March 9th, Tuesday

Paged through Secret Universe of Names by Roy Feinson last night. Bought as gift, but like it a lot. It says of my name: gregarious, dependable, mellow, reticent, overstimulated & controlling. Very apt! I am keeping it.

Recipe a great favourite of mine, based on a Nigella Lawson recipe for brownies.

BLONDIES

375g butter

400g white chocolate

Melt together in microwave

500g sugar

6 large free range eggs

5ml mixed spice

Beat together & stir into chocolate

250g flour

2ml salt

300g brazil nuts

Stir in with other ingredients

Pour into lined baking tin & bake

@ 175° C for 45 minutes.

March 8th

Pilaff

2 onions
1T garlic

Chop & fry in olive oil

500ml Rice
200g Mushrooms, chopped

Add & fry for 5 minutes more

1l Stock

Add & stir.

250ml Fresh herbs
100g Sundried tomatoes
100g Dried apricots

Chop all, add , put lid on and cook for about one hour @ 180° C.

Saturday, March 6th

Began Wild - an elemental journey by Jay Griffiths last night. There are 4 pages of excellent reviews, none of which I disagree with so far.

Ate horrible Goulash soup at a restaurant recently. This is a recipe I developed 2 winters ago, not a soup, a stew.

Goulash

1kg pork neck Cube & brown in olive oil

4 onions Chop & soften with meat

5ml mustard powder

5ml paprika

30ml salt

10ml brown sugar

25ml Worcestershire sauce

25ml vinegar

410g Tomatoes (canned)

1can water

Add all to pot with meat and onions, put lid on and cook for 2 hours.

3 paprika's Chop & add ½ hour before serving

2T potato flour Mix with cold water and add 5 minutes before serving

5 March

Cape Velvet Biscuits

250g Butter (very soft)

90g Sugar

25ml Cape Velvet/ Amarula or other cream & whiskey liqueur

2ml Salt

250g Cake flour (sieved)

75g Pecans (chopped)

Cream butter and sugar. Add other ingredients one by one and mix well. Roll dough into a fat sausage, cover with plastic and refrigerate for an hour. Cut rolled dough into thin slices (2-3mm thick) place on baking tray and bake for 10 – 15 minutes at 175° C. DO NOT BROWN. Dredge with icing sugar and enjoy.

I left out the last step this time, and instead of dredging, spread it with dulce de leche, divine. Do not spread until ready to eat, biscuits will become soggy.

Thursday, 4th of March

Read more of In the Devil's Garden. Chapter on gluttony turned my stomach. I have no wish to eat endangered species, however delicious.

Made Pim Techamuanvivit's Dulce de leche. Divine and very easy. (Put one can of condensed milk with one pod of vanilla into glass dish with lid into bain marie at 220 C for one hour)

Quiche below result of fridge clean out. No crust because I am not fond of crust and it is messy and time consuming to make.


Crust-less quiche
serves 4 to 6

5 Free range eggs
375ml Plain yogurt or cream (or a mixture of the two)
100ml Pesto
200ml Tomato based pasta sauce (optional)
250g Feta (crumbled)
500ml Roasted veg (I used tomatoes, courgettes and capsicums, roasted for 30mins at 180C)
You may want to add bacon, salmon, prosciutto or any cooked or smoked meat or fish.

Mix all, pour into glass Pyrex sprayed with olive oil, and bake at 180 C for 1 hour.
Serve with salad.

March 3rd, Wednesday

Finished A Man About a Dog. Euphemisms for going to the lavatory, other bodily functions, having sex and being drunk abound. Can you believe that 'riding the rag' is a euphemism for menstruation!

After reading Nancy Gibbs's essay on rape of female soldiers by their fellow soldiers, I was particularly unamused by the many euphemisms for rape. In some instances Nigel Rees does not even have the decency to call the crime (rape) by its name: "robbed of her honour: Seduced, forcibly relieved of her virginity."



pasta with bacon & egg

serves 4

500g Organic Mafaldine (or any pasta)

Follow instructions.

250g Bacon (Layer on baking sheet, bake at 180 C until crispy)
6 Free Range eggs (Break into mixing bowl and stir with fork)
3-6 Spring onions (finely chopped)
5ml Garlic (chopped)
200ml Whipping cream
150g Feta
250ml slow roasted tomatoes in olive oil (drained) or any roasted, dried or fresh tomatoes
100ml pesto
100g provolone picante (grated)

Sweat (lid on, low heat) spring onions and garlic in pot with 15ml bacon fat or olive oil from tomatoes for 5 minutes. Add cream, pesto and eggs. Crumble feta into mixture and add tomatoes. Add chopped bacon & provolone picante. Add drained, cooked pasta and serve piping hot.

Tuesday, March 2nd

Nigel Rees's A Man About a Dog (2467 examples of verbal perfume) is a fun read. Read to L last night. Finished from aferwit to zemblanity by Simon Herton. I found it delightful. Unfortunately I have already forgotten many of the new words.


slow roasted tomatoes

Rinse cherry tomatoes, let them dry. Spray baking trays with olive oil, spread tomatoes on trays in single layer. Bake in oven with fan at 70 C for 48 hours. Put hot tomatoes in glass bottles, add a few sprigs of rosemary, fill with olive oil, close and refrigerate when cool.