Archive for November, 2009
» Posted November 30th, 2009 -
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I love quiche, but I do not always want the added calories of pastry – with this recipe you really can have your quiche and eat it!
Another handy tip for avoiding the use of pastry is from my adopted new home in Spain. Frequently seem them remove crusts from white bread, roll out until thin and line a lightly oiled (olive oil is preferable) tin with the bread. Add further pieces of bread if holes develop.
Generally speaking you can blind bake the bread a little to make sure you dont get a soggy bottom! Lets face it, none of us like one of those…
Ingredients
4 oz grated Cheddar cheese
6 rashers of bacon
1 medium red onion – finely chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
2 large organic eggs
¼ pint milk and single cream
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tomatoes, thinly sliced – optional
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius
Lightly butter a flan dish
Method:
Sprinkle half the cheese on the bottom of a flan dish
Fry the bacon and onion together until just cooked, spread over the cheese
Whisk together the eggs, milk/cream and seasoning, pour over the mixture and then sprinkle over the remainder of the cheese, lay the sliced tomatoes on top
Bake on the middle shelf of a preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until set
Serve with a mixed salad and crusty bread
You can vary the quiche by replacing the cheese, onion and bacon with the following:
Mushroom: 6 oz mushrooms, 3 oz bacon lardons – fry the mushrooms and lardons in little butter, place in the bottom of the flan dish and continue from addition of eggs
Salmon: 8 oz flaked freshly cooked salmon – put the flaked salmon into the bottom of a flan dish, continue as above from addition of eggs
Tuna and cheese: 8 oz can tuna and 4 oz cheese – sprinkle half the cheese in the bottom of a flan dish, add the tuna (flaked), the continue from the addition of egg mixture
» Posted November 29th, 2009 -
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I am celebrating the latest reincarnation of The Recipe Blog with my Grandmother´s recipe for beef stew – a wonderfully warming and hearty stew, perfect for the cold winters of Yorkshire!
Ingredients
1 lb shin beef – diced
Seasoned flour – plain flour, salt and white pepper
2 tbsp beef dripping
2 large onions, quartered
2 large carrots and a half of a turnip, peeled and diced
1 bottle of Newcastle brown ale
10 fl oz beef stock – add more if required
10 fl oz light vegetable stock or water
2 lb potatoes – peeled cooked and diced
Method
Place the seasoned flour into a plastic bag, add the meat and shake to coat, retain flour
Add the beef dripping to a large ovenproof casserole, melt then add the onion quarters and cook until lightly browned, remove and put to one side
Add the beef and brown all over, remove beef from pan, pour dripping into a bowl and put to one side
Return the beef to the pan, adding the onions, vegetables, ale, stocks and potatoes
Bring up the boil, cover and transfer to a preheated oven, cook for 90 minutes
Mix the flour with the dripping and add to a little of the stock, pour into the pan while stirring, return stew to the oven for 30 minutes
Serve with Yorkshire Pudding or Dumplings
Handy tips
A handy tip for thickening stews or gravies in our family is to use Yorkshire Pudding Batter. Traditionally we rarely had a stew that was not served with Yorkshire Pudding in our family. In place of mixing the flour with dripping my grandmother used to make the Yorkshire Pudding batter, and ladle a little into the stew (about half a soup ladle). Then continue cooking the stew. It really added something!
The Beauty of a traditional stew is you can add any veggies that strike your fancy.
» Posted November 21st, 2009 -
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Eggs are used to bind a dish and, when whipped incorporate air, making a cake or pudding very light
Vegan egg replacement powders are available from health food shops. These can be useful, especially for foods like meringues. Many recipes can be adapted using one of the suggestions below. Just remember to bear in mind what the final dish is, ie is it sweet or savoury and add an appropriate substitute
Replacement for one egg:
• 1 tbsp soya flour and 1 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp arrowroot, 1 tbsp soya flour and 2 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp flour, ½ tbsp shortening, ½ tsp baking powder and 2 tsp water
• 50g tofu blended with the liquid portion of the recipe
• ½ large banana, mashed
• 50 ml white sauce
Alternative raising agents:
• self-raising flour
• add extra oil and raising agent – for example baking powder
• use about 2 heaped tsp baking powder per cake
• instead of baking powder, use ¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda and 1 dessertspoon cider vinegar – good for chocolate cakes
• sift the flour and other dry ingredients, then gently fold into the liquid to trap air
Alternative binding agents:
• soy milk
• mashed banana
• plain silken tofu
• soya cream
• sweet white sauce (soya milk, Vegan margarine, sugar and cornflour)
• agar-agar – vegetarian alternative to gelatine
» Posted November 18th, 2009 -
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Ingredients::
4 tbsp olive oil
1 cup plain flour
1 rabbit, cut into serving pieces, washed and patted dry
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 large onion, finely diced
2 cups dry white wine
6 black olives, pitted and quartered
6 fresh sage leaves – finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
¼ cup red-wine vinegar
Method::
Heat 4 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large frying pan or casserole over a high heat.
Flour the rabbit pieces lightly, when the oil is very hot, add half of the rabbit portions to the pan – do not ‘crowd’. Season with salt and pepper and cook – turning once – until golden on both sides – this will take about 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a platter.
Discard the oil and place the frying pan back over a medium heat, add the remaining oil and an equal amount of butter, when it is hot – but not yet smoking, add the onion and cook gently, scraping the bottom of the pan to pick up the residue, until the onion is lightly golden and soft – about 6 to 7 minutes.
Return the rabbit to the pan, raise the heat to high, and add the wine. As soon as the wine begins to bubble, cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer, stirring from time to time and turning the rabbit once, until the wine is almost all evaporated and the rabbit is tender when pierced with a fork, about 45 to 50 minutes.
Transfer the rabbit to a serving platter, cover loosely with foil, and keep warm in a low oven.
Add the olives, sage, and garlic to the pan, and stir over medium heat until the garlic gives off its fragrance, about 1 minute. Add the vinegar and stir quickly until the pan juices have thickened, about 2 to 3 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Spoon the pan juices over the rabbit and serve whilst hot.
I use an ovenproof dish, cover and cook in the oven for 45 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius
» Posted November 13th, 2009 -
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You have no idea how delighted I was when I received this message from twitter user @tastechristmas -the official twitter of this seasons greatest restaurant festival – Taste of Christmas 2009!
“Congrats, you’ve won a pair of tickets to Taste of Christmas. we just need an address them to send them to thanks!”
This was for my entry in the sprout story/tips/recipe competition. Since I absolutely adore sprouts I just had to enter, and my christmassy version of Bubble n Squeak with shredded sprout was chosen. Woo!
Here is the original entry – (thats 140 character limit is challenging at times!).
@TasteChristmas Also mashed potato & root vegetable bubble & squeak with shredded sprout. Made into small cakes.
I´m not going to go into measurements now, as really, its not required. So here is a basic outline.
Ingredients:
Mixture of root vegetables (potatoes, parnsnips, carrots – you get the idea, basically whatever you fancy, or have left over!)
Sprouts! (sorry, for me, not christmas without sprouts!)
Method:
Create a mash out of the mixture of root vegetables. This should be a relatively simple task if they are left overs.. Try not to make them too smooth of course as you want a degree of texture.
Add shredded pre-cooked sprouts (not cooked until they are soft, but al dente). Season with salt & pepper to taste.
Mix together and form into small cakes. Lightly pan fry or griddle until golden brown (and yes for the health fantatics you can cook in oven, but it just doesnt seem right for bubble and squeak to me).
The rest is up to you. Just a quick idea which can be easily adapted to suit your own tastes. Its great for hiding sprouts from those misguided individuals who just dont like them!
» Posted November 12th, 2009 -
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Ingredients::
16 oz – chuck steak in large cubesSeasoned flour
1 onion – thinly sliced
1 garlic clove – crushed
5 fl oz strong ale
5 fl oz beef stock
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp of sherry vinegar
Grain mustard
1 bouquet garni
Butter and Olive oil
1 stale French stick – 2 days old
Method::
Heat the oil in a casserole dish, add the onions and garlic and sweat off until translucent
Put a frying pan with equal amounts of butter and oil over a medium heat, when hot add the steak coated in seasoned flour to the pan and brown in batches, add to the casserole dish
Add a little more oil to the frying pan and sprinkle in a teaspoon of the seasoned flour while stirring
Gradually add the beer while continuing to stir with a wooden spoon – scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen the juices
Add the stock, sugar, sherry vinegar and mustard and bring to the boil
Pour into the casserole dish
Add the bouquet garni and cook in a medium oven for two hours
Cut the bread into slices and spread with the grain or Dijon mustard, place over the casserole and return to the oven to crisp up the bread
» Posted November 9th, 2009 -
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Ingredients:
12 ripe plum tomatoes, skinned and deeseeded
1 1/2 cups good quality olive oil
2 large sweet Spanish onions, peeled and finely diced
1 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp Pimientón (Spanish sweet paprika, smoked)
1 tsp chilli powder (hot or whatever you prefer
1 bay leaf (laurel)
Method:
After skinning, scrape the seeds from the tomatoes into a sieve set over a bow (using a small spoon) cover and leave to “drip”. Blitz the tomatoes, add the juices from the seeds (I do this because the “water” is tasty, although it does prolong the cooking time)
Place a non stick pan over a medium to low flame, add the olive oil
Add the chopped onions,caster sugar and sea salt, fry slowly … stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon or spatula … until the onions become tender and turn a light golden brown – this should take around five minutes, then add the tomatoes and stir, bring up to heat
Add the pimentón, chilli powder and bay leaf
Reduce to heat to medium-low and cook for about 20 minutes, stir occasionaly to ensure the sauce does not stick or burn
When ready the tomatoes will break down, colour of the sauce will deepen and the sauce will split, ie the oil will separate from the tomatoes
Push through a sieve, bottle and cap, refrigate until ready to cook. It is best to prepare the sauce only a short time before use
» Posted November 9th, 2009 -
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Ingredients::
8 oz wholewheat biscuits, crushed
4 oz melted unsalted butter
Dash of Glayva Whisky liqueur
Filling:
2 blood oranges
2 fl oz Glayva Whisky liqueur
12 oz cream cheese
12 oz Mascarpone cheese
Base:
Crush the biscuits in a large plastic bag, put into a bowl and stir in the melted butter and a dash of Glayva Whisky liqueur then lightly press the biscuit mixture into the base of an 8? loose bottomed round cake or flan tin, refrigerate to set
Filling:
Take the zest off one orange using a zester, put to one side
Then peel and segment the oranges, removing all the pith
Place the segments into a bowl and pour over the Glayva Whisky liqueur, stir, cover and put to one side
Put the orange segments in a sieve set over a bowl to drain
Beat the mascarpone and cream cheese until smooth then fold in the orange segments, add a little of the liqueur – to taste
Spoon the mixture into the base and smooth the top, sprinkle over the orange zest
Chill for two hours
» Posted November 8th, 2009 -
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» Posted November 1st, 2009 -
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