Today, I decided to embark upon, mask making, prototype Mark three, only to be thwarted by the lack of a foot! A special foot for my sewing machine, a walking foot to be precise. Now it is many years since I taught needlework, but have never heard of, let alone possessed a Walking Foot. That is about to change, as thank you Amazon, one is on order.

Being thwarted by a missing foot, I embarked upon lights for the terrace, what with mine now a glowing and those of neighbours across the void, one could be forgiven in thinking that it is Christmas, instead of April, but Hey Ho, it cheers us all up.

For dinner today, I made risotto. Risotto, is something I love to make but almost never eat, I just think of all those calories!

One of the keys to making good risotto, is choosing the right type of rice. They are always Italian, and the most common and easiest to find is Arborio, and the second is Carnaroli. Short-grain rice has a high starch content and tends to absorb less liquid, resulting in a stickier, more compact risotto.So never wash your rice beforehand, as you do not want to be washing the starch down the sink. One of my “Go To ” places for Carnaroli rice was Carluccios, which sadly is no more.

For one or two people you will need:-

1. 1/2 large onion finely chopped
2. Couple cloves garlic smushed or chopped
3. 1cup/225 gems Risotto rice
4. 25 grams and then 150 grams butter ( I always use unsalted)
5. 100 mls, white wine or bubbles if you have some left over
6. About 250 mls stock or water, you might need more, this is a bit of a guessing game
7. Small amount olive oil
8. Pinch salt
9. 100 grams ( more or less) grated Parmesan cheese.
10. I used about 3 oz of mushrooms which I cooked

• Heat the oil in your pan and add the onion and garlic until soft and translucent, do not try to do this quickly otherwise it will be brown and a bit burnt.
• Add the rice and stir and basically let it get hot but not coloured, stir.
• Add some of the wine, it will sizzle, stir well and when all the liquid is absorbed, add more, and stir. Keep doing this until the wine is used.
• THE MAGIC BIT
• Risotto needs a lot of standing and stirring ( it would suit Himself and # 2 daughter as they love to stir) but can be a bit of a pain, standing stirring for about 30 minutes or so. Therefore chefs, devised this method. After the initial adding of liquid, tip the rice out onto a baking tray and leave, you can cover, it when cool with a cloth or cling room, for hygiene sake but not necessary.
  

  

  
• About 15-20 mins before serving, return the rice to the pan, heat up and continue to add liquid ( either vegetable stock or water ) and stir. Test the rice, after this time, by nibbling a grain or two. It should be firm to the bite, but not crunchy.
• Stir in the rest of the butter and most of the Parmesan. Add the mushrooms if using. Taste, adjust seasoning and serve, with a sprinkle of cheese ( you can always have a bowl of Parmesan on the side) garnish with some greenery.
  

  

  

After an early morning march around The Regents Park, we settled into what has become our daily routine , breakfast , a Times crossword ( are they getting harder , or are we just more incompetent than usual? Then onto Jigsaw, the one we are working on currently is the Temperate House at Kew Gardens! But the next one arrived yesterday, that will have to wait! After that, disperse to do our own thing, until coffee break time !

But, I am LATE! Got carried away with Housework !

Today, was another “Recycling ” day of food that is, after all, I can’t keep making all of these dishes and just freeze them. So wonderful cheese tart has almost gone, time to move on.

Consequently as I didn’t cook as such last night I have yet another easy recipe for you. A take on fish and chips!

Fish, I love fish and to my mind the simpler the better. When we lived in Houston at Papas seafood restaurant the “Server” Jack or Joe or Darryl or Chelsea, would start by reciting the days Specials. ” Today’s special is baked flounder, stuffed with jalapeños, onions and celery, topped with crab meat mixed with cheese, smothered with a butter cream sauce with a touch of bourbon and Tabasco. You think I’m joking, well I’m not! Consequently, I would then reply, can I have it just plain and grilled please ! There was always a look of astonishment, when we declined the “Specials”. And do not get me started on Doggy Bags! Upon looking into the average American households refrigerators and you will be greeted with half eaten hamburgers or soggy salad, which they should have just left in the restaurant, but No the general consensus is, ” I’ve paid for it and so I’m taking it home !

Moving swiftly along to Fish and chips, or just Fish if you prefer.

1. Mix together the following, a pinch each of salt and pepper, 1 tabsp of paprika, 1tsp mixed herbs, 1 tsp chilli powder, and any other spices that take your fancy. I like Harissa or sumac, both available from middles eastern shops.
2. 150 grams each of fine polenta and flour.
3. Several pieces of chunky bits of fish, cod, haddock etc

Cut the fish into thick fingers. Mix the spices with the flour and the polenta.

Heat some oil in a deep but not too large a pan. Swish the fish in a small amount of milk and then again in the flour mix.

When the oil is hot enough ( test by dropping in a piece of stale bread, if it sizzles straight away, then it is ready). Careful drop the fish in batches into the hot oil and fry for 3 minutes. Drain on paper towel, repeat with all the fish and then refry, for another 3 minutes so that the fish is golden and crispy.

If you want to be really posh but also lazy, serve with some fake Rouille, that French pink mayo.

Just add a squirt of tomato paste, some harissa, a squirt of lemon juice into shop bough mayonnaise! Maybe not quite the same but near enough.

Serve the fish ( with or without Chips) and use the Rouille for dipping.

Moving on from last nights extravaganza, cocktail party, story time for three grandchildren and Himself cooking dinner and dessert , here we are Monday, Monday , who remembers the Mamas and Papas singing this song? I certainly do.

So Monday, traditionally a wash day but not in this household, but we decided that maybe Monday should be a kind of household chore type day. Himself decided that the silver needed cleaning and three hours later it was done, brilliant. He has far more stamina than myself, I would have given up after a mere 30 minutes, only having to restart the following day. (But who needs all this silver anyway ?)

Me? I cleaned upstairs, made himself some lunch and did some needlepoint ( for Miss Molly) then time for exercise, then scrabble and a G and T ( for the quinine you understand) and then time to cook dinner.

I was prepared. Duck legs it was to be, the only downside was, that for some reason I had frozen 6 of them together, ah well, duck more than one night then !

This is yet another simple recipe which can be used for chicken or duck legs, or for chicken breast. The beauty of it is, once prepared just throw into the oven and sit back with that glass of wine, read a book and wait.

1. A number of duck or chicken legs but these quantities are for just 2
2. An orange squeezed, of a cup of orange juice, preferably with bits in
3. A teaspoon of each sugar, salt, chilli powder, 5 spice mix
4. 1/2 teaspoon pepper
5. 4 tablespoons of either sweet chilli sauce or Chinese plum sauce.

Heat the oven to 200C ( fan oven). Mix all the dry ingredients together. Score the skin of the legs and squeeze over half of the juice. Rub the dry spice mix into the skin. Put in a baking dish and cook for about an hour. Remove from oven. Mix together the rest of the orange juice and sweet chilli/ plum sauce and pour over the ledge. Return to the oven for about 10 more minutes.

Serve with rice, noodles, vegetables or salad.

SIMPLES? YES.

Sunday, and what a beautiful day, we ventured out bright and early for a walk and the park, The Regents Park, was stunning and almost empty. The birds were singing, the blossoms, blossoming, almost perfect, except we couldn’t linger.

Back home, almost before sunrise, at least that is how it felt, breakfast, cafe latte, time for crossword, followed by time for New jigsaw and then time for gardening, or as our Texan friends call it Yardening ! Maybe I should call it Terracing? But then that has a different connotation. Anyway Terrace sorted, for the time being at least, pigeon defences in place, until the next attempt by them, to build their new home out there, and they are such lazy house builders, just a few twigs!

The plus point of this lovely day was the neighbourhood, had a cocktail part, there we all were on our respective terraces, drinks in hand shouting across the void!

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Himself has been cooking up a storm.

Fajitas for dinner! Onglet is in the sous-vide, Guacamole made, ready to go, onions and peppers sautéed and dessert made. How organised is he, even the washing up is done and dusted.

Now we have to wait, story time for Bigger grandchildren and as well as cooking he has been writing his story ! J K Rowling, lookout, Himself is a coming !

So today’s rendition is a recipe from New Orleans , the home of Mardi Gras, of Laissez Les Bon’s Temps Rouler ( let the good times role), unfortunately at the moment for New Orleans and Louisiana the good times are not rolling, this wretched virus is hitting them hard.

They will survive and their cuisine, a mixture of all sorts, will also survive.

So this recipe like many others from the Bayou city is calorie laden, but well worthwhile and what is more eminently freezerable .

Bread Pudding with whiskey sauce.

1. 1 loaf stale bread ( normally a baguette)
2. 1 litre milk
3. 3 eggs beaten with the milk
4. 2 apples, peeled and finely chopped
5. 1 cup ( about 8 oz) fine sugar
6. 1 cup of dried fruit raisins, or whatever you have to hand, we used soft dried apricots
7. Some butter for greasing the pan

Put the bread through a grater or pull apart roughly by hand.

Put the bread and all the ingredients into a bowl and leave it to soak in so that the bread mixture is really soggy.

Grease a loaf pan, and tip in the mixture, you might have too much for one pan, he did and used a round one for the second .

Bake at 175C for about an hour, until it is golden brown. Remove from oven and leave to cool, before tipping out onto a cooling tray.

Whiskey sauce

4 oz butter

1cup sugar

1 egg beaten

Small carton of cream

1/2 cup of whiskey.

Melt the butter in a pan, add the sugar, and when the sugar is dissolved add the beaten egg and whisk well to stop it from curdling ( if it does curdle push through a sieve) add the cream and whisky and whisk again.

So obviously, serve the pudding warm with the hot sauce poured over it, BUT, afterwards, slice the pudding, lay flat on a baking tray , pour over the cold sauce and put in the freezer. When frozen, , remove from tray and wrap in cling form . Bag and put back into freezer. To reuse, simply put one portion into a bowl and zap in the microwave for about a minute.

Another easy dessert. Not for me, ( I do like it BUT) anyway, enjoy it !

No time, to make the whiskey sauce, then serve it warm anyway but with the booze soaked ice cream from last night! What could be easier ?

Another busy day, even though we had finally finished Jigsaw puzzle #1, I honestly do not know where the time goes.

Number #2 daughter was duly impressed with my first attempt at face masks, I have ended up making them for Finchley and Flackwell Heath, hence I’ve made 6 more. This was done after altering my Waitrose order , yet again. Ordering for my neighbour as well, as myself, and then stuff that I had ordered suddenly disappeared, and then a little note pops up” you can’t have more than three of those“ ( and I didn’t have any!)

Consequently, I was still using up egg whites, and decided to make more granola , I used to make it a while ago, but I really like it, hence the need to make more to fill my container.

Again this is stupidly simple, no need to measure, just throw it in..

You will need, a couple of egg whites, beaten.

A cup or a handful of nuts, mixed, and chopped.

A couple of handfuls of either oats or I used muesli ( this was not posh muesli) as being inherently lazy, it had some nuts and dried fruit already in the ingredients.

Heat some oil in , maybe 1/4 of a cup in a saucepan, add about the same amount of maple syrup, add the chopped nuts and then the oats/ muesli and finally the beaten egg whites. Mix well together, spread onto a baking sheet and cook in a medium oven for about 20 minds until golden brown. Leave to cool, before putting into a storage box, or maybe Just Eat!

I use it on top of Yoghurt, Yummy!

 

Today, turned out to be a busy day. Apparently,  maybe, we should be wearing masks after all. Can’t go out and buy masks, that would be very socially incorrect. The day therefore was spent making masks. Four to be precise, two for himself and two for me ( always one being washed or disinfected).This was design on the hoof, fusing together two of the layers with iron interfacing,  adding a dart here and a dart there, to ensure a snug fit, fairly happy with the result. ( and now maybe I will have a production line going for other family members.)

Consequently, today became another recycling day, Himself still had some of his delicious pasta followed by some clementine cake for dessert, and for me another salad, whilst I still had salad goodies in the refrigerator.

So today’s cooking extravaganza proved to be, Brown Sugar Banana Nut Bread a Sourdough Loaf and some Home Made Granola ( still using up those egg whites)

Banana Nut Bread as the bananas looked like they needed some TLC and the Sourdough Loaf, just because I had starter in the refrigerator and the Granola, because of those Egg Whites.

The Brown Sugar Banana Nut bread is slightly different from usual, as it is made with brown sugar, which gives it a real rich colour and flavour.

• 4 ripe bananas cut into chunks
• 125 grms softened butter
• 200 grms soft brown sugar
• 2 medium eggs
• 1 tsp of cinnamon powder and of vanilla essence ( optional)
• 250 grms plain flour
• 100 mls milk
• 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder , and pinch of salt.
• No Baking powder but Self raising flour, no worries, just use that flour instead.
• a cup of chopped nuts, Walnuts, Hazelnuts or Pecans are best ( stir these in by hand at the end before baking)

I always use the ” All In One” method of making cakes, pastry, which is basically throw everything into a food mixture and blend well. This method was created by Stork Margarine in about 1969, and I started to teach it then to the wayward, couldn’t be bother kids that I had to teach, and it worked because it was easy !

SO set the oven to 175 C, grease a loaf tin if you have one, (a round one, or even a soufflé dish will suffice).

put all of the ingredients into your food processor  ( or into a mixing bowl and hand whisk) and process until well blended. Stir in the nuts, and scrape all into you greased tin. Bake in the middle shelf for about 40 minutes. Test by inserting a skewer or toothpick into the centre of the loaf and if it comes out clean, then it is cooked, if not leave in for another 5 minutes and test again.

Tip out of the tin onto a cooking rack,  and leave to cool before slicing. I wrap in some cling film and keep in a cake tine, but  after delivering some to neighbours and some to our porters, it disappears very quickly.

 

 

 

Today is a recycling day, not in the classic sense, of putting out the cardboard, plastic, bottles etc. Living where I do, everyday is a recycling day, but I mean FOOD recycling. And by that I mean something that has been cooked earlier on in our, “Bunker” will be dug our of the freezer, defrosted and served again. And so it was.

Consequently, I had time to bake. And I had a bit of a dilemma, I had 8 egg whites to use ( left over from the pasta of the other evening. As I have said previously I am not an avid baker, but there were and still are recipes or ideas that I am longing to try. So today we have some cookies  ( using some of the egg whites) that are a cinch to make, even more of a cinch to eat and easy enough that little ones can make them for you. Come on kids, make some cookies!

All you need to make these cookies are three ingredients, YES, just three.

• 1 Cup nuts, I used a mix of hazelnuts and walnuts
• 2 medium size egg whites
• 1/2 cup fine sugar, caster is best.

Heat the oven to 180 C. Toast the nuts and then when cool  blitz in a food processor until coarsely chopped.

Beat the egg whites until stiff and then carefully stir in the sugar and then the nuts. Use greaseproof paper to line a baking tray, spoon the mixture onto the tray leaving about 2″ between them. Bake for about 18 minutes they will be golden brown. Using a spatula, carefully lift the cookies off the tray ( they will be soft), transfer to a cooling rack and leave to cool. I would say store them in a tin or box, but I don’t think that they will be around for long.

I still have egg whites, so more baking/cooking to come !!