A sad tale of the wages of carelessness

No Polenta and Ricotta Cake for me this week. On Saturday I was getting ready for a dinner party when I managed to rush taking a pot off the stove and spilled boiling water over my right hand. Despite standing for the best part of 3 hours with it either under the cold tap or in a bowl of cold water I have some nasty second degree burns on the back of my hand and my thumb and just could not muster the enthusiasm for baking. Thanks heavens it is a field trip week at school. I have had to cancel the after school clubs which is a blow as we were all making gingerbread men this week which I had been looking forward to, but we can do that next week. We have been recipe testing today - griddled chicken thighs with herb butter and braised rice and pan fried salmon fillet with mustard sauce and rosti potatoes. These are recipes for the Year 8 students (12/13 years old) for next year. The recipes all went very well - the sauce for the fish was lovely - a Simon Hopkinson recipe

Here it is

2 pieces of salmon fillet, skinned and boned - about 100g each
10g butter and 1 T oil or all oil if you prefer
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 Tbs dry vermouth
2 Tbs port
100ml single cream
1 level Tbs smooth dijon mustard
squeeze of lemon juice
salt and pepper
1 Tbs finely chopped parsley

So, heat the butter and oil or just the oil in a frying pan, put in the onion and then the fish and fry the salmon presentation side down for about 5 minutes until brown. Turn over and add the vermouth and port. Bubble away until the liquid is nearly gone. Take out the fish onto a warm plate. Add the mustard and the cream, swirl, add seasoning and lemon juice and parsley. Pour over the fish and serve. We had rosti potatoes, but anything would be nice - noodles, crushed new potatoes etc. I thought that a few green peppercorns in brine would be good in this.

Mergeuz on Monday

I got some lovely Mergeuz at the Farmer's Market on Sunday and decided to cook them with roasted new potatoes, onions and peppers for supper tonight.

Recipe for 4

10 sausages
12 new potatoes, halved
1 red pepper, roughly chopped
1 yellow pepper, roughly chopped
2 red onions, halved, skinned and cut into wedges through the root
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 T olive oil
2 sprigs of rosemary
sea salt, pepper and sweet paprika
Rosemary, chives and oregano to sprinkle at the end

Toss all the vegetables together in a roasting tray with the salt, pepper and a few large pinches of paprika. Put into a hot oven and roast for about 30 minutes until the vegetables are beginning to soften and brown around the edges. Toss the vegetables again and then lay the sausages on top. Put the dish back into the oven and cook for another 20 minutes.

Take out the dish, lift the sausages and vegetables out into the serving dishes so you leave the excess oil behind. Sprinkle over the herbs and serve with extra green vegetables

Bill's Big Carrot Cake

Bill's Big Carrot Cake

Carrot cake is not something I grew up with. Of late it has become more common here in England but I would think of it as an American creation. When I do have carrot cake I like my cake full of bits and bobs so this recipe suited me. It is also lower in saturated fat than a cake made in England as we would use butter instead of sunflower oil and that, combined with the high fibre almost makes it health food .............................. well nearly.

I made two 9" cakes and split them as I do not have 3 nine inch tins of exactly the same dimensions. I sandwiched the layers with the cream cheese frosting and then covered the outside. We made carrot cakes at Easter in school classes and this icing is much thicker than the recipe we used and therefore easier to spread. The cake was delicious but again I found it too sweet - I think I will make the cake again as a loaf without the frosting.

Lemon Cream Tart

I tackled my first TWD offering on Saturday. Having walked the dog and narrowly escaped the major rainstorm - the latest offering from the recently odd English weather (snow, rain and spring sunshine in the last week), dried off, had a cup of tea and wondered what to do next I wandered into the kitchen and made a start.

It has been years since I made a Pate Sucree. Honestly its a bit rich for most things, a bit sensitive and too much like hard work. Having moved on from my college days of making it on a table top by hand the food processor churned it out easily. I cut it into discs to line the tart tin - it means less handling and less change of oiling especially in my warm kitchen. Riverside Cafe books suggest freezing it and then grating coarsely and pressing that in. I struggle with baking in the Aga as I find the ovens are often too hot despite using the cold shelf. I think, being honest, that still having an electric oven I tend to give up too easily. The Aga is more of a pet than an all purpose cooker. The shell ended up as usual slightly over browned.

Next for the Lemon Cream. What an interesting method - a sabayon with added butter. The main issues were mess - the mix was very liquid and therefore very splashy when mixing on top of the Aga - I shall have to clean it later before the cat sticks to it tonight. I also had major problems getting it hot enough - in the end I had to resort to putting the bowl right into the water and using the hot plate, whilst whisking to stop it scrambling. It finally thickened up at about 172 degrees so I gave up there as it was good and thick and I think that I would have ruined it if I had kept going.

So, then I chilled the lemon cream and eventually filled the tart case and got ready to take a photo............. then an interesting thing happened. The tart was in the kitchen, I was in the dining room with my photographic arrangements when older son and friends arrived home and swept through my house like locusts. Suffice to say the slice of tart in the photo is all that was left in an acceptable state to share with anyone.

The locusts all liked it and it certainly is very creamy and lemony if a little rich for every day. It obviously does need to be served very cold and I think the suggestion in the book to serve it with raspberry coulis would cut it well.

I have enjoyed my first TWD day. Using an American recipe is always a challenge as we Brits have to convert the measurements and sometimes work out a substitute ingredient. I look forward to seeing what I will be making next week.

The First Post

Its amazing how many people there are out there with a serious interest in food and cookery. As a teacher I have begun to use blogs as a source of recipes to use at school and find myself wandering through post after post, reading about people who, although geographically far away, have familiar experiences and stories to tell. I have started this Blog as I am joining Tuesday with Dorrie - my first recipe will be posted next Tuesday.

Life this week - I am currently on holiday - hurrah, but back to school on Friday - boo! So, Monday - lunch with small son and shopping for another inexplicable computer game involving wrestling. My previously obliging 12 year old has begun to morph into a teenager - getting up at lunchtime and wearing his dressing gown for most of the day. The only miraculous thing is that he has finally, after years of gentle prodding, started to read for fun. 5 books this holiday so far!

Tuesday - IKEA - needed to go for school and as usual found plently of things I didn't know I needed.

Wednesday - garden and sewing. My family tut sadly at me as I sew happily away but it keeps me off the streets. Walked the dog and lost him temporarily - found him again covered in mud and burrs - now the crops are getting higher in the fields he manages to completely disappear. Work tomorrow - time to go and clean the kitchen ready for the new term