Monday, August 28, 2006
Roast Chicken
Following last week's success, this Sunday I roasted the chicken in the microwave ... 10 mins on high, turn it over, 10 mins on high ... leave to stand for 20 minutes (well, it was closer to 40 by the time I was ready for it) ... and it was lovely, cooked through and still moist. The only thing lacking was a crispy, golden skin, but I suppose I could put it in the oven to finish?
Bread Machine
I don't bake bread in my machine, but use it to make the dough. Then I knock it back and shape it, and rise it again in flexible silicon bread tins or moulds before baking it in the oven. It's a little more work, but the bread is much lighter, and there are no holes where the paddles were!
I've experimented with various recipes, and have settled on a base recipe for both white and wholemeal bread. But this Easter I made hot cross buns for the first time, and we liked them so much I now make the dough regularly – sometimes shaping it into buns, but sometimes into a loaf.
All bread machines are different, but to your normal amounts of flour and water add (in whatever order is appropriate for your machine) ...
2oz melted butter
1 beaten egg
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons dried milk powder
2 teaspoons mixed spice
1 tablespoon castor sugar (optional)
½ teaspoon nutmeg (optional)
1¼ teaspoons quick yeast
4 oz sultanas
Shape, rise and bake at gas 5 for 15-20 minutes before turning over to finish for a further 5 minutes (because of the sugar it will burn easily, so take care).
Meanwhile, warm 1 tablespoon milk and 1 tablespoon sugar until melted. While the bread/buns are still hot, glaze with the milk.
(Don't glaze them if you intend to freeze them.)
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Squash
It's the season for squash – and we especially love spaghetti squash – peeled and sliced into rings, cooked in the steamer, shredded and served with butter and pepper or with a cheese sauce.
Vegetable Curry
I had a number of veg around – both from the garden and the veg box scheme that we have once a fortnight, so I made a vegetable curry as an accompaniment to beef curry with all the trimmings.
Cut whatever vegetables you have – potato, celery, turnip, cauliflower, carrot, etc – into small cubes, bring to the boil and simmer gently until not quite cooked and strain.
Meanwhile, chop and fry an onion in oil until soft. Add a proprietary curry powder (not how I cook a meat curry, but it suits the veg mixture) of whatever strength (heat!) you enjoy, a teaspoon of ground coriander, chopped garlic and ginger and stir. Add a tablespoon of tomato puree, some dessicated coconut and enough stock/water to make a thick gravy. Cook gently for a minute or two, then add the par boiled vegetables, any softer vegetables – courgettes, pumpkin, tomatoes (diced as above) – and cook over a gentle heat for a further 10 minutes.
Serve as a main meal with rice etc, or as a side dish to accompany a meat curry.
Vegetable Box Scheme
I have a small box of organic vegetables delivered once a fortnight. It's an expensive way to buy veg, but it's a principle thing – I'd buy more if I could afford it, not only for the organic principle, but to ensure the grower gets a fair price for his produce. The most noticeable difference in taste is carrots ... shop bought, mass produce carrots are so tasteless by comparison. (And carrots are really difficult to grow in our garden as it's so dry.)
We always have potatoes – more than enough for one meal, never quite enough for two – and carrots and onions. This week we also had: beans, lettuce, turnips, celery and baby plum tomatoes which were delicious!
Of cabbages and kale
I've left the cabbages too long (summer cabbage – primo) while we were away on holiday and they are badly slug damaged. So today I cut the first of the red kale – six leaves was enough for five of us and it was lovely cooked simply, shredded and steamed.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
My other cat!
She was rescued from 40ft up a tree, having been there three days, and was taken in by the RSPCA. When we met her she'd been with them 3 weeks already and it was almost another week before we took her home. She was about 18months old at that time. She lived in the spare room for ages before plucking up the courage to come out. 18months later she is still very nervous around the children, but is very affectionate (although as with all cats it's on her own terms). It's been hard work settling her in (I've always had cats from kittens before) but she is a delight.
Roast Beef
With few exceptions, I nearly always do a roast for Sunday lunch. Today was beef, a topside joint. My usual method for beef is to pot roast it in the slow cooker - brown it off in a frying pan, and put it in the slow cooker on a bed of sliced carrots and onions with about an inch of liquid (water, stock or wine), cook on high for 4-5 hours. The juices make a lovely gravy and the meat is moist and tender.
But today I got up too late to have it ready in time for lunch, so thought I would try it in the microwave. I've only done it once before, many years ago, and that was a disaster as it was overcooked and dry, but I decided to have another go. 20 mins on high (turning the joint every 5 minutes), and 20 minutes standing time, and it was perfect (sorry, no idea of the weight, but it was a good sized piece of meat for a family of four or five), so I prepared the whole lunch in an hour after church ... I could make that a habit!
But today I got up too late to have it ready in time for lunch, so thought I would try it in the microwave. I've only done it once before, many years ago, and that was a disaster as it was overcooked and dry, but I decided to have another go. 20 mins on high (turning the joint every 5 minutes), and 20 minutes standing time, and it was perfect (sorry, no idea of the weight, but it was a good sized piece of meat for a family of four or five), so I prepared the whole lunch in an hour after church ... I could make that a habit!
Saturday, August 19, 2006
The silver (or gold) lining ...
I took this last year while at my bolt hole - it lifted me for ages afterwards to see it (I had it as my 'desktop' for some months) and even now it gladdens my heart.
Thinking ahead
I am already planning the planting for next year ... courgettes where the cabbages grew, runner beans in the next row, and brassicas where the runner beans are now. But that's just the one bed, and I can't yet decide on the other two.
I should explain that we have two vegetable patches of reasonable size, and another larger bed worked in three strips by the simple expedient of using woodchip as a path to divide it into strips of manageable size. The soil is light and dries out easily, but there is little cash available for manure or other commercial soil improver, so we make as much of our own compost as possible - there are two bins on the go just now, and we'll create a third when we strip the runner beans out later in the season. There is also the wormery ... the quality of compost is good, but it doesn't create the necessary quantity.
We've been here for nearly four years. I dug out the vegetable patches that first winter - delighted to be on better soil after three winters of heavy clay in Essex (rock hard in summer and too heavy to work in winter). But the lightness of the soil, and the effects of the coastal wind that is ever present, means that many seeds don't germinate in the ground, so I grow as much as possible from cells, planting out after growth is established. This year for the first time I grew all our carrots in pots ... so not a huge crop, but so much more successful and therefore satisfying! We're still learning.
We also have the problem of shade in the garden - it faces north, so the sun is shielded by the house in the early morning. That limits the space available for vegetables, and parts of garden are in almost constant shade ... so we have had to extend our efforts to creating a shade garden. But the rule is, if it isn't a vegetable it has to fend for itself, and in the long, dry period earlier this summer some of the plants gave up and we have a few bare patches in the shady border to fill. Meanwhile, the front garden is in full sun for most of the day, and the same rule applies there too - even some of the drought loving plants have suffered this year.
Planning the garden is really a project for a winter's evening, when it's too dark and cold to actually go out there and do something useful ... but it's always in the back of my mind that next year I shall try something new, or do something a different way ...
I should explain that we have two vegetable patches of reasonable size, and another larger bed worked in three strips by the simple expedient of using woodchip as a path to divide it into strips of manageable size. The soil is light and dries out easily, but there is little cash available for manure or other commercial soil improver, so we make as much of our own compost as possible - there are two bins on the go just now, and we'll create a third when we strip the runner beans out later in the season. There is also the wormery ... the quality of compost is good, but it doesn't create the necessary quantity.
We've been here for nearly four years. I dug out the vegetable patches that first winter - delighted to be on better soil after three winters of heavy clay in Essex (rock hard in summer and too heavy to work in winter). But the lightness of the soil, and the effects of the coastal wind that is ever present, means that many seeds don't germinate in the ground, so I grow as much as possible from cells, planting out after growth is established. This year for the first time I grew all our carrots in pots ... so not a huge crop, but so much more successful and therefore satisfying! We're still learning.
We also have the problem of shade in the garden - it faces north, so the sun is shielded by the house in the early morning. That limits the space available for vegetables, and parts of garden are in almost constant shade ... so we have had to extend our efforts to creating a shade garden. But the rule is, if it isn't a vegetable it has to fend for itself, and in the long, dry period earlier this summer some of the plants gave up and we have a few bare patches in the shady border to fill. Meanwhile, the front garden is in full sun for most of the day, and the same rule applies there too - even some of the drought loving plants have suffered this year.
Planning the garden is really a project for a winter's evening, when it's too dark and cold to actually go out there and do something useful ... but it's always in the back of my mind that next year I shall try something new, or do something a different way ...
Eating the evidence
Following our visit to 'Flavour Fest' yesterday, we had the crab pate for tea today. It was delicious on toast (home made white bread) topped with slices of organic cucumber (purchased from the Kitchen Garden at Knightshayes).
We ate our first ripe fig today, too. There aren't many this year that will ripen before the cooler weather - which is strange in view of the long hot spell earlier in the summer. The tree is hampered by a neighbouring evergreen which shades it from mid-afternoon onwards. We all love figs, but there just aren't enough to go round!
We ate our first ripe fig today, too. There aren't many this year that will ripen before the cooler weather - which is strange in view of the long hot spell earlier in the summer. The tree is hampered by a neighbouring evergreen which shades it from mid-afternoon onwards. We all love figs, but there just aren't enough to go round!
Friday, August 18, 2006
Dyrham Park
We used to visit Dyrham regularly, but not at all since moving away from the area. So it was a delight to find ourselves in the vicinity again recently.
Colours
I could look at this picture for hours, I see new things each time it comes up as my 'desktop'.
A perfect day
As the sun began to go down, so the beach emptied and the temperature fell ... just the perfect place to be.
Farmers' Markets
We try and use Farmers' Markets when we can, although our budget doesn't stretch to many of the things we'd like to buy such as free-range meats etc. Part of our motivation is the organic principle, but it's also partly to break the monopoly of the supermarkets by buying direct, whether organic and free-range or not.
Whenever we 'do' a Farmers' Market, we go round all the stalls, tasting whatever we can, and then discuss our purchases according to our budget. We've taught the girls to do the same, and give them an allowance to spend, usually £2 each - and it's surprising just what they can do with only £2!
So today we took the opportunity to visit 'Flavour Fest' (!) , a larger than usual Farmers' Market type street fair in Plymouth City Centre - 120 stalls, most of them with tasters ...
If I were to judge from the stalls present at the market, I would have guessed that our local dishes are cheeses and pickles ... for a sea-side town there were disappointingly few sea-food stalls, only two that I remember, yet there were 4 or 5 selling different cheeses, and 6 or 7 selling dips and pickles etc. Food is as subject to fashion as clothing or anything else.
We settled on buying saffron buns (£1 for 4), sausages (special festival offer of 7 packs for £10) of various flavours, and crab pate (2 packs for £7). For lunch we had ostrich - in pasty, burger and a steak in a bun ... and I resisted buying steaks to take home as we'd already spent enough.
The girls had their usual £2, and both opted to keep some as extra pocket money, but DD1 still managed to buy another pack of buns and some liquorice, while DD2 bought a bottle of apple juice - and a packet of NikNaks on the way home. She's obviously not yet fully converted to organic eating!!
Whenever we 'do' a Farmers' Market, we go round all the stalls, tasting whatever we can, and then discuss our purchases according to our budget. We've taught the girls to do the same, and give them an allowance to spend, usually £2 each - and it's surprising just what they can do with only £2!
So today we took the opportunity to visit 'Flavour Fest' (!) , a larger than usual Farmers' Market type street fair in Plymouth City Centre - 120 stalls, most of them with tasters ...
If I were to judge from the stalls present at the market, I would have guessed that our local dishes are cheeses and pickles ... for a sea-side town there were disappointingly few sea-food stalls, only two that I remember, yet there were 4 or 5 selling different cheeses, and 6 or 7 selling dips and pickles etc. Food is as subject to fashion as clothing or anything else.
We settled on buying saffron buns (£1 for 4), sausages (special festival offer of 7 packs for £10) of various flavours, and crab pate (2 packs for £7). For lunch we had ostrich - in pasty, burger and a steak in a bun ... and I resisted buying steaks to take home as we'd already spent enough.
The girls had their usual £2, and both opted to keep some as extra pocket money, but DD1 still managed to buy another pack of buns and some liquorice, while DD2 bought a bottle of apple juice - and a packet of NikNaks on the way home. She's obviously not yet fully converted to organic eating!!
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Baked (Runner) Beans
I still have runner beans in the freezer from last year, and we have another good crop this summer. So we have something of a 'glut', but there are various ways of preparing them and they are one of my favourite vegetables.
We love this recipe, and it makes a good lunch/supper dish served with fresh wholemeal bread, or as a side dish with Cottage Pie or similar.
Top, tail and slice the runner beans. Layer the beans with sliced courgettes (optional) and sliced tomatoes. Top with grated cheddar cheese and seasoning and wrap in a foil parcel. Place parcel on a baking tray and bake at gas 6/7 for 30-40mins. Serve immediately. Do take care when opening the parcel as the escaping steam will scald.
We love this recipe, and it makes a good lunch/supper dish served with fresh wholemeal bread, or as a side dish with Cottage Pie or similar.
Top, tail and slice the runner beans. Layer the beans with sliced courgettes (optional) and sliced tomatoes. Top with grated cheddar cheese and seasoning and wrap in a foil parcel. Place parcel on a baking tray and bake at gas 6/7 for 30-40mins. Serve immediately. Do take care when opening the parcel as the escaping steam will scald.
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