Words

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Punkin Pie






Busy Busy

Hey y'all, I guess most of you now know that I have been a tad busy recently with the birth of my daughter Rosie...


so I'm going to make this post a little roundup of recent foodie stuff!

Well, while we were in the hospital I did partake of the hospital's restaurant, which has graced these very pages in the past. It used to be called The Spice Of Life restaurant but is now operated by a new company, Serco, and is now known as Food You Love.  It's otherwise essentially the same. You can get a decent brekky there, 7 items for a mere £4.40, so a few hours after Rosie's birth at 3:52 am, I toddled down to partake of some noms.


The day before, I went down to the restaurant in the afternoon for a bit of dinner. I had the mac n cheese with mixed veg, not bad value either...


Amy was with me and she just had a plate of chips which were pretty fab too.


Since leaving the hospital I've been in the mood to make stuff at home. Mostly I've done soups and things and the other night I did a mixed veg curry - try to imagine a large aloo gobee saag with extra veg like carrots in it. But I neglected to take pictures of those so you'll just have to take my word for it.

However I did bake some rather epic Pueblo Bread the other day. I sprinkled some oats on the top prior to baking, just for grins.
Delish. 
Here's the recipe (I didn't follow it to the letter but here goes anyway):


1 package active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm (110 degrees F) water
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon melted and cooled butter or margarine
2 to 2 1/2 cups all-purpose (plain) flour

Sprinkle yeast over water and sugar; let stand until yeast is softened, about 5 minutes. Add salt, butter, and flour; knead. Let dough rise 45 minutes to 1 hour; mix or knead on a lightly floured board to expel air bubbles and form a smooth ball.

Pat ball to flatten slightly. Roll into an 8-inch-wide round. Dust top lightly with flour; fold about the round onto other side, leaving about 1 inch of bottom rim exposed at center of curve.

With a floured knife, make 2 equidistant cuts about 2/3 of the way across loaf from curved side and down through dough.

Lift loaf into an oiled 9-inch pie pan; spread cuts apart so ends of loaf are flush with pan rim. Lightly cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until puffy, 20 to 30 minutes.

Remove wrap. Bake in a 375|degrees~ oven until bread is deep golden brown, about 50 minutes. Serve hot or cool; to cool, transfer from pan to a rack. To store, see page 156. Makes 1 loaf, about 14 ounces.

Per ounce: 75 cal. (12 percent from fat); 2 g protein; 1 g fat (0.5 g sat.); 14 g carbo.; 87 mg sodium; 2.2 mg chol.


Today I made a fabulous orange cake using a recipe I found on a great website called Leite's Culinaria.  I had the inclination to bake a cake and I had a surplus of oranges to use up, so this recipe fir the bill perfectly. Here's the link, and here are the pictures of the result.

Straight out of the oven.

On to the cooling rack, re purposed from a roasting rack

The glaze


Close up of those delicious bits of orange

Adding the deliciously sticky glaze

Mmmmmm!
I took it over to my sister's for dinner, and then on to the local quiz night. I hardly need tell you it's just about gone!

Kooshti sante!

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Honey Candy

Just found this wonderful site called The Nerdy Farm Wife, and these recipes for Honey Candy are well worth a try - going to give these a go just as soon as I can. Here's the link:

http://thenerdyfarmwife.com/two-easy-honey-candy-recipes/

The Nerdy Farm Wife has an older brother named Shane Speal, who not only makes amazing cigar-box guitars, but plays incredible stuff on them too...




Find out more at www.shanespeal.com


Thursday, September 13, 2012

Recently Eaten...

Bloody good soup, this.

From Cinnamon in The Fairings, Tenterden - Brie, Walnut and Apple sandwich on granary bread.Truly divine.

Sweet chilli chicken sandwich.

I grew some peas. Yay me!

Not actually food, but a relic of my Nan's kitsch taste in housewares - her salt shaker, in daily use at my house.

Mmmm, yummy. 

Top: Rocky Road, Bottom: Coffee

Chocolate on top, Caramel Crunch on bottom

Pecan & Maple on top, Rum & Raisin on bottom.

Grownups' Mac n cheese with chicken, bacon and olive oil & herb bread cubes on top.

Monday, September 3, 2012

Tonight's Dinner



Seasoning packet.

Rice & quinoa packet.

Add water.

Italian sausage cooking.

Simmered rice & quinoa mixture.

Dinner.

Yum.


Pomelo

So last time I wheeled out Name This Food! was back in April. Jeez, I really have been a lazy boy, haven't I? Anyway, what I asked was, what the heck is this?


Answer: it's a POMELO! Or two pomelos, to be exact.

A Pomelo is a crisp citrus fruit native to South and Southeast Asia. It is usually pale green to yellow when ripe, with sweet white (or, more rarely, pink or red) flesh and very thick albedo (rind pith). It is the largest citrus fruit, 15–25 centimetres (5.9–9.8 in) in diameter, and usually weighing 1–2 kilograms (2.2–4.4 lb). Other spellings for pomelo include pummelo, and pommelo.

What can one do with it? Here are some links to some lovely pomelo recipes.

http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/chefs/taste-festivals/taste-of-london-busaba-eathai-prawn-pomelo-recipe

http://www.noobcook.com/mango-sago-pomelo/

http://rasamalaysia.com/thai-pomelo-salad-recipe-yam-som-o/

http://appetiteforchina.com/recipes/vietnamese-pomelo-salad/

http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-pomelo-citrus-bars-140639

So now I ask the question... can you Name This Food?



Saturday Night Dinner

Laura and I went out for dinner on Saturday, something we haven't done for a while, and we chose Cafe Rouge as our venue. The service was good, the food was nicely presented, and the natives were friendly.

Mine was the Salade de Boeuf - nice rare sliced steak on top of a salad of spinach, rocket and tomatoes with green beans and a spicy pepper dressing. Nice.

Tagine de Poulet.   Sautéed chicken, red peppers, onions, black olives and tomatoes in a spicy & fruity North African sauce, served with bulgar wheat tabbouleh.

Crepe Chocolat Banane. Crêpe filled with fresh banana, a rich and sumptuous chocolate sauce and vanilla pod ice cream.

Delice Au Chocolat. Chocolate ganache on a hazelnut and praline base with strawberry coulis and vanilla crème fraîche.
All good stuff. We'll be back.

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