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| Paying Homage to the Wii |
Friday, December 17, 2010
Ethan is Here for a Few Days
Ethan visiting while the Darlington schools have broken up for Christmas holidays.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Rhys's 6th Birthday
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| Rhys's 7th Year |
Toys all over the floor. Followed by pizza two for one from Dominoes. Due to the bad weather no delivery!
Birthday Cake and candles -- Happy Birthday Rhys.
You may notice the cut above his left eye. A fall at the swimming baths on Monday meant a visit to A&E. Walking down the ramp at the entrance was not an option!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Jamie Oliver's Veggie Lasagne with Tomato Salad
I've just been reading in the Saturday paper that Jamie O sold 78K copies of his book last week along. The week before I think it was 48K. At £10 a skull that's over a £1.2M in revenue in the last 2 weeks. The second book in the best sellers list was less than half this quantity. Jamie can do no wrong.
So as you know I did buy the book and tonight I cooked my third meal from it. The lasagne is quoted as a summer dish so I had to change the asparagus to broccoli. The accompanying salad should be a variety of season tomatoes, I just used cherry toms.
The recipes are written to be done in the 30 minutes which the TV programme format dictates. This is on the pretense of delivering meals for a busy family of 4. The approach is fair enough and its reminiscent of Delia Smith's last series on using acceptable "cheats". If you remember the critics response was mixed and I would like to compare her book sales with the above.
The quantity of frozen beans and peas looked enormous and I reduced it. In the cooking I would pay for that decision later. The bulk of the lasagne filling was beans, peas and the stalks of the broccoli chopped up. The cheese sauce is provided by cream and cottage cheese. Half the cheese is used in the initial mix. Mint and lemon rind is added for additional flavour.
All was going well until I had to build the lasagne layers. I had a reasonable size tin for the two of us on a flame to take the finished lasagne. Fresh pasta is used for its short cooking time. I put a layer of filling on the bottom of the tin and put 3 slices of lasagne over it ready for the next layer. As I went for the Parmesan cheese to cover the lasagnes started to curl up into a cup shape --- Jamie's did not do that! Managed to get it flattened out with the next layer of filling.
It was then that my quantity of filling looked a bit thin, The tin was slightly too big for the meal. The next layer was just about covered. The final topping was the rest of the cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese and the florets of the broccolli. This was all done while the tin was on the hob. The top layer is cooked under the grill. The edges of the last layer of lasagne were not covered in liquid so I thought that it would come out solid as a rock!
Next the salad. This turned out to be the best of the meal. Grilled chunks of ciabbata bread coated in red wine vinegar, anchovies, capers, Olive oil, red peppers, lemon juice and tomatoes. The bread soaks up the juices. We found the bread filling when eaten with the lasagne. But a great combination of you were real hungry.
The full meal was too much for us in one sitting. I would make it in a smaller tin and ensure the layers were well stocked. The chunks of cottage cheese did not look great but the taste was fine.
If the 30 mins deal is not an issue I would try a proper cheese sauce.
Overall a nice meal and we still have some left over.
So as you know I did buy the book and tonight I cooked my third meal from it. The lasagne is quoted as a summer dish so I had to change the asparagus to broccoli. The accompanying salad should be a variety of season tomatoes, I just used cherry toms.
The recipes are written to be done in the 30 minutes which the TV programme format dictates. This is on the pretense of delivering meals for a busy family of 4. The approach is fair enough and its reminiscent of Delia Smith's last series on using acceptable "cheats". If you remember the critics response was mixed and I would like to compare her book sales with the above.
The quantity of frozen beans and peas looked enormous and I reduced it. In the cooking I would pay for that decision later. The bulk of the lasagne filling was beans, peas and the stalks of the broccoli chopped up. The cheese sauce is provided by cream and cottage cheese. Half the cheese is used in the initial mix. Mint and lemon rind is added for additional flavour.
All was going well until I had to build the lasagne layers. I had a reasonable size tin for the two of us on a flame to take the finished lasagne. Fresh pasta is used for its short cooking time. I put a layer of filling on the bottom of the tin and put 3 slices of lasagne over it ready for the next layer. As I went for the Parmesan cheese to cover the lasagnes started to curl up into a cup shape --- Jamie's did not do that! Managed to get it flattened out with the next layer of filling.
It was then that my quantity of filling looked a bit thin, The tin was slightly too big for the meal. The next layer was just about covered. The final topping was the rest of the cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese and the florets of the broccolli. This was all done while the tin was on the hob. The top layer is cooked under the grill. The edges of the last layer of lasagne were not covered in liquid so I thought that it would come out solid as a rock!
Next the salad. This turned out to be the best of the meal. Grilled chunks of ciabbata bread coated in red wine vinegar, anchovies, capers, Olive oil, red peppers, lemon juice and tomatoes. The bread soaks up the juices. We found the bread filling when eaten with the lasagne. But a great combination of you were real hungry.
The full meal was too much for us in one sitting. I would make it in a smaller tin and ensure the layers were well stocked. The chunks of cottage cheese did not look great but the taste was fine.
If the 30 mins deal is not an issue I would try a proper cheese sauce.
Overall a nice meal and we still have some left over.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Jamie Oliver's Thai Red Prawn Curry & Papaya Platter Meal +
We've been watching Jamie O's new programme which is running on Channel 4 at 5:30 each day.
30 Minute Meals on Channel 4
Jean took a fancy to the Prawn Curry which I cooked today. I didn't follow the full recipe. Did not have the full raw king prawns with shell and head and the smaller prawns were already cooked. Never the less Jean allowed me to keep my 0.25 Michelin star. We enjoyed it.
The king prawns were cooked in the oven which may not be needed when using the prepared version we had. Next time I think I would use less coconut milk. The final mix was a little too watery and not as hot as expected.
The cucumber and chillies made up for it.
I did not quite appreciate the Jasmine rice. The tea bags I would leave out.
This is the first time I've tried papaya. Not a great deal of taste. However it was refreshing after the curry.
First time cycling in sometime. I've been under pressure this week at work and had a uplifting ride along the cycle path running along the back of Doonfoot. It was cool but the sun was bright and the first leaf fall of the autumn made for a colourful route.
30 Minute Meals on Channel 4
Jean took a fancy to the Prawn Curry which I cooked today. I didn't follow the full recipe. Did not have the full raw king prawns with shell and head and the smaller prawns were already cooked. Never the less Jean allowed me to keep my 0.25 Michelin star. We enjoyed it.
The king prawns were cooked in the oven which may not be needed when using the prepared version we had. Next time I think I would use less coconut milk. The final mix was a little too watery and not as hot as expected.
The cucumber and chillies made up for it.
I did not quite appreciate the Jasmine rice. The tea bags I would leave out.
This is the first time I've tried papaya. Not a great deal of taste. However it was refreshing after the curry.
First time cycling in sometime. I've been under pressure this week at work and had a uplifting ride along the cycle path running along the back of Doonfoot. It was cool but the sun was bright and the first leaf fall of the autumn made for a colourful route.
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