3 posts tagged “recipes”
These look so delicious! I think I found a new blog to check regularly...
Pumpkin & Date Scones
(from Mix & Bake by Belinda Jeffery)
3 cups (450g) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (55g) caster sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp bicarb/baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
120g cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
200g chopped pitted dates (not medjool, they’re far too moist and sticky for this)
1 cup cold cooked mashed pumpkin (I used butternut)
3/4 cup buttermilk
1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper, then very lightly dust it with flour and set aside.
2. Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking/bicab soda and salt into a large bowl and use a balloon whisk to whisk it together. Add the butter and rub it in with your fingertips till the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Stir together the buttermilk and cooked cold mashed pumpkin and set aside for now.
3. Add the dates to the bowl and toss them through to coat them in the flour mixture, then make a well in the centre of the bowl and pour in the pumpkin/buttermilk mix. Stir it together till barely combined, then tip it onto a well-floured chopping board and lightly knead till the mixture comes together (not till the batter is smooth - just till it holds together and doesn’t have any unmixed bits).
4. Pat the dough into a round about 4cm thick, then dip a scone cutter (or glass tumbler) into some flour and stamp out your scone shapes. Alternately, you can cut the round into triangular wedges or pat it into a cylinder and just cut off rounds.
5. Carefully sit the scones closely together on the baking tray, using up all your dough (press the scraps together rather than kneading them). Either dust the tops with flour or give them a milk or egg wash, then bake for 20 minutes or till cooked through and golden. Once they’re done, remove them from the oven and wrap in a clean tea towel for 5 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool.
6. Serve whilst warm with some salted butter, or store in an airtight container for up to three days. Cold scones can be reheated in a microwave or toaster oven to make them warm and soft again.
I absolutely adore scones, and definitely need to find the time to make some.... These sound like perfect comfort food, which I need now.
Things have been very hectic lately, which is probably the reason I am ill. As you know, my father in law had prostate cancer, his operation went very well, but as he is a very stubborn man, he went on with his life as if nothing happened. So a few weeks ago he fell seriously ill with heart problems. He spent a few days in hospital and was then released and urged to take things easy. The heart problems remained, however, and this weekend he was put back in hospital. The doctors think the problems are caused by his medication, so they reduced the amount of heart medication and now we have to wait a few weeks until everything has stabilised. Fingers crossed things calm down a bit around here then. We need some peace and quiet.
I tried another recipe:
Lamb with mint (for 2)
cut lamb in small pieces
1 or 2 cloves of garlic, chop them finely
1 or 2 chili peppers, also finely chopped
1 or 2 onions in rings (you can substitute 1 onion by other wok-vegetables, whatever you like)
2 big tablespoons of red curry paste
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
4 sping onions sliced in rings
1 handful of freshly ripped mint leaves
1 handful of freshly chopped coriander
1 handful of parsley
bake the garlic and chili pepper in some oil, add the onion and bake until the onion is lightly browned. Take this mixture out of the pan and put it away. Bake the 2 tablespoons of red currypaste, add the lamb and bake until it's done. Add the onion-mixture, mint, coriander and parsley and warm it through, eventually stir in 2 tablespoons of soy sauce. Serve with rice or noodles.
Enjoy!
This is also one of our all-time favourites, only we use chicken instead of fish:
Ingredients
2 tbsp vegetable oil
half tsp brown mustard seeds
4 cloves
6 green cardamom pods, lightly crushed
1 large piece cinnamon stick
1 small onion, finely chopped
5cm/2in piece fresh ginger, peeled and quartered
2 large garlic cloves
1 tsp ground coriander
300ml/10½fl oz coconut milk
2-4 green chillies, left whole
salt, to taste
100ml/3½fl oz water
10 curry leaves (available from some supermarkets and Asian grocers)
½-1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
¾ tsp garam masala
500g/1lb 2oz salmon or firm white fish fillets, cut into large pieces
To serve
2-3 tsp lemon juice
50g/2oz fresh coriander leaves and stalks, chopped
Method
1. Heat the oil in a non-stick pan, add the mustard seeds, cloves, cardamom pods and cinnamon stick and stir fry for 20 seconds (be careful, the seeds might pop). Add half of the chopped onion and fry for 4-5 minutes until soft.
2. Meanwhile, place the remaining onion, the ginger, garlic, ground coriander and 100ml/3½fl oz of the coconut milk into a blender or food processor and blend to a smooth purée.
3. Add this mixture to pan along with the whole green chillies and salt, to taste. Cover with a lid and cook over a low heat for 12-15 minutes, giving the pot an occasional stir.
4. Add the remaining coconut milk, the water, the currry leaves, black pepper and garam masala and the fish and leave to cook undisturbed for about 3-5 minutes, until the fish is opaque and cooked through.
5. To serve, stir in the lemon juice and coriander. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary, then pour into bowls and serve with rice.
(taken from: BBC food - the most wonderful recipe resource site...)
In other news: I have the flu, I've been at home for 2 weeks now - I even let my parents come over to take me home because I felt so terrible - and haven't been able to do much. (Apart from having all the time I needed to write my research proposal for the PhD position in Amsterdam I am applying for, so that's good!). I completely understand why I have to get the flu vaccination every year now, because my lungs have been acting up so badly, that at times I thought I had pneumonia, not nice. I'm almost well again, finally, and now I am taking some sort of codeine to stop coughing just to let my lungs recover before I go back to work.
...to let you all know that I am still alive! I will update more often from now on, I promise. I have been extremely busy with my new job and, well, it took a while to get used to working 40 hours a week. But actually liking your job helps.
Random news: I tried a new recipe today, it tasted really nice, if I may say so myself. I made filo-pastry filled with a spicy meat mixture. Very yummie. You only need:
Filo-pastry packages filled with spicy meat
- some sheets of filo-pastry (depends on how many packages you want to make)
- ground beef
- 1 or 2 normal sized onions, roughly chopped
- 1 roughly chopped leek
- 1 or 2 teaspoons of sambal oelek (depends on how hot you want the meat to be, and how spicy the sambal is)
- 1 small can of tomato puree
- salt, pepper, curry powder, paprika powder to taste
gently fry the beef, the onions and the leek, season it well using the spices mentioned above. when it is cooked add the tomato puree and the sambal, mix very well.
Then take a sheet of filo pastry and put it on a flour-covered working space, brush the sheet with some olive oil and fold it once. Put a large spoonful of filling in the middle and then fold the sides to the middle so that the edges just overlap. Brush the edges of the pastry with beaten egg. and fold the other two sides to the middle in the same way, make sure that the package is as flat as possible. Finally heat some oil in a frying pan and gently fry the packages (one or two at a time) until golden brown and crisp.
Serve with sweet chilli sauce or sweet soy sauce and some salad. Enjoy!
