The crab ...soufflés

Only three, but they look OK.  

Quite the most difficult thing I have attempted one handed

I th ink the crab shell and total  mess says it all!    Happy New Year  everyone.

Happy New Year to all my supporters!

Sorry I haven't posted anything recently, things got a bit out of hand....

The best thing I have made over CHRISTMAS was an icecream, 

Equal parts of whipped  double cream, Greek yoghurt and home made lemon curd, into which I folded grilled  and thinly cut slices of pineapple and the juice of four passion fruits. Frozen in a bowl,it fed 14 of us on Boxing night.

I also made a venison casserole, some seafood pancakes ,and an Apple and amaretti Tart ,with home made mincemeat underneath the apple slices,which were dusted with cinnamon and sugar.

Wonderful traditional Christmas dinner of Turkey and all the trimmings! Sprouts with chestnuts, carrot and parsnip pureé ,spiced red cabbage, and roast potatoes , delicious,and huge thanks to my daughter in law for. Cooking the meal.

May 2015 be a happy and fruitful one for us all.  I have 2 great new cook books,and will enjoy cooking some of the recipes

Look at what I have made!

Lovely Cranberry Stollen. 

Recipe from a Sainsburys Magazine pull out on Baking from YEARS ago. 

Actually, I think that the Stollen one can buy from LIDL is just as good as this was ! Rather heavy, and considering the time,effort and ingredients, it was not really worth making. Such a shame. I'm really disappointed .

Can't wait to try it.

Why do I want to eat salad on the coldest day of this year?

Because I have masses of vegetables ! 

So here's what I have done.

Chopped half a leek as finely as possible,and a handful of Brussels Sprouts...I  am always reading about them now,and they seem to be the vegetable of the month! Then two carorots,and a small green chilli. All the vegetables were incredibly difficult to cut finely, but with perseverance, they seem OK.

 To this I have added a dressing made with a teaspoon of grainy mustard, some runny honey,salt and a little olive oil,then perked up with some fresh lime  juice. Finally some basil leaves on the top,chopped as fine as I could cut them.

It's now marinating,and I shall have some for lunch.

I also made a soup from a red onion, half a sweet potato, half a red pepper and a small butternut squash. Simmered with some chicken stock cubes until soft,and then blitzed  with my hand blender. 

This tasted a bit bland, so as there was some lime juice left from the salad, I put that in as well.

Big problems

I have had my email hacked and am unable to get online. Will have to find a IT specialist who can help !   Jill

The chicken liver terrine.

At last, a rustic mix of chicken livers, sausages, bacon ,with thyme, juniper berries, onions .plus the usual salt and cracked black pepper. This  was marinated overnight with a glass of Calvados and some Sherry. The next morning I added an egg and some  breadcrumbs to bind it all  together, then I wrapped Parma Ham  inside the tin,and filled it with the  mixture.

Put into the oven in a Bain Marie,and cooked for an hour at 185 o until any juices ran clear.

Then left in the tin to cool,and pressed down to compact it with some  tins.

Here is the result,which will be served with the damson chutney I made yesterday, plus some cornichons.