Monday 29 August 2011

The spinach Roulade.

Well, I have uploaded the 2 pictures, but ,where ARE THEY?  This I find so dificult
Here goes. we had melon and Parma ham to start with ,(easy)
Then the roulade, which I made in the morning.

4  large eggs
Spinach cooked ,drained and chopped,about a small bagfull  I then made a thick white sauce ,flavouring it with grated nutmeg,salt and papper.
 For the filling.  I used  I Trout, and  choped Prawns and some mushrooms which I had sauteed in butter and a small glass of sherry  When cool, add half the white sauce plus some Ricotta and a spoonful of Creme Fraiche to make a  mixture soft enough to handle
Separated the eggs, not an easy task onehanded!
The yolks into the food proscessor with the other half of the white sauce, the spinach,and some grated parmesan.
Whip the whites till stiff,and fold them into the mixture. .
Then pour into a swiss roll tin that has been lined with greaseproof paper .
Bake in a hot oven(180o) for 15 minutes till firm to touch ,and browned,. then remove from the oven tip it onto another piece of greaseproof paper under which you have put a tea towel. Peel off the paper,let it cool,and then fill  with whatever you want. I have used red onions.,smoked haddock cheese sauce...
Roll carefully away from you . It helps if you cut the edges before you roll it.

Then afterwards  we had baked white nectarines with Amaretti biscuits and chocolate crumbled into the cavity where the stones were. I poured a little rose wine around them and they were in a medium oven for about 20 minutes, till they were soft,but not falling apart;. no picture,as we ate them to quickly!

Absolutely delicious.
Sorry I have got the pictures round the wrong way.....and after the pudding..

Tuesday 23 August 2011

Pissaladiere: This is a tart made with a pizza base and masses of softened onions spread over, you then create the criss cross pattern using anchovies and a black olive in the centre of each cross. It was cooked in a hot oven for 20 minutes and it can be served warm or cold. I have made this for my friend's party in 10 days time and so have put it in the freezer as I'm away next week!

Thursday 11 August 2011

                                         
                                          First pictures of Sibyl on her first day with me.

                                         Scotch pancakes or drop scones.

Empty cupboard!

Friends for bridge, and the biscuits I had bought were found to be completely broken on opening.
So made a batch of drop scones, or Scotch pancakes as some people call them.

Drop Scones
125g self raising flour
1 egg 20 gms of butter.
a desert spoon of sugar,asnd a pinch of salt
enough milk to make a soft dropping mix off a spoon.

Rub the butter into the flour, add the sugar and salt,then the egg.
Slowly pour in the milk until it is thick enough to drop off a spoon.
Heat a frying pan or similar,  add a small amount of tasteless oil, ( vegetable or sunflower)

Drop spoonfuls into the hot pan, leave for a minute or so,then flip over and cook the underside.
They will puff up a litle.
makes about 18, depending how large your spoon is!
Photo coming when I can work out how to do it......

Saturday 6 August 2011

Using things up.

Today I seem to have loads of vegetables, so I decided to make a Ratatouille,with these ingredients.
1 stick of Celery,1Aubergine1 Red Pepper,3 Large Spring Onions and 2 large Tomatoes,quartered .I also had a cauliflower lurking in the fridge, so I broke off some florets,and added them to the other vegetables for the last  6 minutes of cooking,so they still had some crunch left
Just a little oil ( in fact I used the remaining oil from the jar of sundried Tomatoes ) and salt and Pepper .
As I also had some plain flour that needed using up,  I made a FOUGASSE ,an easy sort of flat bread
I rarely weigh things accurately ,so I tipped the flour in a bowl ,added a shake of dried yeast,some sugar and salt, and then some warm water ,then kneaded it for about 5 minutes until it was elastic, and then let it rest in a covered bowl . One handed kneading is ultra messy! I get dough all crusted on my fingers.
Then I added the sundried Tomatoes from the jar that had been ages in the fridge,plus  the oil,and herbs that were at the bottom of the jar.  Covered it with oiled cling wrap, and left it for half an hour  formed it ,and made slashes in the top,stuck a few olives over the top too,and then a sprinkle of sea salt ,then cooked it in a hot oven for 20 minutes.
 It came out a bit overdone, but tasted good when eaten with the Ratatouille, over which I had crumbled some Feta cheese,and scattered the chopped tops of the spring onions over the lot.

I have bought a camera, and now need to work out how to get the photos into this blog!  Why does being one handed AND LEFT handed make things so difficult? Needless to say, Ru has helped me..thank goodness.

Friday 5 August 2011

Cold Avocado soup

I love this one too!
As many avocadoes as you have to hand
some chicken stock
a clove of garlic.Greek yoghurt
Juice of a lemon

Put all these ingredients in the processor, and blitz,adding salt and pepper to taste,
Add the lemon juice ,more if you think it needs it
If you use home made stock, it will often make the soup thicker than if you used a stock cube.

Hot weather cooking.

Toeday it's really hot, so i want to keep things simple.
I have a huge cucumber in the fridge, and so i am making a cold soup, trying to remember the recpie when i
had it with friends.
THAI FLAVOURED CUCUMBER SOUP

1 large cucumber, peeled ,but not de seeded
1 stick of lemon grass.grated
1 red chilli(not too fierce!)cut in half  ,or none if it's not your thing.
Piece of fresh ginger grated
mint, basil,and coriander ,small handful of each.
1 tinnof coconut milk
1 pot of plain yoghurt
Juice of 1 lime,and a little zest for garnishing.

Roughly chop the cucumber, salt it, and put with  all the other ingredients together, and leave in a covered bowl in the fridge for at least 6 hours.
Then blitz it all in the processor with the coconut milk, and the yoghurt.and lime juice, then  add salt and white pepper to taste.
Sieve ,if you want it without bits, but I liked it with a little character.
To serve ,dribble a little Sesame oil on the top ,and some thin slices of cucumber if desired.
It seemed to be even nicer a day later.

Wednesday 3 August 2011

Back home from Italy

Now I have seen how a blog really works,I must buy a camera quickly so that I can photograph my food,and show certain utensils that I find, being one handed, are invaluable to my cooking. so watch this space!