Saturday is the day that Himself cooks, and making a change from Indian we moved onto Bali. Actually have never been to Bali. One always has the impression that it is full of Australians, but then again, so is Earls Court, London. So maybe I’m doing it an injustice.

However before we move on to his dinner and cooking skills , Virtual Travel sprang to mind! The kids have abandoned and Himself would if I would only let him! This week we went on our Honeymoon to Amsterdam, as did John and Yoko in March 1969. Unfortunately we didn’t get room service ( good staff are really very hard to come by at the moment) but we did have the flowers and the guitar, but no serenading, ( but then again maybe his singing voice is not up to John’s.)

His Balinese dinner was a seafood curry, ( so in reality I suppose not so far from our Indian week.) The only item we did not have in stock was squid and the best that our local food hall could come up with was frozen squid rings, at least they were not coated in a dubious looking batter.

He noted that there were an awful lot of ingredients for the sauce, but then after all, it is the sauce that makes the dish.

For four people you will need:-

1. 4 fish filets, we used frozen Tilapia
2. +/-200 grams fresh or frozen squid
3. 12-16 fresh or frozen large raw shrimp, peeled
4. +/- 150 mls fish or vegetable stock

1. 2 lemon grass stalks cut into chunks

1. 4 Kaffir lime leaves ( optional, if not them use the zest of the lime)

1. 400 ml can coconut milk

For the Sauce

1. 2 tsp crushed black pepper
2. 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
3. 1 tsp sesame seeds
4. 1 onion peeled and chopped
5. Chunk of ginger peeled and chopped roughly
6. 4 cloves garlic
7. 4 red chillies
8. 1 tbsp palm sugar ( or just use brown sugar, not the same at all, But !)
9. 3+ tbsp oil

Put all of the sauce ingredients into a blender and process. If too thick add a little more oil.

Cut fish into bite size chunks. Put all of the seafood into a bowl and smother it with some of the sauce.

Heat some oil in a largish pan ( we used a wok), when hot add the rest of the paste and fry for about 3 minutes. Add the lime leaves and lemon grass and half of the stock, when hot add the fish, cook gently for about 3 minutes, add the coconut milk along with the prawns and squid, cook for another 2 minutes. If too thick add some more of the stock. Season to taste.

Serve with rice.

As my previous blog, it is an Indian meal again. Am I not being imaginative or am I just on a roll ?

I don’t know, but the other day I de-frosted a rack of lamb and then thought again, what I could do with it .

I found a recipe for Lamb Chops, which is something I never buy but a rack of Lamb is quickly converted into Lamb chops, which I did.

The original recipe called for two lots of marinade and an overnight marinating. I did neither. I made a marinade and left the chops in it for about 6 hours or so, ie. I did it in the morning and cooked it early evening.

For 2 people you will need:-

1rack of Lamb or 6-8 chops depending on size

For the Marinade

1. 3 tsp cumin seeds
2. 2tsp coriander Powder
3. 2 tsp Garam Masala
4. 3 crushed cloves of garlic ( or more if you really like garlic)
5. A lump of ginger cut finely or squeezed through a garlic press , or for these two items ready bought garlic and ginger paste, about 3 tsps
6. 1/2 tsp crushed black pepper
7. Juice of two limes ( or 2 tbs of lime juice)
8. 2/3 chopped red and or green chillies
9. Salt to taste
10. 1 tbs oil
11. 2 tbs of either palm sugar or just use some brown sugar
12. Some butter to grill
13. Mint or coriander leaves to serve.

Put all of the marinade ingredients into a blender and blitz to a paste. Coat the chops with this and cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Heat your grill on high, make sure that the chops are well coated, put in a baking sheet and brush them with some melted butter or ghee.

Grill the chops for about 4 minutes each side, more or less depending on taste.

Leave them to rest for a couple of minutes and serve on a bed of rice with the coriander or mint leaves.Or as I did with potatoes and beans.

This week seems to have so far an Indian theme, not quiet sure why but it does.

I decided it was time to sort out the vegetables languishing in my refrigerator and use them up. A little bit of this and a little bit of that and so came to mind to make a vegetable curry. Very easy to make and useful if you have lots of bits of vegetables which need using rather than go out and buy an assortment.

The recipe which I came up with is called PAU BHAJI and is very much a staple of the Indian State of Maharashtra which is where Mumbai is located. We were actually in Mumbai more or less by chance a few years ago en route back to the UK from Delhi. We ended up in Mumbai simply because I had insisted that we went to Aurangabad.

I had read that near Aurangabad were the most amazing caves and also the worlds largest monolithic structure. Himself was less than keen but certainly did not regret the detour. #1 daughter arranged through her travel business contacts for us to be collected at the airport and driven to the caves. The Ajanta caves are actual caves carved into the rocks and for the most part, Buddhist, the Ellora caves are not really caves as they were built or carved downwards, took 200 hundred years to carve ( who had the Master Plan ?) these caves represent, Hinduism, Buddhism and the Jain religion. Both caves are World Heritage Sites. They were truly amazing, and this is how we ended up in Mumbai.

I have to admit that we did not eat Indian Street food after #1 daughter ( the willowy blonde ) had been hospitalised , not from eating dodgy food, but just handling very dirty money, so not wanting to experience an Indian hospital we avoided such delights.

However PAU BHAJI is Indian street food and originated in Maharashtra. It is a vegetarian stew and eaten with a soft white bread roll ( this bit has to be a British import from the time of the Raj). Judging from shopping with my daughter at the wonderful sounding supermarket ( more like local bazaar) Honey Money Top, the selection of vegetables was very sad to say the least. Refrigeration and refrigerated trucks are not the norm and so fruit and vegetables are left out in the mid day sun ( think Noel Coward, Mad Dogs and Englishman) and are soon wilting and are long past their best by date ( not that they have one ).

Consequently, I believe that this meal/ fast food dish was simply created to use the vegetables before they went off, and as 42% of Mumbai’s population live in slums, good hygienic home cooking will just not be possible. Nonetheless, it is a very good option, if you like curries, to use up your vegetables.

Therefore to make your PAU BHAJI you will need a combination of the following:-

1. Cauliflower
2. Green or red or yellow peppers
3. Green beans
4. Large onion
5. Spinach, or kale
6. Peas, use frozen
7. Potatoes just a couple

Chop all of the vegetables, place in a large pan and cover with boiling water and simmer until the vegetables are soft, mash them somewhat, as this is eaten on the run with a bread roll it is mushy.

Add

100 grams butter

A squirt tomato paste

2 tsp chilli powder

1tsp cumin

1tsp turmeric

2 tsp curry powder

1tsp Garam Masala

Salt to taste

Keep simmering until it is a homogeneous mixture. To serve, add a dollop of butter and decorate with chopped coriander and a lemon slice. It is unlikely that the latter would indeed be added to Street Rood, but if serving at home it just makes it look nicer. Traditionally, served with a soft bread roll, but here, try some sourdough instead.

A busy day on Sunday, online bridge, golf, ( pouring rain, soaking wet, cold), Penthouse cocktail hour, Sunday Story time for three eldest grandchildren, and the day for Himself to cook!

He had a wish, a plan. He wanted to recreate one of the dishes that we had ordered online from a Michelin starred Indian restaurant. We decided that it was a Prawn Moilee, full of coconut and spices. It traditionally comes from the south of India, from the region known as Kerala.

Although we travelled extensively in Indian, whilst willowy blond and family were living there, we didn’t actually make it to Kerala. This was the fault of the Indian Government as I was made a persona non gratis and they refused to renew my visa.

We had planned a trip to Kerala to coincide with the arrival of a new baby, instead I went for just four days and Himself for three weeks but minus the Kerala trip. It was the time of the trial of the Mumbai Bombers and no new visas were being issued and as such I even considered overstaying, as ” What could they do to me? Send me home?” However the “Fixer” who worked for my Son in Law soon put paid to that idea “Oh No Sir, Not good idea Sir, Mother in Law end up in Jail Sir!” So that was that, the thought of jail in the base case was not inviting, let alone the thought of an Indian Jail. And so it was, that I was driven through New Delhi at 3 am only to discover the roads were just as busy, but this time with the gaily decorated trucks as well as the Tuk Tuks, motorcycles and of course cows, camels, people and elephants.

For our version of Prawn Moilee we used

1. 2 tablespoons chopped red chillis ( we have them frozen)
2. 2 tsp mustard seeds
3. 10 Kaffir Lime leaves or fresh curry leaves if you can get them, or none at all if you can’t. I buy the lime leaves from the Asian Grocery store and freeze them.
4. 2large white onions, sliced into chunks
5. 40 mls olive oil
6. 2 tsp garlic/ ginger paste can be home made or shop bought ( jar)
7. 2 tsp ground turmeric
8. 2tbs curry powder
9. A chunk of fresh ginger sliced
10. 400 ml can of coconut Milk
11. 250 mls can coconut cream or half a block of solid coconut cream
12. +/-10 large prawns per person
13. 3 large tomatoes cut into 6 ths
14. Salt and pepper to taste
15. Lemon wedges to serve and chopped coriander

Heat the oil, add the curry/ lime leaves along with the mustard seeds, stir and add the onions. Sauté gently until soft and translucent. Add the ginger/ garlic paste, salt, pepper turmeric and curry powder, cook for about 3 minutes and then add the chillies and ginger.

Pour in the coconut cream and milk, and simmer gently for about 15 minutes. Add the prawns and tomatoes. Serve on rice with lemon wedges and chopped coriander.

We found this was plenty and had sauce left over, so the following night added more prawns and some fish as well.

Very easy and certainly the sauce bit can be made in advance.

Having moved our Travel day to Saturday, slightly disappointed that no one else has been anywhere. This week we decided to go to Luxor in Egypt and to visit The Valley of the Kings and Tutankhamun’s Tomb.

We did actually go there in what seems a life time ago. We went “en famille”, it was a secret holiday for Himself, the kids and I planned it all and he was really upset that he didn’t know what was happening! Being a bit of a control freak ( under statement) , he just couldn’t handle Not Knowing. We started out on the Eurostar to Paris and then onto Luxor , arrived in the dark, but the next morning woke to a view across the Nile onto the Valley of the Kings.

Visiting this region in September, we were told, is not the best time of year, but actually because it is still hot ( and not humid) there were not many tourists at all. Our guide for the seven days we were there, nicknamed Indiana Jones was superb, filling us in on just about everything we needed to know. We flew up to Aswan and then floated down the Nile , and as there were only 15 of us on our boat ( and we were 5) it was a perfect trip.

Not quite the same this time round but we did our best, and of course had an Egyptian dinner ( or maybe Middle Eastern, as they are very much intertwined )

We ate Pan Fried Sea Bass with Harissa and Roses.

For two people you will need:-

1. 4 Sea Bass filets ( or sea bream)
2. 3 tabs Harissa Paste
3. 3 tabs Oilive oil
4. 1 large onion finely chopped
5. 100 mls red wine vinegar
6. 1/2 tsp of each cinnamon and cumin
7. 2 tbsp Honey Or golden syrup if you don’t have honey
8. Handful of currants or sultanas
9. Some chopped coriander
10. 1tsp Ras el Hanout ( a Middle Eastern spice blend which contains Rose Petals) plus decoration
11. 2 tbsp of Rose water
12. Some flour for dusting the fish
13. Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil and sauté the onions until soft. Remove from pan, add more oil if needed , dust the fish in the flour and sauté for about 3 minutes on each side. Put to one side. Add the Harissa, vinegar and spices along with 200 mls boiling water, simmer for about 20 minutes to make a thickish sauce.

Add the rose water, most of the Ras El Hanout, honey and currants/ sultanas. Taste and adjust seasoning. Return fish to pan to heat through and serve by spooning the sauce over the fish. Decorate with the coriander and some rose petals from the Ras el Hanout.

Absolutely delicious and I am going to try this with chicken, as I think it will work well.

What is a salad? For me, it should be either a side salad along with a main course, or it could be a small salad as a starter.

We were in Texas not so long again and our friend ordered a Cob Salad. I hadn’t a clue as to what he had ordered. IT came as a lump of lettuce ( Bigger than Baby Gem but along those lines) smothered in blue cheese dressing. Now I really like salads and I like blue cheese dressing but I have to admit that I thought this a bit weird.

Now the trend has spread across the Atlantic ( as these things seem to do), and I saw in the Middle classes favourite shop, magazine exactly that ( well almost) complete with a recipe and pictures! In fact it was a full page spread , with a picture of Baby Gem lettuces with a bit of dressing poured over them! Seriously, do we need a recipe for that? Apparently so. I’m not sure it would get top marks on Master Chef!

I have a new no flour cake recipe, it is to my mind, only OK but worth a try. Maybe better served with vanilla Ice Cream.

It is called Tarta de Santiago . Originating from Galicia in North-Western Spain during the time of medieval pilgrimage, this tart is traditionally decorated with the St James Cross.

You will need:-

1. Oven to 160( fan), 22cm springform tin
2. 300 grams, 10 oz, 1 1/2Cups caster sugar
3. 6 medium eggs
4. 300grams, 10 oz, 2 1/2 cups ground almonds. ( grams and oz do not compare with US cups, hence if you look the quantities for sugar and almonds are different in cup measurements. Do not mix and match, keep to grams, ounces or cups)
5. Zest from 3 large lemons
6. Icing sugar for dusting
7. Butter or spray grease for the pan ( I use spray the one I have at home is available from Amazon, but in the UK, Lakeland now stocks something similar)

Grease the pan before you start. Whisk together the eggs and sugar until pale and thick. I have an attachment on my food processor but whisking either by hand ( a longer process) or by hand held electric whisk, also work. Carefully fold in the almonds and the lemon zest and pour the mixture into the Tin and bake in the middle shelf for +/- 50 minutes. A skewer when inserted into the middle should come out clean. Leave in the pan to cool.

This cake is fairly delicate so care should be taken when taking it out of the tin.

Dust with icing sugar.

June the First, my birthday and as such I actually did not cook, did not cook on Sunday nor Monday. Sunday we went on a wonderful picnic, my eldest grandchildren baked me the most magnificent muffins and made me birthday cards, whilst the youngest made me a photo album( as of course I haven’t seen them for over three months and newborns change rapidly).

I have an abundance of the most beautiful flowers, all my favourites, Peonies, they are available for such a short period of time, I chose them for my mother’s funeral and eldest had them at her wedding. Roses, who can not love roses? And Sweet William , memories of my childhood garden.

On my Birthday, Dentist daughter, the willowy brunette, came for dinner, we sat outside on the terrace and for the first time since the Lockdown began, we ordered and had delivered dinner from outside.

We ordered from a Michelin Starred Indian Restaurant not far from our home. We have walked past it on numerous occasions and as they are one of the finer restaurants offering a delivery service we thought, Why Not ?

We ordered 2x the seafood feast for two, it arrived right on time although the driver from Deliveroo, was confused by the number of entrances to our Mansion Block, but he eventually managed to find the right front door.

Himself set the table , chilled the champagne whilst we waited for the willowy brunette to arrive. Arrive she did, bearing gifts, Bubbles, Flowers and a most magnificent cake! As she said to a shopkeeper, when he commented on her grocery purchases ” Everyone seems to be baking” She replied ,” Well they must be, if even I am so doing “!

The cake was as light as a feather and contained pineapple and star anise. Not be thwarted by the lack of Star anise Powder in the shops, she ordered online, only to be thwarted again, as it cam in star anise form and not powder, so she bashed ( rolling pin) and ground ( pepper mill came in handy). As a dentist she has learnt to be innovative and also precise, although my memories of her wanting to bake as a child, cup cakes always a vivid blue! I must ask her for the recipe! She even bought a special pan to bake it ! I am impressed.

Dinner was really nice even though I am not too sure what we ate, a yellow sauce was delicious, full of shrimp and as there is plenty of sauce left over, I will recycle it this evening using salmon.

Lockdown eases.

Lockdown eases, so after Ten Weeks of a daily blog I am moving to 3/4 times a week, we shall see how it goes, hopefully we hope it goes well, we shall see. Meanwhile, I’m not changing anything. The lovely Betty can stay at home for the time being, government guidelines too silly for words, Cleaner can come into my house but daughter can pass through but not linger. BUT I have to ( so that cleaner can come) have to open all doors, windows, cupboards before she arrives and then wipe down all surfaces after she has gone. Does that make sense? Not really, and so we will continue as we were, well almost.

Tuesday saw me making a tart. Basically a Rhubarb and Custard tart, Himself loves Rhubarb and loves Custard, ( homemade of course). Growing up and I believe I have said this before I was unaware that custard could be made any other way than by using Birds Custard Powder. My mum cooked well, she baked well, nothing out of the ordinary, but at least we were not the household who could say ” Cold Meat on Monday, Shepherds Pie on Tuesday etc etc” her repertoire was not enormous but she would try to ring the changes. Sunday’s were special as she would spend the whole day baking and we always had a roast lunch.

As it happened I had Rhubarb that needed using and I also had a pack of puff pastry ( can’t remember why I bought that) that needed using.

I lined a quiche dish with already rolled out puff pastry and baked blind, for about 20 mins.

For the filling

1. 200 mls milk
2. 300 mls double cream
3. 3 eggs beaten
4. 100 grams caster sugar
5. 2 tbsp cornflour

Now the next step can be done on the stove top with constant stirring or as I do ( as I’m basically lazy) in the microwave.

Mix the corn flour with a little of the milk to make a smooth paste

Heat the rest of the milk, sugar and cream in the microwave until it is boiling, keep an eye on it otherwise it could boil over.

Pour over the beaten eggs and whisk together,

Return to the microwave and heat in one minute bursts and stir/ beat in between each heat, add the cornflour mix. Do this until the mixture is thick, if by any chance it does go a bit lumpy then just whisk hard.

Pour the custard into the pastry case. Cut the washed Rhubarb into equal lengths and arrange on top of the Custard and bake for about 20 minutes at 180 until the Rhubarb is soft but still maintains its shape.

Mix 2 tabs of caster sugar with some boiling water to make a syrup, gently spoon over the top of the Rhubarb.

Serve Luke warm with cream or ice cream, or by itself. If you have any left over, cut into portions and freeze them.

Rhubarb is native to Siberia cold, rain and nitrogen rich soil all found in Yorkshire. Plants are initially grown outside,mathematics replanted in forcing sheds. The stems must be removed from the root and the work is still done by hand, which is a highly labour-intensive process., and is picked/ gathered by candlelight , so that the stems do not turn green, which they would do if exposed to daylight. Yorkshire prides itself on their Rhubarb and the best has beautiful young pink stems.

Apologies, this is a day late in coming to HOT OFF THE PRESS! But here it is !

To day is our virtual travel day and boy did we go travelling . We boarded SPACE X and went on an intergalactic journey to which planet, I’m not sure, ( I’m not really into planets though I do love stars), Himself has just told me that we went to the Death Star, along with the music from Star Wars. We had to wait until dark, and dressed in a rather large Face Mask and helmet, staggering around in the dark, trying to set up the camera, proved a bit too much for a video with music as well ! Our neighbours must think we are totally Bonkers, but that is Ok, after all Oscar Wilde did say, that there is nothing worse than not being noticed ( or something along those lines)!

When we are in the French Alps, I sign up for notifications when the Space Station is going to go overhead. The notifications are very precise and usually one can see the station very clearly indeed and normally for about 4-6 minutes. One Christmas, we pretended that we were outside looking for Santa ( there is another site which tells you when and where Santa will be) and so when the Space Station came into view, we all shouted, ” Look, Look, there’s Santa!)

Our intergalactic dinner consisted, of Sonic Burgers, Moonshine ( to drink) and green slime ( Ice Cream ) as dessert.

Sonic Burgers are an American institution, the firm created just after WW2, is a drive through Burger joint with over 3,500 outlets. I have to admit that I have never been to one, so have absolutely no idea if they are good or bad, but the name was suitable for our Virtual outing, though I have to say that we have a Texan friend who used to go to Sonic Burger not infrequently!

I don’t cook Hamburgers very often, usually saved for moments outdoors in France, along with a BBQ grill, but for this adventure, Needs Must.

For each hamburger I used 125 grams of good Minced beef, 1/2 a finely chopped onion, teaspoon butter, about an ounce of cheese, I used blue cheese, salt and pepper.

I like to stuff my hamburgers with cheese, the cheese melts, just right when it is in the middle of the meat, and this time round I chose blue cheese. It just reminded me of the children’s song ” There was a man who loved in the moon ” , His hat was made of Good Cream Cheese ! Etc

News has it we can exit our Bunker and socialise albeit at a distance from next week. Am I glad? Hard to tell, I have to admit that online shopping, is the way forward. Someone else can hump the bottles of water/ beer/ wine/ milk up to the 6th floor as well as reams of computer paper, gallons of washing liquid and bleach and disinfectant, so not sure I am rushing out to the stores any time soon!

Today, I have been setting up my production line for face masks, for 11 people, I guess the baby isn’t going to wear one. Having made some in the first week, cloth ones and neoprene , I have finally decided on the way forward.

Today Himself took Himself off down the street and came back bearing gifts. Gin Chocolates, umm yummy, flowers, beautiful and Oysters! Fantastic, so tonight is his cooking night and it is a new recipe, from New Orleans, Oysters Roquefort.

Meanwhile, I decided to make more Ice Cream. Fresh Mint Chocolate Chip. Early on in our Lockdown I though I would become a gardener , I googled, went online No New Customers, I telephoned, you are in a queue your number is 856! What to buy seeds? I finally found seeds and tried growing some without too much success, neither the wild garlic nor the Alfalfa seeds germinated and at that point I got bored and gave up. However I do have wonderful Rosemary growing upstairs the most magnificent Bay trees growing downstairs ( along with rampant Olive trees) and a great pot of mint! ( I also have an oak tree!)

I used 500 mls cream, 500 mls plain yogurt, 3 eggs, 4oz /100grms Sugar, 100 grams 80% chocolate chopped and a Big bunch of fresh mint chopped.

As with all my Ice Cream recipes, really simple. Put the cream, yoghurt, sugar and eggs into a food processor and mix well. Carefully hand stir in the chocolate and the mint ( do not process in food processor as it will completely mush the chocolate and the mint and will not look pretty, taste the same but will not look so good!)

Then either put into an ice Cream machine or into a container and into the freezer. I actually just put mine into the freezer this time round to make sure that it turns out well.Making Chocolate cups is pretty straight forward. Simply melt ( and agin I melt in the mould in the microwave) allow about 25 grams of chocolate per cup. Silicon moulds are great for this., with a teaspoon push the molten chocolate around the mould and then pop it into the freezer to set.when ready to serve, peel away the mould, carefully.

Serve as it is, in a chocolate cup, with whipped cream or with chocolate sauce. Which ever way you choose, I’m sure you will be back for more. Actually I don’t like chocolate mint, not in ice cream nor in chocolate and of all things After eight dinner mints, Oh No!