Author Archives: cinders54

Cinders 7 Layer Dip

04 Tuesday Jul 2017

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  • 7layer
  • 1 can refried beans I use Old El Paso (Love Old El Paso)
  • 1 container sour cream In England I use 300ml – 10.6fl oz  (Tesco) Freely available in the USA
  • 1/4 package Old El Paso Taco seasoning mixed into the Soured Cream
  • 1 (6 ounces) Red Leicester cheese or in America – Any popular Cheese
  • 1 Avocado made into  guacamole I make my own (But you may buy ready made)
  • I did make a South West Bean salsa (But you can use a bought plain salsa) In America Lots of choices
  • 2 large on the vine chopped tomatoes- For the topping
  • 4 sliced spring (green) onion
  • I used around 10 sliced black and green olives
  • Tortilla chips

Act One

There is only one so easy

  • Spread refried beans in shallow serving dish.

  • Mix sour cream and Taco Seasoning Mix in small bowl until well blended. Spread over refried beans.

    In Order

  • Top with layers of cheese then the guacamole, South West Salas, Then the very top with the Fresh -tomatoes, onions and olives.

    Place in the fridge for a couple of hours

    Serve 7 layer dip with tortilla chips

    Enjoy Family Favorite x x x

The Very Best Chicken- Beef Stock Ever

05 Thursday Jan 2017

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  • 2kg chicken wings I use about 24 chicken wings
  • 2 tbsp. skimmed milk powder
  • Extra Virgin Olive oil
  • 2 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 8 Large carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 3 celery stalks chopped
  • 10 button mushrooms, quartered
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
  • Large Pinch of Salt – Grinding of Pepper
  • Half bottle white wine
  • Any mixed herbs you have left over or fresh of your choosing You can use dried is you wish too

Act 1

Roughly Chop all the Vegetables, place in a large roasting tin with the peeled garlic

Place Chicken wings on top

Sprinkle over the Milk Powder

Slosh over a good sprinkling of Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Place in a hot over, roast for an hour, keep checking and turning the wings so they go brown, stir the vegetables so they do not stick

Act 2

Place everything in a large stock pot, pop in the herbs and wine, cover with cold water and bring to a boil

Skim the stock until clear to get rid of all the impurities

Leave to simmer with the lid on for at least 3 hours, check the water level keeping it topped up to cover the meat

 

Act 3

Turn off the heat and strain into another large pan – crush all the wings and vegetables to release all the juices

Back on the heat to a rolling boil

Simmer and reduce to half

 

Act 4

Turn off the heat and when cold place in the fridge overnight to go very cold

 

Act 5

Next day take off all the fat, it will come off really easy

 

Act 5

Store in pots in the freezer, you will always have homemade Chicken Stock, you will never buy a cube ever again

 

You can also do the same with BEEF BONES about 10 large beef bones –  just switch the White wine to Red

If you do not wish to use Wine, just replace with more water

Enjoy Happy Cooking

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mulled Pear Rhubarb Crumble with Vanilla Butter — cinders54

04 Wednesday Jan 2017

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This is in stages but well worth all the effort Ingredients 6 pears peeled and left with the stalks 400g Rhubarb chopped into 1 inch chunks Act 1 Mulling the Pears 1 bottle red wine Zest and juice of 1 orange Zest of 1 lemon 1 Star Anise 1 cinnamon stick or teaspoon cinnamon 1 […]

via Mulled Pear Rhubarb Crumble with Vanilla Butter — cinders54

Mulled Pear Rhubarb Crumble with Vanilla Butter

04 Wednesday Jan 2017

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This is in stages but well worth all the effort

Ingredients

6 pears peeled and left with the stalks

400g Rhubarb chopped into 1 inch chunks

Act 1

Mulling the Pears

  • 1 bottle red wine
  • Zest and juice of 1 orange
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • 1 Star Anise
  • 1 cinnamon stick or teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 tsp Chinese 5 spice
  • 125g caster sugar
  • 6 ripe but firm pears, peeled with stalks intact

Place everything but the Pears in a pan bring to a rolling boil – turn the heat to a simmer and reduce the syrup to half

Place the pears in the syrup and simmer for 15 minutes turn off the heat leave to cool

Act 2

The Rhubarb

Wash and chop the rhubarb into 1 inch chunks place in a baking dish

Act 3

Make the crumble

4oz Organic Spelt Wholemeal Flour

4oz Organic Plain Flour

4oz cold chopped Butter (Please no margerine)

4oz Raw Cane sugar

Rub the butter and flours together untill it becomes like breadcrumbs – you can have it chunky or fine

mix in the sugar salt and pepper give a good mix I do this with my fingers its so easy

Sprinkle the crumb mix over the fruit

bake in the oven

180c for 30 minutes then dot with the Vanilla Butter place back in the oven for another 10 minutes

Act 4

While the crumble is baking in the oven make the Vanilla Butter

Vanilla Butter

2oz soft butter (No Margarine)

1 vanilla pod

Scrape the pearls out of a Vanilla pod add to Butter

add

1 oz Raw Cane Sugar

Mix together until beat until soft and blended

Place in the fridge to get really cold.

Serve Hot with more Vanilla Butter if you wish plus a nice dollop of Vanilla Ice Cream – Heavenly Enjoy x x x

Bloody Mary Pico De Gallo -Salsa Fresca

04 Wednesday Jan 2017

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This is the most amazing Salsa Fresca – pico de gallo-Bloody Mary! If you want to serve it without Alcohol just leave out the vodka – There is no substitute for the Vodka it will not detract from the most Beautiful pico de gallo

Before you start get a chopping board (Not Glass) A sharp knife and a large bowl add all ingredients as you chop – Finely Dice everything as you go –

    • 6/8 Large Vine ripened  tomatoes still on the Vine
    • Bunch chopped Coriander / cilantro Only to top leaves save the stalks to use later
    • 1 large finely diced onion
    • 1 Celery Stalk
    • 1 small fresh jalapeño serrano chile or Red Chile to your own heat level you can add more if you want a kick
    • Vodka How much depends on how strong you like it – I do 2tbs unless my friend Jean Hudson comes then double the Vodka!
    • 1 Tbs Tomato Ketchup
    • 1 Tbs Sriracha sauce or a chilli sauce of your choice
    • 6 splashes of Worcester Sauce
    • 1 Lime Zest & freshly squeezed juice
    • Large Pinch Sea Salt or Kosher salt brings out all the juices
    • Grinding of fresh Black Pepper
    • 4 Spring Onions -Green Onions
    • Place all diced ingredients in the bowl as you go –  zest lime and juice into the bowl sprinkle salt pepper mix add Tomato Ketchup Worcester Sauce Sriracha Sauce
    • Leave to rest for a couple of hours or overnight to marrige of all the flavors

 

English Prawn Cocktail Vs American

22 Wednesday Jun 2016

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Starters – Appetizers

Shrimp –Vs–Prawns

 Now here is a fun quandary:-Is it a Shrimp Or Is it a Prawn

Please do not ask for shrimp in Britain.  You will get the smallest little pink curled up things that you have ever seen.  I mean little tiny pink shrimps that are not even the size of an American salad shrimp.  The best shrimp come from Morecambe Bay (a seaside town in the north west of England) and are know as, guess what, Morecambe Bay Shrimp.   In British cookery these are a delicacy served as potted shrimp, an excellent dish for an appetizer or starter spread on toast or crackers. Another use for shrimp is to add to rice dishes.   Prawns though area completely different matter, big and juicy, similar to American shrimps.

One way to cut the cost of making a British prawn cocktail is to mix shrimps with the prawns before pouring over the sauce.  They truly are very, very expensive; a treat served on special occasions such as birth, deaths, marriages, birthdays and Christmas parties.   I always feel sorry for the deceased person at a funeral, missing out on a beautiful prawn cocktail.

You will still get a choice of size of your prawns in Britain but they will not be count size as in America.  You have to buy them by the half-pound (8oz) or pound (16oz).   A point here: an English pint is 20oz.   I think that is why Americans can not take our Pints of BEER!

Compare the difference in our two recipes. It is quite amazing that they are in principle called the same thing. Britain uses Creamy Cocktails Sauce and America uses Spicy Tomato Sauce – I have the recipes for both.  Try both recipes for a great bonus to add to your culinary repartee. I don’t say one is better than the other,  both are excellent just different.

Please do not leave it too long; you do not want to make your first for a funeral!

Great British Prawn Cocktail

For the Sauce

  • 4 tablespoons low-fat mayonnaise made with free-range eggs
  • 2 tablespoons tomato ketchup (Heinz)
  • 1 lime, juice and Lime wedges to serve or Lemon if you prefer.  Both work
  • A few drops of Tabasco or chilli sauce
  • 1 splash Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tablespoons Salad Cream
  • Pinch Salt and white pepper

For the Salad

  • 500 grams / 16oz Atlantic Prawns fresh or defrosted
  • 4 large Crevettes for decoration (Large Prawns shell on)
  • A shredded Lettuce
  • Chopped tomatoes
  • 1/2 a finely chopped cucumber
  • 4 finely chopped spring onions
  • Sweet Paprika

Mix all the sauce ingredients together leave in the fridge to marry together

Place salad lettuce in cocktail glasses first or I make a very large one on a wooden platter for all my family to share.
Pop the prawns on top leaving aside the crevettes
Pour the sauce over and finish of with a dash of the sweet paprika on each of your cocktails
Dress the glasses with the crevettes, sliced limes and cucumber
This is always served with brown bread and butter.  Cut into triangles please x x
American Shrimp Cocktail
For the sauce
  • 1 cup tomato ketchup (Heinz )
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons of prepared horseradish
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • Lime wedges to serve
  • Pinch salt and white pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon Tabasco or chilli sauce
  • Dash of Worcestershire Sauce

Shrimp

2lbs Large Shrimp (16 to 18 count)

Mix to combine ketchup, horseradish, lime juice, Tabasco, dash of Wostershire, salt, and pepper Leave in the fridge to marry.

Arrange all the shrimp around the edge of a chilled bowl .

Pour the cocktail sauce in the middle

Serve with lime wedges

Enjoy x x x 🐟

Breakfast English Vs American

07 Thursday Apr 2016

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Accross The Big Pond

UK Classic “The Great Big British Fry Up”

Bacon, Sausage, black pudding, mushrooms, tomatoes, baked beans, fried eggs fried bread, toast, to finish with zesty marmalade or Jam.(Jelly) Orange Juice tea and coffee.

 

USA Classic “The All American Breakfast”

Bacon, sausage patties, tomato, fried eggs, hash browns, biscuits with sausage gravy or pancakes and maple syrup. Toast with honey or jams. Coffee Orange juice

They don’t sound too different but when you look close they are most definitely not quite the same.

Firstly, the bacon.

UK style bacon
Very lean middle cut is preferred.  Its closer to Canadian bacon but supplied uncooked.

USA style bacon
Very fatty, thin slices.  In the UK we would call this Streaky bacon.

Breakfast Meats

Traditional sausages in the UK are very mild pork unless you buy the high quality with a large meat content.  No patties unless you make them yourself out of pork sausage meat.

No sausage gravy served at breakfast (or at any other time in the UK).  You have to make it from scratch but it is easy to make.

The USA sausage has much a stronger taste and tends to be meatier and more spiced with a higher fat content.  Patties and sausages are widely available.

Black pudding v Blood pudding.  I have never seen this served in the USA for breakfast. It is hard to get hold of and I have not seen it for sale in supermarkets, only a local butcher on request. You can make your own  Readily available in UK

Pancakes & Biscuits

Pancakes and syrup are will never normally be served on the same plate as savoury food in the UK.

UK pancakes very thin, served traditionally with sugar and lemon rolled up but not served with a fried breakfast. Just like French Crepes, theses are always served on Pancake Day which is – Mardi Gras.

American pancakes are thicker and denser – similar to Scotch cakes.  You can make these very easily with the recipe on page 45.

UK Biscuits are a type of “cookie” served with a cup of tea. Definitely not taken at breakfast.

USA biscuits are similar to British scones.  Scones are mainly served for high teas around 4 in the afternoon, served with cream and jam.

Jam –V- Jelly

These are the same but jelly in the UK is a wobbly desert (jello) that is served with cream – not in sandwiches with peanut butter. You will find it’s not a common sandwich in UK even though my children still love them.

Baked Beans

In the USA The Beans have pork fat and lots of sugar added.  The only ones we could find that came close to British baked beans were Bushes Vegetarian beans. USA Heinz were much too sweet for our pallet. In the UK we don’t have any with added pork fat.

And the Rest

Tomatoes and mushrooms are readily available both sides of the pond. I prefer to buy vine ripened tomatoes as they have the very best flavour.

Fried Bread, this is traditionally fried in the bacon fat until it is crisp.  I make a healthier option but just as tasty.

Hash browns.  You can now get these in most supermarkets in the UK manly in the freezer department they are now getting more popular. You won’t find any Tater tots in the UK so you do have to make your own.

Eggs are Eggs the same on both sides of the Pond – In England we go to the Farm and buy the freshest Eggs.

Toast.  I found the bread to toast in the USA is Italian bread – not as much added sugar or eggs.  We tried and tried all the breads in the USA, until we found the Italian bread range. We did not even like the normal hamburger buns so we bought Kaiser Rolls.  These are just like our barm cakes (buns)   Americans in the UK should buy a cheaper supermarket bread (the “value” breads). These tend to be fluffy with added sugar, they’re not as refined as teh more expensive breads.

As you can see now there are so many differences, you always think a cooked breakfast is a cooked breakfast but not anymore.   With the recipes, you now can recreate your biscuits with sausage gravy, our eldest son Liam is addicted!  Alternatively, English pancakes are so easy to make in either country, maybe you would like to try them. You can be flexible and make recipes from both countries. British children love British pancakes so much why not make them in America?  You never know, they may catch on.  They are perfect for Mardi Gras instead of a King cake, then you will have the best of both traditions.

I am doing a whole host of recipes between the two countries – Watch this space x x

Raita Fat Free

25 Friday Mar 2016

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Raiata1

  • 1/2 cup greek fat free yogurt I used a small pot of Fage Total 0% Greek Yogurt
  • 1/2 chopped small chunks and seeded cucumber
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander
  • 1 tablespoons chopped very fine Mint
  • 2 chopped spring onions
  • 1 teaspoon Mint Sauce
  • 1/2 a Lime juice only

Chop cucumber and spring onions – add mint sauce and chopped herbs -Mix in the Yogurt sprinkle with Lime juice mix well cover and place in the fridge until serving

 

 

 

Sixtyone London

17 Thursday Mar 2016

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SixtyOne Restaurant.

There are 5570 Restaurants in London so one does have a lot of choice.

I have eaten at quite a few, always when in London choose “exceedingly good” restaurants.

I have tried Jason Atherton, Ramsey’s, Corrigan’s Marco’s to name just a few.

Now………………………………. I can actually say, hand on heart, that I have found A true hidden gem

SixtyOne Restaurant, 61 Upper Berkeley Street, London, W1H 7PP. Very close to Marble Arch

My word…………………..

This restaurant is not just exceedingly good it is sensational! From greeting to leaving it was perfection – not stuffy or cold, everyone was warm and genuinely friendly.

Modern trendy with a 70’s vibe but Warm! From the start I knew it was going to be delicious just by the ambience and looking around at other plates! But it was simply sensational.

When I tasted the food I was so surprised power packed flavours and great presentation.

Service begins with a Bread Box accompanied by homemade butter.

Not a normal “Bread Box”

I do make my own butter and this was beautiful, creamy salty perfection.

My new love is Marmite Bread, oh my! so dangerous – As I was salivating so much they asked if I would like more bread – NOOOOO! Not because I did not like it, simply because I ADORED IT!

I would have eaten them out of Marmite Bread if I could, but I knew that I wanted to “Save myself”.

To start I ordered Heritage beetroot | Cashel Blue | walnut -simply beautiful.

For Main – Pork loin Apple and Pineapple. Devine cooked to perfection with a salty crust.

For Pudding we were given an extra dish, a cheesecake in a shot glass served with the most adorable pistachios shortbread – meltingly delicious.

Followed by – Apple millefeuille| lavender | lime – I have never tasted anything so deviously delicious and I never ever eat puddings. It must be 20 years since I ordered a pudding, I normally go for the cheese. On this occasion I decided to try it . OH MY- The whole experience was simply Perfection.

I shall return. I would really want to eat everything! So the tasting menu shall be perfect – Roll on September when I am back in London.

Sixtyone is my new favourite restaurant – Thank You to all who made our visit so very special.

 

 

 

A Very English Parsnip Soup

29 Monday Feb 2016

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Parsnip Soup

2 Onions chopped

12 Parsnips peeled and cubed

2 carrots peeled and chopped fine

1 leek chopped fine

3 cloves Garlic crushed

1 star Anise

1tsp Garam Masala

1tsp Chinese 5 spice

1/2pint milk

1pint chicken stock

4 tsp creamed Horseradish

Handful chopped coriander

½ a chilli chopped

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 tbs Olive oil or coconut oil

 

Oil into a large pan

Drop in the onions into the pan cook until soft add garlic carrots leeks and spices

When all soft and wilted down

Add Parsnips cook until juices flow

Enter the chicken stock and milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Cook for 40 minutes on a low heat stirring from time to time

After 40 mins add coriander give a good stir

Take off the heat and puree in a processor or liquidizer

Warm through and add the horseradish

Serve warm with chunky Garlic Bread

#Parsnips #Soup