- Melt the butter and fry the onion, carrot, celery, pancetta and bayleaf
gently for about 10 minutes.
- Add the beef, increase the heat slightly and cook till golden brown.
- Sprinkle in flour, stir through and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the wine, and turn up the heat to high, and stir till most of it has
evaporated.
- Add the porcini mushroome, chopped, plus the soaking liquid. Check
seasoning and add salt.
- Add the nutmeg and half the stock and simmer over a low heat, covered,
for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring from time to time. Add the remaining stock
as you go; after the first hour, add the milk and adjust seasonings. This
is according to the recipe. I tend to cook it a lot longer, more like 2 1/2
hours, just watch it doesn't get dry. There's usually a fair bit of the
mushroom liquid, so I keep some of that for topping it up with too.
- Just before serving, stir in the cream and the chicken liver and cook
uncovered for a final minute or two.
- Finely chop the onion and garlic and soften in some good olive oil for a
few minutes over a low heat.
- Finely chop the red pepper and the chilli pepper and add - give them
another couple of minutes.
- Add the chopped basil and parsley. Stir the lot round for a minute or
so, keeping the heat low.
- Add the red wine and turn the heat up to evaporate most of it.
- Push the tinned tomatoes through a sieve - taking them out of
the tin first - to remove seeds. Make sure you get all the liquid
out of them. Add this to the pan with the sugar.
- Cook over a moderate heat for 3 or 4 minutes. Season to taste.
- Add the prawns. Keep the heat very low, they only want to warm
through, otherwise they go like rubber. Give them a couple of
minutes.
- Serve with fresh, warm ciabatta bread, and butter, to mop up
the juices.
- Drink the rest of the wine.
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Jon's Sweet Rice
Ingredients
Half teaspoon saffron threads
2 tablespoons warm milk
8fl oz basmati rice
2oz ghee or unsalted butter
4 whole cardamon pods
1 inch cimmamon stick
quarter teaspoon yellow food colouring
half pint water
salt
3 and a half oz sugar
half oz blanched almonds
1 tablespoon sultanas
Make it:
Put saffron in frying pan on medium heat. Stir 'till it gets a bit darker.
Put milk in a cup, and crumble saffron into it. Leave for 3 hours.
Soak rice in 2 pints of water for 2 hours.
Heat oven to 150C.
Heat ghee in oven proof pot on medium flame. Add cardamon and cinnamon, stir. Add rice, stirfry for 3 mins.Add half pint water, colouring and salt. Stir and cook 'till all water is absorbed.
Add saffron milk, almonds, sultanas, and sugar. Stir, cover, and put in oven for 30 mins.
Remove and stir.
Remove cardamon and cinnamon, and sprinkle with sultanas ans nuts.
Serve.
Back to Top
Nala's Berry Pudding
Ingredients
3 eggs
250mL sour cream
1/3 cup of self-raising flour
1/3 cup of sugar
1 punnet (~250 g) berries, washed and hulled.
Make it:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Grease and flour a 20cm wide cake or equivelent loaf tin.
Beat eggs and sugar in a bowl until fluffy. Slowly mix in sour cream until well blended. Fold in flour until ingredients are completely blended.
Arrange a small portion of the berries on the bottom of tin. Pour mixture over berries and drop rest of berries into the mixture.
Bake at 180 degrees for 45 mins or until a dipped skewer comes out clean.
Best eaten while warm.
Serves 2-4.
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Nala's Bean & Mushroom Stroganoff
Ingredients
1 teaspoon canola oil
1 onion, chopped
10 mushrooms, quartered
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground thyme (optional)
1 cup vegetable stock
2 Tablespoons dry red wine (I use cooking burgundy from the grocer)
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 cups cooked romano (or red kidney) beans (I use the 19 oz. tin)
1/2 cup light sour cream
1 tsp red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
Black pepper to taste
3 cups of cooked egg noodles
2 green onions, sliced thinly
Make it:
In a large frying pan, over medium heat, cook onion in the oil until soft (about 4 minutes) and add the mushrooms, continuing to cook until soft (add a little water if you need to prevent sticking.
Sprinkle with paprika and thyme, stir well.
Add stock, wine, worcestershire sauce and stir until well blended. With a fork or potato masher, crush about 1/3 of the beans; add to the skillet along with the rest of the beans and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, or until liquid is slightly reduced.
In a small bowl, combine sour cream, vinegar and cornstarch, stirring til smooth. Stir into bean mixture, reduce heat, and cook, stirring for two minutes or until thickened. Season to taste with pepper.
Serve over cooked noodles, or, in a small casserole dish, spray the bottom with vegetable spray. Add layers of sauce and noodles, or mix noodles into sauce and place mixture in the casserole dish. Bake uncovered in the oven for 20 - 30 minutes.
Garnish with green onion.
Makes about 4 servings.
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Nala's Hot Oven Pancakes (Pannukakku) from Finland
Ingredients
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup sugar
4 cups milk
5 eggs,beaten
1 cup sifted flour
1/2 cup butter, melted
cinnamon sugar
Make it:
Add salt, sugar and milk to eggs. Beat until well blended.
Add flour gradually, beating until smooth. Add butter. Mix well.
Pour into greased 10x18 inch shallow pan. Bake at 400 deg.F. for 30 minutes.
Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Cut into 12 squares.
Serve hot or cold with Berry Sauce.
Serves 12
Berry Sauce
Ingredients:
4 cups sweetened berry juice
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup cold water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Make it:
Heat juice to boiling point. Blend cornstarch with water and add to juice. Cook, stirring, until thickened. Stir in lemon Juice.
Serve hot or cold over pancakes or custard.
Serves 6-8
Back to Top
Kennabear's Carrot Cake
Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoons baking powder
3 eggs
one 8 1/2 oz can crushed pineapple with juice
1 1/2 cup canola oil
2 cups grated carrots.
Make it:
Sift together sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, baking soda, and baking powder.
Set aside.
Add eggs one at a time. Mix together pinapple, canola oil,and carrots. Add egg mixture to pineapple mixture. Beat for 2 min.
Bake at 350 for appx 40 min.
Cool and frost with cream cheese frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Add one teaspoon of vanilla to 4 oz of cream cheese. Stir in one cup of butter (softened). Sift in one pound of powdered sugar. Add milk as needed to get to appropriate thickness.
Back to Top
Kennabear's White Chicken Recipe
Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts (skinless and boneless)
4 strips bacon
1 package corned beef
1/2 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 pint sour cream
Make it:
Place the slices of corned beef on the bottom of a 8"x8" baking dish (approximately 2 very thin slices for each chicken breast).
Wrap each chicken breast in a strip of bacon and place on the corned beef.
Combine cream of mushroom soup with sour cream and spoon mixture over the chicken.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake for two hours at 275. (If the cream sauce separates and looks funny, it means the oven was too hot. You can remedy the situation if the sauce has separated by whipping it in the blender before serving).
Back to Top
The Cuddle-Crawfish's Shrimp Creole
Ingredients
2 tbsps olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped bell pepper
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 cup dry white wine
3 15 ounce cans of tomato sauce
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
salt to taste
1/2 tsp crushed dried mint
ground cayenne pepper or Louisiana hot sauce to taste
2 pounds raw peeled shrimp
Make it:
In a large stock pot, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the onions, bell pepper, and parsley, and saute until the onions are clear. Stir in the wine, tomato sauce, garlic, worcestershire, salt, mint and ppper then cover and cook over until the sauce comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and let it cook for approximately an hour until it thickens up. Add the shrimp and continue simmering for 30 minutes more, stirring occassionally.
Serve over cooked rice.
Yield 6 to 8 servings.
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Jon's Bolognese Sauce
From his best friend, Xina.
To be eaten with tagliatelle, NOT spaghetti.
Ingredients
2 oz. butter
1 small onion, 1 stalk celery, 1 small carrot, all finely chopped.
2 oz. pancetta (if you can get it, otherwise streaky bacon)
1 bay leaf
10 oz. minced beef
*(I tend to use half and half beef and pork, but it doesn't really matter)
1 1/2 tsp. plain flour
1/2 cup of dry RED wine
*(don't waste Jacob's Creek on this, something very ordinary is fine)
About 1 oz. dried porcini mushrooms soaked in a little warm water for an hour
*(the recipes always say 'optional', but it's not, really,)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
pinch nutmeg or cloves
*(I've not tried cloves, I like nutmeg)
1/2 cup beef stock
*(I suppose fresh beef stock would be best, but who has the time? The supermarket tubs are fine. Best of all is some of a tin of good quality consomme)
1/2 cup of milk
2 tbsp. cream
1 chicken liver, finely chopped.
Make it:
Dead easy, and delicious. Quite unlike what usually passes for ragu Bolognese in this country, and even in parts of Italy.
If you MUST use some tomato, add some concentrated tomato paste at step 6)
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Jon's Plain Rosti (Switzerland)
Ingredients:
1 kg, potatoes boiled in their skins ( Desiree Reds preferred)
4tbsp butter
Make it:
Remove the skins from potatoes and grate but not too fine. Sprinkle with salt.
Melt the butter in a non-stick fryingpan, add the grated potatoes and fry on low heat for 10-15 minutes, and then turn and continue to cook until a crust forms and turns golden brown.
Turn into a dish and serve on its own or as a compliment to other food.
This basic Rosti may be turned into a meal of its own by the addition, during cooking, of bacon strips, ham or chopped onions or by placing a fried egg on top.
Another alternative is to cover the Rosti cake with part cooked sliced vegetables during cooking and sprinkle grated Swiss cheese over. Cover pan with lid to allow vegetables to cook and the cheese to melt. Back to Top
Jansson's Temptation from Jon (Sweden)
8 medium sized potatoes
1 large chopped onion
125gm Swedish anchovies
1 tbsp. butter
200ml/10fl oz single cream
Make it:
Peel potatoes and cut into matchstick-sized pieces. Do not wash.
Line a buttered oven dish with half the potatoes, then the onion, then the drained anchovy fillets, reserving the marinade.
Cover with the rest of the potatoes.
Pour the anchovy marinade and half the cream on top and bake (400F/200C/Gas6) for 50 to 60 minutes.
Add remaining cream after half an hour's cooking time. Back to Top
Jon's Bacalhau a gomes de sa (Portugal)
Ingredients:
500g bacalhau (salted cod)
500g potatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
2 hard boiled eggs
2 medium onions, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
Salt and pepper
10 black olives for garnish
Make It:
Soak the cod for 24 hours.
Place in a pan of boiling water for 10 minutes, drain and remove the cod from the bone.
Part boil the potatoes and then slice them 0.5cm thick.
Place the oil, onions and garlic in a large pan and fry until golden. Add the sliced potatoes, flaked cod, and salt and pepper.
Heat the whole mixture over a low heat, turning it now and then, without actually allowing it to fry. Remove the whole pan to a hot grill and cook until brown.
Garnish with chopped egg, olives and chopped parsley. Back to Top
Jon's Carbonade flamanda (Belgium)
Ingredients: (for 6)
1.5kg chuck steak, cut into 5cm chunks
700ml Liefmans Goudenband beer
2 tbsp peanut oil
25g butter
25g brown sugar
1 tbsp freshly grated nutmeg
Salt and pepper
3 tbsp flour
2 tbsp tomato puree
125g pitted prunes, sliced
400ml veal stock
1 bouquet garni
1-2 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 cooking apples
Make It:
Marinate the meat in 500ml of the beer for three days.
Lift the meat out of the marinade, reserving the marinade.
Heat the oil and butter in a large, heavy-based frying pan, add the meat, sugar and nutmeg and cook over a medium-high heat, stirring frequently until the meat is well browned.
Using a slotted spoon, transfer the meat to a casserole and season with salt and pepper.
Stir the flour into the oil and butter, and cook until well browned, then stir in the tomato puree, prunes, veal stock, bouquet garni and the beer marinade. Bring to the boil, skim and then pour over the meat. Simmer very gently until the meat is tender, about one hour.
Stir in the mustard and remaining beer, then taste and adjust the seasoning. Peel and quarter the apples, add to the casserole and cook for 5-10 minutes, until the apples are tender.
Serve hot.
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Jon's Aubergines Parmegiana (Italy)
4 medium sized Aubergines
2 cloves of garlic
2 tins of tomatoes
2 oz of Parmesan, freshly grated
quarter pound of fresh Mozzarella
Make It:
For the sauce:
Fry crushed garlic in olive oil, add tomatoes and simmer for 25 minutes.Peel aubergines and slice (one centimetre thick).
Beat the eggs. Dip aubergines in egg and flour and fry in a second pan with olive oil until golden brown.
In a baking dish, build one layer of the tomato sauce, one layer of fried aubergines, some grated parmesan cheese, one layer of sliced mozzarella and repeat, ending with mozzarella.
Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes on gas mark 7 (220C). Back to Top
Jon's favourite prawn recipe
From his friend Xina.
Serves two, just increase everything proportionally for more people. You could do without the red pepper, and even the chili, if you add some hot chili powder at stage 2). You could do without the basil - but it does make a difference - or even the parsley. You could do without the wine - but that would be silly. :)
Ingredients:
A bit of an onion (about 1/4 of a large one)
A plump clove of garlic, or two wee ones
A bit of a red pepper (there was a rather elderly one in the fridge)
Half a green chilli pepper (ditto)
4 or 5 fresh basil leaves (not dried, which is vile)
Some fresh parsley (quite a lot, but not too much)
A dash of red wine, or two or three dashes. But not TOO much, better drunk.
A pinch of sugar
Salt and pepper
A small tin of tomatoes
One of those see-through square boxes of prawns, not frozen ones.
Make It:
The nice thing is that you can do steps 1 to 6 anytime in advance, and stick it in the fridge. Then just heat up the sauce and add the prawns for a couple of minutes - ideal job for the microwave, on a low setting.
Probably would be nice with mussels, too, which Jon loves, or even squid, which Jon doesn't. Or you could try a tin of calamari, little Italian clams, although in that case Jon would be inclined to pour it over a bowl of spaghetti with lots of Parmesan cheese.
Might even be bearable as a way to use up left-over cold chicken.
Or maybe not... Back to Top
Ira's Risotto with Salmon
1/2 Package Arborio rice.
1 Onion chopped.
1 can of chicken stock, 1 can of white wine, 1-2 cans of water (all together and hot).
Smoked salmon.
Make It:
Put some butter and fry the onions. When the onions are caramelized, add the rice and start mixing it until the rice starts to look clear, then add the salmon (stirring all the time), start adding the liquids little by little, add salt and pepper.
You should stir it all the time. Sometimes you don't need all the liquid, sometimes you need a little bit more. To know the exact point the rice should look very wet, and the grains must be not completely done, they must be a little bit hard. That's all. It is very important to serve it immediately.
If you want to do it with another flavor, just change the salmon for the flavor you want (artichokes, saffron, pupmkin, vegetables), and add some parmesan cheese when you serve it. Some people want to add some parmesan cheese to the salmon one, but since all of Ira's ancestors are Italian, if she does that they would start moving in their graves! Back to Top
Princess TuggyBear's Fudge Brownies
1/2 cup butter or margarine
2 squares unsweetened chocolate
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sliced almonds
Make It:
In saucepan, melt butter or margarine and chocolate. Remove from heat. Stir in sugar. Blend in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla. Stir in flour and mix well. Spread batter in a greased 8x8x2 baking pan. Sprinkle with almonds. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until done. Cool and cut into bars.
Makes approx. 8-12 Back to Top
Princess TuggyBear's Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake
1/2 cup margarine -- melted
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
12 ounces chocolate chips
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
Make It:
Combine all ingredients except sugar and cinnamon. Beat until creamy. Combine 2 tbsp. sugar & cinnamon. Pour half of batter into greased tube pan. Sprinkle on half of topping mixture. Repeat layers. Bake at 350 for 45 - 50 minutes. Back to Top
Ira's Favorite Salad
Lettuce
Chopped tomatoes
Cheddar cheese
Balsamic Vinegar
Sesame Oil
Salt
Pepper
Make It:
In a bowl mix the lettuce with the tomatoes. Add some sesame oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper (quantities depends on you). When everything is together, add some shredded cheddar cheese. Delicious! Back to Top
Ira's Grandmom Napoli Sauce
Ingredients:
1 Can (28 oz) of whole peeled tomatoes
Garlic (about 3-4 parts of a garlic bulb) finely chopped
Olive oil
Regular oil
Salt
Pepper
Sugar
Basil leaves
Make It:
Heat the oils (the amount depends on how much oil you like in your sauce, but don't add too much), fry the garlic until it starts to look brown (it burns very easy so be aware).
Add the tomatoes and wait until it boils, add salt, pepper, the basil leaves and sugar (again it depends on your taste, but this is for sure: more sugar than salt, the sauce should taste kind of sweet). Start stirring it. Smash the tomatoes very well. Lower the heat, cover it and cook for about 30-45 minutes (stirring it from time to time). The longer you cook it, the better the sauce. Back to Top