Wednesday, June 30th

Made this last night, filling tastes good, but have not baked it yet.

Mushroom & Spinach in Filo

400g Spinach, washed. Place wet spinach in large pot on high heat, wilt for 5min & set aside.
300g Leeks, fried on low heat until soft, set aside.
50g Butter, melt in large pot
1kg Mixed mushrooms, chopped, fry in butter until dry.
500g Chunky cottage cheese, mix into mushrooms.
3 Free Range Eggs, stir into mushroom mixture.
150ml Moroccan Pomegranate Glaze or other spicy sauce, stir into mixture.
Squeeze spinach dry, chop finely and add to mixture along with leeks. Taste and add salt if necessary.

200g Phyllo pastry
100g Butter, melted
Cut pastry sheets to fit medium large Pyrex. Place 4 sheets in Pyrex, buttering each sheet with a pastry brush. Spread a third of the mushroom mixture onto pastry and continue. When complete, use a sharp knife to cut dish into portions before baking at 190C for 40 minutes.

Tuesday, June 29th

I absolutely loved What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt.

Lamb Curry

1kg Lamb leg chops, cubed.
45ml Pesto
70g Salted Lemon, minced
75ml Curry mix (very mild, for stronger curry, add more mix)
Place all in large oven roasting bag, shake gently to coat meat.

800g Mixed Mushrooms, chopped.
200g Celery with leaves, chopped
300g Brussel sprouts
500g Baby Potatoes
200g Carrots, peeled
3 Fresh bay leaves
Handful Rosemary sprigs
Add all to roasting bag, close bag, place in baking tray. Bake for 2hours at 180C, taking care that bag touches no part of oven.

Monday, June 28th

Margaret Atwood's Payback - Debt and the Shadow side of Life was a joy to read.

I also enjoyed The Magnificent Quest by Kelynda.

The Israeli film festival is currently on, my favourite film so far was A Matter of Size.

Easy Mushrooms

400g Large brown mushrooms, spread on baking sheet.
1 Clove garlic, minced, put a bit on each mushroom.
1 Lime, halved, squeeze a bit of juice on every mushroom, not too much.
100g Camembert, sliced. Arrange slices on top of mushrooms.
Bake for 15minutes, or until cheese is melted and browned, at 180C.

Friday, June 25th

French Tarragon Pesto

3k French tarragon, washed leaves only

15ml Garlic, chopped

100ml Fresh lemon juice

30ml Capers

50g Cashews

100g Asiago or Pecorino, grated

100ml olive oil

Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Puree and store in fridge in glass jar.

Thursday, June 24th

I was given a curry gift pack yesterday, so we had curry for supper.

Mushroom Curry

800g Large black mushrooms, put gills up on a baking tray and bake for 30minutes at 180C.
500g Potatoes, boil.

20ml Olive oil, heat in large pot.
25ml Cape Malay Curry mix or any other curry mix, add to hot oil and stir.
10ml Garlic, minced, add to spices and stir
200g Carrots, chopped, add to pot and stir.
50g Salted lemon, minced, add to pot and stir.
150g Celery, chopped, add to pot and stir.
80g Spring onions, chopped, add to pot and stir.
Stir for a few minutes, then add 250ml boiling water to pot. Keep kettle boiling and add water as needed throughout the process. As soon as carrots are soft enough, add quartered mushrooms and cubed potatoes. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes more, leaving the lid off if too watery.

Serve with delicious rice and sambals like spice cashews, chili threads, raisins, fennel seeds, slivered almonds and chutney.

Wednesday, June 23rd

Read more Canterbury Tales, Miller's Tale & Wife of Bath's tale.

Enjoyed the movie version of The Pharaoh's Daughter. Ballet is fabulous.

This is another incredibly easy, but delicious recipe.

Fridge Cheesecake

1 Packet Tennis biscuits, crumbed
100g Butter, melted in Pyrex
Add crumbed biscuits to butter, press against bottom and sides of dish. Set aside.

150ml Lemon juice, also lemon zest if you can find unwaxed lemons.
385g Condensed milk, stir in half the lemon juice and set aside.
250ml Whipping cream, add remaining lemon juice and beat until stiff.
250g Cream cheese, mix with condensed milk and cream.
Pour mixture into prepared crust. Refrigerate for an hour before serving.

Tuesday, June 22nd

Read the Knight's Tale in a No Fear version of Canterbury Tales yesterday. Fun.

Saw Broken Embraces. Almodovar is my favourite director and once again he did not disappoint, I loved the film and really enjoyed the reference to Woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

The cake is delicious, the texture is very fine, colour very white and it stays fresh for at least a week.

Angel Food Cake (fat free)

12 Free Range egg whites, beat until whites stay in bowl when turned upside down
2ml Salt, add to whites
7ml Cream of Tartar, add to whites

400g Castor sugar
200g Flour
Sieve together and beat into stiff whites, a bit at a time.

50ml Lemon juice, not sieved, pips removed. Stir into mixture.

Pour mixture into ungreased loose bottomed ring tin and bake for 40minutes at 180C. Eat plain or pour lemon curd over cake.

Monday, June 21st

Read and enjoyed Mrs Beeton's Household Book, edited by Kay Fairfax, yesterday. I am deeply thankful not to be a maid! "The influence of the cook is immense upon the happiness of a household." she says.

Abandoned Jesus the Man, but read the first part of another book by Barbara Thiering, Jesus of the Apocalypse. According to The Book of General Ignorance there never was a 666, the correct translation would be 616.....

Finally finished In the Devil's Garden by Stewart Lee Allen. This led me to contemplate the origins of food prejudice in communities and individuals. The loss of prejudice against eating apes and monkeys is fast leading to the extinction of the big apes in Africa, who are being turned into bushmeat at an alarming rate.

I have many food prejudices, and would be unwilling to eat many of the dishes recommended by Mrs Beeton; no widgeon, woodcock, snipe or larks for me! Mr Allen describes pregnant sows kicked to death to impart extra savour as well as many other revolting practices.

I seem to have few prejudices against trying vegetables and cooked strange brown tubers yesterday, matumbis. They tasted somewhat like potatoes with the texture of a sweet potato.

Gammon

400ml Coke, poured into deep Pyrex
250ml Dry red wine, add to coke

150g Pesto
5ml Salt
15ml Garlic, chopped.
Mix together.

1.7kg Gammon
Spread with pesto, place in coke & wine mixture, put lid on. Bake at 180C for 3 hours.

Friday, June 18th

Recently bought The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing by Richard Dawkins.
Only got to p11 last night, but I like it. I think RD is a good writer when he is not being a fundamentalist atheist.


Shiitake Pasta

500g Fresh pasta, boil according to packet instructions.

240g Shiitake mushrooms, fried in butter.

250ml Cream, place in pot on low heat
200g Blue Mascarpone, add to cream and melt.

Stir mushrooms in, then pasta.

Serve with grated Asiago.

Thursday, June 17th

Chicken Lasagne

350g Fresh Lasagne sheets
100g Butter
300g Leeks, chopped, fried slowly in butter
1kg Skinless, boneless, cubed Chicken breasts, sealed in butter
Line large Pyrex with lasagne, top with leeks, top with lasagne, top with chicken, top with lasagne.

100g Butter, melt in pot
1 Onion, grated. Add to butter in pot, put lid on and leave on low heat for 5 minutes.
50g Flour, add to onion, stir, leave for 3 minutes.

4 Sprigs Rosemary, leaves removed from stems
60g Salted lemon
5ml Garlic
750ml Milk
Puree together. Add to butter and flour mixture, stirring slowly.
170g Red Leicester cheese, grated, add to sauce, stirring until cheese is melted. Pour over lasagne.
170g Double Glouchester cheese with chives, grated. Sprinkle over lasagne. Bake for 1 hour at 200C.

The English cheeses with the leeks give an interesting and different flavour to this lasagne.

Wednesday, June 16th

Lemon Curd

12 Free Range egg yolks
250g Sugar
500ml Lemon juice, sieved
Whisk together in top of double boiler or deep round Pyrex that will fit into a pot. Place over hot water on medium heat, whisking constantly.
300g Butter, cut into small squares.
Add pieces of butter on at a time, whisking until incorporated before adding next piece. Pour into glass bottles and keep in refrigerator. Excellent with chocolate cookies.

Tuesday, June 15th

Saw Dr Parnassus earlier. Some fabulous visuals, otherwise disappointing.

Chicken soup

100g Butter
650g Chicken, deboned, no skins. Fry in butter to seal.
300g Leeks, chopped, fried in butter.
400g Carrots, chopped, fried in butter.
250g Celery, chopped, fried in butter.
2l Stock, boiling
15g Fresh Tarragon

Add all ingredients to boiling stock. Cook for 5 minutes and serve.

Monday, June 14th

Reading The Secret Magdalene by Ki Longfellow, a novel. Interesting. Fits well with Jesus the Man that I am not finished with.

Paisley Pastry

500g Butter Puff Pastry, unrolled
100g Pesto, spread evenly on pastry, right to ends, leaving only last 3cm plain
200g Smoked Trout Ribbons, arranged on pesto
125g Brie, sliced and arranged on trout
50g Gorgonzola, crumbled over Brie

Roll pastry up again, ending with the clean piece, press lightly to seal. Slice into 12 or 13 rounds. Shape rounds into paisleys by pinching a tail. Place on baking sheet. Bake at 220C for 15 minutes or until pastry is golden brown.

Friday, June 11th

World Cup fever has struck Pretoria. We were woken at 6 this morning by someone blowing a vuvuvela.


Winter Salad
1 Punnet cocktail tomatoes
1 Punnet gooseberries
1 Pomegranate, peeled
Mix together.

Cauliflower
300g Cauliflower, cut into florets, boiled
100g Mascarpone blue
Melt Mascarpone over cauliflower and serve.

Thursday, June 10th

Bread Pudding

100g Butter, place in large Pyrex, microwave for 1 minute to melt
6-8 Medium white bread rolls, each sliced into 4 and dipped into melted butter
60g Raisins, soaked in whiskey
Layer bread with most of the raisins in the middle.

500ml Whipping cream
750ml Full cream milk
Warm together on low heat. Do not boil.

6 Free Range Eggs
300g Sugar
10ml Mixed Spice
5ml Fresh lime juice
Whisk together, pour into milk mixture, whisk well. Pour over bread and leave to stand for at least an hour.

Bake at 180C for 45-50 minutes. Serve hot or cold with ginger nuts in syrup and cream.

Wednesday, June 9th

Now reading Jesus the Man by Barbara Thiering. Interesting take on the New Testament.

Saw Sex and the City yesterday. Fabulous clothes as always.

Vegetable Pasta

500g Pasta, cook as per packet instructions, use lemon salt, leave in colander

250ml Cream, put in empty pasta pot on low heat
150g Gorgonzola, cubed, add to cream and stir until melted
3ml Tasty Paste, add
150g Asparagus tips, cooked
150g Broccoli, cooked
300g Cauliflower, cooked, cut into florets

Mix well, add pasta to pot, stir through, grate some nutmeg over dish.

Tuesday, June 8th

Fruit Salad

1 Pear, crispy, cubed
2 Granadillas
1 Small bunch of grapes, halved
15ml Cacao nibs
A perfect breakfast salad for one.

Monday, June 7th

There was some mention in the introduction of The Odyssey to the huge number of meals described in the book, but what struck me even more was the number of tears cried. Eish!

Sundried Tomato Pesto

200-300g Sundried Tomatoes, drained, wet weight. (Soak in hot water if dessicated.)

30g Garlic
30g Nuts
50g Pecorino or Asiago
50ml Lemon juice
150-250ml Olive oil

Puree together. Use only as much olive oil as needed. Store in a glass jar in the refrigerator.

Friday, June 4th

Saw new Coen brothers movie yesterday, A Serious Man. Weird, interesting. Still reading The Odyssey.

Chocolate cookies

250g Butter, melted
250g Sugar
100g Cocoa powder
300g Flour
15ml Whiskey

Mix together and press into shallow, lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes at 180C. Cut into small squares as soon as you remove it from the oven. Delicious with fruit.

Thursday, June 3rd

Cheesy Asparagus Tart

100g Butter, melted
170g Red Leicester or similar (reserve a handful)
150g Flour
Mix together and press into square Pyrex. Set aside.

500g Asparagus, cooked and chopped
100g Onion, grated
400g Feta, chopped or crumbled
20g Basil
Put half the asparagus in Pyrex, top with half onion, half feta & half Basil. Repeat. Press down.

125ml Cream
2 Free Range eggs
3ml Mustard powder
1ml Cayenne pepper
Whisk together and pour over feta and asparagus. Top with reserved handful of cheese. Bake at 180C for 1 hour.

I tried this recently without eggs, I used an extra 125ml cream with 45ml tapioca flour.

Wednesday, June 2nd

Saw Met Opera's HTC movie, Armida last night. Loved it. Was horrified to realise once again how we are constantly indoctrinated to find fat ugly. Two non-singing parts (Love & Vengeance) were filled by actors with less than beautiful bodies. I was severely irritated and offended by having to look at their ugly bits on display.


Ricotta Risoni

500g Risoni, cooked according to packet instructions (use lemon salt) and drained

150g Ricotta, drained
150g Gorgonzola, grated
Stir cheeses in hot pasta pot, when mixed well, add risoni and stir through. Layer in loaf Pyrex, sprayed with olive oil, with:

large handful Basil leaves
410g Tomato & onion mix, canned
Top with:

200g Cheddar

Bake at 180C for 40 minutes .

Tuesday, June 1st

Tasty Paste

Use this to flavour any savoury dish. You could also use 50ml of this paste with 200ml water as stock.

3 parts Salted lemon
1 part Garlic
2 parts Fresh ginger
1/2 part Fresh chili (optional)

Puree together. Keep in glass jar in refrigerator.