Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts

Sunday, 1 February 2015

A Sunday with a difference!

One of my many New Years resolutions was to make use of the stacks of recipe books that adorn my kitchen shelves especially as I now have a bit more time at home to actually cook proper meals for me and my husband... My daughter usually has the leftovers for her lunch the next day so doesn't miss out...

Sunday supper has always been something we have always had traditionally as something big and bold. It harks back to the days when me and my husband worked at a school together and, because it was a boarding school, we used to frequently be on duty over the weekend meaning that we wouldn't see one another until Sunday evening... So a tradition was born.

I usually do a roast - something that has taken many years to perfect (something my husband can vouch for!) but for this Sunday I was asked by my husband to do something that resembled a fry up ... But slightly healthier!

So, the books came out and after a merry hour of scouring the shelves I came across The hairy bikers Perfect Pies book (see link below!) I love Si and Dave and they had a sausage and bean pie topped with potatoes... So I took it one step further...

You need:  an onion, sausages, a tin of baked beans, potatoes... (I added mushrooms, chopped bacon, black pudding)

I boiled the potatoes until they were cooked but still firm. I cooked everything else (bar the beans) on the grill and, once cooked, put it all in an oven proof dish, added the beans and covered the top with potato.

It then baked in the oven for 20 mins until the beans bubbled...

And then....

It was delicious... And serves three... And look at the rest of the book... Whoever said that cooking wasn't an art form obviously had never tried doing it!
The link to the book: The Hairy Bikers' Perfect Pies: The Ultimate Pie Bible from the Kings of Pies

Monday, 31 March 2014

Turning a pest into a sauce...

As discussed on my gardening blog (use link at the side!) I am still over run with horseradish even though I have tried to exterminate the crop from my herb bed.

When I dug up a massive root of it I knew it was to be turned into horseradish sauce.

The recipe came from 'The Preserving Book' again as it has been the only recipe so far that actually keeps the horseradish fresh and useable for up to two months!

This sauce needed:

300ml white wine vinegar
8 tbsp double cream (at room temperature!)
150g grated raw horseradish
4 tbsp sugar
4 whole cloves
1 bay leaf
12 whole peppercorns

The white wine vinegar, sugar, cloves, bay leaf and peppercorns is put in a large pan and heated until the sugar has dissolved. It is then boiled for 5 mins until the liquid has reduced by half.

The cream is added and boiled for 1 minute until it looks smooth.

The liquid is then passed through a sieve ( to remove the cloves, peppercorns and bay leaf) and then left to stand to cool.

Once cooled add the horseradish and season (with salt only) to taste! Pour into pre sterilised  jars!