Christmas Cooking II

Christmas Dinner was Roast Rack of Lamb with a Herb Crust, Fondant Potatoes and Glazed Carrots. Never cooked Rack of Lamb before so was glad of my Temperature Probe which helped me cook it to perfection. Also not cooked Fondant Potatoes before, I found lots of recipes but the one I used browned the potatoes on butter and then cooked on the hob in chicken stock, worked well!

Favourite Roast

Favourite Roast Dinner today - Rib of Beef to be served with Roasties, Parmesan Parsnips and maybe if I dare Yorkshire Puddings!

Have no excuse for failure as I have my shiny new oven with a door that shuts properly!

Christmas Dinner will be:.................

Rack of Lamb!

Don't like Turkey and can't bring myself to pay £60 for a goose!!

Christmas Cooking

Getting Christmas ready for those lovely people I work for! Parmesan Parsnips and Chicken Wing Gravy in the freezer!

Chilli Jam

Fab to serve with cheese and cold meats!


http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/8257/sweet-chilli-jam

Sunday Roast on Monday!

Been a long day and loads more to do yet so looking forward to Dunc's Roast Chicken with Jacket Potatoes :-)

Castle Gardens Carleton

 

Castle Gardens - Average Pub Food and quite expensive for what you get but at least you don't have to cook!!!

Heston Blumenthal The Fat Duck

                                                                     I want to go!!!

Sunday Dinner

Dragged myself away from work to make dinner today, Roast Rib of Beef, Janson's Temptation, Buttered Carrots and Courgettes washed down with a nice glass of Pinot!

Lorraine Pascal Butternut Squash & Sweet Potato Lasagna

Made this Lorraine Pascal recipe today, very tasty for a veggie dish! Here's the recipe:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/butternut_and_sweet_49981

Simon Rimmer's Haddock Gratin

Simon Rimmer's Haddock Gratin

 

Dunc having two more teeth out tomorrow so think I'll make this - an old favourite which is easy to eat!!!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/haddock_gratin_62823

Yummy Cheese and Mushroom Lunch!

Made this for lunch today - a recipe from Waitrose:

Pour passata into baking dish, add Portobello or Chestnut mushrooms, top with Tallegio and cubes of Ciabatta tossed in olive oil, season with salt and pepper and sprigs of thyme. Bake for 20-25mins and enjoy!

Mince Pies with a Twist

First batch of mince pies made with my crumbly pastry and addition of ground almonds and marzipan to the mincemeat - going down well!

Masterchef & Sea Urchins

Been catching up on Masterchef, certainly NOT tried and tested, would anyone know what to do with a Sea Urchin.

PS. Oli to win!!

Mince Pies

Really been too busy to experiment with my new oven but will be finding time this weekend to make my first batch of mince pies for this year!

A great pastry recipe from my college days:

Rub 5oz butter into 8oz plain flour and combine with 1 egg yolk, a tablespoon of double cream and a bit of alcohol - brandy, rum or sherry!

Say Cheese :-)

Made a very quick visit to Waitrose today and bought some lovely melting cheeses that I can't seem to buy on the Fylde Coast!

Reblochon and Tallegio

Thanks!

Been a good month so far! Over 1400 views on my blog and 4 days to go. Favourite posts :

Jamie's Camembert Parcels
Jamie's Chicken Cacciatore
Raymond Blanc's Chicken Liver Parfait
Parmesan in Soup

http://gail-triedandtested.blogspot.co.uk/

Really should have been doing something else!

So today my friends invited me to join them for a catch up and lunch at the Ship at Elswick. I really should have been working but hate to say no so agreed to meet for a quick lunch which turned out to be over 3 hours!!!! Early start for me tomorrow!

Lunch was a very generous Chicken Caesar Salad with Anchovies, a whole chicken breast with plenty of pancetta, anchovies and parmesan - recommended.

Todays Food :

Todays lunch Prawn & Chorizo Fritatta and dinner Chicken Cacciatore

Catching up on Saturday Kitchen!

Catching up on Saturday Kitchen whilst Duncan cooks! Jamie Oliver's Lamb Shanks cooked in Guiness.

 

No Cooking Tonight!

No cooking tonight - off to the tried and tested 12 Restaurant in Thornton, not been for a while so very excited!

A Busy Day in the Kitchen!

Not my kitchen but those lovely people I work for!

Lunch today Chicken and Watercress Wraps with Mustard Mayo, lunch for tomorrow Moroccan Chickpea Soup and tonight's dinner an old faithful Rachel Allen's Fish, Tomato and Cheese Gratin - just a bit more cheese and cream in my version!

Neff has arrived!

Here it is my shiny new oven! Thanks to:

http://www.room-makers.co.uk/contact.php

Finally!

At last - my new oven is being installed tomorrow - I'm very excited, just wish I wasn't so busy at my sewing machine then I could just bake, can't possibly let Duncan use it before me!

Quick and Easy Veggie Lunch

For lunch today I made a variation of a recipe which I saw in a Waitrose magazine.
Chestnut Mushrooms stuffed with a little St Agur sat on a bed of Passata topped with Ciabatta Croutons tossed in olive oil and Oregano topped finally with Mozarella, baked for 20 mins @ 200 c

Think they liked it!

 

Last night Jill and I cooked for a few friends, Jill was in charge of starters - Smoked Mackerel Pate served Jamie's way with Yorkies and Prawns with Alioli and lovely fresh Beer Bread from the Artisan Market, she also did dessert, Nigella's Gorgonzola with Pears and Walnuts cooked with Honey and served with Oatcakes.
I did the main Jamie Oliver's Empire Chicken and my own version for Salmon with Bombay Potatoes and a Spicy Coleslaw. Above are the results - think they liked it!

Masterchef the Professionals

Enjoyed the first week of Masterchef the Professionals and thought Anna Spooner from St Annes did herself proud - wishing her luck for the future and if you open a typical French Patisserie Anna, let me know!

Beef Stroganoff

Supper tonight http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/_fillet_of_beef_82682/shopping-list

Posted this recipe before but it really is quick and very tasty!

Jamie Oliver's Empire Chicken - and Salmon?

Cooking for friends on Saturday, Jamie Oliver's Empire Chicken, attempting the same recipe with Salmon for my newly Pescatarian friend!!!

Knott End Artisan Market

Looking forward to the Artisan Market at Parrox Hall on Saturday. Not sure what to expect but thinking it's a Farmer's Market with a posh name, all the same if there's an opportunity to buy local produce that's a good thing!

Lorraine Pascal's Rosemary Roast Cottage Pie with Rosti Topping

OOps - forgot to photograph before serving! This is a really great recipe which I changed slightly, didn't put in the carrots and peas and used a chopped red onion instead of spring onion!

Jamie Oliver's Camembert Parcels - Another 15 Minute Meal

My third Jamie 15 minute meal in 2 days!

Camembert Parcels with Autumn Salad and Cranberry Dip, took a little longer than 15 minutes and had an issue with the filling oozing out of my filo - my fault for wrapping too tightly I think, but otherwise a success and very tasty!

Jamie Oliver's 15 Minute Chicken Cacciatore

Second recipe made from my new cook book, Chicken Cacciatore - a great success!

Jamie's Mushroom Soup

Made my first recipe from Jamie's 15 minute meals today Mushroom Soup with Stilton Croutes.  Did exactly as the recipe for the soup and it was gorgeous, I didn't put the mushrooms or apple on the croutes as it was just for lunch so just did stilton with a few pine nuts!

Jamie Oliver and Lorraine Pascale

Had a busy day - time to check out my new books!

 

Nigel Slaters Chicken Wings

Duncan cooking one of our fave suppers tonight. It's a Nigel Slater recipe but we've made it so often we don't get the book out anymore!

Basically just brown chicken wings, cover and leave to cook for about 30 minutes. Cool a little and take the meat from the wings.  Crush some garlic and finely sliced spring onions with salt and turmeric in a pestle and mortar, cook for a few minutes and return chicken to the pan to warm through. Serve on toasted Ciabatta, French Bread or Pannini spread with mayo!

Not low calorie by any means but so tasty and as Dunc's in charge tonight I have a feeling it may be served with skinny fries!

Delicious December!

Looking forward to reading the new issue of Delicious!

Jamie's 15 Minute Meals

Benefits of working from home - you can watch tv at 5pm when Jamie's 15 minute meals is on!

I'm a bit sceptical about the 15 minutes but loving some of the recipes so I'll be buying his latest book!

Offal or Awful?!

We had Chicken Livers tonight, simply cooked with shallots, mushrooms, cream and Madeira served with Tagliatelle.

Coincidentally we turned on the TV to the Great British Food Revival programme where Matt Tebutt was singing the praises of Offal - some I've never heard of - and some he struggled to eat!

I can eat Chicken, Calf and Lamb Liver and Foie Gras but struggle with anything else.

Here's Matt's recipe for Lambs liver with Balsamic Sauce

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/lambs_liver_with_60023

Home made cheese - Anyone tried & tested?

In the latest Lakeland brochure, equipment and products for making your own cheese - anyone tried it?

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/16570/Lakeland-Conical-Soft-Cheese-Mould-

Parmesan in soup

I came across this tip in Delicious magazine and used it in a recipe recently too.

Freeze short lengths of Parmesan rind in well sealed bags and next time you make soup pop one in straight from the freezer stirring occasionally so the gooey rind doesn't stick to the base of the pan.

I used it in a Butternut Squash soup which also had additional grated Parmesan in the recipe - really tasty!

Leader Board

Just checking out my blog posts and its looking like Jamie Oliver has the most views followed by Raymond Blanc and then James Martin :-(  I'd rather James Martin was in the lead!!) What do you think?

Barton Grange Farm Shop

So we skived off work early today and paid a visit to Barton Grange before eating at The Cartford!

Didn't buy much, just a couple of French Trimmed Chicken Breasts ready for a James Martin tried and tested recipe, a couple of steaks for tomorrow - RibEye for me & TBone for Dunc and finally some Almond Slices,don't often buy things like this but they reminded me of some I used to buy from a shop in Preston when I was a Saturday girl at Renders fabric shop! The cake shop may still be there, all I can say is like those we've just eaten they are tasty,moist and very almondy!

http://www.bartongrange.co.uk/farm-shop-and-local-produce-lancashire.html