I guess if there's ever a good time to get a stomach bug...

.... it's when your husband is away and you only have to cook for yourself!

So other than the olive bread I made nearly a week ago, I have been living off very plain and bland food. Today I went to see 'eat love pray' at the cinema and so I spoiled myself with a tub of plain popcorn. I didn't eat most of it and have brought the remains home with me to munch on when I feel peckish.

My appetite is coming and going at really weird times at the moment. I'll have no appetite during the day and then at 8pm I'm ravenous!! But still only for plain stuff.

So needless to say, I haven't done any of the cooking from my book :(

Hopefully the antibiotics the doctor prescribed will get me back on track and into the kitchen!

I love bread!

It's so delicious, it can be made sweet or savoury and you can add any number of toppings to it. Versatile as it is, my preferred bread is just bog ordinary white bread; not all sweet tasting, just plain bread with marmite and peanut butter spread on top. Mmmmm heavenly deliciousness!

With Matt being gone for the week I didn't want to stop my cooking and so I figured that if I bake bread from my cookbook then it shouldn't go to waste. So yesterday I made olive bread.

I don't remember ever making bread before where you have to knead it and let it rise. There is some foggy memory from Home Economics class, but I'm not too sure about that. So this was my first venture into true bread making in adulthood. (I have a wonderful recipe for irish soda bread which is soooo easy, just bung the ingredients together, stir and bake!)

As I already mentioned, I'm not a fan of sweet bread (in fact I hate it, I get angry anytime I have plain white bread over here! so freaking sweet, yuck!), so I was happy to see that this recipe doesn't require any sugar :)

2 red onions are fried until soft and then added to 7 cups of plain white flour with 1 1/3 cups of roughly chopped olives, 4 tbsp roughly chopped fresh parsley, 1 1/2 tsp salt and 4 tbsp of dried active yeast. 2 cups of hand hot water are added and the whole thing is mixed with a flat edged knife to form a dough. Then knead for ten minutes.

TEN MINUTES???!!!! Good God! That 10 minutes never seemed to end. My arms were killing me by the end of it.

So after the 10 laborious minutes you place the dough in a clean bowl, cover and allow to sit in a warm place until it's doubled its size (about 45 minutes in my case). Then turn out onto a chopping board, cut in two and place the two halves onto lightly greased baking trays. Cover with oiled cling film and allow to sit until doubled in size again (another 30-40 minutes). Finally bake at 425F /220C/gas mark 7 for 40 minutes.

The recipe made 2 whole loaves and that is too much, even for me! So I'm taking a loaf down to some friends down the street.

I've had 3 slices of the finished product so far and it's pretty good! The olives give it a kind of sweetness, which is ok because this isn't supposed to be plain bread. I think I would have preferred for there to be more onions and seasonings in it. It's a very delicate flavor and I feel it needs just a smidgen more to be perfect!

Other news, I spent the day in the garden; weeding and napping on the hammock. So after the TEN MINUTES (crikey!) of dough kneading I decided that I had earned myself a shower and something nice for dinner. I settled on a mediterranean pizza from Kashi. It has "Spinach, red onions, sweet red peppers, four signature cheeses including Feta with roasted red pepper sauce on a stone-fired kashi 7 whole grains and sesame with flax seed crust.

It was very yummy! Some people might compare the crust to cardboard, but I'd think they'd be doing it a diservice. The crust was whole grain and gritty in a pleasant way and really allowed the flavors of the toppings to be the focus of attention :) I served my pizza with a nice large glass of conquista malbec.

To make a good evening perfect I was able to talk with and see Matthew via Skype for a good 20 minutes before heading to bed. Being able to see someone instead of just talking over the phone makes such a huge difference. There are times when I feel very 'family sick' (no, not OF them, but due to the lack of them!) and so it's nice to be able to actually see them! I'm already looking forward to seeing them again soon :)

And, as always, don't forget to kiss your cook!

Cocina espanola es muy buena y sabrosa

As today is the last day I shall be feeding Matt, (he's going away for a week to a conference in Orlando) I decided that I would cook dishes that he would particularly like and it turned into a Spanish themed meal with all dishes originating in Spain. Hence the name of the title, which is Spanish for "Spanish cooking is very good and tasty", although there should be a squiggle above the n in espanola, but I don't know how to do that on my macbook!

The Spanish theme also celebrates the fact that I drove to Walmart by myself in Manuel today. Doesn't sound much does it? But walmart is built on a hill and has a 4 way stop sign on the top.... I was dreading it! But Manuel and I did very well and we were so proud of ourselves that we called Matt to eeek down the phone once we made it to the parking lot!

I am not a huge meat eater (no size comments please ;), and when I do cook meat it is usually fish or chicken. Matt loves his pork and sausage and so I chose to make Spanish Pork and Sausage Casserole from the Catalan region of Spain. I was not able to find the special 'butifarra sausage' and had to use sweet Italian sausage instead.

Boneless pork chops, whole sausages, onion and garlic are all fried in a pan to brown before adding white wine, plum tomatoes, bay leaf, salt and pepper. The mixture is then left to cook covered for 30 minutes while filling the kitchen with some wonderful aromas. Just before serving the sausage is sliced and mixed back in to the casserole.

As a side I chose Spanish potatoes, which are new potatoes par cooked then fried in a little oil to crispen up prior to adding a spicy sauce with green bell pepper. The sauce was made simply with crushed garlic, crushed red chillies, cumin, paprika and white wine vinegar. It's not really a sauce in the true sense. It was added with the bell pepper to the potatoes for only two minutes and it really just gives a coating of flavor, no fluid is left, it all clings to the potatoes.

The two dishes went really well together and Matt ate a lot of his with his eyes closed and making some kind of moaning noise. I take that to be a good thing! Either that or Bentley was licking his feet under the table ;)

For desert I made Crema Catalana which is a cross between creme caramel and creme brulee. Milk was boiled with a cinnamon stick and pared lemon rind. Egg yolks, sugar and corn flour were whisked together and then added to the milk. After cooking for 5 minutes the mixture was poured into two pudding dishes and allowed to set and then chilled for several hours.

What is supposed to happen next is that sugar is sprinkled on top and then fired, as is done with creme brulee, but the fire torch wasn't working properly and the broiler (grill) didn't appear to do the job. So we ended up with a soft sugariness instead of a caramelized snap on top. But it still tasted really good and I was surprised how much of a flavor was achieved by just the cinnamon stick and lemon rind.

Tonight we're going to go see Inception at the movie theater, and I'M driving!!!

And as always, don't forget to kiss the cook!

It's good to have contrast on your plate.

One thing that distinguishes a good dish from a great dish, in my opinion, is when there are foods on the same plate that contrast each other in an enjoyable way (I'm not thinking of strawberries with a mustard sauce!!! ).

Tonight I was able to create such a dish. Polpettes with roasted tomatoes and garlic served with a spring green salad.

First I cut plum tomatoes in half and placed them snugly in a shallow baking dish before stuffing spaces with whole unpeeled garlic cloves and bay leaves. The tomatoes were then brushed with olive oil and seasoned generously with pepper before being placed in an oven at 450F (230C/gas mark 8) for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile I prepared the polpettes. Polpettes are "fried morsels of potato and greek feta cheese, flavoured with dill and lemon juice".

The potatoes are boiled with their skins on and only peeled once they have cooked through. Feta cheese, spring onion, dill, beaten egg and freshly squeezed lemon juice are added to the mashed potatoes and seasoned with freshly ground pepper. I chose not to season with any salt; feta cheese is already relatively salty. I did not miss the additional salt, the flavour with the fresh dill was magnificent!

The mashed mixture is allowed to chill until it is firm. Due to the fact that I spent a good deal of time talking to my Dad and sister Ellie on skype it was pretty late by the time I was cooking dinner. So at 7.30pm after only chilling for about 15 minutes I decided I couldn't hold off any more and proceeded to move on with the recipe. Ideally I think the mash could have stayed in the fridge for another 30 minutes.

The reason for chilling is that once it is firm it is scooped into walnut sized balls, doused with flour and gently flattened into a 'nugget' shape. These polpettes are then fried in olive oil and THIS is where you're going to want to make sure that they are firm, otherwise you might end up with a greasy mashed potato mess on your hands.

Patience is also the key to success here; I left the polpettes for about 4 minutes before turning them over. Turning them over too soon can also lead to a mashy mess and the potato takes quite a while to brown.

Once browned, place on and pat with paper towels to absorb any excess oil. The final product, which is best served straight away, is crispy yet not greasy on the outside while warm and creamy on the inside.

The tomatoes should come out of the oven sizzling and charred around the edges. Timing worked out perfectly for me, I allowed my tomatoes to cool covered for about 20 minutes before the polpettes were ready and this prevented any injuries occuring from hot gushes of water from the roma tomatoes!!! I have had hot tomato juice spray in my face when making bruschetta on more than one occasion and let me tell you, it aint a nice thing!

The spring green salad that was served as a side was an organic blend from walmart. I don't like salad dressings and so I always provide a bottle of balsamic vinegar instead, which Matt is more than happy with. The roasted garlic cloves were squeezed onto the tomato by each person on their own plate.

The contrasting tastes were achieved through the creaminess of the interior of the polpettes flavoured with the dill and the sharp tang that came with the roasted tomatoes. It was really pleasant and I still have a nice taste in my mouth, which I am savoring.

And don't forget... always kiss the cook!!!

Bourguignon your pardon?

I am still alive! My escapades in my new car (named Manuel) have not significantly decreased my expected life span YET; we'll have to wait and see how the winter here treats me!

I really haven't been doing much cooking recently :( The last couple of days that Joshua was with us I just made some of his favorite food before sending him down to his Moms place in Kansas. And then this week I've been so preoccupied with my new car that I haven't even done my weekly shop and it's Thursday! We are down to one roll of kitchen towel and one roll of toilet paper and Bentley is eating Pennys special urinary tract health dog food.

On Monday however I did cook a beef bourguignon from an erin sachet (kindly sent over by my doting parents). It was delicious, tasted nice and homey and included a glass of red wine which, I'm sure some of my relatives who were in France will be happy to know, was my first glass of red wine since returning from France 9 days earlier! (I drank at least one glass a day whilst in France).

I left the bacon out of the recipe as we are trying to loose weight and instead added extra mushrooms and fresh green beans. I served it with a chunk of Italian bread to soak up the sauce.



My stash of sachets sent over from Ireland is nearly gone, so will have to start buttering up the old folks to send some more ;) Seriously though, it is nice to have some good proper from home meals.

Fingers crossed my next blog will include a recipe from my cookbook!!!!

Eat well, think well, live well.

All is quiet on the cooking front.

No updates for a while. First my car died and then my laptop decided it's life was also over. So not only have I been doing less cooking due to practising driving manual transmission, the few meals I have cooked I haven't been able to blog. This blog is laboriously being typed on my free I pod touch that I got with my mac book pro! I should be getting my laptop tonight with all my docs from my pc transferred over.

Dinner tonight? Sandwiches followed by cherries that were NOT picked fresh from a tree in France!

Back to Homaha.

No more fresh baguettes, smelly cheeses or red wine for me (unfortunately).

But, I still have my wonderful cookbook to cook through, so on to the next meal..... which last night was Brodetto.

Brodetto is an Italian fish dish made in many different regions with differing variations, but what remains common is the need for a good homemade fish stock.

Onion, celery and tilapia fillets (it should have been fish steak with bones, but due to the hot weather I didn't want to leave my other groceries in the car while buying it) are boiled for 30 minutes to make the stock.

Meanwhile tomatoes are scalded and peeled, more onion and garlic is chopped and fried in olive oil. The fish stock is added to the onion, garlic and tomatoes along with some white wine and saffron threads ($15 for a teeny tiny pouch!). Steamed mussels, squid, octopus, krab, shrimp and the boiled fish are added to the sauce and allowed to simmer for 5 minutes.

The final product was served with a small amount of jasmine rice.

It was yummy! All three of us went back for seconds (minus the rice) and Joshua especially liked to see the sucky pads of the squid :)

Matt compared it to a non salted version of the west indie breakfast Diarra made for the family in France, and I can see what he means. Which reminds me Helena, if you're reading this, can you please email me with that recipe??

The fish steaks would have worked better than the small tilapia fillets, it would have held together better. I also didn't care for the krab, the real thing would have been way better.

Josh followed his meal with a couple scoops of ice cream. I also had one small scoop, but had to fight my way through Matthew to be able to do so. He was quite right though, France has piled on another 6lbs and so I really don't have the room for any special treats yet; not until I meet my first weight loss goal. Don't worry people, I'm not going to starve myself. I just want to get to a place where I don't feel like I'm dragging around extra weight :)

What will I cook next?