Showing posts with label cookbookery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cookbookery. Show all posts
I think you have cottoned on now to my love LOVE of beetroot. If you haven't, then you haven't been reading my blog for long enough. I quite simply adore beets. A week ago I was gifted with some lovely beetroot by a friend! We thoroughly enjoyed them! I have been trying to spread my beetroot posts out so that you don't get them all in one week, so here is the last of my beetroot posts!
Harvard Beets has to be one of my absolute ways of enjoying beetroot. Back where I come from in Canada, you can buy tins of Harvard Beets in the vegetable aisles and I always used to have several tins of them in the cupboard during the winter months for whenever a craving hit me!
Homemade are infinitely better however! They are somewhat of a New England tradition, New England being the North Eastern States of America . . . consisting of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut and Massachussets. I guess it is only natural that they would also be popular in Nova Scotia seeing as they are very close to each other.
So what is the actual history of Harvard Beets? How did they begin? We can't really say for sure. Some say they earned the name for the way their deep red color mimicked the Harvard Crimson football jersey hue. Others say they originated in a tavern in England named “Harwood” and somewhere along the way the name was mispronounced in America until it became “Harvard.” So you see, there is a somewhat, if ambiguous, English connection . . . which totally justifies me sharing the recipe here!
Originally the beets were cooked only in a sauce made from vinegar and sugar. The addition of cornflour (cornstarch) to thicken the sauce is definitely a 20th century addition. I think I would love them either way. My recipe comes from the Fanny Farmer Cooking School Cookery Book, 1975 Edition.
This is one of the books I cut my culinary teeth on and I have worn out three copies through the years, my later ones having been edited by the late Marion Cunningham. Its just the best cookbook and one I have turned to again and again through the years. The Harvard Beet Recipe is the best.
*Harvard Beets*
Serves 4
Fannie Farmer was a New England woman who wrote the original Boston Cooking School Cookery Book as it was known at first, in 1896. It was the first cookbook of its kind, introducing standardized measurements at a time when nobody used them, and was considered to be a very comprehensive book, including essays on housekeeping, canning, cleaning, canning and drying fruits, and nutritional information. At first the publisher Little & Brown did not expect that it would do very well and so it was published at Ms Farmer's own expense. The book was so popular in America, so thorough, and so comprehensive that cooks would refer to later editions simply as the Fannie Farmer Cookbook, and it is still available in print over 100 years later. If you don't have a copy, I highly recommend you get one! I don't think you will ever regret adding this to your cooking library. Like I said, I have worn out three copies! In any case, I hope you will try Harvard Beets and enjoy them as much as we do! Bon Appetit!
This is a chocolate chip cookie recipe I adapted from a soft back cookbook/magazine I bought several years back called Delicious Baking, put out by Delicious magazine. I love Delicious magazine. It is one of my favourites. I used to have a subscription to it, but when I lost my job a few years back I had to cut back and magazine subscriptions was one of the first things to go. *sniff *sniff*
So what makes this chocolate chunk cookie different than other chocolate chunk cookies? How does it shine?
There is nothing unsual about chocolate chunks, or even about using two types of chocolate . . . the difference is that you use DARK chocolate in these, which counterbalances the sweetness of the white chocolate perfectly . . .
I think you will agree with me that white chocolate can sometimes be somewhat cloying, which is why you often find it paired with things which are not so sweet such as rasperries and cranberries.
Another difference is that it uses DARK soft brown sugar, which gives these cookies a light whiff of molasses smokiness . . . oh so good.
Crispy edged . . . with sweet vanilla chunks and bitter dark chocolate . . . with a slight chewiness in the middle. I think you will agree with me when I say that those things all tip these cookies over the edge towards spectacular!
*Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies*
Makes about 16 - 17
Now you might not think the fact that this recipe only makes about sixteen large cookies is a bonus . . . but to me, who has absolutely no self control at all, this is a big plus. There is a lot less cookie danger for me to be tempted by!! Bon Appetit!
I baked us a lovely quiche at the weekend. Who says real men don't each quiche! Todd loves them. This version was adapted from a recipe I found in a cookery book entitled Comfort Food Makeovers, put out by America's Test Kitchen.
It is a compendium of comfort food recipes defatted and made healthier. I'm all for that! Healtiher is a good thing, having it tasted delicious at the same time, is even better!
I never eat quiche when I don't think about that joke about the two older ladies in the restaurant who were perusing a menu which happened to have quiche on it.
That sounds good one of the women thought to herself and when the waiter came, she said . . . "I'd like to have a 'Quickie'!" Obviously, her pronunciation needed some work on it. ☺ Back to the recipe.
I know . . . don't quit my day job!
A lot of calories and fat are saved in this recipe through the use of some very flavorful cheeses. Parmesan which is used both in the crust and as a base for the filling. Parmesan is one of those cheeses where a little bit goes a very long way.
Gruyere is another cheese like that and by using it in the filling, you need relatively little of it when compared to other cheeses. I love the sweet, nutty flavor of Gruyere. A good substitute is Swiss cheese.
Buttermilk has also been used in the filling, which adds a richness to the custard without the calories of the usual cream which is normally used.
The use of corn flour also helps to set the custard.
The crust also gets an additional flavor boost from the use of a tiny bit of bacon fat, which you reserve when you cook the bacon.
The original recipe called for crispy cooked bacon and then crumbling it into the filling. But I opted to only partially cook it and then lay it on top of the tart prior to baking.
The end result was a very attractive and delicious Quiche that I did not feel very guilty about eating! I love it when that happens!
Delicious through and through, but with only half the calories and a third of a fat of a regular quiche!
Add
the water and process just until the dough begins to clump into large
pieces. Spray a 9-inch tart tin (with a removable base) with low fat
cooking spray. Add the dough and press it evenly over the bottom and up
the sided of the tin, Crimp edge. Wrap loosely in cling film and
freeze for 30 minutes.
I really hope you will give this a go. It's delicious! Bon Appetit!
Sometimes you just crave a cookie. I do at any rate . . . and I am a diabetic, so cookies aren't really something I like to keep in the house. They have a habit of getting into my mouth and that's not a good thing. I try hard to be good . . . but sometimes it is just really, really hard to be good.
I had to cook a meal earlier this week to take to a member who has not been well. I baked a casserole and made a salad, and then I decided to bake some cookies for the children in the family. I love to bake, but more often than not I can't eat what I bake, so it's nice to be able to bake something which is going to be going to kiddies I know will be able to appreciate it.
One of my favourite salads is Tabouleh. I first ate it at a party my brother was having. I fell in love with it . . . it's that beautiful colaberation of flavours . . . lemon, mint, parsley, spring onions, tomatoes . . cucumbers . . . and then the bulgar wheat. It's a perfect combination of flavours and textures! Chewy, crunchy, tart, herby. I love it all!
I love recipes like this which are so very simple that you can throw them together at the drop of a hat, and yet they end up tasting like you have taken a great effort to put them together. I guess it is the simplest things in life which bring me the most pleasure. I don't think cooking has to be complicated in order to taste good. I don't really enjoy jumping through a bazillion hoops to get to where I want to be and that goes for cooking too! I did enough of that when I was working. Now simple and tasty will do it for me.
I recently purchased a new cookery book. I know . . . I didn't really need a new cookerybook, but it was my birthday and cookbooks are what bring me the most pleasure. I read them like novels and always have a stack next to the bed which I am flipping through. Call it what you will. Obsession? Guilty as charged! This one is really special however. It's called The Country Cooking of Ireland, by Coleman Andrews and it's a real winner. I have always felt that if you want to get a real sense of what a country is like, you will embrace the food of that country . . . and to do that you really need to get into the thick of the countryside. Let me tell you . . . the Irish countryside is a very delicious place! Especially if this recipe is a fair representation of that, and I believe it is.
My sister is always after me to eat healthier. She's been into sprouting and fermenting and using whole grains for a long time now. She really makes some interesting and delicious foods which I have enjoyed and which is why I was really excited when I was offered the opportunity to review a new cookery book . . . At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen, celebrating the art of eating well, by Amy Chaplin.
Curry wasn't something which I had experienced a lot of prior to my moving over here to the UK. My only experience had been a chicken curry that a friend of mine from Manchester had made for me about 30 years ago.
I was living on a British Military Training Base in Canada. I remember that it was delicious but very spicy. She had used a whole bottle of curry powder in it! It was love a first bite however!
The first curry I made after moving over here to the UK was a Chicken Tikka Masala that I learned how to make when I was taking my Chef's course.
I thought it was really nice, and whilst I can by no means claim to be an expert at the dish of curry, I have been experimenting every since with flavours and textures in the years ever since.
I don't really like to use jarred sauces and mixes for things like this. I prefer to start from scratch . . . using fresh spices and pastes and today I made a delicious Chicken Biryani which was quick and simple to make.
I found the recipe in a cookbook I had purchased a long time ago entitled . . . Good Food, The Family Meal Planner. It's a great book for anyone who has a family and is struggling to get an interesting and delicious variety of meals on the table to feed their families.
This was very quick to make and has some lovely fruity flavours and just a bit of heat. Of course you can adjust the heat by the type of curry paste you choose to use.
I chose to use a Balti, but curry pastes vary widely in strengths and heats. A Korma would be mild and coconutty, whereas a Madras would blow your hat off.
I quite liked the Balti. It's somewhere in between the two.
I love the flavours of cinnamon, bay and cardamom in this dish. It makes a lot and is quite hearty!
I do like a one pan supper that is quick, simple and easy to make and when it's delicious as well, then I'd call this a winner!
I love the addition of the toasted almonds on top. Included also is a tip to make a delicious salad from the leftovers on the day after.
*Chicken Biryani*
Serves 4
1 tsp ground tumeric
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast portions, cut into 1 inch cubes
Mix the leftover cold chicken rice with about 2 TBS of mayonnaise and a squeeze of lemon juice. Serve with some sliced baby gem lettuce and sliced cucumber.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
I have always been a foodie. When I was really young my mom used to give me her old magazines and I can remember clipping recipes from them. I can still tell you how very delicious a slice of her lemon meringue pie was . . . yellow and transparent, covered in a seemingly mile high pile of sweet and sticky meringue . . . this remembered from lunch time when I was about 8 years old. She used to make my brother a small bowl of lemon pudding instead of pie because she didn't think pastry was good for wee ones . . . and it probably wasn't.
I am somewhat ashamed to say that there were not a lot of homemade . . . made from scratch . . . cakes that didn't come from a mix in my life prior to coming over here to the UK. I did some psuedo homemade cakes . . . you know the kind I mean. You use a cake mix and a few other ingredients to make a type of cake . . . but there's not really any science or skill involved in that is there. I did make my mom's hot milk cake from time to time and the odd gumdrop cake, and maybe a fruit cake now and again, but mostly . . . my cakes came from a mix. They were quick, easy, convenient and didn't taste all that bad.
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