Devonshire Cream Tea

This recipe was passed on to me by my Auntie Kath from Devon, who was the most fabulous cook, and made really delicious melt in the mouth scones.   Scones are the main component in the traditional Devonshire Cream tea, which dates back as far as the 11th century.  I like to make the scones plain, although you can add dried fruit to the mix if you prefer.

Kath's Devonshire Scones

2 cups (8 ounces) Self-raising flour

1 egg made up to 5 ounces with full fat milk

1 level tsp Cream of Tartar

1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of soda

pinch fine sea salt

2 ounces unsalted butter, cut into pieces 

1 ounce fine sugar

Strawberry Jam
Clotted Cream
(if you can't get clotted cream you can use a whipping cream instead)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Farenheit

Sift the flour into a large bowl, add the cream of tartar, bicarbonate of soda and salt, and stir to mix.  With your fingers rub the butter into the flour  until it resembles fine bread crumbs, add the sugar and stir.

Beat the egg and milk together, and stir slowly into the flour to make a dough

Knead the dough just enough to bring it together, and tip out onto a floured board,  roll to about an inch thick and using a 2" cutter, cut individual rounds and place on a baking tray.  

Brush the tops with a little milk and bake in the center of the oven for 10 - 12 minutes, or until light golden brown. 

 Cool on a cooling rack.

When cool break in half and spread strawberry jam on one half, and a generous amount of clotted cream on the other, sandwich together, dust with confectioners sugar and serve with fresh strawberries and a cup of good English tea, with milk.

Traditional Devonshire Cream Tea

Enjoy :o)

Did you Know "E" Escabeche

Did you know that the dish "Escabeche" originated in Spain?

Escabeche is typical of Mediterranean cuisine, that traditionally uses poached or fried fish that's been marinated in an acidic solution of either vinegar or citrus, with added herbs and spices, after cooking.

This method of food preparation perfectly suits oily fish such as mackerel, herring, and bonito. The fish is seared and then placed in the marinade overnight or longer, before being served either cold or at room temperature.
Chicken, Pork and Rabbit are also used today for Escabeche dishes, as well as fruit and vegetables such as green bananas, and jalapeno peppers.
Escabeche is a popular presentation of canned or potted preserved fish, such as tuna, and sardines.
Did you know the origin of the word Escabeche is Persian, and was brought to Spain by the Arabs during the Moorish conquests?
 The word Escabeche derives from al-sikbaj, the name of a popular meat dish that was cooked in a sweet and sour sauce, usually vinegar and honey or date molasses.

This makes a thoroughly delicious, light lunch, or elegant appetizer.

When I'm on the boat, I typically use Snapper or Grouper for this dish, because they're readily available, and always really fresh.  I love fresh Salmon, but it's usually hard to find in the Caribbean, so when I'm back on dry land, and Salmon is readily available, I decided to try this dish using Salmon fillets instead.  It was so delicious I just had to share it with you, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Salmon Escabeche with Black Garlic

6 small/medium Salmon fillets, skin removed

2 large Echalion shallots, peeled and thinly sliced

1 oz unsalted butter

1/4 cup Olive Oil

1/3rd cup Sherry vinegar

1/2 cup White Wine

3 Star Anise

2 tbsp good Balsamic Vinegar

6 cloves Black Garlic, thinly sliced (see note below)

Juice & Zest of one orange

4 Scallions, white and tender green parts only, sliced on the diagonal

1 tsp chili flakes

Sea Salt & Freshly ground black pepper

Black Garlic

Lightly season the salmon fillets with salt and pepper.

Melt the butter in a large saute pan over a medium heat, when the butter stops sizzling add the salmon, and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side, to sear (cooking time varies depending upon the size of the fillets).

Remove the fillets from the pan and place in a deep dish, set aside.

Put the shallots in the saute pan (using the same pan the salmon was cooked in), and cook gently for 10 -15 minutes, until soft and lightly browned.

Add the remaining ingredients to the pan and bring to a gentle simmer, stirring frequently.

Pour the mix over the salmon and set aside to cool.

Cover the dish with cling wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Remove from the fridge and set aside for 90 minutes.
Serve at room temperature with some of the marinade spooned over the salmon, a green salad, and some fresh baked bread.

Enjoy :o)

note: Black Garlic, to learn more about this delicious ingredient, and locate a supplier, copy and paste this link.  http://blackgarlic.com/

Green is always good

I love discovering new recipes, especially when I stumble across them by accident.  Last night I made my crispy seaweed, which is basically just deep fried, thinly sliced collard greens, served with my special seasoning.

The trouble is when frying seaweed the fat flies everywhere, literally.  Mum and I had to wash the kitchen floor this morning, as it was so slippery from all the splattered oil.

"Please don't cook that again" Mum pleaded with me, this morning, and I wondered what I was going to do with all the shredded collard greens I had left in the fridge.  Not wanting to waste the greens, I racked my brains for a tasty recipe that I could use them in.
 
I decided to simply saute them in a little butter with the seasoning I had prepared... it took 5 minutes to prepare and WOW it was absolutely delicious.  I served them with potato wedges and sauteed duck breast with a plum sauce.

Mary's Sweet Greens

Bunch of Collard greens
1 ounce unsalted butter
1 tbsp fine sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp fine sea salt
1/4 tsp ground chili powder

With a sharp knife remove the stalk from the greens, leaving the leaves intact. Lay the leaves one on top the other and roll into a cigar shape like a sausage, then slice very thinly.
Heat the butter in a saute pan, as soon as the butter stops sizzling, immediately add the shredded collard greens and saute for 2 minutes.
Mix the sugar, cinnamon, salt and chili in a dish and stir well, pour over the greens and stir to distribute throughout the greens, and serve immediately.
This really was delicious
Do try it...

Don't be fooled by the appearance, this is delicious.

Enjoy :o)

Showing off with Souffle

I'm always so impressed when people serve souffle, I see it as a visual work of culinary art, a dish that's created only buy professional chef's, a dish that I was convinced I could never do, and was always too nervous to attempt.
So one afternoon, I found myself alone in the house, I drew the blinds and closed the doors, and attempted my first souffle.  I had no recipe to follow, but I had seen one made recently on TV.  If it went wrong I could bin it without embarrassment and no one would be any the wiser, at least I would have attempted it.

As it turned out, it was one of the easiest desserts I've ever made, simple, quick, light and delicious, sadly souffle's have to be served immediately as they start to deflate after about 90 seconds.

Easy Apple Souffle

6 Granny Smith apples

1/3rd cup good Raspberry jam

generous splash of Kirsch

1 tbsp powdered drinking chocolate

(I like to use Cadbury's Drinking Chocolate)

1/2 tsp powdered cinnamon

1 ounce of butter softened

6 Egg whites

1/4 cup of sugar

pinch salt

1 level tbsp cornflour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, 180

Cut the top off the apples, and discard, and carefully scoop out all the flesh, creating a cup. 

Butter the inside of the apples, sprinkle the powdered chocolate and a little cinnamon inside each apple, shake the apple to evenly distribute the powder.

Heat the raspberry jam in a saucepan until runny, add a splash of kirsch and the cornflour, stir well to mix and set aside. 

In a medium bowl (wiped around with a little white wine vinegar) beat the egg whites,  sugar and salt until stiff.  Fold the meringue into the jam mixture mix throughly but gently, and fill the apples with the mixture.

Level the mix with a knife, then run the edge of a teaspoon around \the rim of the apple, leaving a small gap between the rim of the apple and the souffle mix.

Cook for 12 - 13 minutes, or until well risen in the center of the oven,  dust with confectioners sugar and serve immediately. 

I got a little carried away with the confectioners sugar
it looks like a snowfall.

My first attempt at a souffle turned out pretty well, I was grinning like a Cheshire cat.  It really was so easy, now I'm going to try other sweet and savory souffle's, but I'll only be posting the successful ones.

http://video.pbs.org/video/1166762973/  copy and paste this link, with the fabulous Julia Child

Enjoy :o)

Italian comfort food

Monday 18th July
Today in England, well at least here in Somerset, (the West Country) where I'm currently staying, the weather is absolutely horrible, rainy, cloudy, miserable, gray, I feel about as far removed from the sunny Caribbean as it's possible to be.  This sort of weather always fills me with a desire to get in the kitchen and cook up some comfort food, so Mum and I headed the couple of miles up the road to Puxton Farm.

As all of you who read my blog know, I refuse to buy meat from a supermarket, I am adamant about the correct care of farm animals, if we are going to use them as a food source then we should give them the best possible care while they are alive, and insure that they are slaughtered humanely. Sadly, how animals are cared for and slaughtered is not a priority for the people who purchase meats for the freezers and fridges of the supermarkets world wide, also all too many people who buy from these sources don't want to know or are not interested in the care of the animals.  I personally can't, with a clear conscience eat meat raised in inhumane conditions, consequently I will only buy meat from a source that I can trust, I have a great supplier in the States, and here in the UK I always buy my meat from Puxton Farm.

I should spend a few minutes here telling you about this fabulous place.
Puxton Farm prides itself in being one of the few traditional butchers left in the UK that have their own abattoir.  They always ensure that their animals are treated with kindness and care, and they use their own transport when moving their animals to the abattoir, they take animal welfare very seriously. The animals live in natural surrounding, out in the fields grazing and enjoying the fresh air, unlike so many poor unfortunate creatures raised in tight, dark cages where they are unable to even turn around.

The butchers that work at Puxton farm remind me of my chidhood, when there were individual butcher shops on every village corner.  Puxton butchers know their products, and how to prepare them, ready for any dish.

I wanted to prepare a traditional Italian dish called "Pollo disossato al forno con rosmarino e aglio"  or in English: "Roast Boned Chicken with Rosemary & Garlic". A really yummy, warming, bursting with flavor typically Italian dish.

You need a whole chicken which needs to be boned; a task the amateur ( and I include myself here) sometimes struggles with, it's really a job for a professional; in truth I can do it, but it takes me so long and I often make a bit of a mess, so if I can get a professional to do it for me then I jump at the chance. The butchers at Puxtons are well qualified and can bone a chicken in minutes perfectly.

Nick from Puxtons boned the chicken for me, and it was absolutely perfect.

This is my take on the original, traditional dish, I've just added a few extra ingredients.

Daisy's Roasted, Stuffed, Boned Chicken.

1 whole chicken boned (size depends upon the number  you are serving)

1 sprig fresh Rosemary, stalks removed and leaves chopped

1 sprig of rosemary whole

3 sprigs fresh Thyme, leaves removed from the stalks

2 Bay leaves

4 slices of Prosciutto

2 oz Ricotta cheese

4 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees or 180.

lay out the chicken, skin side down, season well with salt and pepper, sprinkle the sliced garlic over the chicken, lay the slices of prosciutto over the chicken, dot spoonful's of ricotta cheese over the prosciutto, sprinkle the thyme leaves and chopped rosemary over the cheese.  Roll up the chicken, tucking the flesh and filing inside, ensuring that it is all covered in skin, and no flesh is visible.  Lay a sprig of rosemary and the bay leaf on top.  Tie with string to secure to roll, making sure to tuck the ends of the chicken roll inside.

Place in a deep baking dish, season with sea salt, and freshly ground pepper, drizzle the olive oil over and place in the oven for 90 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into the roll reads 190 

I roast onions, potatoes and parsnips in the dish around the chicken roll...

So easy, and really delicious.  

I usually like to serve a sauce with the chicken. I make a stock using the chicken bones, carrots, celery, onions, thyme and white wine, that's cooked very slowly for 4 hours, and then strained and thickened with flour and butter.

Serve with roast potatoes and roast parsnips. 

For more information on Puxton Farm, go to:  www.geralddavid.co.uk 

for the farm shop www.puxtonfarmshop.co.uk

This dish is also great served cold the next day, never any waste when I cook this dish...

Enjoy :o)

Caribbean Curry in Africa...

While staying with family in South Africa recently, I asked if I could make dinner for them one night.  As they all really enjoy hot, spicy food  I decided it would be fun to make them my Caribbean Curry with Coconut rice and delicious crispy bananas. I drew up the long list of ingredients required, and my sister -in law Ruth was wide-eyed and horrified at the length of the list, but I laughed and assured her they were absolutely necessary ingredients and would not be hard to find.

So we headed out to her local store.  I really love food shopping when in different countries, I especially love the locally grown produce found in market stalls, I would rather food shop than any other type of shopping.

My crazy globe trotting life style happily allows me to indulge my passion with new and different foods and ingredients. I like to think of myself as a sort of female "wanna be" version of Anthony Bourdain.

However, shopping for the ingredients in Johannesburg proved much more difficult than I imagined, stupidly I thought everything was going to be easy to find, but I was quite wrong.  We scoured the shelves of 4 different supermarkets, and various market stalls looking for Peanut oil, and Groundnut oil, but all I could find was olive oil and other common vegetable oils.  I also needed but couldn't find Kaffir Lime Leaves and palm sugar, the shop assistants didn't even know what they were; shallots were apparently out of season, so I ended up substituting the elusive ingredients for lime leaves, grape nut oil,  brown sugar, and baby onions. The resulting curry was quite good, but it's definitely better when all the correct ingredients are used.

Hint:  Always replace opened jars of herbs & spices within 12 months, you would be surprised how quickly the flavors dull once exposed to the air.

 Daisy’s Caribbean Curried Chicken

2lb skinless, boneless chicken thighs

2 tbsp peanut oil

2 medium red onions, peeled & chopped

14fl oz coconut milk

4oz chicken stock (preferably home made)

1 tsp palm sugar

2 tbsp light soy sauce

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp Honey

2 cinnamon sticks

6 star anise

5 kaffir lime leaves

10oz button mushrooms, halved

Salt & freshly ground pepper

CURRY PASTE

8 garlic cloves, peeled and diced

5 long red chilies, trimmed, deseeded & chopped

3 lemongrass stalks, trimmed, outer leaves removed & thinly sliced

2” piece fresh ginger, peeled & diced

5 large shallots, peeled & chopped

Bunch fresh Cilantro, stalks removed.

Freshly squeezed juice of 2 lemons

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tbsp ground coriander

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground star anise

2 - 3 tbsp groundnut oil

Make the curry paste first. Put all the ingredients except the groundnut oil into a food processor and mix until well blended. With the processor still running slowly pour the groundnut oil into the mix and blend for another 1 minute. Set aside.

Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces.  Heat the peanut oil in a cast iron pan over a medium heat. Add the curry paste and stir well until fragrant.  Add the chopped onions continuing to stir for 5 minutes. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and add to the pan, stirring well to coat the chicken pieces.  Add the lime leaves, cinnamon stick, star anise, coconut milk, chicken stock, palm sugar, soy sauce, honey and fish sauce, bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cook for 40 - 50 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and tender.  Skim any oil off the surface. Add the mushrooms, and cook for another 4- 5 minutes. 

Serve with coconut rice, sweet mango chutney and crispy bananas.

Crispy Bananas

Crispy Bananas

6 slightly green Bananas 

1/2 cup Demerara Sugar

1/2 cup freshly squeezed Lemon juice

1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Peanut oil for frying

Pour about 1" of peanut oil into a deep sided saute pan, and place over a medium high heat. (Don't let the oil get smoking hot)  

Slice the bananas in half lengthways, and cut each length in half, making 4 pieces for each banana.

Place the sugar and nutmeg into a small bowl, the lemon juice in another bowl and dip the banana pieces into the lemon juice and then roll in the sugar to throughly coat, immediately put the bananas into the hot peanut oil and fry turning once only for 1 - 2 minutes.  Remove carefully with a slotted spoon and drain on crumpled greaseproof (parchment) paper, place in a serving dish and serve immediately.  

This is a fabulous side to serve with curry

note: The bananas cook very quickly and will become too soft if fried for too long, watch them carefully.

Enjoy :o)