ANNA'S FAVOURITE APPETISER

We are lucky enough to be included in the L'Archevesque family Thanksgiving celebration. This year it was hosted by Lee and Anna, who used to do it until Kara took it over a few years ago. Anna was very clear with my task, Savoury Cheese Palmiers with Ham. This is in the Delia Christmas book and I have been making them for years as I like them too, and so does Joseph! They are really a fancy version of cheese straws with the addition of Parma Ham. This year for the first time I did some with black olives too for the vegetarians. I was pretty pleased with them and I could have made more, the carnivores liked both versions! I have not yet found the recipe on Delia's site, I will keep looking or write it out myself, the recipe part is easy. Putting them together is a little fiddly and have to admit, time consuming. But enjoyable for me and satisfying when I get lots of compliments on them!

ANOTHER CHEESECAKE!

So looking forward to dinner at Julia's with the Naults and the Lyons, my course was dessert, just for a change! I had planned to do the cover recipe on the current 'Bon Appetit', it looks so great and is bit of a challenge so would be fun. Luckily, a couple of nights before embarking on this I read through the recipe to figure out my game plan and generate a shopping list. I had a pretty busy weekend, and thought I had it figured out BUT luckily, noticed that you had to refrigerate the cake for 6 hours after making it! This was not going to work for me - I panicked and looked through the rest of the magazine to find something that would fit in with my schedule. There it was, a Maple with Cranberry Compote Cheesecake, looked pretty good, and I have made enough cheesecakes to evaluate the recipe and know it would be good. Anyway, it was very well received and I was pretty pleased with it, will make it again.

DESSERT FOR ELIZABETH

Elizabeth is visiting from Argentina for a week. Julia hosted a dinner, mostly girls but of course Alan was invited! Such a fun evening, the Wilton crowd with some international friends who Elizabeth added into the mix. She is a great collector of interesting people! Julia did a delicious Fish pie and I did a Normandy Apple tart for dessert. This is something I have been cooking for years. The recipe comes from the Observer, a Sunday newspaper in London. There was a section every week to collect - we are talking late 1970s here! I usually do this with pears, it is delicious and it looks so wonderful. However, Joseph and I had been apple picking a few weeks ago, I had a fridge full of apples so had to do the traditional way this time! I actually was not that happy with it - the apples were a bit big so the 'spokes' were not that even but it did taste pretty good - really! I wish the pictures were better but I was distracted...... I really think this is easier to do than it looks and it gets rave reviews, go on, try it!

DESSRT FOR THE GIRLS

Julia and I were invited to dinner at Val's, along with Angela & Lisa who sadly could not make it. I had not seen Val all summer and was really looking forward to the evening, Val is fun to be with and a great cook. I was taking dessert. I had been thinking about Fig tart for a few weeks, wanting to make it but somehow it just had not happened. I was a little concerned that I had left it too late and would be able to find the figs. Decided to check Grand Central Market on Friday evening on my way through and struck lucky! Next had a bit of a hunt for the recipe, had made this a few years ago and it was great. My usually pretty reliable memory was failing me - but eventually found it on BBC Good food and there it was! Thank goodness: Honey Roasted Fig & Almond Tart. I was pretty happy with it, maybe could have cooked for a little less time, not sure what happened, had to convert oven temp from C to F, but that is something I do often. Oh well, maybe this time I made a mistake but I think it came out of the oven in the nick of time! As there were only 3 of us I was able to leave some with Val and bring home a piece for Alan. Able to confirm the next day that it was delicious! Another thought is that I too am getting something out of this blog in that it has a log of recipes I use so would not have to hunt again for it....... YAY, all good!
UPDATE: Did this again for a wonderful country weekend with Iain & Rick, as I feel we have to make the most of the short fig season. Noticed that you are supposed to reduce the oven temp for the main baking of the tart, which I did and the result was better! Julia tasted both tarts and said she did not notice, it was a compliment, they were both good, but I was happy to discover the solution. The other thing is that the recipe calls for bought pastry. Well, maybe in the UK you can buy good short pastry but I have not found it in the USA and it si pretty quick to make so that is what I do. The recipe I used is from Jamie Oliver's 'Jamie's Italy', Crostata di fichi. I cannot find it online, sadly, but found something pretty similar: Only difference I can see is that I added some vanilla (a few seeds scraped from a pod or a drop of essence) and the zest of a lemon. BTW, I did use this recipe once to make the tart and it just did not work for me, unusually as I am Jamie fan!
Enjoy!

GM is back in town! PART 2

(Read below first - this was an experiment.) Anyway, roasting of the shanks was great, as hopefully you can see with the pics below. In fact, every time I do this I think I should just roast & serve them at this stage - maybe one day I will remember and do that! So, have another little sequence here of the layers. My carrots were fairly skinny so cut them large, as I like them not to get mushy. It worked, if anything they were almost too 'al dente' but popular opinion was that they were better that way than overcooked. Don't think the final plated shot does this dish justice; as usual in too much of a rush to eat while it's hot, rather than spend too much time on the photo! That's my excuse and I am sticking to it! Other thing to mention that I was undecided about the potato topping. It is not traditional mash; you bake the potatoes, which seems like a great idea as the oven is hot roasting the shanks. However, scooping the cooked potato out of the skins is more time consuming that peeling them. They were also a touch lumpy when I did the topping and I was rehearsing my excuses. BUT, I was converted once I tasted it. The lumps disappeared during the final baking and doing the potato this way meant it kept its character, did not merge with the creamed spinach. I am now a convert and will do this again. Julia provided a delicious raspberry tart for dessert. Did I mention that I am on a diet??!

GM is back in town! PART ONE

We all miss our dear friends the O'Connells who moved to Argentina about 6 years ago. GM usually visits a few times a year and it is always a good reason to get some friends together. It was supposed to be a chilly and rainy Saturday so I decided on Braised Lamb Shank Shepherds's pie with Creamed Spinach. Have done this a couple of times but not for a while. It is a pretty easy dish but you do spend some time in the kitchen for this dish. Luckily for me it is a welcome break from a busy work life, and so long as I have the time I am never happier than being in my kitchen, listening to BBC radio 4 with the anticipation of a fun evening with friends ahead.

ROAST CHICKEN - AGAIN BUT DIFFERENT

It was a rainy late September day, and Alan requested roast chicken for dinner - shocker! I grabbed a few Gourmets and Bon Appetits when I took Joseph to his riding lesson, hoping to find something vaguely along the lines of roast chicken but that I would be excited to cook. The first issue I flicked through was Bon Appetit from Feb 2009 and it had SPECIAL SUNDAY ROAST CHICKEN. Not that different from my old standby, but different enough. I changed a few things, of course:

Added stuffing, with sage, which the recipe used anyway.

Made a giblet stock which I used for the gravy instead of white wine.

Market did not have mustard greens so used Arugula.

Did not like the idea of putting chicken fat on the Arugula so used my gravy instead.

It was pretty good, not sure I will switch this for the old standby but I love the idea of serving on a bed of arugula, will definitely do this again!

CATCHING UP......

TURTLE BROWNIES

Had a wonderful Labour Day dinner with the Tavernas, her parents were visiting which always makes for a fun & interesting evening. Julia joined the party too. I was given the dessert course, did the NO BAKE BERRY PIE as I know that John really likes it but added Turtle Brownies to make the kids happy, and they were! Actually, the grown ups could not resist them either. Happened by accident really, was looking through my Cooks Illustrated collection for the best Brownie recipe and come across this one while I was looking. It was quite a bit more effort, I have to admit, but worth it I would say, and it seems the recipients would too! (sorry pic is a little soft - can I blame the camera??!!) Recipe to follow soon.....

Back to the 2 of us

Quiet Saturday night and a fridge full of bits and pieces to use up. Combine that with Dave mentioning Spanish fish stew last Wednesday resulted in this fish soup/stew. Looked for a recipe on Epicurious and came up with this: Seafood 'Cataplana' with Saffron, Vermouth and Sorrel. Used it as inspiration really, added a portobello as it was in the fridge, a jalapeno, because I was in the mood for something a little spicy, and a big cheat, had chicken stock in the fridge so used that instead of fish stock. Also had some cilantro so did not bother to buy sorrel. Well, it was delicious, probably could never repeat it!

PARTY WEEKEND DESSERTS

Chelsey, Dave & Harlan are visiting so lots going on, and it's all fun! Had the family over for a BBQ, did a sausage fest which was pretty popular, fun and easy. I enjoyed doing the desserts:

CAPPUCINO CHEESECAKE, a Nigella Lawson recipe which is a bit of a staple of mine, good friends Val & Angela are big fans of this. I have included link to Nigella's London Cheesecake, of which his is a variation, nearest I can find for now, sorry!

Next is the NO BAKE BERRY PIE. This is a crumb crust with a berry puree, topped with fresh berries. Pretty easy, looks stunning and tastes mighty fine. One shortcut I take is not to sieve the cooked berries. I do not know anyone who is offended by those berry pips and blueberry skins. I also think it looks better with the 'marbled' effect you get. Enjoy, berry season pretty much over. Thanks again to Cooks Illustrated, please make your recipes more accessible!

CHELSEY'S FAVOURITE DISH

MUSTARD CHICKEN ORZO CASSEROLE WITH DILL & CAPERS

Have done this a few times and still like it! Crowd pleaser, thought mainly for girls but the boys go for it too. This time realised too late I did not have enough orzo and so substituted mini penne and actually really liked it - gave a bit more texture and also looked pretty good, I thought. Click on recipe title for recipe.

RASPBERRY BARS AT THE BEACH

RASPBERRY STREUSEL BARS

I have made these so often and still love them and have requests for them! Pretty easy and quick. I do the streusel part back in the food processor but add the oats and nuts right at the end and give one quick blitz to they don't get pulverized!
(Click on title above for link to recipe, thanks again to Cooks Illustrated for this one)

BY POPULAR DEMAND

TOMATO & MOZZARELLA TART

As heading suggests this is an old favourite, and it seems I have a couple of followers as I have had a few requests for this recipe. It is so easy and always impresses, depending on your crowd you can cut into small or larger squares.

Thanks to Cooks Illustrated for the recipe. Please let me know if the link works and you can read it! When you first get to it the image looks small but you can click on it to enlarge.

This time I made it with all red tomatoes but it looks great if you use a mixture of red and yellow and alternate the colours in rows.

In case it is not obvious, you can click on title for link!

SUNDAY LUNCH DESSERT

Had a wonderful lunch, Ian's Mum, Beryl, was visiting from England. Julia was hosting in the kitchen we all covet! Julia cooked wonderful side of salmon, smothered with creme fraiche, lemon and a herb. I did Blueberry Buckle, a Cooks Illustrated recipe I had spotted a while back and finally tried. I was pretty pleased with it, it is very light and very fruity.
Shame you cannot get recipes from C I without a subscription, hoping they will get this figured out soon, in the meantime I hope the link works.
NOTE: I have made this a couple of times since, my tip is to err on the side of fewer blueberries. The cake has a lot of berries, which is one of the things that makes it great, but did not take much to tip it over the edge, does not make it better. Not a huge deal, just a little tip. Also, only did the whole pan prep the first time, subsequent times just sprayed the pan with 'Pan for baking' and it was fine, no need for all the lining the pan with parchment etc.

FATHER'S DAY BREAKFAST

OK, I know I am way behind!
Alan loves kippers and I have to make sure we have some for Father's day, I order them from Mackenzie .

Fry a couple of eggs, some good grainy bread, fruit (to make me feel better!), juice, coffee. Mmmmmmmm. It's only one a year and luckily we all enjoy kippers as the smell does linger.

GUEST CHEF RETURNS!

OK, before I get into this I have to acknowledge that I have been very lax with this blog - after all - what is a blog exactly? Don't want to spend the time I have to be updating this on looking for the definition but I am pretty sure you are supposed to post stuff regularly! Details would be boring - suffice to say it's been a busy couple of months. AND I am still planning on improving all sorts of things about my blog - in the meantime - here are some meals we have enjoyed in the last couple of months.
I love to have Dave in my kitchen, we decide on a menu, go to the market, change it because of what looks good and then he is SO QUICK at prep. Oh well, if I did nothing else but cook for a few years I'm sure I would get there too! (Meant to be a compliment Dave, not sure it sounds like one.)
We had Jerk chicken, shrimp and vegetables, served with a saffron rice. The chicken was boneless thighs, cut and skewered, shrimp were alternated with cherry tomatoes on skewers. We bought a jar of 'Jerk spice' which Dave smelled and added some ginger to. Also did some summer squash and onions in same spices. Dave knocked up a salsa (took him 5 mins, would have been half an hour for me!) of red onion, jalapeño, red pepper, lime and cilantro, if my memory serves me well. He then made the delicious rice dish: fried a little finely chopped onion with a finely chopped red chile, added the basmati rice, saffron and some shucked corn, got it all coated in the oil then added the water, put the lid on the pan and turned the heat down and magically it was ready at the same time as everything else! Grilled the chicken, shrimp and veggies, seemed effortless but of course fantastic!
I made the dessert, and it was pretty good: Strawberry mascarpone tart with Port glaze. It was on the front cover of the current Gourmet magazine and had been winking at me! Again, great to have Dave at the market with me because our fabulous Wilton Village Market was out of mascarpone that day. I asked Dave if I could use Creme fraiche, he said it would be too runny. He suggested one tub of creme fraiche mixed with one tub of whipped cream cheese and if worked a dream. I have made it again since, and in the heat of a fabulous weekend at a friend's lake house, I forgot to add the sugar to the cream mixture. Texture suffered but I must say I preferred the taste - have to figure out how to get the best of both worlds next time!

SATURDAY EVENING STEAK

Had a busy day, needed something quick for dinner. Decided on steak and, as usual, flipped through latest Bon Appetit for some inspiration. Did Heirloom Tomatoes with Shell Beans Vinaigrette. Could not find any of the peas called for in the recipe so I used Baby Lima beans. It was delicious, didn't cook for as long as in the recipe, maybe because the beans I used. Also thought it could do with a little more basil. I made the amount for 8 even though there were only 3 of us as I thought it would be great as leftovers and it was. Had some for lunch next day and it had improved! Not much to say about the steak, did our usual rib-eye on the BBQ and it was pretty perfect.

SUMMER VERSION OF SUNDAY ROAST CHICKEN

Finally some warm weather so we decided to dust off the rotisserie for our weber. Made a rosemary and garlic butter to put under the skin on the breast of the chicken. Julia taught me how to do this, just melt some butter and add whatever chopped herb you would like and some garlic. Then let set in fridge or freezer, depending on how much time you have. You loosen the skin over the breast of the chicken and put pats of the butter all over the breast. I also put a medium, halved onion in the cavity, with some more garlic and rosemary sprigs. Chicken takes just over an hour, but varies of course depending on the weight and heat of your coals. It was pretty good. Oh yes, and Alan has a pretty interesting way of trussing the chicken, but, hey, it works!

Just the two of us....

Saturday night dinner after a busy day so not a lot of time. As has become a habit, grabbed the latest Gourmet mag to browse while watching Joseph's soccer game. We had decided it was going to be a fish night and found Greek Style Mahimahi, 'active time 15min start to finish 30min', perfect! Could not get Mahimahi but Striped Sea Bass proved a great substitute. It was delicious and I will definitely do it again, little different from most fish dishes I usually do. Suggested accompaniment was an Orzo and fennel dish Did not want to do orzo but it reminded me of a dish Charlotte had suggested a while ago which is oven roasted Fennel, potato and onion. Very simple, you cut all three into about half inch slices, toss with some oil, add a herb if you fancy and have some around and roast for about half an hour in a 425 ish oven. It is a great combination, I like to use thin skinned potatoes that do not need peeling, like yukon golds. I always like to have something green on the plate so I added some baby courgettes for the last 10 minutes. A basic tomato salad was included with the fish recipe and that was it for us - yum!

Memorial Day with friends

This tradition has been going for a few years now, as we have no family in the US (well, we sort of do but that should be the subject of another blog!), some of our lovely American friends join us at key holidays. It is often the first BBQ of the season but this year the weather forecast was not good. Decided to do meat in the oven but salads alongside, and leave the decision to eat inside or out to the last minute. As it turned out it was the right choice, we started outside for cocktails but rain sent us running inside within 15 minutes! Charlotte brought a wonderful shrimp with dill dip for appetiser and I made a Herb Roasted Pork Loin (from a recent Gourmet magazine) accompanied by Delia's corn salsa, a green salad and crusty bread. The Pork loin was disappointing, I have to say. Could have been that I misread the amount of herbs required and I did not have enough, or that it was ordinary pork which, we all know, has been bread to be so lean that it ends up dry all too easily and really doesn't have much flavour. It was not dry at all and luckily the sauce was delicious, and it did smell great while it was cooking! My guests were complimentary but I think they were just being polite! The corn salsa was as good as ever and the green salad was great. I had been given some white balsamic vinegar last Christmas and a green lemon oil which I used for the dressing, so felt good about those at least!
We finished the meal with a Baked raspberry tart which was excellent so I think my reputation is not entirely blown! Sadly that recipe was from Cooks Illustrated and you cannot get the recipes for free, will put it up once I get it figured out. Also did some Key Lime bars as I was feeding 12 people. Also pretty good but another Cooks Illustrated recipe so can't post a link right now.