Cranberry Bread Again

Here is the Cranberry Bread.


Oh, my. Well, it went down quite quickly after the dinner of mussels.
Once you've made the recipe a few times you can really start going on feel. Only one thing is a must - DON'T USE A GLASS DISH, USE METAL. If you use glass, you will, as I have, become very frustrated and think something is wrong with you. If you use metal, you will feel like a lady goddess of the kitchen for whom everything works out.

Again, I use the Cooks Illustrated recipe, but tweak it as to what I have in the house.

First I melt the butter in my small saucepan, and instead of messing up bowl after bowl after bowl, I then mix up the wet ingredients in the butter saucepan.



I put in the yogurt and milk first to cool it down a bit. The recipe says buttermilk, but a yogurt milk mixture works fine. Then I add the egg, and because the wet ingredients have cooled a bit, I don't worry about it cooking. I didn't have an orange (or a Clementine or a satsuma, etc) so I used a lime. It was quite tasty, but I didn't get the full 1/3 cup of juice with it, so I added a bit more milk.

Then I mixed up the dry ingredients. Again, I don't have scales or cup measurements, so I have to do it by feel and sight, and its becoming easier and easier.


The only annoying thing about this recipe is chopping the cranberries, which is the single most frustrating task I do in the kitchen. Eurgh...



Mix it all together and bake it until it looks done. By using a metal dish, it will actually BE done when it looks done, instead of the opposite, which is what happens when one uses a glass dish...



Enjoy!

Seriously Simple Bolognese

This was the easiest and most simple Bolognese I've ever made. I totally recommend it.

olive oil
carrot
onions
american streaky bacon
mince (ground beef)
milk
beer
1 can of chopped tomatoes
brown sugar
nutmeg
salt & pepper
herbs

SERIOUSLY YOU PROB ALREADY HAVE ALL THIS IN YOUR HOUSE OMG.

Heat oil in a saucepan, add the chopped onions, finely chopped carrot, an d finely chopped bacon. Cook on a medium heat, then turn up heat a bit, so that the onion isn't browning too much but the bacon starts to get crispy. Add the mince and brown it, stirring it quite often so that it doesn't form into clumps. When its looking mostly cooked, add most of one beer, a cup or so of milk and a can of tomatoes. Add some brown sugar, some herbs (I had some fresh thyme) and a bit of salt and pepper. Grate in some nutmeg.



Reduce heat and cook until there is less liquid. Adjust seasoning to taste and remove from heat a bit before serving. This lets the sauce thicken a bit before you shove it over pasta.

Here it is the next morning on MANTOAST.



Enjoy!

Friends with Mussels

Had the delight of having Alice AND Colleen over for dinner the other evening.



I had no idea what I was going to make so I just headed down to Waitrose to browse. I decided not to stress myself and got two bags of mussels and a baguette. I found some reduced-price mushrooms and courgettes to saute quickly and a nice, buttery head of lettuce. Also, some white wine.

Here's the recipe:

Check over the mussels, taking out the ones that are quite broken. Also, pull the beards off the ones that have them, pulling down, then up, on the beard to remove it easily.
Put some butter in a saucepan. I had to use two because I don't have one big enough. But I shall continue as if I have a massive kitchen with gargantuan pots and pans, cooking on a gorgeous massive Aga. So.
When the butter has melted, put some chopped onions in the pan. Let those cook for a few minutes and then add some minced garlic. Let it cook for only a bit, about 30 seconds. While you do that, turn up the heat and add the mussels and white wine. Hm. I added the rest of the bottle after Fraser and I had both had a small glass, for two bags of mussels. Cover the pot, shake often and cook until they open. When the mussels are done, pour out the cooking juice into a bowl and keep the mussels covered. Melt some more butter in a saucepan over medium heat, then add an equal amount of flour and whisk. After a minute or so of whisking, slowly mix in the mussel and wine broth into the roux and bring to the boil.

Voila! You are finished!

I served it with sautéed courgette and mushrooms, salad and a baguette.

Potato Pancakes

Here's a great recipe for potato pancakes. I love this guy's narration.
Anyways, I really like it because it doesn't require squeezing out the potato pancakes in a kitchen towel, like my ma always did. I only have 2 kitchen towels, and things always take a couple days to dry after washing them, so I was hesitant, but this worked wonderfully. I just watched the vid and then made them - have confidence that this doesn't really require a recipe, just ingredients.

http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2010/12/crispy-crusty-potato-pancakes-always.html

Tart aux Leftovers

Um, so I made this pie the other day that didn't turn out very well. The inside was good, cranberries and apples, but the pie crust wasn't that good. I kneaded it too much and didn't add enough fat so it wasn't melty and buttery and flaky. My own fault. I was showing off.
HOWEVER, it did work out to my favour in its reincarnation. There was a bit of dough left so I shoved it in the fridge.

The next day I was hungry so I turned it into a tart. Like a savoury gallette. I rolled it out thin, layered brie, tomatoes and red onions in a circle inside the dough, crimped the edges over it, cracked black pepper over the top and put it in a hot oven.

It was nice.

aHA! Toad in the Hole that worked!

See here a successful incarnation of Toad in the Hole!



Here is the recipe: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/toadinthehole_3354
Notes - I only had three eggs and it turned out fine. Beef drippings can be bought for mere pennies at the shop - who knew?

Served with simple mash (done with milk) and a salad. So tasty even the camera's eyes went blurry.