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.