So called because I made this up here in Llandrindod Wells.
2 small onions, chopped
4 rashers bacon, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
6 or 7 mushrooms, sliced
1 tbs oil
6 chicken thigh fillets, diced
1/2 cup white wine Caroline left on the bench
2 cups chicken stock (OXO)
2 tbs flour
150 ml single cream
Fry onions, bacon, mushrooms and pepper in oil till soft and tender. Add the chicken and brown with the veges and bacon. Add the wine and the chicken stock and simmer for 5 minutes or so. Mix the flour with some water to make a smooth paste and add to the chicken stirring in quickly till it thickends the sauce. Add cream and keep warm. Serve with mashed potato, or mix with cooked pasta, sprinkle with grated cheese and bake in the oven. I would use maybe 3 cups raw pasta boiled and a good cup of grated cheese.
Monday, 13 September 2010
Cauliflower and Bacon Soup
1 tbs oil
2 small onions, chopped
4 rashers bacon, chopped
1 head cauliflower, chopped
1 cup white wine
4 cups chicken stock (OXO)
300ml of single cream
Fry the onions and bacon in the oil till soft and bacon is cooked. Add the cauliflower and the wine, stir a little then add the stock, cover and cook till cauliflower is soft.Blend soup using a stick blender or a food processor, add cream and season with salt and pepper to taste. If you leave out the bacon it has a lovely creamy texture. You could add fried bacon after blending.
2 small onions, chopped
4 rashers bacon, chopped
1 head cauliflower, chopped
1 cup white wine
4 cups chicken stock (OXO)
300ml of single cream
Fry the onions and bacon in the oil till soft and bacon is cooked. Add the cauliflower and the wine, stir a little then add the stock, cover and cook till cauliflower is soft.Blend soup using a stick blender or a food processor, add cream and season with salt and pepper to taste. If you leave out the bacon it has a lovely creamy texture. You could add fried bacon after blending.
Sunday, 23 May 2010
Sara Douglass's Lamb Shanks
I used to hang out on a forum online a few years ago and one of the other posters was Sara Douglass, famous Australian author. She is into domesticity and cooking too. Anyway we were all exchanging crock pot recipes and she posted this one. I have made it a couple of times and adapted it a bit to reduce the grease factor. There is a very similar one at Taste.com.au so not sure which one came first. But since I originally got it from Sara I am sticking to the above title. I have tweaked it a bit and this is the final version.
Start the day before you want to eat this, unless your arteries need clogging up.
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 or 5 or 6 lamb shanks, frenched (this means they have cut off the knobby end bone and it helps them fit in the dish better. Coles sell them frenched. Some lamb shanks look like they came off a dinosaur, so choose smallish ones. One per person is plenty usually, depends on how many you are feeding)
about 1 1/2 to 2 cups chicken stock, home made is best but bought ok, low salt though.
1 cup of red wine, drinkable stuff
1 jar of cranberry sauce, whole berry
3 or 4 rosemary sprigs, leave whole so you can fish them out later
1 to 2 tablespoons garlic butter, I use the bought stuff, you could just use regular butter and crushed garlic
2 to 3 tablespoons flour or more depending on how much juice you end up with
Heat a frypan, add the oil, and brown off the shanks about 3 to 4 minutes each side, turning till brown all round. Place in a big casserole dish. Mix together the stock, red wine and cranberry sauce and pour over shanks. Bake, covered in oven at 180 C for an hour and a half.
Remove from oven, remove shanks to a plate and cover with cling film and put in the fridge. Pour sauce into another container and refrigerate, preferably overnight.
Next day, peel off the layer of fat from the sauce. It should look like white chocolate. Discard this, because that's where the resemblance ends, and fish out the rosemary stalks. Microwave the bowl till the jelly like sauce has warmed up and it is liquidy again. Measure the sauce, it should be around 3 cups or so. (I have a big pryrex measuring jug which I use instead of the bowl, they are worth every cent)
In a saucepan, melt the garlic butter and add flour and cook for about a minute. I allow about a level tablespoon of flour per cup of sauce maximum for a thick sauce, maybe err a little on the less side, since it will be cooked for another hour yet. Pour in the warmed sauce and whisk till it comes to a boil and thickens.
Put the shanks back in the (now clean of course) casserole dish aand pour over the thickened sauce. Put in a 150C oven for an hour maybe an hour and a half but watch for over browning. The meat should be just about falling off the bone and fork tender.
Serve over mashed potato with a green veg. This is just yummy.
You could also do this in a slow cooker. I have also done the first stage in a pressure cooker.
Start the day before you want to eat this, unless your arteries need clogging up.
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 or 5 or 6 lamb shanks, frenched (this means they have cut off the knobby end bone and it helps them fit in the dish better. Coles sell them frenched. Some lamb shanks look like they came off a dinosaur, so choose smallish ones. One per person is plenty usually, depends on how many you are feeding)
about 1 1/2 to 2 cups chicken stock, home made is best but bought ok, low salt though.
1 cup of red wine, drinkable stuff
1 jar of cranberry sauce, whole berry
3 or 4 rosemary sprigs, leave whole so you can fish them out later
1 to 2 tablespoons garlic butter, I use the bought stuff, you could just use regular butter and crushed garlic
2 to 3 tablespoons flour or more depending on how much juice you end up with
Heat a frypan, add the oil, and brown off the shanks about 3 to 4 minutes each side, turning till brown all round. Place in a big casserole dish. Mix together the stock, red wine and cranberry sauce and pour over shanks. Bake, covered in oven at 180 C for an hour and a half.
Remove from oven, remove shanks to a plate and cover with cling film and put in the fridge. Pour sauce into another container and refrigerate, preferably overnight.
Next day, peel off the layer of fat from the sauce. It should look like white chocolate. Discard this, because that's where the resemblance ends, and fish out the rosemary stalks. Microwave the bowl till the jelly like sauce has warmed up and it is liquidy again. Measure the sauce, it should be around 3 cups or so. (I have a big pryrex measuring jug which I use instead of the bowl, they are worth every cent)
In a saucepan, melt the garlic butter and add flour and cook for about a minute. I allow about a level tablespoon of flour per cup of sauce maximum for a thick sauce, maybe err a little on the less side, since it will be cooked for another hour yet. Pour in the warmed sauce and whisk till it comes to a boil and thickens.
Put the shanks back in the (now clean of course) casserole dish aand pour over the thickened sauce. Put in a 150C oven for an hour maybe an hour and a half but watch for over browning. The meat should be just about falling off the bone and fork tender.
Serve over mashed potato with a green veg. This is just yummy.
You could also do this in a slow cooker. I have also done the first stage in a pressure cooker.
Thursday, 18 March 2010
Soo -Uunn
This little tutorial is in honour of my brother in law P and his 50th birthday. Happy Birthday for yesterday!! In honour of his birthday, I made him a favourite from the past, that my former mother in law taught me over 30 years ago to make even though I never made it quite the same as her. Now she doesn't cook any more, I recently relearnt how to make it the last time I visited her in Brisbane. So yesterday, I cooked it for P and I hope he likes it. This recipe is Dedicated to Lorna.
First up, the list of ingredients.
2 onions, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated
2 tablespoons crushed garlic. At least 8 cloves I would say.
slice belecan about 2'' x 1" x 1/4"
100 ml of oil
2 kg lovely legs (you can use any pieces you like or a cut up chicken, I prefer the no skin ones to reduce fat, but the fat does add to the flavour. Tough choice, flavour versus heart..hmmmm. I want P to stick around, so no fat here)
About 5 cups chicken stock
about 1 to 2 tablespoons sugar. taste test.
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 packed dried soy bean curd (sounds yummy doesn't it?)
1/2 packet dried black fungus(sounds even yummier!)
50g packet dried rice vermicilli
A close up of the stuff you get from the asian grocery. This is belecan, this is essential. It comes in a block like cheese. There the similarity ends. Warning: This stuff stinks so you need to keep it in a jar in the fridge a screw top glass one at the back of the fridge. It never goes off and if it did it would be impossible to tell. Don't be put off, it imparts a wonderful flavour when fried up.
Before you do anything, boil the jug and set the dried stuff to soak. Here is from left to right, the bean curd, fungus, and noodles.
This is the dried bean curd as it comes from the shop. It seems like some sort of dried tofu and takes on the flavour it is cooked with. I love it.
This is the rice vermicilli. You can get this in woolies.
This is the dried black fungus. In love this stuff too, doesn't taste good till it is in this dish. It also takes flavour as well as adds. The dish is not the same without it.
Ok now for the method. It is pretty easy really once you have the ingredients and you will need a big pot.
First up, the list of ingredients.
2 onions, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated
2 tablespoons crushed garlic. At least 8 cloves I would say.
slice belecan about 2'' x 1" x 1/4"
100 ml of oil
2 kg lovely legs (you can use any pieces you like or a cut up chicken, I prefer the no skin ones to reduce fat, but the fat does add to the flavour. Tough choice, flavour versus heart..hmmmm. I want P to stick around, so no fat here)
About 5 cups chicken stock
about 1 to 2 tablespoons sugar. taste test.
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 packed dried soy bean curd (sounds yummy doesn't it?)
1/2 packet dried black fungus(sounds even yummier!)
50g packet dried rice vermicilli
A close up of the stuff you get from the asian grocery. This is belecan, this is essential. It comes in a block like cheese. There the similarity ends. Warning: This stuff stinks so you need to keep it in a jar in the fridge a screw top glass one at the back of the fridge. It never goes off and if it did it would be impossible to tell. Don't be put off, it imparts a wonderful flavour when fried up.
Before you do anything, boil the jug and set the dried stuff to soak. Here is from left to right, the bean curd, fungus, and noodles.
This is the dried bean curd as it comes from the shop. It seems like some sort of dried tofu and takes on the flavour it is cooked with. I love it.
This is the rice vermicilli. You can get this in woolies.
This is the dried black fungus. In love this stuff too, doesn't taste good till it is in this dish. It also takes flavour as well as adds. The dish is not the same without it.
Ok now for the method. It is pretty easy really once you have the ingredients and you will need a big pot.Heat the oil and fry up the onion, garlic ginger and belacan till the onion is soft and the belacan is evenly distributed and the whole lot should be a yukky grey colour. Then dump in the chicken pieces.
Stir around till the chicken pieces have browned.
Then add the stock, sugar, soy sauce and simmer for about an hour till the chicken is tender.
Stir around till the chicken pieces have browned.
Then add the stock, sugar, soy sauce and simmer for about an hour till the chicken is tender.Then drain the soy bean curd, fungus and noodles and add to the pot. Simmer for another few minutes. Test for sugar and salt. Add more soy sauce for salt. Not too much as you don't want to too dark.
Serve with rice. It makes a great soup. as well...
Serve with rice. It makes a great soup. as well...Roast Pumpkin and Blue Cheese Salad
This a cut down version of a Nigella Lawson recipe. Saw it on TV a couple of weeks ago. The original recipe was huge! I divided it by three and we each got a big helping with a little leftover for lunch the next day for one. Absolutely delicious, and would do as a main as well as it is quite satisfying.
About 600g of butternut cut into 1 inch cubes, leave the skin on.
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 stalks fresh thyme or pinch dried
1/3 cup pecans
1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese
Shake together the pumpkin, thyme and oil and spread out onto a baking tray. Bake in a hot oven about 30 to 45 minutes until tender. Put roasted pumpkin into a bowl and scatter over the pecans and crumbled blue chesse. and toss together very gently. Add some salt and pepper, a bit more fresh thyme to make it look pretty and serve.
I had the leftovers warmed and served in a wrap with some lettuce the next day. So good!
About 600g of butternut cut into 1 inch cubes, leave the skin on.
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 stalks fresh thyme or pinch dried
1/3 cup pecans
1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese
Shake together the pumpkin, thyme and oil and spread out onto a baking tray. Bake in a hot oven about 30 to 45 minutes until tender. Put roasted pumpkin into a bowl and scatter over the pecans and crumbled blue chesse. and toss together very gently. Add some salt and pepper, a bit more fresh thyme to make it look pretty and serve.
I had the leftovers warmed and served in a wrap with some lettuce the next day. So good!
Monday, 1 March 2010
English Muffins
This recipe made about 16 with the egg rings we have but they are quite small. Am planning to try these again once I either get bigger egg rings or get some tuna tins. Taste just like the real thing with a hint of crumpet!
Mix in a big bowl
3/4 cup milk powder
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 tablespoons caster sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2cups hot water
In a jug mix
1 pinch sugar
2 heaped teaspoons dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
Let the big bowl cool down then add 3 cups flour one wholemeal and 2 white and the yeast mix. Mix together then let six about 20 minutes.
warm a non stick frypan on medium then fill greased egg rings about 1/2 to 3/4, cook a couple of minutes, turn then do ther side. They puff up nicely. When cool, cut in half, rejoin and freeze. Nice toasted but so good fresh too. Makes the shop bought ones seem really stale. So much cheaper as they are getting expensive to buy.
Mix in a big bowl
3/4 cup milk powder
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 tablespoons caster sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2cups hot water
In a jug mix
1 pinch sugar
2 heaped teaspoons dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
Let the big bowl cool down then add 3 cups flour one wholemeal and 2 white and the yeast mix. Mix together then let six about 20 minutes.
warm a non stick frypan on medium then fill greased egg rings about 1/2 to 3/4, cook a couple of minutes, turn then do ther side. They puff up nicely. When cool, cut in half, rejoin and freeze. Nice toasted but so good fresh too. Makes the shop bought ones seem really stale. So much cheaper as they are getting expensive to buy.
Nette's Pizza Dough
My good friend Nette and former sister-in-law stayed with us late last year and made us pizza. It was so good and we have made it a few times since. So since we are in baking mood today, this is how its done. Thank you Nette!
In a jug place
1 tablespoon dried yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup warm water
leave 5 to 10 minutes to thjink about itself
Then in a bowl put
3 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
Whisk all together. You can do this a food processor if you have one. Add the yeast mix and process for a few minutes. This overheats my processor so I knead it by hand for 8 to 10 minutes.
Let it rise in a covered bowl till doubled, then punch down and knead for a couple of minutes. Divide dough into two balls and roll out to fit your pizza tray.
Spread with pizza sauce then grated mozzerella, then toppings of your choice.
Bake in a 250 degree oven 10 minutes or so.
YUM.
In a jug place
1 tablespoon dried yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup warm water
leave 5 to 10 minutes to thjink about itself
Then in a bowl put
3 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
Whisk all together. You can do this a food processor if you have one. Add the yeast mix and process for a few minutes. This overheats my processor so I knead it by hand for 8 to 10 minutes.
Let it rise in a covered bowl till doubled, then punch down and knead for a couple of minutes. Divide dough into two balls and roll out to fit your pizza tray.
Spread with pizza sauce then grated mozzerella, then toppings of your choice.
Bake in a 250 degree oven 10 minutes or so.
YUM.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)