Bookworm's Cook Book

Meal Plan: Autumn 2009

2009-09-04T10:47:00.000-07:00

New school year, new season, new meal plan.

BREAKFAST

Monday - Yoghurt and fruit
Tuesday - Scrambled eggs and hash browns
Wednesday - Porridge or cereal
Thursday - Pancakes
Friday - Banana milk shake
Saturday - Croissants
Sunday - Cereal or toast

WEEKDAY LUNCHES (2 week rotation)

Week 1
Monday - Wholemeal roll with cold meat
Tuesday - Tuna pasta salad
Wednesday - Chicken salad in pitta
Thursday - Pizza fingers
Friday - Smoked salmon sandwich

Week 2
Monday - Cheese roll
Tuesday - Houmous wraps
Wednesday - Chicken salad baguette
Thursday - Pasta pot
Friday - Tuna sandwich

DINNER (4 week rotation)

Week 1
Monday - Sausage, mash and onion gravy
Tuesday - Spaghetti bolognese
Wednesday - Chicken stir fry
Thursday - Baked potatoes and cauliflower cheese
Friday - Fish fingers and chips
Saturday - Vegetable soup
Sunday - Roast chicken

Week 2
Monday - Shipwreck stew
Tuesday - Mushroom risotto
Wednesday - Lazy chicken and potatoes
Thursday - Grilled meat or fish with potato wedges
Friday - Pasta bake
Saturday - Leek and potato soup
Sunday - Roast lamb

Week 3
Monday - Beef stew and dumplings
Tuesday - Egg fried rice
Wednesday - Chicken pie and root vegetable mash
Thursday - Baked potatoes and chilli
Friday - Fish fingers and chips
Saturday - Minestrone soup
Sunday - Roast chicken

Week 4
Monday - Cottage pie
Tuesday - Pasta with pesto
Wednesday - Chicken and mushroom casserole with rice
Thursday - Cod in breadcrumbs and potato wedges
Friday - Baked potatoes, cheese and tuna
Saturday - Chicken noodle soup
Sunday - Roast beef

Chicken and Mushroom Casserole

2009-05-11T10:56:00.000-07:00

Ingredients

4 chicken pieces (or 1lb chicken breast chunks)
1 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 oz flour
1/2 pint chicken stock
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons worcester sauce

Method

Brown chicken and onion in the vegetable oil.
Add flour and cook over low heat for 1 minute, stirring.
Add stock, mushrooms, soy sauce and worcester sauce.
Simmer for 1 hour, or cook in oven at Gas Mk.4, 350 deg F or 180 deg C for 1 to 1 1/4 hours until chicken tender.

Serve with rice and a green vegetable.

Serves 4

Honeyed Welsh Lamb

2008-10-25T01:59:00.001-07:00

This was the nicest lamb recipe I have ever cooked. The honey-cider gravy was delicious!

Ingredients
Leg of lamb (4lbs served 6)
4 tablespoons runny honey
1/2 pint dry cider (hard cider)
1 tsp ginger
Salt and pepper
2 sprigs rosemary

Method
Rub lamb with seasonings (ginger, salt, pepper)
Place in baking dish and spoon honey over the top
Pour cider around lamb
Place rosemary on top
Bake at 425deg / Mark 7 for 30 minutes
Cover lamb with foil and turn heat down to 400deg / Mark 6 and cook for a further 20 minutes per pound (we like our lamb well done and I rounded it up to 2 hours total cooking time for our 4lb part-boned leg - this was perfect)
Remove foil for last 15 minutes to crisp up
Skim off any fat from the gravy and serve.

Stwns

2008-10-25T01:56:00.000-07:00

Ingredients
6 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 large swede (rutabaga), peeled and cut into chunks
1-2oz butter
Buttermilk

Method
Boil swede and potatoes separately for around 30 minutes until soft.
Mash together.
Add butter and enough buttermilk to give a creamy consistency.
Add salt to taste.

Serves 6.

We ate this with the honeyed Welsh lamb and roasted leeks. The original recipe used turnips, but suggested swede as an alternative.

Menu Plan 2008

2008-01-20T11:47:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time since I last posted on this blog, but January is the time of year when my thoughts turn to menu planning and food ... nice warm, comfort food.

Since my last menu plan things have become a little more complicated as Star (aged 9) has decided to become vegetarian, though she is still eating fish. (Yes, I know that is not technically vegetarian, but at least it means less family meals she can't eat!). Tevye does not eat cheese, which the rest of us love, so that requires more adjustments.

I read Jenn's post on homemaking earlier in the week, and liked the way she simply allocated a theme to each day (chicken, fish, beans and so on). I have done the same, but then broadened it into a four week rotation with specific recipes. I want to keep it flexible though, as I'm trying hard to cut my expenditure on food and work to a strict budget. If I find bargains I want to be able to work them into my plan; and I also need to be able to adjust according to the contents of my organic vegetable box. I am usually doing grocery shopping on a Saturday, so each weekend I can tweak the next week's plan to factor in any budget-driven purchases.

These are my daily themes ...

Sunday - roast (chicken, beef or lamb)
Monday - crockpot
Tuesday - pasta
Wednesday - winter warmers
Thursday - vegetarian
Friday - quick'n'easy / leftovers
Saturday - fish

On Fridays Little Cherub and I usually go out for lunch with my mother and Angel likes to eat early before her ballet class, so something quick and simple for the girls and leftovers for Tevye works well.

This is the dinner rotation I am starting with, though I have a couple of gaps still to fill. Vegetarian alternatives for Star are in green; cheese free alternatives for Tevye are in red, mostly leftovers of the previous day's meal - if he likes something, he is always happy to have it two days running. Accompanying vegetables will mainly depend on what is in the veg box.

Sundays

Week 1 - Roast chicken (vegetarian sausages)
Week 2 - Roast beef (cauliflower cheese bakes)
Week 3 - Roast chicken (vegetarian sausages)
Week 4 - Roast lamb (beanburgers)

Mondays

Week 1 - Shipwreck stew (Quorn minced beef pie)
Week 2 - BBQ chicken (Quorn chicken-style burger)
Week 3 - Chicken with mushrooms and pearl barley (??)
Week 4 - Beef with mushrooms and potatoes (Vegetable lasagne)

Tuesdays

Week 1 - Macaroni cheese (leftovers)
Week 2 - Spaghetti bolognese (Beanfeast or soya mince)
Week 3 - ??
Week 4 - Pasta with tuna and sweetcorn

Wednesdays

Week 1 - Lamb hotpot or stew (??)
Week 2 - Chicken pie (vegetable pie)
Week 3 - Cottage pie (replace beef with Quorn or soya mince)
Week 4 - Baked potatoes and chilli (Beanfeast with chilli beans)

Thursday

Week 1 - Savoury bean pot
Week 2 - Shepherdess pie
Week 3 - Bean hotpot with dumplings
Week 4 - Cauliflower cheese and baked potato (leftover chilli)

Friday

Week 1 - Pizza (leftovers)
Week 2 - Cheese and spinach tortellini (leftovers)
Week 3 - Eggy bread and baked beans
Week 4 - Pasta with creamy pesto

Saturday

Week 1 - Fish and chips (takeaway)
Week 2 - Salmon
Week 3 - Kippers / smoked mackerel
Week 4 - Fish fingers and oven chips

On weekdays I need to pack lunches for the older girls and Tevye. Angel has a packed lunch everyday; Star has one on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday (she has a cooked lunch on Wednesday and Friday); Tevye needs one on Monday, Wednesday and Friday when he goes to the office. That means three lunches to prepare for Monday, and two every other day. What goes in them tends to vary according to where I shop and - again - what is on special offer at the time. I think maybe I should start making up lunch for myself and Little Cherub at the same time to save effort the next day. On Saturdays lunch is generally soup, burgers or omelette.

Passover recipes

2007-04-06T14:39:00.000-07:00

The three recipes below are three of our Passover favourites. The matzah meal panckes are also good Lenten fare, while the cinnamon balls and coconut pyramids find their way into our Easter menu, as well as rounding off our Seder meal.

All three recipes come from The New Complete International Jewish Cookbook by Evelyn Rose.

Chremslach (Matzah meal pancakes)

2007-04-06T14:29:00.000-07:00

I find these make a good light meal for Good Friday, though my family thinks they are a treat which may miss the point! The recipe says they are probably similar to the meal cakes offered as a sacrifice in the Temple at Jerusalem. The quantities given to serve four are far too small for us - even on a fast day - so I double the recipe.

Ingredients (these are the doubled amounts)
4 eggs
2 level tsps salt
5 fl.oz / 150ml (two-thirds cup) warm water
3 oz / 75g (three-quarters cup) fine matzah meal - I have not tried it, but I think fine wholemeal flour would work just as well
2 level tbsps caster (superfine) sugar

Method
Beat the eggs, salt and 4 tablespoons of the water until thick.
Gradually add the meal and the sugar and enough additional water to make a thick batter that just drops from the spoon.
Fry on each side in 1/4 inch of oil, or a mixture of 2 oz (quarter cup) butter and 1 tbsp oil until golden brown and puffy.

Serve plain, with sugar, or with cinnamon sugar (1 tsp cinnamon to 2 oz / 50g / quarter cup sugar) ... or if you are Angel, with tomato ketchup!

Coconut pyramids

2007-04-06T14:22:00.000-07:00

Tevye's favourite. The recipe says "these should be slightly moist inside, crunchy on the outside."

Ingredients
2 eggs
4oz / 125g (half cup) caster (superfine) sugar
juice and rind of half a lemon
8-9oz / 225-250g (3 cups or a little less) fine, unsweetened dessicated (dried and shredded) coconut

Method
Beat the eggs and sugar until creamy, then stir in the lemon juice, rind and coconut.
Form into pyramids using an egg cup moistened inside with cold water to prevent sticking. (If the mixture seems too soft to hold its shape, stir in a little more coconut.)
Bake at Gas Mk.5 (375 deg F / 190 deg C) for 18-20 minutes, until tinged with golden brown.
Do not overcook!

Makes about 16-18

Cinnamon balls

2007-04-06T14:15:00.000-07:00

Angel and I both love these sweet, spicy balls traditionally served by Anglo-Jewish families at Passover ... not quite a cake, not quite a biscuit (or cookie) ... but whatever they are, we like them!

Ingredients
2 egg whites
4 oz / 125g (half cup) caster (superfine) sugar
8 oz / 225g (2 cups) ground almonds
1 level tbsp cinnamon
icing (confectioners') sugar for coating

Method
Beat the whites until they form stiff peaks.
Stir in remaining ingredients, mixing until even in colour.
Form into balls with wetted hands.
Bake on a greased tray at Gas Mk.3 (325 deg F / 160 deg C) for 20 minutes, or until just firm to the touch.
Roll in icing sugar while warm and then again when cold.

Ground beef strogonoff

2007-02-07T00:41:00.000-08:00

HT: Cay's Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks

This sounds an easy and tasty recipe we would enjoy. I'm going to give it a try next week.

GROUND BEEF STROGANOFF

1 pound ground beef, lean
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
10 3/4 ounces cream of mushroom soup, condensed
4 ounces mushroom stems and pieces, drained
3/4 cup sour cream, or yogurt

In medium skillet, brown ground beef and onion; drain excess fat. Stir in garlic salt, pepper, soup and mushrooms. Simmer covered, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in sour cream; heat through, but do not boil. Serve over rice, noodles or chow mein noodles.

This week's menu

2007-01-28T09:14:00.000-08:00

Inspired by the Meredith's Carnival of Meal Planning I thought I'd post this week's menu, which is basically my menu plan Week 1 with a little variation ... my menus have mutated a little over time. My four week rotation for lunch and dinner is working well, but I do need to get to grips with breakfast, which is at best boring and at worst chaotic with everyone eating separately and Star forgetting (and being forgotton) completely.

Sunday
Lunch: Roast chicken, roast potatoes, carrots, brussel sprouts
Dinner: Fish balls and salad

Monday
Lunch: Tortilla pizzas
Dinner: Chicken, mushroom and potato bake, sugar snap peas

Tuesday
Lunch: Cheese on toast
Dinner: Beef casserole and yorkshire pudding

Wednesday
Lunch: Baked potatoes in jackets, baked beans
Dinner: Lamb chops, sauteed cabbage, mashed potato

Thursday
Lunch: Egg mayo sandwiches
Dinner: Breaded chicken strips, chips (= fries), sweetcorn

Friday
Lunch: Macaroni cheese
Dinner: Baked salmon, peas, rice or mashed potatoes

Saturday
Lunch: Burgers and salad
Dinner: Hot chicken and crusty bread

Dorset Apple Cake

2007-01-15T13:34:00.000-08:00

Star and I discovered Dorset apple cake (with lashings of whipped cream) a couple of years ago when on holiday in ... yes, you guessed it ... Dorset. I found the recipe in this little book: Favourite Dorset Recipes.

I rarely buy cookery books as they usually have so few recipes I can use. Tevye doesn't eat non-Kosher foods (pork, bacon, ham, seafood), doesn't like anything spicy, and hates cheese in any shape or form, however well disguised. This rules out a lot! The Favourite Recipes books are cheap enough that even if we only like two or three of the recipes they are worth buying. They are also often sold at tourist spots, so I usually pick them up when we are on holiday. I have several, but as there are over sixty books in the series there is plenty of scope to collect more.

I digress ... back to the recipe. I hadn't made this for some time before today, and had forgotten just how much everyone likes it. The "cake" is something of a cross between an apple cake and an apple crumble. It can be eaten hot or cold, and is at its best with whipped double (heavy) cream.

Ingredients
8 oz self-raising flour
4 oz butter
4 oz caster sugar
8 oz cooking apples, peeled, cored and diced
Grated rind of one lemon (I don't bother with this as I often don't have a lemon to hand)
1 medium egg, beaten
2 oz sultanas (golden raisins) - optional

Method
Rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Sir in sugar, apples, lemon rind and egg and mix well.
Add sultanas, if desired. (I skip these, as certain picky people in my household don't like them)
Put the mixture into a well greased 8 inch diameter cake tin
Bake at 375deg F or Gas Mark 5 for 30-40 minutes until golden in colour.

Mince pies

2006-12-23T00:17:00.000-08:00

This week's Christmas preparations included baking mince pies and apple pies (for he-who-does-not-like-
Christmas-pudding, namely Tevye). The less said about the apple pies the better, as I forgot to set the timer to remind me to turn the gas down part way through cooking them and they got frazzled. Tevye assures me he will still enjoy them, but I'm afraid they are only just the right side of the fine line between edible and inedible. Fortunately the mince pies came out well.

The recipe I use for mince pies comes from Cooking for Your Freezer by Mary Berry (one of a series of slim volumes sold by Marks and Spencer many years ago) ...

Ingredients
1 lb (4 cups) self-raising flour
4 oz (½ cup) butter
4 oz (½ cup) hard margarine
2 oz (¼ cup) lard
1 egg, separated
Milk
1½ lb mincemeat
A little castor sugar

Method
Sieve flour into a bowl (I don't bother with the sieving)
Add butter, margarine and lard cut in small pieces, then rub into the flour until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs
Add the egg yolk with enough milk to make a firm dough
Knead until blended then chill dough in refrigerator for 20 minutes
Roll out half the dough thinly. Cut out about 35 circles 2¾ inches in diameter and use to line pie tins. (I use slightly larger cutters and get about 30 pies)
Fill with mincemeat
Roll out remaining dough and cutout 35 circles 2¼ inches in diameter for lids
Wet edges of the dough circles in the tin and press the lids on gently to seal.
Brush tops of pies with beaten egg white, dust with a little sugar.
Bake at 400ºF / 200ºC / Gas Mk 6 for 20 minutes, or until pastry is crisp and golden brown.
Leave to cool in tins.

Pies can be frozen. To serve hot (from frozen) replace in tinsand reheat at same temperature for 25 minutes.

I have made my own mincemeat, but decided the ready-made version was just as nice and much easier. It is widely available here, including various luxury varieties. If you want to make your own, this recipe should do nicely. I haven't tried it myself, but it comes from a reliable book - 1000 Freezer Recipes ed. Carole Handslip and Jeni Wright. I bought this used for £1 years ago, and it has become my most used cookery book. Recipes are simple and they work. It also gives both British and American measures, making it a very useful source for kitchen-type translations.

Ingredients
1 lb (4 cups) seedless raisins, finely chopped or minced (ground)
½ lb cooking apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped or minced
4 oz (2/3 cup) candied peel, finely chopped or minced
3/4 lb (2 cups) currants
½ lb (1 1/3 cups) sultanas (seedless white raisins)
6 oz (1 cup, firmly packed) shredded suet
½ teaspoon ground mixed spice (or ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg and ¼ teaspoon of a mixture of ground allspice and cloves)
finely grated rind and juice of 2 lemons
1 b (2 2/3 cups) light brown sugar
6 tablespoons dry cider (dry hard cider)

Method
Put all ingredients in a bowl and stir well to mix. Cover the bowl, leave to stand overnight, then spoon into small rigid containers or freezer-proof jars.

If frozen, thaw at room temperature for 3 hours, then store in the refrigerator. Makes about 5lbs. That would fill an lot of mince pies (about 100). I would only make half quantity.

Latkes

2006-12-19T14:15:00.000-08:00

It is the festival of Hannukah, when Jewish families remember how a tiny remnant of oil kept the light burning in the Temple of Jerusalem for eight days. It is traditional to celebrate with food cooked in oil ... typically latkes and doughnuts. Everyone in our family considers latkes a huge treat, so I always try to cook them at least twice during the eight days of Hannukah. The recipe I use is a recipe for children included inTevye's synagogue newsletter a few years ago.

Ingredients
4 large potatoes
3 tablespoons plain flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs

Method
Peel and grate the potatoes. Drain off excess liquid.
Beat the eggs.
Add all the other ingredients to the potatoes and mix well.
Heat oil in a frying pan (skillet?) - I use oil about ¼inch deep.
Drop mixture into pan by tablespoons and flatten slightly.
Fry on both sides until brown.
Drain on paper towels.

Traditionally served with apple sauce or sugar, though some people prefer tomato ketchup! Great with salt beef.

Rebecca posted a recipe for German potato pancakes on her Heart of the Kitchen blog a while ago, and the recipes are very similar ... definitely central European comfort food.

Cake decoration ... and an egg bomb!

2006-12-13T11:39:00.000-08:00

We belong to a small, local, Christian homeschooling group that organises an activity once a month. Today's was cake decorating. We had to take along our own cakes ... Star opted for a chocolate sponge she made herself, and I made a plain sponge for Angel, who is kitchen phobic (a less kind but more accurate description might be lazy!). This is what the kitchen looks like when Star bakes:

Note particularly the drainer, where it appears an egg explosion had taken place.
Star normally gets me to crack eggs for her, but as I had a sleeping baby on my lap she tried to do it herself. According to Angel her method was more crushing than cracking, which explains why the first egg-and-a-half missed the bowl entirely. After that Angel graciously consented to do something cookery-ish and cracked them for her.

If you wonder about the table lamp on the kitchen side, it is there because the kitchen light has broken. This is a huge irritation in my life, but has not yet been irritating enough for long enough to force us to call an electrician to fix it.

The cake decorating was fun, and went remarkably smoothly considering the wide age range of the decorators. They learned how to roll icing (frosting) and cover the cake neatly, and how to make marzipan fruits. Then they were given a free hand to decorate and trim their cakes. Angel's is on the left, Star's on the right.

All in the genes?

2006-12-11T13:44:00.000-08:00

Not that I claim to be anything out of the ordinary as a cook, but if there is such a thing as a cooking gene, this is where mine comes from ...

My great-grandmother, Frances Elizabeth Dugdale. Born in a North Yorkshire village in the 1860s she went into service in her teens as a kitchen maid at Nunnington Hall. Later she became a cook, I believe at Harewood House near Leeds where she would have worked in this old kitchen.

This photo is another decluttering find. Would that there were recipes to go with it!

Katie Morag's Porridgies

2006-12-06T08:28:00.000-08:00

This afternoon Star and I made "porridgies" (flapjacks). Star used to enjoy the Katie Morag stories by Mairi Hedderwick. So did I ... they are nice gentle picture books about a little girl living on a Scottish island with her mother and grandparents, if I remember rightly.* Three or four years ago we borrowed a Katie Morag collected storybook (title long forgotten!) from the library which included this recipe, and have used it ever since. It is quick, easy and child friendly (though my tolerance for stickiness isn't high enough to let Star loose with the golden syrup!).

Ingredients

100g / 4oz butter
75g / 3oz soft brown sugar
30ml / 2 tablespoons golden syrup (light corn syrup)
200g / 8oz rolled oats (porridge oats)
pinch of salt

Method

Melt butter in a large pan over a low heat.
Add sugar and syrup and salt. Mix well.
Stir in rolled oats. Mix very well.
Spread mixture evenly in tray with palette knife.
Bake for 25-35 minutes, till goldie brown.
Take out of oven. Let cool a little.
Mark in squares or fingers with knife.
Leave in tray till cold.
Put pieces in an airtight tin.

* One caveat: Katie Morag's parents are divorced or separated, though this is more apparent in some books than others.

My Naughty Little Sister makes Christmas puddings

2006-12-05T13:17:00.000-08:00

Have you met My Naughty Little Sister? If not, then I recommend her for small girls, from around age four upwards. She gets up to lots of mischief, but of a gentle, old-fashioned kind. And "big sister" who tells the stories is always suitable shocked. In one book little sister actually manages to be good, and one of the things she does while being good is help her Grannie to make Christmas puddings to take her mind of the firework bangs on Bonfire Night (Guy Fawkes night, November 5th) ...

Grannie's big kitchen table looked just like a shop, there were so many things on it. There were jars and bottles and packets, full of currants and sultanas and raisins and ginger and candied eel and a big heap of suet on a board, and a big heap of brown sugar on a plate. There were apples and oranges and lemons, and even some big clean carrots!

There was a big brown bowl standing on a chair that had a big, big, wooden spoon in it. And on the draining board were lots of white basins.

Can you guess? My sister couldn't. She didn't know what all this stuff was for, so Grannie said, 'We are going to make the Family Christmas Puddings. I always make one for every one of my children every year. And I always make them on Bonfire night. It takes my mind of the bangs.'

My sister was very surprised to hear this, and to know that all these lovely things to eat were going to be made into Christmas Puddings.

Grannie said, 'You can help me, and it will take your mind off the bangs, too.' ...

... When all the things had been put into the brown bowl, Grannie began to mix and mix with the big spoon. She gave my sister a little wooden spoon so that she could mix too.

Then, Grannie said, 'Now you must shut your eyes and stir, and make wish. You always wish on a Christmas pudding mixture.'

And my sister did. She shut her eyes and turned her spoon round and round. Then Grannie shut her eyes and wished.

My sister said, 'I wished I could come and help you next Bonfire night, Grannie'

And Grannie said, 'Well, Missy, that was just what I wished too!'

Then my sister sat quietly by the fire while our grandmother put the pudding mixture into all the basins, and covered them with paper and tied them with cloth.
[From When My Naughty Little Sister Was Good by Dorothy Edwards]

Christmas Puddings - Errata!

2006-12-05T13:09:00.000-08:00

If you are planning to use my Christmas pudding recipe, you need to know that they do not keep as long as I first wrote in the recipe post. Apparently, the reason they are still OK to eat at Easter is because my Mum keeps them in the freezer! She tells me that they will keep for about six weeks unfrozen.

Also, I forgot to add one vital piece of information ... when making Christmas puddings, tradition is that everyone gets to stir the pudding and make a wish. Can't miss that out!

The puddings are made!

2006-12-04T13:28:00.000-08:00

Star and I made this "stir-up Monday" (a little license there!) and made our Christmas puddings.

Lots of ingredients ...

Measuring them out ...

A good stir (and don't forget to make a wish!) ...

Four puddings almost ready for the pot ...

Full steam ahead!

Cholent

2006-11-30T13:24:00.000-08:00

We will be out all morning on Saturday (the girls' music school end-of-term concert) and I will be out all afternoon (the great decluttering exercise), leaving no time to cook. The alternative? A traditional Jewish Sabbath meal, cholent. Orthodox Jews do not cook between sunset on Friday evening and sunset on Saturday, so all Sabbath meals must be prepared in advance. Some are eaten cold, but this one is cooked slowly overnight. Just what I need - prepare on Friday, eat on Saturday ... and let Tevye savour one of the tastes of his childhood.

My standby Jewish cookery book (OK, my only Jewish cookery book - The Complete International Jewish Cookbook by Evelyn Rose) says about cholent that "this ancient Sabbath concoction is best defined as 'any dish that has the stamina to stand up to 24 hours in the oven' ". She also describes the origins of cholent:

The cholent ritual was an important part of Jewish life in the Polish villages of the nineteenth century. Each family would mark its pot with chalk, and tie it with string before sending it to be cooked in the baker's oven. It was a tragedy indeed if a child should drop the hot dish on the way home, and the whole village would give a spoonful to make up the family's meal. In those cholents, potatoes and 'kasha' (groats) were the main ingredients, with a good meat bone to help the flavour. But the richer communities, where kosher meat was more readily available, would put in a good chunk of boneless brisket or top rib. Jews who came to Britain in the latter years of the nineteenth century continued to make their cholent just as they had done in 'der heim', putting in butter beans or barley for variety, and topping the dish with a fluffy 'knaidel' or dumpling; they found it an ideal way of feeding their large families in the days when a joint, as we know it today, was beyond the finance of most immigrants. The cholent cooked to perfection in the coal oven, as it had done in the wood ovens of of Russia and Poland.

Ingredients (Serves 6)
1 lb butter (dried lima) beans (canned beans work fine if you prefer)
3 lb piece of boneless brisket
Salt,pepper, paprika and ginger
2 tablespoons chicken fat; or 2 oz (¼ cup) margarine
3 sliced onions
1 clove garlic, crushed (I omit the garlic)
1 bayleaf
6 peeled whole potatoes (I prefer them cut into chunks)

Method
Soak the butter (lima) beans in water to cover overnight, drain well.
Rub the brisket with the salt, pepper, paprika and ginger, then brown quickly in the fat or margarine, together with the onions and garlic.
Put in a deep earthenware casserole (a hot-pot dish or Dutch oven is ideal).
Add the bayleaf, drained soaked beans, and the potatoes or barley.
Cover with boiling water, cover the dish and put in oven at Gas Mk 5 / 400 deg F / 200 deg C for 30 minutes or until contents start to bubble.
Turn heat down to Gas Mk ½ / 250 deg F / 130 deg C and leave overnight.
Serve for lunch the next day.

As our gas oven has been behaving erratically recently (putting itself out, but for some unknown reason only when Tevye cooks Sunday lunch - so far it has behaved itself perfectly for me!) I'm going to try using the crockpot instead. I'm thinking that an hour or so on high followed by a long, slow simmer on low should work nicely. [Edited to add: The crockpot did the job fine. I checked it in the morning, added some extra seasoning and adjusted the temperature (my slow cooker cooks ridiculously slowly on low, so I boosted it with an extra couple of hours on high). I also thickened the liquid by adding a little cornflour dissolved in cold water.]

The end result is meat that is falling-apart tender, with potatoes and beans so thoroughly soaked in the juices that they turn a deep orange colour right through. More winter comfort food!

Mustn't forget to put those beans in to soak tonight ...

Auntie's Cook Books

2006-11-29T10:41:00.000-08:00

As a young woman my mother left home (which was not a happy one) and found lodgings with a Methodist minister and his wife. Childless themselves, they took her into their hearts as well as their home and became "Auntie" and "Uncle" to her. For my brother and myself Auntie and Uncle were grandparents in all but name and dearly beloved. They both died over thirty years ago, but I still miss them badly.

Sorting through my mother's bookshelves last week we unearthed two old and battered cook books that were Auntie's. The first is a tatty memo book with recipes handwritten in pencil. The second is the A.B.C. Cookery Book, a small book held together with tape, published in Blackburn, Lancashire, in 1928. Both are full of simple recipes - old-fashioned home cooking (my strong point), not fancy dishes for entertaining (I don't go there!). What a joy it will be to keep memories alive through this special link between Auntie's kitchen and mine.

Here ia recipe from Auntie's notebook, to whet your appetite ...

Shrewsbury Biscuits
(or cookies, if you speak American! I chose this recipe because my mother used to live with Auntie and Uncle in Shrewsbury - home of Cadfael, Ellis Peters' monk detective.)

4 oz (½ cup) butter
4 oz (½ cup) sugar
little lemon rind or 2 oz (¼ cup) currants
1 egg
about 8 oz (2 cups) flour
pinch salt

Beat butter and sugar to cream. Add lemon rind or currants. Add beaten egg and flour alternately. Form into paste, Turn out on floured board, roll out thinly, cut, put on greased tin. Bake in moderately hot oven 10-15 minutes.

Shipwreck Stew

2006-11-28T13:35:00.000-08:00

Last night's dinner was shipwreck stew. I found this crockpot recipe on the internet, but now I can only find numerous other variations so I can't link to the recipe. The version I use is very, very simple to throw together, and all four of us enjoy it (we'll gloss over the fact that one daughter picks out the potatoes and her sister picks out the beans, and then they swap!). It makes a good winter warmer, and the recipe can easily be doubled or trebled to cater for a large family or guests.

Ingredients (Serves 4)
1 lb / 500g minced beef (hamburger?)
1 onion, chopped
2 or 3 large potatoes, cubed
1 can kidney beans, including liquid
1 can condensed tomato soup

Method
Brown the mince and onion.
Put all ingredients in crockpot and stir well.

That's all there is to it! I cook it on high for 4 hours, though the recipe says low for 4-5 hours - my crockpot would need a lot longer than this on the low setting. I serve it with a green vegetable.

Christmas Pudding

2006-11-26T14:29:00.000-08:00

Stir-up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Collect for the Sunday before the First Sunday of Advent, Book of Common Prayer)

Today is Stir-Up Sunday, the day for stirring up Christmas puddings, an essential part of dinner for Christmas Day here in England. We won't be making ours today, but Star and I will be preparing them next week. Until this year my mother has always made them, but standing for any length of time is too painful as she waits for her hip replacement operation (she now has a date for surgery ... December 18th!), so I have inherited the job along with the family recipe she has always used.

Christmas puddings are normally very rich affairs, laced with quantities of brandy or rum, but our recipe is a lighter, alcohol-free version. It came from Mum's adoptive aunt, who inherited it from her mother. They were Methodists, hence the teetotal pudding. I love Christmas pudding in any shape or form, but often people who dislike other Christmas puds enjoy ours. Here is the recipe ...

Ingredients
8 oz breadcrumbs
8 oz plain flour
8 oz suet (we use the vegetarian version)
8 oz currants
8 oz sultanas
4 oz raisins
a little mixed peel
2 tsp salt
8 oz castor sugar
2 tsp mixed spice
rind and juice of 2 lemons
6 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 grated apples
2 grated carrots
4 oz glace cherries, quartered
1 or 2 tbsp black treacle (dark molasses?)
a little milk if mixture is stiff

Method
Mix all ingredients together and beat well
Put in greased pudding moulds (should be about two-thirds full)
Cover with greaseproof paper
Steam for 3 to 4 hours.

After steaming remove the greaseproof paper and cover with foil. These puddings are not rich so will only keep for about 6 weeks, though they can be frozen if you want to keep them longer. Steam a second time for at least 3 hours, and serve with any combination of brandy sauce, brandy butter, custard or cream. I need to check just how many puddings this quantity of mixture will make, but I think it would probably be two 2 pound puddings and two 1 pound puddings, or thereabouts.

Note: If anyone in the US is interested in making these, let me know and I can post conversions into cups.

Yorkshire Pudding

2006-11-26T14:28:00.000-08:00

Yorkshire pudding is a batter pudding usually eaten with roast beef. In Yorkshire it was traditionally served in large slabs with gravy before the beef itself - the idea being that the stodgy pudding would fill up empty stomachs if poverty made the main course meagre. It can be made either as one large pudding, or as individual muffin sized puddings (my preference).

Ingredients (makes 12)
4 oz (1 cup) flour
½ pint (1¼ cups) milk
1 egg
Pinch of salt

Method
Mix ingredients and whisk. Leave to stand for 30 minutes.
Heat oven to Gas Mark 7 (425 deg). Brush muffin tins with oil and heat.
Whisk batter again.
Half fill muffin tins with batter.
Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until risen and golden.
Serve immediately.

If you want one large pudding, bake in an 8 x 11 inch roasting tin or 9 inch square cake tin for about 30 to 35 minutes.

Chicken, mushroom and potato bake

2006-11-26T14:26:00.000-08:00

The chicken and potato bake on yesterday's dinner menu mutated from the recipe I planned to use and came out well enough to get positive votes all round. If I post the adapted recipe here, I have a fighting chance of being able to recreate it next time this week's menu comes round ...

Ingredients (Serves 4)
4 chicken portions, cooked (I actually used three large chicken breasts)
4 large or 6 medium potatoes, cooked and mashed with butter
1 can condensed mushroom soup
8oz mushrooms, sliced
Soy sauce (about 1/2 tablespoon)
Garlic salt (about 1/2 teaspoon)

Instructions
Mix can of soup with half a can of water (I used water in which I had simmered the chicken breasts), soy sauce and garlic salt.
Layer mushrooms, chicken and soup mix.
Spread potato over the top.
Bake for 30 minutes at Gas Mark 6 / 400 deg

Could easily be made in advance ready to bake, and would freeze well.

Menu Plan: Week 4

2006-11-26T14:25:00.000-08:00

While I am posting menus, here is Week 4.

Sunday
Lunch: Roast lamb, roast potatoes and vegetables
Dinner: Sandwiches

Monday
Lunch: Tuna sandwiches
Dinner: Shipwreck stew, green vegetables (a crockpot recipe I found on the internet with minced beef - hamburger? - potatoes, beans and tomato soup. Very easy, very tasty)

Tuesday
Lunch: Baked beans on toast
Dinner: Chicken and mushroom casserole, broccoli, mashed potatoes

Wednesday
Lunch: French bread with chicken tikka
Dinner: Chicken pie, roast potatoes, sauteed cabbage (frozen ready-made chicken pie, not home cooked - Waitrose roast chicken pie, for anyone in the UK who wants to know)

Thursday
Lunch: Egg mayonnaise sandwiches
Dinner: Oven chips (fries), fish fingers, carrots

Friday
Lunch: Cauliflower cheese
Dinner: Pasta with tuna and sweetcorn

Saturday
Lunch: Vegetable soup, homemade bread
Dinner: Scones and cake

Menu Plan: Week 3

2006-11-26T14:24:00.002-08:00

Our menu for Week 3 ...

Sunday
Lunch: Roast chicken, roast potatoes and vegetables
Dinner: Sandwiches

Monday
Lunch: Turkey rasher sandwiches (we use turkey instead of bacon)
Dinner: Potato wedges, fish fingers, sweetcorn

Tuesday
Lunch: Cheese omelette and baked beans
Dinner: Lamb stew and dumplings

Wednesday
Lunch: French bread pizza
Dinner: Chicken stir fry

Thursday
Lunch: Turkey sandwiches
Dinner: Baked potatoes and cauliflower cheese

Friday
Lunch: Pasta with tomato and cheese sauce
Dinner: Fish and chips (fries!) (from the takeaway, not homemade)

Saturday
Lunch: Beefburgers or steak sandwiches
Dinner: Hot takeaway chicken, crusty bread

Menu Plan: Week 2

2006-11-26T14:24:00.001-08:00

On the menu for Week 2 of my four week rotation ...

Sunday
Lunch: Turkey joint, roast potatoes and vegetables
Dinner: Sandwiches

Monday
Lunch: Pitta bread and houmous
Dinner: Crockpot beef and mushrooms, peas

Tuesday
Lunch: Poached eggs on toast
Dinner: Pasta with chicken, red pesto and creme fraiche (very easy, Star ate this with green pesto when visiting a friend and nagged until I asked for the recipe)

Wednesday
Lunch: Cheese bagels
Dinner: Shepherd's pie, carrots

Thursday
Lunch: Tuna and cucumber sandwiches
Dinner: Grilled chicken, potato wedges, green veg

Friday
Lunch: Pizza
Dinner: Salmon, rice or potato, sweetcorn

Saturday
Lunch: Vegetable soup and crusty bread (homemade soup with carrot, swede - rutabaga? - and potato)
Dinner: Homemade scones and cake (more of an afternoon tea than a dinner!)

Most days we have fruit for dessert after dinner, depending on what is on offer at any given time. This week it has been mainly pineapple and satsuma. Occasionally I will cook something, but not often. A friend gave me surplus apples from her tree, so I ought to make something with them - probably an apple crumble on Sunday.

Menu Plan: Week 1

2006-11-26T14:22:00.001-08:00

I am now officially organised ... in one area, at least. I have a menu plan. I used to have a rolling four week menu which worked beautifully for a while, but it somehow fell apart due to inertia quite some time before pregnancy would have rendered it useless in any case. For the last few weeks I have been writing, and pretty much sticking to, a menu for the week. Flushed with success, I decided to go the whole hog with a new four week plan. Most weeks I will have to make adjustments to allow for real life, but I know from experience that having a basic plan to draw on is a lot less effort than trying to work out a menu from scratch.

I am so proud of myself for finally getting my culinary efforts organised I thought I'd share this coming week's plan.

Sunday
Lunch: Baked salmon, mashed potatoes, sugar snap peas and carrots (We usually have a roast lunch on Sundays, but tomorrow we are rushing out to Angel and Star's dance school prizegiving.)
Dinner: Sandwiches (more rush, as we are joining friends for a Bonfire Night fireworks display in the evening.)

Monday
Lunch: Jacket potatoes with cheese and / or baked beans
Dinner: Chicken and potato bake, broccoli

Tuesday
Lunch: Cheese on toast
Dinner: Beef casserole and Yorkshire pudding

Wednesday
Lunch: Egg mayo sandwiches
Dinner: Lamb chops, mashed potatoes, sauteed cabbage (currently a big favourite with Angel and Star. I never imagined I would end up with children who drool over cabbage!)

Thursday
Lunch: Tuna and sweetcorn sandwiches
Dinner: Chicken fillets in breadcrumbs, curly chips (= fries!), sweetcorn (Thursday is often a busy day and evening, so gets the instant, throw-in-the-oven-from-the-freezer dinner)

Friday
Lunch: Macaroni cheese
Dinner: Cod and potato pie, peas, carrots

Saturday
Lunch: Pitta bread, falafel, houmous
Dinner: Crusty bread, ready-cooked hot chicken (from the supermarket)

I have to work round a few limitations - we aren't by any means strictly Kosher, but we never have pig products in the house (no ham! no bacon!), and Tevye does not eat cheese in any shape or form, so the girls and I tend to have cheese for lunch when Tevye is at the office. I also try to cater to the girls' tastes at least to some extent - fortunately they are not particularly picky eaters, though Star is in an irritating phase of suddenly deciding she dislikes things she has eaten happily for years.

If you enjoy reading menus, tell me and I'll post the other weeks later.