mexican food made easy

I recently discovered Thomasina Mier's fantastic cookbook, Mexican Food Made Easy, and we have been eating it up. We've tried the tortilla soup, mexican breakfast (eggs, tomato sauce on a tortilla) and mushroom quesadillas. From the a taco for all seasons  section we've been chowing on corn and courgette tacos and mushroom tacos. Black beans have been put into sweet corn and black bean salsas and eaten over baked potatoes. The spinach enchiladas are satisfying and so filling. Perhaps my favourite hot sauce ever is from this book: sweet chipotle paste. Hot, sweet with some lime for an added sour kick, I keep making it and put it on everything. My clothes now have chipotle stains on them but it is oh! so very tasty. Tonight we're trying grilled polenta with mushrooms and greens. 

Admittedly, C hasn't eaten everything I've made but he's eaten most things and loved it. The great thing about the recipes (and this style of cooking in general) is that it is family friendly: you can spice it up or  down without ever feeling like the food is being "dumbed down" or that you are losing any taste. It's written in the UK so the ingredients are easily found locally. There isn't a lot of technique needed and most recipes take around 30 minutes to prepare.

The most impressive recipe I've tried from this book is the grilled langoustines with coriander and pumpkin mole (see the photo, left) which I made substituting king prawns for the langoustines. The sauce is pretty easy to make and seems versatile (I actually forgot the percorino cheese, it was very good but I am curious and will add the cheese next time). Mier gives ideas of other uses and I will be putting it on grilled fish sometime soon. 

All in all this is an amazing cookbook. I had it from the library for an embarrassing amount of time and had to buy it from Amazon. It's already in high rotation in our meal schedule.

I passed!

This is one of those posts that should go something like:

 blah, blah, blah - Life in the UK: Journey to Citizenship 2nd Edition - test -passed. So, yeah I had to write a citizenship test. Of course I completely freaked out: I don't test well, get really nervous and over think things.
I ended up getting there super early and being send away! I ended up wandering around the St. James Centre (tried on some Bobbie Brown lipstick - must discuss) before hoofing it back. Where- I waited for about 30 minutes as everybody's ID was checked again. All in all it wasn't very hard. A lot of the other people had problems with their computers freezing. I didn't and finished in about 10 minutes. And I passed! Am now ready to live Life in the UK! Whoppee! We went to Chop Chop after to celebrate. The business lunch was very tasty (love dumplings and spicy noodles) and wee man ate 2 helpings of the children's noodles! That's a total of 18 dumplings. The kid can eat...

Two Recipes: A Christmas Tale

Old Town in the snow.

I got up early (ok, 7:30) with Calum to make Apple Cinnamon Muffins, a Nigella's Kitchen recipe which I'd never tried before. Now, young C really enjoys helping me while I cook, which turns everything into a bit of a mess so I was entertaining him in his playpen as I mixed the batter, which may somewhat explain the mistake. I left out the eggs. So, they turned into a kind of soft, gooey pudding with a fantastic crumble top. I'll try them again though. And I will use eggs.

Awful picture of Tuna meatballs

So, for supper we'd decided to try a Jamie's Italy recipe: Tuna Meatballs in Tomato Sauce, over linguine. I used all the right ingredients (even made bread crumbs) but, with time constraints, decided not to refrigerate the balls for an hour. The cooked easily (I suspect sitting for awhile would make them less crumbly though). Now, Peter thought the tasted really lemon-y, but I love lemon and had no problems with it. The Jamie's Italy uses a lot of lemon, so maybe that's just his taste? Regardless, it could be adjusted really easily.

2010 review: books

The past year was such a great year for me reading wise: I discovered some great young adult fiction, found out what all the Twilight fuss was about, read some really great fiction and co-founded a feminist reading group. Interestingly, most of the books I fell in love with this year were Lainey recommendations.

Belle, being nosy

In January I discovered the Twilight series and am not ashamed to say I briefly become a bit of a Twihard. I can understand why people get so involved in the books and movies (although I've no idea why people become obsessed with Robsten). The character of Bella is basically blank, one that all of us who were teenage girls can relate to. She recalls the dreams of high school and the wish that the beautiful boy in high school had recognized how special we were. Breaking Dawn just fell apart though - ugh. It's weird how I agree with almost all of the critiques but really enjoy them at the same time. The movies are a whole separate discussion but I've heard some awesome spoilers from Lainey about the final two!!

And then I discovered Jessica Darling. Megan McCafferty She's a great character: funny and smart and special. So far I've only read Sloppy Firsts & Second Helpings and am waiting for for the rest of the series and can't wait to learn what happens with Marcus Flutie!

Continuing in the Young Adult vein, I read the Mockingjay series by Suzanne Collins. Now, I don't have a really good idea how popular these books are because no one I know seems to have heard of them. I will say that they are fantastic - the female character is strong and smart and makes choices for her life, unlike some other teen heroines we know (cough Bella Swann coughcough). I am so looking forward to seeing this series on screen! Hopefully there's a bigger budget than the Twilight movies ...

Oh! I also read some adult fiction. One Day by David Nicholls blew me out of the water. It's so good and well written, poignant and bittersweet. It's premise is so easy: a snapshot of 20 years of friendship in one day every year. But it's so much more that that. Reading it made me laugh and cry and left with a feeling of missing these characters as if they were friends I'd been catching up with and wishing I had a little more time with them. It gets extra points for being set so well in Edinburgh.

Finally, most recently I read Room by Emma Donoghue. I was a little leery starting out with this book because of the subject matter: a boy and his mother are being kept in a room by the man who kidnapped the mother. It sounds so grim but, told from the little boy's point of view, it turns into a real work of beauty. Amazing.

Of course I read other things but these were the books I fell in love with and am still thinking about at the end of the year. Any suggestions for what I should read next?

Christmas & it's time to watch movies

First snowfall on the canal

It's snowing. Again. It's all perfectly Christmas-y, all white like a dusting of icing sugar and looking like a greeting card. But it's snowed so much and the nation is pretty unprepared: roads and sidewalks aren't clear and it just takes so long to get anywhere. A middle of the night hospital trip with Calum (he's fine, just mild croup - all very exciting), turned into a hike across the Links, because we couldn't dig the car out and taxi service here in the ice and snow. 

With Peter sick (Calum's better. Thank G*d) all I want to do is curl up and watch movies. 

So when the Guardian posted this http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/dec/15/peter-bradshaw-favourite-christmas-movies on their website, I started making a list of my own Christmas movies. I'm not a huge Christmas person, the sentimentality and religious stuff drive me up the wall. As for the movies - well, the obvious ones like It's a Wonderful Life, don't really work for me. Sometimes it's not a Christmas movie per se but just something that I always seem to see over the holiday season. A friend used to associate 007 movies with Christmas because that's what her family used to watch. I feel the same about The Sound of Music. 

My Christmas Movie List, in no particular order: 

Christmas Crafts with Sarah and Calum

• Lethal Weapon - a pre-wage wad Mel Gibson is great in this action movie with fantastic Christmas music. Great to watch while writing Christmas cards.   
• Home for the Holidays - not really a Christmas movie (it's set at Thanksgiving) but it's about the holiday season. Just a great movie, directed by Jody Foster and starring a tweaky Robert Downey Jr. 
• Die Hard (both the first and second movies) - more great movies to watch while writing Xmas cards. The baddies are so over the top they completely make up for any family sentimentality at the end. 
• Trading Places - watched it ages ago and remember liking it. But the Guardian was so positive about it, I rewatched it and realized how great it is. I wanna watch it every Xmas.
• Love, Actually - over the top? Yes! As I described it to Peter: a little like eating too much creme brulee. Sweet and yummy leaving one with a sugar high but happy and satisfied. Not something you'd want everyday but once a year is great.

That's my list - anything you think I should add?

2010 Review: California

Hiking in Indian Canyons

In February Peter attended a workshop in Santa Barbara for a couple of weeks and we went with him. Diana met up with us for a week and we spent a fab time going to Sephora among other fine retail establishments, shopping at Whole Foods and discovering the Jessica Darling series (ask me about Marcus Flutie).

We went off to Palm Springs for a couple of days when Peter had finished his work. Palm Springs is a really funky desert town. Lovely and warm, even in February! Calum & I  got to swim in the hotel pool. And we went hiking into Palm Canyon, Murray Canyon and we also made a trip to Joshua Tree. It was Calum's first real hiking experience (he seemed to enjoy the experience): he's such a little trooper. loved deserts and hiking in them since we went to Utah a couple of years ago. I really feel the need to spend more time in deserts - it's almost a spiritual thing for me. Too bad I don't deal well with the heat and sunburn so easily.

Home Made Fish Sticks

When I first moved to Scotland I watched Rosemary Shrager's School for Cooks regularly. The food was pretty traditional: racks of lamb, pork medallions and sole goujons. I wasn't entirely sure what a goujon was until I bought some at Waitrose and discovered that they are fancy fish sticks. But really good fish sticks, for grown ups, made with proper parts of fish in a light crust.

Calum loves fish sticks and Sainsbury's wasn't able to send me any in the last order. I had some raw fish I needed to use so I thought I'd give it a shot. They weren't difficult to make and I had all the ingredients in my pantry. The results were yummy - Calum ate them up in a flash and we enjoyed them too with a light cracker crumb crust. They can be made with chicken too and served with a variety of dipping sauces: a classic tarter sauce or something spicy would work. I made a yogurt dip with lemon and parsley.

Goujons

Goujons

• White fish (not sure what kind - I use whatever the people at Eddie's give me)
• Egg
• Cracker Crumbs (this time I used Jacob's Cracked Pepper Bakes)
• Corn Flour

Beat the egg, put to one side. Mix the cracker crumbs with some corn flour. I wasn't using any measures for this.

You'll want to heat oil in a frying pan enough to coat the bottom and give the fish a nice brown colour. Cut the fish into strips (they don't have to be perfectly shaped but you want to be able to handle them easily). So, I set up a little assembly line: dip fish in egg, coat it with the crumbs and place it in the hot oil. I fried it until both sides were a lovely golden brown. Any leftover can be used in a very tasty sandwich.

Supper Onion Pie

This recipe has been a favourite of ours since the first time I made it. Sweet Pea had been going on about the British foods he missed and I, still in the first flush of romance, thought I'd try this recipe from Nigella Lawson's How to be a Domestic Goddess. Well, he loved it, I loved it and we've been making it in some form for years now.

The recipe is pretty simple: softened onions atop cheese scone dough. Variations can include a mashed potato crust (for those following the GF diet), leeks or other onion varieties, different cheeses and herbs. We've found that any variation is good, but with the original, brown sauce is an important condiment.

Supper Onion Pie

4 med red onions - cut into eighths 

1 T olive oil

1 T butter

salt and pepper to taste

3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 cup + 2 T sharp Cheddar cheese or Gruyere, grated

1 2/3 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

3 T butter, melted

1 tsp dry English mustard

1 lg egg, beaten

8 - 10 inch oven proof skillet, a 9 inch pie plate or casserole dish buttered 

set oven to 400F

in a large pan (or the skillet) heat the olive oil and butter and add the onions, cooking over medium heat for about 30 mins. Stir regularly - they should be soft and colourful. season with salt and pepper, add in the thyme. Turn into the pie dish and scatter about 1/3 of the cheese over.

Add flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl with the cheese.

In a measuring cup, measure milk, add the melted butter, mustard and egg. Mix well and add to the flour bowl. Mix up the dough - it should be sticky and I always add a little extra flour just so that I can roll it out.

Roll dough out on work surface, pressing into a circle that would fit over the pie dish. Transfer to the dish and seal the edges.

Put in oven for 15 mins, then lower the heat to 350F and bake for another 10 minutes, the top of the dough should be golden and crisp. Let it stand for a few minutes and then flip it onto a plate to serve.

Serves 4 people.

Still Life and Recipes

In an attempt to channel my deepening love of all things foodie, and to use up film prior to going to the Lifetime Commitment Ceremony, I took a bunch of photos. Most of them didn't turn out too well (aka the anchovy shots), but a couple did. Please note the beautiful herbs- my balcony garden is gorgeous. I'll try and post more pictures as time goes on- my tomato plant? fantastic.

Here's what we're eating

*Roasted Vegetable Salad*
~ I got a version of this recipe from the Fields of Greens cookbook years ago. The original called for a lot of ingredients (including Champagne vinegar) which seemed along way off many years ago in Halifax. None the less, I was addicted to roasted vegetables and have eaten variations of it over the years
roast a mixture of veggies: garlic,
onions, zucchini, eggplant, red peppers, mushrooms (or others). when done, slice, mix together & toss with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, pepper, fresh basil.
let it sit for awhile for all the flavors to mix and enjoy!

*Basil Sorbet*
~ I read about this recipe shortly after planting my herbs and fell in love with the idea. It's so wonderful, perfect after a meal, with fresh strawberries or on it's own. The one problem? It melts quickly in the heat!

1/2 c sugar * 1/2 c water * 1/2 c lime juice * 10-15 leaves of basil
make a simple syrup by boiling the water & sugar together for 5 mins. allow to cool & blender with the lime juice. When it's lovely & frothy add the basil juice and blend until it's a gorgeous green colour. Put in the freezer, allow to freeze and then blender again. Allow to freeze throughly before serving. yummy!

Today
The vegetables would like to be cut
By someone who is singing God's name.

Because
Once we were all tomatoes,
Potatoes, onions or
Zucchini. - Hafiz

Sweet Potato Salad

Inspired by DD, my foodie friend/ training partner, I made a Sweet Potato Salad with Honey Dijon Dressing.
After swim practice (warmup of 550+ 3*400), I sauteed some shrimp with garlic and chilli garlic sauce on top of the salad. Fantastic! next time I'm going to experiment with a Chipotle-Cilantro- Lime Dressing. Oh! how I love the sweet potato. and in my brave new GF world, I'm going to be eating a lot of them.

The past month has been slow. It's hot and I move slower anyway but then I've felt drifty, sleepy and not really clear of what's going on.

My tri has come and gone. It was the nastiest day I could have imagined and I loved it. So, that's something I'll be doing again.

Marks have come back and, while my legal genius has yet to be recognized I am happy with the results. that being said, I'm questioning what's next. I love this- but the parts I love aren't necessarily what's rewarded. I have to figure out how to get there. Hmmm...
I will definately be eating Sweet Potato Salad though. Here's the recipe:

Sweet Potato Salad
2-3 sweet potatoes- chopped, cooked but still maintaining their structure and consistency (not too soft, in other words)
red peppers- chopped into chunks
red onion- chopped fine
DD sugested celery (I'm not a big fan-seems a bit of a wasted vegetable), maybe lightly roasted corn, some black beans or carrot would also work

Honey Dijon Dressing
2 Tbsp honey
2 tsp dijon mustard
oil/ apple cidar vinegar/ salt & pepper

or, Chipotle-Cilantro & Lime Dressing
chipotle pepper- chopped fine
chopped cilantro
juice of 1-2 limes
oil - touch of mustard
salt & pepper

Cakes of Distinction, an occasional series part I

Here's a recipe for a lovely flour-less chocolate cake. Now, on Miss Nupur's blog I posted self-saucing chocolate cake as the food the I think of with the word saucy. Joanne has made it for me twice - it's a family recipe - and it's fantastic. Alas, I don't have the recipe, so... I present Laureline's Gooey Cake

Now, there's a story here. Laureline is a physicist friend Michael met while at RMC. She's so cool: one of those women who is competent, awesome and y'know French, but really nice. Her family own a patiserrie in France, and she taught me how to make this cake. Calling it Gooey Cake doesn't do it justice -unless you imagine Juliette Binoche, gazing deeply into the eyes of Johnny Depp and, while healing him with the magical powers of handmade chocolate, saying the word “gooey”. It's rich and unlike anything I had ever had. This is powerful stuff: Four simple ingredients that create something quite lovely.

1/3 Cup sugar
250 g good dark chocolate
1/3 Cup butter
6 eggs

preheat oven to 350F
melt butter & chocolate over double boiler
separate eggs- whisk whites until stiff.
Cream yolks and sugar
add the melted chocolate to the yolk mixture, fold in the whites
put 2/3 of the mix into a buttered springform pan (I cheat with this all the time & use a regular cake tin)
now-- put this into the oven in a water bath and bake for 40 minutes
the other 1/3 should be refrigerated until the baking is done-- use it as frosting.

I am not ashamed to say I have used this cake on two occasions to impress men. And it worked.

Creamy Lemon

I've had a very productive day! That almost never happens...
With hours to go before I sleep, I thought I'd waste a little time posting.
So, I was checking out one of my favorite sites, For the Fork and the Spoon
http://nupur-inthekitchen.blogspot.com/
(fabulous veggie Indian food- I was scared I'd lost her site forever but managed to track it down- thanks Google!) and she has a quiz. She names a word and you try to match the word to a food. She said creamy- i said Creamy Lemon Pudding. And have been craving the following recipe for the past day as a result:

Creamy Lemon Pudding
2 T butter
¼ C sugar
2 lemons
2 eggs
½ C flour
1 ¼ C milk
Cream butter. Add sugar, beat well. Grate the lemons, squeeze out the juice, strain, set aside. If you'd like it more lemon-y, add more rind and juice.
Separate the eggs, add one yolk at a time to the butter/ sugar mix, beating well in between. Stir in flour and gradually add the lemon juice and rind. Add milk
Whisk egg whites until stiff and fold gently into batter. this is actually quite important, it'll taste as good, but won't be as fluffy- so take the time and do it right
Place in a pie plate and bake in a 350° oven for about 40 mins. it'll be a bit golden and lovely smelling. I just use a casserole dish and it turns out fine

I got this recipe off a website awhile ago and just love it. The lemon is so creamy and yummy and the top is fluffy. Not a pudding as we in North America know it – this is a true English pudding and quite yummy. So- that's my helpful hint of the day. Sometimes, i eat it for supper.

ok- I'm off. Property Law won't read itself, darn it...

To love and win is the best thing. To love and lose, the next best. ~ Logan Elchols
(a little something for all the Veronica Mars fans out there)