HagelToast - tales from a tiny kitchen

If you wander in or are wondering

2007-06-02T09:04:00.000-07:00

life gets in the way of cooking and since i started studying through work and met my hunny i havent had timeto use the kitchen so much. as a result this blog fell by the wayside. Since i am trying hard ot lose weight i started low fat toast and a mixture of stuff is going to be on there. Weight loss stuff and foody stuff. Head back to my profile if you want to take a look.

eat like a viking

2006-07-05T15:49:00.000-07:00

there where things i didn't like about the dining experiance in denmark, like paying £4 ($7) for a beer, but the food, well principally they eat meat and cheese. I was in heaven. I love Shawarma anyway, tho i didn't get the chance to indulge on this trip (it's like a doner kebab but spiced and nicer) but the burgers... ah the humble beefburger, was an exqisite gourmet experiance. different and fabulous bread such as focacia replaced the humble burger bun, and the meat (note, meat, not fat and gristle) sat nestled in a salad, not a few limp lettuce leaves but a full and proper salad, dressed with thousand island or curry dressing or garlic mayo, all fresh and delicious and, just to top it off in perfection, cheese!!!!
My mouth is watering just typing it, oh burger king, how you have cheated me, now i know the joy of a real burger!!!

quiet time

2006-04-26T00:56:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the lack of recent posts on this blog, I have been baking a bit, but I haven't generally been as happy with the results.
Non the less I did a coffee and blueberry cake a week or so ago that i really enjoyed.
Basic Principles, y'know flour, margerine, sugar and eggs, but I used demerara sugar, dark and soft. I then poured hot water on instant coffee, only about 1/4 cup of water with plenty of coffee and mixed it all in. Then stirred in some dried blueberries and threw it in a loaf tin and into the oven. I am not sure if I took pictures of this one, i will look later and let you know.

On the subject of food, The White Hart where we stayed on our Jaunt at the weekend served fantastic food. At lunchtime we just had baguettes with cold fillings, I went for cheese and onion, M had ham, but they warmed the bread, it was lovely and soft and tasty!! Then at dinner, we had a proper meal. M's ribeye steak dissapeared completely and the fries he had were the best ever, I think they must have just washed, chipped and deep fried the potatoes with out peeling them, at any rate i may well purchase a deep fat fryer this weekend, they were that good!!! I went for spicy meatballs on spaghetti, the meatballs were wonderful, real pieces of meat, fresh and delicious!! i am dubious about meatballs and burgers and the ike, although i love them occasionally for a really grubby sort of treat, but these were perfect, and then we shared a piece of white chocolate cheesecake with blueberry compote, yummmmm. I am sorry to say i didn't take pictures of this meal. But we shall be eating there again soon and I shall try to get photos for you.

In the meantime, check out this blog by the author of The Julie/Julia Project.
http://juliepowell.blogspot.com/

Pizza

2006-04-09T11:42:00.000-07:00

I love Pizza, takeaway, frozen or fresh, but I lve to make pizza too,I can't think why i didn't do it for so long.

All you need for the base is 450g flour, 1/2 pint of warmwater, yeast, and a litle salt and sugar.
So, here's the dough, one still balled and the other thoroughly kneaded

and here are the pizzas ready for the oven, i used chilli oil instead of tomato paste,

and here is one fresh from the oven

I use a blend of half and half, plain white and plain wholemeal flour, gives it abit more depth of flavour, but I found all wholemeal too heavy. This time I loaded them down with a variety of spicy sausages and chicken tikka and went easy on the cheeses (by my standards). The boys were appreciative and two large pizzas were devoured between the three of us, with much lipsmacking and little finnesse. It's quick and easy, 10mins to prepare, leave somewhere warm for half an hour for the easy bake yeast towork and the bases to rise, slap on your toppings and bake for about 20 mins at a moderate temp.

assorted musings....just add mayonaise

2006-04-01T23:41:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking a lot about bolognaise. It's a perennial in my kitchen, and I have come across a lot of recipes for it recently. There seem to be as many variations as there are people who cook it, maybe more, apparently this is poften the case with Italian food, maybe that's the appeal for me. The same meal being made in a hundred different ways, it's free and easy cooking, just the way i like it. I even saw a recipe for Gothic Spag Bol, where you have a very red bolognaise anddye the pasta blackwith squid ink. I know what i'm cooking this Halloween then.
I make bologanise because I can do it in 15 minutes and create something delicious when my cupboards a nearly bare, i need mince, tomatoes, whatever else and my spice rack, on pasta. I did it last night for Mark and Phil, and it was delicious even tho i had no veggies to throw in it, the spice combination and quantities, no doubt never to be perfectly replicated, gave it a lovely flovour and we all enjoyed the meal, on the other hand i saw a fabulous recipe for bolognaise that requires simmering for three hours, never going to happen in my kitchen, but if anyone wants to invite me over i am happy to try it. :)

Someone posted on their blog about Jam the other day, how she's got so many pots qand loves it, but prefers her bread savoury. I am in the same boat. As I result i set about finding other uses for jam, and i reckon i've nailed it, Heat up some banana cake, out some cold jam on it in a dollop and devour.
I took a photo of my selection of sweet spreadables.

Last random thought today I promise.

I have been sorting and moving things inthe house, trying to tidy up, sort things for car boot sales to clear space in the house for Mark who is worrying about where all his things will go when he moves in. well he has a point if i'm honest. Anyway, the one thing I haven't tried to rationalise as yet is my cookery book collection, in fact the sneaky devil seems to be expanding.
Are you too addicted to cook books? How do you control your habit?
Here is the evidence of mine.
That's about 2 metersof cook books, and my booze cabinet. The bottomshelf that isn't fully inpicture is books i ammoving out of that room, hence the mess.

Cafe Italiano

2006-03-24T02:08:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I went somewhere in leicester i had never eaten before, on the recommendation of a freind. Cafe Italiano, with it's almost minimal feel and singing waiter, seriously he'd burst into song ever so often, just a few lines, and banter with customers.
They don't take cards, just cash or cheques, which is unusual these days. It was a lovely restaurant and the food was good italian food, I shall go again soon i think.
Mark ordered spaghetti bolognaise, which is fairly normal, I went for the tagliatelle 4 formaggi, I love cheese!
Here is M enjoying his food.

and my tagliatelle and latte.

2006-03-10T02:25:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to say, if you haven't already checked them out, the other food blogs i link to are well worth a look.

crazy bakin

2006-03-09T08:34:00.000-08:00

I had a bit of a mad spree of baking tuesay night. Sadly the mixture turnedout to be a bit bland, so while everything is tasty enough on its own, it doesn't deliver the utter deliciousness of the banana cake. Still I bake and learn.
Some of these are destined for icing and stuff anyway, so we shall see how it all works out in the long run.

Dark Chocolate and White choc/vanilla mini muffins

banana muffins, cupcake sized

And todays lunch, scrambled egg on toast. I used three eggs a lump of butter, a splash of milk, a little mustard, some strong italian cheese and some slced pimento stuffed olives.
YUM!

Incidentally, i only have two of these plates and two mugs to match, the pink and a dark brown, they are from Habitat and are more than i usually spend on plates. I just totally fell in love with them.

micro kitchen

2006-03-06T12:56:00.000-08:00

I have such a tiny kitchen, and it is so overcrowded, but I thought i'd share some pics.

The Spice rack, by the door into the hall.

The Counter, my only work surface, the other wall houses the sink, the oven and one cupboard with the microwave on top and the boiler on the wall above that,

And on top of the cupboards

So there you go, that's where it all takes place.

Conversions for Kamper

2006-03-02T11:08:00.000-08:00

As my one loyal reader here I wanted to give you those conversions.

150g sugar is 3/4 cup
1 1/2 cups of self raising flour is 225g
1/2 cup of sour cream is 120g

soooo, I would go with 50g = 1/4 cup and feel your way from there. To be honest i am hardly the worlds most precise weigher so I don't think you can go far wrong. :)

Ok, Banana cake
this is adapted from the womens weekly cafe cakes book.

3 medium/overripe bananas, mashed
125g butter
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinamon and nutmeg
2 eggs
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 cup cream
1/4 cup milk

perheat oven to moderate
grease a loaf tin (15 x 25 cm) and line the base with greasproof paper, just the base tho.
beat the butter, sugar and spice together thoroughly
beat int he eggs
stir in flour, soda and everything else
stir until your happy its mixed
pour it into the tin and shove it in the ven for about 50 mins
when its done stand it for 5mins, then turn it out to cool.

I iced mine with 1 1/2cups icing sugar, 1tsp of marg mixed, then a few squirts of lime juice and just enough cream to make it a paste, very sweet, kind of fondnty flavour.

I missed something

2006-03-01T16:04:00.000-08:00

Not surprising really, being new to reading the community of food blogs out there and not really being a food blogger in earnest, so much as posting a few recipes to amuse myself and keep Kamper busy. ;)
So, much as i am a huge fan of the humble cheese sandwich and of other peoples food blogs i only just stumbled on this
http://www.laist.com/archives/2006/02/18/glossy_mags_vs_foodblogs.php
basically some guy in a magazine said food blogs are about as interesting as a cheese sandwich and as a result a lot of food bloggers posted recipes of cheese sadnwiches in protest.
Well yumm, frankly. :)

Pheasant Casserole and Chilli Chocolate

2006-02-23T11:35:00.000-08:00

This handsome pair of Cock Phessies were a sacrifice to a friend, however the source of these plump and delicios chapswas my mum's garden. I amvery fortunate,my parents live in North Devon, it's beautiful and slightly wild countryside, though Exmoor is less bleak than Dartmoor. They are at the top ofthe hill andsome days are among the clouds, but on a clear day you can see forever. This has various advantages, oneis I never complain about visiting my folks, because I get free roomand board in lovely lodgings in someofthe most gorgeous countryside England has to offer the other, is that being slap bang in the middle of popular shooting country they get endless Pheasants attempting to destroy the lawn. Mum, as a result has a freezer full of thee birds, already cleaned and jointed, which when i want them, is how i take them, but Warro is hardier than me, so he got theminthe feather.

First of all Pheasant, if you have never had it, does not taste of chicken,it has a distinctive flavour, and being game, some people hang itfor a nice long time to give it a very strong flavour. Not really being game people, Mum only hangs them for about two days, in practical terms this means they are milder flavoured and only slightly wiffy instead of stinking when she prepares them.

I'm rambling, here's the recipe:
Norfolk Casserole of Pheasant
Serves4 (origin unknown to me)

Ingrediants
1 large or two small pheasants
1/2 pint of chicken or game stock (chicken has a milder flavour)
1oz flour
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp mixed herbs
4 rashers of bacon
2 medium onions
1tbsp sunflower or olive oil
1/4 pint sweet cider
2 dessert apples
2 tbsp sweet sherry (opt)

Preprepare up to stage 7 the day before if possible, but certainly early.
1) cut birds into approx 8 pieces for 4 people
2) blend flour with seasoning and herbs, coat the joints
3) de rind bacon and cut into small pieces, finely chop onions
4) heat bacon rrinds in oil and add coated birds, cook 10 mins turning several times
5) transfer birds to casserole, put onions and bacon in pan & cook for 5 mins, put on joints in casserole
6) pour stock and cider into pan, stir and season, boil briskley for 5 mins, discard rinds and pour sauce intocasserole to just cover meat
7) cover and cook 1hr in preheated oven at 180deg (moderate oven)

8) core but donot peel apples and cut into rings and add to top of casserole, add sherry
9) continue cooking for 1/2 hour to 1 hour at 180 deg

Variations
white or red wine can be used instead of cider, sherry and apples. Personally i use a scrumpy cider and skip the sherry and apples. Yummy.

Now i said something about chocolate
a few days ago, i came acros for the first time, the concept of hot chocoalte infused with chilli. Wow!!! Well, today i was oin Nottingham for my course, and they have some shops we don't in leicester, including this palce http://www.hotelchocolat.co.uk/cx1/
Ah, thought i, while i am preoccupied with hot chocolat anyway, i will bet they do the good stuff, from solids instead of powder. Quite right,they do, and guess what, they do a chilli one.
I tried it tonite and it was good. My only critisism is that i have in the past used the tiny buttons of solids and they are nicer to handle and melt easier to a better contistancy then the chocolate marbles hotel chocolat use. But if you are a chocoholic go and indulge yourself with a browse of their website.

the working lunch

2006-02-22T13:32:00.000-08:00

Lunch on weekdays is a constant source of conflict for me. Occasionally i have a spurt of making lunches, but i bore of sandwiches and am as yet uninspired regarding alternatives. So that leaves buying lunch, for a few pounds i can have an aray or subway sandwiches, burgers, pub grub with chips etc. or the healthy options of a few pathetic leaves in a tub. It's a dilemma. Today a returned to my personal favourite, which i am conscious not to overuse. Potato Jacks. It's a take away potato and baguette place, they make it all up in front of you and it's all delicious. My staple is chilli con carne and cheese. There is nothing special about it, a mild meat chilli, and a blend of i assume cheddar and red leicester cheeses, thrown onto a buttery potato. It's filling, warming and delicious. Just as well since it's freezing cold and indescribably miserable outside today.

a good days cooking

2006-02-19T01:13:00.000-08:00

I had ago at making these yesterday.
Biscuits Chocolat et Fèves de Cacao
They were delicious. Check Clotilde's site forthe recipe and a photo of how they look when they are perfect.
http://chocolateandzucchini.com/

I alsomade my Mum's recipe for Choclate sludge, not very diet friendly, but it had to be done. Melt 110gofbutter and 4 tablespoons of golden syrupin a pan, when melted and mixed add a large bar of dark choclate (bournville is best, but any belgian dark will do)broken up. When all that is melted and mixed crumble in plain digestive biscuits, until the whole thing is quite thick. Then pour it our into a greased baking tin, let it cool and stick it in the fridge for an hour. It's thick, and chewy and delicious. I didn't take aphot coz it isn't pretty.

I also had to rustle up some supper for myself,Mark and his brother Phil. They had been working hardinthe garden so we went with simpleandfilling. I chopped up some chickenbreast and fried it with mixed herbs and minced garlic, cooked somebacon, then threw a tim of tomatoes, some basil and the cooked,diced bacon into the pan with the chicken, served with mash. Th etomato andbaconsauce is a fairly traditional pasta sauce, but it's got a good flavour and is quite versatile.

I think next post i shall give you the norfolk pheasant casserole recipe my mum uses, we get fresh pheasant from her garden and it's delicious.

Ultimate comfort

2006-02-16T11:12:00.000-08:00

one of the finest comfort foods of all time is Eggy Bread, or FRench Toast to some people. ;)
You beat some eggs, soak some bread in it and fry it in butter, that's important, oil just ruins the flavour, then season to taste and enjoy. It's one of the few times where I prefer a good wholemeal to white bread and i had it for tea last night.

favourite snacks

2006-02-15T09:23:00.000-08:00

What sort of things do you love to snack on? I mean beyond just saying, crisps (potato chips to some) and choclate.
'Boots' do raisens covered in blueberry yogurt. Yumm. This is definately a favourite. It's actually not exactly l;ow fat, but technically contains fruit so it must be good for me on some level right?

Recipe time

2006-02-13T10:18:00.000-08:00

ok, so I am finally sitting at home with all the timein the world and my recipe book. Well, enough time anyway.
Starting with the cake in the last post:
Mix 3 eggs, 175g of soft margarine, 175g of caster sugar, 175g of self raising flour, 1and a half tsp of baking powder and half a tsp of vanilla flavouring up in a bowl.
Stick the oven n to heat at moderate, grease your cake tin, i used a loaf tin, but any will do as long as it's not too shallow.
Then warm a small amount of milk or cream over the hob, cream is richer, but i used skimmed milk and it was just fine, along with some decent quality dark chocolate, never use cooking chocolate for these sorts of things, unless its a reeeeeeeeelly good brand like green and blacks. the higher the coco content the better. Melt it in into the milk and when its all mixed up take it off the heat. When it has cooled a little but is still just warm, pour it in and mix it up in the batter. Quantities of chocolate and milk are something you should feel outfor yourself, it should pour, but you don't want to makethe batter too wet.
i threw in some white chocolate chunks because i couldn't help myself, so anything like that is fine, but the basic choccie loaf is the main thing.

Ok, now my favourite smoothie!!!
2 bananas,
punnett of raspberries,
cream
coconut milk (the slightly thick kind)
a couple of squirts of lemon juice
fat free plain natural yogurt
half a cup of ice cubes
chuck it in a blender and keep going till its smooth. yummy. This does about three highball glasses.

at last a picture

2006-02-06T11:59:00.000-08:00

ok, admitedly it's not very impressive, but here is the chocolate loaf cake.

Hell it didn't fall apart and it tastes good so who cares if it's pretty.

Monday munchies

2006-02-06T03:27:00.000-08:00

I attempted Toad in the Hole this weekend, it was delicious but the batter wasn't quite right. I shall have to have another go at some point.
I also did a rhubarb and apple crumble, which was really yummy, altho' again not quite right, I stewed the fruit too long so it was too mushy, nice tho.
THe chicken casserole worked out well, cubed meat, with peppers, fennel, onions, chicken and herb stock, a bit of pastaand potato, preboiled the potatoes and fried the chicken a bit (tossed it in flour and seasoning first) and threw it all in a big pot on the hob for 40mins. Mmmm. scrummy winter warmer food.
Finally, I baked a chocolate loaf, basic principles, 3 eggs, and a bar of dark chocolate melted with a little milk to give it a richer flavour. It was a good weekend for food, and I lost weight. lol.

Toad in the Hole

2006-02-02T01:34:00.000-08:00

courtesy of the BBc and Delia Smith, my recipe is slightly different, but the principle is the same. I shall post mine when isit down to do the beef stew recipe.

Preparation time less than 30 mins
Cooking time 30 mins to 1 hour

I can't give this high enough accolades - it's a simply wonderful creation from the humble origins of British cooking. If only you could order it in a restaurant, though.
Ingredients
6 good-quality pork sausages - about 14oz/400g
1 tbsp groundnut or other flavourless oil (if necessary)
For the batter: 3oz/75g plain flour
1 large egg 3fl oz/75ml semi-skimmed milk
salt and freshly milled black pepper
For the onion gravy:
8oz/225g onions, peeled and sliced 2 tsp groundnut or other flavourless oil
1 level tsp golden caster sugar
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 level tsp mustard powder
15fl oz/425ml vegetable stock made from 1½ level tsp Marigold Swiss vegetable bouillon powder dissolved in 15fl oz/425ml boiling water
2 rounded tsp plain flour salt and freshly milled black pepper Y
ou will also need a solid-based, flameproof roasting tin with a base of 9x6in/23x15cm, 2 in/5cm deep, and a baking tray 14x10in/35x25.5cm.

Method
Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.
Begin by making the batter, and to do this sieve the flour into a large bowl, holding the sieve up high to give the flour a good airing. Now, with the back of a spoon, make a well in the centre, break the egg into it and add some salt and pepper. Now, measure the milk and 2fl oz/55ml water in a measuring jug, then, using an electric hand whisk on a slow speed, begin to whisk the egg into the flour - as you whisk, the flour around the edges will slowly be incorporated. Then add the liquid gradually, stopping to scrape the flour into the mixture.
Whisk until the batter is smooth. Now the batter is ready for use, and although it's been rumoured that batter left to stand is better, I have never found this, so just make it whenever it's convenient.
Now place the sliced onions in a bowl, add 1 teaspoon of the oil and the sugar and toss the onions around to get the lightest coating, then spread them on the baking tray. Next arrange the sausages in the roasting tin, then place the onions on a high shelf in the oven, with the sausages on a lower shelf, and set a timer for 10 minutes. When the timer goes off, remove the sausages from the oven but leave the onions in for a further 4-5 minutes - they need to be nicely blackened round the edges.
When they are ready, remove them and leave to one side.Now place the roasting tin containing the sausages over direct heat turned to medium and, if the sausages haven't released much fat, add the tablespoon of oil.
When the tin is really hot and the oil is beginning to shimmer - it must be searing hot - quickly pour the batter in all around the sausages. Immediately return the roasting tin to the oven, this time on the highest shelf, and cook the whole thing for 30 minutes.
Now for the gravy. First add the Worcestershire sauce and mustard powder to the stock, then add the onions from the baking tray to a medium-sized pan. Now add the second teaspoon of oil, then, using a wooden spoon, stir in the plain flour. Stir all this together over a medium heat and then switch to a whisk, then gradually add the stock to the pan, whisking all the time, until it's all in. Then bring it up to simmering point and gently simmer for 5 minutes. Taste to check the seasoning, then pour into a warmed serving jug.
When the toad is ready, it should be puffed brown and crisp and the centre should look cooked and not too squidgy. Serve it immediately with the gravy, and it's absolutely wonderful with mashed potato.

Yorshire Puddings are basically the batter cooked on its own in a big tin, or in little cake time dimples. :)

cooking for one

2006-02-01T11:12:00.000-08:00

I am a little lacklustre today really, but not nearly so much as my dinner was last night. I figured i'd grab something quick and tasty from Marks and Sparks and the chicken dinner in a yorkshire pud had appeal. It was rubbish. Very dissapointed, their stuff is usually pretty good too. pah. Today i shall seek out something delicious for lunch and pick up some fresh veg and maybe some cheese from the market.
In the mean time I am filling myself full of caffiene.

don't have a cow man!

2006-01-30T00:19:00.000-08:00

Friday night i went for simple and filling
I sliced some thin frying steak and coated it in a mixture of flour, cajun spices and paprika, before frying it, and then chucked it onto spaghetti, with i mixed up with ricotta, fresh minced coriander, garlic and green pesto.
All in one bowl, eat in front of the TV. Perfect for a friday night. The only things i'd say are, it's not very pretty, but then, comfort food, so who cares, and it was a bit dry, I think a combination of ricotta and creme fraiche (sp?) might work better, in the meantime, beer combated the dryness nicely.

Sunday I attempted roast beef, I have only tried this a couple of times without much joy, this time was much better, although well done, rather than medium, the beef was very nice, and to give it a bit of flavour i poured cajun rub over the top before cooking, as the fat melted through the meat it carried the flavour with it so every mouthful was permeated with a light spiciness. Chuck yorkshire puds, roasties and gravy on with a few mixed veg, and everyone is a happy bunny.

Winter Warmer

2006-01-26T01:11:00.000-08:00

I got home last night at about 8, having had a class after work, so didn't want to cook. Instead i heated up leftover beef stew (micro's fine from frozen) which was devoured happily with bread and butter. Left me feeling, warm, full and content.
I will post the stew recipe later, don't have it handy at the moment.

simple pleasures

2006-01-25T11:57:00.000-08:00

I think we underestimate the pleasure of really simple food.
Last night i got home hungry and cut myself a thick crust off a fresh white split tin loaf of bread, smeared it generously with anchor spreadable and sat in front of the TV to eat. Bliss. Seriously, it was perfect, the crust was crusty, the bread was soft and white and the spread was delicious. Couldn't have been happier.

Talking about food

2006-01-24T14:37:00.000-08:00

I love food, I love to eat, I recently re-discovered how much i love to cook, so rather than just obsessing about eating and taking no real pleasure from it I recently decided to get back into cooking poperly and really taking pleasure from food.

Since i have been having so much fun cooking and experimenting I also thought i'd add to the countless food blogs out there, and give you Toast for your Tum.

Here i shall record the recipes I am cooking, where they came from, how easy they are to follow and how much we (myself and my helpful guinea pigs) enjoyed eating them.

Before I get stuck in i'd like to say, I have a tiny kitchen, in poor condition, and virtually no surface left now I have a kettle a small microwave and a coffee maker. Non of this is gonna stop me. In fact as i gradually improve my kitchen i shall record all that info here too so you can follow my progress.