I've done my first two shifts in the kitchen as cook. We didn't have a thermometer in with us on Monday evening, but it was 42 or 45 degrees outside...and hotter inside! Carly and I survived, not without a lot of water!
In the end, the Monday Night Menu was:
Sheperdress Pie - Mashed potato with parsley on top, split pea gravy with courgettes, gigante beans, carrots, onion and cauliflower
Roast sweetcorn and Red Cabbage salad with a white wine vinaigrette
Chick peas al forno - a traditional greek recipe with onions, oregano and olive oil - set to become another Yoga Plus classic recipe for me.
Beetroot with Honey Mustard Dressing A recipe I got from Adam Keen and another Yoga Plus favourite for me!)
Lettuce
And Carly made a beautiful fruit platter of water melon, honeydew melon, dried figs, fresh pears, apple and oranges. In the heat, it was my favourite thing!
It was wonderful working with Carly - she is such a ray of sunshine and cheerfulness!
Tuesday Morning
Tuesday morning was easier. There is a little more time to prepare, it's cooler at 6,30am when we start and I had a shift behind me! I decided to stick to the classics, and things which didn't need the oven or the burners (keeps down the heat!) Rikke was wonderful support and worked really hard. I felt a little guilty for using so many dishes, when she cleaned them without my help!
The morning menu was:
Carly's Twice Baked Stuffed Aubergine The stuffing came from sauteed onion and carrot, the aubergine inners, ginger, garlic and breadcrumbs. Carly and I had roasted the halved eggplants the night before, and it was her idea to use ginger in the stuffing, hence the name!
YP Courgettes
Rikke's Brown rice, nectarine, and red pepper salad with pineapple juice as a dressing
Hummous made with chickpeas flavoured with onion, olive oil, oregano and lemon juice (previous night's chickpeas!) I felt something was missing from the taste, and couldn't work out what, and got some great feedback on this from Thanassis, one of our guests. As well as being an architect he has a discrening palate, and thought it needed tahini. He was right! I knew something was missing, but couldn't think what. It still tasted pretty good though!
Greek Salad (which we have almost every morning) Cucumber, Feta, Olives, Tomato and lettuce.
And, as we ran out of bread, and it wasn't certain the bread man would come, I whipped up a couple of loaves of Beer Bread. I used the local Mythos beer for one, and Rethymno dark ale for the other. Both were popular
And to finish Finn's Chocolate Cake decorated with a simple icing and a flower.
It's great to have two shifts behind me. I'm still loving the work, even in 45degree plus temperatures, and even though I felt exhausted last night after the back-to back shifts, the heat and an open water swim from our bay round the two headlands to the next beach, which took around 45 minutes.
Tonight and tomorrow morning I'll be assisting Udo. I think we're making Strudel. He is a genius in the kitchen, and I'm looking forward to learning from him.
Namaste and Bon Appetit
Rachel
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Monday, August 21, 2006
At YP at last
A quick blog...from the slow connection at the Sleepy Dragon Bar!
I've had 3 shifts as assistant cook, and enjoyed every one. However, this afternoon is my first as the main cook. I've been going over recipes in my mind for the past few days, planning for today. Plans change as I see what fellow cooks Udo and Mike invent. (Udo did pasta and garlic bread last night, so my pasta plan evaporated)
In the event, I'm constrained by the fact that the main vegetable order comes in tomorrow, so I have to be creative with what is available. It's pushing me outside my comfort zone of recipes I know are easy, and had planned for. Which is probably no bad thing as I need to live in the present, and fly by the seat of my tastebuds!
Necessity is the mother of invention, so there will be a little invention today. I tell myself I find it easier to be creative when I have a few constraints :-).
On the vegetable side I have plenty of red cabbage, onions, aubergine and beetroot, and lettuce. I've soaked some chickpeas and the last of the Gigante beans.
I'm thinking traditional cretan baked chickpeas with onions and oregano, maybe shepherdress pie with the gigantes and bits and pieces of vegetables. Maybe braised cabbage, although, given the heat, I may make that into a red slaw instead. Braised cabbage would go well with the pie though.
And my favourite dish of all - boiled beetroot with honey mustard dressing - so simple, and sooo delicious.
I'll blog tomorrow with the results! I'm planning on Finn's favourite chocolate cake as the cake tomorrow :-) Nothing else planned yet for the morning - it will depend on the vegetable deliveries!
Rachel
I've had 3 shifts as assistant cook, and enjoyed every one. However, this afternoon is my first as the main cook. I've been going over recipes in my mind for the past few days, planning for today. Plans change as I see what fellow cooks Udo and Mike invent. (Udo did pasta and garlic bread last night, so my pasta plan evaporated)
In the event, I'm constrained by the fact that the main vegetable order comes in tomorrow, so I have to be creative with what is available. It's pushing me outside my comfort zone of recipes I know are easy, and had planned for. Which is probably no bad thing as I need to live in the present, and fly by the seat of my tastebuds!
Necessity is the mother of invention, so there will be a little invention today. I tell myself I find it easier to be creative when I have a few constraints :-).
On the vegetable side I have plenty of red cabbage, onions, aubergine and beetroot, and lettuce. I've soaked some chickpeas and the last of the Gigante beans.
I'm thinking traditional cretan baked chickpeas with onions and oregano, maybe shepherdress pie with the gigantes and bits and pieces of vegetables. Maybe braised cabbage, although, given the heat, I may make that into a red slaw instead. Braised cabbage would go well with the pie though.
And my favourite dish of all - boiled beetroot with honey mustard dressing - so simple, and sooo delicious.
I'll blog tomorrow with the results! I'm planning on Finn's favourite chocolate cake as the cake tomorrow :-) Nothing else planned yet for the morning - it will depend on the vegetable deliveries!
Rachel
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Cooks' tricks - for instant flavour:update
I've read countless "handy hints" and "tips" for cooking. One of them said that professional chefs have 4 great "rescue ingredients". Or, to put it another way - ways to cheat the tastebuds by adding instant flavour.
I'm not recommending you adopt them for every day use. But they may help you out of a tricky spot (or make you aware of what is hiding in the ostensibly simple dish you buy in a restaurant)
They tend to be ways of boosting a dish by adding to one of the 5 basic taste sensations- sweet, salty, bitter, sour, savoury or umami.
This is the list I'm aware of - let me know if you come across any others!
Sugar and salt I understand that salt opens the palate and helps us enjoy the flavour in dishes. When boiling vegetables (e.g. carrots) the combination of a teaspoonful of sugar and quarter teaspoon/pinch of salt added to cooking water can really lift the flavour, particularly if the vegetables are a little old.
Of course, you can educate your palate to enjoy less salt, or none at all, and use other things to give the flavour.
But the basic principle of sweet and salt together being "tasty" explains their presence in prepared foods. Urban legend has it that KFC use a combination of a little salt, sugar and chicken stock on their fries, to make them moreish.
Brown sugar can disguise the salty taste in an over-salted soup or stock. The salt is still there though - not good for health or blood pressure!
And of course salt is added to chips. I was told that this is partly to absorb excess fat, although I don't know if this has a scientific basis.
My summary : use sparingly - don't add salt or sugar as a general rule. Use it in moderate quantities where it has maximum impact, as part of a balanced diet. It can be great for bringing out flavour in vegetables, but you don't want to rely on the sugar/salt combination in everything you eat.
Butter, melted or whole, adds fat, but always tastes good. Hence it's role as a chef's rescuer! Be careful for the calories, and enjoy immensely in small quantities!
Worcester Sauce Adds flavour and richness - to pasta sauces or cheese on toast!
Ground white pepper This can give food a body and zest. Used in casseroles or seasoned vegies it can give a real lift. Similarly, a sponful of tomato paste can add body and richness, and excite the "umami" taste.
Cream for creamy-ness (and calories!)
Lemon or lime juice can cut through a rich dish
Parmesan cheese also provides the umami flavour.
And then there's MSG - the original umami. I don't use it or eat it myself, although some scientists claim that the MSG/chinese restaurant syndrome is due to things other than MSG, and it's not actually bad for you. It's widely added to food in many parts of Asia. Up to you!
I know that's more than 4 taste tricks - the original four were, I think, salt, brown sugar, worcester sauce and butter. If you know of any other tricks and tips, let me know!
Update: When I compiled this list, I forgot to add Sherry. It can be a miracle ingredient in soups. A couple of tablespoonfuls will make an ordinary soup (dare I say it - even a tinned soup - taste fabulous.
I'm not recommending you adopt them for every day use. But they may help you out of a tricky spot (or make you aware of what is hiding in the ostensibly simple dish you buy in a restaurant)
They tend to be ways of boosting a dish by adding to one of the 5 basic taste sensations- sweet, salty, bitter, sour, savoury or umami.
This is the list I'm aware of - let me know if you come across any others!
Sugar and salt I understand that salt opens the palate and helps us enjoy the flavour in dishes. When boiling vegetables (e.g. carrots) the combination of a teaspoonful of sugar and quarter teaspoon/pinch of salt added to cooking water can really lift the flavour, particularly if the vegetables are a little old.
Of course, you can educate your palate to enjoy less salt, or none at all, and use other things to give the flavour.
But the basic principle of sweet and salt together being "tasty" explains their presence in prepared foods. Urban legend has it that KFC use a combination of a little salt, sugar and chicken stock on their fries, to make them moreish.
Brown sugar can disguise the salty taste in an over-salted soup or stock. The salt is still there though - not good for health or blood pressure!
And of course salt is added to chips. I was told that this is partly to absorb excess fat, although I don't know if this has a scientific basis.
My summary : use sparingly - don't add salt or sugar as a general rule. Use it in moderate quantities where it has maximum impact, as part of a balanced diet. It can be great for bringing out flavour in vegetables, but you don't want to rely on the sugar/salt combination in everything you eat.
Butter, melted or whole, adds fat, but always tastes good. Hence it's role as a chef's rescuer! Be careful for the calories, and enjoy immensely in small quantities!
Worcester Sauce Adds flavour and richness - to pasta sauces or cheese on toast!
Ground white pepper This can give food a body and zest. Used in casseroles or seasoned vegies it can give a real lift. Similarly, a sponful of tomato paste can add body and richness, and excite the "umami" taste.
Cream for creamy-ness (and calories!)
Lemon or lime juice can cut through a rich dish
Parmesan cheese also provides the umami flavour.
And then there's MSG - the original umami. I don't use it or eat it myself, although some scientists claim that the MSG/chinese restaurant syndrome is due to things other than MSG, and it's not actually bad for you. It's widely added to food in many parts of Asia. Up to you!
I know that's more than 4 taste tricks - the original four were, I think, salt, brown sugar, worcester sauce and butter. If you know of any other tricks and tips, let me know!
Update: When I compiled this list, I forgot to add Sherry. It can be a miracle ingredient in soups. A couple of tablespoonfuls will make an ordinary soup (dare I say it - even a tinned soup - taste fabulous.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Pasta sauce with a secret ingredient
Today's recipe comes from my friend Simon's kitchen in Romsey, Hampshire. I'm staying with Simon for a couple of days, before we head off to the Crawley Juggling convention.
Yesterday, while he was at work and I was working on my laptop, I made my classic pasta sauce. It's based on a recipe I found in a book published for the New Zealand Red Cross . The cookbook was published as a fundraiser in the late 80s, and asked then celebrities to contribute their favourite recipe. George Balani offered his Italian mother's pasta sauce, and it's from him that I got the secret ingredient (see below!) George didn't have vegetables in his sauce (as I recall), except maybe onion and a little garlic. The sauce can be very good with just the meat/tomato base, but it is a lot richer. It's more cost effective to extend it with vegetables, and I prefer the flavour. It's a good way of making meat go further, getting your 5-9 servings of vegetables a day.
Like most of my recipes it's very flexible.
The basic ingredients:
The meat:
Lean beef mince (you can use turkey or lamb too) About a pound/450 grams will go a long way - feeds 4 comfortably more if you extend with vegetables. Lean for preference - no-one needs the extra saturated fat.
The tomato base
The classic "balani" version had 2 cups tomato puree, 2 tablespoons tomato paste.
I've done it very successfully with Tomato puree, Tomato paste, and chopped tomatoes, even a few skinned fresh tomatoes.
Last night's had a jar of sainsbury's chopped tomato with olive oil, and 4 large vine tomatoes that I skinned. Around 500ml in some form or other is needed. The tomato paste makes a big difference. I've found that the tubes of tomato paste are very useful to have round the house, and last well in the fridge.
The vegetables
Always at least 1 finely chopped onion
1-3 grated carrots - for me this is the key "extender" ingredient.
1/2-1 cup chopped celery, finely chopped zucchini, courgettes, mushrooms or even cauliflower!*
1-3 cloves garlic
Seasonings
Herbs - parsley, oregano, basil if you like basil (I find I prefer it on its own, as a pesto, or as a garnish, rather than in a tomato sauce)
Sugar - 1 tablespoon. If your tomato base ends up a little acidic, a bit of sugar can lift it. Adding sugar is one of the four cook's cheats - I'll blog on that more later!
Red wine - if you like, instead of water.
The method
Saute the onion until translucent in a frypan with lid (I've found a large non-stick wok works really well). Add the mince and brown. Add the grated carrot and cook until it's starting to go a bit dry and caramelisey - the sugars in the carrot respond well. Add the tomato paste around this time too Just when it's starting to stick a bit, add the vegetables, stir really well to cook them by heat rather than steam (this really improves the flavour!). Leave them as long as you can, without them sticking (add the lid to keep the heat in - but keep an eye on it).
Before it burns*** add the liquid, dried or fresh herbs, tomato puree, and enough water or red wine to just cover. Then it's time for:
The secret ingredient
Time. And yes, that is T I M E not T H Y M E. Much as I adore the the smell of the herb** it's the long cooking time - 2 hours if you've got it - that makes the real difference to this recipe.
Keep an eye on it, simmer gently, give it a stir occasionally, if it tastes a bit sharp add a spoonful of sugar (white or brown). And let time and heat do its work.
The sauce can become quite thick. Thin it down with water (perhaps a dash of red wine) if you want a looser sauce. It's great for lasagne, or spaghetti. It also freezes well, so you can make a huge batch, freeze portions and reheat as you cook the pasta.
Enjoy!
Random foodnotes below!
* This recipe is great for clearing out vegies which are sitting round in the vegetable drawer in the fridge. I learnt to make the best of what we had, on a limited budget, from my mother. We had a limited budget to feed a family, of up to seven including exchange students. We were good at using what there was to hand, and finding ways of using up the left-over vegetables in the fridge. My mum was also ahead of her time in seeking a healthier diet - we had muesli for breakfast and I was the only child in my class with brown bread sandwiches!.
** The smell of thyme brings back wonderful memories for me of a fantastic New Year's Eve sitting with my then boyfriend on the hillside overlooking the Clyde Dam, listening to greatest hits from the 80s. I was feeling a bit apprehensive about the new job I was about to start, but the proclaimers were singing that they would walk 500 miles, and life felt good. Thyme also grows on the hills around Agios Pavlos in Crete. When I finally plant my own garden in my house I will definitely plant thyme in the garden..
*** Yes I know it's not helpful to say "if it burns you're too late!" But it really is a question of keeping an eye on it - you can tell if something's about to burn. The trick is to use the heat to get a little caramelisation going, without it burning. You get a richer flavour that way.
Yesterday, while he was at work and I was working on my laptop, I made my classic pasta sauce. It's based on a recipe I found in a book published for the New Zealand Red Cross . The cookbook was published as a fundraiser in the late 80s, and asked then celebrities to contribute their favourite recipe. George Balani offered his Italian mother's pasta sauce, and it's from him that I got the secret ingredient (see below!) George didn't have vegetables in his sauce (as I recall), except maybe onion and a little garlic. The sauce can be very good with just the meat/tomato base, but it is a lot richer. It's more cost effective to extend it with vegetables, and I prefer the flavour. It's a good way of making meat go further, getting your 5-9 servings of vegetables a day.
Like most of my recipes it's very flexible.
The basic ingredients:
The meat:
Lean beef mince (you can use turkey or lamb too) About a pound/450 grams will go a long way - feeds 4 comfortably more if you extend with vegetables. Lean for preference - no-one needs the extra saturated fat.
The tomato base
The classic "balani" version had 2 cups tomato puree, 2 tablespoons tomato paste.
I've done it very successfully with Tomato puree, Tomato paste, and chopped tomatoes, even a few skinned fresh tomatoes.
Last night's had a jar of sainsbury's chopped tomato with olive oil, and 4 large vine tomatoes that I skinned. Around 500ml in some form or other is needed. The tomato paste makes a big difference. I've found that the tubes of tomato paste are very useful to have round the house, and last well in the fridge.
The vegetables
Always at least 1 finely chopped onion
1-3 grated carrots - for me this is the key "extender" ingredient.
1/2-1 cup chopped celery, finely chopped zucchini, courgettes, mushrooms or even cauliflower!*
1-3 cloves garlic
Seasonings
Herbs - parsley, oregano, basil if you like basil (I find I prefer it on its own, as a pesto, or as a garnish, rather than in a tomato sauce)
Sugar - 1 tablespoon. If your tomato base ends up a little acidic, a bit of sugar can lift it. Adding sugar is one of the four cook's cheats - I'll blog on that more later!
Red wine - if you like, instead of water.
The method
Saute the onion until translucent in a frypan with lid (I've found a large non-stick wok works really well). Add the mince and brown. Add the grated carrot and cook until it's starting to go a bit dry and caramelisey - the sugars in the carrot respond well. Add the tomato paste around this time too Just when it's starting to stick a bit, add the vegetables, stir really well to cook them by heat rather than steam (this really improves the flavour!). Leave them as long as you can, without them sticking (add the lid to keep the heat in - but keep an eye on it).
Before it burns*** add the liquid, dried or fresh herbs, tomato puree, and enough water or red wine to just cover. Then it's time for:
The secret ingredient
Time. And yes, that is T I M E not T H Y M E. Much as I adore the the smell of the herb** it's the long cooking time - 2 hours if you've got it - that makes the real difference to this recipe.
Keep an eye on it, simmer gently, give it a stir occasionally, if it tastes a bit sharp add a spoonful of sugar (white or brown). And let time and heat do its work.
The sauce can become quite thick. Thin it down with water (perhaps a dash of red wine) if you want a looser sauce. It's great for lasagne, or spaghetti. It also freezes well, so you can make a huge batch, freeze portions and reheat as you cook the pasta.
Enjoy!
Random foodnotes below!
* This recipe is great for clearing out vegies which are sitting round in the vegetable drawer in the fridge. I learnt to make the best of what we had, on a limited budget, from my mother. We had a limited budget to feed a family, of up to seven including exchange students. We were good at using what there was to hand, and finding ways of using up the left-over vegetables in the fridge. My mum was also ahead of her time in seeking a healthier diet - we had muesli for breakfast and I was the only child in my class with brown bread sandwiches!.
** The smell of thyme brings back wonderful memories for me of a fantastic New Year's Eve sitting with my then boyfriend on the hillside overlooking the Clyde Dam, listening to greatest hits from the 80s. I was feeling a bit apprehensive about the new job I was about to start, but the proclaimers were singing that they would walk 500 miles, and life felt good. Thyme also grows on the hills around Agios Pavlos in Crete. When I finally plant my own garden in my house I will definitely plant thyme in the garden..
*** Yes I know it's not helpful to say "if it burns you're too late!" But it really is a question of keeping an eye on it - you can tell if something's about to burn. The trick is to use the heat to get a little caramelisation going, without it burning. You get a richer flavour that way.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Dan Pengelley's Brownies
This is the brownie recipe of the multi-talented Daniel Pengelly, Court Jester and cook.
You can see what Dan looks like and find out when he's performing, on the Court Jesters Website. Encouragingly, despite cooking and eating the below you can see that he is more Johnny Depp than Augustus Gloop.
Here is the recipe, in Dan's own words
250g butter
2 cups of white sugar
5 eggs (four big ones)
2 teaspoons Vanilla essence
2/3 cup of cocoa
1 cup of flour
1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 block of dark whittakers chocolate
Add water to cocoa-enough to mix into paste (not runny) and vanilla essence and leave to refresh.
Whisk butter and sugar together- I say whisk and when I do it properly it comes out like sponge...
Add eggs one at a time (recipe can get too eggy so don't think you have to use 5 eggs!)
Then add cocoa mixture and mix.
Then flour, baking powder+soda, salt and mix.
Put into lightly oiled and papered tin- 30cm x20cm or thereabouts - or slice tray (but has to be 2 inches high)
Break up chocolate (as small as possible) over top this will melt through cake and end up in the bottom!
Oven 175 celcius for 32 minutes (well 32 in my oven at least-35 will burn it in my old house!)
Be warned this cake is deadly in the wrong hands - and never ever ice unless you want to kill with calories!
Some notes-
1) Watch eggs - if to much I find the cream mixture splits
2) I say whittakers chocolate cause it works- but cooking choclate does the trick or raspberries. I used Cadbury's and the fat came out of choc and tasted like lumps of condensed milk!
3) Cooking time depends on your level of moisture preference!
And there you have it!
A note from Rachel again for non New Zealanders.
Whittakers is a cult chocolate brand, famous for their peanut slabs. In the UK, I'd use Green and Black's or maybe Lindor dark.
Anywhere in Europe I'd use the 50-75% cocoa solids chocolate you can get for a song (well a euro or two)at LIDL. Best chocolate bargain around!
An interesting chocolate fact: Dan mentions he used Cadbury's chocolate. He would have used the version sold and made for the New Zealand market. I understand they use a different recipe in Australia, where the chocolate needs to have a higher melting point, due to the higher temperatures it's transported and stored at. When I was in Australia, Cadbury's chocolate seemed a little crunchy to me - and I was told this is the reason. I'm not sure how either compares to the chocolate sold in Britain - more like the NZ formulation I think.
I'm not planning exhaustive testing though...Green and Black's Maya Gold is my chocolate of choice (emergencies only!). Not only does it taste great, it's also organic and more importantly fair trade.
You can see what Dan looks like and find out when he's performing, on the Court Jesters Website. Encouragingly, despite cooking and eating the below you can see that he is more Johnny Depp than Augustus Gloop.
Here is the recipe, in Dan's own words
250g butter
2 cups of white sugar
5 eggs (four big ones)
2 teaspoons Vanilla essence
2/3 cup of cocoa
1 cup of flour
1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 block of dark whittakers chocolate
Add water to cocoa-enough to mix into paste (not runny) and vanilla essence and leave to refresh.
Whisk butter and sugar together- I say whisk and when I do it properly it comes out like sponge...
Add eggs one at a time (recipe can get too eggy so don't think you have to use 5 eggs!)
Then add cocoa mixture and mix.
Then flour, baking powder+soda, salt and mix.
Put into lightly oiled and papered tin- 30cm x20cm or thereabouts - or slice tray (but has to be 2 inches high)
Break up chocolate (as small as possible) over top this will melt through cake and end up in the bottom!
Oven 175 celcius for 32 minutes (well 32 in my oven at least-35 will burn it in my old house!)
Be warned this cake is deadly in the wrong hands - and never ever ice unless you want to kill with calories!
Some notes-
1) Watch eggs - if to much I find the cream mixture splits
2) I say whittakers chocolate cause it works- but cooking choclate does the trick or raspberries. I used Cadbury's and the fat came out of choc and tasted like lumps of condensed milk!
3) Cooking time depends on your level of moisture preference!
And there you have it!
A note from Rachel again for non New Zealanders.
Whittakers is a cult chocolate brand, famous for their peanut slabs. In the UK, I'd use Green and Black's or maybe Lindor dark.
Anywhere in Europe I'd use the 50-75% cocoa solids chocolate you can get for a song (well a euro or two)at LIDL. Best chocolate bargain around!
An interesting chocolate fact: Dan mentions he used Cadbury's chocolate. He would have used the version sold and made for the New Zealand market. I understand they use a different recipe in Australia, where the chocolate needs to have a higher melting point, due to the higher temperatures it's transported and stored at. When I was in Australia, Cadbury's chocolate seemed a little crunchy to me - and I was told this is the reason. I'm not sure how either compares to the chocolate sold in Britain - more like the NZ formulation I think.
I'm not planning exhaustive testing though...Green and Black's Maya Gold is my chocolate of choice (emergencies only!). Not only does it taste great, it's also organic and more importantly fair trade.
Monday, August 07, 2006
Cures for jetlag and a cold
Today's new recipes aren't really recipes - they're a record of my trip to Borough Market (yes I am in London now!) and how I treated my cold and jetlag!
First ingredient:
Double espresso: go to Starbucks, or Monmouth Coffee company, order double espresso. Drink. Monmouth recommended as it was only 60p for a double! Starbucks it's £1.49.
Effect: Sinuses are much clearer (more effective than Sudafed!) and jetlag kept a little at bay.
Second ingredient: What I used to call the "Hangover smoothie" at borough market with blackberries, currants apple and fresh orange juice. Yummy and immune boosting.
Raspberries for £1 a punnet.
A carrier bag (well about a shoebox sized bag) of flat mushrooms for £1 at closing time!
Bread roll with red onion and feta on top - 5 for £1 at closing time - so my brother Matt had 2.
Chocolate brownie (David ate it, I sampled it!) Yum. Can't compare to Dan's as I haven't made the latter yet, but v v good.
Cheers
Rachel
First ingredient:
Double espresso: go to Starbucks, or Monmouth Coffee company, order double espresso. Drink. Monmouth recommended as it was only 60p for a double! Starbucks it's £1.49.
Effect: Sinuses are much clearer (more effective than Sudafed!) and jetlag kept a little at bay.
Second ingredient: What I used to call the "Hangover smoothie" at borough market with blackberries, currants apple and fresh orange juice. Yummy and immune boosting.
Raspberries for £1 a punnet.
A carrier bag (well about a shoebox sized bag) of flat mushrooms for £1 at closing time!
Bread roll with red onion and feta on top - 5 for £1 at closing time - so my brother Matt had 2.
Chocolate brownie (David ate it, I sampled it!) Yum. Can't compare to Dan's as I haven't made the latter yet, but v v good.
Cheers
Rachel
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
YP Courgettes, and easy eggplant
At the yoga centre where I cook we roast zucchini in the oven.
Slice in half, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, bake until just cooked, slightly brown if you like them that way, or very brown and shrivelled if you like extra taste (and less of the final product).
When they are cooked (or a little brown), crumble feta cheese on top, back in the oven (15 minutes maybe - depends on oven, I can't remember!) until the feta is browned.
A classic for us in Crete - ingredients always fresh and available.
For the eggplant: sliced in rounds, drizzled with oil, salt and pepper and roasted can be yummy just on its own.
It would need to go in ahead of the zucchini. You can also turn the eggplant over when it's starting to soften, and put a slice of tomato on top. Slice of mozzarella on top of that is another option - back into the oven until tomato is softened mozarella softened, or crispy if you prefer.
When I worked there last year we joked last year we had a bilingual kitchen - cooking with aubergine and eggplant, courgettes and zucchini, oreganum, or-e-ga-no and o-reg-a-no and tom- ah-toes and tom-ay-toes.
For me, growing up with my Mum's recipe books from England, Australia and the US, means I'm fluent in metric/imperial and centigrade/farenheit. This probably is part of the reason I found Maths so easy at school. (or "Math" for US readers.
My culinary multilingualism (multicuisinism? multimeasuringism?) runs out when it comes to"Gas Mark 5", and I'd be a little stumped by an Aga, although I have seen it on TV.
Slice in half, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, bake until just cooked, slightly brown if you like them that way, or very brown and shrivelled if you like extra taste (and less of the final product).
When they are cooked (or a little brown), crumble feta cheese on top, back in the oven (15 minutes maybe - depends on oven, I can't remember!) until the feta is browned.
A classic for us in Crete - ingredients always fresh and available.
For the eggplant: sliced in rounds, drizzled with oil, salt and pepper and roasted can be yummy just on its own.
It would need to go in ahead of the zucchini. You can also turn the eggplant over when it's starting to soften, and put a slice of tomato on top. Slice of mozzarella on top of that is another option - back into the oven until tomato is softened mozarella softened, or crispy if you prefer.
When I worked there last year we joked last year we had a bilingual kitchen - cooking with aubergine and eggplant, courgettes and zucchini, oreganum, or-e-ga-no and o-reg-a-no and tom- ah-toes and tom-ay-toes.
For me, growing up with my Mum's recipe books from England, Australia and the US, means I'm fluent in metric/imperial and centigrade/farenheit. This probably is part of the reason I found Maths so easy at school. (or "Math" for US readers.
My culinary multilingualism (multicuisinism? multimeasuringism?) runs out when it comes to"Gas Mark 5", and I'd be a little stumped by an Aga, although I have seen it on TV.
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Easy peasey beer bread
Jo Seagar is famous for this recipe - I hope she won't mind me posting it. I plan to make it in Crete. I think it would go really well with one of the vegetable soups we'll have in the evenings.
In terms of the " NZ Cultural Anthropology of food, I'd say this is a 90s recipe - traditional food (home baked bread) but fast and easy! It's in the same vein as lemonade scones (which I also first heard about from Jo Seagar), and "impossible quiche", a trendy late 80s - early 90s that was a common "bring a plate" offering.
Beer Bread Ingredients:
3 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 400ml can beer (if slightly smaller, rinse out the can)
1 teaspoon salt
1 handful (half cup) cheese.
Preheat oven to 200 C (that's hot!)
Mix four, baking powder, salt and beer in a large bowl until well combined
Tip into one large 21 x 12 cm nonstick or well greased loaf tins, or two 8 x 15 cm small tins
Bake the large loave for 50-60 minutes, the small from 30-40 minutes until golden brown. Tip out and cool on a wire rack before slicing.
In terms of the " NZ Cultural Anthropology of food, I'd say this is a 90s recipe - traditional food (home baked bread) but fast and easy! It's in the same vein as lemonade scones (which I also first heard about from Jo Seagar), and "impossible quiche", a trendy late 80s - early 90s that was a common "bring a plate" offering.
Beer Bread Ingredients:
3 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 400ml can beer (if slightly smaller, rinse out the can)
1 teaspoon salt
1 handful (half cup) cheese.
Preheat oven to 200 C (that's hot!)
Mix four, baking powder, salt and beer in a large bowl until well combined
Tip into one large 21 x 12 cm nonstick or well greased loaf tins, or two 8 x 15 cm small tins
Bake the large loave for 50-60 minutes, the small from 30-40 minutes until golden brown. Tip out and cool on a wire rack before slicing.
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Food as anthropology : Cocktail Meatballs with Chutney
This recipe was one Mum served year after year at "Principal's Cocktails", the annual Christmas event, when my Dad, or the other Principal hosted the staff and their partners for drinks and nibbles. It's always been a great favourite.
It comes from the Glennys Raffles Cookbook "Microwave the New Zealand Way". When we first got a microwave in 1985, this was a best seller. Although it didn't reach the biblical status of the Edmonds Cookbook, it was a classic of its time. It seems to be available only on Trade Me these days.
It's quoted in this link to a paper by Helen Leach of the University of Otago's anthropology department entitled What Do Cookery Books Reveal about the Evolution of New Zealand Pavlovas? . I don't make pavlovas (not my specialty), so I'm not posting any recipes for them! Read the paper for recipe evolution.
Alison Holst has also written in the past about fashions in food - think fondues and quiche in the 70s, Pizza with tinned spaghetti on it in the 70s and 80s, and Italian and sushi in the 90s.
Anyway, the recipe! I've added comments based on my experiments over the years, so blame me and not Glennys if this doesn't work.
Recipe part 1: the Meatballs
500g topside steak mince
1/2 c fresh breadcrumbs
1/4 c milk
1/2 c coconut (the secret ingredient!)
1 small onion finely chopped
1 egg
2 teaspoons Worcester Sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt,
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Mix all ingredients with wet hands, shape the mixture into 1 inch balls. Arrange half the meatballs in a flat dish or roaster, cover with waxed paper, and cook on high (100%) for 2 minutes. Stir to rearrange them, and continue cooking until meatballs are no longer pink inside (1-2 minutes). Then cook the other half!
They also cook fine in an oven - maybe 20 minutes - haven't timed it recently. As a general rule, use your nose. Mum always said, if you can smell something, it's probably cooked. It works for cakes anyway.
Recipe part two: the chutney sauce
1/2 cup tomato chutney or sauce (either works well)
1/3 cup plum (or other jam)
2 Tablespoons orange (or other fruit juice)
2 teaspoons mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
My general rule: trust your tastebuds! Varying the ingredients a little for the sauce won't be fatal - go on, experiment!
Cook gently on the stove or microwave on high for 2 minutes. Stir in meatballs, and continue cooking until meatballs are hot.
This freezes really well (we'd do huge batches for the cocktails).
It's also quite yummy with pasta, although you might want to tone down the sauce a bit (or maybe not!).
You could saute some finely chopped celery and onion and grated carrot. When they are softened add chopped tomatoes or tomato puree. Simmer that a bit, then add the chutney sauce ingredients. Adjust to taste. Eat with pasta - yum!
There's also a chilli cheese sauce, based on cheese, sherry and chilli sauce, but I've never made it. It looks a bit rich for my taste.
It comes from the Glennys Raffles Cookbook "Microwave the New Zealand Way". When we first got a microwave in 1985, this was a best seller. Although it didn't reach the biblical status of the Edmonds Cookbook, it was a classic of its time. It seems to be available only on Trade Me these days.
It's quoted in this link to a paper by Helen Leach of the University of Otago's anthropology department entitled What Do Cookery Books Reveal about the Evolution of New Zealand Pavlovas? . I don't make pavlovas (not my specialty), so I'm not posting any recipes for them! Read the paper for recipe evolution.
Alison Holst has also written in the past about fashions in food - think fondues and quiche in the 70s, Pizza with tinned spaghetti on it in the 70s and 80s, and Italian and sushi in the 90s.
Anyway, the recipe! I've added comments based on my experiments over the years, so blame me and not Glennys if this doesn't work.
Recipe part 1: the Meatballs
500g topside steak mince
1/2 c fresh breadcrumbs
1/4 c milk
1/2 c coconut (the secret ingredient!)
1 small onion finely chopped
1 egg
2 teaspoons Worcester Sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt,
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Mix all ingredients with wet hands, shape the mixture into 1 inch balls. Arrange half the meatballs in a flat dish or roaster, cover with waxed paper, and cook on high (100%) for 2 minutes. Stir to rearrange them, and continue cooking until meatballs are no longer pink inside (1-2 minutes). Then cook the other half!
They also cook fine in an oven - maybe 20 minutes - haven't timed it recently. As a general rule, use your nose. Mum always said, if you can smell something, it's probably cooked. It works for cakes anyway.
Recipe part two: the chutney sauce
1/2 cup tomato chutney or sauce (either works well)
1/3 cup plum (or other jam)
2 Tablespoons orange (or other fruit juice)
2 teaspoons mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
My general rule: trust your tastebuds! Varying the ingredients a little for the sauce won't be fatal - go on, experiment!
Cook gently on the stove or microwave on high for 2 minutes. Stir in meatballs, and continue cooking until meatballs are hot.
This freezes really well (we'd do huge batches for the cocktails).
It's also quite yummy with pasta, although you might want to tone down the sauce a bit (or maybe not!).
You could saute some finely chopped celery and onion and grated carrot. When they are softened add chopped tomatoes or tomato puree. Simmer that a bit, then add the chutney sauce ingredients. Adjust to taste. Eat with pasta - yum!
There's also a chilli cheese sauce, based on cheese, sherry and chilli sauce, but I've never made it. It looks a bit rich for my taste.
Simple, cheap, yummy extra moist chocolate cake (and it's even vegan!)
This is the world's simplest, and quite possibly cheapest, chocolate cake. It always gets rave reviews, and the recipe is nigh on indestructible. It takes me less than 5 minutes to throw together when I do it on my own. My nephew and I have made it together since he was 2 years 10 months old (which takes a little longer). Even with his "measuring" (i.e. some strange sized tablespoonfuls, teaspoons and cup measures) it still works every time.
It's also vegan- so you can cook it for your vegan cousin***. It can be doubled in quantity (with a longer cooking time). We make a cake on similar principles almost every day at yoga plus for guests (but quadruple the quantity). I'll post that exact recipe later.
The Recipe
Sift* dry ingredients into a mixing bowl.
1 1/2 c flour (that's 250ml cups, although see above for this recipe's indestructibility)
1 c sugar
2 T baking cocoa (or regular cocoa)
1 teaspoon mixed spice and 1 teaspoon ground ginger (or when you run out of either of these 2 teaspoons of a combination of mixed spice, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger - they all work fine)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
Add to the bowl
1/2 cup soybean, corn, canola or other vegetable oil. I wouldn't use olive, but you could.
2 teaspoons white vinegar (hmm sometimes I add a bit more- I misread this as tablespoons for a long time and the cake still worked out well....)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence.
3/4 cup water.
Mix ingredients together. Don't overmix**.
Spoon or pour into a greased and lined tin.
It can be a ring tin (but who wants to line a ring tin?) I mostly use a 20cm square tin, and put a sheet of baking parchment which I fold at the corners.
Bake 30-40 minutes at 190celcius / 375farenheit. Leave in tin for 5 minutes before removing.
Let cool, and then ice with chocolate icing. Although if you ice it slightly warm (3 year olds aren't that patient) the icing kind of sets into the cake, which is yummy in itself, particularly for dessert.
Serve as a cake or dessert, with whipped cream or ice cream if you have no regard for calories. Or get creative and decorate with lollies, coconut, blueberries, candy mushrooms. Give your inner three year old full rein.
Enjoy! And let me know if you make it.
*If you don't have a sieve, or can't be bothered washing it then whisk dry ingredients with a large whisk - much easier and pretty much as effective as a sieve, although you may need to squash cocoa and baking soda lumps with the back of a spoon. I got this trick from Graham Kerr, and I've barely used a sieve since.
** It's important not to overmix cakes and muffins, as it makes them tough and texturally less appealing. Just mix till all the flour is damp and it's combined - no need to beat the batter. However, I do not hold with the theory that lumps of flour in a cake are OK. They are not!
***Hi to Dan and to his vegan cousin. I was prompted to post this particular recipe after talking to Dan at the Court Theatre. See Court Jesters for information on Scared Scriptless, a really cool and fun improv show in Christchurch featuring Dan and other people, many of whom are also called Dan. In fact most men in their 20s in Christchurch are called Dan (Dan Carter is but the most famous example).
It's also vegan- so you can cook it for your vegan cousin***. It can be doubled in quantity (with a longer cooking time). We make a cake on similar principles almost every day at yoga plus for guests (but quadruple the quantity). I'll post that exact recipe later.
The Recipe
Sift* dry ingredients into a mixing bowl.
1 1/2 c flour (that's 250ml cups, although see above for this recipe's indestructibility)
1 c sugar
2 T baking cocoa (or regular cocoa)
1 teaspoon mixed spice and 1 teaspoon ground ginger (or when you run out of either of these 2 teaspoons of a combination of mixed spice, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger - they all work fine)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
Add to the bowl
1/2 cup soybean, corn, canola or other vegetable oil. I wouldn't use olive, but you could.
2 teaspoons white vinegar (hmm sometimes I add a bit more- I misread this as tablespoons for a long time and the cake still worked out well....)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence.
3/4 cup water.
Mix ingredients together. Don't overmix**.
Spoon or pour into a greased and lined tin.
It can be a ring tin (but who wants to line a ring tin?) I mostly use a 20cm square tin, and put a sheet of baking parchment which I fold at the corners.
Bake 30-40 minutes at 190celcius / 375farenheit. Leave in tin for 5 minutes before removing.
Let cool, and then ice with chocolate icing. Although if you ice it slightly warm (3 year olds aren't that patient) the icing kind of sets into the cake, which is yummy in itself, particularly for dessert.
Serve as a cake or dessert, with whipped cream or ice cream if you have no regard for calories. Or get creative and decorate with lollies, coconut, blueberries, candy mushrooms. Give your inner three year old full rein.
Enjoy! And let me know if you make it.
*If you don't have a sieve, or can't be bothered washing it then whisk dry ingredients with a large whisk - much easier and pretty much as effective as a sieve, although you may need to squash cocoa and baking soda lumps with the back of a spoon. I got this trick from Graham Kerr, and I've barely used a sieve since.
** It's important not to overmix cakes and muffins, as it makes them tough and texturally less appealing. Just mix till all the flour is damp and it's combined - no need to beat the batter. However, I do not hold with the theory that lumps of flour in a cake are OK. They are not!
***Hi to Dan and to his vegan cousin. I was prompted to post this particular recipe after talking to Dan at the Court Theatre. See Court Jesters for information on Scared Scriptless, a really cool and fun improv show in Christchurch featuring Dan and other people, many of whom are also called Dan. In fact most men in their 20s in Christchurch are called Dan (Dan Carter is but the most famous example).
Monday, July 17, 2006
Carrot mixed bean hummus
Hello!
Today's recipe - a hummus type dip that I'm taking to the screening of our 48hour film re-edit.
Very simple. I've just whizzed up 2 cooked carrots, and a tin each of chickpeas and 4 bean mix, with lemon pepper, lemon juice and a bit of olive oil (not much, just a spoonful).
To be served with celery and carrots - let's see what the reviews are!
Dad tried some with his steak - and thought it had zing. He's not usually one for dips, so that's a good sign.
Cheers
Rachel
Reviews: not bad, 2 small carrots better than 3 large ones. More chickpeas would be better I think.
Today's recipe - a hummus type dip that I'm taking to the screening of our 48hour film re-edit.
Very simple. I've just whizzed up 2 cooked carrots, and a tin each of chickpeas and 4 bean mix, with lemon pepper, lemon juice and a bit of olive oil (not much, just a spoonful).
To be served with celery and carrots - let's see what the reviews are!
Dad tried some with his steak - and thought it had zing. He's not usually one for dips, so that's a good sign.
Cheers
Rachel
Reviews: not bad, 2 small carrots better than 3 large ones. More chickpeas would be better I think.
Welcome to the recipe zone
Hello all!
This is my blog, specially for recipes and thoughts about food.
In a few weeks I'll be a cook at YogaPlus (www.yogaplus.co.uk) in Crete, and I thought I'd put a few recipes here, for anyone who is interested.
I've cooked all my life. One of my earliest memories was of filling milk bottles to measure a pint of water when making Maggi packet soups for lunch with my mother as a toddler.
I got my first cookbook the Christmas I was 4 - the "Mary Mouse Cookbook". I still have it!
At times I've stopped cooking - when I lived in London and worked as a lawyer, and was out every night I ate out a lot, and lost the urge to cook.
My favourite kind of cooking challenge is to take a limited range of ingredients, including leftovers, and put them together in an unusual way. Cooking at YP is right up my sleeve, as the supply of the usual vegetarian and vegan food staples is limited (no soy products, for example).
Anyway, here is the blog - let's see what comes of it!
Cheers
Rachel
This is my blog, specially for recipes and thoughts about food.
In a few weeks I'll be a cook at YogaPlus (www.yogaplus.co.uk) in Crete, and I thought I'd put a few recipes here, for anyone who is interested.
I've cooked all my life. One of my earliest memories was of filling milk bottles to measure a pint of water when making Maggi packet soups for lunch with my mother as a toddler.
I got my first cookbook the Christmas I was 4 - the "Mary Mouse Cookbook". I still have it!
At times I've stopped cooking - when I lived in London and worked as a lawyer, and was out every night I ate out a lot, and lost the urge to cook.
My favourite kind of cooking challenge is to take a limited range of ingredients, including leftovers, and put them together in an unusual way. Cooking at YP is right up my sleeve, as the supply of the usual vegetarian and vegan food staples is limited (no soy products, for example).
Anyway, here is the blog - let's see what comes of it!
Cheers
Rachel
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