Seeking Routine

Last week I had a disappointing realisation.  My fridge shelf was beginning to look more like someone on You Are What You Eat and I hadn't cooked a decent meal in at least 2 months.

This is not like me at all.  I love being in the kitchen, keeping it clean and fully stocked with things to prepare.  It's my place of serenity and a reminder that I am in control of what I cook if at least nothing else in my life at times.

Living and working in London can put the average Londoner into the eating routine of takeaways and ready meals from the supermarket and very little exercise in between. While it is convenient, I think we all need to take time to make our own dinners. In the end, it's heaps cheaper and to be honest once you get used to doing a certain dish it doesn't take that much time out of your day.

I've made a concious decision (and I'm trying really hard to stick to it) to change my habit of waking up, taking the tube, going to work, eating a ready meal, leaving work, taking the tube, and ordering a takeaway. As well as changing my eating habits, I'm trying to include exercise in that routine.  It's hard, and it's particularly harder when no one around you is making the change to their routine either. But I'm stubborn, and if I want to do something I'll keep trying at it!

I've ordered a massive selection of meats and fish from the shop (online shopping is the way forward in big cities), wrapped them individually and frozen each bit of chicken and fillet of salmon so I can always have food in the house. I've even gone so far as to plan out my meals for each day.

Today was veggie lunch and I was craving courgette (zucchini).  Here's the recipe I found to make my lunch (sans lima beans, I've got childhood nightmares about those).

How have you had to manage your eat/work/exercise routine?

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen lima beans, blanched
• 1/2 cup drained canned chickpeas, rinsed
• 1 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
• 1/2 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 2 to 3 romaine leaves, cut into thin strips
• 1 ounce Parmesan cheese, broken into small chunks (1/4 cup)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil, plus small sprigs for garnish
• 4 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/8 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
• 3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Combine lima beans, chickpeas, zucchini, onion, romaine, Parmesan, and chopped basil. Add lemon juice, oil, red-pepper flakes, salt, and pepper, and toss to combine. Garnish with basil sprigs.

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Seeking Recipes - Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

OK England, let's talk food.  I know you think you've got mac n' cheese sorted out - it's your lunch at a pub or a full on dinner on its own, but you're really missing out. Macaroni and cheese should only be a side dish on a massive plate of other comforting foods i.e. sweet potatoes, corn on the cob, collard greens, holiday roasts etc. But I'll start you off with the basics first.

Here's what you'll need:

250g of macaroni (not the quick cook kind)

2 tablespoons of butter

150ml of single cream

1 tablespoon of soured cream

2 ounces of milk

100g of extra mature cheddar chopped into blocks

2 slices of cheese singles torn

Cooking time 30-45 minutes - Serves 4

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then add macaroni. Boil macaroni for 10-12 minutes while stirring or until the pasta becomes large and soft.  Remove pan from heat and drain the macaroni in a colander while rinsing under cold water.  This keeps the pasta firm and stops it from cooking and sticking together while you're making the cheese sauce.

In the same pot (it's ok if some mac is stuck to the pot), melt the butter over low heat and add the single cream while constantly stirring. Raise the heat to a light boil and add the milk, and cheeses to the mixture. Stir until the cheese has melted.

Add the cooked macaroni to the cheese sauce in the pot and stir until completely coated.  If there is too much liquid raise the heat for a few seconds and continue to stir.  

As an added touch, put a few more torn cheese slices on top, and bake in the oven on 175ºC for 5 - 10 minutes.  Sometimes I even like to add chopped crispy bacon. 

Enjoy!

International Bacon Day - Bacon and Blue Cheese Salad

How did I, the Queen of Baconville, not know that today was International Bacon Day?  To be honest, every day is a Bacon Holiday for me.  I find ways to put bacon in every meal I can possibly eat.  I haven't perfected bacon as a dessert yet (although apple and maple syrup bacon is aMAZing!) but I do have several recipes to make bacon your breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.

I'm going to go with one of my healthier options, a Bacon and Blue Cheese Salad. Now I know the next few sentences are going to sound a bit crazy, particularly to the UK readers as mixing flavours seems to be out of the question for you lot - but I promise it's delicious.  So here's what you need:

• Spinach although I got stuck with iceberg lettuce today - it's mildly refreshing)
• Bacon and no messing about, none of this Danish/Canadian whatever bacon. This needs to be crispy so American Streaky is the only way to go
• Red Onion, not white, red, otherwise you'll mess up the flavours
• Blue Cheese 'cause that's what I said was going in the salad
• Assorted veg if you want to make it a bit healthier, but they have to be mild in flavour so no peppers or tomatoes, I threw in some mushrooms today
• Dried cranberries yes, something sweet with cheese and meat and everything. Just do it. Or strawberries even.
• Egg - hard boiled, not scrambled. It's good for you.
• Vinaigrette - the sweeter the better. Strawberry vinaigrette does well or red wine and add some sugar - no balsamic.  This salad is a heavy dose of sweet+salty, which is probably my favourite food combination ever.

Fry the bacon (2 slices per person) in a little bit of veg oil on high heat until it's crispity good. At the same time boil a pan full of water with the egg covered in water. When the bacon is done take it out and chop it up. In a large bowl, throw in those greenery and veg things to make it healthy.  Don't forget a little bit of red onion roughly chopped. The egg is probably done by now, you can take that out and run it under cold water until it's cool - it helps to break the shell as well. Cut that up and you've got this colourful little salad happening! Throw about a kid's handful (or 2 tbsp if we're counting and stuff - we don't do that in my kitchen) of the dried cranberries in. Chop 1 tbsp of Blue Cheese and throw that on top.  Next is the dressing. If you don't have pre-made vinaigrette then separately mix 2 parts vinegar to 1 part oil (preferably Extra Virgin Olive Oil) and whisk it as fast as you can so they mix and become a little thicker. If it's too tart, pinch some sugar in the mix. Drizzle over your salad, and put the food in your face. You can thank me later.

I'd put a photo of the salad I just made, but I ate it all while writing the post.

Chicken Soup for the Hay Fever pt 2

A year ago, I blogged a recipe for making chicken soup whilst sick.  A year later and London's trying to kill me again. I've tried my best to push through it, but sometimes all you need is a lot of drugs and about 3 days of straight sleep. Because of this I haven't been able to go out in London and find new gems to blog about this week.

I did, however, make a roast earlier in the week and used that to make another chicken soup dish.  If you have a whole chicken on hand, you can use so many of the bits that you wouldn't eat for added flavouring in the stock.  (Don't be afraid of skin, gristle and bone!) This time, I made white rice and boiled it with spinach, mushrooms and a chicken stock cube in the water. SO good! And it's lasted me all week.

So next week I should be back to blogging about London but until then, drink Benadryl, pound the lemsips and eat some chicken soup.

Chicken vegetable soup with spinach and mushroom rice

Cassata Cake

Right, so I've literally spent the last hour trolling the Internet looking for this exact recipe.  You see, I printed this off ages ago, maybe circa 2005 - but I wanted to add it to my (eventually defunct?) delicious  account. This is the only version of the cassata cake that I am willing to accept at this moment.

I have also decided that when I get married, this exact cake will be the wedding cake. Along with mini/cupcake versions of my cheesecake recipe

Mango and Strawberry cheesecake

Strawberry cheesecake

 - I suppose that means I'll be cooking my wedding cakes then.

As a kid my mom would always get me this as a birthday cake - and apparently similar versions of this are the 'Cleveland Style' cassata cakes birthed from the Sicilians that migrated to Cleveland. Ahh my little melting pot of a hometown.

My Cassata Cake along with the printout that I still have

Strawberry Cassata Cake
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To save time, substitute a cake made from a yellow cake mix (I use French Vanilla cake mix) for the Chiffon Sponge Cake. And don't forget to slice the tops off the cake layers to make them lay just right.

There will be leftover Pastry Cream; store in the refrigerator for up to three days and use for other desserts or pastries. It does not freeze well.


1 recipe Pastry Cream (recipe follows)
1 recipe Chiffon Sponge Cake (recipe follows)
3 cups heavy whipping cream
6 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Pastry bag fitted with large star tip
1 (10-inch) cardboard round
2 cups fresh strawberries, chopped
2 cups almonds, toasted and crushed
Cake plate or pedestal
12 whole strawberries (buy the huge Driscoll variety)
Prepare the Pastry Cream and refrigerate according to directions.
Prepare the Chiffon Sponge Cake and let the layers cool; wrap and
store, if necessary.

When ready to assemble the cake, whip the heavy cream with the sugar and vanilla until stiff, being careful not to overwhip or the cream will become buttery. Place 1 cup of the sweetened whipped cream into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip. Place the bag into the refrigerator
until ready to use.

Remove the Pastry Cream from the refrigerator and whip it by hand for no more than 1 minute to smooth out the lumps.

Place one of the cake layers, right side up, onto the cardboard round. Spread a 1/2-inch-thick layer of Pastry Cream over the top of the bottom layer. Arrange a 1-cup layer of chopped strawberries on the cake layer and top with a thin layer of whipped cream, just enough to barely cover the strawberries.

Place the other cake layer, right side down, on top of the filling. Refrigerate for 15 to 20 minutes to set.

Remove from the refrigerator and ice the top and sides with the remaining whipped cream. If you are right-handed, hold the cake from the bottom with your right hand and your palm flat up to the ceiling. With your left hand, grab a handful of chopped nuts and gently press them into the side of the cake. (Reverse for left-hand decorating.) Rotate the cake and continue pressing on the nuts until the entire side is covered.

Place the cake on a cake plate or pedestal. Using the chilled pastry bag, pipe 12 rosettes of whipped cream on the top edge of the cake. To evenly space them, think of the top of the cake as a clock. Pipe a rosette at 12 o’clock, then one each at 6, 3, and 9 o’clock, dividing the cake into quarters. Pipe on the remaining rosettes. Top each rosette with a whole strawberry. Refrigerate the cake, up to 3 days, until ready to serve.

Makes 12 to 16 servings.
---------------------------------
Pastry Cream aka Custard
---------------------------------
4 cups (1 quart) milk
3 eggs
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Place the milk in a large heavy saucepan and set it over medium-high heat.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs to break them up. Add the sugar and whisk to combine. Add the cornstarch, salt and vanilla, and whisk to combine.

When the milk comes to a slow boil, add 1/3 of it to the egg mixture, whisking constantly. (This is called tempering.) Bring the remaining milk back to a boil. Add all of the tempered egg mixture to the milk, continuously whisking over medium-high heat until thickened.

Place the cooked custard into a bowl, whisk in the butter until smooth and cover with plastic wrap so it touches the surface of the custard. Refrigerate until set.

------------------------------------
Chiffon Sponge Cake or skip if you went for the box cake...which I always do. Maybe I'll try one from scratch one day, but I even add things to the box cake recipe that may as well make it homemade
------------------------------------
For a taller three-layer cake, multiply the following recipe by 1 1/2 and divide the batter among three 10-inch round layer pans. Weigh the cake flour and sugar for best results. Otherwise, 14 ounces of cake flour is approximately 41/8 cups; 14 ounces of sugar is approximately 13/4 cups.

Butter, for greasing
8 eggs, separated
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup water
1 tablespoon vanilla
14 ounces cake flour
14 ounces sugar, divided
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Lightly butter the bottom of two 10-inch cake pans. Line the bottoms with
a circle of parchment or wax paper, but do not butter the parchment or
the sides of the pan. (Similar to angel food cake, this cake needs to
cling to the sides while baking.)

Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Place the egg yolks and vegetable oil into a deep bowl. Mix, then blend in the water and vanilla.

Into another bowl or onto wax paper, sift together the cake flour, 1/3 of the sugar, the baking powder and salt. Add to the egg yolk mixture and whip for about 2 minutes, either by hand or with an electric mixer.

In a very clean, deep metal bowl, whip the egg whites and remaining sugar until the mixture **EDIT* THIS IS A PAIN. IF YOU ADD THE SUGAR ALL AT ONCE IT WON'T WORK. IF THERE IS ANY OIL OR EGG YOLK IN THIS MIXTURE IT WON'T WORK. IT SHOULD TAKE NO LONGER THAN 2 - 5 MINUTES TO GET YOUR RESULT* forms stiff peaks (when you can turn the mixing bowl upside down without the egg whites sliding out). Gently fold half of the egg whites into the yolk mixture. Leave the mixture streaky with
egg whites so that you do not overfold. Fold in the remaining egg whites, being gentler than the first time. Carefully continue folding until there are no streaks of egg whites.

Divide the batter between the 2 cake pans and gently smooth the tops. Bake for about 25 minutes or until the cake springs back when lightly pressed in the center. Turn the pans upside down onto cookie racks to completely cool.

Gently run a knife around the sides of the pans. Tip the cakes out of the pans onto a flat surface.

The cakes can be double-wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in the freezer for up to 1 month.

Makes 2 round 10-inch cake layers.

Thanksgiving Menu

This is what I hope to serve up, on my adopted Thanksgiving day as the UK doesn't think it's important to give thanks to getting rid of the prudes that killed off another race with their icky European diseases.

Happy Thanksgiving y'all!

STARTERS
Warmed Brie with raspberries
Italian Skewers

SALAD
Feta and spinach salad (w/or w/o walnuts or bacon) and a red wine vinaigrette

SIDES
Baked Mac n Cheese
Green beans and bacon
Candied yams
southern BISCUITS (don't get me started)

MAIN
Turkey
Cornbread stuffing
Cranberry sauce

DESSERTS
Sweet potato pie and whipped cream
Baked apple crisp

DRINKS
Mulled Wine
Spiced Brandy Alexander

Asian Persuasion

Hands down, next to all the fantastic people I've met through life and travel, meeting their cuisine is the next best part.  Over the past year, I shared a kitchen with 2 Japanese, 2 Cubans, 1 Chinese, 1 Greek and 1 Ukrainian - their cooking styles will stay with me for years to come.  I like to take bits and pieces of different recipes that I like and put them in one dish as I did tonight.  This dish was practically done in a hobo style, that is, I just took random things I had and threw it together - but some of the greatest meals started that way, no?


One of my all time favourite dishes is chicken adobo, a Filipino dish that was cooked for me while I was living in Australia.  I wasn't going to go all out on the adobo, but I still had those drumsticks from before.  I really have a thing for vinegar for some reason, but that's one of the most familiar flavours/smells of this dish.  So I whipped out my white vinegar, and soy sauce, turned a frying pan on high heat with some vegetable oil and threw in the drumsticks.  A bit of salt and pepper, naturally, for taste.  When the drumsticks were nearly done I poured out the excess oil and covered them in the vinegar and put it back on the heat.  But wait, I need rice! 


Here are a few cool tips learned from my former kitchen mates: Put extra cooked rice in the freezer, and when you need it later, use it.  More importantly, if you're making a dish that requires fried rice old rice is better than freshly cooked rice!  So, when I ordered a Chinese takeout earlier last week and I didn't finish my white rice, I popped that in the freezer.  Zapped that in the microwave today for about 2 minutes and then added it to my vinegar chicken fry-up situation.  Now I've got fried rice, which I added about 2 or 3 tablespoons of soy sauce in the pan to get those fried rice characteristics.


One thing that the English grocery stores do well is help with pre-selected, single-serving veggies.  I feel a bit bad buying a bag of mixed vegetables when I could just as easily buy each of the ingredients and mix it together myself, for probably cheaper (if you think in bulk).  But in reality, a lot of people do house/flat shares here - I don't have all the space in the world in my fridge.  So I picked up a bag of what was considered "Mushroom stir-fry vegetables" including cabbage, carrots, mung beans, red onions and mushrooms and threw that in to the pan as well.  


Semi-chicken adobo, fried rice and mushroom stir-fry vegetables in the pan and sizzling away.  To me, no dish is complete without garlic.  Literally, I could eat a whole clove, I love garlic that much.  I didn't this time, I finely chopped some garlic and sat it to the side.  One root that has grown on me is ginger, which one of my housemates used a lot for her dishes.  To be honest, ginger practically made this dish, and almost gave it a Thai taste with the tangy-ness from the vinegar. I chopped it, zested it, diced it - there was a lot of 'it' in there.  Also I had some spring onions left over from many many dishes ago (I made a mexican layered chili dip - which unfortunately I haven't documented on here as of yet) and I chopped those and added it to the mix. 


Last but not least - an egg.  In my opinion any asian dish is made awesome-er when an egg is involved. I made an open spot on the pan, cracked an egg there, and scrambled it in the same spot before stirring it into the other ingredients.


At the end I threw in a quick dash of this "Chinese 5 spice" BS that I've never heard of before.  My current housemates had some in the drawer, but I have a bit of a hate for store-bought and packaged spices that are a mix of spices that you can put together yourself. Italian seasoning, Emeril's Essence, even All-spice, I have all those things lying around anyhow, I'm not gonna buy a specific container that you so conveniently mixed for me! Argh!  Anyhow, this 5 spice really overpowers with the anise, so I didn't want much of it - but if you like liquorice scents, add more.


So there we go, left over rice, left over onions, some drumsticks, garlic, ginger, and pre-packaged stir-fry veggies.  Quick cook, cost about a fiver, and delicious.

Soul Food a la Europe

I think the biggest qualm I've had since moving to London, is that I miss American food.  I miss the taste, I miss the smell, I miss the convenience, but most of all I think I miss the diversity.  I'm sure some Brits could argue that the UK is a hub of diverse food, but in my opinion 15 curry shops and twice as many kebab stands isn't my idea of diverse.  It breaks my heart when I go to the shop, ready to make some sweet Mexican food and the only "Mexican" flavours they have come from Old El Paso (Oh how I miss the days of Goya) and to be quite frank, when asked if I want peppers on my burrito I want to punch someone in the face. If I wanted a fajita I would've asked for one damnit - get those peppers outta here!  Recently I've been craving what I consider to be the tastiest food ever - soul food.


To be honest, this post is a bit of a disgrace to soul food, as what I actually made is far too healthy to be listed in this category.  Nonetheless I was determined to get some form of collard greens, cornbread, fried chicken and/or pork in my belly.  Being in London, I was a bit limited, so I settled for a bag of mixed veggies, some drumsticks and I made cornbread...sorta.


I'm quite used to seeing the happy Quaker guy on my box of corn meal so I'm weary of anything outside of that.  I had to make due with whatever was eventually found at the shop, but it seemed to be ground a lot finer than the typical corn meal.  I used the standard recipe sans the Pam cooking spray since I haven't seen any of that here either.  Also I forgot to pay attention to the recipe whilst shopping and didn't have any milk!!! Luckily I made some buttermilk pancakes the day before and had leftover buttermilk and yogurt.  I took the last of my buttermilk (about an ounce) and filled a measuring cup to about 3/4 with that and the yogurt.  Poured that in to the cornbread recipe and added about 1 cup of water and had my milk substitute! It actually worked quite well!!


For the chicken, I decided to bake it rather than fry.  I love baking chicken because you don't have to add anything to it for it to taste great. EVOO, salt, pepper, high heat, 20 mins, done. The second day I made this I added rosemary and diced potatoes and had a mini English roast.  I made gravy the English way as well.  Granules + boiling water. I've never seen anything like that before. I still like the natural way (juices from the meat your cooking + flour + stock etc) but this was quick and worked just fine.  And of course, I can't do just what a recipe says, so I added some sauteed mushrooms and onions to the mix. Good choice!


The veg was a pre-selected assortment from Sainsbury's; broccoli, carrots and green beans and 'courgette' (aka zucchini).  I couldn't find any greens that I trusted to taste the way I wanted.  But let me tell you, when mom makes baked mac n cheese, collard greens with vinegar and ham hock, and cornbread I mix it all together it put it directly in my face. Words can not describe the deliciousness that comes from these dishes, but I shall try.  Everyone loves butter, everyone loves cheese, and how can you not like pork?! If you like them all, your mouth will be happy having them all at once.  But I digress, I didn't make this, I just steamed the veg and went for the healthiest half-assed 'soul food' meal I've ever made.  Someone's rolling in their grave right now.

Chicken Soup for the Hay Fever

I don't really have anything that intelligent to blog about today, but I figured if I want to get back into the habit of blogging I should do it everyday.

London weather thought it would be a great idea to bring my allergies on at full force, so my brain hasn't been function too well.  So for the past two days, I've been lain in bed, alone, putting as much anti-histamine in my system that my body will take.  Today I finally got up and made a meal later in the afternoon, the classic: Chicken Soup. I'm sure everyone has a variant on how to make it, and it's quite easy to just buy it straight from the can.  I haven't gone grocery shopping in ages, so i pretty much looked to whatever my fridge had to offer.  If you're like me, and strapped for cash, it can be useful to find that everything is right in your home. If you're home alone, knowing a meal that doesn't take much effort but also makes you feel better is nice as well!

The recipe is quite basic: chicken, water, veggies - but I figured I'd post what I put in today anyhow.

1 package of diced chicken breast (about 2 cups?)
1 white onion wedged
3 peeled and chopped carrots
2 diced cloves of garlic
1 can of sweet corn kernels
1/2 green bell pepper 
1 peeled and diced potato
1 small tomato, quartered
2 bay leaves
salt, black ground pepper, thyme, chicken cubes for added flavour

I didn't set the heat any higher than medium while cooking this.  1. the meat cooks better when it's done slowly and 2. I wanted to lay down or take a shower at the same time

Place the diced chicken, onions and salt in 2 cups of water. Cover, and let it cook until the chicken turns white. Add the garlic, green pepper, corn and tomato and carrots and 1 cup of water stir and cover. When it starts boiling add a chicken cube. If you've diced the potato earlier, place it in cold water while you wate to add this.  The potato should go in last, along with the bay leaves, black pepper and thyme. Depending on how you would like the broth to taste add another chicken cube. Stir, cover and put on simmer.  If you have some spaghetti or rice already made add that to your bowl.  Or if you don't feel like making those put in more potatoes so it can be more filling.  I added a lot of black pepper to mine, sometimes it makes my sneezy-nose or itchy throat feel better.  When's it done? When it tastes like soup. It all depends on how fast you tried to cook it.

Enjoy!! Drink lots of fluids, take lots of Benadryl and go to sleep!  That's where I'm heading now.

[UPDATED 04 June 2011] - a year later and I'm sick again.  Earlier in the week I made a roast chicken. When I got sick I cut that up and had chicken soup for days!

Added bonus to this recipe; boil some rice with spinach and mushrooms in the water. SO good!