Feeling Unwell!

This is a short post on feeling unwell.

Apple blossom!

           If you are well don't bother reading it.

But I have added 2 photos to make it slightly more interesting. 

Our first strawberry starting to ripen!

         I've got a virus! I've a bit of a headache, I'm sore in my legs, back and shoulders. I'm not hungry and I've spent the day resting in bed with my laptop. I've slept and drunk tea and eaten a little. I hope I'm feeling better tomorrow as I have to go to work.

It is nice having a day off, but it's better when you're well. I don't believe in working through an illness if you don't have to. So I'll take it easy and just do the bare minimum tomorrow.

A Sunny Sunday Lunch

     It isn’t often there is just the two of us for lunch of a Sunday, but our offspring had offers for this weekend and so we were dining ‘á deux’. I had spotted Guinea fowl in the English Market in Cork a while back. They didn’t look to be very big, at just under a kilo each, one would be about right for two to three people. The prefect treat for just the two of us. 

   The woods are beginning to explode with spring flowers including anomies, ramsoms, lesser celandine, dog violet and the first of the bluebells. Ramsoms are the native wild garlic, they have broad leaves tapering to a point and the white flower heads look like a ball of starry flowers. I picked a bunch of the leaves to use in a pot of mashed potato.

    Best of all it was a beautiful day today and the sun shone while we ate lunch outside. Hopefully the first of many al fresco meals this year.

Our sunny Sunday lunch!

Pot Roast Guinea Fowl

a small carrot

½ a celery stick

1 shallot

2 cloves of garlic

a lump of butter

1 bay leaf

2-3 smoked streaky rashers

1 Guinea fowl about 1kg

small bunch of tarragon

100ml white wine

Heat up the oven to 200˚C, GM6

Finely chop the carrot, celery, shallot and the garlic and put them into the bottom of a casserole with the lump of butter. Put the casserole onto a medium heat to heat up.

Put the tarragon into the cavity of the guinea fowl and place the streaky rashers over the breast.

Put the bay leaf into the casserole with the vegetables and put the guinea fowl on top, pour over the wine and sprinkle on some salt and pepper. Cover with a lid and bake in the hot oven for an hour.

After 45 minutes remove the lid and put back into the oven until the guinea fowl is nicely browned. Add some water to the casserole if all the wine has evaporated. When the guinea fowl is cooked put it onto a plate to rest, while you make the gravy.

Add some water to the casserole and stir up the bits from the bottom. Slake half a teaspoonful of arrowroot or corn flour in a couple spoonfuls of water and add to the liquid in the casserole. Place the casserole on a medium heat and bring the contents to the boil, while stirring all the time. When the liquid has come to the boil and thickened simmer it for about two minutes and then strain it in to a gravy boat.

Carve the guinea fowl and serve with the gravy, mashed spuds and a vegetable or two.

Ramsoms or wild garlic in flower.

Wild Garlic Mash

4 medium potatoes

Bunch of wild garlic about 100g

50g butter

75ml milk

salt & pepper

Peel the potatoes and put them to steam.

Wash the garlic leaves in salty water and spin in a salad spinner.

Chop the garlic leaves. Put the butter into a saucepan over a low heat and add the chopped garlic leaves, a pinch of salt and some pepper. Put the lid on the pot and leave for three minutes.

Put the milk into a small pot and bring to the boil.

When the garlic leaves are soft and cooked add the potatoes and hot milk and mash thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Who can resist a pancake?

   Today was Shove Tuesday and I cooked pancakes in Brennan's shop in Oliver Plunkett Street in Cork. The traditional filling of butter lemon & sugar went down best. Nutella filled pancakes were also very popular.

   To my surprise the buttermilk 'pancakes' came a close second. These are a thicker batter, cooked more like a drop scone or pikelet. I like them best with crisp streaky rashers and some medlar jelly or maple syrup. Stewed berries go well with them too.  

   Here is the buttermilk pancake recipe.

Buttermilk pancakes

300g self raising flour

50g sugar

½ tsp salt

2 eggs

300ml buttermilk

50g butter melted

butter for frying

   Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add the sugar and salt.

 Break the eggs into the flour and start to whisk gently drawing more and more flour in until thick. Whisk in the buttermilk to make a thick batter. You might not need it all or you may need some extra, depending on how thick the buttermilk is.

  

  Heat a frying pan on a medium heat and melt the 50g of butter and whisk the melted butter into the batter.

Make the pancakes by spooning 3tbs of batter onto the frying pan together to make a thick pancake about 8cm in diameter. Cook till dry on top and then flip over and cook until golden on the other side.

  Add some more butter and continue to make the pancakes.

If your frying pan is big enough you can do 2-3 at a time, putting the earlier ones in a warm oven and covering them, until the rest are cooked.

  Serve with crisp bacon and maple syrup or stewed berries.

Quick Meal!!?

           I left supper in the hands of my 2 teenagers yesterday and came home to find them making ‘Beef Casserole’ with striploin steaks! I was not subtle in my response, I freaked. I banished them from the kitchen for 15 minutes while I listened to The Archers and collected my thoughts.

          The steak was unlabeled, my fault and how were they to know.

So we had this stir-fry instead. And the vegetables they had started became the basis of a ragu for lasagne tonight.

           Next time I’ll leave more detailed instructions.

Beef Stir-fry With Noodles

This is a basic stir-fry; swap the beef for any lean quick frying meat, tofu, cashew nuts or prawns. The carrots can also be swapped for whatever vegetable is around, peppers, mushrooms, bean sprouts or bamboo shoots. I like to add some Sichuan pepper instead of the chilli. About a teaspoonful crushed is enough.

If you do not want to get chilli oil onto your fingers use a fork to hold the chilli steady while you chop it.

This is a starting point, experiment, find what suits you, enjoy!

1 large onion

3 cloves of garlic

2 cm ginger

1 chilli

1 large carrot

2 striploin steaks

4tbs vegetable oil

1-2 sheets of Chinese noodles

3tbs soy sauce

1 level tsp corn flour

100ml approx water

3 scallions

small bunch of coriander

Peel and slice the onion finely. Peel and slice the garlic. Peel and cut the ginger into narrow strips. Slice the chilli.

Peel the carrot and cut it into 3cm x 0.5cm strips.

Trim the fat from the meat and cut it into short narrow strips.

Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet and drain well. Keep them warm.

Mix 2 tablespoons of soy sauce with the corn flour and water in a cup or jug.

Slice the scallions and chop the coriander and reserve for the garnish at the end.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a wok or frying pan over a high heat till shimmering.

Add the onions, garlic, ginger and chilli to the hot oil. Stir-fry till softening. Keep them moving to reduce the risk of burning. Remove the onion etc to a warm bowl and add 2 more tablespoons of oil to the wok and let it heat up again. When hot add the strips of meat and leave them for a minute before turning them with the spatula. Add the carrots and stir-fry them with the meat.

Return the onions etc to the wok and mix well with the beef and carrots.

Give the soy sauce mixture a stir and pour it into the wok keep stirring and mixing while it cooks and thickens. If it is too thick add more boiling water, too thin let it boil and reduce for a minute or two.

Taste and add the remaining soy sauce or more if it needs it and some pepper.

Add the noodles to the wok and mix well leave for a minute to heat through.

Sprinkle with the chopped scallions and coriander and then serve.

Serves 2-4, this will serve 2 as a good main course or 4 as part or a meal with other elements. It served the 3 of us perfectly.

Panna Cotta

A touch of sweet dessert.

This needs to chill, but if you use chilled ramekins it will set sooner. I use this quantity to make 6 small ones. It would make 4 generous helpings. I tweeted a version of this recipe last night, I hope it went down well.

1 vanilla pod split in half length ways

400ml cream

2 sheets gelatine (Lidl, about 4g)

3tsp caster sugar

Heat the cream together with the split vanilla pod to boiling and turn off the heat. Leave to stand for 5 minutes, while you soak the gelatine in some cold water.

Take the gelatine out and put it into a small pot with some of the cream and heat it very gently until the gelatine has melted. Add the sugar to this some and stir till dissolved. Add more of the cream to the sugar and gelatine and then pour it all back on to the cream and vanilla mixture. 

Line ramekins with cling film and strain the mixture in to them. The seeds will sink to the bottom.

Leave them to set in a cold place.

Rinse the vanilla pod and leave it to dry, when it is dry put it into a jar of sugar and it will flavour the sugar.

Makes 4-6.

Low ‘carb’ eating! My thoughts & tips

      This time last year I was about 4.5 kgs heavier than I am now, that’s about 10lb in old money. We had had a very cold spell and I didn’t feel comfortable driving in the snow and ice. So for three weeks I stayed in, worried and comfort ate.

     I love baking bread and eating it. I have a ‘light hand’ as they say with pastry, so I made some pies and quiches. I baked some cakes too. I also hate waste and would finish things up rather than put them in the bin.

     My clothes started to feel tight and the weighing scales wasn’t lying as the weight crept up.

     My daughter was feeling unwell and thought she might be wheat/dairy intolerant. So she went on a wheat and dairy free diet, while waiting for blood test results to come back. Her blood test did not show any wheat or dairy allergies.

     This got me thinking too, so I decided to use lent as my starting point, I would give up wheat in solidarity with her and sugar to cut down on my carbohydrate intake. This covered not having biscuits, cake or scones when out for a coffee with friends. At home I stopped eating rice and spuds with my meals.

     By the end of lent I was feeling better and the weight was coming down. Over the Summer I was no angel and would lapse into eating wheat for a day or two, but I kept an eye on the scales and if it crept up too far I’d stop again.

     I found being busy over the Summer really helped. Only eating meals with no snacks in between, broke my constant need to have food around me.

     I didn’t let myself feel deprived, if there was something yummy around I’d have a taste, generally at the end of a meal when I was full so I would not be tempted to go back for more.

     The most interesting thing I found was that when it came to my Summer cholesterol test, my total cholesterol had gone down. Admittedly I had been taking a garlic supplement and a plant sterol in tablet form for about a month before the fasting blood test.

     I kept up the low wheat & low carbohydrate diet through the Autumn and into the winter.

December was very busy with my part time job becoming almost full time in the run up to Christmas. This was a Godsend in that I didn’t have time to bake and make like last year.

      I enjoyed Christmas, but was cautious not to over indulge in all the goodies that were around. As they say moderation in all things!

Here is a typical days eating for me.

Breakfast: 2 streaky rashers, a tomato & 1 piece of black pudding all grilled. Tea or coffee.

Lunch: Half an avocado, smoked mackerel pâté, celery, cucumber, a handful of walnuts. Water & tea.

Dinner: Salad, lamb & vegetable curry, small helping of brown rice, cheese, a piece of fruit. Wine & water.

     If I come in from work really hungry I might have some olives, salami or peanuts before dinner and skip the cheese and fruit afterwards. If I need a chocolate fix I eat 4-5 squares of Green & Blacks 85% cocoa solids with a cup of tea or coffee.

      I am lucky that even though there are biscuits and chocolate in the house I don’t feel the need to eat them. This is not true for everyone.

      While I do not seem to have bad breath (at least no one has commented) on this diet I do sometimes get constipated. Then I increase the amount of salad, in particular avocado and beetroot I am eating and have extra water during the day. I always bring a bottle of water to work to drink on the way home, as I do not have time to drink much during the day.

      

     The main thing that is missing from this diet is Crunch!

The crunch of hot buttered toast, crisp biscuit, crisps and crackers to go with cheese. Yes I miss these, but I have discovered mini poppadoms and tortilla chips for dips and cheese. There is no substitute for toast though!

     Pizza and pasta are now a treat once in a while, but I do savour them and I find I can’t eat as much pasta as I use to. 50g of dried pasta is enough of a portion for me when it is cooked and served with a sauce.

      The key has been to try to stick to the three meals a day and no snacking.

Choosing foods that I can eat rather than obsessing about what I can’t eat.

Using cheaper cuts of meat such as stewing beef, lap/ breast of lamb, chicken drumsticks and thighs, as these all have loads of flavour and you notice you are eating them.

Basing meals on vegetables and salads that are in season and adding meat or fish to compliment them.

      And don’t be a martyr, enjoy your food! It has never been so easily available and relatively cheap.

May 2012 be the year of good eating!

Christmas Food!

Christmas Food! 

Mince pies.

Mince pies

These are my favourite Christmas food! When I was growing up we had the first mince pies after my sisters birthday in November.

They were also a big part of the after carol service tea party in our parish.

Every household had there own recipe and only homemade are the best!
The flaky pastry is worth making for mince pies, but if time is short bought pastry is as good.

For extra indulgence lift the lid on a warm mince pie and a splodge of brandy butter!

1 jar of best mincemeat
250g plain flour
185g butter very cold
150-160 ml cold water

1 egg beaten

Sift the flour in to a bowl, cut the butter into small cubes about 1 cm square and stir gently into the flour.

Pour in the cold water and mix to a stiff dough with a knife. Shape into a rough rectangle and wrap and leave to cool in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Remove from the fridge and put onto a floured surface and roll out into a 1 cm thick rectangle with a floured rolling pin. Fold the pastry in three and turn so that the 3 layers are towards you and roll out again, fold in 3 again, turn, roll and fold again. Wrap and leave in the fridge for an hour.

Set the oven to GM7, 220˚C, 425˚F .
Cut the pastry in a two thirds piece and a one third piece and roll out the two thirds piece until it is about 3 mm thick. Cut into rounds with an 8.5 cm scone cutter and use these to line 24 bun tins.
Gather up the scraps of pastry into layers and set aside. Roll out the other third of the pastry and cut out 24 stars or snowflakes.
Into each of the pastry cases put about 1 teaspoon of mincemeat depending on how deep the bun tins are. It does tend to bubble up and out if there is too much. Dampen the edges of the pastry and top each one with a star or snowflake.

Paint the tops with beaten egg and bake for about 15 minutes. Makes about 24.

Spinach & smoked Salmon Roulade

My Mum used to make a version of this, but I don’t have her recipe. I adapted a spinach roulade recipe I found in Rose Elliott’s Classic Vegetarian book. It is another great way to stretch a small amount of smoked salmon.

375-400g fresh spinach

30g butter                          

pepper

nutmeg                                   

50g grated Parmesan

3 eggs separated                 

pinch of salt

150-200g cream cheese

1 gherkin finely chopped                 

1tbs chopped dill

2 scallions finely chopped                 

lemon juice

salt                                            

100g smoked salmon slices

Lemon wedges & salad to serve

Set the oven to 200˚C, GM 6.

Line a Swiss roll tin 23cm X 32cm with baking parchment.

Wash and spin the spinach to remove most of the water. Put the spinach in a pot over a very low heat until it wilts. Empty the spinach into a sieve to drain, press down on it with the back of a spoon to remove most of the moisture.

Let the spinach cool, while you put the butter, a few grinds of pepper, a pinch of salt, some grated nutmeg, the Parmesan and the egg yolks in to a food processor or blender. Add the spinach and blend to a puree.

Put the egg whites into a clean bowl and add a pinch of salt. Whisk the egg whites until they are stiff.

Fold the puree into the egg whites and pour the mixture into the prepared tin.

Bake in the hot oven for 15- 20 minutes until firm and beginning to colour.

When done turn the spinach ‘cake’ out onto a clean piece of parchment and carefully remove the backing paper.

Loosely lay the baking paper on top of the cake and roll up.

Leave to cool.

In a bowl whisk together the cream cheese, gherkin, dill and scallions. Taste the mixture and season with salt and lemon juice.

If it is very thick thin it with some cream or yogurt.

Unroll the cooled spinach cake and spread it with the cream cheese mixture, leaving a 1cm strip at one of the short ends.

Cover the cream cheese mixture with the smoked salmon slices. Carefully roll up again and wrap in cling-film and chill until needed. Slice and serve with some salad.         Serve with salad and wedges of lemon.

Talking Turkey!

This monster bird is a regular feature of most Christmas tables, but it is best on the day and for sandwiches the next day.

Then it should be dealt with firmly! Strip the meat off the bones and cut the meat into bite sized pieces. Freeze the in meal sized bags or ice cream tubs, for use in pies and curries.

The bones make great stock, which can also be frozen. I use one litre ice cream tubs or 500ml cream pots. It is great for soups and risotto.

Stock

1 roast turkey carcass

2 ½ litres water

1 carrot

2 onion

2 sticks of celery

3 cloves of garlic

a handful of parsley stalks

1 bay leaf

1 level tsp salt

pepper

Put the broken up turkey carcass into a large saucepan.

Put the water into the kettle and bring to the boil.

Peel and chop the carrot into 1 cm pieces and add to the pan.

Peel and chop the onion and add to the pan.

Chop the celery and add to the pan.

With the flat of the knife squash the garlic cloves and remove the skin and add the garlic to the pan.

Squeeze and twist the parsley stalks together and add to the pan.

Put the bay leaf, salt and pepper into the pan.

If you want a darker colour to your stock add the onion skin.

Put the saucepan onto the hob and pour the boiling water from the kettle over the contents of the pan.

Turn the heat up and bring the pan to the boil.

When the pan is boiling turn the heat down so that the contents boils slowly at a simmer. Put the lid on, but leave a small gap to let some of the steam out.

Boiling the stock fast will make it cloudy.

Simmer for at least one and a half to two hours.

When it has simmered for three quarters of its time taste the stock, if it tastes OK, take it off the heat. If it still tastes a bit weak give it another half an hour or up to an hour more. Leave the stock to cool for 30 minutes and then strain the liquid off the bones through a sieve.

You can use the stock straight away or leave it to cool completely and pour it into containers to freeze. Make sure you label the containers with the type of stock when you freeze it.

May I wish all the viewers of this blog a Merry Christmas and a Peaceful New Year!

Christmas Leftovers!

Just a short post about Christmas leftovers! 

We all love Christmas food on Christmas day! But after that it gets a bit boring? So here are three recipes I tried out at a cooking demonstration today. They seem to have gone down well with the group. Sorry there are no photos I always find it is too busy to take photographs at these events.

Smoked Salmon with Yogurt Pancakes

      This is a great way to stretch a small amount of smoked salmon around a large group. The yogurt in the little pancakes gives them a nice tang, as if they have been made with some sourdough starter.  

Pancakes

150g self raising flour

½ tsp salt

1 egg

150g yogurt

150ml milk

butter for frying

Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add the salt.

Break the egg into the flour and start to whisk gently drawing more and more flour in until thick. Then add in the yogurt a spoonful at a time and whisk again.

When all of the yogurt is added in, whisk in most of the milk to make a thick batter.

Or put all the ingredients into a blender starting with half the milk, then the yogurt and the egg and blend till smooth. It will need to be thinned with the rest of the milk.

Make the pancakes by spooning 1dsp of batter onto the frying pan together to make a small pancake. Cook till dry on top and then flip over and cook until golden on the other side.

Add some more butter and continue to make the pancakes.

You can do 5-6 at a time on a large pan, keeping the earlier ones warm in a low oven until the rest are cooked.

1 shallot

½ tub sour cream

a bunch of dill

2dsp capers

lemons

smoked salmon

Very finely dice the shallot, chop the dill and capers and add them to the sour cream. Taste the sour cream mixture and season with pepper and lemon juice.

Top each pancake with a blob of sour steam and a twist of smoked salmon. Serve with lemon wedges and a grind of black pepper.

Cashew Nut & Brussels sprout Stir-fry

      This is great for unexpected vegetarians and is a different way to enjoy these seasonal mini cabbages.

1 large onion

2 cloves of garlic

2.5cm piece of ginger

1 chilli (optional)

1 red or yellow pepper

6-8 button mushrooms

10-12 Brussels sprouts

2tbs sunflower oil

2tbs soy sauce

1 tsp nam pla

50ml water

pepper

100g cashew nuts*

2 scallions

2tbs chopped coriander

Peel, halve and slice the onion thinly.

Peel and slice the garlic.

Peel the ginger and cut into small matchsticks.

Cut the chilli in half and remove the seeds and membrane slice very finely.

Cut the pepper open and remove the seeds and membrane, slice it into 1cm wide strips.

Slice the mushrooms.

Peel and finely slice the Brussels sprouts

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium to high heat. When the oil shimmers add the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli. Stir-fry for 2-3 minutes until the onion softens.

Add the pepper, Brussels sprouts and mushrooms.

Stir-fry for a minute or two and add the soy sauce, nam pla and water. Cover the pan with a lid and turn the heat down to low. Leave to cook for about 3 minutes.

Meanwhile toast the cashews on a dry frying pan over a medium to high heat.

Finley slice the scallions at an angle and mix with the coriander.

Take the lid off the vegetables taste and season with pepper and  add the cashews and stir them through. Sprinkle on coriander and scallions and serve with rice or noodles.

*If you are using salted roasted cashews rinse them in a sieve under the tap to remove the salt, then dry them with kitchen paper before heating then through on the dry pan.

Christmas pudding Sundaes

      The diet starts in the New Year!

Left over Christmas pudding

Butter

3tbs mixed nuts

1tbs oil

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1tbs sugar

Good vanilla ice cream

Whiskey

Dates

Whipped cream

Crumble the Christmas pudding into dessert spoonful sized chunks.

Heat the butter in a frying pan and add the pudding in a single layer. Toss and fry until hot through and beginning to take on some colour.

In another pan gently fry the nuts in the oil. When they start to take on a colour add the sugar and cinnamon stir round until beginning to caramelise and turn out onto a sheet of baking parchment to cool.

Put a scoop of ice cream into the bottom of a glass dish and add a layer of hot pudding, a dessert spoonful of whiskey and then some more ice cream and a some cinnamon toasted nuts. Decorate with whipped cream and a date or two.

Happy Christmas to one and all, and a peaceful New Year!