I have quite a few cookbooks in my collection actually.  I've never actually counted them all . . . but there were (at last count) probably close to 1000.  (Don't judge me.)  I've been collecting cookbooks since I was about 16 and as I am now 59 (how did that happen???), that's a pretty long time.  I do have my favourites and I wanted to show you one of those today . . . it also happens to be one of my oldest ones.  In fact . . . this cookery book was published before I was even born.

A few months ago, shortly after we moved into our new home, Todd went to work digging and planting a garden. He's not really that organized when it comes to such things. I am the organizer, but . . . I was busy sorting out the inside of the house, and we wanted to get something in before it was too late.



There is no rhyme or reason to much of what he planted, which is kind of nice really . . . and makes it sort of interesting.

Like the row of what he thought was parsnips, that ended up being rocket . . . not quite the same thing of course, but nice nonetheless!

We returned from our holidays on Sunday to a garden filled to the brim with Baby Gem Lettuces . . . all ready for the picking NOW. Now, as a woman, I would have spread out the planting of these little treats, over several weeks, so that they would not all be ready at the same time . . . but men . . . well, this man at any rate . . . meh . . .



I count my blessings where I find them, and at least he planted the garden!!

My beetroot are pretty much ready now as well . . . and the beans, both yellow and green are beginning to come fast and furious! Yummo!! The courgettes and butternut squash are also full of blossom, so that looks very promising as well . . . the pigeons ate our cabbage while we were away, but again . . . it is a blessing that they left it at the cabbage and didn't taste everything else as well!!




Anyways, here is a lovely salad that makes a nice light supper. It's easy to make, quick and we think it's quite delicious. You don't have to use canned ham, sliced baked ham works very well also, as do a few other suggestions which I have mentioned in the recipe!

I like to think of most recipes as being basic canvases for you to make your own mark upon in any case . . . isn't that the true wonder of cooking!!



*Beetroot Summer Salad Bowl*
Serves 2
Printable Recipe

You don't have to use ham in this if you don't want to. You could use a flavourful goats cheese, torn inbto bits, or chopped camembert, smoked fish . . . use your imagination. Chopped cooked steak or beef is also very nice.

100g of frozen petit pois (about 1/2 cup)
175g of beetroot (2 medium beetroot), cooked until tender and peeled
2 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced
1 small tin of cooked ham, flaked
3 baby gem lettuces, sliced crosswise

For the Dressing:
2 TBS thick Greek Yoghurt
2 tsp horseradish sauce
approximately 1 TBS milk
salt and black pepper to taste

Put the peas into a dish and pour boiling water over top. Allow to sit for several minutes, then drain very well. Set aside.

Slice the beetroot into thick wedges. Set aside.

Divide the lettuce between two chilled dinner plates. Sprinkle the spring onions over top, along with the peas, dividing them equally amongst the plates. Top with the beetroot wedges.

Whisk together the yoghurt, horseradish sauce and milk until smooth and drizzable, adding more milk if necessary. Season to taste with some salt and black pepper.

Drizzle this dressing over the salads and then top each with equal amounts of flaked ham. Serve immediately.

I was recently contacted and asked if I would like to try out some recipes which have been created by the acclaimed TV Chef Sophie Michell, to promote the new Blue Nun wines. (She is noted for Chanel 4's program, "Cook Yourself Thin.")

I was sent several recipes. There was one called Gold Leaf Sparkling Jellies with Iced Frozen Grapes and Creme Chantilly (using Blue Nun Sparkling Gold), as well as another one called, Cumin, Coriander and Ginger Marinated Lamb Cutlets with Saffron Rice and Pistachio Crumbs to be served with the Reisling. There wsa also a delicious looking Reisling Braised Chicken with Artichokes and Shallots and a Barbequed Sticky King Pao Chicken with Cashew, Carrot, Radish, Cucumber and Spring Onion Salad.

I chose the oriental recipe . . . the Barbequed Sticky Kung Pao Chicken. It looked tasty and we like a good Chinese dish. The recipe was missing the amount of radish to use, or how to use it, so I just sliced a few radishes into the mix.



This is a YouTube video that you can watch to see how she did it.

This is how mine turned out! Delicious!!



*Barbequed Sticky Kung Pao Chicken*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

A beautiful chicken dish, spicy and finger lickin sticky good!

8 boneless & skinless chicken thighs, trimmed

For the Marinade:
2 TBS dark soy sauce
1 TBS Sherry, or for a lower sugar marinade use Blue Nun River Riesling
1 tsp honey
1 tsp hot chili flakes

For the Salad:
1/2 head of Chinese white cabbage
3 spring onions
1 carrot
1 red chili, depending on how much heat you like
50g of roasted cashew nuts, roughly chopped

For the Dressing:
4 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp Chinese rice vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil



Whisk together all of the marinade ingredients in a deep tray or dish. Add the chicken thighs. Open them up and turn them around to coat and cover them in the marinade. Cover and place in the refrigerator to chill for as long as possible. (Up to 24 hours and no less than 1 hour.)

To make the salad, peel and cut the carrot into very thin strips. Add to a large mixing bowl. Cut the spring onions thinly on a sharp diagonal. Add these to the bowl as well. Cut the Chinese Cabbage down the middle, core and then slice thinly. Add to the mix. Deseed the cucumber and thinly slice as well. Add this to the bowl and mix all of the ingredients together well.

Whisk together all the ingredients for the dressing and set aside.

When you are ready to eat, heat up a grill to very hot. Take the chicken out of the marinade. Discard any marinade left in the dish. Place the chicken onto the hot grill tray and cook for 8 minutes per side, until cooked throughout and nicely caramelized.

Add the dressing to the salad and toss all together. Divide the salad amongst 4 plates and top each with the grilled chicken, and a sprinkle of the chopped nuts. (She used peanuts in the video)

A glass of Rivaner Reisling (Fresh, Crisp and Fruity) is recommended as a good wine to serve with this dish.

Of course as a Mormon, I really can't give an opinion on how this wine is as a drink, but here is what Sophie had to say:

The Rivaner Riesling is really a super match for most types of Asian and oriental style dishes, which I find can be really hard to match a wine with and a glug of this fresh, fruity wine is great in the marinade too.

There is a big trend for lower alcohol drinks at the moment, but some that I've tried are rather watery. However, the Blue Nun Delicate drinks (5.5% alcohol) however are packed with flavour and taste. They're ideal for the lazy summer days, picnics and bbq's. Or to serve as an aperitif when you want something refreshing and light to serve to guests.

They are made with full bodied aromatic wine and delicious fruit flavours such as white peach, mango, raspberry and lychee which taste delicious.



*Gold Leaf Sparkling Jellies with Iced Frozen Red Grapes and Creme Chantilly*
Makes 6

Ingredients:
600ml of Blue Nun Sparkling Gold White Wine
50ml of Elderflower cordial
1 TBS sugar
6 sheets gelatine
200g of red or green seedless grapes
200ml of double cream
2 tsp icing sugar

Firstly take the grapes and cut into little branches with 3 grapes per set, then place on a tray and pop into the freezer.

Soak the gelatine sheets in a small bowl of cold water for about 5 minutes until softened. Meanwhile, put 100ml of the Blue Nun Sparkling Gold and sugar into a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Squeeze the gelatin sheets to remove any excess water and stir into the wine mixture until dissolved.

Then mix the heated wine mix in with the rest of the wine (500ml), pour into a large bowl and place into the fridge. Leave for at least an hour, then check and stir. Basically you keep doing this until the mix has thickened enough for the gold flakes to not sink to the bottom.

When ready pour into four individual metal pudding moulds, about 200ml/7 fl oz/ generous 3/4 cup capacity if you want to turn the panna cotta out onto dessert plates, or into four pretty serving bowls. Put into the fridge to set for at least 2 more hours, or overnight. Then pour the cream and icing sugar into a bowl and whip until soft peaks form.

If the Panna Cottas are in metal molds, pour boiling water into a bowl and quickly dip the moulds into the water before turning them upside down on to dessert plates. Then add a dollop of the cream and some of the frozen grapes.

Serve with a glass of sparkling gold.

Sophie says: The Gold Flecks were such a talking point for my girl friends and I. I just adore the way the bubbles rise the gold flakes to the surface. Very Glam!

You can check out her other videos on YouTube as well. The Lamb one looks delicious as well.

Many thanks to Megan for sending me this lovely wine to cook with and to Blue Nun Wines.

Make sure you check out their page online, there's a lot of information there on the wines and stockists, etc. Also be sure to check out their Facebook Page!

Blue Nun Rivaner Riesling is available to buy in most UK supermarkets including Asda, Co-op, Morrisons, Nisa and Tesco with an RRP of around £5.99 for a 750ml bottle.

Blue Nun Medium White is available in Tesco and J Sainsbury.

Blue Nun Medium Red, White and Rose are all available in Nisa.

Blue Nun Sparkling Gold edition is available to buy at £9.59 on-line from www.drinksdirect.co.uk

Blue Nun Delicate Stills have a recommended retail price of £3.99 and the Blue Nun Delicate Sparkling have a recommended price of £5.99, both for a 750ml bottle. All of the Blue Nun Delicates are currently available to buy from Home Bargain stores across the UK only www.homebargains.co.uk

Please do remember that if you are going to drink, you should so so responsibly.

   

Bonfire Night, falling on 5th November each year, celebrates the foiling of Guy Fawkes’ Gunpowder plot as we all know. Traditionally marked with blazing bonfires and fantastic fireworks, it’s the perfect excuse for a feast for friends and family as you wrap up warm and head outside for an evening of rockets and sparklers.

The Toddster is a real fan of pork chops, yes he is. I admit to a certain fondness for them myself. When I was much, much younger and attending Secretarial School, there was a catering school in the same school and the students at the catering school would cook lunches for everyone. One of my favourite days was always the days they did pork chops . . . They were always cooked to perfection, tender and juicy and they came with pan fries and carrots. Yummo!



My mother tried hard, bless her heart . . . but her pork chops always came out a tad bit hard and dry. I think she was afraid that she would poison us all if she didn't cook them enough. We ate them anyways and we always kinda enjoyed them, even if they weren't cooked to perfection. She used to make really good gravy with them and that more than made up for it.



This recipe here today is a bit of a French speciality. I know . . . this is the English Kitchen, but in truth we are so close to the continent and the average Brit today is so well travelled that a bit of foreign stuff always makes it's way into our cuisine. We usually put our own twist on it though . . .



Like todays recipe . . . which in France is usually made with chicken joints . . . but why not the other white meat??? Pork goes very well with onions and mustard . . . Thyme and Pork are a marriage made in heaven . . . and with the crispy bread crumbs . . . well, these are almost like breaded pork chops. Who doesn't like breaded chops!!



I served these with some roasted winter vegetables and sauteed cabbage. They went down a real treat. They were cooked to perfection in the time allotted. My chops were about 3/4 inch thick. I do hope you will give this a try. They'd go well with mashed potatoes too . . . or some herby buttered new potatoes. A nice tossed salad would also be a great addition to the meal.

And some applesauce certainly would not go amiss . . . truly divine.



*Pork Chops Lyonnaise*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

This dish is normally made with chicken, but why not make it with the other white meat??? Why not indeed! I served this with some roasted winter vegetables and cabbage.

4 (7 ounce) pork chops, bone in, rind removed and trimmed of all but a very
thin edging of fat
fine seasalt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
40g unsalted butter (2 3/4 TBS)
2 medium brown skinned onions, peeled and finely chopped
1 1/2 TBS Dijon mustard
1 tsp dried thyme leaves
45g of soft fresh white bread crumbs (3/4 cup)

Season the chops well on both sides. Melt 15g (scant TBS) of the butter in a large skillet. Quickly brown the chops over medium heat, taking care not to burn the butter. Transfer the browned chops to a shallow oven-proof casserole dish.

Add the onions along with the remainder of the butter. Cook over very low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes, until really soft, taking care not to allow them to colour. Stir in the mustard and thyme leaves.

Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5.

Spread the onion mixture over the top of the browned chops, spreading it on thickly and dividing it equally amongst the chops. Divide the bread crumbs as well, pressing an equal amount down onto the top of the onion mixture on each chop.

Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes, until cooked through and the juices run clear. Serve hot.

Note: This recipe is very easily adjusted to serve less people or more if you wish.



Not the best picture in the world, but very easy and delicious, over in The Cottage today, Oven Beef Stew!