Halloween Grub!

Both Ed and I had never really done a proper Halloween as kids i.e. pumpkin carving and going trick o'treat. This year we decided we would. We bought a 99p pumpkin from Aldi, reviewed a few carving videos on YouTube and presto! Our semi-wicked, evil smiley jack o'lantern was ready. I must add that the credit for wanting to carve a pumpkin and actually doing both  go to Ed. I merely directed ;) .I decided to not waste anything and so made a yummy Thai style pumpkin curry from the pulp and roasted the pumpkin seeds.

Pumpkin and Chicken Curry:

Ingredients:

6 chicken thighs/legs

 Shredded pumpkin flesh

2 green peppers

1 large onion

Fresh garlic paste

Ginger paste 

Lemongrass paste

1 tsp chilli powder/2 fresh chillies

1 can coconut milk
1 tsp nam pla ( fish sauce)
2 tbsp lime juice
 Method:

Marinate the chicken in chilli, garlic, ginger and fry lightly. in a wok/casserole Add onions, pinch of salt and continue to fry.  When the onion gets translucent, add chilli powder. When the chicken has slightly browned, add ginger, lemongrass and garlic. Mix well and continue to fry. When the chicken looks nearly cooked, add the pumpkin and peppers and continue to fry for about 10 mins. The pumpkin will reduce and the juices from the chicken will combine to form a lovely sauce. Add the fish sauce, lime juice, stir well and continue to cook. After 5 mins, add coconut milk. Cover the dish and continue to cook till the chicken comes off the bone. If you want to up the spice go for 2tsp chilli powder.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds:

Ingredients:

Pumpkin seeds

Italian seasoning

1 tsp Paprika
Pinch of rock salt

Leerdamer- grated ( you could use any hard cheese)

 Method:

Set oven to 150 deg C. Mix all the ingredients together and place in a baking tray. Grate cheese. Bake for 15 mins. Turn the seeds over a bit and bake again for 15 mins.

Homemade Sloe Gin

This is the photo of the remains of our first attempt at Sloe Gin back in 2008. We picked the berries with a help of a friend who knew his way round Bourne Woods. The gin is mature and has a lovely aroma. This year, we cheated and bought fresh sloes online from an eBay seller and they are fantastic. I'll keep you posted on how we get on.

Recipe:
Ingredients:
1 kilo sloes
500g caster sugar
2 litres dry gin ( use a cheapie as the sloes do all the good work)

Method:
Layer the demi-john with a bit a sugar, add sloes and continue layering. Add the gin and shake well. Continue shaking every couple of days for about 2 months. Then shake about once a month. Your sloe gin will be ready in about 3 months. However, the longer you leave it, the better. Remember to strain off the sloes after a year and you can let the gin continue to mature. Cheers!

Christmas Pudding: Chandler Household Style

I've never made Christmas pudding before and so was very excited about my first attempt. I was quite ambitious and so decided to make 3 including one to give to family. I watched many videos of pudding making and chose a recipe that was mainly Delia Smith's but a little inspired by Nigella's non-conformist pudding. I steamed one and microwaved two and was very impressed with the results esp of the latter. So much less effort! In true Chandler family style we added lots and lots of alcohol, mainly Guinness, brandy, Cointreau, and a dash of rum. It smells divine and I can't wait for Christmas. Recipe to follow shortly.

Pan Seared Scallops

 

If you haven't already guessed, I'm a massive seafood fan.  Our fishmonger friend was passing by us en-route from Billingsgate and it was a perfect opportunity to get some great quality, fresh seafood. His bag of goodies included lots and lots of oysters, mackerel, sardines, mussels and giant scallops. 

With great quality seafood, sometimes the best you can do is very little. I decided to serve the scallops pan-seared as a starter to our meal that evening.

I patted the scallops dried and set them aside, ready to fry. I walked out into our little garden and plucked some gorgeous smelling basil. I then set the frying pan on high, added 3 teaspoons of olive oil, a pinch of chilli powder and some salt. To this I added the basil. After a minute, with the pan searing hot, I added the scallop. I cooked them for about 2 minutes each side and then served them hot. The result is as in my little photo! I hope you try some scallops too :) Ann x

Profiteroles

Poached Pears

This is a light and delicious recipe and can me made ina  short space of time.

Ingredients:

200 ml red wine
50g caster sugar
2 cloves
1 cinnamon stick/powder
2 star anise
1 tsp vanilla essence/vanilla pod split
7 conference pears peeled with stalks
150g plain chocolate, chopped 85g/3oz unsalted butter

Method:

Add the wine, sugar, cloves, star anise, cinnamon and vanilla in a casserole dish. When the wine mix begins to simmer, add the pears and poach for about 30 mins. Turn often so all the pears get soaked well.
For the chocolate sauce, melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl placed over a saucepan of hot water. Mix well.
Drain the pears. Most recipes recommend reducing the wine mixture but as I’ve used less wine than most recipes, I didn’t.
Pour chocolate sauce over the pears and serve. Works well with vanilla ice-cream too.