What is broccoli, a green equivalent to cauliflower?
According to Wikipedia Broccoli is an edible green plant in the cabbage family whose large flowering head, stalk and small associated leaves are eaten as a vegetable. Broccoli is classified in the Italica cultivar group of the species Brassica oleracea. WikipediaOrigin: Italy, more than 2,000 years ago. Scientific name: Brassica oleracea var. italicaHigher classification: Wild cabbage Rank: VarietyCultivar group: Italica.
I like it, I like the Romaesco version I think it’s called. The version with sculptural spiral swirls that are like a version of fibonnacci number patterns. The spirals have a fractal look about them. If you’ve never seen it look it up online. It’s a fascinating shape.
Hubby’s made a loaf today. Linseed and oat. It was a ready mixed flour with added yeast.
He likes experimenting with bread so he diced up a small pear and banana and added them to the mix with water to moisten the dough.
Let it rise, knock it back and let it rise again, then into a baking tray and on gas mark eight (high heat) for thirty minutes. It was a tasty result. I had a slice with butter and a banana. Delicious.
Fajhita seasoning, four tortilla pouches, small packet of quorn mince, a small onion, a few spears of asparagus, a few baby corn, half a jar of harissa paste, a small amount of cheese (you could use a vegan substitute) olive oil. Salsa sauce.
Method, break up the frozen quorn mince and fry in a frying pan with a small amount of olive oil, slice the baby corn into small rounds, keep the heat low, add the fajhita spice and continue to cook. Slice up the onion and add to the mix, then chop up the asparagus and add it to the mix. Add some water to the pan to stop the mixture drying out. Add the harissa paste and stir well. Let the mixture simmer for ten minutes. Add the salsa sauce (or if you want to add at the end). Microwave a couple of tortilla pockets then spoon the mix into them. Top with grated cheese. Any left over mixture can be served with the pockets on the plates.
I decided to use courgette (zucchini) in a curry, but hubby doesn’t like it sliced. So I decided to grate it up. I put the meat (I could have used quorn) in first. Sealing diced pieces over a hot heat. Then I added the courgette and lowered the heat. I added stir fry vegetables a couple of minutes later. I also added half a tin of baked beans because I’d decided not to use any noodles. Finally I added a sachet of katsu curry sauce. It might not be the right recipe, it might not taste exactly right but it was OK.
Core the pears as necessary, slice into small pieces.
Simmer the pears in a pan with the port until the pears have softened and the port has reduced and almost dried up.
Place the pastry on baking parchment or grease proof paper on a baking tray.
Cut the pastry into four squares, place the diced pears in the centre of each square and then fold the pastry up around them. Brush with egg yolk to glaze.
Put in a medium to hot oven (I used gas mark 6) for twenty or twenty five minutes or until they are golden brown. I found mine had a bit of a soggy bottom.
I usually make a trifle at Christmas, but I’m doing it for New Years Eve and Day this time (so it will be a two year old trifle!).
This is only the start, but it looked so pretty. I’ve put a pint of sugar free rasperry jelly (made up with half a pint if boiling water and a quarter of a pint of cold water and a quarter of a pint if sherry. (jelly is not the American version of jam, but is it called jello). I added chopped strawberries and whole blackberries to the liquid. Any slightly mouldy ones are going on the bird feeding table tomorrow, they have been washed and are back in the fridge.
Tomorrow I will add strawberry blancmange (a type of flavoured custard), as I don’t like custard which some people use. I make that up with a pint of milk and sweetener ( I avoid putting sugar in). Finally I whip double cream, (heavy cream?) about three quarters of a pint till it makes stiff peaks. I might add spare blackberries for decoration. I might take a photo tommorow when it’s finished. X
I just fried off a large onion, then added half a can of tomatoes. I put half a butternut squash (deseeded and peeled) in the microwave for a few minutes. Then I chopped it into chunks and added it to the pan. Finally I chopped the leftover turkey into it and poured over half a jar of rogan josh curry sauce. I then cooked everything on a low heat for twenty minutes to make sure everything was piping hot. Result. A tasty meal.
I decided to make a curry tonight. It’s not a proper one and not pretty, but it was tasty.
Ingredients :
Four chicken thighs
Half a butternut squash
Half an onion
A small head of broccoli
A courgette (zucchini?)
Two fresh tomatoes
Half a large (or a small), sweet pepper
Three cloves of garlic
Olive oil
Half a jar of tomato and garlic pasta sauce
Two or three teaspoons of curry sauce
Small pinch of salt.
Method:
Roast the chicken thighs in an oven with the half butternut squash cut into half. Put on gas 7, or a medium high heat for 25 minutes.
Meanwhile chop up the onion roughly. Put on a low heat in a frying pan. Soften in oil and add crushed garlic. Cut the courgette into small cubes, add to the pan. Then cut two tomatoes up and add together with the curry powder. Cut up the half sweet pepper and add to the pan. Finally cut up and add the broccoli.
In the meantime the butternut squash should have softened in the oven. Remove from the baking tray and put the chicken pieces back in for about another twenty minutes (if you want a vegetable curry just don’t cook any chicken).
Cut the rind off the squash, then dice the pulp. Add to the pan, add the pasta sauce and cover with a lid. Simmer on a low heat while the chicken finishes cooking.
Finally take the chicken thighs out of the oven. Remove the skin and discard if you don’t like it. Carefully cut the meat off the bone (the chicken will be hot). Make sure the juices are clear, if it is slightly pink, you can put it in the microwave for a minute to make sure it’s cooked through. Cut up the chicken into bits and mix into the curry. Dish out onto plates. Add a small amount of salt to season.
I like this because of the texture of the squash. If you don’t want meat, it makes a pleasant meal. You could add a dollop of plain yoghurt. Also you don’t need rice with it so it’s less carbohydrate.
Memory from seven years ago on Facebook. Hubby decided to bake some Chestnuts- but they were not cooked so he put them back in the oven- 10 minutes later- BANG! One had exploded, he was shouting ow- so I came down to find him taking the roasting dish out of the oven- and using my jumper as an oven glove, he proceeded to try and break them open first with the garlic press, then with the nutcrackers- the chestnut did not pop- it exploded all over the work surface, I grabbed some kitchen towel and we used that to wrap the superheated chestnuts to break them open….
I had leftover cooking apples from this years crop that were starting to go soft. I didn’t want to cook a cake so I decided to poach them, with a twist…..
Ingredients:
2 or 3 cooking apples
A half cup of diet ginger ale/ ginger ale or water and a couple of teaspoons of sugar or a small amount of sweetner.
Custard powder
Milk
Sweetner or sugar
Method:
Cook the chopped apples with the diet ginger ale (or ginger ale or water and sugar), choose which you prefer, the ginger ale does give the apples sweetness and a bit more of a bite.
The apples will soften and as they do will give off liquid, stop the cooking when they are still slightly firm.
Put into serving dishes.
Mix up the powdered custard as described on the pack. Substitute the liquid from the apples for some of the milk that is needed for the custard. Top up with milk to the desired amount. (I add less for thicker custard). Add sugar or sweetner to taste.
Once the custard mix has been boiled to the right thickness pour over the apples
Serve
Result, a tasty treat for tea. The ginger ale does add an extra bit of flavour.
You could probably make further substitutes to create a vegan treat.
Mallaband-Brown 