Praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD, O my tastebuds;
all my digestive juices, praise His holy name!
Praise the LORD in the kitchen;
praise him from the oven.
Praise him for his acts of edible creation,
praise him for his surpassing variety of proteins and carbohydrates.
Praise him with the casserole dish,
praise him with the saute pan.
Praise him with the santoku knife,
praise him with the twelve-hour marinade.
Praise him with fresh coriander and grated lemon rind,
praise him with hot roast chicken and crackling pork.
Praise him with parmesan shavings over creamy risotto,
praise him with maple syrup dripping from hot waffles.
Praise him with frangipane and creme patisserie,
praise him with tempered chocolate.
Praise him with coulis, sorbet and praline,
praise him with grenache, soave and cabernet shiraz.
Let everything that has TASTE praise the LORD!
Gingerbread Cupcakes
Saturday 5 May 2012
Saturday 14 April 2012
Asian Style Baked Salmon
This uses very obvious ingredients but I didn't use anyone else's recipe - just my own initiative! And it's gorgeous!
Ingredients to serve 2 people:
2 garlic cloves, grated
1/2 fresh chilli pepper, finely chopped
15g fresh ginger, grated
juice from 1/2 lime
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 salmon fillets, approx 125g each
Place the fillets in a non-metallic bowl.
Mix all the marinade ingredients together and pour over the salmon fillets. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.
Preheat the oven to 150/180C, depending on your oven.
Create a large foil parcel, securing the ends. Scrape off the bits of chili, ginger and garlic, then place the fillets inside the parcel and close it up. Place the parcel on a baking tray and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes.
You can serve this with new potatoes, or use the leftover marinade as a base for pilau rice, and steamed pak choi or other vegetables.
Ingredients to serve 2 people:
2 garlic cloves, grated
1/2 fresh chilli pepper, finely chopped
15g fresh ginger, grated
juice from 1/2 lime
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 salmon fillets, approx 125g each
Place the fillets in a non-metallic bowl.
Mix all the marinade ingredients together and pour over the salmon fillets. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.
Preheat the oven to 150/180C, depending on your oven.
Create a large foil parcel, securing the ends. Scrape off the bits of chili, ginger and garlic, then place the fillets inside the parcel and close it up. Place the parcel on a baking tray and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes.
You can serve this with new potatoes, or use the leftover marinade as a base for pilau rice, and steamed pak choi or other vegetables.
Wednesday 11 April 2012
The Best Crusty White Bread Loaf Recipe
Taken from Farmhouse Cookery...
I've followed a few different white bread recipes and I have to say that this is the best I've found so far. It takes a while - but all the best bakers say that the longer you leave the dough to prove the better your bread will be. This has three proving stages and you'll need to set aside an entire morning for it. The great thing about baking your own bread is that you can go off and do something else while it's growing! And don't use a breadmaker! Feel the gluten change under your own hands - the transformation is unmissable!
Ingredients for Two Loaves:
800g strong white flour
2 level teaspoons salt
15g lard (or butter/margarine)
7g fresh yeast (I use roughly half a 7g sachet of dried yeast)
450ml warm water (see my hot cross bun recipe for how I get the water to the right temperature)
Sieve the flour and salt on to a working surface or into a large mixing bowl, rub in the lard and make a well in the centre. Mix the yeasst to a smooth paste with 1 tablespoon of the water, stir into the rest of the water and pour into the well. Draw in the flour gradually, mixing vigorously to blend well.
Knead for 5 minutes or more (I knead for between 6-10 minutes. See below for a link to a good kneading method from the BBC website.) to make a stiff dough of an even, springy texture.
Shape into a ball, place in a warm, greased bowl, cover with greased polythene and stand in a warm place to rise for 2 hours. (I warm the oven to 50C and then switch it off before placing the dough inside.)
Turn out the dough on to a working surface and knock out the air bubbles. Knead again until smooth and springy, reshape into a ball, put back in the bowl, cover and put to rise again for 1 hour.
Divide the dough in half and mould each piece to fit a warmed and greased 2lb/900g loaf tin. Cover the tins with greased polythene and put in a warm place to rise for 40 minutes. (This time I put the tins back in the still-warm oven for about 20 minutes, then remove them and place them on the side while I preheat the oven to 225C.)
Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 45 minutes. (I never bake it for this long in my fan oven. You're looking for a crusty top and a hollow sounding bottom. I usually check after about 20 minutes.)
Instead of using tins, try shaping the dough yourself into two rustic loaves and baking them on baking sheets.
I've followed a few different white bread recipes and I have to say that this is the best I've found so far. It takes a while - but all the best bakers say that the longer you leave the dough to prove the better your bread will be. This has three proving stages and you'll need to set aside an entire morning for it. The great thing about baking your own bread is that you can go off and do something else while it's growing! And don't use a breadmaker! Feel the gluten change under your own hands - the transformation is unmissable!
Ingredients for Two Loaves:
800g strong white flour
2 level teaspoons salt
15g lard (or butter/margarine)
7g fresh yeast (I use roughly half a 7g sachet of dried yeast)
450ml warm water (see my hot cross bun recipe for how I get the water to the right temperature)
Sieve the flour and salt on to a working surface or into a large mixing bowl, rub in the lard and make a well in the centre. Mix the yeasst to a smooth paste with 1 tablespoon of the water, stir into the rest of the water and pour into the well. Draw in the flour gradually, mixing vigorously to blend well.
Knead for 5 minutes or more (I knead for between 6-10 minutes. See below for a link to a good kneading method from the BBC website.) to make a stiff dough of an even, springy texture.
Shape into a ball, place in a warm, greased bowl, cover with greased polythene and stand in a warm place to rise for 2 hours. (I warm the oven to 50C and then switch it off before placing the dough inside.)
Turn out the dough on to a working surface and knock out the air bubbles. Knead again until smooth and springy, reshape into a ball, put back in the bowl, cover and put to rise again for 1 hour.
Divide the dough in half and mould each piece to fit a warmed and greased 2lb/900g loaf tin. Cover the tins with greased polythene and put in a warm place to rise for 40 minutes. (This time I put the tins back in the still-warm oven for about 20 minutes, then remove them and place them on the side while I preheat the oven to 225C.)
Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 45 minutes. (I never bake it for this long in my fan oven. You're looking for a crusty top and a hollow sounding bottom. I usually check after about 20 minutes.)
Instead of using tins, try shaping the dough yourself into two rustic loaves and baking them on baking sheets.
Caribbean Chicken
I am at a loss to remember exactly where I got this from. I have a feeling it was from a magazine recipe card in something like 1993. Anyway, it's a fabulous recipe and tastes great hot or cold.
Ingredients for 4-6:
6 chicken portions e.g. boneless thighs
1 tablespoon plain flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons curry powder
1oz butter or oil
Sauce
2 onions, chopped
6oz streaky bacon, chopped
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 apples, peeled and diced
2 teaspoons curry powder
2 tablespoons plain flour
2 tablespoons tomato puree
12fl oz chicken stock
8oz can pineapple pieces
Preheat oven. (That's all it says in my handwritten recipe book. Either it didn't have a temperature or for some reason I didn't write it down! I'd probably preheat it to 180/200C.)
For the sauce: heat the oil in a large pan. Add the bacon and onion and fry for 3-4 minutes. Add the apple and curry powder and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
Stir in the tomato puree and flour. Gradually blend in the stock and bring to the boil, stirring continuously.
Add most of the pineapple pieces, leaving some for garnish. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix together the flour, salt and curry powder. Add the chicken and toss to coat.
Heat the butter or oil in an ovenproof casserole dish. Add the coated chicken and fry on both sides to brown.
Pour the sauce over the chicken, cover, and cook in the oven for 30 minutes or until the chicken is tender.
Serve garnished with pineapple pieces, on a bed of rice.
Ingredients for 4-6:
6 chicken portions e.g. boneless thighs
1 tablespoon plain flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons curry powder
1oz butter or oil
Sauce
2 onions, chopped
6oz streaky bacon, chopped
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 apples, peeled and diced
2 teaspoons curry powder
2 tablespoons plain flour
2 tablespoons tomato puree
12fl oz chicken stock
8oz can pineapple pieces
Preheat oven. (That's all it says in my handwritten recipe book. Either it didn't have a temperature or for some reason I didn't write it down! I'd probably preheat it to 180/200C.)
For the sauce: heat the oil in a large pan. Add the bacon and onion and fry for 3-4 minutes. Add the apple and curry powder and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
Stir in the tomato puree and flour. Gradually blend in the stock and bring to the boil, stirring continuously.
Add most of the pineapple pieces, leaving some for garnish. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix together the flour, salt and curry powder. Add the chicken and toss to coat.
Heat the butter or oil in an ovenproof casserole dish. Add the coated chicken and fry on both sides to brown.
Pour the sauce over the chicken, cover, and cook in the oven for 30 minutes or until the chicken is tender.
Serve garnished with pineapple pieces, on a bed of rice.
Tuesday 10 April 2012
Celery, Mushroom, Red Wine, Redcurrant and Herb Sauce
Wow! I had a quick look at a few recipes for sauces that would go with sausages and then decided to experiment with what I had in the fridge/cupboard. And this is what I came up with... It was deeply delicious with organic pork cumberland sausages...
Ingredients for 2-3 people:
2 sticks of celery, finely diced
a couple of sprigs of fresh thyme and sage, finely chopped
small glass of red wine
about 6 chestnut mushrooms, sliced
about 2 tablespoons redcurrant jelly
salt & freshly ground black pepper
Spray a non-stick pan with one-cal sunflower oil and fry off the celery and herbs until softened.
Add a little of the wine and allow the the celery herb mixture to absorb the liquid.
Stir in the mushrooms and cook until soft then add the rest of the wine. Cook for a few minutes before stirring in the redcurrant jelly and simmer until it has melted. Do not let it boil.
Add salt and pepper to taste and mix it all thoroughly before spooning over hot cumberland sausages. Yum!
Ingredients for 2-3 people:
2 sticks of celery, finely diced
a couple of sprigs of fresh thyme and sage, finely chopped
small glass of red wine
about 6 chestnut mushrooms, sliced
about 2 tablespoons redcurrant jelly
salt & freshly ground black pepper
Spray a non-stick pan with one-cal sunflower oil and fry off the celery and herbs until softened.
Add a little of the wine and allow the the celery herb mixture to absorb the liquid.
Stir in the mushrooms and cook until soft then add the rest of the wine. Cook for a few minutes before stirring in the redcurrant jelly and simmer until it has melted. Do not let it boil.
Add salt and pepper to taste and mix it all thoroughly before spooning over hot cumberland sausages. Yum!
Monday 9 April 2012
Low carb, low cal Oatie Bites
This recipe is taken from the Diabetes Weight-Loss Recipe Book by Anthony Worrall-Thompson, Azmina Govingji, Jane Suthering.
I tend to double the mixture and make about 30 'bites' which means they're not as big or thin as the recipe suggests but still very filling especially of you do use wholemeal flour too. I also tend to put in half the amount of egg white but that's because I prefer the 'bites' to be crisp rather than chewy.
Ingredients for 12-15:
90g oats
2 tablespoons butter, melted
75g dark muscavado sugar
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons wholemeal flour
Preheat the oven to 190C. Line a large baking tray with baking paper.
Mix all the ingredients together. Spoon 12 - 15 dollops well spaced on the baking tray, then, using a fork, flatten each one to about 8-9cm diameter. (I don't do the flattening as much as this.)
Cook for 15-20mins until golden brown. Leave to cool on the tray then transfer to a wire rack until cold and crisp. Store in an airtight container. Freeze if preferred.
I tend to double the mixture and make about 30 'bites' which means they're not as big or thin as the recipe suggests but still very filling especially of you do use wholemeal flour too. I also tend to put in half the amount of egg white but that's because I prefer the 'bites' to be crisp rather than chewy.
Ingredients for 12-15:
90g oats
2 tablespoons butter, melted
75g dark muscavado sugar
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons wholemeal flour
Preheat the oven to 190C. Line a large baking tray with baking paper.
Mix all the ingredients together. Spoon 12 - 15 dollops well spaced on the baking tray, then, using a fork, flatten each one to about 8-9cm diameter. (I don't do the flattening as much as this.)
Cook for 15-20mins until golden brown. Leave to cool on the tray then transfer to a wire rack until cold and crisp. Store in an airtight container. Freeze if preferred.
Friday 6 April 2012
Hot Cross Buns
All of this is taken from my Farmhouse Cookery Book - the only things I changed was using a 7g sachet of dried yeast instead of fresh yeast but I still used it in the same way it says in the recipe and also I didn't have any currants so I just used about 125g sultanas plus mixed peel, rather than dried lemon peel...
It is said that in medieval times, bakers marked all their loaves with a cross to ward off evil spirits and encourage the bread to rise. This practice was condemned as 'popish' during the 17th century and dropped. Only buns made on Good Friday continued to bear a cross, in token of the Crucifixion.
Ingredients for 12-13 buns
For the ferment:
1 large egg, beaten
About 215ml warm water (tepid/luke warm)
15g fresh yeast
1 rounded tspn sugar
50g strong white flour
TIP: If you're not sure about the temperature of the water for the ferment, what I do is plunge a jug of cold water into a bowl of just boiled water and allow the temperature of the jug water to come up to hand hot or tepid (lukewarm, blood-warm etc etc) It's a much safer way of making sure it doesn't get too hot.
For the dough:
100/125g currants
25g sultanas
25g chopped, dried lemon peel
450g strong white flour
1 level tspn salt
2-3 rounded tspns ground mixed spice
75g lard (I used Stork!)
75g sugar
Grated rind of 1 lemon
Golden syrup, heated, for glazing
Prepare the ferment by combining the beaten egg with enough warm water to give 275/300ml of liquid. Whisk in the yeast, sugar and flour, cover and put in a warm place for 30 minutes.
Before starting to mix the dough, rinse the currants, sultanas and chopped, dried lemon peel with hot water and spread on kitchen paper in a warm place to drain.
Sieve the flour, salt and spice into a large mixing bowl, rub in the lard and make a well in the centre. Put the sugar and grated lemon rind in the well and pour on the ferment. Gradually draw in the flour and mix vigorously, then knead to a smooth elastic dough.Carefully work in the warm, moist currants, cultanas and lemon peel. shape the dough into a ball, put it in a warm, greased bowl, cover with clingfilm and put to rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
Turn out the dough on to a work surface and knead to knock out any air bubbles and give the dough and even texture. Shape it into a ball again, put back into the bowl, cover and put back to rise for another 30 minutes.
Turn out the dough on to a work surface and divide into 75g pieces. Shape them into balls and leave to rest for 5 minutes on the work surface. roll out the balls into 3 inch (8cm) discs and place on lightly greased baking sheets.
(Cut each disc in to quarters, cutting right through the dough but leaving the quarters touching each other so that as the dough rises it has a well-marked cross on it.)
Put the buns in a warm place to rise for 40 minutes (cover if you like with greased clingfilm). Pre-heat the oven to 240C (475F, Gas Mark 9).
Bake in the pre-heated oven for 6-7minutes, and brush over the buns with hot golden syrup as soon as they are taken from the oven.
The cross on each bun can be made with shortcrust pastry to which water has been added until it is soft enough to pipe through a nozzle. Instead of cutting the discs of dough, pipe a cross of the pastry on to each immediately before baking.
Next time I do this I'm not going to pipe the pastry. I'm just going to make strips of pastry. It didn't really work and I can't really see the difference between the two techniques.
It is said that in medieval times, bakers marked all their loaves with a cross to ward off evil spirits and encourage the bread to rise. This practice was condemned as 'popish' during the 17th century and dropped. Only buns made on Good Friday continued to bear a cross, in token of the Crucifixion.
Ingredients for 12-13 buns
For the ferment:
1 large egg, beaten
About 215ml warm water (tepid/luke warm)
15g fresh yeast
1 rounded tspn sugar
50g strong white flour
TIP: If you're not sure about the temperature of the water for the ferment, what I do is plunge a jug of cold water into a bowl of just boiled water and allow the temperature of the jug water to come up to hand hot or tepid (lukewarm, blood-warm etc etc) It's a much safer way of making sure it doesn't get too hot.
For the dough:
100/125g currants
25g sultanas
25g chopped, dried lemon peel
450g strong white flour
1 level tspn salt
2-3 rounded tspns ground mixed spice
75g lard (I used Stork!)
75g sugar
Grated rind of 1 lemon
Golden syrup, heated, for glazing
Prepare the ferment by combining the beaten egg with enough warm water to give 275/300ml of liquid. Whisk in the yeast, sugar and flour, cover and put in a warm place for 30 minutes.
Before starting to mix the dough, rinse the currants, sultanas and chopped, dried lemon peel with hot water and spread on kitchen paper in a warm place to drain.
Sieve the flour, salt and spice into a large mixing bowl, rub in the lard and make a well in the centre. Put the sugar and grated lemon rind in the well and pour on the ferment. Gradually draw in the flour and mix vigorously, then knead to a smooth elastic dough.Carefully work in the warm, moist currants, cultanas and lemon peel. shape the dough into a ball, put it in a warm, greased bowl, cover with clingfilm and put to rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
Turn out the dough on to a work surface and knead to knock out any air bubbles and give the dough and even texture. Shape it into a ball again, put back into the bowl, cover and put back to rise for another 30 minutes.
Turn out the dough on to a work surface and divide into 75g pieces. Shape them into balls and leave to rest for 5 minutes on the work surface. roll out the balls into 3 inch (8cm) discs and place on lightly greased baking sheets.
(Cut each disc in to quarters, cutting right through the dough but leaving the quarters touching each other so that as the dough rises it has a well-marked cross on it.)
Put the buns in a warm place to rise for 40 minutes (cover if you like with greased clingfilm). Pre-heat the oven to 240C (475F, Gas Mark 9).
Bake in the pre-heated oven for 6-7minutes, and brush over the buns with hot golden syrup as soon as they are taken from the oven.
The cross on each bun can be made with shortcrust pastry to which water has been added until it is soft enough to pipe through a nozzle. Instead of cutting the discs of dough, pipe a cross of the pastry on to each immediately before baking.
Next time I do this I'm not going to pipe the pastry. I'm just going to make strips of pastry. It didn't really work and I can't really see the difference between the two techniques.
Saturday 24 March 2012
My Happy Place
I love cooking. It's hard to say exactly what I love about cooking because I love everything. But it's the essence of cooking that gets me the most. The smell of fresh lime, the zing of sliced chili pepper, and the extraordinarily melancholic aroma of grated ginger - all of these, and more, have the ability to transform my world into something truly beautiful.
There are many things I love in this world - singing with others, leading people in musical worship, gathering together with God's people, dwelling on great and wonderful theological truths, walking along the coast, watching the starlings murmurate, and the garden birds gather materials for their nests, watching movies, reading books, socializing, theatre....
But cooking? Now there, right there, in the middle of that experience, when I lose myself in the chemistry of food, I am in my happy place. No stress, no difficulty, no performance worries - I am just there, in the moment. Food represents what I wish I could achieve in my music. I have a natural ability - always have - but something stops me perfecting my music. My natural ability seems to get swallowed up in so much other stuff. Maybe if I was a chef and I had to compete with others then it would be the same thing with food. Maybe not.
I wish I could just find my dream job - what I truly truly want to do - but I just don't know what it is. At the moment I'm following the theology path while teaching music to make a living. But I am not 100% convinced I'm on the right track. Maybe I should go into full time paid ministry...but there again, I'm just not convinced.
Where is my happy place when it comes to work? And do I need work to be my happy place? Not sure. But if I do... then maybe it should involve food...
There are many things I love in this world - singing with others, leading people in musical worship, gathering together with God's people, dwelling on great and wonderful theological truths, walking along the coast, watching the starlings murmurate, and the garden birds gather materials for their nests, watching movies, reading books, socializing, theatre....
But cooking? Now there, right there, in the middle of that experience, when I lose myself in the chemistry of food, I am in my happy place. No stress, no difficulty, no performance worries - I am just there, in the moment. Food represents what I wish I could achieve in my music. I have a natural ability - always have - but something stops me perfecting my music. My natural ability seems to get swallowed up in so much other stuff. Maybe if I was a chef and I had to compete with others then it would be the same thing with food. Maybe not.
I wish I could just find my dream job - what I truly truly want to do - but I just don't know what it is. At the moment I'm following the theology path while teaching music to make a living. But I am not 100% convinced I'm on the right track. Maybe I should go into full time paid ministry...but there again, I'm just not convinced.
Where is my happy place when it comes to work? And do I need work to be my happy place? Not sure. But if I do... then maybe it should involve food...
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