cooking – St GEORGIA & Boo

simple cooking and words

“As to what good qualities there may be in our souls, or Who dwells within them, or how precious they are — those are things which we seldom consider and so we trouble little about carefully preserving the soul’s beauty. All our interest is centred in the rough setting of the diamond, and in the outer wall of the castle — that is to say, in these bodies of ours.”
― Teresa of Ávila, Interior Castle

I’m moving to a slower rhythm, keeping things simple, deciding what can and can’t flow through my life right now. I’m sure, and unsure, being brave and honest with myself. I’m allowing, unresisting to any uncomfortable movements that are arising and just letting them be. I’m giving myself the grace to be with all it entails. This is the only way forward, this is the only way that the new story can be created from here. I must know all of my inner most ingredients, everything that makes me move the way i do. I’m spending much needed time, unraveling, dreaming, grieving, understanding and finding my way back, towards forgiveness and acceptance. I can see all the answers, i can see how wonderfully great it is going to be, i can see the picture i’m creating and the way it will look, but i know i can’t just arrive there, to this wonderful new place. i know that there’s no skipping ahead, not on this journey im on, not this time. Everything that comes up, needs to be moved through, nothing can be rolled up, or put to the side or saved for later.. for some other time. i have arrived in a place that i wont allow myself to travel back from, i am willing to do or not do, what ever it takes to arrive completely at home with myself, again.

lemon thyme tuna patties

ingredients: 4 potatoes, finely diced spanish onion, tuna, fresh sprigs of thyme, rind of 1 lemon, sea salt, cracked pepper, parsley, 5 slices stale bread, 1 free range egg, olive oil

method: in a food processor, combine bread, parsley pinch of salt and process into fine bread crumbs. Boil the potato’s whole with the skins on until cooked through and soft when pierced though the centre. Allow to cool slightly before peeling and disregarding the skins and mash with potato masher. Combine tuna with a little of the olive oil, onion, lemon rind, thyme, egg, with the potatoes. Stir mix through and season generously. Roll table spoonfuls into patties and coat in the bread crumbs , laying in a single layer on a tray and refrigerate for 1/2 an hour. Heat a non stick fry pan with olive oil and cook patties until a golden brown before gently turning to cook the other side. Serve with a light citrus salad, hot or cold.

free range kids, free range eggs

There is nothing simpler and nicer than wandering outside and collecting the eggs to then cook them up immediately for breakfast. If you have ever had eggs like this you will understand what I’m taking about..

ingredients: sourdough bread , free range fresh eggs, organic butter, organic baby asparagus spears, 1 avocado, juice of a lemon, olive oil, sea salt and cracked pepper, a couple of free range kids

method: Heat a non stick grill pan on low, put on a small pot of water for the asparagus. With a glass cut holes into the centre of the sourdough, lightly butter on both sides and put aside. Gently snip with fingers the ends off the asparagus and place into the water when it comes to the boil. Blanch for 2-3 minutes, then remove and run under cold water to stop the cooking process. Slice the avocado all the way around and remove the seed. Scoop the flesh out into a bowl and add the juice of half a lemon and season. Mash with a fork and set aside. Lightly oil the grill pan and turn the heat up to a medium heat then add the sourdough slices, as many as you can fit onto the pan. While toasting lightly season with salt and cracked pepper. Allow to toast for a minute or so then begin cracking your eggs into the holes of the bread. Allow the bread to cook to a buttery golden brown before flipping over to cook the other side. The second side will take less time than the first. Try not to over cook the eggs. When nicely toasted, take out of the pan and set aside on a board. While the grill pan is still hot add a little more olive oil and add the asparagus, gently sear for a minute, lightly season with salt. Serve the asparagus spears on the toasts, and add a spoonful of the avocado mixture to the plates. Give thanks and enjoy!

rustic bruschetta jamie style

in true Jamie style i haven’t included exact measurements in this recipe. It’s about fresh flavours and finding the balance that’s right for you. If you like it tangy add extra balsamic, if you want to balance it out a little add a touch more maple syrup, or you can substitute it for sugar. Be generous with your olive oil, and over all your dressing, its vital to have left overs to mop up from the board with the garlic toasts.

rustic bruschetta

ingredients: 6 slices of sourdough pagnotta or ciabatta bread, extra virgin olive oil,1 clove garlic, bunch of basil, vine ripe Roma tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, sea salt

method: heat a grill pan on high heat, lightly drizzle bread with olive oil and toast the bread both sides. When cooked and while still hot rub the toast with the clove of garlic on one side, then put a side. On a large board roughly chop tomatoes and basil, while still on the board, drizzle over the maple syrup, olive oil and balsamic vinegar and sea salt to taste. Mix with fingers while still on the board, top a few slices of the toast with the mix and slice and arrange rest of the bread on the side of the board. Place a few forks down and serve Jamie style.

Cinnamon Sugar French Toast

Cinnamon Sugar French Toast.

lemon slice

nothing can cure the soul but the senses, just as nothing can cure the senses but the soul.

-OSCAR WILDE

Lemon Slice Recipe

ingredients:150g unsalted butter softened,1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/3 cup caster sugar,1 1/3 cups plain flour,

lemon topping ingredients:4 free range eggs,1 tsp finely grated lemon rind,1/3 cup plain flour,1 1/3 cups caster sugar,2/3 cup lemon juice

method:Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Grease a slice pan and line with baking paper.

Place softened butter into a kitchen mixer with the sugar and vanilla and beat on low-speed for 2 minutes then add flour and continue mixing until a soft dough forms. Transfer to pan and press evenly into the base. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven. Set aside to cool.

Make topping Mix eggs, lemon rind, flour and sugar together on low-speed until smooth. Add lemon juice and continue mixing until combined. Pour over base. Bake for 15 minutes or until just set. Cool completely in pan. Dust with icing sugar. Slice into bite size pieces, serve, enjoy with tea.

day after curry…Jamie style

Jamie oliver is eminent for creating the most flavoursome dishes from left overs. We had slow roasted beef for Christmas lunch and an amazing curry with flat bread with the left overs, the next night.

For the curry

ingredients: left over meat or chicken, 2 potatoes,1 onion diced,1/2 cup green peas, 2 heaped tablespoons of curry powder, 1 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds,3/4 litre chicken stock, chilli (optional) season to taste

method: pull apart the meat or chicken, dice the potatoes in 1cm pieces, dice the onion and add all the ingredients and the curry powder, chilli, and enough chicken stock to cover to the targine. Stir around cover with the lid and cook in the oven at 175°C for 2 1/2 hours or until the liquid has reduced and the curry has come together. Serve with flat bread.

flat bread

ingredients:1 cup plain flour,1 cup natural yoghurt,pinch of salt,1 teaspoon baking powder,extra flour for rolling,olive oil for cooking, sea salt for seasoning

method: combine all ingredients into a bowl and bring together to form a dough. Then turn the dough out onto a clean surface lightly dusted with flour and knead into a ball. Cut small handfuls of the dough and then shape into a small round disk, lightly flour rolling-pin then roll out the dough into a thin consistency. Layer the dough between sheets of baking paper while you continue rolling out the remaining mixture. Heat a heavy base flat pan with a little olive oil, cook the dough one sheet at a time, adding a little extra drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt, cook both sides to a light golden brown. Once cooked set aside, and continue cooking the remaining bread.

raspberry and vanilla pod jam

It’s important that my children know where the food they eat begins. That not everything must be bought from the supermarket and most of the time what we can create in the kitchen with our own hands and hearts has a far greater effect on their well-being than anything that can be bought off a shelf, even jam.

Raspberry and Vanilla Pod Jam

ingredients: 700g fresh or frozen raspberries, 700g caster sugar, 3 teaspoons of vanilla pod paste, juice of 2 lemons, 1 tablespoon of pectin powder(optional)

method: Before beginning place a saucer in the freezer to chill and wash and sterilise your jars by boiling in a pot of water for 10 minutes. To make the jam, combine raspberries and sugar in a heavy base pot on a low heat and gently heat until all the sugar is dissolved. Add the vanilla paste and juice of the lemons and the pectin powder to the mix. Adjust the heat to a low boil, creating good movement within the mix. Stir regularly to avoid sticking and burning for 20 to 25 minutes. When the jam starts to reduce and thicken lower the heat and test by dropping a teaspoon of the jam onto the chilled plate from the freezer. If the jam develops a skin once on the plate and wrinkles when pushed with your finger, it’s ready. Turn off the heat and allow to stand for a few minutes before funneling into hot pre sterilized jars. Seal with the lids while still hot.

warm orange syrup for orange and poppy seed cake

orange and poppy seed cake

ingredients:1 1/2cups SR Flour,3/4cup caster sugar,1teaspoon vanilla extract,2tablespoons poppy seeds,3/4-1cup freshly squeezed orange juice,2freerange eggs,2 tablespoons olive oil,180grams softened butter

method:In a kitchen mixer combine the sugar, butter, vanilla and mix until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, olive oil, flour and orange juice. Once combined add the poppy seeds and stir through by hand. Pour the mix into a well greased and lined cake tin. Bake at 165°C in a preheated oven or until cooked through the middle.

Orange Syrup

ingredients: Rind of 1 orange pith removed, juice of 1 1/2 oranges,1/2cup caster sugar, teaspoon vanilla extract,1/4cup water

method:combine all the ingredients into a pan, simmer over a low heat until mixture thickens and becomes syrupy. Pour over orange cake while still warm. Serve with thickened cream

lemon buttermilk pancakes with raspberry coulis

ingredients:1 1/2cups self-raising flour,1 free range egg,375ml buttermilk,juice of 1 lemon,3tablespoons caster sugar,2teaspoons butter melted,1teaspoon vanilla extract,extra butter for cooking

method: In a mixing bowl add all of the ingredients and whisk into a smooth batter. heat a non stick fry pan and add a little butter over a low heat, with a large serving spoon add a heaped spoon into the pan. allow to cook to a light golden brown and bubble on the surface before flipping. Continue cooking the remaining mixture.

Raspberry Coulis

ingredients: 1cup frozen raspberries,juice of 1 1/2 lemons, 1tablespoon caster sugar

method: Combine all ingredients into a fry pan. Over a medium heat, simmer until the mixture thickens and becomes syrupy. Serve warm over the pancakes with a dollop of mascarpone or crème fraîche.

baked sweet potato chips

ingredients: 1 whole sweet potato, olive oil, sea salt flakes

method: pre heat the oven to 180°C. Peel and thinly slice the sweet potato and lay in a single layer onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. lightly drizzle with olive oil and season with the salt flakes. Cook in the oven for 20 minutes, keeping a watch that they don’t burn. When crisp remove from oven and allow to cool before storing in a jar or container.

Slow roasted chicken with silky potatoes green beans and veloutè sauce

Slow roasted chicken with silky potatoes green beans and veloutè sauce.

Slow roasted chicken with silky potatoes green beans and veloutè sauce

we ate well and cheaply and drank well and cheaply and slept well and warm together and loved each other

Earnest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

Restaurant Polidor 41 rue monsieur Le prince 75006 ParisPolidor restaurant featured in Woody Allen’s, Midnight in Paris 2011

We dined here three time during our four night stay, at this wonderfully humble restruant famous for Hemingway. I ordered the same meal twice not for any other reason than to simply indulge my senses once more in the simplicity of this succulent dish, suprême de poulet veloutè de morilles,purèe. ‘superbe’

Slow roasted chicken with silky potatoes and green beans with veloutè sauce

Ingredients for the chicken: 4 large pieces of free-range Maryland chicken,1 litre chicken stock, 3 continental parsley stalks, 2 cloves of garlic, cracked pepper

Method: place all the chicken into a deep baking dish, they can rest on top of each other. lay the parsley over the chicken, add the garlic whole to the baking dish, lightly season with the cracked pepper and then pour in the stock. Cover tightly with foil the entire top of the baking dish to keep all the steam contained. Set the oven at 180°C and slow roast for 2 hours. Check the chicken after approximately an hour and ladle the stock over the chicken sitting out of the stock, recover with the foil and continue roasting. Meanwhile prepare the veloutè.

ingredients for the veloutè sauce: 100grams butter,100grams flour,1litre chicken stock

Method:In a saucepan gently melt the butter without letting it colour. Remove from the heat and add the flour all at once and stir to combine. Place the pan back on the heat and cook over a gentle heat to a lightly fawn colour. Allow to cool. Bring the stock to the boil. Add the stock to the roux (flour mix) slowly over the heat, beating in well and allow to thicken before adding the next ladle. Bring to the boil, adjust heat to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes.

ingredients for the potatoes: 6 large desiree potatoes peeled and chopped,50grams butter, 250mls cream, salt to taste

method: In a pot of boiling water add the peeled and chopped potatos, boil on a rapid heat until cooked through then strain and return to the pot, mash well until there are no lumps . In another saucepan gently heat the butter until melted and add the cream cook until warmed through then add the mix to the potatoes. With a cake spatula and over a gentle heat work the cream through the potatoes until silky smooth.

Next, boil the string beans for a few minutes, ladle the veloutè into wide bowls add a large scoop of the potato and place a piece of the chicken on top finally drain the beans lightly drizzle in olive oil and season then place a few onto the chicken. Serve.

caramelised onion and pear tartlets

rustic bread and butter puddings

RUSTIC BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDINGS

ingredients

cob of pasta dura bread unsliced,4 free range eggs,2tsp vanilla extract,250ml cream,1 tsp cinnamon,1/4cup caster sugar,whole nutmeg for grating,1/4cup sultanas

method

roughly chop loaf of bread into cubes leaving the crust on. In a separate bowl whisk the eggs,cream,vanilla and sugar with a fork. In a large bowl add the bread and sultanas and pour over the egg mixture with hands turn and coat the bread and allow to soak for 10 minutes. Grease a muffin tray well and using hands fill each pan right up to the top with the bread mix. This is a rustic look bread and butter pudding so don’t be too neat with it. Any crusts on the top will crisp well when they cook.Bake in a preheated oven at 175°C for 20 minutes. Serve while still warm with maple syrup and a dollop of thickened cream. Eat at any time of the day or night. If your lucky enough to have any left overs store them in an airtight container in the fridge.

pumpkin and spinach pasta rotolo Jamie Style

This is a fabulous recipe that i have used over and over again. It is really easy, tasty and vegetarian. I like using a whole butter nut pumpkin that i just throw in the oven without any preparation and let it roast in the skin. It holds all the flavour and is really easy to slice and scoop out when cooked, defiantly a must try for anyone who loves roasted pumpkin. I used home-made fresh pasta however bought pasta sheets work just as well, if dried you will need to blanch the sheets for a couple of minutes in boiling water.

ingredients: 1 butternut pumpkin, 1 spanish onion,olive oil,500g frozen spinach,1/2tsp nutmeg,4 cloves garlic,2 can whole tomatoes,6+ fresh pasta sheets,50g feta,300g fresh ricotta,20g parmesan cheese,bunch of fresh sage, 1tsp raw sugar,sea salt,cracked pepper

method: Preheat the oven to 180°C, cook the pumpkin whole in a baking tray for about 1 hour and 30 minutes. when cooked remove and set aside. in a pan add olive oil and diced onion sauté for a few minutes then add cans of tomatoes with the juice, season generously with salt, cracked pepper and the raw sugar, turn heat to low at let sauce simmer for 20 minutes.

In a separate pan add olive oil and frozen spinach and the nut meg then season lightly, cook for 10 minutes or until the liquid has evaporated. Set aside to cool slightly, then add to the fresh ricotta and gently mix together. With a sharp knife slice the pumpkin length ways and discard seeds and skin, then scoop out flesh and roughly mash with a fork.

On a clean work surface , lay out pasta sheets facing length ways away from you. working quickly so the pasta doesn’t dry out, evenly divide and spread the pumpkin over the sheets. Then add a layer of spinach and ricotta and then crumble over the feta. Roll each sheet up and the cut evenly into four chunks and place facing up into half of the tomato sauce in a deep baking tray. Add remaining sauce over the top and place sage leaves and freshly grated parmesan cheese. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes in the oven until golden and crisp.

recipe slightly modified from Jamie Oliver,jamie’s italy.