I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

We pretty much did 5 party nights in a row, starting on the 23rd with the wonderful relaxed evening hosted by the Lees,  a great traditional we have enjoyed most years for the past 7 years or so. I took a Panettone Bread and Butter pudding, which I repeated on Christmas Day, luckily to a different crowd and Alan was sworn not to  let on! This recipe, like the best of them, has evolved over the years.  I had cut the starting point out of the London Sunday Times a long while ago.  The column was written by Elizabeth David and she said she had adapted the recipe from Anton Mosiman, now brought to you with my  updates.............

I am not a big fan of Panettone but had received one as a gift and was wondering what to do with it and the best, in my humble opinion, bread and butter pudding was born!  Use the recipe link above but substitute the rolls for panettone; once you have poured the custard around the bread leave it to soak for about half an hour (this was Ms David's suggestion and I'm sticking with it) before cooking. I have never done the pressing down part after 30 mins either, this is a very forgiving recipe, don't fuss over it, it is always delicious! Serve with a rum butter sauce:

Combine in a small saucepan, on medium heat:

• Half stick of butter (2ozs)
• quarter cup of brown sugar (any sugar is fine!)
• half cup of heavy or whipping cream

when butter has melted remove from heat and add

• 4 TBSPS dark rum.  

Reheat gently before serving.
This pudding is best served warm, or at least room temperature, not cold. I would not recommend heating in the microwave as you will overcook the custard.  I usually put back into  a warm oven for about 20 mins before serving.

ROAST CHICKEN - AGAIN, SERIOUSLY?
Its Sunday, Alan wants roast chicken, Joseph is out for dinner so turned to Epicurious and found this recipe, Chicken al Mattone.  It was delicious and took less time than my usual stuffed and roast chicken, mostly because it is butterflied. Apparently the recipe is from a restaurant Sfoglia in NYC which I have never been to.  It is not on their site so here is the recipe:

Cut the backbone from a 4 lb chicken, press down on breast to flatten it.  In small bowl mix 2 Tsps lemon juice, 2 Tsps olive oil, 1 Tsp chopped rosemary and 2 crushed garlic cloves.  Rub mixture all over chicken and marinate at least 4 hours or overnight in fridge,
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F, season chicken with kosher salt and fresh pepper.  Heat 1Tsp olive oil in an ovenproof skillet over medium/high heat.  Add chicken, skin side down and cook until golden brown, about 7 minutes - do not turn over. Place something heavy (foil wrapped brick, cast iron skillet) on top of the chicken and roast in oven for 30 minutes.  Remove weight and turn chicken over, continue to roast for about another 15 minutes.  Remove from oven, sprinkle with  another 2 Tsps lemon juice,  chopped Italian parsley and 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper.  Let rest for about 15 minutes before serving.

Really enjoyed it but did miss the gravy!  Best served with a vegetable dish that is moist or saucy, I would suggest.  Full disclosure, I did not bother with the weight, maybe I will next time and see if it makes any difference!  Also, the one pictured here I cooked on the grill for about 40 minutes and it was perfect but I have done the saute/oven method too. I have substituted sage for the rosemary as I have a lot in my garden and I like that version just as much as rosemary.

ROAST PORK

Pork is just not what it used to be!  It has been bred to be lean and now has no flavour, we all know you need some fat for deliciousness.  When my fabulous son-in-law was here for Alan's birthday he made superb Pork Burritos for our beach party.  We started with boned pork shoulder (from Costco, of course!).  He had a chunk left over and prepared it for me to roast at a later date.  The piece was about a foot square, probably about 3 pounds of meat.  He added some orange peel, sage leaves and garlic then rolled it.  I was able to use my new 'food loops' which had been a Christmas gift from Charlotte's glamorous Mum, Anke (thank you Anke, I love them!).  He gave me the following instructions to cook it:

Sear the meat over a medium/high heat.  Transfer to oven at 300 degrees F.  Add some chicken stock to the roasting pan with some booze and aromatics. I used a halved medium sized onion and some more sage leaves.  Roast for about 3-4 hours, basting frequently. His instructions were to cover the pan while roasting which I did not notice at the time.  I did have to top up the stock in the pan but it meant that the meat got really crispy and I have decided it is the way to go.  So with all this learning I did a roast pork shoulder today and it was also fabulous, if I say so myself!  As it had skin (later yummy crackling) I did not brown the meat before roasting and cooked it for a total of 5 hours.  I scored the skin in a diamond pattern and inserted slivers of garlic into the meat.  I peeled and halved 2 medium onions and added those to the pan along with  2 sprigs of sage.  I upped the temperature to 375 for the last hour, mostly because that was when I put in the potatoes.

Gravy:  take the meat out about half an hour before you plan to serve it, transfer to a heated plate, tent with foil and put near the stove to keep warm.  I slice off the skin at this point and return to oven on a new roasting pan to  crisp up. You should have at least a cup of juices in the pan the pork roasted in.  Pour it into a separator if you have one, improvise with a small jug.  Keep about 2 TBSPS oil in the pan and add one TBSP of flour to that.  Stir to combine the fat and flour then cook over a medium heat for about 3 minutes.  Now you need some liquied to add.  The juices in the pan were pretty flavourful so water would probably do.  If you are steaming vegetables you can use that water, I did from my cabbage.  A big dash of red wine is great too, chicken stock also works.  This is one of those recipes you need to get a feel for and it is never the same twice.

I apologize for my attempt at garnish, hey ho we can't all be perfect all the time!

BABY LAMB CHOPS - YUM!
Not much going on today, watching the tennis and looking for something new to try for dinner for just the 2 of us. Decided to rifle through the recipes I cut out of NYTimes, there are always plenty of those.   A good co-incidence happened, I asked Alan what he fancied for dinner, he responded 'lamb chops',   I had just come accross Seared Lamb Chops with Anchovies, Capers and Sage .  I have a very healthy sage plant in my garden and am always happy to find a recipe to use it. I changed this recipe a bit, only because at the end it says 'spoon the sauce over the chops' and I had no sauce.  I had a pan with a lot of capers and sage leaves but no liquid, so I deglazed the pan with some red wine.  It was delicious, but not for those who are dieting! For those who do not like anchovies please do  not be put off, these really just season the dish, it does not have a  strong anchovy flavour.  I liked the lemon squeezed over.  I served with green beans, as you can see, and corn, which filled the gap on the plate.  The corn is so good at this time of year, I serve it with little encouragement!

Here is what you need for 2 servings:

• 6/8 baby lamb chops
• 3 Tbsps olive oil
• 3 anchovy fillets
• 1 Tpsp drained capers (more if desired, recipe called for 3, I thought too much!)
• 15 sage leaves
• pinch red pepper flakes
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• splash of red wine
• lemon wedges for serving

Season chops with salt and pepper, but go easy on the salt, the anchovies are salty.  Heat a skillet large enough to take chops in one layer and heat the oil til it shimmers.  Add the anchovies and capers, stir and cook for a couple of minutes, anchovies will break down. Add the chops and brown for about 3 minutes on first side and 2 minutes after turning over. Time will vary depending on thickness of chops and your preference of done-ness. Transer chops to serving plate.  Add garlic to pan, cook for about a minute, til starting to brown, turn the heat off the pan then add the wine.  Cook for about a minute then spoon over the chops.

Jenny's Smashed Potatoes

We were so excited to welcome our great friends, the O'Connells, back from Argentina.  They chose an interesting week to arrive, an earthquake and a hurricane welcomed them back to Connecticut!
I popped in for a cup of tea with Elizabeth yesterday, while she was prepping for having some friends for dinner.  She was making these potatoes, which I saw the start of the prep but not the finished result.  But, sounded easy enough, I had a few fingerlings in my cupboard so decided to make them for the 3 of us tonight.

So easy I will describe it rather than write an a recipe format.  Start with new potatoes, cutting any large ones so they are all about the same size.  Put on a roasting pan, add olive oil, salt and pepper and then you can choose: maybe some red pepper flakes, or a herb, depending on your mood and what you are serving them with. Roast the potatoes at 350 C for about an hour, depending on size,  til feeling done when prodded with a knife. This can be done in advance.  'Smash' the potatoes with something heavy.  About half an hour before you are ready to serve, heat some butter in a frying pan and fry the potatoes for about 20 minutes, on a medium/high heat,  shaking the pan frequently to cook them evenly on all sides. Fry 'til they are lightly browned and crispy.  Add a little more salt and enjoy/

THE ONE HUNDRED AND SECOND WAY TO ROAST A CHICKEN!

I'm on a bit of a Barefoot Contessa run at the moment, along with Tiffany.
Was just the 3 of us for Sunday dinner so, to Alan's disappointment I did not do my regular roast chicken ( I say 'mine', the recipe it is based on is Delia Smith's). I made Ina's 'Perfect Roast Chicken', how can you resist that title??  Main difference is that this has no stuffing, seemed appropriate for  a summer evening,  you stuff the cavity with lemon and garlic, sounded good to me!
Verdict is 'pretty good'.  You roast this bird at a higher temperature, with no foil  protecting the breast.  The result is a delicious, crispy skin BUT the breast meat was a little dry.  The gravy was very tasty which compensated for the dryness of the breast meat.  Alan and I debated various methods to achieve both - hopefully I will be successful at that and will be publishing a book of my own!
While I was breaking all the traditions tonight, I did not do any roasted vegetables.  I made Roatsed New potatoes in parchment and steamed green beans.  The potatoes were from a recipe in the NYTimes which I cannot find right now but easy enough to include here.  Worked well with the chicken as the oven temp worked for both.

• Fingerling potatoes ( or a mixture with red, white and purple pots)
• virgin olive oil
• garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
• herb of your choice: rosemary, oregano or sage
• chopped parsley to serve

You can figure out quantities, depending on how many you are serving, be generous with the oil.  Mix the potatoes in a bowl with oil, garlic and herb, season well.  Put contents of bowl onto a sheet of parchment  which is on a baking sheet.  Make a parcel by folding the top and tucking in the sides.  Bake at 450 degrees C for about an hour, can adjust depending on whatever else is going on in your oven. Transfer parcel to serving dish, open parchment and sprinkle parsley.
I happened to have some purple and fingerling potatoes, so mixed them.  Visually it was pretty appealing but I have to say that the fingerlings taste so much better than the purple potatoes, shame, wish it weren't so!

BOB DYLAN'S FIGGY PUDDING

Life takes some fun turns every once in a while........  We went to see Bob at Jones Beach last night and started chatting to the guy next to us who had sold us the tickets on Stubhub.  He is a journalist,  Duff McDonald, who writes business stuff mostly for Fortune and occasionally for Vanity Fair.  He is also a big Dylan fan and had written an article on Bobby, which was in the April 2009  Vanity Fair edition, and was based on Dylan's DJ-ing on Sirius radio.  Anyway, this morning I was checking him out and read the article, which is fabulous.  I started reading the highlights to Alan,  including some recipes he had apparently read on the show.  One of them was for Figgy Pudding, which, after reading,  I casually added: 'easy to make, I think I have all the ingredients'.  Our Bob Dylan weekend was about to continue!

You have to scroll down in the article to find the recipe, it was fun to make and pretty good!  I changed a few things so here is how I made it:

4 oz of plain flour, sifted
a pinch of salt
4 oz bread crumbs
4 oz shredded suet - I used butter
1 teaspoon mixed spice - I used half teaspoon Jamaice Allspice
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 oz dark soft brown sugar
8 oz chopped dried figs ( I chopped in mini Cuisinart)
finely grated rind & the juice of one lemon
2 tablespoon milk
2 beaten eggs - I used 3 eggs
4 Tablespoons of golden syrup, plus more to serve

Cream the butter and sugar then add the flour, salt and breadcrumbs. Add the beaten eggs then the lemon rind and juice and the figs.  Beat well, the mixture should have a soft dropping consistency.  (This is when I added an extra egg as my mixture was not dropping!)  Put into a greased two-pint pudding basin, cover securely,  (I used two sheets of foil and 2 elastic bands) and steam for three hours. I also put the syrup in the basin before adding the mixture, then added more syrup to serve.

It was pretty good, served with some Birds custard.   Found that harder to make than proper custard and it was not as good in my view.........  but Alan loved it and that was what it was all about.

I know the ounce measures are tricky for my US friends, one day I will find a conversion site and link it.  I think the recipe is pretty forgiving if you want to have a go!

YOU WIN SOME, YOU LOSE SOME........

I have always loved artichokes but have never mastered cooking them.  The baby ones have been showing up for the last couple of years and have been teasing me! There was an article in this weeks NYTimes Dining section which I could not resist, Pan Roasted Baby Artichokes.   Just the 3 of us for dinner tonight, did roast beef, some roasted vegetables and this was our green veg......... albeit fried!  Alan's verdict was 'a disaster';  Joseph's was: 'I hate artichokes.but these are.... not bad'.  My big mistake was not trimming them enough.  You really feel like you are throwing away 3/4s of your vegetable and in this instance that was not quite enough! Does look good though, don't you think?  The flavour was excellent, we just had to take off a couple fo extra leaves which were chewy and stringy to get to the good part, worth it in my view, and a lesson for next time!
One note, you cook these in a lot of oil, recipe does not say to use a slotted spoon ro remove from pan to serving dish, but that is what I did and would recommend.

JUST ANOTHER BUSY SATURDAY

Well, not that busy but I knew I would not want to spend too much time in the kitchen and I knew I wanted to eat fish tonight.  I turned to my 'could be better organised' folder of recipes that I collect from various sources that I like the sound of, and found Lime and Honey Glazed Salmon with Rice and Broccolini.  

This is really meant to be that perfect mid-week meal, pretty quick and all cooked in one pan.  However, I was never one to follow the rules and I'm glad I didn't, it was pretty good, I will do it again.  Of course I changed a few things:  substituted lemons for the limes (I had some that needed using) and I omitted the cilantro as Joseph does not like it.  The pan I used was a little small, which I knew but I thought it would look good!  I had to cook some of the broccolini separately, which was fine.  The rice was perfect which  I was relieved about, have tried something similar where it was not.  This is definitely a recipe to play with and I'm sure it will still be just as delicious.

A CLASSIC SALAD

This is one of my favourites - made it to take to a friend and didn't bother to look for a recipe.

PEAR AND GORGONZOLA SALAD:

• Head of Romaine lettuce
• 2 pears - just ripe! Slice fairly thin, lengthways 
• about 3 ozs mountain gorgonzola cheese
• half cup walnuts - lightly toasted
• balsamic vinaigrette - with a little honey added

This salad need to be presented on a platter or shallow dish.  Toss the lettuce in some of the dressing and arrange as the base. Top with the pears, drizzle more dressing onto them.  The cheese is too creamy to crumble, you will need to dice or just break apart with your fingers and scatter evenly over the salad, the do the same with the nuts. Enjoy!

JAMIE'S SCALLOPS

SEARED SCALLOPS WITH CRISPY PROSCIUTTO, ROASTED TOMATOES AND SMASHED BEANS.  Have done this many times, I think Charlotte originally told me about this recipe, it is easy, quick and delicious, what else is there?! Didn't fuss too much with the presentation of the Arugula this time, as you can see, regretting that right now.
Couple of notes:
I always make the beans first, while the oven is warming and then reheat just before serving, otherwise there is too much to do all at once.
Don't know if all my friends are bigger eaters than the rest of the world but I always do 2 cans of beans to serve 4 people and never have any left over!
I have started to roast the prosciutto in little piles rather than slices, you can sort of see in the pic, I find the slices get crispy too quickly.
Not sure I have ever remembered to buy a red chili when shopping for this dish, a dash of red pepper flakes works just as well.
Have done it with largish cherry tomatoes, also looks good!
It really needs that extra slug of good oil just before serving, enjoy.

An ex-pat 4th of July!

Happens to also be one of my best friend's, birthday so we have celebrated together for many years.  The table was heaving with delicious things and I am going to share what I contributed.
First of all I did beef short ribs.  First time I enjoyed these they were cooked by my now son-in law and the best chef ever, of course!  Next time I had them was as a sandwich at Table 8 in South Beach during one of those memorable girlie vacations.  On the strength of that hangover  meal Jules bought us all Govind Armstrong's book and I have to admit this is the first time I have dipped into it.  I cannot find a link to the recipe, the link here is a hint but you might want to buy the book.  The sandwich included pickled red onions which were just as fantastic with the short ribs, served as a meal instead of a sandwich.   Fellow guests added a green and potato salad and it became a memorable meal.  Was having such a good time that I forgot to  take a pic of the short ribs, but you can probably imagine them......

The meal was finished with Charlotte's wonderful berry cobbler and  Blondies, I had attempted for the first time.  I think they were ok but room for improvement here, thank goodness for hungry and forgiving teenagers!  Next time I will cook them for a minute less.  This was a Cook's Illustrated recipe, and as I have said before I cannot share their recipes, annoyingly.

Thank you Charlotte and John for another wonderful evening.

Perfect summer evening, Julia, Peas and Halibut!

Alan and Joseph are at a regatta for some of the weekend so Julia and I are having a girlie evening.  Started with a movie, plan was to come back to my place for margaritas and dinner.  Had to serve something that we could cook pretty quickly.  I cut this recipe, Peas with Halibut, out of the NY Times back in 2004 and have made it several times since.  The peas part is a great side dish, apparently cooking peas with lettuce and mint goes way back,  I was first served this by my oldest foodie friend, Jock, yonks ago!
Anyway, did small amount of prep before we went out, sliced the scallions and diced the bacon, and cooked it up whilst finishing the last few sips of Julia's most delicious margaritas.
One note, if you want a more healthy dish you can omit the bacon, I have never done that so cannot vouch for it!  I usually use the largest scallions I can find. Only thing I change is that I do not add any oil to the pan before I fry the bacon, it is not necessary, and I do pour out some of the bacon fat, leaving just enough to fry the onions in, honest!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Rhubarb, strawberry and ginger pie.

This recipe could have been made just for Alan, he loves rhubarb and ginger.  It was in the NY Times this week so no question I had to do it for father's day.  OK, does not present that well on the plate but it was excellent.  As it was a special occasion we served it with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream!

One hundred and one ways to roast a chicken!

Well, that's how it feels sometimes........  Alan would have preferred the regular old roast chicken but I was in the mood for something a little different. Alan bought me a boxed set of the Barefoot Contessa's cookbooks for my birthday, so that is where I am going for inspiration these days.  Came across Indonesian Ginger Chicken, 

Sounded worth a try, and it really was. "MMMM - mmmmmm" was Joseph's comment!  Pretty easy, basically you marinate 4 chicken quarters in honey, soy sauce, garlic and ginger then roast it, still covered in the marinade, first covered with foil then open so it browns.   The marinade becomes a pretty good sauce, I put it through a sieve as I had chopped the ginger rather than grated it, so the pieces were a little big and I thought would be unpleasant.
Probably a good one to marinate 2 chickens and put one in the freezer, maybe next time!

CRAB CAKES - YUM!

Alan and I are both fans, I've only made them once before and they were ok. Browsed a few recipes and decided on good old Epicurious, this recipe had so many great reviews and they were really excellent: Crab Cakes with Herb Salad.

I pretty much stuck to the recipe, I went light on the amount of herbs in the crab cakes as I did not want to overwhelm the taste of crab.  The dressing, which is basically grapeseed oil, lemon juice and dijon was really delicious.  I added a sliced heirloom tomato, with a drizzle of the dressing of course, because I thought it would be a good combo and added some colour to the plate.  Have to admit though that I did serve a little Chipotle mayo on the side.  Sure to be making these again.

How can anyone be a vegetarian?

Actually the whole quote was "A meal like this makes me wonder how anyone can be a vegetarian", spoken by my son.  The dish was very enjoyable and I have included it before, Beef Salad with Asian Dressing.

Of course there needs to be a twist! Two of the ingredients this recipe calls for are sesame oil and a chili.  Does anyone else make shopping lists them leave the list at home?  I do it too often!  Did pretty well today, the only thing I forgot from the list was a chili.  Once I stared cooking I discovered I was out of sesame oil which I thought I had.  Thanks to Jane Z I have O & Co's chili oil  - that seemed like the perfect substitute for the 2 missing ingredients. Recipe calls for skirt steak but I always use flank steak, I prefer it.
A little different tonight, of course, but still excellent. Another thing I love about this dish is that it reminds me of my nephew, Sean, who I made this for on one of his visits.  He is an excellent 'braaier', so he cooked the meat and really enjoyed the dish.  Cheers Sean!

A QUICK DINNER

The weekend of Mother's day I get quite selfish about spending a lot of time gardening.  However, dinner should not be compromised.....  I found this recipe in the pile I had cut out of NY Times and it was quick.

Curried Scallops with tomatoes -  which I decided to serve with Jamie's smashed beans and some baby courgettes and snap peas, which I steamed.  It was pretty good but I would change a few things next time.  Main thing is that the curry overpowered the scallops, I think this would be great with boned chicken thighs.  Also, the smashed beans got lost, good old rice would have done the trick. Hey-ho, can't be perfect every time!

A RIGHT ROYAL DISH!

Have to admit I starting watching at about 5.45 on Friday morning, I thought it was all spectacular - the Brits know how to do this!  Katherine looked stunning, as did her sister and most of the guests.  The only stand outs for me were Eugenie and Beatrice - what were they thinking??? They looked like the ugly step-sisters...  but back to me.  My good friend Julia hosted the wedding party today and we all had to bring an 'appropriate' dish.  I decided on a version of Coronation chicken.  This dish was invented for the 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, and there is some story about there being an ingredient from each Colony at the time.  More important to me is that my first foodie friend, Jock Lawson, used to make this often for parties, but she substituted the chicken with shrimp.  I had her tell me the recipe, must have been about 25 years ago (gulp, can that be true?).  I cannot remember when I made it last, but it did make me smile looking at my very neat handwriting in my first ever recipe book!

• 1 small onion pureed
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 heaped tsp flour
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 cup Mayonaise (roughly, I did a conversion, start with a bit less and taste!)
• 2 Tbsps curry powder
• 8oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1Tbsp mango chutney pureed (can use apricot jam)
• 2 Tbsps heavy/double cream
• juice of about half a juicy lemon
• tabasco to taste
• 2 pounds of shrimp/prawns or shredded meat from one chicken.

Melt butter over medium heat, soften onion for about 5 mins, do not brown. Add flour & curry powder and cook for few mins more. Add tomatoes, chutney, sugar and season with S & P.  Cook over gentle heat for about half an hour.  Cool then add other ingredients.

I found it did not need any tabasco and I served with some melba toasts and peppery water biscuits which was all fabulous!  Sorry I forgot to take a pic before it was devoured.

THE SOUTHERN INFLUENCE

Our guest chef is back, HOORAY! Cooked us a wonderful meal of very slow roasted pork shoulder, served with spicy sweet potatoes with onion and red peppers, fabulous collard greens and a dish of black beans with slow roasted corn.  Could have been ordinary but believe me it was not.   Recipes might follow if I can get them out of him!  As usual this meant a very pleasant afternoon in the kitchen, being sous chef and observer.  Whilst shopping  he noticed plantains were on special, what better way to finish his southern/Haiwian meal?  Throws it out to me, plantain fritters?  Found perfect sounding recipe on Epicurious, of course, sweet plantian fritters.   Have to say it was a challenge after the filling meal, even though we waited an hour or so to serve them, but they were irresistible and delicious!

MY FAVOURITE SATURDAY - COOKING, DINNER WITH FRIENDS

Just 6 of us for dinner tonight but was planning on spending some time at Joseph's regatta on Saturday, so had to plan something that was not too time consuming on the day.  Decided on SLOW-COOKED DUCK LEGS, have done these before but not for a  while. I had cut the recipe out of the NY Times many years ago, but cannot find it on the site so here it is:

• Combine 1 tsp each of ground allspice, dried thyme, ground cumin with
• 1/4 tsp each of ground ginger, ground cloved and grated nutmeg with
• 1 tsp crushed juniper berries

mix well and sprinkle over both sides of

• 8 duck legs

rub well into the flesh, place in dish large enough to hold them in one layer then sprinkle with

• 4 TSPS kosher salt

cover with plastic wrap and put in fridge for 24 hours.
Heat oven to 300 degrees F.
Remove legs from dish and carefully wipe with Bounty to remove all salt.
Place skin side up in a 3 inch deep baking dish, in single layer.  Add:

• 1 Bayleaf
• 8 garlic cloves, peeled but whole

Cover tightly with foil and cook for 2.5 - 3 hours.
Remove from pan, can be made ahead to this point.
Pre heat broiler, place legs on rack in roasting pan and broil about 10 inches away from element for about 5 minutes, til skin crisps and they are heated through.  Couple of notes: I had fresh thyme so used that, sprinkled on the leaves just before baking; I did not have juniper berries so simply left them out, interested to see how it could be even better with them! I always use the full 3 hours but you have to be careful as you take them out of the pan as the meat is literally falling off the bone. I use a spatula and put them straight onto the rack that they will go under the broiler on.



I served this with a green pepper Risotto, taken from a wonderful book I was given years ago:
Risotto by Judith Barrett and Norma Wasserman

I chose this particular risotto because it is not too rich, has no cream in it. The pairing worked well, and I enjoy having the girls in the kitchen stirring risotto, just before we sit down to eat. Our meal was completed by a delicious salad, provided by Charlotte, of mache, endive, roasted beets and pecans, dressed with a blood orange vinaigrette, perfect accompaniment to rich and fatty duck!

Finished the evening with some delicious cheese and the Lemon Curd Pavlova that I made many times before.  I did the meringue and lemon curd the previous evening, then put it together just before serving.  Alan had done the shopping and picked up raspberries instead of blueberries by mistake, but it turned out to be a happy accident, it was a little different, looked and tasted great!  In fact I just had a leftover slice as I was writing this!

Sunday not roast!

My boys went skiing this weekend, took advantage of the late arrival of spring.  That meant that I could decide on Sunday dinner with no input! Been thinking about the Thai Green Curry with Seafood that I did some time ago and made it again tonight.   I know I have not often done this, repeated myself on this blog but things have to evolve and this one is worth repeating, it was delicious.  I found baby bok choi and so did not finely chop, as per the recipe, but quartered them and it worked out well, and looked good.  Alan did not love it, but I'm sure he had his taste  buds primed for a roast dinner so no matter how good it was he was not going to be happy!  It was also probably a touch too spicey for him, but when you cook with fresh chilies it is so difficult to control the heat exactly.  I would have been ok with a bit less heat but thought it was excellent as it was.  I also cracked the first bottle of rose wine for the season, come on, it was a sunny day!

LEMON CAKE - for Julia, the boys and some time ago, Elizabeth.

 We celebrated a 'big' birthday of Julia's a few weeks ago with a wonderful party at Napa.  During the planning stage we had talked about Iain and I providing a cake each, which would also be dessert.  This did not work out.  I was a little disappointed as I was planning to make this cake which I knew Julia would love. "You can make it for me some other time" she said.
LEMON LAYER CAKE WITH LEMON CURD AND MASCARPONE
The occasion arose yesterday, dinner at Julia's with Iain and Rick, who recently announced they are moving to London, very sad for us.  Anyway, seemed like the right time to make this, although only 5 of us I knew they would be an appreciative audience and it is the kind of cake that might even be better on the day after it is made.
Luckily we had the day off work on Friday and I could start it then as it is a labour of love, making this cake.  I did the cake layers on Friday and the lemon curd, then did the syrup and frosting on Saturday morning and put it all together in time to have it in the fridge by lunchtime as it has to refrigerate for at least 6 hours.
The fun coincidence was that it was Elizabeth's birthday yesterday, so 8 years to the day when I made this cake for her, the only other time I have made it!  At that point we used to do an Oscar party, which doubled as Elizabeth's birthday party.  It grew over the years, various people hosted and it was always a fun filled evening with great food.  It was a girls only affair (most men did not share our opinions on the frocks and we were not interested in hearing theirs!).  This particular year I was hosting and asked Elizabeth what she would like for dessert/birthday cake.  "The cake that is on the cover of the current Bon Appetit" she replied with no hesitation, perhaps she was waiting for me to ask?! To be honest it was probably the most ambitious cake I had attempted at the time, but I enjoyed making it and it was delicious, as it was last night.

JOSEPH'S FAVOURITE BREAKFAST

Since Charlotte gave me the pan and the mix for these filled pancakes they have become a regular breakfast request on one of the weekend mornings.  I finally ran out of mix and had to improvise. I used my regular pancake recipe, only thing I changed was to separate the egg and whip the egg white before adding to the mixture.  They were definitely different, but Joseph declared them to be even better! Thanks again Charlotte.

• Sift 1 cup flour with
• 1 tsp sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• add one egg yolk
• one cup buttermilk and whisk til smooth
• beat the egg white till fluffy (I do this first so I don't have to wash the beaters)
• carefully add the egg white and 2 TSPS melted butter

I thought the mixture was thicker than it should be and added another dollop of buttermilk.
In the meantime have the pan warming on a medium heat with a dab of butter in each dent. Put 1 TBSP of mixture in each and add filling of your choice, our favourites:

• Raspberries
• Blueberries
• Banana
• Peanut butter & jelly (actually Chelsey's fave!)

cover filling with more mixture.  When the bottoms are done carefully turn over with 2 wooden skewers and cook minute or so more.  My one tip is not to have the heat too high or the edges will burn before the middle is cooked.
Serve with melted butter and maple syrup, if you like.

NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL A STEAK SANDWICH!

 

I have 2 sisters and when we were teenagers my mother quite often made us hamburgers on a Saturday night. We were all doing different things at different times, so she made the patties and set out the 'fixings' and the electric griddle thing so we could each cook our own burger at a time to suit our plans for the evening.  With that as inspiration we had steak sandwiches for dinner tonight, each a little different.  Here is Joseph's, which he declared to be delicious.  Steak was sirloin, as it was on special at our wonderful Wilton Village Market  today and the bread has to be from Michaelina's,  one of 2 great bakeries we have right here in Wilton. Only thing I got wrong is that I cooked it for him, really need to work on that!

DAVE'S DELECTABLE MUSHROOM SOUP

Two years ago when Harlan was born we were down in Folly for New Years Eve with the brand new family.  Dave cooked us a wonderful New Year's Eve dinner which he threw together in 2 hours, would have taken me all day! We started with this mushroom soup which I recently recreated when Anne was visiting from Australia.  We had a quiet dinner to catch up on the night she arrived at Julia's, in the excitement of the evening I forgot to take a picture, will add one next time I do this, Alan is asking for it!

MUSHROOM AND TRUFFLE SOUP

• 1 Package Crimini mushrooms
• 1/4 of large yellow onion
• Butter - about 1 stick
• Chicken stock - about a cup
• Truffle oil
• Salt

Put the mushrooms in an oven safe dish. Take  half a stick of butter and cut it up into 1/2 inch pieces.    Place the butter on top of the mushrooms and season well with salt.  Sprinkle with a tsp of of truffle oil and place a 1/2 cup of stock in the bottom of the pan.   Cover and cook at 400 for 30-45 minutes or until cooked thoroughly .  Once mushrooms are cooked through, Place them and the liquid into a blender and begin to puree... If you need more liquid add stock.   Puree until smooth and add Small chunks of butter to make it creamier (while it is pureeing).  Season with salt and truffle oil to taste.
Makes about 2 large or 4 small servings.
Notes: The day I did this could not find crimini's so used baby bella mushrooms and it was still delicious. I used at least one cup of stock and garnished with thinly sliced mushrooms, seared til crispy.

Garnish options 

Seared mushrooms with chopped chives
Creme fraiche
Chives cut on the bias in 1 inch pieces
Truffle oil
Truffle oil mixed with creme fraiche
Dave's  favorite garnish:  Seared scallop, dusted in porcini powder before searing.
You can make porcini powder by grinding up dried porcini's in a coffee blender, some places sell it. (Cut scallop up in five Pieces for looks)

SNOW DAY = HOME MADE SOUP

Thanks to 20 inches of snow last night we were all home today and I wanted to make some soup for lunch out of whatever I had in my fridge and cupboard. Had most of a fairly large cauliflower which I love, that choice was easy. Then rushed to Epicurious and decided on Stilton Cauliflower Soup. Was having a busy day as I was working at home and this recipe looked easy, not too time consuming and I had all the ingredients, more or less!

I used Roquefort instead of Stilton and it was really delicious if not very photogenic! Added a small grainy loaf from Costco (love their bread) which I let defrost, passed briefly under a running cold tap, then put in 350 degree oven for about 20mins. Great trick with crusty bread, assume the water helps it not to dry out while getting all warm and crusty! Might try a different garnish next time, but hey, this was just a busy Wednesday lunch!

CHRISTMAS CAKE

I make this cake once a year - shocker!  Each time it is a little different.  It was pretty good this year, according to Alan who is the most ardent fan of this cake.  My sister has been making this cake for many years, I believe the recipe came from Aunty Elaine, thank you.

BOILED FRUIT CAKE

• 3 eggs
• 6 Tbsps butter
• 2 pounds fruit & nuts ( I use raisins, golden raisins, red glace cherries, dates and walnuts)
• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 pinches salt
• 2 tsps baking soda
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup brandy
• 1 & 3/4 cups water (can use 2 cups and omit brandy)

Prepare 8" square tin or equivalent by lining sides with cardboard covered in foil, this will ensure more even baking.  Spray with 'Pam for baking' or grease as you prefer.
Combine fruit, water, butter and sugar is large saucepan. Put on high heat til comes to boil and sugar is dissolved. Cool. (can do this day before),
Add well beaten eggs and brandy if using, then flour, bicarb and salt.  Pour into prepared tin and place thoroughly soaked newspaper under tin.  Bake at 325F for one hour, turn down to 300 and cook for about another hour, or maybe even 2, til toothpick comes out pretty much clean.
I make this cake over Thanksgiving weekend and store in a Tupperware like container.  Pierce the cake all over with a skewer and add one Tbs brandy once a week, or so.........
FROSTING:
Start this a  few days before Christmas,  I use 2 tubes of Marzipan to cover the cake.  First spread about 3 Tbsps of apricot jam over cake,  roll the marzipan as thinly as possible, using confectioners sugar to keep from sticking to your surface and rolling pin. Don't worry too much about how it looks at this point, it is very forgiving once you cover with frosting!  I usually cut a piece of marzipan that will pretty much fit the top, then cut pieces to fit the sides and fill any gaps with the bits left over.  You then need to leave for a day to dry out, covered with a clean (duh!) tea towel.  I use Delia's Royal Icing, which is a little more brittle than I would prefer but have not found a better one.
Present on a fabulous plate and decorate with a piece of holly from your garden! This cake does last a while if stored correctly. Oh, and I have heard all the jokes about fruit cakes, all I can say is that those jokers have not tasted this cake!