol and turn it into a sauce.
Add the cream. I used two tablespoons but if you are feeding more people than I was then upping the cream will make the sauce go further.
Season with a generous amount of freshly-ground black pepper and sea-salt. You can garnish with a chopped herb of your choice, I didn't but it was raining and I didn't want to go into the garden!
I served this sauce with wholewheat pasta because it was what I had and the robust flavours worked surprisingly well together but I must admit that I've eaten this- without the cream-on french bread.
Serve with a strong red wine
- I packet of chicken livers- my packet was 0.45 kilograms
- 2 red onions
- 4 rashers of streaky bacon
- Cream-I used double because I wanted it for the pudding but you can do as you wish.
- 2 tablespoons of brandy, vodka, dry sherry or some other alcohol.
- Salt and pepper.
Add the chopped red onions and continue to cook on a low heat until the bacon is crisp and the onions soft.
Add the livers and turn the heat up to a moderate to high heat. I don't really like handling them so I bung them in and once they start cooking I cut them into smaller pieces with kitchen scissors. Keep the mixture moving so it doesn't burn and cook for the minimum amount of time to brown the livers and cook them to your taste. They don't need to be cooked right through and I often leave them pink, but if I have friends round I cook them til the pink is JUST gone. This only takes a few minutes and you need to be really careful as over-cooked liver is tough and only good for the bin.
Add the brandy- make sure the heat is high enough to burn off the alcohol and turn it into a sauce.
Add the cream. I used two tablespoons but if you are feeding more people than I was then upping the cream will make the sauce go further.
Season with a generous amount of freshly-ground black pepper and sea-salt. You can garnish with a chopped herb of your choice, I didn't but it was raining and I didn't want to go into the garden!
I served this sauce with wholewheat pasta because it was what I had and the robust flavours worked surprisingly well together but I must admit that I've eaten this- without the cream-on french bread.
Serve with a strong red wine
Love Local.
I've lived in the same part of Hull for more years than I care to remember. The failure or success of different places I've rented has been down to various factors but probably the most important has been how close I was to my beloved Newland Avenue. A friend once pointed out that I'd spent my teenage years trying to get away from a village only to turn my part of a city into one.
Love Local is a fantastic campaign designed to encourage people to shop on Newland and use all the small independent traders rather than give all their money to the big chains. I can't claim to be someone who never goes to supermarkets (their opening hours make them attractive when you work) but there are huge advantages to shoping locally. My local pet shop will drop off heavy bags of cat litter to save me carrying them home, my butcher knows I love chicken livers so got in some free-range ones on the off-chance and kept them in the freezer til I was next in, and my pharmacist will lend me an inhaler if I've c*cked-up my prescriptions (and has consequently probably saved my life more than once). I love being part of a community and shopping in places where people recognise you and tell you your cold sounds better or your new hairstyle suits you.
Seemingly one pound in every seven spent "on the high street" is spent in Tesco, if we want places like Newland to survive we need to spend our money there. I pledge to make an effort to shop on Newland on a Saturday morning each week even if I need to go to supermarkets during the week.
Tuesday 3 November 2009
Bloody Mary Sausages
I've read a lot recently about how we're copying America in celebrating Hallowe'en and I couldn't understand what everyone was talking about as we always had parties as children. Of course I grew up with an Irish mammy and in Ireland Hallowe'en is the autumn festival for many reasons, not least that Guy Fawkes night isn't celebrated (funny that!). I was thinking about the foods that we ate at this time of year and remembering lots of sausages and lots of home-made tomato soup. I'm not a tomato soup fan at the best of times, and certainly not when I already have a sore throat so I've made up this recipe.
* 1 packet of good quality sausages (this would work with quorn or other veggie sausages too)
* 4 medium red onions
* 1 cup of puy lentils
* 2 tins of plum tomatoes
* 1 glass of vodka
* olive oil
* 2 teaspoons of brown sugar
* 2 cloves of garlic
* spices of your choice- I used two teaspoons of ground chilli flakes and a generous dash of tabasco.
Put the sausages in a heavy based pan or casserole and brown in the olive oil. Peel and quarter the onions, break them apart and throw them in too. Bash the garlic cloves and add- no need to peel, just look for them when you serve and remove. Cook until the sausages are a nice colour and the onions are translucent. Add the lentils and any spices and stir. Put in the tins of tomato, this will seem like a massive amount of liquid but you'll be cooking it down. Add the sugar and season.
I cooked this on a low heat on top of the cooker for 45 minutes until the tomatoes were reduced down to a sticky sauce, but you could cook in a moderate oven with the lid off.
About fifteen minutes before serving I added the vodka and turned the heat up enough to cook off the alcohol but leave a richness behind but you could easily leave this step out.
The lentils mean this doesn't need an extra carb serving but it would be lovely with mash and a favourite green veg for colour.
* 1 packet of good quality sausages (this would work with quorn or other veggie sausages too)
* 4 medium red onions
* 1 cup of puy lentils
* 2 tins of plum tomatoes
* 1 glass of vodka
* olive oil
* 2 teaspoons of brown sugar
* 2 cloves of garlic
* spices of your choice- I used two teaspoons of ground chilli flakes and a generous dash of tabasco.
Put the sausages in a heavy based pan or casserole and brown in the olive oil. Peel and quarter the onions, break them apart and throw them in too. Bash the garlic cloves and add- no need to peel, just look for them when you serve and remove. Cook until the sausages are a nice colour and the onions are translucent. Add the lentils and any spices and stir. Put in the tins of tomato, this will seem like a massive amount of liquid but you'll be cooking it down. Add the sugar and season.
I cooked this on a low heat on top of the cooker for 45 minutes until the tomatoes were reduced down to a sticky sauce, but you could cook in a moderate oven with the lid off.
About fifteen minutes before serving I added the vodka and turned the heat up enough to cook off the alcohol but leave a richness behind but you could easily leave this step out.
The lentils mean this doesn't need an extra carb serving but it would be lovely with mash and a favourite green veg for colour.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)