Sicilian Pork Ragu with Chocolate : c/o "A Glug of Oil"

Just how lovely does that look?

I found this recipe on the excellent "A Glug of Oil" blog some two or three months ago.  It immediately intrigued me in its use of dark chocolate, not least because of the conjunction with pork mince, but the use of tagliatelle instead of the more usual accompaniments of rice or vegetables.  (More usual, that is, when accompanying mince - rather than accompanying a Sicilian dish).

I held onto it for two reasons.  Firstly, because I needed a little time in which to "get my head around" the idea of using chocolate in this context, and secondly because we never seemed to have the right ingredients around at the same time.

I found myself, this week, with not only some red wine in the fridge but a small block of dark chocolate too.  Bingo!  I could break out the recipe at last.

I loved the result.  The juxtaposition of the cinnamon and the dark chocolate beside the rich tomato and pork mince is not one I have experienced before, but boy oh boy is it good.  I felt that the dish needed some herb input and opted for parsley (as that was the only remotely suitable herb I had to hand), but in retrospect I think that basil would have sat more easily beside the chocolate - which isn't a strong flavour, but is evident nonetheless.

This one will definitely re-appear on the menu list, as it resulted in clear plates all round.

SICILIAN PORK RAGU WITH CHOCOLATE (serves 3-4)

Ingredients :

1 onion, chopped

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

500g pork mince

175ml red wine

2 tbsp tomato puree

1 tsp ground cinnamon

500g Passata

15g dark chocolate

1 tsp sugar

salt & pepper to taste

knob of butter

3-4 basil leaves, shredded

Method :

1.  Heat the oil in a large frying pan and add the onion.  Cook over a medium heat until soft but not coloured.

2.  Now add the minced pork, stirring and breaking it up as you go.  You may need to increase the heat to prevent the pork from braising.  Allow the meat to brown slightly, but not burn.

3.  Stir in the tomato puree, then the wine and turn up the heat to simmer for 2 minutes.

4. Add the passata, cinnamon and sugar, then taste and season.

5. Simmer for around 10 minutes, then stir the chocolate in a little at a time.

6. Taste and adjust the seasoning and sugar if required.

7. Reduce the heat and slow simmer until the sauce is nice and thick.

8. Stir in the butter and basil leaves and serve immediately with Tagliatelle pasta.

Printable Version

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Lunch at the Fisherman's Haunt, Winkton

You may recall my saying in last week's rundown of the menu's (*gasp*, I haven't done one for this week yet - and it's Thursday tomorrow! Darn you Christmas, you're getting in my way! lol) that we were going for lunch with my parents at the Fisherman's Haunt at Winkton.

Well, in all fairness to what happened there this last weekend, I don't feel it would be right to do a proper review as such, but I'm sure you'd be interested to know what happened.

We (five in all) rolled up at the Pub and all appeared to be peace and tranquillity.  Upon entering the bar, I noticed a particularly surly-looking fellow behind the bar and a large chap who appeared to be in charge, but who also appeared to have lost any sense of customer service and good manners while he was speaking to my Dad.  Not a good start.  However, the large fellow took us to a very pleasant table and took our drink order, albeit looking a trifle distracted throughout.  Little did we know, just what was going on behind the scenes to cause such surliness and distraction!

Our waitress arrived to take our orders and she turned out to be very smiley and pleasant.  We ordered two melon dishes, a red pepper soup, a prawn cocktail and a chicken liver parfait for our starters and two beer battered fish with chips, a roast beef, a roast pork and a confit duck leg for our main course.  Thus began the wait.  So we waited, and chatted, and waited, and chatted, and got a little fidgety, and waited some more.  After a wait of around 45 minutes the starters arrived and were unremarkable but pleasant.

Then, a chap who appeared to be the restaurant manager (or some such) appeared and apologised for the wait, asking whether we'd been told "what was going on there, today?".  "No!", we all chorused, our curiosity having been seriously piqued.  It turned out that their Head Chef had fallen the day before and cracked two ribs and hence was off sick.  Thus, the responsibility for the kitchen had fallen to the second chef - who couldn't cope with the stress and had walked out!  Picture the poor old third chef, who really hadn't bargained for what he got, that day, doing all the prep and cooking for the entire restaurant - which was heaving with people.  Poor soul!

So, it appeared that because of the lack of people doing prep, the vegetables were dwindling and they only had broccoli and brussels sprouts available.  That was fine by us, as we all ate those - and the two that didn't were having Fish & Chips anyway.

With the promise of 20% off the final bill, we resumed our wait whilst feeling terribly sorry for the poor old third chef, who must have been wondering what he'd done to deserve such treatment.

Eventually our main courses arrived.  The battered fish was so huge it looked like it was preparing for a swift getaway, but was declared extremely good by its recipients.  The chips weren't so good, being common-or-garden freezer chips.  However, in the circumstances, who would have complained?  Not us.  The two roast meals - beef and pork - were absolutely enormous and excellent value for money.  The duck leg, however, was a bit of a tragedy.  The skin was suitably crisp and tasty and the best thing about it.  The meat was a little on the dry side, which was quite an achievement considering it was supposed to be a confit duck leg.  It was served with mashed potato and a duchesse potato (which seemed an odd combination, being mashed potato x 2) and with a light but extremely vinegary jus that was probably quite adequate in quantity bearing in mind its acidity, but did nothing to help the mountain of mashed potato go down.  The bowls of vegetables were completely mullered - think school sprouts and broccoli, but again in the circumstances we were just glad to get some food!

The menu set out for the day was the £9.95 for two courses version, when we'd been expecting the Table D'Hote menu, however I feel that the change in menu was probably essential, to save the third chef from abandoning ship, too.

Not one to be put off by horrendous service, we ordered dessert and were suitably impressed.  Well, all except for the "cinnamon ice cream" which most disappointingly, turned out to be vanilla.  A nice vanilla - but vanilla nonetheless.  The profiteroles were cushiony and filled with cream, the "hokey pokey cheesecake" was sweet enough to make your teeth fall out and the Pecan pie was so enormous, it proved impossible to finish.

All in all, the Fisherman's Haunt showed signs of being a very acceptable lunch venue.  It was quite obvious that we caught it on a spectacularly bad day and I would very much like to return and have another go!  Maybe we'll ring beforehand and make sure the kitchen staff are all assembled, this time.

Fresh Pineapple with Mint sugar : simple but lovely!

Pineapple is one of our favourite fruits where making a dessert is concerned.  That and Lemon!

So, when I saw Jamie Oliver producing a dessert which involved fresh pineapple with fresh mint mixed with sugar sprinkled over it, of course I had to have a go.

Wow!  If you've not tried it, put a pineapple on your shopping list right now.





FRESH PINEAPPLE WITH MINT SUGAR

Ingredients :

A fresh pineapple
A small bunch of fresh mint
2 tbsp granulated sugar
Cream, to serve

Method :

1.  Cut the bristly top and the hoary bottom from your pineapple, then sit it on it's freshly cut bottom and go around it cutting the peel off from top to bottom.  You can generally remove the "eyes" as you go, using this method.  Watch out for pips, too.  (Who'd have thought that pineapples had pips!).

2.  Cut your pineapple in half from top to bottom and each piece in half, until you've got four wedges.

3.  Take each wedge and cut off the woody centre section and discard (but don't forget to have a nibble on them before you chuck them away - cook's perks, and all that!).  Then cut each wedge into bite-sized sections.

4.  Remove the mint leaves from the stalks and discard the stalks.  Chop the leaves finely, then add to the sugar and toss to infuse with the mint.

5.  Sprinkle the minty sugar over the pineapple, then cover and leave to chill in the fridge.

6.  Serve with fresh cream.

Greek style three-cheese & bacon filo pie - and Christmas salad

Yes, that is one heck of a title for a pie - but I can't think how I'd describe it otherwise!

It began life as a BBC Good Food recipe for "Ham & Blue Cheese Tart", but has grown and developed since then.  For instance, our preference is for cooked bacon rather than ham and because of son's sensitivity to blue cheese, I include a little cheddar and leave his part of the pie free of the blue.

I'm so glad that Sainsbury's had Springform tins on special offer the other day - and that hubby spotted them and got one!  Without the Springform, this was so much more difficult to produce.  It is achievable - for instance you could use a casserole dish to form the pie in, then carefully remove it and place it on a baking tray to cook.  However, if you've got a Springform, it's definitely my method of choice.

The Christmas Salad was my first go at such a thing.  I thought about what colours say "Christmas" and put together salad items that conformed to that concept.  I would have included beetroot if I'd have had any.  So, we had Little Gem lettuce, cucumber, spring onion, cherry tomatoes, orange segments and pomegranate seeds, all dressed with a lemon and olive oil dressing.  It was lovely with the rich pie and definitely something I'd do again.

I have to admit though, that I completely forgot to include the pine nuts.  Now I've made a version with pine nuts - and now one without - and I must say, that the difference was minimal.  So, if you're watching the pennies - you wouldn't be compromising on flavour if you left them out.

Closeup to illustrate the salad - which was really lovely

GREEK-STYLE THREE CHEESE & BACON FILO PIE (feeds 4)

Ingredients :

6-10 sheets filo pastry, depending on size
1 & 2 tbsp olive oil
a pack of smoked back bacon, diced
1 bunch spring onions, sliced
2 eggs, lightly beaten
300g tub soft cheese, room temperature
2 large handfuls of rocket leaves
50g blue cheese, crumbled (I use Stilton)
20g cheddar cheese, grated
2 tbsp pine nuts, chopped roughly

Method :

1.  Heat oven to 180C/fan160C/gas 4.

2.  In a frying pan, cook the bacon in the one tbsp olive oil until beginning to crisp, then set aside to cool.

2.  Brush each filo sheet with the remaining oil (reserving just a little) and layer into a 20cm springform tin, overlapping each sheet at a different angle, but leaving one sheet separate.

3.  In a large bowl, combine the soft cheese and eggs, then add the spring onions, cheddar cheese, bacon and finally the rocket.  Season with pepper and just a touch of salt.

4.  Pour the egg mixture into the filo case and spread to level.

5.  Sprinkle with crumbled blue cheese and pine nuts.

6.  Lay the final Filo piece over the top, then fold the sides down to create a crust.  Brush with a little oil and place into the oven to bake for 30 minutes or until just set and the pastry is golden brown.

7.  Cool slightly before serving.

Everyone loves Kedgeree - don't they?

Aaah, Kedgeree.  If ever there was a recipe that puts a smile on everyone's faces, it's that.  We're all very keen on anything that involves curry - and a Kedgeree that doesn't involve curry just isn't a Kedgeree, in my book.  Of course, there is the added bonus of it also involving smoked fish - and as we all love fish and especially smoked fish, then it is a given that we're going to love Kedgeree.

In fact, it is my ambition to one day have Kedgeree for breakfast.  I can't help but think that we'd have to go out tramping across the moors, wearing tweed and muttering about the damned beaters afterwards in order to justify the investment.

I have a very definite preferred type of Kedgeree, too.  I've been making Kedgeree for what amounts to donkey's years now and have changed the recipe quite considerably from the days when I would poach the fish in milk, add turmeric to the rice cooking water and so on.  These days, my recipe is fine tuned and designed to not lose even the tiniest iota of flavour.  Today's Kedgeree is a fairly dry concoction of delicious flavours that guarantees clear plates at the end of the meal.  In fact, I now know the recipe so well that this is the first time I've written it down! 

29 July 2016

I'm still cooking Kedgeree and it's still one of our family's very favourite meals.  I have taken the opportunity to edit the recipe slightly - for the better, I feel.  I haven't changed an awful lot, just slightly altered the order of cooking and added some garam masala, so don't worry, it's still the same yummy Kedgeree and still easy peasy to cook.

KEDGEREE (feeds 3-4)

Ingredients :

2 eggs
Basmati rice : 1 cupful per person, plus half a cupful
2 tbsp groundnut oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
a pinch of sea salt
a pinch of black pepper
half a tsp ground cinnamon
20-30g salted butter
4-5 mushrooms, sliced
a flat tsp ground coriander
a half a tsp ground turmeric
3 rounded dessertspoons of Korma curry paste
150ml warm water
400g smoked haddock or cod, skinned and cut into sections
half a tsp garam masala
a tablespoonful of fresh coriander, chopped.

Method :

Place a small saucepan of water on to boil.  When boiling, gently add the eggs and boil for some 8-10 minutes, until hard boiled.  Drain and refill the pan with cold water.  Set aside. 

Fill a large saucepan with water, add a little salt and bring to a boil.

Place the rice into a sieve and rinse under hot water until the water runs clear.  Leave in the sieve to drain, in a colander.

In a large frying pan, heat the groundnut oil and add the onion and garlic along with the cinnamon, sea salt and black pepper and fry on a slow heat until the onion is softened and beginning to brown (around 10-15 minutes).  Make sure to not let the garlic burn.

Add the butter and mushrooms and continue to cook until the butter has melted and the mushrooms have softened slightly.

The water for the rice should be boiling by now, so add the drained rice and cook until the rice is cooked through, but don't let it become too soft.  It needs to retain some "bite".  Once cooked, drain and replace into the hot saucepan until required.

To the vegetables, add the curry paste, ground coriander and ground turmeric and cook for some 5 minutes or so, stirring so as not to let it burn.  Add the water and stir through to create a thick sauce.

Reduce the heat under the pan and add the fish and cover while it gently cooks.  If the curry mixture has become a little dry, add a little more water.

Meanwhile, shell the boiled eggs and separate the yolks from the white.  Chop the white finely - I usually mash it with a fork.

Slightly before the fish is entirely cooked through, roughly flake into large pieces.  Add the garam masala, egg white, chopped coriander and drained, hot rice.  Stir everything through with a fork, using as few mixing strokes as possible in order to avoid breaking up the rice.

Serve onto hot plates and sprinkle each serving with the crushed egg yolk.

Printable version

Getting closer to Christmas!

Some cheese & biscuits that Hubby prepared for me. 
Cute, eh?  :)

The tension is mounting!  Ridiculous, isn't it, when it is just for two days of eating, drinking, being in one another's company, supplying batteries for the kids' new toys and watching rubbish t.v.  I'm trying to retain some perspective, but it is so easy to get swept away when the shops and t.v. (and the internet, to an extent) are plastered with Christmassy messages, all designed to part you from some cash.

I have been trying to assemble a menu for the three days of Christmas and failing miserably, so far.  Hubby and I had an impromptu discussion - just as we were getting into bed - on the subject that resulted in the Ottolenghi Cookbooks coming out and a little bit of research being done, to illustrate my thoughts on the subject.  I now feel as though I've a bit more of a focus as to what I'm doing, but the planning aspect is still getting away from me - as is evidenced by the cook books and notepad out on the bed ... and I'm writing a blog post.  *chuckle*

Speaking of blog posts - I noticed the other day that Rhubarb & Ginger had gone up 20 points on the Wikio scale.  I'm proud of that!  Alright, I'm still only at number 420 - but it's 20 less than I was at!

We went out shopping on Tuesday as normal, only decided to have a scope around our local Tesco, with a view to perhaps shopping there in future (because it's a lot nearer) instead of at our local Asda (which is further away).  We attacked Asda first, so as to get the bulk of the shopping done, and as a damage limitation exercise for Tesco.  You know what it's like when you're in a new shop - everything seems so much more interesting, before you know where you are you've spent a fortune!

We arrived at Poole Asda at around 8.30am, having dropped son at school.  Because our tummies were rumbling and it's never good to shop when you're hungry, we decided to pop into their cafe and have a bacon sandwich and a coffee.  Now bear in mind that we had to have been one of the first customers there that morning - and in light of that I really do think that there was no excuse for the half-cooked bacon, nor the sausage that tasted of cardboard and especially the lukewarm coffees.  Oh, and why in heaven's name do they give you little pats of rock-hard butter to "spread" (one lump or two?) on your soft roll - which destroys it?  *sigh*

As for Tesco at Fleetsbridge, well I think I'm safe in saying we won't be spending much time shopping there.  As a disabled person who has to use one of their electric ride-on buggies, shopping as Christmas approaches becomes an increasing challenge.  However, Tesco's ride-on buggies run silently - which you would think is a bonus.  Right up until you "sneak" up on someone who steps back into you and hurts their foot for the third time in as many minutes.  It gets very, very difficult thereafter.  It would also help if the buggies went when you pressed the "go" button and likewise, stopped when you let it go.  Allowing for two second's drift in either manoeuvre helps, but not when someone stops dead in front of you.  Asda's noisy buggies some into their own there - at least everyone (apart from the very deaf) knows you're there!

Hubby's Prawn & Little Gem Risotto was a success, by the way.  Not quite a triumph, as it lacked a teensy bit of creaminess and would definitely have benefited from more Parmesan, but it was so very nearly there.  The King Prawns we got from Asda were super meaty and juicy and the addition of the Little Gem lettuce may seem odd, but it worked brilliantly.  Because he added it at absolutely the last minute, it wilted but still retained the crunch that made each mouthful so interesting.  The lettuce also gave a freshness to the dish which sat very well beside the prawns.  Can't wait for the second edition!

One last note - I think I may have just marked myself, as son's Mum, as a source of very good grub in his friend's eyes.  *chuckle*  They arrived hungry and in time for lunch, so I made them toasted ham & fried egg sandwiches.  The plates came back polished.  Job done.  *grin*

[Edited to correct grammatical inconsistencies caused by arrival of son & friend]

This coming week's meals - better late than never.

When I left you last, I believe it was Sunday and we'd just had a lovely Gammon pot roast.

Well, I sort of fell apart over Sunday evening and on into Monday morning, in that the sudden attack of "meh!" that had got me earlier in the week turned into stomach pain and an overwhelming desire to vomit.  Not good.  So not good, in fact, that I didn't go to work on Monday.  Bringing a sickness bug to a Hotel is not a good idea.  As it was, after I'd taken son to school and crawled back into my bed for another hour or so's nap, I took some Milk of Magnesia and almost immediately began to feel better.  After a couple of hours, I could even face a scrambled egg - and so began the climb back to the pathetic level of health that I attempt to maintain.  I'm still not quite right - I couldn't face a curry quite yet - but with some skillful  planning, I'll get there.

So, Monday's lovely prawn risotto that Hubby had planned had to be jettisoned in favour of plain old grilled sausages with vegetables and gravy.  The boys, of course, had waffles and baked beans - but I couldn't face the idea of a greasy waffle.  I opted for a medley of fresh vegetables (leftover bits from the weekend, in fact) which sat a lot more easily in my stomach!

Tuesday is the first day of our new week and, because I was still feeling a tad delicate in the tummy department, I was luckily able to plan accordingly.  So, we had a lovely Macaroni Cheese.  We should have had salad, but again, salad was a bit of a stretch for me so we opted for some garlic bread.

My Macaroni Cheese is made with mature cheddar, onion, streaky bacon, English mustard and cayenne pepper.  Now you would think that the cheese would be too heavy, or the pasta, or the bacon - but no.  Nor is the mustard or the cayenne too much.   On the schedule of "things to eat to make you feel better" - a.k.a. "comfort food" - I think you'll find that Macaroni Cheese (or Spirali Pasta Cheese, as this one was!) is around no. 2, with Shepherd's Pie at no.1.

I did manage to get out to the supermarket on Tuesday, so we are all geared up for this week's meals.

Wednesday (or tonight, as I write this), we had something we haven't been able to have for over a year.  A classic old English Beef Stew, with dumplings.  In the past, stewing beef has always come in as too expensive for us.  However, with the supermarket's special offer help, I picked up some lovely shin of beef.  I made some Parsley dumplings - with fresh Parsley - which were delightful and took the place of potato (you will recall Hubby's strange antipathy towards the humble spud) admirably.

Thursday is the night that the Prawn & Little Gem Risotto makes a comeback - and hooray for it!  I'm really looking forward to trying this - and the wait has made it all the sweeter.

Friday and we're having a blast from the past - Kedgeree.  Now I love kedgeree and it's something I've made for years, perfecting the recipe as I've gone along until we've now got a deliciously dry, spicy confection of smoked haddock, hard boiled eggs, curry and rice.  Personally, I prefer to eat it with a side salad dressed with lemon juice and olive oil - but it would seem I'm alone in that!  That's okay, however, because I can soon rustle up a little salad just for me.  Yum!

Saturday needs to be an easy meal that can be eaten whilst watching t.v.  So this Saturday - thanks to Sainsbury's marked down Springform tins - we're having an old favourite which is "Bacon & Blue Cheese Filo Pie" with salad.

We'd stopped having this one for two reasons.  Firstly, my old Springform tin fell apart and secondly, son demonstrated an allergic reaction to blue cheese.  However, this time I'll prepare the pie with a blue cheese free quarter - and have the antihistamine to hand, just in case!  It's a lovely recipe, using layered filo sheets into which you put a mixture of cream cheese, beaten eggs, ham, rocket and pine nuts.  You then sprinkle over some crushed up blue cheese (I usually use Stilton), then fold the filo in to make a crust and bake.  Gorgeous with salad.

Now, Sunday is very exciting.  We're going over to New Milton to see my Parents and they've offered to take us out for lunch at the Fisherman's Haunt in Winkton.  I've had a peek at their menus and everything looks very tempting - so I expect a review will be forthcoming, in due course!

Not one of our Cottage Pies - but it looks nice,
all the same!

Owing again to the supermarket having some very affordable lamb mince, Monday is looking like Shepherd's Pie day.  Lovely!  Hubby is in the kitchen that day - and he makes an amazing Shepherd's Pie.  It will be extra-nice to have a proper Shepherd's pie, rather than the beef version - Cottage Pie.  So, if I'm not fully recovered by Sunday - I certainly will be, by Tuesday morning!  Shepherd's Pie is akin to medicine, in our house!

Lastly - I'd just like to know whether this qualifies me as a real cook.

Circled - just in case you missed it.  :)

I burned my hand on the cooker shelf when I was retrieving the roast potatoes on Sunday.  Yes, I know it's not a BAD burn - but I'm wearing it like a badge, that says "I cook!".  *smile*

Ham Pot Roast

The Gammon is hiding under the creamed leeks
see the slices, peeping out all pinkly, there?

Sunday, to me, demands something a bit special in the meal department.  There's no real reason why - it's not as though we starve for the remaining six days, so need to stock up for leaner times ahead.  I suspect that it's just a hangover from my upbringing when we would always have a roast on a Sunday, with a special dessert.  When people came round to eat with us, wine was served - and at Christmas, we had the Mother and Father of all roasts, with fruit or tomato juice to drink beforehand, a starter, then the Roast Turkey with all the trimmings, together with three choices of dessert - all followed by sweetmeats such as Turkish Delight, glace fruits, chocolate eclairs and nuts, served with a sweet dessert wine or liqueurs.  I take my hat off to my Mum and my Aunt - and in earlier days, my Nanna - who slaved over hot stoves for days beforehand doing all the baking and then got up before we'd gone to bed to put the Turkey in the oven.

All this, has resulted in it not being Sunday unless there's a roast on the table.

So, this Sunday (and because they're on special offer at the supermarket), we pushed the boat out and got a gammon joint.  Not, regrettably, one of the "real" gammon joints (we're saving up for one for Christmas), but one of the rolled, munched up and stuck back together again, gammon joints.  It may not have been your pukka thing - but it sure tasted good!

Considering I'd had such success with pot roasting chickens, I thought I'd step it up a gear and pot roast the gammon.  I thought that at least, that way, it wouldn't shrink as terribly as they often do when just plain roasted and it would stand a chance of staying succulent and moist.

The recipe was one of my own, gleaned from various recipes I'd read during my research.  I wanted it to be a veggie-based broth it was cooked in, rather than a spice-based broth.  Even though I'm just hopping up and down to use my new Star Anise, I thought I'd stay on the veggie side and see how we got on.

So, as we were having creamed leeks, I used the leek tops and two onions cut into quarters, plus a hoary old carrot that was looking for a home.  All these, combined with the cider, made a glorious stock that was just beyond tasty when made into gravy.

I served the Gammon with the creamed leeks, which were easily made by sweating the sliced leek in butter and, when softened, a large tablespoon of creme fraiche and some Worcestershire Sauce is added.  Mix it all together, add some seasoning and there you have it - creamed leeks.  I'd planned to serve some Chantenais carrots and swede batons, but discovered some Brussels sprouts in the veggie drawer, so they got included too.  With roast potatoes and roast parsnips, together with the ubiquitous Yorkshire Puddings, it was the kind of dinner that Sundays were made for.

GAMMON HAM POT ROAST

Ingredients :

1.5kg gammon ham joint

2 onions, quartered

Any other veg., like leek tops, carrot, celery

300ml dry cider

4 tbsp clear honey

1 tsp ground coriander

3 heaped tsp English mustard powder

Method :

Lay the vegetables into the bottom of a large lidded oven-proof saucepan or casserole.

Nestle the joint into the vegetables and pour over the cider.

“Paint” spoonfuls of the honey/mustard mixture over the joint.

Bring to the boil on the stove top and then place, covered, into a pre-heated oven at 170deg C for 2 to 2½ hours.

When done, remove the meat and put it to rest, covered in foil in a warm place, for around 20 minutes.

Pour the juices from the pan into a smaller saucepan, add cornflour or gravy granules to thicken for gravy.

Delicious!

Honeycomb Mould : a light and delicious dessert mouthful

Not my photograph : borrowed from t'internet

Honeycomb Mould was a long-lost dessert from my childhood.  I can remember my Mum making it to go with our dinner on Sunday.  She would rope me in to help and I can remember doing a lot of stirring and making sure nothing boiled over.

Although I could remember the dessert, I couldn't really remember what it tasted like.  All I knew was that I liked it - I remember that much!

So when I tripped over a recipe for Lemon Honeycomb Mould, of course it had to be done.

Regrettably, I don't have a photograph of the end result.  This is largely because we were all too keen to eat it and I plain old forgot, but also it is because it didn't look terribly pretty as I don't have a jelly mould (yet) in which to put it.  Consequently, it was made in a Pyrex pudding basin - which left something to be desired where the aesthetics were concerned!

The moment I took the first taste, the flavour brought sensory memories rushing back.  All of a sudden, I was 12 again.  I was also surprised at its delicacy and creaminess, considering there is no cream other than that contained in the milk.  The texture is deliciously foamy and light - and we all came back for second helpings.

This is definitely a dessert that will feature in my son's memories of "dinners with Mum & Dad".  :) 

26 July 2015 : Well, time has slipped past without my making another of these gorgeous desserts.  However, my Mum was coming over for dinner at the weekend and I thought it would be nice to give her a little bit of dessert nostalgia.  I even remembered to take a photograph. 

She loved it.  In fact, we all liked it - even my hubby who can be quite sensitive to the textures of food.  He liked the light and airy nature of the dessert and particularly liked the contrast between the fluffy honeycomb part and the more lemony jelly part.  It certainly does stand the test of time, this recipe!

HONEYCOMB MOULD 

Ingredients :

600 ml full fat milk (I used Jersey milk)

zest of 1 lemon, half thinly pared, half finely grated

4.5 sheets of leaf gelatine

2 eggs, separated

40g caster sugar

2 tbsp runny honey.

Method :

Pour the milk into a saucepan and add the lemon zest.  Heat the milk in the pan on a low heat until it is steaming hot, but not boiling.  Remove from the heat, cover and leave to infuse for 10 minutes.

Place the gelatine sheets into a bowl of cold water, to soften.

Lightly whisk the egg yolks, sugar and honey together in a bowl until pale in colour.

Remove the pared lemon zest from the milk and reheat the milk to boiling point. 

Slowly pour the milk into the egg yolk mixture, whisking all the time.  Return the mixture to the pan, pick up the gelatine from the water, allow the worst of the water to drip off and add to the custard mix, discarding the water.  Cook the custard over a low heat, stirring continuously, until lightly thickened.

Allow the custard to cool, stirring frequently to prevent a skin forming.  (A good way is to put some cold water into the sink and stand the saucepan in it).

Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until they stand in stiff peaks, then gently fold them into the custard.

Pour the mixture into a wetted 1 litre mould.  Chill in the fridge overnight until set.

To turn out the honeycomb mould, quickly dip the mould, right up to the rim, in a bowl of hot water.  Place a serving plate on top then invert the mould and the plate together, giving the mould a sharp tap.  Grate a small amount of lemon zest over, to decorate.

Chill until ready to serve.

Printable version

Reviewing "The Himachol" : Indian Takeaway Restaurant in Poole

I produced this Review for the Bournemouth Echo, for inclusion within their "Taste" online pages.

The Himachol, 381 Ashley Road, Parkstone, Poole, BH14 0AT.

Tuesday should have been Bacon & Leek Pasta.  However, I had a sudden attack of "meh!" and could hardly be bothered to pick up the telephone and ring for a curry.  So hubby did.  

I consulted the Twitterverse first and asked for recommendations in our area.  Quite categorically, the vote was 7:1 for the Himachol on the Ashley Road, Poole.  We couldn't ignore such a vote of confidence, and ordered our favourites on the reckoning that if a Restaurant can turn out your favourite dish well, then getting adventurous next time around would be a potentially rewarding experience.

They had a lot to live up to, as every takeaway we've had since being in Poole (and it's not many over the three years!) has always been measured against our nirvana of Takeaways, the Golden Curry in Chatham.

A muddle of plates and takeaway containers
Isn't that the only way?

I ordered a Lamb Tikka Masala, son had a chicken version and hubby had a Chicken Dansak.  We ordered a mushroom rice, a plain pilau rice, a saag bhajee (fried spinach & onion) and a Peshwari naan (flat bread, filled with almonds & fruit).   The lamb used in the Tikka Masala was tough and quite a workout for the jaws, but tasty in that it had been marinated - which is always a good sign.  The sauce wasn't quite up to the standard of the Golden Curry, in that it lacked a smidgen of the depth of flavour together with the creaminess, but it was by far and away the best we've had in this area and a very good effort.  The chicken version was slightly sweeter and the chicken was again marinated but soft to the bite.  I was pleased to find that the two Tikka Masala dishes had a definite difference in flavour.  It would have been so easy for the Chef to have just given the different marinated meat the same sauce.

Hubby's Chicken Dansak was quite excitingly spiced, with the type of heat that gave you cause to pause.  I think I'd have had problems eating it all, if I'd have had the Dansak.  The rices were absolutely fine, with the mushroom rice tasting delicately of cloves.  The naan was big and fluffy - just the job.  However, the true star (for me) of the entire show was the Saag Bhajee.  I'd have happily had two of those and forgotten about any ideas of having curry.  There was just something attractively salty involved with it, together with the fried onion and subtle spicing within the spinach itself.  My one complaint was that there just wasn't enough for all three of us in the one dish!

We were all agreed that at £30 for the three of us, even though we'd had to wait for an hour and a quarter before getting our food, we'd be going back to the Himachol the next time we're looking for a takeaway - or the next time I have an attack of "meh!". 

Greek Lamb & Orzo Bake - what a triumph!

I just couldn't wait to tell you all about tonight's dinner.  It was such a success!

It was one of those dishes that starts smelling wonderful and continues to get better and better the more of its ingredients you add.  Just so with this Bake.

Now I'd seen Orzo in various recipes on t'internet and got curious about what it was.  So that led me to discovering that it was a particular type of pasta-like carbohydrate, shaped like tiny grains of rice.  Curious!  As is my wont, I'd "tucked it behind my ear for later" and kept an eye out for it in the shops, along with dozens of other things.  It just so happened that while I was browsing the World Foods aisle in our local supermarket, amongst all the other noodles and tiny pastas, there it was - Orzo!  Now I knew where I could get it, all I had to do was find a recipe that looked delicious enough to warrant its use.

So along came "Greek Lamb & Orzo Bake".  I found the recipe in a general type of cookbook that I borrowed from the Library.  I had taken two or three recipes from it, but on the whole it was a book that I wouldn't bother taking out again.  However, I am so glad I found it in the first place, or I would never have discovered how well this collection of ingredients could shape up!

I was amused, when cooking the Orzo, to discover how slippery they can be!  The first time I tasted some (to work out whether they were soft enough to be included in the casserole) I took four or five of them into my mouth and bit down - only to have two of the little devils shoot out from between my lips and disappear into the farthest reaches of the kitchen!  They're like tiny torpedoes.

The mince mixture, as you combine each ingredient, tastes rather gorgeous right up until you include the chopped mint - whereupon it is just lifted somewhere up into the stratosphere.  Now we all know that mint and lamb are a match made in heaven - but my goodness, doesn't this recipe just demonstrate this!

Son was, initially, a teeny bit challenged by the Aubergine pieces.  Right up until I told him that they were just sponges full of the tasty gravy.  That encouraged him to stop picking them out and eat them instead.  Hubby loved the whole thing and, like me, wondered about including a little Feta cheese in the yoghurt/egg mixture.  Son was appalled by that idea, saying it would render the mix too sour.  He may have a point there - but I think it's rather worth trying!

 Edited to say that I included the Greek Lamb & Orzo dish on the menu list again, in April 2011.


This time, I used two eggs in the yoghurt/egg mixture which covered rather better - and I left it in the oven to brown a little more.


You'll see how lovely it looked when it came out of the oven from the picture here.


I can confirm that it was no less tasty, with lots of "mmmnn's" and much eye-rolling of appreciation as the first forkfulls went in.
 

As you can see, this time I served it with  baby corn and sugar snap peas, which were lovely.

It may look as though it has the possibility of being a little dry, but in fact the tomato sauce is just hiding under there.  We didn't require anything more than a little butter on the vegetables, to make a perfect meal.

GREEK LAMB & ORZO BAKE (serves 5)

Ingredients :

500g lean minced lamb

1 onion finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 aubergine, cut into 1cm chunks

200ml lamb or vegetable stock

400g tin chopped tomatoes

15g fresh mint, chopped

300g orzo

300g natural low-fat yoghurt

1 large egg

salt & pepper

half a tsp sugar

Method :

Brown the lamb in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and remove the fat once it has rendered.

Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onion is soft.  Then add the garlic and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Then add the aubergine pieces and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes or until the aubergine is tender.

Stir in the stock, tomatoes and the mint.  Season -including a little sugar if the tomatoes need it - and bring to the boil.  Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes or until the lamb is tender.

Preheat the oven to 180deg C/gas 4.

Meanwhile, cook the orzo according to manufacturers’ instructions, until al dente.  Drain.

Beat together the yoghurt and egg in a small bowl.

Stir the drained pasta into the lamb mixture, then spoon into a large lasagne dish.  Spoon the yoghurt mixture over the top and bake for 20-25 minutes until piping hot.

Serve with green beans & baby corn, or for summer dining, a green bean salad with a fresh lemony dressing.

A week of two halves.

Our Back Garden - 7.30am 2 Dec 10

That's what this week is proving to be, for varying reasons that I won't bother going into here.  Between one thing and another, we have only shopped for the first three days of the week and are planning on doing the shopping for the rest of the week on Friday.  Snow permitting!

So, after last week's menu culminating in the singularly disgusting effort which was supposed to be Lemon & Chilli Chicken Noodles, but which turned out to be Yuk-in-a-bowl (see illustration), I'm not holding out much hope.  Some Twitter pals have asked what the problem was with the Chicken Noodles and all I can put it down to is that the stir-fried vegetables, in retrospect, should have been removed from the pan prior to cooking down the sauce.

Unappetising, innit?

What happened was that the sauce took a lot longer than I was expecting to thicken, and over-cooked the vegetables.  Also, the balance of sour/sweet between the lemon and honey weren't balanced.  The lemon was too lemony and the honey too sweet.  All in all, it was pretty disgusting and we won't be attempting it again.

Tuesday should have been Bacon & Leek Pasta.  However, I had a sudden attack of "meh!" and could hardly be bothered to pick up the telephone and ring for a curry.  So hubby did.  LOL  I consulted the Twitterverse first and asked for recommendations in our area.  Quite categorically, the vote was 7:1 for the Himachol on the Ashley Road, Poole.  We couldn't ignore such a vote of confidence, and ordered our favourites on the reckoning that if a Restaurant can turn out your favourite dish well, then getting adventurous next time around would be a potentially rewarding experience.  They had a lot to live up to, as every takeaway we've had since being in Poole (and it's not many!) has always been measured against our nirvana of Takeaways, the Golden Curry in Chatham.

Curry c/o The Himachol : recommended!

I ordered a Lamb Tikka Masala, son had a chicken version and hubby had a Chicken Dansak.  We ordered a mushroom rice, a plain pilau rice, a saag bhajee (fried spinach & onion) and a Peshwari naan (flat bread, filled with almonds & fruit).   The lamb used in the Tikka Masala was tough and quite a workout for the jaws, but tasty in that it had been marinated - which is always a good sign.  The sauce wasn't quite up to the standard of the Golden Curry, in that it lacked a smidgen of the depth of flavour together with the creaminess, but it was by far and away the best we've had in this area and a very good effort.  The chicken version was slightly sweeter and the chicken was again marinated and soft to the bite.  I was pleased to find that the two Tikka Masala dishes had a definite difference in flavour.  It would have been so easy for the Chef to have just given the different marinated meat the same sauce.  Hubby's Chicken Dansak was quite excitingly spiced, with the type of heat that made your nose run!  I think I'd have had problems eating it all, if I'd have had the Dansak.  The rices were absolutely fine, with the mushroom rice tasting delicately of cloves.  The naan was big and fluffy - just the job.  However, the true star (for me) of the entire show was the Saag Bhajee.  I'd have happily had two of those and forgotten about any ideas of having curry.  There was just something attractively salty involved with it, together with the fried onion and subtle spicing within the spinach itself.  My one complaint was that there just wasn't enough for all three of us in the one dish!

We were all agreed that we'd be going back to the Himachol, the next time we're looking for a takeaway - or the next time I have an attack of "meh!".  *chuckle*

What a whopper!

It was back to the Menu list for Wednesday, when - just in time for the start of the snow - we had home-made Chicken & Vegetable Soup with home-made bread.  Hubby excelled himself with the bread, making an enormous wholemeal Cob Loaf that wouldn't have been out of place on any Artisan Baker's produce table.

Rather than having to buy some chicken breasts for the soup, I made it using drumsticks and thighs.  I browned the pieces before sweating off the onion and garlic, adding the glorious stock I'd made at the weekend and all the vegetables.  We had leek, celery, a turnip, potato, red lentils and parsnip, all of which combined in a wonderfully chickeny soup.  I think because I poached the chicken  bone in, removing the bones prior to serving and breaking up the chicken, it all added to the chicken flavour.  I do think that a chicken soup should taste of chicken!  Hubby and son were a bit challenged by the leg meat of the chicken, which if I do the same thing again, I'll chop a lot more finely.  I can also confirm that the soup tasted just as good the next day, when I ate the leftovers for lunch.

Thursday - or tonight, as I write this post - is a "boys night", when they are having Spicy Chicken portions with potato waffles and peas.  I'm having a Southern Fried Chicken rather than the spicy version, which always leaves me feeling a teensy bit nauseous.  It's an easy dinner to prepare, which will be nice considering we've been having a relaxing "nothing" kind of day, spent watching it snow!

Presuming the snow will either have gone, or the roads will be clear, tomorrow we'll head off for some more shopping with Alfie the Skoda singing Skoda War Songs as he forges his way through the snow.  It doesn't matter if we don't get to shop until Saturday, as we can just have the Bacon & Leek Pasta that we were due to have on Tuesday!

Orzo - rice shaped pasta

Friday is due to be Greek Lamb & Orzo Bake, served with green beans.  The recipe came from a book which I borrowed from the Library a while ago, so I've regrettably forgotten it's name.  However, the photograph looked like it would provide everything we enjoy in a meal, with the added bonus of being able to play with Orzo for the first time.  For those of you who are left scratching their heads and wondering what, or who, Orzo is - it's a pasta which is finely shaped into small rice-like pieces and which can be used in either rice or pasta dishes.  I spotted some in our local Asda the other day, having been keeping my eye open for it for some months now.

Now Saturday is going to be a terribly exciting day, as we're off to Tansy Austin's Pop-Up Restaurant in her living room.  For further details, see her blog here.  I'm really looking forward to this, as I love the idea of pop-up restaurants and it will be such fun to be at Tansy's inaugural one.  I have also never tried Enchiladas, or Mole, or Tamales - so it will be such a voyage of experience.  You all know how much we enjoy spicy food, so we've no worries about the degree of chilli that's being employed!  We'll hopefully be meeting up with Sam from the Bournemouth Echo there, too - which for me, just puts the icing on the cake.

[Shoot! I've just visited Tansy's blog to discover she's cancelling owing to the weather.  Darn!  Maybe that Bacon & Leek Pasta will get trotted out after all.]

Sunday and I'm planning a Bacon Pot Roast, with roast potatoes & parsnips together with carrot & swede mash and a green vegetable yet to be decided.  This week, I must try not to let the roast parsnips dehydrate to the state of small pointy biscuits!

I'm also going to have a go at a Honeycomb Mould for dessert.  Now this is something that harks back to my childhood, as I can remember my Mum making Honeycomb Mould quite regularly.  I discovered the recipe in a book and am curious to see whether I can turn out something that rings those bells from so long ago.

Finally, Monday brings hubby back to the kitchen when he's planning a Prawn & Wilted Little Gem Lettuce risotto.  This is a recipe all of his own, which sounds absolutely delicious.  Let's hope he doesn't lose faith in his recipe and we wind up having the Bacon & Leek!  I'm sure it would be very nice - but nothing like as nice as the Prawn recipe he's got in mind!

So there we have it - a busy, flexible-of-necessity week!