General Chat

Berona, I would suggest that your 6th Sense fell into action and thank goodness it did.

Today I am going to try and find some good recipes for the points I posted earlier, and add them on here later today.

Not much happening at the moment so time to make the coffee and start thinking about new ways of developing old recipies.

Bridget :-D

Hi Bridget, do you think you or your ladies could give me a yummy recipe for artichokes? My Greek friend in London pulled me one up out of her garden and it has taken well and now I have two enormous artichokes to deal with!

Helen, how nice of you to ask us for a recipe for Artichokes. I will add one or two later today and I expect others will follow.
We of course hope you stay with us.

Bridget in sunny Spain :-)

Thank-you, Bridget.

I asked a friend's Italian boyfriend who suggested wrapping it in tin foil and baking it in the ashes of a fire. Well we do have an open fire so I could do this when it gets cold but meanwhile the petals are beginning to open up..........!!!!

Helen in Kent there is a good web site www.artichokerecipes.co.uk
that has so many ways of cooking these...so you will be spoilt for choice..

Never cooked with them myself, let us know how you get on

Regards Jan

Have you eaten artichoke before? I only ask because of my first experience of each kind.

I had always thought there was not a vegetable I didn't like until the artichokes came home. There were two each and I prepped mine properly, took the choke out and boiled for the instructed time in the water with lemon juice in for the globe artichokes. Melted the butter and sat down to enjoy the feast. Yuk,yuk,yuk,it was horrible. They have a metallic kind of tast which did not appeal at all.

Somebody had Jerusalem artichokes for sale beside the road so I bought some. They too were nasty. Turnip has always been a veg I would not eat with any enthusiasm and Jerusalem artichokes are like turnip only more so,

Sharon, my opinion of artichokes is the same as yours, ......and we live just a about 2 miles from the Artichoke centre in Europe., they have a festival every year and the town is so crowed it is difficult to move. We went ONCE!!

Perhaps Helen will let us know how she gets on!

Bridget in Spain

Lol for the answers!

I'll check out that website, thanks, and let you all know.

There was I hoping for some yummy winter recipes appearing, and its all gone quiet....where is everybody ?


Jan

For Halloween .. don't want to even try an explain it but here it is

http://iammommy.typepad.com/i_am_baker/2011/09/halloween-cake-in-a-jar.html

for the less ambitious one can make Gingerbread men and then with white icing ice a skeleton on to them.

Chocolate marshmallows, Ice two eyes on them and then make chocolate biscuits, break biscuits in half and then ice the marshmallow onto the two halves so they form bat wings.. they are easy little bats.

Persie

Jan,
Now the winter is definitely making it's way across Europe I am confident that more recipies will be posted.
In fact I promise to add at least two this week.

If anyone can think of a theme that would be great,

Maybe in these more difficult times we need to think sideways about a two or three course meal for four people at no more than £5.00, £ 10.00 and 15.00.

Please add any other ideas.

Also thinking about a complete Christmas Day menu for two people 4 to 6 people, 8 to twelve people.

I will start adding sometime this week.


Bridget, in Spain

Taken from Sharon on her thread. I do not think she will mind. I have sent a message, just in case. Bridget

Make a bread pudding. Put it in a basin,Put that in the steamer until it is done and doesn't stick to a knife when it is stuck in.

I think it takes about an hour and a half.

Like most of what we eat, the bread pudding is what is hanging about in the bread bin with mixed fruit, soaked together overnight .

An egg or two, a bit of fat and some sugar and mixed spice
.
You have to squeeze the water out of the wet bread or you will spend the rest of your life cooking it. I keep some dry bread crumbs back in case I can't get the mix dry enough.

Thank you Sharon
from Bridget :-D

Yesterday I received an email from the friends of our son who is arriving today. She came to stay with us in the summer with her husband and promised to send a recipe that she uses a lot so here it is.

Sheb's Butter Chicken

2 chicken breasts
2 tsps ground Coriander,( Fresh is best but dried will work)
2 tsps Garam Masala
3/4 tsp of Chilli powder
2 tsps Ginger powder or crushed Ginger
3 to 4 crushed clove of Garlic
1/4 cup of Pasata sauce
1/2 cup of plain Yogurt
80 grams of Butter
2 small Onions
1 Cinnamon stick
4 -8 Cardamon Pods
3 tsps paprica powder
2 large tins of tomato puree
3/4 cup of Chicken Stock
1/2 to 1 cup of Cream or Creme Fraiche
2 tbs white wine vinegar.

Make a marinade from the yoghurt, pasata. garlic. garam mesala , chilli powder, ginger, white wine vinegar, marinade the chicken overnight if possible or for several hours.

Heat the butter in a pan and cook the onions, cardamon and ginger stick for ten minutes or until the onions are soft.
Add the chicken when the above are at room temperature to stop curdling. cook the chicken until it is sealed then add the remaining ingredients apart from the cream and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.
Check the chicken is cooked right through then stir in the cream before serving.
Just before serving sprinkle fresh coriander on the top.
Bridget

PS it is delicious

I didn't think it worthy of this thread. It;s not even a proper recipe.

Tastes alright though.

Now, now Sharon, we enjoy all recipies being posted on here, so do not feel that your recipies are not worthwhile, using left overs etc is an intrinsic part of cooking and keeping our family and friends well feed.
For example, and I am fairly certain that it is on here somewhere, I still like the "dinner " my father used to make for my sister and I when our mother was very I'll., this was about 55 years ago.

Boil some potatoes, drain them and then crack two or three eggs into the potato and mash together. Add margarine, ( we could not afford butter unless
we were in Ireland ) mash again add salt and pepper and serv with crusty bread.

Later today I will add two more recipies, one for the £5.00 and one for the £10.00.

We loved it and when my children were unwell they enjoyed it as well, although by then I could play around with it by using some cream.

Please add more recipies.


Bridget. :-)

Oh dear,
I never expected that this thread would last so long, but now find myself feeling rather sad. No entries since the 7th and that was from me.

So sadly I say good bye, I hope that you have all found the messages helpful, fun, interesting etc. I have learnt a lot, hopefully given a few ideas etc.
The only thing is I had hoped that some one would give suggestions for cooking with a Slow cooker....

Bridget :-D :-( <3

Having been approached by a few people I have been quite moved by their comments so have decided to try to keep the thread alive.

So please felel free to add as many entries as you can. I will be adding some in the next few days.
From
Bridget who is feeling rather happy.

:-D <3

BOILED CHRISTMAS CAKE ***** ( I MAKE 2 SMALL CAKES YUM VERY MOIST )
175g butter , chopped
200g dark muscovado sugar
750g mixed dried fruits ( including chopped dates and glacé cherries I make my own mix up as I do not like peel )
finely grated zest and juice of 1 orange
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
100ml/3½ fl oz cherry brandy or brandy plus 4tbsp more
3 large eggs , lightly beaten
85g ground almonds
200g plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground mixed spice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground allspice

Put the sugar, fruit, zests, juice and 100ml/3½fl oz brandy in a large pan, i soak mine over night, add butter bring slowly to the boil, stirring until the butter has melted. Reduce the heat and bubble for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool for 30 minutes or longer

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 150C/gas 2/ fan 130C and line the cake tin. Stir the eggs, and ground almonds into the fruit mixture and mix well. Sift the flour, baking powder and spices into the pan. Stir in gently, until there are no traces of flour left.
Spoon the mixture into the tin and smooth it down evenly - you will find this is easiest with the back of a metal spoon which has been dipped into boiling water.
Bake for 45 minutes, then turn down the heat to 140C/gas 1/ fan120C and cook for a further 1-1¼ hours (about a further 1¾ hours if you have a gas oven) until the cake is dark golden in appearance and firm to the touch. Cover the top of the cake with foil if it starts to darken too much. To check the cake is done, insert a fine skewer into the centre - if it comes out clean, the cake is cooked.
Make holes all over the warm cake with a fine skewer and spoon the extra 4tbsp brandy over the holes until it has all soaked in. Leave the cake to cool in the tin. When it's cold, remove it from the tin, peel off the lining paper, then wrap first in baking parchment and then in foil. The cake will keep in a cupboard for up to three months or you can freeze it for six months. :-) :-)

Annabel.
I am going to make the boiled Christmas, the only thing I do not have is the allspice and have never seen it here in Spain.

On Christmas day we shal be joining some other Brits and eating in the English Bar, it is great fun, excellent food and the atmosphere is " tidings of comfort and joy" but on Boxing day we enjoy just being together.
So I have to try and think of more of a Romantic Meal for two which will not break the bank and will be healthy. The only consideration is OH does not like fish, OK with smoked salmon.
So please could I have a few suggestions, thank you.

OH decided about six weeks ago that we both needed to loose weight, we didn't need scales to tell us this!! I was having to wear size 22 and even larger for some personal clothing! OH could not get into any of his decent clothes or shirts etc.

OH is 5ft, 8 and I am 5ft,1 1/2.
Our approach is this...... We eat twice a day, as follows.

Coffee or Tea when we get up, then OH checks the garden to make sure that weeds etc are kept at bay, and as most of you know our garden is on three levels, he also monitors the pool, takes Jet & Joe for a 1O minute walk then gives them their breakfast. Meanwhile I do a few chores.
We have a brunch at around 11 to 12 and this can be as large as a full English breakfast to a couple of boiled eggs, or a bacon sandwich.
Sometimes it will be any leftovers from the night before.
We have a medium size glass of a smoothy which can be of a variety of fruits, pineapple, apples, pears, banana, kiwi, etc.

We have our main meal in the evening, meat, lots of veg, etc and more fruit if we want it.
To our surprise we have both lost enough weight that friends are committing on it, a pair of my trousers fell down last Friday, thank goodness I was at home!!
OH is already able to wear some of his shirts, can now wear some of his lovely jackets and we both feel so much better.

Yesterday I had a wonderful comment from a friend who had been back in the UK for three weeks.. " Bridget, your neck is looking so much smaller, and you have lost weight, keep it up and you will look like your old self very soon!!

Now some of you who know how seriously distressed last year and at the earlier part of this year, will know what this achievement will mean to me. At that time I lost weight because I had stopped eating and only drank water for two or three months, but once back home OH incisted that this had to stop.

So keep those excellent recipies coming, because good food is more filling than poor food, we learn from each other and it is fun.

Should we try to choose the Recipe of the year, from all the entices on here??

Bridget

:-)

Hi Bridget

I did not put allspice in mine, I have made 4 small ones 1 as been eaten by visitors and one I have given to a friend, will probably make a couple more so easy and such a good cake the best recipe I have tried in a long time.

cheers Annabel