I have now completed the Fast Food chapter. Wahoo!
Reminders of and Ideas for Hasty Improvisations
159. Pea Soup
127. Tomato Soup
28. Spinach Soup
72. Pasta with Cream and Truffle Oil
70. Canned Pulses
115. Chicken with Lemon/Oil/Garlic
69. Chicken with Pesto
184. Chicken & Salsa Verde
337. Duck breasts
112. Affogato
Quick After-Work Suppers for Four
249. Red mullet with Garlic and Rosemary
262. Gooey Chocolate Puddings
141. Beef Stroganoff
168. Roast Sugar-Sprinkled Peaches
4. Squid with Chilli and Clams
5. Ricotta with Honey and Toasted Pine Nuts
360. Sole with Chanterelles
171. Mascarpone, Rum and Lime Cream
152. Lamb with Garlicky Tahina
153. Passion Fruit Fool
46. Roast Cod with Upmarket Mushy Peas
151. Quickly Scaled Mont Blanc
1. Duck with Orange Salsa
2. Noodles with Spring Onions, Shitake Mushrooms and Mangetouts
3. Ice-cream with stem ginger or figs
55. Mackerel in Cider
56. Cabbage with Caraway
57. Buttered Apples
26. Chambéry Trout
27. Salsa Verde
7. Ice-cream with dark chocolate
150. Escalopes of Salmon with Warm Balsamic Vinaigrette
29. Cinnamon-hot rack of lamb
16. Cherried and Chick Pea’d couscous
293. Baked Figs
15. Chicken with Spring Onion, Chilli and Greek Yogurt
193. Seven-Minute Steamed Chocolate Pudding
17. Steak Mirabeau
362. Raspberries and Cream
Even though the "Quick After-Work Suppers for Four" are generally made up of a main and dessert, designed to be eaten together, it appears that I didn't always follow these menus. I found that most of the desserts weren't too exciting, but that the main dishes were in general, really good (especially the non-seafood based ones). The "Reminders of and Ideas for Hasty Improvisations" were all great too.
3 chapters down, 5 to go!
Showing posts with label Fast Food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fast Food. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Monday, May 15, 2006
Raspberries and Cream
362. Raspberries and Cream
I've been um-ing and er-ing about whether or not to include this recipe in my list of recipes. It's a suggestion, right in the back of the Fast Food chapter. Nigella says to serve beautiful fresh raspberries with double cream as a dessert (this definitely would not count as a recipe). She also adds a variation, to use if "raspberries aren't absolutely as they should be at the moment", which is all the freakin' time in Australia.
She says to mash up some frozen raspberries, and to fold them through whipped cream, with icing sugar. A crumbling of shop-bought meringues is optional. (But obligatory for me). It's a very simple recipe, no? So like I said, I wasn't sure whether it counted as a proper recipe. However, I remembered that back at the start of my project, recipe number 7 was the obscenely simple vanilla ice-cream with pulverised dark chocolate, also a dessert from the Fast Food chapter. So to cut a long story (somewhat) short, it's being counted.
I chose to make it because Mum and I were in alone tonight, and I happened to have all the ingredients stashed in various places around the kitchen - a tub of double cream, half a packet of frozen raspberries, icing sugar, and the last meringue from a packet I bought months ago, covered in the sugary crumbs of its departed brothers.
I made this during the always too-short news break just before Desperate Housewives, taking heaps of shortcuts. I mixed the still-frozen raspberries with the unwhipped but delectably thick cream, and some sifted over some icing sugar. Then I scraped it into 2 champagne glasses and crushed the meringue on top. I let them sit on the kitchen bench until the first ad-break, by which time the raspberries had thawed sufficiently to be eaten.
raspberries and cream
What a treat! I adore the raspberry & white choc combination, and the similar combination of raspberries and cream works really well - sweet, rich cream against the tart berries. It was super-easy too, and a rather classy dessert to be eaten whilst we were sofa-bound and doona-covered.
one delectable spoonful
And to answer the most important question... Desperate Housewives was awesome - Gabrielle had a catfight with Sister Mary, a nun. It totally rocked.
I've been um-ing and er-ing about whether or not to include this recipe in my list of recipes. It's a suggestion, right in the back of the Fast Food chapter. Nigella says to serve beautiful fresh raspberries with double cream as a dessert (this definitely would not count as a recipe). She also adds a variation, to use if "raspberries aren't absolutely as they should be at the moment", which is all the freakin' time in Australia.
She says to mash up some frozen raspberries, and to fold them through whipped cream, with icing sugar. A crumbling of shop-bought meringues is optional. (But obligatory for me). It's a very simple recipe, no? So like I said, I wasn't sure whether it counted as a proper recipe. However, I remembered that back at the start of my project, recipe number 7 was the obscenely simple vanilla ice-cream with pulverised dark chocolate, also a dessert from the Fast Food chapter. So to cut a long story (somewhat) short, it's being counted.
I chose to make it because Mum and I were in alone tonight, and I happened to have all the ingredients stashed in various places around the kitchen - a tub of double cream, half a packet of frozen raspberries, icing sugar, and the last meringue from a packet I bought months ago, covered in the sugary crumbs of its departed brothers.
I made this during the always too-short news break just before Desperate Housewives, taking heaps of shortcuts. I mixed the still-frozen raspberries with the unwhipped but delectably thick cream, and some sifted over some icing sugar. Then I scraped it into 2 champagne glasses and crushed the meringue on top. I let them sit on the kitchen bench until the first ad-break, by which time the raspberries had thawed sufficiently to be eaten.
raspberries and cream
What a treat! I adore the raspberry & white choc combination, and the similar combination of raspberries and cream works really well - sweet, rich cream against the tart berries. It was super-easy too, and a rather classy dessert to be eaten whilst we were sofa-bound and doona-covered.
one delectable spoonful
And to answer the most important question... Desperate Housewives was awesome - Gabrielle had a catfight with Sister Mary, a nun. It totally rocked.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Happy Mother's Day / Happy Birthday Dad!
Dad's birthday was on Saturday. Mother's Day is today. Dinner tonight just had to be special.
360. Sole with Chanterelles (Fast Food)
361. Apple Butterscotch Tart (Weekend Lunch)
The justification behind putting these 2 recipes together is that Dad loves apple pie, and Mum loves mushrooms. The sole only takes about 20 minutes in total, so I started by making the tart.
This tart has pastry on the bottom, then a layer of thinly sliced apples (I used granny smith), then a butterscotch paste on top. Nigella stipulates ordinary unsweetened shortcrust pastry, which is a doddle to make. The butterscotch paste contains light muscovado sugar, flour, eggs and cream, and looks like this...
walnut-coloured paste
Given the occasion, I went for dinky presentation and used these super-cute heart-shaped pie tins that my aunt gave me for my birthday.
pastry with apples
w paste
They need to be baked for about 30 minutes in total, which gave me just enough time to make the fish.
Now, even though the recipe is called "sole with chanterelles", I could find neither sole nor chanterelles. When I went to Prahran market on Friday, I went to Damien Pike's wonderful mushroom stall, and got these pine mushrooms, which are yellow like chanterelles. The lovely guy running the stall (which I'm pretty sure was Mr. Pike himself) said they'd intensify in colour when cooked and be lovely with fish. FYI, chanterelles are only available in Australia in August, imported from Scotland. Mr. Pike at the stall says they're his favourite kind of mushrooms in the whole world.
But back to the pine mushrooms.
ooh mushrooms!
You have to cook the mushrooms down in a lot of butter, remove them to a plate, and cook the fish fillets in the mushroomy butter. Another substitution, I used flake instead of sole because I couldn't find sole at Box Hill at 5:45 on a Sunday afternoon. I figured it didn't matter as long as the fish was white, to contrast with the mushrooms.
So, when the fish is cooked, you remove it to a plate, and return the mushrooms to the pan, sizzling it down with white wine and a squeeze of lemon. The mushrooms and their delicious thick yellow sauce go on top of the fish, with parsley to garnish.
Flake with pine mushrooms
This dish was delicious! I really can't fault the mixture of flavourful mushrooms, a buttery brown and yellow sauce and fish. It requires a bit of specialised shopping, but it's just so easy and fast to make! It simply must be tried.
Here are the little tartlets, fresh out of the oven. One thing I noticed was that even though the filling was cooked, the pastry wasn't completely cooked. I had to cover them with foil and put them back in the oven until the pastry was ready. I'm not sure if this is because of the individual tins, but at any rate, I'd definitely blind-bake them next time.
baked pies
apple pies - this was Dad's idea for presentation. Cute, huh?
One heart, with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream
These pies were delightfully cute, adorable even. Despite the name, they weren't sweet at all. Add more sugar if you want it to be properly sweet and butterscotch-like, although I found that vanilla ice-cream added sufficient sweetness.
Happy Mother's Day!
Happy Birthday Dad!
360. Sole with Chanterelles (Fast Food)
361. Apple Butterscotch Tart (Weekend Lunch)
The justification behind putting these 2 recipes together is that Dad loves apple pie, and Mum loves mushrooms. The sole only takes about 20 minutes in total, so I started by making the tart.
This tart has pastry on the bottom, then a layer of thinly sliced apples (I used granny smith), then a butterscotch paste on top. Nigella stipulates ordinary unsweetened shortcrust pastry, which is a doddle to make. The butterscotch paste contains light muscovado sugar, flour, eggs and cream, and looks like this...
walnut-coloured paste
Given the occasion, I went for dinky presentation and used these super-cute heart-shaped pie tins that my aunt gave me for my birthday.
pastry with apples
w paste
They need to be baked for about 30 minutes in total, which gave me just enough time to make the fish.
Now, even though the recipe is called "sole with chanterelles", I could find neither sole nor chanterelles. When I went to Prahran market on Friday, I went to Damien Pike's wonderful mushroom stall, and got these pine mushrooms, which are yellow like chanterelles. The lovely guy running the stall (which I'm pretty sure was Mr. Pike himself) said they'd intensify in colour when cooked and be lovely with fish. FYI, chanterelles are only available in Australia in August, imported from Scotland. Mr. Pike at the stall says they're his favourite kind of mushrooms in the whole world.
But back to the pine mushrooms.
ooh mushrooms!
You have to cook the mushrooms down in a lot of butter, remove them to a plate, and cook the fish fillets in the mushroomy butter. Another substitution, I used flake instead of sole because I couldn't find sole at Box Hill at 5:45 on a Sunday afternoon. I figured it didn't matter as long as the fish was white, to contrast with the mushrooms.
So, when the fish is cooked, you remove it to a plate, and return the mushrooms to the pan, sizzling it down with white wine and a squeeze of lemon. The mushrooms and their delicious thick yellow sauce go on top of the fish, with parsley to garnish.
Flake with pine mushrooms
This dish was delicious! I really can't fault the mixture of flavourful mushrooms, a buttery brown and yellow sauce and fish. It requires a bit of specialised shopping, but it's just so easy and fast to make! It simply must be tried.
Here are the little tartlets, fresh out of the oven. One thing I noticed was that even though the filling was cooked, the pastry wasn't completely cooked. I had to cover them with foil and put them back in the oven until the pastry was ready. I'm not sure if this is because of the individual tins, but at any rate, I'd definitely blind-bake them next time.
baked pies
apple pies - this was Dad's idea for presentation. Cute, huh?
One heart, with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream
These pies were delightfully cute, adorable even. Despite the name, they weren't sweet at all. Add more sugar if you want it to be properly sweet and butterscotch-like, although I found that vanilla ice-cream added sufficient sweetness.
Happy Mother's Day!
Happy Birthday Dad!
Monday, April 17, 2006
Boosted by Breasts
337. Duck (Fast Food)
In the Fast Food chapter, Nigella suggests duck breasts for a quick and easy meal. She gives 3 types of marinades which you can brush onto the breasts, before baking for 20 minutes at 200C. My parents and I had these for lunch today to boost a lunch of leftovers.
1. Honey and Seville Orange (retrieved from the depths of my freezer)
2. Ginger marmalade and soy sauce
3. Grainy mustard with pineapple juice and brown sugar
marinades
marinaded breats
Lunch: Duck breasts (honey & orange at the back, ginger & soy in the middle, and mustard at the front), with leftover penne alla vodka (from Feast, I made it for lunch yesterday), guacamole, lentils, and fish wrapped in parma ham.
We basically sliced the duck breasts up to share, so we could try each flavour. They were all great! The honey and orange one looked the best - the honey in the marinade made the breast go lovely and brown - but they all tasted lovely. In fact, I'd be hard pressed to choose just one. If duck breasts weren't so damned expensive, I'd be eating these all the time!
Ooh, how nouvelle!
In the Fast Food chapter, Nigella suggests duck breasts for a quick and easy meal. She gives 3 types of marinades which you can brush onto the breasts, before baking for 20 minutes at 200C. My parents and I had these for lunch today to boost a lunch of leftovers.
1. Honey and Seville Orange (retrieved from the depths of my freezer)
2. Ginger marmalade and soy sauce
3. Grainy mustard with pineapple juice and brown sugar
marinades
marinaded breats
Lunch: Duck breasts (honey & orange at the back, ginger & soy in the middle, and mustard at the front), with leftover penne alla vodka (from Feast, I made it for lunch yesterday), guacamole, lentils, and fish wrapped in parma ham.
We basically sliced the duck breasts up to share, so we could try each flavour. They were all great! The honey and orange one looked the best - the honey in the marinade made the breast go lovely and brown - but they all tasted lovely. In fact, I'd be hard pressed to choose just one. If duck breasts weren't so damned expensive, I'd be eating these all the time!
Ooh, how nouvelle!
Saturday, March 11, 2006
A low-key lunch
It was quiet at work yesterday, so I thought I’d better get started on my pledge to assault my friends with invitations to eat. I messaged Mark…
He was free, and he did want lunch.
Later that night, we caught each other online…
Sarah says:
Hey, u like prawns yeah?
Cos i'm thinking either steak or prawns but steak is dependent on my finding tarragon at safeway tomorrow
Mark says:
yeah
LOL
u are FUNNY
Sarah says:
wot
Mark says:
"low key lunch"
in ur words i believe
and now its turned into surf or turf!
lol
Sarah says:
haha
nah it's low key because the COOKING is easy
in fact, i could probably just sit back and make you cook the lunch...
Mum and I went to Box Hill this morning, and based on the available ingredients, this is what I cooked for lunch. (Sadly, I couldn’t bring myself to force Mark to cook the lunch).
292. Mashed potatoes, truffle oil and warm Santa Barbara shrimp (Basics etc.)
293. Baked figs (Fast Food)
The prawn dish (in Australia, “shrimps” are miniature prawns) is inspired by one that Nigella once ate at a restaurant in Los Angeles. Simply, it comprises whipped potatoes, topped with barely poached tiger prawns and drizzled with truffle oil. Easy. The recipe appears in the "Freezer" section of the Basics etc. chapter, and is one reason why we should all keep raw tiger prawns in our freezer.
The figs need 15 minutes in the oven, so I put them in just as we were sitting to down to lunch. What you do is arrange the figs in a dish, “cut each one as if in quarters, only leaving the base intact”, and then pour over a syrup made of honey, red wine, cardamom pods and butter. From here they go into the oven.
raw ficchi
And then we ate!
sarah & markii
This dish was really nice, and an unusual combination. I would never have thought that simply pairing mashed potatoes and prawns would result in such a satisfying and complete meal. The final drizzle of oil does help, though. (I used a combination of extra virgin olive oil and truffle oil).
After lunch, my mum took all the leftover prawn heads and shells and used them to make a fragrant, vibrantly orange stock.
Now, dessert. I was a bit apprehensive about the baked figs, for two reasons. First, I’d never eaten cooked figs before. Whilst, nominally, they seemed very appealing, I was unsure about how I’d react to the actual taste. Second, the wine-cardamom-honey combination was used in the baked wine spiced plums, which I didn’t really like.
But I needn’t have worried. These figs were fabulous. Check out Mum and Mark’s reactions after I put the figs down on the table.
yum! figs!
The syrup was absolutely lovely, and after eating dessert, Mum suggested that we go out and buy more figs (at $9.99 a kilo!) just to use it all up. It was also a great light dessert, considering the warm weather and the heavy mash that preceded it.
Fichi
I served it, as Nigella insists, with Greek yogurt. I do love that authentic Greek taste. The creamily tangy yogurt is the perfect foil for the soft and sweet figs.
Yumm close up
We finished the meal with coffee…
It was a lovely warm and sunny day today, the cooking was easy, and the company was (as always) lovely. What a fab lunch!
Yo. U free tomorrow? Wanna come over and eat lunch? Nothing special or fancy. (Seriously)
He was free, and he did want lunch.
Later that night, we caught each other online…
Sarah says:
Hey, u like prawns yeah?
Cos i'm thinking either steak or prawns but steak is dependent on my finding tarragon at safeway tomorrow
Mark says:
yeah
LOL
u are FUNNY
Sarah says:
wot
Mark says:
"low key lunch"
in ur words i believe
and now its turned into surf or turf!
lol
Sarah says:
haha
nah it's low key because the COOKING is easy
in fact, i could probably just sit back and make you cook the lunch...
Mum and I went to Box Hill this morning, and based on the available ingredients, this is what I cooked for lunch. (Sadly, I couldn’t bring myself to force Mark to cook the lunch).
292. Mashed potatoes, truffle oil and warm Santa Barbara shrimp (Basics etc.)
293. Baked figs (Fast Food)
The prawn dish (in Australia, “shrimps” are miniature prawns) is inspired by one that Nigella once ate at a restaurant in Los Angeles. Simply, it comprises whipped potatoes, topped with barely poached tiger prawns and drizzled with truffle oil. Easy. The recipe appears in the "Freezer" section of the Basics etc. chapter, and is one reason why we should all keep raw tiger prawns in our freezer.
The figs need 15 minutes in the oven, so I put them in just as we were sitting to down to lunch. What you do is arrange the figs in a dish, “cut each one as if in quarters, only leaving the base intact”, and then pour over a syrup made of honey, red wine, cardamom pods and butter. From here they go into the oven.
raw ficchi
And then we ate!
sarah & markii
This dish was really nice, and an unusual combination. I would never have thought that simply pairing mashed potatoes and prawns would result in such a satisfying and complete meal. The final drizzle of oil does help, though. (I used a combination of extra virgin olive oil and truffle oil).
After lunch, my mum took all the leftover prawn heads and shells and used them to make a fragrant, vibrantly orange stock.
Now, dessert. I was a bit apprehensive about the baked figs, for two reasons. First, I’d never eaten cooked figs before. Whilst, nominally, they seemed very appealing, I was unsure about how I’d react to the actual taste. Second, the wine-cardamom-honey combination was used in the baked wine spiced plums, which I didn’t really like.
But I needn’t have worried. These figs were fabulous. Check out Mum and Mark’s reactions after I put the figs down on the table.
yum! figs!
The syrup was absolutely lovely, and after eating dessert, Mum suggested that we go out and buy more figs (at $9.99 a kilo!) just to use it all up. It was also a great light dessert, considering the warm weather and the heavy mash that preceded it.
Fichi
I served it, as Nigella insists, with Greek yogurt. I do love that authentic Greek taste. The creamily tangy yogurt is the perfect foil for the soft and sweet figs.
Yumm close up
We finished the meal with coffee…
It was a lovely warm and sunny day today, the cooking was easy, and the company was (as always) lovely. What a fab lunch!
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Gooey Chocolate Puddings
At work tonight, we were (to use my brother’s charming turn of phrase) absolutely butt-raped. Our films (Munich & Walk the Line) were very busy, and it was a mad rush cleaning the cinemas from the previous sessions, getting the next round of customers in, taking their orders and seating them in the cinema. And to top it off, they all ordered HEAPS. I was in kitchen, and I was going nuts trying to make all food the orders, and get them delivered, hopefully timed to go with the bar’s drink orders. Basically we were all running around like mad chooks, orders were running late, customers were getting narky, and it was generally extremely stressful and sweaty work. I finished work half-an-hour late, and got home around 11:30, wanting nothing more than to scoff a bar of Lindt and go to bed.
However, the members of my family arrived home shortly after me, also having just finished work, and they all seemed energetic and up for a bit of sugar-therapy.
262. Gooey Chocolate Puddings (Fast Food)
This recipe only requires marginally more energy than opening a Lindt wrapper and has infinitely better payoff. Plus, all the ingredients were in my pantry, meaning I could knock off a recipe quite easily. I made this casually, while my family (plus my brother’s friend Eva) was sitting around the kitchen and all chatting.
Here’s an excerpt of a conversation we were having as we prepared the puddings.
Eva: Sarah, do you bake often?
Me: Well, I guess I try to cook a dessert whenever we’re all eating together.
Mum: Eva, do you like cooking?
Eva: Yeah, but I can’t make cakes… every time I make them they turn out flat!
Dad: Sarah can teach you to bake!
Daniel: Yes! She makes this AWESOME cherry pie.
Eva: Does that have cream cheese in it?
Daniel: Nah, it’s just cherries and pastry.
Mum: Oh yes, but what pastry! It’s the pastry that makes the pie, so flaky and good!
You know, I had no idea that my cherry pie had made such an impression. And it may sound like I’m tooting my own horn, but I think it’s ok, as the positive reaction to my pie is testament to Nigella’s fab recipes, especially her brilliant pastry-technique.
But back to the puddings. Unlike some of the recipes in the Fast Food chapter, which end up taking me much longer than the maximum 30 minutes Nigella says, this one actually only takes 20 minutes to make.
First off, melt butter and chocolate (Lindt 70% cocoa, blates), in a double boiler. In a separate bowl, lazily whisk together eggs, sugar and flour.
egg mix, choc mix
Then add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture. (I got my brother to stir as I poured… teamwork!)
dan stirring
Once it’s all mixed up, you pour the mixture into buttered and floured ramekins, and bake at 200C for 10-12 minutes. The recipe is supposed to feed 4, but as there were 5 of us eating, I just divided the mixture more scantily into 5 ramekins.
raw mix
They looked a bit shallow in the raw, but rose up satisfactorily during baking.
cooked mix
We didn’t have any cream, so we ate the puddings with crème fraîche. This was the perfect accompaniment, the crème fraîche’s tang undercutting the rich gooey chocolate deliciously.
gooey choc pudding
This went down extremely well. The edges and top of the puddings are firm and slightly crusty, which conceal an decadent liquid centre. Normally we’re not fans of the super-rich, chocolatey-to-the-max style of puddings and cakes, but this really, really hit the spot.
I can’t believe I baked individual chocolate puddings at 12:30 in the morning.
However, the members of my family arrived home shortly after me, also having just finished work, and they all seemed energetic and up for a bit of sugar-therapy.
262. Gooey Chocolate Puddings (Fast Food)
This recipe only requires marginally more energy than opening a Lindt wrapper and has infinitely better payoff. Plus, all the ingredients were in my pantry, meaning I could knock off a recipe quite easily. I made this casually, while my family (plus my brother’s friend Eva) was sitting around the kitchen and all chatting.
Here’s an excerpt of a conversation we were having as we prepared the puddings.
Eva: Sarah, do you bake often?
Me: Well, I guess I try to cook a dessert whenever we’re all eating together.
Mum: Eva, do you like cooking?
Eva: Yeah, but I can’t make cakes… every time I make them they turn out flat!
Dad: Sarah can teach you to bake!
Daniel: Yes! She makes this AWESOME cherry pie.
Eva: Does that have cream cheese in it?
Daniel: Nah, it’s just cherries and pastry.
Mum: Oh yes, but what pastry! It’s the pastry that makes the pie, so flaky and good!
You know, I had no idea that my cherry pie had made such an impression. And it may sound like I’m tooting my own horn, but I think it’s ok, as the positive reaction to my pie is testament to Nigella’s fab recipes, especially her brilliant pastry-technique.
But back to the puddings. Unlike some of the recipes in the Fast Food chapter, which end up taking me much longer than the maximum 30 minutes Nigella says, this one actually only takes 20 minutes to make.
First off, melt butter and chocolate (Lindt 70% cocoa, blates), in a double boiler. In a separate bowl, lazily whisk together eggs, sugar and flour.
egg mix, choc mix
Then add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture. (I got my brother to stir as I poured… teamwork!)
dan stirring
Once it’s all mixed up, you pour the mixture into buttered and floured ramekins, and bake at 200C for 10-12 minutes. The recipe is supposed to feed 4, but as there were 5 of us eating, I just divided the mixture more scantily into 5 ramekins.
raw mix
They looked a bit shallow in the raw, but rose up satisfactorily during baking.
cooked mix
We didn’t have any cream, so we ate the puddings with crème fraîche. This was the perfect accompaniment, the crème fraîche’s tang undercutting the rich gooey chocolate deliciously.
gooey choc pudding
This went down extremely well. The edges and top of the puddings are firm and slightly crusty, which conceal an decadent liquid centre. Normally we’re not fans of the super-rich, chocolatey-to-the-max style of puddings and cakes, but this really, really hit the spot.
I can’t believe I baked individual chocolate puddings at 12:30 in the morning.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Fishy Fish
249. Red Mullet with Garlic and Rosemary (Fast Food)
You will see, from my photos below, that I did not use red mullet, but rainbow trout. I knew we wouldn't be able to get red mullet, but when we went shopping this morning, all the white-fleshed-red-skinned fish looked slightly dodgy. "Red snapper", "red fish", "pinky"... I had no idea what they would taste like, so I took the safe route and got my favourite, rainbow trout.
I choose to accompany it with a pared-down version of the noodles with spring onions, shiitake mushrooms and mangetouts. (And by pared down, I mean I used regular onions in place of the spring onions, and omitted the mushrooms).
As for the fish, you start by heating up some orange zest, rosemary and garlic in a pan with oil (I chopped them up using a processor) until sizzling, then frying your fish fillets on both sides.
Sauce
Then you remove the fillets to a warmed plate, and deglaze the pan with white wine or vermouth. Having neither white wine nor vermouth in the house, I used gin. Good old Beefeater gin. It worked a treat.
noodles + fish
Now, the fish didn't look too pretty because the garlic-orange-rosemary mixture went really brown in the pan. Perhaps this problem could be avoided if I were to use a non-stick pan instead of a cast iron one. The flavour was great, however. And the noodles were a great complement. Much like the rice in yesterday's lunch, we've been really missing noodles lately, and slurped them up like nobody's business.
Fish + noodles
You will see, from my photos below, that I did not use red mullet, but rainbow trout. I knew we wouldn't be able to get red mullet, but when we went shopping this morning, all the white-fleshed-red-skinned fish looked slightly dodgy. "Red snapper", "red fish", "pinky"... I had no idea what they would taste like, so I took the safe route and got my favourite, rainbow trout.
I choose to accompany it with a pared-down version of the noodles with spring onions, shiitake mushrooms and mangetouts. (And by pared down, I mean I used regular onions in place of the spring onions, and omitted the mushrooms).
As for the fish, you start by heating up some orange zest, rosemary and garlic in a pan with oil (I chopped them up using a processor) until sizzling, then frying your fish fillets on both sides.
Sauce
Then you remove the fillets to a warmed plate, and deglaze the pan with white wine or vermouth. Having neither white wine nor vermouth in the house, I used gin. Good old Beefeater gin. It worked a treat.
noodles + fish
Now, the fish didn't look too pretty because the garlic-orange-rosemary mixture went really brown in the pan. Perhaps this problem could be avoided if I were to use a non-stick pan instead of a cast iron one. The flavour was great, however. And the noodles were a great complement. Much like the rice in yesterday's lunch, we've been really missing noodles lately, and slurped them up like nobody's business.
Fish + noodles
Friday, December 09, 2005
PORK
Warning: VERY LONG POST
If you don’t like long, detailed, food-related, stream-of-consciousness type posts (then may I ask, what on earth are you doing reading this blog?) then feel free to simply scroll down to the bottom and look at the photos of today’s most wonderful lunch.
Introduction:
As I’ve mentioned many times previously, for about 6 years I totally avoided eating pork, or any pork product, and was very strict about it. It was only this year in August (the 6th, to be exact), that I re-introduced pork into my diet, with the decidedly uninspiring braised pheasant with mushroom and bacon. Since then, I have, on various occasions, eaten prosciutto, bacon, ham, and small slices of suckling pig. But I still hadn’t worked my way up to cooking or eating a huge hunk o’ pig – like a roast pork, or one of Nigella’s many hams. Until today.
Planning the lunch:
My good friend Liam happened to pop over last week, and when he did, I pounced on the opportunity to schedule him in for a meal at my house. (As I keep mentioning, it’s bloody hard to organize a free evening or afternoon when each member of my family is free, let alone outsiders!) So Thursday was the day. And the thing about Liam is – he is the King of Pig. By which I mean he loves pork products in all their forms, and has a massive appetite. It was time for Sarah to cook a huge hunk of pig.
Two nights ago, my friend DG (in England) and I spent a late night chatting on MSN trying to plan this bloody menu. You see, Liam, bless his cotton socks, is one of the fussiest fuckers I know. Well, I don’t know if “fussy” is the right word – he just seems to have a limited range of foods that he really likes and that he eats often. For example, rice, spices, Asian food, vegetables and apple pie all definitely do not feature in the Liam diet. So I chose the plainest of plain roast porks (no spices, no herbs, just salt and a bit of mustard powder), crackling, with mashed potatoes (at Liam’s request), and cabbage (for the rest of us), with the microwaved chocolate pudding from the Fast Food chapter for an easy, crowd-pleasing dessert.
The day before:
I went down to Rendinas Butchery (I practically live there now) and got a massive pork leg. I asked for “a pork leg for a roast”, and the butcher came out with this huge fuck-off hunk of pork. I suddenly got scared.
Me: Er, how many’s that gonna feed?
Butcher: About 10 people, easily.
Me: Ok, I’ve only got 5 people so could I have half of that?
Butcher: Yeah, no problem!
Even when he halved it, it looked worryingly large. I just had to keep reminding myself, "Liam is a big eater, and it is the Nigella way to never knowingly undercater". I also got the butcher to score the rind, and cut it off and drape it over the pig. Now, I’m not usually super keen on the smell of pork, but I have to admit, this fresh, free-range, properly reared Otway Pork did smell pretty darn good.
Later that night it was time for another convo with DG on MSN.
Sarah says: Should I make a sauce or something?
DG says: Yeah, some people can’t eat meat without sauce.
Sarah says: Ok, apple sauce?
DG says: Wait, I think there’s a Swedish rhubarb sauce somewhere in HTE.
Sarah says: No there’s not.
DG says: yeah, there is, I’m sure of it.
Sarah says: Nah, there isn’t. Look, I’ve read HTE back to front, and I’m sure there’s no recipe for rhubarb sauce with pork.
DG says: Wait, I’m gonna look for it.
Sarah says: Ok, whatever. You’re crazy.
10 minutes later…
Sarah says: I told you it’s not in there.
DG says: yeah it is I’m still looking for it!
30 minutes later…
Sarah says: Just give up!
DG says: no no no, I’m not going crazy! I'm sure it's in here, where is this fucking thing?
20 minutes later…
DG says: OMG I FOUND IT I FOUND IT I FOUND IT! Page 314.
This Swedish sauce of rhubarb mixed with bottled horseradish sauce is mentioned in the last two sentences of the recipe for Apple Butterscotch Tart. How random.
After all that, I couldn’t exactly say no to making the rhubarb sauce now, could I?
On the day:
191. Roast Pork (Weekend Lunch)
192. Swedish Rhubarb and Horseradish Sauce (Weekend Lunch)
193. Seven-Minute Steamed Chocolate Pudding (Fast Food)
I got up at the crack of fucking dawn this morning to put the pork leg in the oven. Based on the guidelines of 55 minutes per kilo plus 25 minutes on top, I reckoned that my pork leg would need 4 hours in the oven. Four fucking hours! I got up at 8am, rubbed the rind with salt and mustard powder, shunted the pig in the oven, and went back to bed for an hour.
When I properly woke up at 9:30, I had breakfast, a shower and all that, and then went to my local grocers to get the rhubarb and horseradish cream for the sauce. It’s summer now, and we’re getting pretty evil-looking rhubarb, but it all worked out in the end, deliciously.
When I came home, it was about 11:00 o’clock. I boiled the potatoes, then made the rhubarb sauce. All you’ve got to do is cook the rhubarb in a bit of water until softened, then mash it up and stir the horseradish cream through it. It looked a bit like disgusting, and I was unsure of how it would taste.
khaki rhubarb
With the chocolate pudding, you just have to put all the ingredients in the processor, and then scrape the mixture into a buttered dish, and cover it with clingfilm. It can sit like this until you’re ready to cook. (It only takes about 5 minutes to cook).
choc mixture
Liam arrived at about 12:30, at which time I was mashing the potatoes. After that, I took the magnificent roast out of the oven to rest, and peeled off the crackling. I was about to, upon Nigella’s suggestion, put it back in the oven to crisp up, but was stopped by Liam.
Liam: Why? Why would you put that back in the oven?! It’s perfect! Look at the crispy outside and the chewy underside. Just leave it!
Liam is the roast pork master, so I trusted his decision.
crackling underside
Dad and Daniel happened to be out shopping at this time, which I’m sure was very frustrating for our hungry guest. I stirfried some cabbage in butter, oil and caraway seeds, and just as it was ready, Dad and Daniel came home, so it was time to carve!
Liam thumbs up
pork
pork on board - incidentally, this is the first time that Mum's let us use her wonderful Peer Sorensen chopping board for more than just displaying bread. Thank-you Mum!!
A picture of health
Now, I wasn't even going to make a gravy at all, as Nigella doesn't suggest making one... but when the pork came out of the oven, I noticed that there were a LOT of tasty-looking brown juices in the bottom of the pan, which would have gone to waste otherwise, so I boiled it up with a spoonful of flour to become a tasty tasty brown gravy.
Sarah, NOT kylie
I have to say, I am, in general, a pretty shite carver, but this pork was so tender and juicy, and my knife so sharp, that it was easy to carve the beast up into manageable slices.
LUNCH! Pork slices, stir-fried cabbage, rhubarb sauce, crackling, mashed potatoes
Pork slices
Meal
This was amazing!! The crackling was fab (even though I could only stomach a mouthful before I started worrying about my poor arteries), and Liam ate most of it. The pork was tender and juicy, and the mashed potatoes and cabbage were the perfect accompaniments. Bizzarely, my dad absolutely loved the rhubarb horseradish sauce, despite its feral pink colour!
Dad: This sauce is great with the pork! And the pork really good! I was afraid it was going to be really dry, but it's good!
When we got to the "langourous-picking-at-the-remains" stage, Daniel put on a DVD of The Office, which was brilliant. (Yes, we have a small TV and DVD player in the kitchen - I do spend most of my time in there, after all). This just totally added to the fun and relaxed atmosphere of the afternoon.
Now, about dessert.
Liam once said to me, “Sarah, we both love food. But you love quality, and I love quantity. Oh yeah, I love quantity”.
Of the seven-minute steamed chocolate pudding, Nigella writes, "This recipe comes from Barbara Kafka's Microwave Gourmet and I have kept to her quantities for 8 people because I am greedy. If you - unlike me - think 4 people won't eat enough for 8, then halve quantities". I knew that we would have no trouble eating this. Liam is the only human being I know who was able to eat 2 slices of Nigella's enormous Chocolate Fudge Cake (Nigella Bites) in the one go. In fact, I remember one time I made this cake, Liam was already onto his second slice while my friend Nathan and I (with more conventional appetites) were slowly working our way through our first piece.
Anyway, about the pudding. Once we'd finished lunch, I stuck the pudding in the microwave for 5 minutes, then pulled it out, stabbed the clingfilm with a knife and covered the dish with a plate (to keep it hot, apparently), and let it set for 10 minutes. In the meantime, we cleared the table and set it up for dessert.
pudding
This pudding totally rocks! I can't believe how easy it is! It's a thousand times easier than the chocolate surprise pudding (Weekend Lunch chapter) and even tastier, in my opinion (no crusty top though, which isn't a huge loss). It does look a bit unnatractive though, hence the dredging of icing sugar over the top. Nigella suggests crème fraiche as an accompaniment, which I duly followed. However, after the first mouthful, we all concurred that vanilla ice-cream would indeed be a superior choice.
pudding and icecream
After the dessert, Daniel, Liam and I staggered over to the loungeroom and lazily watched a few hilarious episodes of Futurama before I had to leave for work in the evening. What a perfect way to extend the afternoon!
By the way, there were lots of leftovers, so I packed Liam a doggy-bag for later.
Care pack - pork, mash, gravy
Later that evening, I went to work and proudly showed my co-workers the photos of my fab lunch. (I'd been crapping on about it to anyone who would listen the day before). I think they thought it was a bit odd that I take photos of food, but I'm beyond being embarassed about that sort of thing by now. And anyway, the general response was, "That's making me hungry. You made that today and THEN came to work? WOW!" And so on, and so on.
If you don’t like long, detailed, food-related, stream-of-consciousness type posts (then may I ask, what on earth are you doing reading this blog?) then feel free to simply scroll down to the bottom and look at the photos of today’s most wonderful lunch.
Introduction:
As I’ve mentioned many times previously, for about 6 years I totally avoided eating pork, or any pork product, and was very strict about it. It was only this year in August (the 6th, to be exact), that I re-introduced pork into my diet, with the decidedly uninspiring braised pheasant with mushroom and bacon. Since then, I have, on various occasions, eaten prosciutto, bacon, ham, and small slices of suckling pig. But I still hadn’t worked my way up to cooking or eating a huge hunk o’ pig – like a roast pork, or one of Nigella’s many hams. Until today.
Planning the lunch:
My good friend Liam happened to pop over last week, and when he did, I pounced on the opportunity to schedule him in for a meal at my house. (As I keep mentioning, it’s bloody hard to organize a free evening or afternoon when each member of my family is free, let alone outsiders!) So Thursday was the day. And the thing about Liam is – he is the King of Pig. By which I mean he loves pork products in all their forms, and has a massive appetite. It was time for Sarah to cook a huge hunk of pig.
Two nights ago, my friend DG (in England) and I spent a late night chatting on MSN trying to plan this bloody menu. You see, Liam, bless his cotton socks, is one of the fussiest fuckers I know. Well, I don’t know if “fussy” is the right word – he just seems to have a limited range of foods that he really likes and that he eats often. For example, rice, spices, Asian food, vegetables and apple pie all definitely do not feature in the Liam diet. So I chose the plainest of plain roast porks (no spices, no herbs, just salt and a bit of mustard powder), crackling, with mashed potatoes (at Liam’s request), and cabbage (for the rest of us), with the microwaved chocolate pudding from the Fast Food chapter for an easy, crowd-pleasing dessert.
The day before:
I went down to Rendinas Butchery (I practically live there now) and got a massive pork leg. I asked for “a pork leg for a roast”, and the butcher came out with this huge fuck-off hunk of pork. I suddenly got scared.
Me: Er, how many’s that gonna feed?
Butcher: About 10 people, easily.
Me: Ok, I’ve only got 5 people so could I have half of that?
Butcher: Yeah, no problem!
Even when he halved it, it looked worryingly large. I just had to keep reminding myself, "Liam is a big eater, and it is the Nigella way to never knowingly undercater". I also got the butcher to score the rind, and cut it off and drape it over the pig. Now, I’m not usually super keen on the smell of pork, but I have to admit, this fresh, free-range, properly reared Otway Pork did smell pretty darn good.
Later that night it was time for another convo with DG on MSN.
Sarah says: Should I make a sauce or something?
DG says: Yeah, some people can’t eat meat without sauce.
Sarah says: Ok, apple sauce?
DG says: Wait, I think there’s a Swedish rhubarb sauce somewhere in HTE.
Sarah says: No there’s not.
DG says: yeah, there is, I’m sure of it.
Sarah says: Nah, there isn’t. Look, I’ve read HTE back to front, and I’m sure there’s no recipe for rhubarb sauce with pork.
DG says: Wait, I’m gonna look for it.
Sarah says: Ok, whatever. You’re crazy.
10 minutes later…
Sarah says: I told you it’s not in there.
DG says: yeah it is I’m still looking for it!
30 minutes later…
Sarah says: Just give up!
DG says: no no no, I’m not going crazy! I'm sure it's in here, where is this fucking thing?
20 minutes later…
DG says: OMG I FOUND IT I FOUND IT I FOUND IT! Page 314.
This Swedish sauce of rhubarb mixed with bottled horseradish sauce is mentioned in the last two sentences of the recipe for Apple Butterscotch Tart. How random.
After all that, I couldn’t exactly say no to making the rhubarb sauce now, could I?
On the day:
191. Roast Pork (Weekend Lunch)
192. Swedish Rhubarb and Horseradish Sauce (Weekend Lunch)
193. Seven-Minute Steamed Chocolate Pudding (Fast Food)
I got up at the crack of fucking dawn this morning to put the pork leg in the oven. Based on the guidelines of 55 minutes per kilo plus 25 minutes on top, I reckoned that my pork leg would need 4 hours in the oven. Four fucking hours! I got up at 8am, rubbed the rind with salt and mustard powder, shunted the pig in the oven, and went back to bed for an hour.
When I properly woke up at 9:30, I had breakfast, a shower and all that, and then went to my local grocers to get the rhubarb and horseradish cream for the sauce. It’s summer now, and we’re getting pretty evil-looking rhubarb, but it all worked out in the end, deliciously.
When I came home, it was about 11:00 o’clock. I boiled the potatoes, then made the rhubarb sauce. All you’ve got to do is cook the rhubarb in a bit of water until softened, then mash it up and stir the horseradish cream through it. It looked a bit like disgusting, and I was unsure of how it would taste.
khaki rhubarb
With the chocolate pudding, you just have to put all the ingredients in the processor, and then scrape the mixture into a buttered dish, and cover it with clingfilm. It can sit like this until you’re ready to cook. (It only takes about 5 minutes to cook).
choc mixture
Liam arrived at about 12:30, at which time I was mashing the potatoes. After that, I took the magnificent roast out of the oven to rest, and peeled off the crackling. I was about to, upon Nigella’s suggestion, put it back in the oven to crisp up, but was stopped by Liam.
Liam: Why? Why would you put that back in the oven?! It’s perfect! Look at the crispy outside and the chewy underside. Just leave it!
Liam is the roast pork master, so I trusted his decision.
crackling underside
Dad and Daniel happened to be out shopping at this time, which I’m sure was very frustrating for our hungry guest. I stirfried some cabbage in butter, oil and caraway seeds, and just as it was ready, Dad and Daniel came home, so it was time to carve!
Liam thumbs up
pork
pork on board - incidentally, this is the first time that Mum's let us use her wonderful Peer Sorensen chopping board for more than just displaying bread. Thank-you Mum!!
A picture of health
Now, I wasn't even going to make a gravy at all, as Nigella doesn't suggest making one... but when the pork came out of the oven, I noticed that there were a LOT of tasty-looking brown juices in the bottom of the pan, which would have gone to waste otherwise, so I boiled it up with a spoonful of flour to become a tasty tasty brown gravy.
Sarah, NOT kylie
I have to say, I am, in general, a pretty shite carver, but this pork was so tender and juicy, and my knife so sharp, that it was easy to carve the beast up into manageable slices.
LUNCH! Pork slices, stir-fried cabbage, rhubarb sauce, crackling, mashed potatoes
Pork slices
Meal
This was amazing!! The crackling was fab (even though I could only stomach a mouthful before I started worrying about my poor arteries), and Liam ate most of it. The pork was tender and juicy, and the mashed potatoes and cabbage were the perfect accompaniments. Bizzarely, my dad absolutely loved the rhubarb horseradish sauce, despite its feral pink colour!
Dad: This sauce is great with the pork! And the pork really good! I was afraid it was going to be really dry, but it's good!
When we got to the "langourous-picking-at-the-remains" stage, Daniel put on a DVD of The Office, which was brilliant. (Yes, we have a small TV and DVD player in the kitchen - I do spend most of my time in there, after all). This just totally added to the fun and relaxed atmosphere of the afternoon.
Now, about dessert.
Liam once said to me, “Sarah, we both love food. But you love quality, and I love quantity. Oh yeah, I love quantity”.
Of the seven-minute steamed chocolate pudding, Nigella writes, "This recipe comes from Barbara Kafka's Microwave Gourmet and I have kept to her quantities for 8 people because I am greedy. If you - unlike me - think 4 people won't eat enough for 8, then halve quantities". I knew that we would have no trouble eating this. Liam is the only human being I know who was able to eat 2 slices of Nigella's enormous Chocolate Fudge Cake (Nigella Bites) in the one go. In fact, I remember one time I made this cake, Liam was already onto his second slice while my friend Nathan and I (with more conventional appetites) were slowly working our way through our first piece.
Anyway, about the pudding. Once we'd finished lunch, I stuck the pudding in the microwave for 5 minutes, then pulled it out, stabbed the clingfilm with a knife and covered the dish with a plate (to keep it hot, apparently), and let it set for 10 minutes. In the meantime, we cleared the table and set it up for dessert.
pudding
This pudding totally rocks! I can't believe how easy it is! It's a thousand times easier than the chocolate surprise pudding (Weekend Lunch chapter) and even tastier, in my opinion (no crusty top though, which isn't a huge loss). It does look a bit unnatractive though, hence the dredging of icing sugar over the top. Nigella suggests crème fraiche as an accompaniment, which I duly followed. However, after the first mouthful, we all concurred that vanilla ice-cream would indeed be a superior choice.
pudding and icecream
After the dessert, Daniel, Liam and I staggered over to the loungeroom and lazily watched a few hilarious episodes of Futurama before I had to leave for work in the evening. What a perfect way to extend the afternoon!
By the way, there were lots of leftovers, so I packed Liam a doggy-bag for later.
Care pack - pork, mash, gravy
Later that evening, I went to work and proudly showed my co-workers the photos of my fab lunch. (I'd been crapping on about it to anyone who would listen the day before). I think they thought it was a bit odd that I take photos of food, but I'm beyond being embarassed about that sort of thing by now. And anyway, the general response was, "That's making me hungry. You made that today and THEN came to work? WOW!" And so on, and so on.
Saturday, December 03, 2005
Do you ever have one of those days at work where everything just goes wrong?
Yesterday afternoon, I was on the bus, about a quarter of the way to work, when I realised that I’d left my keys (including the crucial locker key, without which I would be unable to retrieve my uniform) in my friend George’s car. So I got off the bus, and called my Dad, who very generously picked me up and drove me to George’s house to get my key, and thence to the closest tram stop. After all this, I was half an hour late to work. Luckily my manager, Ben, is a top bloke and very understanding. However, because of my lateness, I was basically thrown head-first into successive sold-out sessions of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and spent my whole shift feeling very lost, running drinks into the cinemas, up and down stairs with heavy trays of glasses. For some reason I was really klutzy too, and kept spilling drinks and knocking shit over – glasses of water, champagne, beer etc. At one particularly low point of the evening, I spilled two glasses of champagne down my top. My uniform is black, thank goodness, but I still smelled like an alcoholic for the rest of the evening. I finished work at 11:30pm, determined to come straight home and sleep, to prepare for my next shift, which started at 11:00am the next morning.
Soon after I came home, however, my friend Liam popped over to say hi. Liam, my brother and myself stayed up watching Ricky Jervais’ Politics on DVD. Fucking brilliant. It was so funny that I barely even noticed the time, and suddenly it was 3:30am! I was a bit worried about how I'd handle the next day. However, the next morning, I woke up on time, went to work, and had an excellent shift, with everything running smoothly and no dramas at all. I was in kitchen, not waitering, which basically meant that I just cooked all the orders as they came in, and made OTHER PEOPLE run them into the cinemas and deal with the customers. It was a great shift, but needless to say I was rather buggered when I got home at 7:00pm, just in time to make dinner.
That might have been a long-winded way to start this post, but the point was (and trust me, there is a point) to illustrate how wonderful and easy tonight’s dinner was.
184. Chicken with Salsa Verde (Fast Food)
185. Miso Mustard Dressing (Low Fat)
The chicken is chicken breasts, poached for about 10 minutes in some stock (cubes with water), with parsley stalks, bay leaves and a chopped carrot (I had no celery). While that was going on, I made some lentils, cooked as per another suggestion in the Fast Food chapter. That is to say you firstly cook a finely chopped mixture of onion, garlic, carrot and parsley in some oil, tip in the lentils and then warm them through. I’ve tried this many times before with other pulses, and it’s a great accompaniment.
I also made a salad dressing from the Low Fat chapter – miso, wholegrain mustard, honey and orange juice to go with baby spinach and cos lettuce.
Dressing
And then the salsa verde. This just involves bunging everything into a processor and turning it on.
Then all I had to do was put the food on plates, and a lovely, healthy and nourishing dinner for my mother and I was served.
Soon after I came home, however, my friend Liam popped over to say hi. Liam, my brother and myself stayed up watching Ricky Jervais’ Politics on DVD. Fucking brilliant. It was so funny that I barely even noticed the time, and suddenly it was 3:30am! I was a bit worried about how I'd handle the next day. However, the next morning, I woke up on time, went to work, and had an excellent shift, with everything running smoothly and no dramas at all. I was in kitchen, not waitering, which basically meant that I just cooked all the orders as they came in, and made OTHER PEOPLE run them into the cinemas and deal with the customers. It was a great shift, but needless to say I was rather buggered when I got home at 7:00pm, just in time to make dinner.
That might have been a long-winded way to start this post, but the point was (and trust me, there is a point) to illustrate how wonderful and easy tonight’s dinner was.
184. Chicken with Salsa Verde (Fast Food)
185. Miso Mustard Dressing (Low Fat)
The chicken is chicken breasts, poached for about 10 minutes in some stock (cubes with water), with parsley stalks, bay leaves and a chopped carrot (I had no celery). While that was going on, I made some lentils, cooked as per another suggestion in the Fast Food chapter. That is to say you firstly cook a finely chopped mixture of onion, garlic, carrot and parsley in some oil, tip in the lentils and then warm them through. I’ve tried this many times before with other pulses, and it’s a great accompaniment.
I also made a salad dressing from the Low Fat chapter – miso, wholegrain mustard, honey and orange juice to go with baby spinach and cos lettuce.
Dressing
And then the salsa verde. This just involves bunging everything into a processor and turning it on.
Then all I had to do was put the food on plates, and a lovely, healthy and nourishing dinner for my mother and I was served.
Monday, November 21, 2005
I'm baaaaaack!
Hello all! I had my last exam today, thank God!! The plans for the 3 month holiday are simply to cook, blog, sleep and go out. Sounds good to me!
I haven't been blogging for the past two weeks, but I have kept track of what I've been cooking and eating. So, enjoy!
Thursday, 10th November
Ok, this is the first day of my break from How to Eat recipes. I've put the book on the shelf, I’m in front of the computer, and my Japanese essay is going to get done. I’ve informed my parents of my temporary break from cooking, and put them in charge of feeding us.
As an unexpected bonus, today I receive my three Magnolia Bakery cookbooks from Amazon.com. I've got The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook, More from Magnolia and The Buttercup Bake Shop Cookbook. I'm superexcited, all these gorgeous little cakes!! But at the same time, it's just an extra hundred recipes to add onto my already long list...
Mum makes a nice spaghetti with asparagus and basil pesto (bought from Leo’s supermarket), which I eat alone in front of the computer, with a Nestlé Double Blend Hot Chocolate and my 8th Milo bar of the week.
Asparagus Pesto Pasta, Hot Chocolate and Milo Bar
Friday, 11th November
I was up till 3am last night, and woke up at 9:30 this morning to finish this goddamn essay off, which is due in at 5pm today. At 12:00 noon, though, I miraculously finish the fucker, print it out, and it’s time for lunch. Dad walks in at about this time, asking me what I want for lunch.
Me: Yeah whatever. I don’t care, I’ll eat anything.
Dad: Well I’ll go up to Rendinas and buy some meat ok?
Suddenly my mind, tired and worn out from not enough sleep and too much Japanese, goes into foodie mode…
Me: OH MY GOD, DAD! BUY SOME LAMB RACKS! I’LL MAKE NIGELLA’S CINNAMON LAMB RACKS AGAIN.
Dad: Aren’t you tired? I can grill some steaks, it’s ok.
Me: NO NO NO buy some lamb racks it’s so easy and it will be delicious!
Dad: trying to avoid an argument with his deranged daughter... Yeah ok…
He comes back 20 minutes later, lamb racks in tow (but with some sausages as well, just in case I’ve had a change of heart in the meantime. Clever Dad). I get up from the computer chair, preheat the oven, paint the lamb with cinnamon and chilli oil, chuck them in the oven and make the couscous, without the recipe. It’s not exactly the same as in the book – I put couscous AND a tin of chickpeas into hot stock and leave it to sit, then once it’s cooked, fork through some barberries and pine nuts, which I’ve toasted. Whilst I'm preparing this, Dad grills the sausages, and boils some beans. When he sees me make the couscous, Dad says he doesn’t like couscous, but once it’s all done and on the table, he realizes that this is the only version of couscous that he does like, and has 3rd helpings.
Pretty impressive for something whipped up very impromptu and on very little sleep! I think the fact that I was able to make this without the recipe, and in a very short time frame, proves that this recipe indeed deserves its title as a "Hit" of the Fast Food chapter.
For dinner we go out, then I go out drinking with friends to celebrate the end of this god-awful Japanese subject.
Saturday, 12th November
The first thing I do when I wake up is soak some cannellini beans to make Nigella’s Bean and Pasta soup (Kiddie chapter). The rest of the morning is spent procrastinating, then in the afternoon I realise I have to start studying for next week’s exams.
For dinner, on the suggestion of the lovely Ilana from the Nigella.com forum, I make Nigella’s garlic mushrooms (Kiddie chapter) and pair it with pasta, butter and nutmeg (Fast Food). It only takes about 15 minutes in total, and Ilana was right – it is a perfect meal.
173. Garlic Mushrooms
Garlic Mushrooms + butter/nutmeg pasta
I eat it, with my mum, sitting in front of the TV… and guess what’s on!! NIGELLA BITES! And it’s an episode from the first series, where she makes recipes from How to Eat! SCORE! In this episode, the "Entertaining" episode, she makes chilli and garlic prawns, the mezze-style dinner party, sparkling wine with lime, vagina jelly, loin of pork with bay leaves, guacamole and the Caesar salad. This is good, not only because I love watching the programs, but also because I was confused as to how to make the Caesar salad.
Late at night, I boil the soaked cannellini beans in preparation for making soup tomorrow.
Sunday, 13th November
174. Bean and Pasta Soup (Feeding Babies and Small Children)
When I wake up, I make the bean and pasta soup. However, at the last minute, I realise we again, have run out of tinned tomatoes. So I substitute with a jar of Dolmio basil and tomato pasta sauce, and hope to god that it doesn’t end up tasting like shit.
Bean & pasta soup
Luckily, it tastes fantastic. I have it with some Phillipa’s Corn Bread toast, whilst watching a hilarious episode of I’m Alan Partridge. I’ve forgotten how funny this show is, and remind myself that, one day, I will have Steve Coogan’s babies.
Monday 14th November
Whilst surfing the internet, I happen to stumble across a photo of this love-rat I used to be obsessed with, instantly feel totally depressed and decide that the only solution is ice-cream.
I forage the freezer, and end up with a bowl of Nigella’s World’s Best Chocolate Ice-cream, her Rhubarb Ice-cream and some Connoisseur Chocolate Honey-Nougat Ice-cream, with two Hobnob biscuits. It sounds like my idea of heaven in a bowl, but I'm just not feeling it.
Tuesday 15th November
I spend the entire day in the library with my best friend An, have lunch at about 12, then get back to the library. By 5pm, I haven't got hungry again, and realise something must be very wrong. Usually I get hungry every 3 hours. Usually I eat twice the amount An eats. Usually I spend the whole day dreaming about food. I don't know what's wrong. Maybe it's because I'm still thinking about that Love Rat. In the evening, I also happen to have a mini drama with someone else I was sort of involved with. Why does this shit always happen at the most inappropriate times?? Or maybe my lack of appetite is due to stress from exams. Either way, it's not good. I hope my appetite comes back tomorrow.
Wednesday 16th November
Having just barely recovered from seeing the Love Rat's photo and my other mini-drama, I somehow manage to study just enough to not totally screw myself for exams. Like yesterday, I spend all day in the library, buy food from a cafe on campus, come home for dinner (made by the parentals), study some more and then collapse in bed. For some reason, I'm still not thinking about food. This is starting to scare me. Sarah losing her appetite is worse than Samantha from Sex and the City losing her sex drive.
Thursday 17th November, Friday 18th November
I have exams on both these days. Don't talk to me.
Saturday 19th November
Two exams down, only one to go.
MY APPETITE IS BACK! THANK GOODNESS!
For dinner I feel like pasta, and want to make the garlic mushrooms again, but don’t wanna eat the exact same thing again. So, I make the garlic mushrooms, as per usual, but I decide toss the carbonara sauce (minus cream and bacon) through the pasta. I want to sprinkle it with parsley after it’s done, but the parsley which I bought prior to the exam period seems to have died a horrible horrible death in my fridge, so I leave it out.
Sauce, wine, minging parsley
Whilst I'm cooking the mushrooms, I accidentally knock the bottle of wine onto the floor. Thankfully, the bottle doesn't break, and only a little bit of wine is spilled. But as I smell the wine, I think sadly to myself what I'd give to just take a couple of gulps of that wine. Aaahh... but any dreams of drunkenness will have to wait until after exams...
Nigella says you don’t need cream, but I think she’s wrong. The egg sauce tastes, well, too eggy, and even though it’s delicious whilst I eat it, as soon as I’m done my mouth just tastes of egg, and I need buckets of water to wash out the taste.
Mushroom Carbonara - tastes infinitely better than it looks
Sunday 20th November
Come lunchtime, I feel like pasta again, so I make Nigella’s Spaghetti Aglio Olio, which I’m pretty sure I’ve made before, so doesn't count as a new recipe. I obviously haven’t had time to go and buy new parsley, so it ends up looking pretty boring. Tastes amazing though.
Spaghetti Aglio Olio
Come 7:30pm, marketing theories have fried my brain, and I can't think of food. I send Dad out to Colombo's to get some disgustingly greasy food - capriciossa pizza, a chicken parmigiana, and potato skins (aka soggy wedges) with sour cream, cheese and bacon.
Chicken Parma
Wedges
Man, this stuff is greasy. But it tastes so good! Can't wait for tomorrow night, when all exams are done!
So that was my two weeks without blogging!! I'm definitely back now, with a venegeance! Get ready for heaps of posts!
xox Sarah
I haven't been blogging for the past two weeks, but I have kept track of what I've been cooking and eating. So, enjoy!
Thursday, 10th November
Ok, this is the first day of my break from How to Eat recipes. I've put the book on the shelf, I’m in front of the computer, and my Japanese essay is going to get done. I’ve informed my parents of my temporary break from cooking, and put them in charge of feeding us.
As an unexpected bonus, today I receive my three Magnolia Bakery cookbooks from Amazon.com. I've got The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook, More from Magnolia and The Buttercup Bake Shop Cookbook. I'm superexcited, all these gorgeous little cakes!! But at the same time, it's just an extra hundred recipes to add onto my already long list...
Mum makes a nice spaghetti with asparagus and basil pesto (bought from Leo’s supermarket), which I eat alone in front of the computer, with a Nestlé Double Blend Hot Chocolate and my 8th Milo bar of the week.
Asparagus Pesto Pasta, Hot Chocolate and Milo Bar
Friday, 11th November
I was up till 3am last night, and woke up at 9:30 this morning to finish this goddamn essay off, which is due in at 5pm today. At 12:00 noon, though, I miraculously finish the fucker, print it out, and it’s time for lunch. Dad walks in at about this time, asking me what I want for lunch.
Me: Yeah whatever. I don’t care, I’ll eat anything.
Dad: Well I’ll go up to Rendinas and buy some meat ok?
Suddenly my mind, tired and worn out from not enough sleep and too much Japanese, goes into foodie mode…
Me: OH MY GOD, DAD! BUY SOME LAMB RACKS! I’LL MAKE NIGELLA’S CINNAMON LAMB RACKS AGAIN.
Dad: Aren’t you tired? I can grill some steaks, it’s ok.
Me: NO NO NO buy some lamb racks it’s so easy and it will be delicious!
Dad: trying to avoid an argument with his deranged daughter... Yeah ok…
He comes back 20 minutes later, lamb racks in tow (but with some sausages as well, just in case I’ve had a change of heart in the meantime. Clever Dad). I get up from the computer chair, preheat the oven, paint the lamb with cinnamon and chilli oil, chuck them in the oven and make the couscous, without the recipe. It’s not exactly the same as in the book – I put couscous AND a tin of chickpeas into hot stock and leave it to sit, then once it’s cooked, fork through some barberries and pine nuts, which I’ve toasted. Whilst I'm preparing this, Dad grills the sausages, and boils some beans. When he sees me make the couscous, Dad says he doesn’t like couscous, but once it’s all done and on the table, he realizes that this is the only version of couscous that he does like, and has 3rd helpings.
Pretty impressive for something whipped up very impromptu and on very little sleep! I think the fact that I was able to make this without the recipe, and in a very short time frame, proves that this recipe indeed deserves its title as a "Hit" of the Fast Food chapter.
For dinner we go out, then I go out drinking with friends to celebrate the end of this god-awful Japanese subject.
Saturday, 12th November
The first thing I do when I wake up is soak some cannellini beans to make Nigella’s Bean and Pasta soup (Kiddie chapter). The rest of the morning is spent procrastinating, then in the afternoon I realise I have to start studying for next week’s exams.
For dinner, on the suggestion of the lovely Ilana from the Nigella.com forum, I make Nigella’s garlic mushrooms (Kiddie chapter) and pair it with pasta, butter and nutmeg (Fast Food). It only takes about 15 minutes in total, and Ilana was right – it is a perfect meal.
173. Garlic Mushrooms
Garlic Mushrooms + butter/nutmeg pasta
I eat it, with my mum, sitting in front of the TV… and guess what’s on!! NIGELLA BITES! And it’s an episode from the first series, where she makes recipes from How to Eat! SCORE! In this episode, the "Entertaining" episode, she makes chilli and garlic prawns, the mezze-style dinner party, sparkling wine with lime, vagina jelly, loin of pork with bay leaves, guacamole and the Caesar salad. This is good, not only because I love watching the programs, but also because I was confused as to how to make the Caesar salad.
Late at night, I boil the soaked cannellini beans in preparation for making soup tomorrow.
Sunday, 13th November
174. Bean and Pasta Soup (Feeding Babies and Small Children)
When I wake up, I make the bean and pasta soup. However, at the last minute, I realise we again, have run out of tinned tomatoes. So I substitute with a jar of Dolmio basil and tomato pasta sauce, and hope to god that it doesn’t end up tasting like shit.
Bean & pasta soup
Luckily, it tastes fantastic. I have it with some Phillipa’s Corn Bread toast, whilst watching a hilarious episode of I’m Alan Partridge. I’ve forgotten how funny this show is, and remind myself that, one day, I will have Steve Coogan’s babies.
Monday 14th November
Whilst surfing the internet, I happen to stumble across a photo of this love-rat I used to be obsessed with, instantly feel totally depressed and decide that the only solution is ice-cream.
I forage the freezer, and end up with a bowl of Nigella’s World’s Best Chocolate Ice-cream, her Rhubarb Ice-cream and some Connoisseur Chocolate Honey-Nougat Ice-cream, with two Hobnob biscuits. It sounds like my idea of heaven in a bowl, but I'm just not feeling it.
Tuesday 15th November
I spend the entire day in the library with my best friend An, have lunch at about 12, then get back to the library. By 5pm, I haven't got hungry again, and realise something must be very wrong. Usually I get hungry every 3 hours. Usually I eat twice the amount An eats. Usually I spend the whole day dreaming about food. I don't know what's wrong. Maybe it's because I'm still thinking about that Love Rat. In the evening, I also happen to have a mini drama with someone else I was sort of involved with. Why does this shit always happen at the most inappropriate times?? Or maybe my lack of appetite is due to stress from exams. Either way, it's not good. I hope my appetite comes back tomorrow.
Wednesday 16th November
Having just barely recovered from seeing the Love Rat's photo and my other mini-drama, I somehow manage to study just enough to not totally screw myself for exams. Like yesterday, I spend all day in the library, buy food from a cafe on campus, come home for dinner (made by the parentals), study some more and then collapse in bed. For some reason, I'm still not thinking about food. This is starting to scare me. Sarah losing her appetite is worse than Samantha from Sex and the City losing her sex drive.
Thursday 17th November, Friday 18th November
I have exams on both these days. Don't talk to me.
Saturday 19th November
Two exams down, only one to go.
MY APPETITE IS BACK! THANK GOODNESS!
For dinner I feel like pasta, and want to make the garlic mushrooms again, but don’t wanna eat the exact same thing again. So, I make the garlic mushrooms, as per usual, but I decide toss the carbonara sauce (minus cream and bacon) through the pasta. I want to sprinkle it with parsley after it’s done, but the parsley which I bought prior to the exam period seems to have died a horrible horrible death in my fridge, so I leave it out.
Sauce, wine, minging parsley
Whilst I'm cooking the mushrooms, I accidentally knock the bottle of wine onto the floor. Thankfully, the bottle doesn't break, and only a little bit of wine is spilled. But as I smell the wine, I think sadly to myself what I'd give to just take a couple of gulps of that wine. Aaahh... but any dreams of drunkenness will have to wait until after exams...
Nigella says you don’t need cream, but I think she’s wrong. The egg sauce tastes, well, too eggy, and even though it’s delicious whilst I eat it, as soon as I’m done my mouth just tastes of egg, and I need buckets of water to wash out the taste.
Mushroom Carbonara - tastes infinitely better than it looks
Sunday 20th November
Come lunchtime, I feel like pasta again, so I make Nigella’s Spaghetti Aglio Olio, which I’m pretty sure I’ve made before, so doesn't count as a new recipe. I obviously haven’t had time to go and buy new parsley, so it ends up looking pretty boring. Tastes amazing though.
Spaghetti Aglio Olio
Come 7:30pm, marketing theories have fried my brain, and I can't think of food. I send Dad out to Colombo's to get some disgustingly greasy food - capriciossa pizza, a chicken parmigiana, and potato skins (aka soggy wedges) with sour cream, cheese and bacon.
Chicken Parma
Wedges
Man, this stuff is greasy. But it tastes so good! Can't wait for tomorrow night, when all exams are done!
So that was my two weeks without blogging!! I'm definitely back now, with a venegeance! Get ready for heaps of posts!
xox Sarah
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