Squid reminds me of delicious meals on balmy evenings sailing in Croatia. This is nothing like those Fritty Squitty as we used to call them, more like a tasty dish from our local Chinese.
vary the Explosive element by the amount of pepper and chilli (I like mine HOT)
For 2
Two medium sized squid, cleaned. (Or 250g baby squid cleaned, save tentacles but remove beak)
1 tblsp sea salt
1 tblsp black peppercorns (Szechuan if you have them - I use normal)
2 tblsp corn flour
Corn/sunflower/rapeseed oil enough to make 1cm deep in wok or deep frying pan
1 small fresh red chilli (if I haven't got one I sometimes use a dried one - see directions)
2 spring onions
Salad leaves to serve
1 lemon
Wash squid and cut into 1cm wide strips. If using baby squid I cut them in half depending on size, leave tentacles whole.
Cut spring onion into thin slices, and fresh chilli (if using) into very fine slivers and set aside.
Put sea salt and peppercorns into mortar and pestle and bash up until fine
NB if you are using a dried chilli crumble it into the mix now -removing seeds first if you want to reduce the heat)
Add corn flour and stir to mix well.
Tip the whole lot into a poly bag, add squid strips and shake to coat thoroughly.
Heat oil in wok or frypan until hot and nearly smoking (but not quite)
Drop coated squid into hot oil in small batches, cook for 1-2 minutes until crisp and golden (over cooking makes them tougher) drain and keep warm while you cook the remainder
Put salad leaves on plate, with hot squid on top, sprinkle with spring onion and chilli slices. Serve with lemon to queeze over.
I prefer to fry these in oil that I will throw away afterwards rather than in a deep fryer as the salt and paper mix is quite strong and is hard to get out of the oil.
Thursday, 30 October 2014
Friday, 17 October 2014
Baked Pears with Blue Cheese
Link to a nice recipe for baked pears with Stilton. Lovely photos too.
http://arbuz.com/recipes/baked-pears-with-blue-cheese
http://arbuz.com/recipes/baked-pears-with-blue-cheese
Sunday, 29 June 2014
Barbara's Rice Cake
This reminded me (I don't know why) of a wartime recipe, maybe because of its old fashioned simplicity, but it was delicious nonetheless.
1/2 lb butter
3oz ground rice
5 oz self raising flour
8oz caster sugar
3 large eggs
Cream butter and sugar together, beat in eggs one at a time. Fold in flour and rice.
Put in 2lb loaf tin.
Bake at 175* about 1 hour.
Eat.
1/2 lb butter
3oz ground rice
5 oz self raising flour
8oz caster sugar
3 large eggs
Cream butter and sugar together, beat in eggs one at a time. Fold in flour and rice.
Put in 2lb loaf tin.
Bake at 175* about 1 hour.
Eat.
Thursday, 24 April 2014
Panna cotta a wobble to please.
Having just eaten a tasty, but somewhat firm panna cotta from a Mary Berry recipe I fell upon an article from The Guardian's series 'how to make the perfect....'
This is definitely on my to try list.
I might even try MB again but with 50% less gelatine although I had better test it out without visitors!
"My biggest challenge, once I've decided to use a 2:1 ratio of double cream to milk and buttermilk in order to give a rich, but not sickly flavour, is judging the set. It's a delicate balance: too much gelatine and the panna cotta will be unpleasantly chewy, too little, and you've got yourself a sauce. Eventually, after a fair few failures, I achieve that perfect wobble.
Flavourings
The Oxford Companion to Food's entry on panna cotta stresses that, "if a flavouring is used, it should be delicate." Nigel Slater, Denis Cotter and Giorgio Locatelli all choose rose water and vanilla seeds – I like the subtle summery hint of flowers, but, in defiance of modern mores, I'm not so keen on the vanilla, which makes it taste, to my mind, like custard.
Each to their own though – panna cotta is an amenable dessert which will work with anything from caramel to saffron, although a good tip from Locatelli is not to add alcohol-based flavourings, such as rosewater, until the mixture has cooled slightly, or the flavour will evaporate. I prefer to leave my panna cotta plain, and serve it with fresh fruit (late summer berries are a brilliant choice) as a sharp contrast.
Perfect panna cotta
Felicity's perfect panna cotta. Photograph: Felicity Cloake for the Guardian
Panna cotta is such a simple dish that both the flavour and the texture have to be spot on – there really is nowhere for the cook to hide with this one. Once you've cracked it, though, it's the perfect make-ahead stuff for those (few) occasions when Angel Delight just won't cut the mustard.
Serves 4
2 x 2g leaves gelatine
300ml double cream
115g caster sugar
100ml full-fat milk
50ml buttermilk
Vegetable oil, to grease
1. Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water. Pour the cream into a pan, add the sugar and heat gently, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Bring just to a simmer, and then take off the heat.
2. Squeeze out the gelatine and then stir it into the warm cream mixture to dissolve. Pour through a sieve into a clean bowl and stir in the milk and buttermilk. Taste for sweetness and add more sugar if necessary.
3. Grease the inside of 4 espresso cups or small ramekins and divide the mixture between them. Cool and then refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
4. To turn out, put the dishes briefly in boiling water and then invert on to plates. Serve with berries or fruit compote.
Panna cotta – one of the few truly great Italian desserts. What flavourings do you add to yours (any top tips for savoury versions?) and what do you like to eat them with? And will anyone come out in support of the great British blancmange?"
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
This is definitely on my to try list.
I might even try MB again but with 50% less gelatine although I had better test it out without visitors!
"My biggest challenge, once I've decided to use a 2:1 ratio of double cream to milk and buttermilk in order to give a rich, but not sickly flavour, is judging the set. It's a delicate balance: too much gelatine and the panna cotta will be unpleasantly chewy, too little, and you've got yourself a sauce. Eventually, after a fair few failures, I achieve that perfect wobble.
Flavourings
The Oxford Companion to Food's entry on panna cotta stresses that, "if a flavouring is used, it should be delicate." Nigel Slater, Denis Cotter and Giorgio Locatelli all choose rose water and vanilla seeds – I like the subtle summery hint of flowers, but, in defiance of modern mores, I'm not so keen on the vanilla, which makes it taste, to my mind, like custard.
Each to their own though – panna cotta is an amenable dessert which will work with anything from caramel to saffron, although a good tip from Locatelli is not to add alcohol-based flavourings, such as rosewater, until the mixture has cooled slightly, or the flavour will evaporate. I prefer to leave my panna cotta plain, and serve it with fresh fruit (late summer berries are a brilliant choice) as a sharp contrast.
Perfect panna cotta
Felicity's perfect panna cotta. Photograph: Felicity Cloake for the Guardian
Panna cotta is such a simple dish that both the flavour and the texture have to be spot on – there really is nowhere for the cook to hide with this one. Once you've cracked it, though, it's the perfect make-ahead stuff for those (few) occasions when Angel Delight just won't cut the mustard.
Serves 4
2 x 2g leaves gelatine
300ml double cream
115g caster sugar
100ml full-fat milk
50ml buttermilk
Vegetable oil, to grease
1. Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water. Pour the cream into a pan, add the sugar and heat gently, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Bring just to a simmer, and then take off the heat.
2. Squeeze out the gelatine and then stir it into the warm cream mixture to dissolve. Pour through a sieve into a clean bowl and stir in the milk and buttermilk. Taste for sweetness and add more sugar if necessary.
3. Grease the inside of 4 espresso cups or small ramekins and divide the mixture between them. Cool and then refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
4. To turn out, put the dishes briefly in boiling water and then invert on to plates. Serve with berries or fruit compote.
Panna cotta – one of the few truly great Italian desserts. What flavourings do you add to yours (any top tips for savoury versions?) and what do you like to eat them with? And will anyone come out in support of the great British blancmange?"
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Sunday, 6 April 2014
Lemon Drizzle v.3
Delia Smith's cakes this time.
A 20cm loose-based round cake tin, greased and base lined
Next stab the cake all over with a skewer and spoon the syrup evenly over the hot cake, then finally sprinkle with the sugar and poppy seed mixture.
After that the cake needs to cool in its tin before it can be removed and stored in an airtight container.
Note: this is equally good made without the poppy seeds if you prefer.
| Ingredients |
| 175g self-raising flour |
| 1 teaspoon baking powder |
| 175g spreadable butter |
| 175g golden caster sugar |
| 3 large eggs |
| grated zest of 3 large lemons |
| juice of large lemon |
| 40g poppy seeds |
| For the syrup |
| juice of 3 large lemons |
| grated zest of 1 large lemon |
| 50g golden icing sugar, sifted |
| 100g golden granulated sugar |
| To finish: |
| 1 rounded teaspoon golden granulated sugar mixed with 1 rounded teaspoon poppy seeds |
| 1 rounded teaspoon poppy seeds |
| Pre-heat the oven to 170°C, gas mark 3 |
All in one method:
Start off by sifting the flour and baking powder into a roomy mixing bowl, holding
the sieve quite high to give the flour a good airing as it goes down. Then add the butter, sugar, eggs, lemon zest and juice and finally the poppy seeds.
Now, using an electric hand whisk, mix to a smooth creamy consistency for about one minute.
Spoon the mixture into the tin, levelling it with the back of the spoon, and bake near the centre of the oven for 40 minutes or until the centre feels springy.
When the cake is ready, remove the tin from the oven to a board, then straight away
mix together the syrup ingredients.
the sieve quite high to give the flour a good airing as it goes down. Then add the butter, sugar, eggs, lemon zest and juice and finally the poppy seeds.
Now, using an electric hand whisk, mix to a smooth creamy consistency for about one minute.
Spoon the mixture into the tin, levelling it with the back of the spoon, and bake near the centre of the oven for 40 minutes or until the centre feels springy.
When the cake is ready, remove the tin from the oven to a board, then straight away
mix together the syrup ingredients.
Next stab the cake all over with a skewer and spoon the syrup evenly over the hot cake, then finally sprinkle with the sugar and poppy seed mixture.
After that the cake needs to cool in its tin before it can be removed and stored in an airtight container.
Note: this is equally good made without the poppy seeds if you prefer.
Wednesday, 2 April 2014
Low Fat Banana Muffins
Haven't tried these yet, so recipe just for reference. Will update or remove depending on results.
I make these banana muffins all the time and the kids love them. I had no idea they were only around 80 calories per muffin.
I fill 24 muffin compartments 2/3rds of the way with the mix. You don't have to use the spices I've added to this recipe. The original recipe doesn't have any spices in it but I love it with cinnamon and nutmeg and sometimes I add pumpkin spice. You can also substitute the eggs with egg beaters if thats your thing and the sugar you can substitute with splenda. My MIL is diabetic and would substitute 1/2 a cup of splenda for 1 cup of sugar since splenda is twice as sweet as sugar. That would also bring your calorie count down. But at only 80 calories per muffin who cares about a couple more calories. You can add a cup of raw oats and a cup of raisins as well. I usually double the recipe and make half without and the other half with the raisins and oats. Kids don't care for the oats or raisins but hubby and I do. But that does increase your calorie count. So run it through the recipe builder to get an accurate count if you add the raisins and oats.
Number of servings 24
Ingredients Calories Carbs Fat Protein
Egg - Large, Grade A, Raw, 2 egg 140 0 8 12
Sugars - Granulated (sucrose), 1 cup 774 200 0 0
Water - Bottled or Tap, 2.6 fl. oz. 0 0 0 0
Bananas - Raw, 3 medium (7" to 7-7/8" long) 315 81 1 4
I Can't Believe It's Not Butter - Light, 2 Tbsp (14g) 90 0 10 0
All-Purpose Flour (32 oz), 1 1/3 cup (30g) 572 114 0 16
Baking Powder, 0.25 tsp 2 1 0 0
Baking soda, 0.5 tsp 0 0 0 0
Spices - Cinnamon, ground, 1 tsp 6 2 0 0
Spices - Nutmeg, ground, 1 tsp 12 1 1 0
Salt - Table , 0.5 teaspoon 0 0 0 0
Total calories: 1911
Calories Per Serving: 80
Edited by fit4lifeUcan2 On October 12, 2012 2:13 PM
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
I make these banana muffins all the time and the kids love them. I had no idea they were only around 80 calories per muffin.
I fill 24 muffin compartments 2/3rds of the way with the mix. You don't have to use the spices I've added to this recipe. The original recipe doesn't have any spices in it but I love it with cinnamon and nutmeg and sometimes I add pumpkin spice. You can also substitute the eggs with egg beaters if thats your thing and the sugar you can substitute with splenda. My MIL is diabetic and would substitute 1/2 a cup of splenda for 1 cup of sugar since splenda is twice as sweet as sugar. That would also bring your calorie count down. But at only 80 calories per muffin who cares about a couple more calories. You can add a cup of raw oats and a cup of raisins as well. I usually double the recipe and make half without and the other half with the raisins and oats. Kids don't care for the oats or raisins but hubby and I do. But that does increase your calorie count. So run it through the recipe builder to get an accurate count if you add the raisins and oats.
Number of servings 24
Ingredients Calories Carbs Fat Protein
Egg - Large, Grade A, Raw, 2 egg 140 0 8 12
Sugars - Granulated (sucrose), 1 cup 774 200 0 0
Water - Bottled or Tap, 2.6 fl. oz. 0 0 0 0
Bananas - Raw, 3 medium (7" to 7-7/8" long) 315 81 1 4
I Can't Believe It's Not Butter - Light, 2 Tbsp (14g) 90 0 10 0
All-Purpose Flour (32 oz), 1 1/3 cup (30g) 572 114 0 16
Baking Powder, 0.25 tsp 2 1 0 0
Baking soda, 0.5 tsp 0 0 0 0
Spices - Cinnamon, ground, 1 tsp 6 2 0 0
Spices - Nutmeg, ground, 1 tsp 12 1 1 0
Salt - Table , 0.5 teaspoon 0 0 0 0
Total calories: 1911
Calories Per Serving: 80
Edited by fit4lifeUcan2 On October 12, 2012 2:13 PM
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:From myfitness pal.com
Saturday, 29 March 2014
Aligot
We first came upon this rib sticking delight when we camped in the garden of a cheese maker near the awe inspiring bridge at Millau, south of Clermont Ferrand.
The first time I had tried to use a machine to mash potatoes, in my very early days as a cook, they became gluey, but now I find that is a desirable quality in this lovely gooey cheesy potato dish from the south Central Massif region of France .
It is originally made with Tomme de Cantal cheese, and here in Savoie with local Tomme but research came up with a Delia version using Lancashire.
Wonderful with Toulouse sausages.
Aligot (Mashed Potatoes with Garlic and Cheese)
I first ate this mashed potato with cheese in southwest France, in the Tarn region, and it was, quite simply, the best mashed potato I've ever eaten. Research on my return revealed that it involved a special, lovely cheese called Cantal, not generally available – but after many experiments I have, I think, come up with something comparable, made with farmhouse Lancashire, which has a lovely, fresh, lactic flavour.
Serves 2
Ingredients
1 lb (450 g) Desirée or King Edward potatoes
2 fat cloves garlic, peeled and halved lengthways
1 oz (25 g) butter
8 oz (225 g) Lancashire cheese, grated
salt and freshly milled black pepper
This recipe is taken from How to Cook Book One and from Delia's Vegetarian Collection.
Method
Begin this by placing the garlic in a small saucepan with the butter, then leave it on the gentlest heat possible to melt and infuse for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, thinly pare and discard the skins of the potatoes and cut them into even-sized chunks, or cut any large potatoes into quarters and small ones into halves. Place the potatoes in a steamer, then pour some boiling water straight from the kettle into a saucepan. Fit the steamer over, sprinkle the potatoes with 1 level dessertspoon of salt, put a lid on and let them steam for 20-25 minutes, until tender in the centre when tested with a skewer. After this, remove them, transfer to a large bowl (preferably a warm one) and cover with a cloth to absorb some of the steam. Now, with an electric hand whisk, switch to slow and begin to break up the potatoes, then add the butter and garlic, some black pepper and a handful of the grated cheese. Now switch the speed to high and continue adding the cheese, a handful at a time, while you whisk. There's a lot of cheese, but what will happen is that, as you whisk it in, the potatoes will turn translucent and glossy and, as you lift and whisk, it will form stiff, glossy peaks. When all the cheese is in, serve very quickly. As the cheese goes in, the mixture becomes stiff and clings to the whisk, but keep going and it will part company with the whisk eventually. Also, if you want to keep it warm, place the bowl over a pan of simmering water, but don't leave it too long.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
The first time I had tried to use a machine to mash potatoes, in my very early days as a cook, they became gluey, but now I find that is a desirable quality in this lovely gooey cheesy potato dish from the south Central Massif region of France .
It is originally made with Tomme de Cantal cheese, and here in Savoie with local Tomme but research came up with a Delia version using Lancashire.
Wonderful with Toulouse sausages.
Aligot (Mashed Potatoes with Garlic and Cheese)
I first ate this mashed potato with cheese in southwest France, in the Tarn region, and it was, quite simply, the best mashed potato I've ever eaten. Research on my return revealed that it involved a special, lovely cheese called Cantal, not generally available – but after many experiments I have, I think, come up with something comparable, made with farmhouse Lancashire, which has a lovely, fresh, lactic flavour.
Serves 2
Ingredients
1 lb (450 g) Desirée or King Edward potatoes
2 fat cloves garlic, peeled and halved lengthways
1 oz (25 g) butter
8 oz (225 g) Lancashire cheese, grated
salt and freshly milled black pepper
This recipe is taken from How to Cook Book One and from Delia's Vegetarian Collection.
Method
Begin this by placing the garlic in a small saucepan with the butter, then leave it on the gentlest heat possible to melt and infuse for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, thinly pare and discard the skins of the potatoes and cut them into even-sized chunks, or cut any large potatoes into quarters and small ones into halves. Place the potatoes in a steamer, then pour some boiling water straight from the kettle into a saucepan. Fit the steamer over, sprinkle the potatoes with 1 level dessertspoon of salt, put a lid on and let them steam for 20-25 minutes, until tender in the centre when tested with a skewer. After this, remove them, transfer to a large bowl (preferably a warm one) and cover with a cloth to absorb some of the steam. Now, with an electric hand whisk, switch to slow and begin to break up the potatoes, then add the butter and garlic, some black pepper and a handful of the grated cheese. Now switch the speed to high and continue adding the cheese, a handful at a time, while you whisk. There's a lot of cheese, but what will happen is that, as you whisk it in, the potatoes will turn translucent and glossy and, as you lift and whisk, it will form stiff, glossy peaks. When all the cheese is in, serve very quickly. As the cheese goes in, the mixture becomes stiff and clings to the whisk, but keep going and it will part company with the whisk eventually. Also, if you want to keep it warm, place the bowl over a pan of simmering water, but don't leave it too long.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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