The new blog is now located at Consuming The Harvest
Please stop by, you're always welcome, and leave a comment, I look forward to seeing you there! :-)
17 May 2008
11 May 2008
New Blog Update
The new blog is coming along nicely and almost finished (took a bit longer than expected - which should have been expected :-D )
I'm hoping, and it's looking good, that it should be up and official by the 19th - possibly before, so please bear with!
I'm hoping, and it's looking good, that it should be up and official by the 19th - possibly before, so please bear with!
28 April 2008
Movin'!
Macs 'n' Meals will be on a couple week hiatus while I learn (quickly, I hope) RapidWeaver and set it up at "my own place". Please keep checking back, and when the new site is up and running I'll get the link posted here and my groups and affiliations updated.
Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks for stopping by!
17 April 2008
Bacon Ends and/or Offcuts
This was just sort of thrown together with odds and ends I had available at the time. Bacon off cuts from the butcher (at least our butcher) are so different and so much better than the blob of fat (80%) and pork (20%) you find at most supermarkets and they are dirt cheap most of the time. Best of both worlds then :-)
I don't have exact measurements, as I said it was put together with what I had on hand and had to use up at the time and there could be tons of variations I'm sure.
With a bit of olive oil in the frying pan I cooked the offcuts until about 1/2 to 3/4 done and then added sliced mushrooms and chopped onion cooking together until the onions softened adding some fresh ground black pepper and a couple of pinches of dried mixed herbs. I then added some carbonara sauce (left over from a previous meal) and heated through.
This was supposed to be added to some slightly cooked sliced potatoes and baked in the oven until the potatoes were finished off. I ran short on time and ended up mixing it in with some cooked and drained wholewheat penne pasta and adding a bit of grated cheese (cheddar & gloucester) over the top and baking for about 20 mins at Gas mark 4. I should have taken a photo of the finished product, because it was simply delicious, but we were hungry! :-)
I don't have exact measurements, as I said it was put together with what I had on hand and had to use up at the time and there could be tons of variations I'm sure.
With a bit of olive oil in the frying pan I cooked the offcuts until about 1/2 to 3/4 done and then added sliced mushrooms and chopped onion cooking together until the onions softened adding some fresh ground black pepper and a couple of pinches of dried mixed herbs. I then added some carbonara sauce (left over from a previous meal) and heated through.
This was supposed to be added to some slightly cooked sliced potatoes and baked in the oven until the potatoes were finished off. I ran short on time and ended up mixing it in with some cooked and drained wholewheat penne pasta and adding a bit of grated cheese (cheddar & gloucester) over the top and baking for about 20 mins at Gas mark 4. I should have taken a photo of the finished product, because it was simply delicious, but we were hungry! :-)
06 April 2008
Chocolate Cream Pie
This is lovely with some whipped cream on top too!
CHOCOLATE CREAM PIE
1 1/2 cups whole milk (chocolate is even better)
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon Cornflour
1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Sweet Pastry Case (supermarket ones work fine if you don't have time to whip one up yourself :-D )
In a medium saucepan stir together all ingredients EXCEPT chocolate chips. Heat over a medium-medium high heat until mixture begins to thicken and boil. Boil for 1 - 1 1/2 minutes, making sure to stir constantly. Remove from heat and immediately stir in the chocolate chips until melted and the mixture is smooth. Let cool about 15 minutes, stirring every few minutes.
Empty pan contents into a Sweet Pastry case and place in refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving, to chill thoroughly and set completely.
In the photo, I've just added some white chocolate shavings . . . . . . . . then dig in!
CHOCOLATE CREAM PIE
1 1/2 cups whole milk (chocolate is even better)
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon Cornflour
1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Sweet Pastry Case (supermarket ones work fine if you don't have time to whip one up yourself :-D )
In a medium saucepan stir together all ingredients EXCEPT chocolate chips. Heat over a medium-medium high heat until mixture begins to thicken and boil. Boil for 1 - 1 1/2 minutes, making sure to stir constantly. Remove from heat and immediately stir in the chocolate chips until melted and the mixture is smooth. Let cool about 15 minutes, stirring every few minutes.
Empty pan contents into a Sweet Pastry case and place in refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving, to chill thoroughly and set completely.
In the photo, I've just added some white chocolate shavings . . . . . . . . then dig in!
28 March 2008
Roasted Mackerel And Thyme Vegetables
Serves 2
250g mackerel or herring fillets
1 red pepper, quartered
1 red onion, quartered
2 courgettes, sliced
3 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
Thyme sprigs
Pinch or two of dill
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Salt and black pepper to taste
**Feel free to substitute or add any veg that roasts well - swede,parsnip,potato,squash etc**
Preheat the oven to 240°C/475°F, Gas Mark 9
Place the pepper, onion and courgettes onto a greased baking tray. Mix the oil and honey and pour over the vegetables and mix until coated. Add the sprigs of thyme.
Cook for 35 minutes, tossing occasionally, to make sure you have an even covering of oil.
Lay the fillets on a board, skinned side uppermost and roll, securing with a cocktail stick.
Add the fish to the tray. Sprinkle with lemon juice, season and cook for a further 10 minutes.
Serve the fish and vegetables with flavoured risotto rice.
250g mackerel or herring fillets
1 red pepper, quartered
1 red onion, quartered
2 courgettes, sliced
3 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
Thyme sprigs
Pinch or two of dill
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Salt and black pepper to taste
**Feel free to substitute or add any veg that roasts well - swede,parsnip,potato,squash etc**
Preheat the oven to 240°C/475°F, Gas Mark 9
Place the pepper, onion and courgettes onto a greased baking tray. Mix the oil and honey and pour over the vegetables and mix until coated. Add the sprigs of thyme.
Cook for 35 minutes, tossing occasionally, to make sure you have an even covering of oil.
Lay the fillets on a board, skinned side uppermost and roll, securing with a cocktail stick.
Add the fish to the tray. Sprinkle with lemon juice, season and cook for a further 10 minutes.
Serve the fish and vegetables with flavoured risotto rice.
23 March 2008
Apple TV - Ahhhhh
Should be even more 'ahhhh' when the movie rentals are available here, hopefully this summer. It is so nice to be able (without any fuss, bother or headache) to have all my photos, music, movies and music videos available, at a click of the remote, on my TV. Having YouTube and Flickr at my TV fingertips is an added bonus. Lovely!
22 March 2008
Cheat? Of Course I Do!
Always have, always will! :-)
Chocolate Cream Pie
I've used a Tesco Sweet Crust Pastry with the following filling.
* 230g - Cream Cheese
* 200g - Caster Sugar
* 2 teaspoons Vanilla Essence
* 200g - Dark Chocolate, melted
* 2 Large Egg yolks
* 300 ml - Double Cream
* 1 Large Egg white
Beat together the cream cheese and 100g of the caster sugar. Beat in the vanilla essence and the melted chocolate, and the egg yolk, one by one. Fold in the cream, whipped until it just holds its shape. Whisk the egg whites until they are stiff, then, still whisking, add the remaining caster sugar a spoonful at a time. Fold into the chocolate mixture. Pour the mixture in to the cooled baked pie crust. Chill in the fridge for several hours until set.
I was in a bit of a hurry, so I just shaved some white chocolate over the top for decoration. Voila!
12 March 2008
Tastes Of Britain Is No More :-(
I really, really enjoyed the new magazine Tastes of Britain and am sorry to see that it will no longer be published. I thought it was a wonderful concept for a magazine and about time. Sadly it seems as though not enough other people thought so too. Or possibly they had never heard of it. I'm sure that if the number of copies being sold was high enough it would still be around. *sigh*
Ready To Be Grilled For Lunch
I really am trying to do better with food in as far as it's nutritional value (much, much less packaged foods etc), knowing where it comes from and how it has been grown/reared. The ideal for me at least would be local, within say 10 miles, organic and nutritious. Lo cal would be a plus but let's not get ahead of ourselves :-D While definitely do-able, it is difficult. Now personally I don't care for tomatoes, but I buy them for BH. I have been buying organic, which sadly the majority seem to come from Israel. Not exactly local and from what I understand (remembering that I am a 'newbie' to the local/organic/healthy food wave) the longer fruit and veg have been picked the more nutrients they tend to lose.
This, of course, then runs into the eating seasonally vein. If I want tomatoes, then buy them when they can be grown locally. Does that include organic 'hot houses' and is there really such a thing? If there is then where would I find those? Tomatoes are just an example and you could probably replace any fruit/veg and come up with the same questions.
I think of all the changes I'm trying to make in our diets and shopping habits the whole 'seasonal' regime would be/is going to be the toughest to come to grips with. For someone who has grown up during the period of time that I have and has had any type of food available all year, for all my life the seasonal approach is nothing less than totally foreign. I'm afraid that going without because something is not in season will amount to feeling deprived, much like dieting, and in turn mean that I give up too soon.
Baby steps, baby steps. Firstly we are making the change to a more nutritious and healthy way of eating - organic with healthier choices. Next step will be to see if I can't find more locally produced food. I have checked, but the words "Farm Shop" seem to be hiding in my area (remember the 10 mile rule - even less would be better!) of East Anglia. And, I suppose that if I were able to buy a majority of my meat and produce locally - given that it was actually produced locally - most of the problem of changing to seasonal would take care of itself. Like I said right now it is only an ideal, but I'll keep trying only because I feel it is so important not only to myself, BH and our health/well being, but to our local economy and farmers who, it has become very apparent, don't stand much of a chance under the thumb of the big supermarkets.
I really am trying to do better with food in as far as it's nutritional value (much, much less packaged foods etc), knowing where it comes from and how it has been grown/reared. The ideal for me at least would be local, within say 10 miles, organic and nutritious. Lo cal would be a plus but let's not get ahead of ourselves :-D While definitely do-able, it is difficult. Now personally I don't care for tomatoes, but I buy them for BH. I have been buying organic, which sadly the majority seem to come from Israel. Not exactly local and from what I understand (remembering that I am a 'newbie' to the local/organic/healthy food wave) the longer fruit and veg have been picked the more nutrients they tend to lose.
This, of course, then runs into the eating seasonally vein. If I want tomatoes, then buy them when they can be grown locally. Does that include organic 'hot houses' and is there really such a thing? If there is then where would I find those? Tomatoes are just an example and you could probably replace any fruit/veg and come up with the same questions.
I think of all the changes I'm trying to make in our diets and shopping habits the whole 'seasonal' regime would be/is going to be the toughest to come to grips with. For someone who has grown up during the period of time that I have and has had any type of food available all year, for all my life the seasonal approach is nothing less than totally foreign. I'm afraid that going without because something is not in season will amount to feeling deprived, much like dieting, and in turn mean that I give up too soon.
Baby steps, baby steps. Firstly we are making the change to a more nutritious and healthy way of eating - organic with healthier choices. Next step will be to see if I can't find more locally produced food. I have checked, but the words "Farm Shop" seem to be hiding in my area (remember the 10 mile rule - even less would be better!) of East Anglia. And, I suppose that if I were able to buy a majority of my meat and produce locally - given that it was actually produced locally - most of the problem of changing to seasonal would take care of itself. Like I said right now it is only an ideal, but I'll keep trying only because I feel it is so important not only to myself, BH and our health/well being, but to our local economy and farmers who, it has become very apparent, don't stand much of a chance under the thumb of the big supermarkets.
04 March 2008
Help! I've Got Cookers Block!
Is there such a thing? Must be because I've got it. :-)
I'm having the hardest time lately, trying to come up with 'side' dishes for our main meal. For the times that we're having a casserole or some other sort of 'mixed' main dish this isn't a problem. It's the times that we are having a meat dish, some veg and something else. It's the something else's that are giving me grief.
Not so very long ago I really didn't pay much attention to what we were eating - in as far as where it came from, what it's ingredients were etc. If it tasted good and was a decent price it went in the trolley and in our bellies. That means side dishes were no problem, just open a tin/packet/bag/box add some liquid, possibly a bit of butter and bake in the oven or heat on the hob. Things are better, but a bit more complicated now. Since developing a conscience and a real interest in the food I'm cooking and we're eating, I'm in a rut.
So, I'm off to scour the net and most importantly the Foodie Blog Roll for inspiration. If you've got any tried and tested ideas, I'm open to all suggestions! :-)
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