Forgive me THIGHS for i have sinned....

See her.... that woman there.... the one stuffing her face with freshly baked Brioche and homemade chocolate spread.....? That's me that is.
Forgive me Thighs, Stomach, Bottom = for today i ate like a King! In terms of food, i have a great deal to talk about. Mainly in conjunction with my new love of Molly *swoon* (see previous post) but rather than overwhelm with you my full days menu - i'll spoon feed you the MACAROONS for now and spare you the gluttony i indulged in.
These babies:::::::>>>> are Coconut Macaroons! Baking in the oven. Oh yum.... And i don't even 'like' coconut. Well, i didn't until today.

I was up early today and had a Brioche loaf baking by 6am - (ready in 3 hours or so) so i started my day with Tea and Fresh Pineapple whilst standing idle over the stove and the beginnings of the Macaroons.

By fortuity (or great sense of smell) by parents happend to be passing my home at 8.30am and wanted breakfast! luckily there were 5 egg yolks looking for a home as i had just used the 5 egg whites in my Macaroons. So they were treated to Scrambled Egg on toast. (i am slowly feeling smug and self satisfied at my domestic economics)

By 10am, my parents long gone, the Brioche was ready. And, like the pig that i am, i ate great slabs of it smothered in Chocolate Ganache that was left over from covering the Macaroons. Honestly, i almost turned into a French Native, it was such an extravagant breakfast.

Then i needed to taste the amazing Macaroons. They were a joy! and i love a recipe that i can adapt. As i was making these this morning i had a few different variations forming in my head. They didn't need the chocolate in my opinion. So my next batch will omit the Ganache topping and i am going to add finely chopped dried Cranberries or dried Sour Cherries.... great for kids snack packs.... the ideas are endless.....

Later, i ate "Bouchons au Thon" also courtesy of Molly Wizenberg with a salad of toasted Brioche croutons, blue cheese and masses of chopped tomatos, all on a bed of Rocket leaves.

Forgive me nothing my friends - who wants to be skinny when you can eat like this!?

And, if you are nice to me, i will share the recipe for the Bouchons x

Salivating over Molly's Book...

I think it would be fair to say, i have "treated" myself of late. 2010 has, so far, proven to be a pretty nasty year in all. It is only May however and there might be a few months yet to reprieve. I have indulged, with a ting of guilt, in a few treats for myself in attempt to keep spirits from divebombing.......
I bought this book on whim - A HOMEMADE LIFE by Molly Wizenberg. It developed from a blog ORANGETTE (which i have yet to check out myself)
I bought the book thinking it was pricey at £11.99 - but with the hope that it would be filled with glorious photographs and crafty ideas..... that anticipation was so far from what i received.

But what i did discover was an entire book of magical new recipes and engaging writing. Quite honestly, i am HOOKED on Molly. This book is pure joy.

I am falling into bed at present, sooooo tired from what each day is launching at me, and i reach for Molly and slowly read a chapter before sleep. I don't do this with other books - i race through them all in one sitting. Not Molly's Book. It needs savouring....

The above recipe, i did actually buy the ingredients for today. I am hoping to make these tomorrow morning but i'll see how i get on with getting up and dressed first! There are so many great recipes in here and i can't wait to try these out.

AAaaaahh, there she is - Molly. On the back page of her book. She looks quite slim huh? How does that happen when you eat such great food all the time? (Note to self: Cook well, Eat well, Move more)

In the absence of having something good to cook and eat right at this moment, i shall lick the book. I am so needy right now, it's pathetic - but at least i can come back to cookery. The nurturing, soothing, comfort of Making, Baking and Eating xxx

Buy the book - or better still, order it from the library. It is so good!

FlapJacks....

I love to eat them.
I love them moist and caramel-y with some sort of fruit in them.... And i have been making them since i was child (necking half the mixture before it was cooked) and playing 'cookery programmes' with my friend Debbie.

So, why, Oh why, Oh why, Oh why do i still muck them every single time??

Care to give me your recipe and method? for whichever i use - i am damned.....

Answers via the comments / on your blogs / via the heavens, however you please.... but PLEASE, help me!?

So, what did we think of 'the Delicious miss Dahl' then??

I read a book last year - - - it was massively long and such slloooooww reading. Nothing really happend in it at all, it never 'got' anywhere... and i couldn't decide how i felt about the characters... and it was a gripping and fascinating book.
I just couldn't form an opinion on it and i found that really frustrating... i OFTEN have an opinion.... on most things...!

I now have an opinion on Sophie Dahl:

I was ready to hate her - i promise i was. There was no room in my life for yet another staged celeb cook..... but i gave her a chance. I blanked my mind completely and i watched The Delicious Miss Dahl with a free and easy mind.

I loved it.

I loved the settings and the recipes. I loved her face and her talking. And most importantly of all, over everything - I wanted to eat the food she was making.

I cannot say fairer than that.

So, if you watched the show - and had one of those terrifying moments where you couldn't find your own opinion, please feel free to borrow mine...

I loved it - *fans this way purlease* xxx

Marmalade 2 - the revisit....

Batch no.2.
After research, discussion, tips from here :) i made a second batch of Marmalde. Please don't make the assumption that i *think* about anything before i go ahead and try it - the Marmalade being a prime example.... so i tried a completely different method. This is alot cleaner and clearer than before. Sunshiney and bright with some peel included and the odd Star Anise in each jar. The little black specs are vanilla pod seeds....

I boiled up about 7 Seville Oranges and 1 normal in a big ole chutney pan.

Covered the fruit with about 2 litres of water and simmer for 1.5 hours or there-on.

I ADDED to the water, with the fruit, before boiling:

1 Vanilla Pod

A large cube chopped ginger

3 Star Anise

1 Broken Cinnamon Stick

10 - 15 Cloves

Then - i strained the liquid and only put the items BACK into the mix, that i wanted to keep, so:

Scraped out flesh of the oranges to put back in.

Chopped some peel - so nice and soft now they had been boiled and placed back in the pan.

Star Anise back in the pan.


It was a quicker and easier method by far and retained so much of the flavour of my little extras - especially the vanilla. I was scared the soft vanilla taste would get drowned in Seville Orange bittreness but it warms through sensationally.

All the liquid was then boiled up for 20 mins or so? i kept a Jam thermometer in the pan to check. I boiled it up with 1kg of sugar - granulated, as the added pectin in Jam Sugar was uneneccasry for these fruits.

TASTE - done

LOOK - happy with

CONSISTENCY - still a little runny and more sugar would have helped make this thicker but i didn't want the flavour any sweeter.

Friends and family decided they could live with the runnier consistency as opposed to a wobbly jelly type. I caught someone spooning the stuff into their mouth direct from the fridge... i think that was a seal of approval?

Thanks for all your help peoples xxx

Noodle Soup....

The Mrs and I (that is, MrsB and I) don't even really talk about what we are going to blog about... we like to surprise each other... So imagine my smiles to find my Mrs had blogged her Super 'Super Noodles' and miso paste...

My next recipe was Chinese Udon Noodle Soup! Great minds think alike.

I am craving noodles right now and yours look soooo good x

Mine was a recipe from this Months DELICIOUS

But i used a little too much Miso Paste and not enough SoySauce.

Noodle love my gorgeous MrsB, Ooodles of Noooodle love xxx

St Clements Marmalade...

Orange and Lemon Marmalade = St Clements...
I love to make Jams & Chutneys & Pickles & Cordials... and the more i make them, the less i can bear to buy them from shops. I had a mammoth making session the other day. My nanna is in a position right now where she needs and deserves, a lot of looking after. The first of her favourite things i made was the Marmalade.
Recipe used from my LAKELAND Preserves & Pickles Book (i love it) but it made soooo many jars...

I think this: was one one of my problems. I don't like coarse Marmalade with lots of peel but i know that the peel is what gives it the bitter flavour. So i juiced all my fruits and mixed some of the peel 'waste' into the juice.

This led to much more juice than the recipe anticipated. It was quicker and easier for me this way but i needed more sugar to boil the liquid into a jelly. *lesson Learned*

And i realised too late the recipe made milllllliiiioooonnns ofg jars!

So i will be out and about next week delivering pots of Marmalade to family members (you've been warned family)

OOoohhh the satisfaction....

P.s. On delivery to my nanna she told me about a great product called "marmamaid".... an alternative to all those Seville Oranges. I will investigate.

Read your own Blog....

... i mean it, go back through your own blog and read it!
I popped into this blog this morning - i wanted to bake a batch of wholemeal scones and i thought i should check MrsB's previous post when she made them.... I had a recipe but wanted to compare if MrsB's seemed better / any tips she had etc...
Well, i got carried away reading all our posts. We are brilliant! (tongue in cheek) and i really enjoyed some of the great food, all over again. I reminded myself about Cous-Cous and there were a few of MrsB's i had earmarked 'to try' but forgotten about.

That's all i wanted to say really. Go through your own blog - it's good fun... like finding a book that you really liked and takes you back to forgotten moments...

Cheers to us x

Cooking at Christmas...

I have had problems with accessing this blog account so i missed all the great Christmas Cookery Posts i had planned. Aaah well, we are all too busy with our own Christmassy plans to have time for much pleasure reading? But i did want to share a few of the images i had stored...
Above - look at my gorgeous vintage Ceramic rolling pin *Christmas goodies bag from MrsB to me* (lucky lady that i am) i adore my rolling pin - and look closely, you'll see it has "Nutbrown" written on it, like it came from a little squirrel's kitchen!
And, next to that, a Tree Cookie Cutter with a cutout slice so the cookie sits tightly on the rim of One's tea cup.... precious!

I did use my rolling pin for various pastry dishes. Some invoving chocolate chunks, mmmm
and some involving Home-made fruity Mincemeat (i am salivating at the mere memory)

*MrsB - remind me to blog my fruit mincemeat recipe for next festive season?*

I hope you all enjoyed Christmas Cookery and didn't allow it to get too much of a chore?

I have taken my friends advice below: a fizzy mineral tab in a 3/4 pint of water - topped up to a full pint with SPATONE and orange juice.

I feel A L I V E ! zzzziinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggg !

Cauliflower Cheese....

I love the stuff. I love cauliflower in cheese sauce.
Now, we never said this blog would be filled with complicated and impressive dishes.... good, homely cooking - seasonal products - family dishes.... I bloomin' L O V E "Cauliflower Cheese". When i was pregnant i loved it that 'little bit more' (in the way only a pregnant woman can) and do you know, there was actually a National Cauliflower Shortage in a few weeks when i was pregnant - i KID you not! What are the chances? Poor ManFish driving from Supermarket to super-supermarket...!

Anyways, thank the heavens that my Mother taught me how to make a White Sauce at such an early age. A true Winter staple. If i haven't eaten it for a while, i crave it all the more.

A cauliflower, bolied quite well (i always put stock in my water when i boil it)

Covered in cheesy white sauce (with a generous dash of mustard)
Add what else you like: Sauted onions? capers? Halved baby toms? it is up to you.

I popped this in the oven for a good 40 mins whilst we got the Christmas Tree ready.

Served with a small loaf of home-baked fresh, seeded bread.

Yum!

Christmas Cookery...

When i say "i love Christmas" i don't mean i love all the consummerism and commercialism - i think it is really the 'preparations' of Christmas i love. It isn't really about a build up to 'the big day' even... it is just about cooking and baking and sewing and 'being' in the Christmas colours. This Christmas Cranberry Chutney (of sorts) was made a few weeks ago, at the end of the warm Summery days, when the wasps were still menacing my apple store.... and i thought it only right and proper that i play my Christmas Music CD (see picture above, which is the cute CD sleeve) whilst merrily at work.

Of course, the puddings to hang from my ears were a little un-neccesary and, for some, a step too far?

SO: CRANBERRY and RED ONION RELISH

250g Red Onions

250g fresh or frozen Cranberries (red currants would be a suitable substitute)

125g light brown sugar

120ml red wine vinegar

120ml red wine

1tsp ground ginger

1tblsp mustard seeds

Port or Orange Liquer

recipe is from my all time favourite book below.... this makes about 1lb of relish so, if you have a larger family you could double this quantity. It isn't a 'cheap' recipe but that is why it's for a special occasion in my mind.

Thinly slice and chop the onions - into a size you are happy with for a chutney / relish. I like my pieces quite small. Use a smaller sweating pan for this = NOT your bigger chutney pot.

Sweat them through slowly in 2 tblspoons of olive oil - about 15mins with the occasional stir.

Add 2 large spoons of the brown sugar and stir to caramelize the onions, maybe takes 5 mins. Then keep off the heat till needed.

Step outside the back door and cry whilst the onions are stinging your eyes (my eyes are watering at the mere memory)

Then find the bigger chutney pan: add CRANBERRIES into the pan with - remaining brown sugar - Red wine - Red wine vinegar - mustard seeds - ginger.

Heat that lot of mulchy fruit SLOWly until all the sugar has dissolved. Then cover the pan and bring it up to the boil. Once at the boil, turn down and simmer for about 15mins. You want the berries to burst and become very tender... this is why you need the LID on the pan,,,, the hot cranberries have been known to fly out of the pan when bursting and these are HOT wee devils!

ADD ONIONS: you can now stir in the caramelised onions. Take the lid off and keep off whilst you cook for a further 12mins. Season with salt and pepper as it brings out the flavours of the fruit and spices.

JARS: i always sterilize mine fully. Wash them in hot soapy water and leave to drain. Pop them in a hot-ish oven (120-ish) for about 20mins till they are hot.

I also sterilize more than i need as you never really know what yield you might get, even if a recipe tells you "this makes 1lb" you never know...

When your relish is cooled off a bit - spoon it into the warm jars - careful not to touch the inside of the jars or the rims. This is why i use one of those JAM FUNNELS / jar filling thingys (see past posts) to avoid any mess or touching the jars at all. It is quick and clean.

Then, pour yourself and nice glass of the red you opened for this recipe... and DESPAIR as you realise one of those pesky wasps has had the cheek to take a dip in the wine bottle!!

Not content with my apples, they're after the rouge nectar.... luckily he came out as i poured.

OH for sniff-a-vision (as a friend said) this smells superb and it is 'oh so christmassy'. Glossy, shiny, fruity red. It looks so good and bright.

IDEAL RELISH FOR:

Stirring into the rich gravy for Christmas Dinner.

As an additional table sauce for your Christmas dinner - with Turkey, Duck, Goose or Beef.

As a chutney / relish for meaty meals after the day. Sandwiches and salads.

Also easy with cheese but it needs a good strong cheese to make a match for this tart and fruity relish.

Any good relish or chutney, vinegar or vodka, makes a lovely gift for someone. Just label the jar with the date made and 'use by' and what the relish is for. This was made 02/09/09 and it stores for 6 months before use, but this is coming out on Christmas day.

You can keep it in the fridge once opened, for up to 3 weeks.

To serve: ideally plonked on the table, as it is, in the attractive Kilner Jar with a Chutney Spoon inside... the relish keeps better if diners are encouraged NOT to to pop their own cutlery into the jar. Saliva and other foods can contaminate the relish so it goes off before it would naturally.

Any Christmas Cookery to share yet MrsB?? xxx

Pear and Vanilla Butter (jam)

I can't believe i waited so long to talk about this!
As mentioned before: i love Lemons and i love Vanilla - 2 of my all time favourite flavours. Lemons i eat continually in many formats - but vanilla seemed relegated to 'dairy products'.... sloppy yogurts and custard style desserts... why? Joy when i saw THIS in my favourite recipe book....
2lb pears ** 3 lemons **1 vanilla pod split ** 650g sugar ** 300ml water....
Perfect for the smell and taste of vanilla without having a sanitised pudd.


Pears: peeled, chopped and put in a large pan with the water, juice of the lemons, a split vanilla pod. Bring to the boil - then reduce, cover and simmer for 15 minutes or so.

Uncover and cook for a further 20 mins.

Remove the pod - then scrape through all the seeds and pop them in the mixture. Discard the pod now.

Blend / puree / push through a sieve - back into the pan.

ADD 275g of sugar for every 600ml of liquid you have. You'll need to measure this in a jug really.

Dissolve the sugar slowly over a low heat - then boil for 15mins. Until it has really thickens. If you drop a small dollop onto a dish, it should 'hold its shape'.

pretty pretty light orange shade with those fantastic vanilla seeds in.

It is so delicate and great for vanilla fans.

Serve on: Toast, CROISSANTS!, scones, pancakes, bagels, waffles, home made bread rolls... it is probably too soft a flavour to use in a cake but it's worth a try?

Great recipe x