Chicken Gravy

Delicious - I love gravy. I actually used to really dislike roast dinners and really didn't like gravy. I don't know when the change occurred but, I now think it is great!



Remains of chicken fat from a roast chicken
1½ tblsp plain flour
300 ml chicken stock
10 ml dry white wine

Canapés

I really love canapés and think that good ones could easily replace a starter. I've made a small selection and really hope to add to them with the help of anyone reading this.


The canapés that I have included here are some of my favourite - and easiest to make. I hope that you try them.

Angels or is it Devils on Horseback

I really hate prunes - don't see the point of them. Team them with good smokey streaked bacon though and you have a winning combination. Here's what I think are Angels on Horseback- or if you like - Prunes wrapped in bacon!



Makes about 15

3 slices of white bread
15 ml salted olive oil
8 prunes, cut in half
5 slices of smoked streaky bacon


Wine: The only wine to drink with Canapés is fizz - you choose - although I don't think you can go far wrong with a good dry Prosecco.

Devils or is it Angels on Horseback

I really don't know the name of these. I think - but could be very wrong - that they are called Devils on Horseback. Whatever they are called, I think they're really tasty and can remember eating these as a little girl. These are very retro and I love the rich smokiness that comes from the combination of bacon and smoked oysters.



Makes 15

3 slices of white bread
20 ml salted olive oil
1 tin smoked oysters or mussels
5 slices smoked streaky bacon

Blinis with Smoked Salmon

Blinis are great. I've put together three really simple ways of serving them. You can mix and match or stick to one way - the choice is entirely yours.

 

For 16 Blinis

1 pack of store bought blinis
1 pack of pre-sliced smoked salmon
1 lemon
a pack of fresh dill or jar of dried dill tops
1 jar of salmon caviar
1 jar of lumpfish caviar
1 tub of crème fresh or thick soured cream

H.F. Whittingstall what a life!

I've never really been the sort of person who likes the outdoor life. In fact in the past, I have literally sprinted in the opposite direction from even the merest suggestion of a camping trip.

Yet upon watching Hugh's new series, the name of which rather resignedly is 'River Cottage', I think I could be converted. Foraging for fungi; scrumping (if that’s the word) for pears; freshly caught scallops; cooking hearty pea and ham soup with outdoor, yes and quite burnt, parsnip bread all sounds so romantic, perhaps a little too idealistic.

Is this why it looks so appealing? Are we all so fed up of struggling to justify the uninspiring significance of wealth and irrelevance of assets? Of the need to define, and in turn be defined, by our fiscal worth? I think we are. As house prices have plummeted and the comfortable lives that we all have taken for granted for far to long have been threatened, we have sought solace in a simpler life, we have learnt to live with less and be happier with it. I have found myself closer to friends, because none of us are pretending that we have more than we do.

Mr Whitingstall is living the life that we could all have. I reckon he still shops at Waitrose though.

Moules Mariniere

Unless I'm feeling a bit flash with my cash and Waitrose is handier, I'm a Sainsburys' girl through and through. Today, however, after a detour to the sorting office to pick up the obligatory Saturday morning parcel, which happened to be something that I though I'd cancelled the purchase of, so was therefore an unnecessary outing, I went to Tesco.

I don't like Tesco, Why? It has as much, if not more, to choose from than Sainsburys. The quality is probably just as good as Sainsburys and really the prices are fairly comparable between the two. I just don't like it. I've thought about this, not a lot, but I think that the reason for this irrational aversion is the original brand tagline 'Pile it high, sell it cheap' it doesn't create a pleasant image, what's happens to the stuff at the bottom of the pile? It's squashed and that's probably why it's cheap. Sainsburys however, had a far more agreeable motto 'It's clean, it's fresh at Sainsburys' and on that note, I really don't think that I need to give any more reasons for my allegiances.

I did go to Tesco though and was pleasingly surprised to find an intelligent young man behind the fish counter, I had noticed that the sell by date on the mussels was today's date and so asked if he had any with a longer date. He obliged and went to get a new box with fresh mussels in it.

So here is the result of my unexpected trip.



For the Mussels

2 kg (approx) fresh live mussels
100ml cream (double or single)
1 medium onion diced finely
3 cloves of garlic crushed
bunch of flat leafed parsley chopped roughly
150 ml white wine

Wine: Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur Lie made to go with Mussels.

Roasted Lamb Loin Chops with Rosemary

If I say so myself, I really can't get enough of this dish, the flavours of the rosemary, lemon and garlic marry so beautifully with the lamb it's almost criminal. I could eat this for dinner every night. If you like your condiments, a dollop of Dijon mustard on the side finishes this off marvellously.



For the Lamb

Preheat oven to 180°C

6 - 8 lamb loin chops
juice of ½ a lemon
2 cloves of garlic
a few sprigs of rosemary
1tblsp of olive oil

For the Broccoli Soufflé (not really soufflé but still really nice)

Lightly grease a muffin tin

150g broccoli, quartered and cooked
1 egg
10 ml milk

For the Butternut Squash and Sage Mash

1 butternut squash peeled, seeds removed and chopped into cubes
½ a dozen leaves of sage, chopped
knob of butter

Wine? I think a Bordeaux;  either a St Emillon or a Margaux (if you're feeling a bit frivolous).

Spaghetti Bolognaise and M&S

Ah now - come on, we've all got our own special recipe - I'm not going to insult you by writing down mine. Although, I would like to say that if you add a little sugar it really livens up the flavour.

I went to M&S today to pick up some chopped tomatoes for the above mentioned and found to my horror that you can now buy Persil and Whispa bars - what is the world coming to? I don't want to be able to buy everything there, a trip to M&S should still be exciting no matter how many times a week I go. I want to feel that if it has their name on it, it is somehow better, special even. So I say - Brands get out - leave our M&S alone!

Chicken with Wild Mushroom Sauce

We had a couple of chicken breasts, skin on, in the fridge so I just cranked some salt and pepper over them and stuck them in an oven preheated to 180°C (fan) for about 20 minutes.


While these were cooking I chopped up about 3 medium sized button mushrooms with about the same amount of rehydrated Ceps. I added these to a hot, lightly oiled, pan and fried them off until the liquid had all but evaporated.

Next I added about 100ml of chicken stock and let this reduce before adding roughly 1 tblsp of heavy or double cream and a half tsp of dried (you could use fresh) thyme.

With the sauce made, I took the chicken out of the oven, let it rest for about five minutes and poured over the sauce.

I served this with some boiled new potatoes and buttered cabbage.

Bon appétit!

Cameraman James would choose an Alsace Riesling

Salmon with Chilli, Garlic and Ginger

This is so easy, I'm sure that purist stir fryers would send me to wok hell for adding my ingredients to the pan in this order, but it's Monday night, we're starving, so what the hey!


Serves 2

2 pieces of salmon fillet
100g mange tout
125g baby sweetcorn
50g mushrooms
half a green, red and yellow pepper
1 small onion
1 red chilli
1 clove garlic
small piece of ginger
1 tblsp veg oil
1 tblsp sesame oil
dark soy to taste

1. Add the vegetable oil and sesame oil to a large frying pan or wok and heat on a high heat.

2. Turn heat to medium and add the onion, chilli, garlic and ginger all finely sliced.
3. When these are softening, add the rest of the veg, let these sweat a bit.

4. Add the salmon skin side up if it still has the skin on. I personally prefer to keep the skin on as it ensures that the fish stays intact.

5. Cover the pan with a lid or foil and let it cook on a medium heat for about 10 mins just to soften the veg nicely and to steam the salmon through.

Perfect with this is a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc

Yorkshire Puddings

Preheat oven to 200°C

225g plain flour
pinch of salt
4 eggs
300ml milk

Roast Pork Loin with Crispy Crackling

Preheat oven to maximum setting then turn down to 180° /170° C fan oven after 15 - 20 mins

1 x 2kg loin of pork on the bone
olive oil
flaked sea salt

A Pinotage or for a white option a Pinot Grigio would complement this dish very well.

A Different World

The week before last I was in Harrogate with my sister, my daughter and my son. We were walking down the main street (the one that Hoopers is on) and we passed Comet, the electrical store. I saw the object of my desire in the windows - a Flip HD camera. I had wanted one for some time but, as we already had a camcorder, I was finding it difficult to justify buying it. I truly wanted this camera and it was then that the germ of an idea was born.




I bought the camera, of course, and started to record our dinners, with the help of my husband, cameraman James. We uploaded them onto Utube and friends have laughed, been surprised and generally been very supportive of this very unusual and unorthodox idea. We have a good friend, someone who is just as giddy as us, this friend's business is designing and building websites http://www.elastic-media.com/ so this is it, my very own website, at least I think that's what you call this, it could be a blog, it could be both.



So by virtue of a whim; a strange idea; a steady hand and a good friend I have entered the world of the Blogger, the Tweeter and the Techie. I don't understand it, I possibly and probably never will, I am just about getting my head around the sheer size of this world, but I can tell you that I'm having the most fun that I've had in a long time.

Duck with Cranberry and Port Jus.

For the duck and jus


4 duck breasts skin on
300ml fresh chicken stock
approx 10 ml port (this is the correct quantity ignore writing on pad)
50g dried cranberries.

For the Gratin Potatoes
Preheat oven to 175°C (fan) 160°
7-8 Maris Piper potatoes sliced thinly
10 fl oz/ 284ml single cream
4 cloves of garlic
salt and pepper
For the beans
200g fine beans
50g flaked almonds
10 ml olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Wine suggestions - Australian Shiraz

Tarte Tatin

Nigella's Tarte Tatin - really tasty!

100 g unsalted butter
150g caster sugar
1kg (possibly less!) cox's apples or similar
1 x 500g pack of all butter puff pastry
Preaheat oven to 180°C (fan) 200°C
vanilla ice cream
icing sugar to dust

Sweet bottled cider is perfect with this Tarte Tatin

Sicilian Prawns

Sicilian Prawns serves 4 as a starter or 2 as a main course

200g raw tiger prawns
approx 50ml olive oil
30g pistachios
juice of ½ lemon
4 anchovy fillets
2 cloves of garlic
250 g linguine or pappardelle or similar pasta

I'd go for a Cava or Chablis with this one.