Can I be funny?

Posted on July 10, 2024July 10, 2024 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged 3 minute play, Acting, Cookery, Fun, Gordon, Penkhull, Play, Silly, Titchy theatre, waiting for Gordon2 Comments

I actually wrote some 3 minute plays for the Titchy Theatre at the weekend.

One was based on Samuel Becketts “Waiting for Godot”, but my version was “Waiting for Gordon”.

The idea was that two cooks are standing outside the village hall waiting for Gordon Ramsey to come and judge a cookery competition.

First they see a man walking up the hill, but it can’t be Gordon as he’s wearing a cowboy hat and carrying a guitar. The contestants realise it’s a local man and that guitars are not cookery implements, those are called banjos!

Then they see someone else, but although he’s carrying a suitcase and has blond hair and looks like Gordon, he goes into a local bed and breakfast hotel and is not the famous chef.

One of them confesses that they are not sure if Gordon is coming today or tomorrow and cannot check as they don’t have Gordon’s agents phone number.

Finally they ask what time it is and realise that their pavlova will be ruined and their Victoria sponge will be burnt. The final line is “oh well, we will have to come back tomorrow!”

I actually got a few laughs (the script was better that the explanation, and the actors helped make it funnier!)

Lobster thermidore

Posted on June 26, 2024 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged Cheese, Cookery, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1981, Food, Lobster, lobster thermidore, Memory, WineLeave a comment

What’s the most delicious thing you’ve ever eaten?

I once went for a meal and decided to try Lobster thermidore. It was cooked with a mild cheese and wine sauce.

I don’t know how it was cooked, it was a special treat, but I’m glad I tried it.

I think its 15 to 20 years since I tried it but I still remember it. It was tasty and rich. But I wouldn’t be able to afford it now.

I guess, anything could be delicious if you have not had it before. If you don’t have money or resources you may never get to eat anything than the basic food, that you eat everyday if you are lucky. I’m not sure if I would eat it again now I think about their situation.

I love cooking

Posted on July 20, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Butter, Cherries, cherry pie, Cherry tree, Cookery, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-2003, Flour, Gale, pastry, Water2 Comments

What foods would you like to make?

The answer would be cherry pie!

I’m a reasonable cook and food is fun to make. I can make a good trifle, roast chicken dinner, pizza, curry, paella, and many other things including cakes and bread. But I’ve never made a homemade cherry pie.

I could probably make the pastry, I’ve made apple pies and tarts before. But I don’t know what to do with the cherries? Do you de-stone them then put them in raw? Or do you cook them first with sweetner and a dash of alcohol like cherry brandy?

We only got a few cherries this year as the majority blew off our tree in a gale. They were pecked by the birds so I left them on the ground for our hedgehogs too.

So does anyone have a recipe they can share please? I will have to get fresh cherries from the shop. I don’t want to use a tin of pie filling which would be full of sugar. So if you can help I would appreciate it. Thanks x

Winter stew

Posted on February 20, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Bread, cabbage, carrots, Celery, Cookery, Cooking, Dinner, Food, Garlic, Onion, Potatoes, Recipe, sweet potato, Vegetables, Vegetarian?2 Comments

I just made a vegetarian stew for dinner. I could have made Staffordshire Lobby which is a beef based stew, lobbing all sorts of things into the pot. But I used a meat substitute, Quorn pieces.

Basically I put two small chopped potatoes, two small sliced carrots and half a sweet potato, peeled and sliced, into a pan and covered them in boiling water. I let them simmer for a few minutes, then chopped up a small red onion, chopped some slices off a cabbage (about a sixth of it) and two sticks of celery sliced up. Then I added half a pack of Quorn and a couple of teaspoons of Lazy Garlic. I let everything simmer for about twenty minutes. Then I added a couple of vegetable stock cubes. Let it cook for a few more minutes before serving with a hunk of brown bread and vegetable spread. I didn’t add salt, but if you do add it on top of the stew when you serve, that way it sits on the food and doesn’t get absorbed into it. That means you don’t eat too much salt. You can also add pepper at the end.

Chow-meined-up

Posted on January 3, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged chow-mein, Cookery, Cooking, Food, green lentils, green vegetables, pak-choi, red pepper, stir fryLeave a comment

I wanted to make Chow-mein and I had a packet of sauce. But my bean sprouts had gone soggy with having problems with my fridge. So I made something up.

I sliced some aubergine, red onion, broccoli, kale, pak-choi and red pepper and stir fried it all together. Then I added a tin of green lentils for carbs and cut up what was left of a roast chicken, mainly breast, then added the chow-mein sauce and cooked it for about fifteen minutes. I have no idea if this is the correct method but it tasted OK.

Using up pears

Posted on October 9, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged chopped pears, Cookery, Cooking, Custard, digestive biscuits, Food, Fruit, Pears, simmered, softened, TastyLeave a comment

I have lots of pears off our tree, they were hard but are slowly softening. But they have been bruised by falling off the tree and a couple went mouldy. They are tasty and quite sweet. What to do with them?

I cut off the bad bits then chopped up the pears into small pieces. Then I put them in a saucepan and added a little boiling water from the kettle. I added half a tablespoonful of splenda sweetner because it tastes like sugar. I put the pears on a low heat to simmer and soften. Then I made up some powdered custard with about three quarters of a pint of milk. In the meantime I was stirring and crushing the pears till they were soft and cooked. Finally I dished out the pears. I crumbled a couple of digestive biscuits over them to add texture and crunch. Lastly I ladeled the custard over the fruit and biscuits (a bit like a deconstructed pear crumble I think). The result was hot and tasty on a cool autumn afternoon.

First pancake

Posted on March 1, 2022March 2, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Batter, Cookery, Dessert, Eggs, Flour, Food, Lemon juice, Milk, Self raising flour, Sugar, SweetnerLeave a comment

Mix flour (I use self raising flour), eggs and milk to a liquid the consistency of double (heavy) cream. (I suggest put in the flour first, then add eggs till its a softish mix, then add milk to make it more like double cream.) (this is the pancake batter) let it rest for a while then heat fat in a pan (butter or oil) so it coats the pan but pour off any excess. Make sure the oil is good and hot but not burning. Pour the batter in to cover the base of the pan, pour out any excess. Cook over the heat, you will see the batter bubble and dry out. When it’s dry use a spatula to turn it over. It should hold together and look like the photo. Tip out on a plate, add sugar or sweetener and lemon juice squeezed over the top. Make sure you don’t allow the oil to burn while transferring the pancake, add a bit more fat then pour in more batter. Cook again. Keep going and stacking till the batter runs out. Enjoy. (you can also add banana or chocolate). Amounts of ingredients vary depending on how many pancakes you want to eat.

Spicy salmon and pasta

Posted on February 23, 2022February 23, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Cookery, easy Chilli, Food, fresh tomatoes, frying pan, fuselli?, Garlic, Mushrooms, Olive oil, pasta?, Recipe, Salmon, sliced de-stoned olives, spicy, Tasty, tinned tomatoesLeave a comment

I decided to cook some salmon and I usually use a tomato pasta sauce and cook fuselli pasta. This time I made my own sauce from scratch. I don’t know if its the right thing because I’m not a chef, I just cook.

Recipe (serves two)

Two salmon fillets

1 or 2 cloves of garlic

1 large flat mushroom

A handful of green olives, de-stoned

Half a tin of tomatoes

Olive oil

Half a teaspoon of lazy chilli

Dried Basil.

Method (how I did it)

Crush the garlic cloves and fry gently in the olive oil (other oils could be used)

Put a pan of water on to boil for the pasta

Once the garlic is softened I placed the salmon skin side down in the pan. You can skin it first if you don’t like it.

Chop the olives into small pieces and add to the frying pan with the chilli.

If the saucepan of water is boiling add the pasta (a couple of handfuls) and lower to a fast simmer.

Slice the mushroom in thin pieces and add to the frying pan. Make sure all the pieces of veg and salmon are turned frequently so they don’t burn and stick on the pan.

Add half a tin of peeled plum tomatoes or chopped tomatoes.

Sprinkle in some basil to taste (not too much).

Then get some fresh cherry tomatoes and add them to the pan. Turning all the ingredients and cooking long enough to soften the fresh tomatoes. The salmon should be cooked through but not overcooked.

Drain the pasta. Add salt and pepper to taste (I didn’t bother) I like my pasta slightly Al dente (a bit chewy).

Serve the Salmon/sauce mix on top of the pasta.

I hope it’s nice, spicy and edible?

How do I make my own blancmange?

Posted on February 14, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blancmange, Chocolate, Cookery, Cream, Custard, Food, Fruit, Jelly, Raspberries, Trifle, Whipped creamLeave a comment

This is custard powder made up with milk and sweetner with added chocolate. I love making sugar free trifles. I usually use sugar free jelly and add a bit if fruit (used raspberries today) because trifle sponges are covered in sugar. Then I add blancmange when the jelly is set. I have to let it cool because it can re-melt the jelly. But now I can only get blancmange if my sister posts me some (they still sell strawberry flavour where she lives). The trouble is that most people use custard but I don’t like it’s flavour in trifle. This time I did make custard but added four square pieces of no added sugar chocolate and melted it into the milk. I will use this mix and then add whipped cream on top of the trifle to finish it off. But I just wonder if I can make my own with cornflower and flavourings? That would be a lot easier…

Sweet apples, Wassail style.

Posted on January 12, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged apples, Cinnamon, clotted cream, Cookery, Dessert, Food, fruit juice, Ingredients, sucralose, Sugar, Tasty, Whipped cream, Whisky2 Comments

I decided to stew four apples that were starting to soften. I wanted to use them up and also half a tub of clotted cream.

Ingredients :

Four medium sized eating apples

A couple of teaspoons of sucralose based sweetener (or sugar to taste).

A level teaspoon of cinnamon powder.

A single measure of whisky, or you could substitute a small amount of lemon or orange juice.

About three or four tablespoons of water to stop the apples burning onto the pan.

A tablespoonful of clotted cream or whipped cream.

I roughly cored and chopped the apples and left the skin on. I put them in a pan with a little boiling water to stop the apple flesh burning. I cooked the apples for about 15 to 20 minutes till they softened. Stirring and mashing them until they were a chunky pulp.

I added a couple of teaspoons of sucralose based sweetener to make the apples less sharp. Then I added a single measure of whisky and a level teaspoonful of cinnamon and cooked the mix for a couple minutes more. You could substitute fruit juice for the whisky and leave out the cinnamon if you don’t like it.

Serve hot in a bowl with the clotted cream or whipped cream dolloped on top.

This reminds me of the Wassails we usually go on in January. They are to celebrate the local apple trees and wish for a good crop of apples the following autumn.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Cookery