Why Was I Kept In the Dark?

It's chocolate week. How could something like this escape my attention, I will never know? I would call this a tragic oversight. Especially since in my bid to be more healthy, I have been reading all about the virtues of dark chocolate: 100g (a small bar) per day can lower your blood pressure even more than vegetables.

No kidding, scientists have poured sweat and blood .......and possibly some wine too over their research publishing the results in 2004 in the British Medical journal. There is a group of 7 superfoods which helps lowering cholesterol: Fruits and Vegetables 400g daily, dark chocolate, so will you excuse me while I disappear for a little while in search of chocolate as I have not been very good with vegetables today

5 a Day Starring the Sweet Potato

I thought that my diet was relatively healthy, I thought it included 5 fruits and veg a day.

Confident, I started counting. day in, day out, I was missing ONE. I can see you smiling but have you counting yours? and what does 5 a day mean.............?

Pay attention here are some guidelines:
1/2 a very large fruit such as mango, melon but avocado too
A whole medium size fruit : apple, peach
A couple of little specimen figs, plums
A handful of smaller ones blueberries etc
A small bowl of mixed salad/ soup
A wine glass.........of fruit or vegetable soup
A handful of veg including beans, lentils, chickpeas and .....sweet potato
As far as I can see my only option is to add fruits to my breakfast or make sure there are 2 veg at dinner time, hence I am looking for easy veg recipes & came across this one in the free Asda magazine.
Cook and mash sweet potatoes, add a 2tsp of honey, a little milk or a spoon of cream, I put it to the taste, delicious.

Bye Bye Cherry Tomatoes

It is time to say good bye to cherry tomatoes. They should be fading away from gardens, markets and supermarkets' shelves until next year.
On Saturday, We (that's he, his mum and I) trotted to the opening of the East Greenwich Pleasaunce Market, I hope this one is to keep and won't be a flash in the pan like so many others.
It is a jolly nice affair, not too big, not too small, The marketing is a little weird though the cliffhanger -so to speak- is "All products made, grown or reared within 100 miles of the market" which they'd better be because if they don't they will be many farmers ploughing the seas and pigs will have to learn to swim!
So there we were, greeting our wonderful local Councillor, when I spotted a flash of ruby bright, cherry tomatoes and suddenly remembered that my friend Pat trusted in my hand a crumble recipe as I was on my way to board the plane in Lyon. So I will do what she did and leave you with the recipe, sorry no photo, once again, it did not linger around long enough for me to get the camera.

If you have some cherry tomatoes left why not try cherry tomatoes and mozzarella skewers ?

Cherry Tomato crumble
SERVES 4
Ingredients
2 lbs cherry tomatoes
5 tablespoons olive oil
8 ounces goat's cheese (firm or soft)
2 ounces pine nuts
4 ounces breadcrumbs
2 ounces Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
1 tsp mixed herbs
salt and pepper

Method
Pre-heat the oven to 375 F, 190 C/ gas mark 5.
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan, add the cherry tomatoes, season cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until softened; remove from the heat.Fill an oven proof dish with the tomatoes and crumble the goat’s cheese on top. Heat remaining olive oil in a frying pan and lightly fry the pine nuts and breadcrumbs;
Scatter breadcrumb mix over the tomatoes and cheese, then top with the the Parmesan.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden.

Book review : Tapas Bar By The Australian Women's Weekly

Before my holidays I briefly mentioned "Tapas Bar : easy snacks form the Mediterranean". I received this book, courtesy of the Australian Women's Weekly, to review on behalf of Blogger Aid Changing the Face of Famine.

I now have had time to leaf through "Tapas Bar" thoroughly. Traditionally Tapas come from Spain but the Aussies have put a new spin on the concept. In Australia Tapas is a generic word of snacks and finger food, this book gathers over 100 recipes of tasty little morsels from all around the Mediterranee.
On the plus side:

• £6.99 is real good value for book which is packed with so many ideas.
• Each recipe is triple tested so there can't be any mishap though....
• Recipes are for all abilities some are dead-easy, others require a little more skill.
• It suits vegetarian, fish lovers, meat eaters there is something for every body.

I have now used Tapas Bar twice, once during the week when I packed up for the day rather late and had no idea what to cook for diner, and last Saturday at the annual friends and neighbours picnic.

I like the choice of countries

• Tapas from Spain antipasto from Italy and mezze from the Middle East.
• There is a useful glossary and a conversion chart at the end of the book
• Each recipe has got a photo so that you can see what the outcome should look like.

For each country there is at least one double page with several versions of the same recipe for example From Italy there are 5 recipes for Carpaccio.

My only problem with it was my attempts did not quite work, the skewers were over cooked and the dip too runny. This is possibly my doing so don't let this stop you buying the book.

Lemon and chilli chicken skewers

• 400g chicken breast fillets, cut into 2 cm pieces
• 340g chorizo, cut into 2 cm pieces
• 1 medium yellow capsicum (200g), cut into 2 cm pieces
• 12 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon rind
• 1 tapblespoon lemon juice
• 1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1. Combine ingredients in large bowl, cover, refrigerate 30 minutes
2. Thread chicken chorizo, capsicum and bay leaves, alternately, onto skewers
3. Cook skewers on heated oiled grill plate (or grill or barbecue) until chicken is cooked through and chorizo browned lightly

prep + cook time 30 minutes / makes 12

tip soak 12 bamboo skewers in water for at least an hour before using to prevent them from scorching during cooking

recipe copied straight from Tapas Bar.

Goo for You: Mushroom and beans casserole

When life is hectic, there is little time to ponder over meals and as a result I tend to cook "Goos".
Definition of a Goo: take what ever (usually left overs) is the fridge/ pantry/else place throw the ingredients together in a pan or a gratin dish, cook or bake. Tip for a good Goo: cross fingers.

Now there is another strata to Goo: the sophisticated Goos where by I get a recipe off the net and eliminate all the ingredients which I don't have replacing them with left overs.

It is what happened to the Black-eyed bean Bourguignonne (picture from the wonderful Mushroom bureau).

It is a very tasty recipe and I would recommend that you give it a go when you don't want to spend too much time in the kitchen, the cooking time is rather long but that does not need you.

My version had no carrots, black eyed beans were replaced by white chili beans, sadly no red wine either, ah and I forgot the bay leaves but I don't think that the particular omission was noticed.

Problem with goos they are very shy as they know that they are not photogenic after all they may taste fantastic but they are only humble and ugly goos.

Madhur Jaffrey’s Ultimate Curry Bible

After three great weeks in Kerala, it is back to the daily non-routine, because it is a little difficult to slide back in the box, I have plugged out a book review for you. It appeared on the now defunct Paper Palate.

Madhur Jaffrey’s Ultimate Curry Bible is a book of best. Best curry recipes from India but also best selection for best curries from around the world. And because of that (+ an untimely computer crash) my review almost did not see the light of the day. Let me explain: my partner got hold of this book and it has been a battle to get it back. Yes, yes I hear you think: “Lucky her, he must have cooked lovely curries nonstop.” Well, wrong. He was reading it from cover to cover. Now you are as puzzled as I was, so let me enlighten you over the reason for this infatuation.

Madhur Jaffrey is a legend, an authority in the world of Indian food. Her books spell quality, her research is meticulous, her recipes are tried and tested many, many times. In this book she traces the origins and history of curry. There are as many curries as there have been destinations for generations of Indian immigrants. “This curry trail” leads us from Fiji to Trinidad via England, Kenya, the whole of South East Asia, and Japan.

But curries are not alone here, mouthwatering rice, breads, chutneys, relishes, and sweets recipes interwoven with pages of history, old illustrations and modern photographs and much more make for the 6 pages of the index. That explains why I could not put my hands on it when I wanted it most and also why this comprehensive book made the top 50 best.

Let me leave you with a taste of a Pakistani recipe and its introductory paragraph: Red Lentils from the Khyber Pass:

“In the brown hills of the Khyber Pass, Saika, the woman of the house, cooked red lentils, round squash and wholemeal breads for lunch. It was the once-a-week “no meat” day, declared so by the Pakistani government worried buy the nation’s excessive meat-eating habits. While butchers are not allowed to sell meat that day, most families get around the restriction by buying their meat a day in advance and freezing it. Not so Saika. She was an observer.”

180g/ 6 oz red lentils
half to one teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons ghee or corn oil
1-2 whole dried hot red chillies
2 gloves garlic, peeled and lightly crushed
Put the lentils in a lidded pan with 1 litre water and bring to the boil. Do not let the pot boil over. Skim off the scum that comes to the surface with a slotted spoon. Partially cover with the lid, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 40-50 minutes or until tender. Sir in the cayenne pepper and about 1 teaspoon salt. Taste, adding more salt as needed.

In a small pan, heat the ghee or oil until very hot. Put in the red chillies. As soon as they darken, put in the garlic. When the garlic pieces turn golden-brown on both sides, pour the oil and seasonings int the pan of lentils. Cover the pan quickly to trap the aromas.

Puff Pastry Dough, a Daring Bakers' September Challenge

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

following the instructions here are my efforts, sorry I did not make it as far as the Vols au vent just yet as I was interrupted by....life

Mixing the Dough:

Check the capacity of your food processor before you start. If it cannot hold the full quantity of ingredients, make the dough into two batches and combine them.

Put the all-purpose flour, cake flour, and salt in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse a couple of times just to mix. Add the water all at once, pulsing until the dough forms a ball on the blade. The dough will be very moist and pliable and will hold together when squeezed between your fingers. (Actually, it will feel like Play-Doh.)

Remove the dough from the machine, form it into a ball, with a small sharp knife, slash the top in a tic-tac-toe pattern. Wrap the dough in a damp towel and refrigerate for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the butter between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and beat it with a rolling pin until it flattens into a square that's about 1" thick. Take care that the butter remains cool and firm: if it has softened or become oily, chill it before continuing.

Incorporating the Butter:
Unwrap the dough and place it on a work surface dusted with all-purpose flour (A cool piece of marble is the ideal surface for puff pastry) with your rolling pin (preferably a French rolling pin without handles), press on the dough to flatten it and then roll it into a 10" square. Keep the top and bottom of the dough well floured to prevent sticking and lift the dough and move it around frequently. Starting from the center of the square, roll out over each corner to create a thick center pad with "ears," or flaps.

Place the cold butter in the middle of the dough and fold the ears over the butter, stretching them as needed so that they overlap slightly and encase the butter completely. (If you have to stretch the dough, stretch it from all over; don't just pull the ends) you should now have a package that is 8" square.

To make great puff pastry, it is important to keep the dough cold at all times. There are specified times for chilling the dough, but if your room is warm, or you work slowly, or you find that for no particular reason the butter starts to ooze out of the pastry, cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate it . You can stop at any point in the process and continue at your convenience or when the dough is properly chilled.

Making the Turns:
Gently but firmly press the rolling pin against the top and bottom edges of the square (this will help keep it square). Then, keeping the work surface and the top of the dough well floured to prevent sticking, roll the dough into a rectangle that is three times as long as the square you started with, about 24" (don't worry about the width of the rectangle: if you get the 24", everything else will work itself out.) With this first roll, it is particularly important that the butter be rolled evenly along the length and width of the rectangle; check when you start rolling that the butter is moving along well, and roll a bit harder or more evenly, if necessary, to get a smooth, even dough-butter sandwich (use your arm-strength!).

With a pastry brush, brush off the excess flour from the top of the dough, and fold the rectangle up from the bottom and down from the top in thirds, like a business letter, brushing off the excess flour. You have completed one turn.

Rotate the dough so that the closed fold is to your left, like the spine of a book. Repeat the rolling and folding process, rolling the dough to a length of 24" and then folding it in thirds. This is the second turn.
Chilling the Dough:

If the dough is still cool and no butter is oozing out, you can give the dough another two turns now. If the condition of the dough is iffy, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. Each time you refrigerate the dough, mark the number of turns you've completed by indenting the dough with your fingertips. It is best to refrigerate the dough for 30 to 60 minutes between each set of two turns.

The total number of turns needed is six. If you prefer, you can give the dough just four turns now, chill it overnight, and do the last two turns the next day. Puff pastry is extremely flexible in this regard. However, no matter how you arrange your schedule, you should plan to chill the dough for at least an hour before cutting or shaping it.

Kerrymaid Garlic Butter Competition

To launch their new Garlic Butter, Kerrymaid has opened a competition. Best recipe idea using garlic butter will win this rather desirable hamper.

It is open to everyone why not try your luck by posting a comment on Kitchen Delights.

This competition is quite opportune, really so I can tell you about a whole meal plan which I concocted just before going away. Next door neighbour has a false acacia in their garden. This kind of tree grows big, sometimes bigger than a house. In fact, this one is bigger than our house, it is an overshadowing monstrosity.

To confront the neighbour with the reality of living with their tree so near to our windows, I invited her for dinner and cooked new potatoes with Garlic butter and pork fillet in puff pastry. Cunning plan? we don't know, maybe there is magic in garlic butter.

New Potatoes with Garlic Butter

Cook Time: 15 mins
175g (6oz) per person
2 sachets of garlic butter

For the potatoes choose one of the following variety either

•Maris Bard
•Premiere
•Rocket

New potatoes are delicious cooked in their skins, scrub them gently, place them in a pan and cover with boiling water. Cover with a lid and simmer gently for approximately 15-20 minutes until just tender. Once cooked, drain immediately, using a coring knife make a hole in the middle without getting through the spud.
Place a dollop of garlic butter in the centre and bake in a hot oven for 5 minutes serve pipping hot.