Another month...

Another month has gone by and not much writing has happened! That is not to say I haven't been busy, in fact very busy, with the warm weather settling in so are the weeds and we have a big garden that means a lot of weeding to do!
And planting and seeding, so another month of not much cooking but a lot of gardening, see for yourself...

"The Jungle"

Before

After

Vegetable beds fencing doubled up with chicken wire
(potato "field" in the background)Bleeding heart & Fushia

Strawberries

Mountain beaver??..

Spring is upon us again which means I have spent a lot of time in the garden rather than in the kitchen this month of April.
If you remember, last year a mountain beaver chopped my newly planted leeks. So this year I completely surrounded my vegetable garden beds with fencing hoping this would detter the little creature.
So what a surprise when one morning I looked over and saw this little guy hopping into my garden beds and then running for dear life upon seeing me! At first I thought, here is my mountain beaver, these little rodents are very specific to this area of the US, and can make a lot of damage, you can find more info here.

But after investigation it turned out my visitor was a Norway rat, I say was as my faithfull knight (aka Jewel the dog) rid me of this pest in one bite of her powerful jaw.

So long little rat, RIP.

Short crust Flaky dough/Pâte brisée

Here is a very versatile pastry dough a friend of mine gave me, it is perfect and works every time, the secret is to not overwork the dough.

Short crust Flaky dough
For 1 x 11 to 12" (28 to 30 cm) diameter tart dish
Ingredients
200 gr / 1.5 cup All purpose flour
113 gr / 1 stick unsalted butter, cold and diced
1/2 Tsp salt
75 gr / 4 TBSP ice cold water (place a couple of ice cubes in a glass of water)

Method
In a food processor place flour, butter and salt and pulse a few times untill you obtain a kind of crumble then add the water and pulse a couple more times, DO NOT overwork.
Take the mixture out on a cling film/plastic food wrap and by hand form a ball by gently pressing it together, then place a second sheet of cling film on top of the ball of dough and roll the dough out between the 2 sheets of film into the desired thickness.
This will make it easy to roll and lay into the dish you choose by simply peeling of the top layer of film and inverting the dough on the dish and peeling of the second sheet of film.

Last minute "steak" and Guinness pie

Last Tuesday I got home at 17h and given that it was St Patrick's day and my history with Ireland we had to have something Irish for dinner, so I put together a last minute Guinness pie with what I had in the fridge.

Last minute "steak" and Guinness pie
For 6 (or 4 very hungry appetites!)
Ingredients
3 slices Bacon, chopped
1 big yellow Onion
1 TBSP brown sugar
6 Mushrooms, sliced
1 bottle Guinness 12 fl oz
1 TBSP flour
1 Pound ground beef (since this is last minute I had no time to simmer the steak for hours and ground beef worked just as well)
2 Carrots, peeled and diced
1 Courgette, small and diced
1/2 cup to 1 cup Green peas
1 small head Broccoli
Thyme, Rosemary, Pepper, salt, Worcestershire sauce, to taste
Flaky pastry dough (see separate recipe)

Method
In a large frying pan sauté the chopped bacon, then after a couple of minutes add the thinly sliced onion and sauté till it get a slightly caramelised colour, add 1 TBSP brown sugar then the sliced mushrooms.
After 5mn pour some of the Guinness over the mixture and let it simmer on low heat for 10 to 15mn, half way through add the TBSP of flour to thicken the sauce, pour more Guinness and continue simmering, adding salt, pepper, thyme and rosemary (don't put too much salt as the Worcestershire sauce has still to be added later).
When the sauce/gravy is thick enough add the ground beef and let everything simmer, add more Guinness when necessary, the mixture should not be too wet or too dry.
Then add the carrots, courgette, green peas and broccoli and stir all.
By this time the entire bottle of Guinness should have been poured and sufficiently evaporated so the mix is just moist enough.
Add a few drops of Worcestershire sauce, make sure you taste.
Pour all in an oven proof dish (Pyrex in my case), spread evenly and cover with rolled out flaky dough, tucking it in the sides of the dish, make a few holes for the steam to escape.
Place in pre-heated oven at 400 F for 30mn or so (until the dough is baked).
When baked remove from the oven, and for a personal touch add a few drops of Jameson Irish Whiskey in each of the steam holes and place in the oven for a further 5mn then take out and let stand for 5mn and serve... with a pint of Guinness, of course ;-)
Slánte! (Irish for "to your health")

Happy St Patrick's day!

The recipe of this Guiness pie will follow shortly,

in the meantime have a very happy St Patrick's day!

GF Orange Cranberry Pecan Muffins

I recently came across an excellent Gluten Free recipe book "125 Best Gluten-Free Recipes" by Donna Washburn and Heather Butt, I highly recommend it to people affected by gluten intolerance, and even for non celiac the recipes in this book "work" and taste great. Here is my adaptation of one of their recipes

Orange Cranberry Pecan Muffins

Ingredients
1.5 / 375 ml cup Rice flour
1/3 cup / 75 ml Cornstarch
1/3 cup / 75 ml Tapioca starch (you can grind your own from tapioca pearls in a coffee grinder)
1.5 tsp / 7 ml Xanthan gum (essential in gluten free baking to "glue" the GF flours together)
1 Tbsp / 15 ml Baking powder (GF)
3/4 tsp / 4 ml Salt
1 cup / 250 ml Dried cranberries

1/2 cup / 125 ml Pecan (grossly chopped)

1 cup / 225 ml Orange juice
2/3 cup / 150 ml Orange marmalade
1 tsp / 5 ml Cider vinegar
1/2 stick / 50 gr Butter
2 Eggs

Method
In a bowl mix together all the dry elements (rice flour, cornstarch, tapioca starch, xanthan gum, baking powder, salt, dried cranberries, pecan).
In another bowl mix well the wet ingredients (orange juice, marmalade, vinegar, melted butter eggs)
Pour the wet mixture over the dry mixture and gently combine with a fork (do not overwork).
Using a cookie spoon fill each muffin mold and let them stand for 30 mn.
Bake in pre-heated oven at 360 F / 180 C for 20 to 30 mn depending on your oven and the size of the muffin molds you are using (I use mini silicon molds which makes it easy to unmold when baked).
Let the muffins cool on a rack before enjoying them for breakfast or with a cup of tea or coffee.

Mushroom soup

Mushrooms are typically an autumn crop (thus the photo), but soups are really a nice comfort food, especially in these long winter months. While living in Ireland I was given this delicious recipe for mushroom soup, I make it from time to time and always love it.

Mushroom soup

Ingredients

1 Tbsp Olive oil

1 Shallot

1/2 pound Mushrooms (I use crimini)

2 cloves of garlic (according to taste)

1 slice smoked bacon

2 Tbsp Parsley (fresh if possible)

1 Thick slice of bread (brown preferably, cut into small pieces)

1.5 pint Chicken stock

A pinch of freshly grated Nutmeg

Salt and Pepper to taste

1/4 pint Cream or Milk

Method

Wash the mushrooms (do not peel or remove the stalks), cut them in small pieces.

Finely chop the shallot.

In a large pan pour the olive oil on medium heat and soften the shallot, add the mushroom pieces and let them soften for a few minutes.

Add the garlic finely cut (or crushed), the slice of bacon thinly sliced and 1 Tbsp of parsley.

Let it all stew for a few minutes then add the slice of bread and chicken stock and simmer for a further 15 mn or more. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste.

Liquidise then add the cream or milk, re-heat and serve with 1 Tbsp of fresh parsley.