New paintings and regular art updates.
Just had an enjoyable morning at the Waiting Room gallery in Longport, Stoke-on-Trent. We looked at paintings based on Spanish ideas, tiles and their moorish influenced patterns. Our friend Eve gave a talk about her pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. There was also some Spanish food to taste. It was very pleasant.
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.
It has been proven that biscuits taste more biscuity when they are dunked in your favourite hot beverage, tea, coffee, cocoa, (maybe not bovril or that kind of drink!) apparently it releases more biscuit aromas. I think it makes them easier to eat too!
Some biscuits like ginger nuts don’t soften as much as ones like rich tea biscuits. The worst thing that can happen is that the biscuit/ cookie falls apart and bits fall into your drink. You can either fish the bits out with a spoon or wait till you have finished drinking and then scoop it out. Have a go if you haven’t dunked before… Enjoy!
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?
Sweet treats without sugar
Neatly packaged
Sour until ripe
Peel and see
What’s inside
Flesh and juice
Bite into it
Taste
Poached eggs on toast, on a botanical garden plate made by our local pottery, Portmeirion. Comfort food to cheer you up and warm you on a cold winters morning. A touch of salt and pepper. Butter on the toast.. I’m making myself hungry!
I got some vegetable samosas today and was very tempted to buy some Indian sweets. I’m not sure how they are made but they are very nice to look at. I had some a few years ago and enjoyed them very much, but I keep my sugar consumption low so I just asked if I could take a photo. Our sketching prompt today is sweets so you might see a blog with a sketch of them later on.
Have you ever seen curling? Curling 🥌 is a game on ice where two teams take it in turn to slide curling stones on an icy surface along to a target 🎯 area. The closest to the centre (button) wins its a game of strategy. Curling stones can be set to guard the target, preventing the other team from getting close to the centre. Curling stones can be sent gently down the ice, or hard, to knock the other teams stones out of the target area. Each team gets the ‘hammer’ in turn, which means going last in the end. An advantage as you may get a stone in the best position on the last curl of the end. There are different games using slightly different rules. I was watching the UK against Sweden at the Olympics today. And that’s where the trifle comes in. I had dome of it for lunch. Then noticed the bade of the dish has circles in it a bit like a curling target! Just a nice gentle lunch and bit of telly watching. X
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…
Lots of these things on Facebook. I posted change one letter to make a different meaning to a food and drink…..
I started with ‘Gin and Toxic’….
People have written ‘mice crispies’, ‘ baked jeans’, ‘rile noodles’, ‘hop dog’, ‘fish and ships’, ‘car food’ and ‘hot fog’. I think playing with words is fun. Most of the posts you see online are changing a letter in a song or a band, but food and drink seems to work well. I hope you think these are funny!
Mallaband-Brown