My Dream Kitchen...

We live in an old cottage. The oldest part of the house dates to the 1750s, there are beams, inconveniently thick (and occasionally damp) walls, not enough insulation, and spiders so big they make a noise when they hit the ground after you've chucked them out of the window. I love it - although the spiders can be quite surprising sometimes...

The kitchen lives in what we think was once a separate outhouse/washhouse/beer cellar. It stretches out of the back of the house on one side, edging a decking area that fills in the square-ish space at the back of the house. The house was once a pub - The Old House at Home. There is now a new 'Old House at Home' over the road which replaced it in the 1920s. We are too close to the river to have a proper cellar - underground, the water table is not too many feet below us - and we understand that this is where the beer was stored at one time. Since then, we know that the room that is now our kitchen has also been the bedroom/music room of a young teenager. We know this because when we had the kitchen done up a few years ago, the same teenager (now in his 40s) did the tiling for us. Village life...

So the kitchen has not been the kitchen of the house for that long, relatively speaking, and certainly before we moved in, the house hadn't had small children living in it for some time. With 2 big dressers at either end, an enormous and impressive French range cooker (can one admit to wanting to buy a house solely for the cooker that is currently in it?) and a big 'breakfast bar' which provided worktop and pan storage down the centre of it, dividing the space between the cooker and the sink, it was not a family friendly kitchen. The room is not all that big, and all this big furniture reduced the space quite dramatically. Chuck in 2 small windows, some dingy yellow paint and navy blue tiling, and you can imagine it was quite dark and dingy. 




We immediately got rid of the breakfast bar (Ebay is a marvellous thing), and installed the 'family' table. The beautiful range cooker eventually had to go too - beautiful and French it may have been but trying to get parts for it as it started to breakdown was a nightmare. We put in a roof light to increase the natural light and a few years ago we put proper units in and moved where the cooker was (installing a newer and less complicated range cooker which I do love for all that it's not French and steel) to give a long run of worktop, perfect for me to make as much mess as I want (when it's not cluttered up with the kids' detritus). 

We kept one of the dressers, painted the walls light blue, and I finally got to install a set of tiles that I was given for my 21st birthday and have been carrying round waiting for the 'forever' house.

I love the kitchen, but at the risk of making the Husband hold his head in his hands with despair, if money had been no object, here's what I would have loved to have done:

I would have extended over where is now the decking, filling in the space at the back of the house. It may not even be architecturally possible, given the pecularities of how the exisiting house is built, but I don't let things like that get in the way of a good kitchen fantasy. There would be sliding glass doors which would open up the entire extended back of the house to the garden in the event of sunshine. The roof might even be insulated glass using something sourced probably from Germany, or even Denmark involving a perilous cross-Europe delivery and much teeth sucking to install (yes, I love Grand Designs...)

I would keep long worktop where it now is, and reinstate an 'island' unit to delineate the end of the 'kitchen' area. There would be loads of storage and more glorious worktop. Beyond the island unit there would be an area for the table. Given the layout of other areas of the back of the house, the table would stretch across the back of the house, an old refectory style, possibly with benches to sit on. There would be a cosy seating area with a wood burner at the end.

Back to the kitchen though. So yes, there's worktop. Acres of it. I love the wooden worktops we have now (the Husband hates them) but some cool granite would be high on my list if we changed things - easy to keep clean and perfect for pastry, although after my River Cottage bread course, I'd need some wood somewhere for bread kneading - it's better on wood, apparently! I'd also make sure I got back the 'triangle' between sink, fridge and cooking area. We have it now, the holy triangle, except the table sits in the middle of it so when the Husband and I are both in there, we end up chasing each other round it trying not to get in each other's way.

Would I swap my range cooker? I still struggle with this. I don't know. We currently have 5 gas rings and 2 electric ovens, and they are great - even if the non-fan oven is now called 'the Christmas oven'. I wonder about induction hobs - I haven't come across them much, but they are very impressive. And what hardship to have to choose a whole new set of pans too? I quite fancy the idea of a hob in the island unit - but induction or not, it would need to have at least 5 rings. One thing we would defintiely include would be a cooker hood. At the moment, in time of toast burning, and over-zealous grilling/griddling, we run around closing the kitchen door to prevent smoke getting to the smoke alarm in the hall, and open the roof light, then sit surrounded by acrid fumes waiting for the breeze to do its job. Given the nature of old houses, when I'm boiling something for a long time in the winter, we get a huge amount of condensation. A cooker hood to extract steam and fumes would be wonderful.

Beyond that, well, I haven't thought much - this is a fantasy you know. I'd keep a 'rustic' look - despite my desire for state of the art glass doors, I couldn't go completely modern with the look of the room, and the dresser would definitely have a home somewhere. It would be cool in the summer, warm and cosy in the winter, and I'd definitely keep my hanging pan rack - although with all the storage around instead of having the pans hanging from it, perhaps it could hang some hops, and some more strings of chillies instead. That and a trophy copper milk pan. Most definitely!!

And you - if money was no object, and wishes came free, what would you have in your dream kitchen?

_________________________________________________________________

This is a sponsored post for electrolux

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

How to Make Braised Chicken at Home?

Braised chicken, the name that can make your mouth water and this is the prime reason why you attend cooking classes and watch cookery shows on TV. Just for making this delicious dish at home. You don't need to dream about having your favorite dish which you have made at home. With some basic cookery skills and a little bit of persistence, you can make the same magic recipe in your kitchen, in your own oven. Here is the recipe for one of the best braised meal dishes you have ever eaten. All you have to do is to follow it and make it when you have guests visiting whom you have to impress or when cooking for someone special. The ingredients are simple and basic. Get into a cooking mood and make this very easy to make braised chicken which is just heavenly.

The Ingredients for your braised chicken

A whole one of about 2 poundsFor the marinadeFour cloves of garlic, crushed2 tablespoons of butterMixed herbs - thyme, oregano and rosemaryA lemonFor the sauce:Red Currant jam - 1 tbspCorn flour - 1 tbspGround black pepper, to tasteSalt, to tasteWorcestershire sauce - ½ tsp

Preparing braised chicken

Take half of the garlic cloves and rub them over it to marinate it. Mash the balance garlic with the butter, the black pepper powder and the herbs. Spread this marinade throughout the chicken. Slice the lemon into four pieces and place it inside the chicken cavity. You need to make sure that the oven is preheated to about 400 degrees F. Arrange the chicken in a roasting bag inside a roasting tin and let the braising process least for two hours. The chicken will be roasted to perfection when the meat is cooked thoroughly and the juice is clear when you pierce the chicken with a knife. Now remove the already braised one from the roasting bag without removing the juices.

The gravy

Pour the juices from the chicken into a pan, add in the redcurrant jam. Mix corn flour and cold water to make a smooth paste, add it to the gravy, stirring continuously, and bring it to a boil, now add the Worcestershire sauce and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Let the gravy bubble for 2 - 3 minutes till it becomes thick. The gravy is ready.

Presenting the braised chicken

You can serve it with potatoes, carrots, beans and peas. Then carve it, pour a generous amount of gravy on top and serve with butter sauteed veggies like boiled peas, carrots and beans. You can add the potatoes to the roasting tin at the same time with the chicken to save time. You can, however, boil the potatoes first. The beans, peas and carrots can also be boiled to remove any raw taste.

This great recipe is very easy to make, and a genuine treat for your children. Be known in your circle for your truly fantastic braised chicken recipe, a really good recipe for Sunday brunch and family reunions.

If you want to learn more about braised chicken(or also called langtidsstegt kylling by the Danish) preparations and recipes, then I can recommend you to check out this site for the professional ones that you need.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

The Best Recipes For Stir Fry

Here is a very popular and favorite recipe for stir fry that your family will love and enjoy. The spring vegetables and chicken breast strips stir fried with fresh ginger, the lime juice and a touch of soy sauce for a quick weeknight dinner. At home, we always enjoy making stir fries for dinner, the art of cooking veggies and protein in a wok and having dinner ready in just few minutes.

Many of us just use whatever vegetables we have on hand, a great way to clean up our refrigerators. You can just serve it over white cooked rice, quinoa, noodles or whatever. We always love the crunch of the sugar snap peas with the chicken, best crunching them raw while you are cooking.

As a super quick procedure, you can start first by using perhaps the Jaden's rice bran oil which is made from the outer layer of the rice kernel where all of the nutrients are found, which is very high in antioxidants and is perfectly suited for high heat wok cooking. But you can also use another type of oil that has a high smoke point such as sesame oil, canola or grape seed oil. This is below 200 calories, weight conscious people, this is gluten free, and low on carbohydrates, very clean that can be easily adapted for Paleo Diets.

As a Paleo note: For people you who are on a Paleo diet, you can substitute the cornstarch with arrowroot, and the rice oil with coconut oil, lastly the soy sauce with coconut liquid aminos. Here is the recipe for the SPRING STIR FRIED CHICKEN WITH SUGAR SNAP PEAS AND CARROTS. The original recipe serves 4 persons.

INGREDIENTS:

For the sauce:

1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce (or Braggs Liquid Aminos or Tamari for GF)

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

2 tablespoon water

1 teaspoon cornstarch

FOR THE STIR FRY:

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, already sliced thin into strips

Salt to taste only

1 tablespoon rice bran oil, or canola

1 teaspoon fresh gingerroot, peeled and minced and sliced

2 teaspoon garlic, peeled and minced and chopped

1 cup sugar snap peas

1 cup of carrots, peeled and sliced into strips diagonally

Scallions to garnish

THE PROCEDURE:

In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, the water, the lime juice, and the cornstarch. Stir them until they are smooth and the cornstarch is fully dissolved and set it aside.

Then season your chicken breast strips with salt.

Heat a large skillet or a wok over high heat. Wait until the wok is very hot, then add half of the oil and then add the chicken strips sizzling in your wok. Stir fry them occasionally until the chicken is cooked through and browned, for about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the chicken from the wok with a slotted spoon into a plate and set aside. Reduce the heat to medium now.

Add the remaining oil into the wok. Then add the garlic and the ginger, and stir for 20 seconds. Then you can now add the sugar snap peas and the carrots or any other veggies that you may wish to add, and stir over medium high heat, until they are crisp-tender, for 3 to 4 minutes.

Return the chicken to the wok, and add the soy sauce-lime juice mixture. Mix them well and cook for 30 seconds to perhaps 1 minute. Serve immediately while they are hot.

Enjoy this recipe for stir fry at home and please continue cooking.

Hi, I'm Miguel and I love doing an article writing since I was in first year high school. It makes me feel good every time I wrote some story. Until today I always do this every time I have a break on my job. I hope you will like my article about the best recipe for stir fry that I submit here. Thank you.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Barley Salad with A Cumin Vinaigrette

I love barley. It is a very versatlie yet underutilized grain in my opinion. You can make barley soup, barley risotto, barley "oatmeal" for breakfast, barley water  ect... This barley salad is a really nice summery dish that will make you feel good about yourself. Barley is high in fiber and can help lower cholesterol. Cumin is a great earthy spice that also has many health benefits such as aiding in digestion and boosting your immune system. Needless to say this is a healthy and bright dish to add to your summer recipe box! Experiment with different vegetables and ingredients such as feta cheese.

 

Ingredients:

For the salad:

3 1/2 cups of cooked pearl barley (about 1 cup of uncooked pearl barley; cook according to the package's directions)

1 15 oz can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1/3 cup of celery, minced

1/3 cup of onion, minced

vinaigrette (recipe below)

Mix all of these ingredients together in a medium sized bowl. Taste and adjust the seasonings. This salad is best when served cold or at room temperature. 

For the vinaigrette:

the zest of one lemon

1/4 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/3-1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil 

3 tbs. fresh parsley, minced 

3/4 tsp. ground cumin 

cayenne pepper (to taste)

sea salt 

freshly cracked black pepper 

Whisk all of the ingredients together. Taste to adjust the seasonings. I like acidic dressings but feel free to add more oil.

Happy Eatings!

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

The Tefal OptiGrill - a review and a perfect steak dinner

In my role as a member of the Tefal Innovation Panel (check out my badge) I have been provided with a Tefal OptiGrill to try out. 

 
This innovation was introduced to the panel at an event in London in early July. It's new to the market, and has proved very popular. Indeed, on paper and in demo, this is a very impressive product. It's a grill with 6 programmes depending on what you want to cook - meat, fish, chicken, bacon, sausages and a manual option for toasted sandwiches etc. At the demo day, there were some tasty looking vegetable kebabs knocking around. By measuring how thick the meat or fish you are cooking, using 'sensor technology', the OptiGrill can then make sure that your food is cooked for the correct amount of time- including differentiating between rare, medium and well done for your steak. Even more helpfully, the device then communicates this to you using an LED which changes colour, and a beep to tell you as the cooking is entering the next phase, or when it is done.

So there's the blurb. What actually happened when the Tefal Optigrill arrived chez Recipe Junkie?

Well, after unpacking and feeling quite excited, I texted the Husband - "Steak for dinner tonight!" - and hot (very hot, actually) footed it off to the butcher for some of his best ribeye steak. I had a quick debate with him about whether I should actually introduce the kids to the joy that is a beautiful steak, and in the end we compromised. He cut me 2 big juicy steaks for the Husband and I and 2 rather more modest ones for the kids. I came over all faint at the cost (or may be it was just the heat), but I've had his steak before and it is G-O-O-D. And it hadn't escaped my notice that in the literature that accompanies the OptiGrill, it does mention, casually, that "the results will vary depending on the quality, type and cut" when grilling meat. I felt it was only right to give the OptiGrill the best shot by making sure I bought good meat.

There is absolutely no denying that the steak we had was wonderful. I had washed the grill plates before first use, as instructed, and given them an optional wipe over with some olive oil. I fed the kids first as they wanted to go to the pool, and I will say that on the first go, I struggled with the lights and the beeping. I think I also didn't press the correct buttons because the indicator LED didn't do the thing it was supposed to do and by the time I'd worked this out, the kids' steak was definitely well done. Not disastrously so, but enough to make me worry. This may well have been due to the thinness of the steaks, and you'll be pleased to know that despite this, the meat was still tender (despite being cooked more than I had intended) and the kids absolutely loved it.


When the time came for the Husband and I to eat, I was a bit more prepared. I had already podded the peas and broadbeans while sorting out the kids' tea (probably why I got distracted), so I could concentrate on my LED and the beeps. The Husband came in while the OptiGrill was pre-heating

"Good grief! It looks like BattleStar Gallactica"

"That's the LED"


This time, it all worked. Once I put the meat in and lowered the lid, the LED did its thing and started changing colour. Pink tried to have a disco in the kitchen with it, but it was too hot to keep on dancing. She has high hopes for her next birthday party, though...

I got a little confused with the beeping, and had a moment of "When do I take it out again?" angst, but I whipped it out while the LED was on yellow (for rare), and had enough time while the veg finished off for the steak to rest a while.

It was delicious. Melt in the mouth, and as promised by the LED, rare. So a combination of great meat and a good grill. I'll admit to being a little concerned about the prospect of leaving the grill to 'tell' me when the steak would be ready, rather than using my own tried and tested method, but the fear was unfounded.

So, perfect steak dinner for 2 aside, what do I think about the OptiGrill? 

As the Husband pointed out, is it really so much easier than cooking it on the griddle I normally use? Well, no. I'm pretty confident cooking steak, and use the James Martin test (for rare steak, the meat will feel like the ball of your thumb when you hold the tip of your thumb and first finger together, getting progressivley more cooked as you use successive fingers). 

On the other hand, it didn't set off the smoke alarm as I am liable to do using the griddle, which in turn had the added bonus that we didn't have to eat our steak in a kitchen full of smoke. Actually we ate outside last night,  but if we had eaten inside, well, you know what I mean... (I don't burn the steak, you understand, but the griddle pan has been well -used and tends to smoke rather once it gets good and hot)

It's a pretty big bit of kit it has to be said, and I'm not quite sure where I will keep it. On the other hand, it will do toasted sarnies & paninis, coffee-shop style, which I am keen to try out. We don't have a toasted sandwich maker any more. The Husband threw it out because it was "Crap" (he doesn't mince his words). Well, may be it was, but I do like a toasted sandwich, so I'm excited to have the means to make them again.

On the demo day, the nice people from Tefal also showed us how it cooked salmon, and it really was incredibly well cooked, which is another bonus, as I find salmon trickier than steak to get right. The OptiGrill can also tell you when bacon is lightly cooked, well done or crispy - and although I haven't tried it out, I'm pretty keen on giving it a go because our bacon tastes differ across that spectrum and if the OptiGrill can make it easier, well that'll be a bonus.

As I have said, I got confused a bit by all the lights and beeping, but I'd done my usual trick of only reading half the instructions and believing that I had remembered everything from the demo. With a little more practice, I reckon I'll have the measure of it.

The grill plates detach very easily for cleaning, but they are quite hard to get fully dry with a tea towel due to the ridges. The instructions recommend paper towel, but I'm afraid I'm a tea towe girl through and through when it comes to drying up. The plates are supposed to be dishwasher safe,  but I can't quite trust that. I'm sure non-stick technology has advanced significantly, but in my experience, stuff like this just dies if you clean it in a dishwasher. This has nothing to do with the product, just my own outdated prejudices. May be I'll give it a go.

So there you have it - the Tefal OptiGrill. First impressions are that it's a pretty good bit of kit, but it may well be more for someone less confident with grilling/griddling than I like to think I am. It's quite big, and would need to offer pretty good results to warrant a space in most people's kitchens, but I think that if you eat grilled food a lot, the OptiGrill does seem to offer those results.

________________________________________________________________________________
Disclaimer: I was provided with a TEFAL OptiGrill free of charge for the purposes of writing a review. I was not required to write a positive review.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Enjoy Great Recipes With Cheesy Tomato Paste And Pizza Sauce

Seems yummy? It is. Even the words like pizza sauce and tomato paste are mouth-watering. If you are a food buff and love to try out different recipes using different ingredients, this stuff is simply outstanding to add up to the taste.

Well, pizza sauce is a common garnishing ingredient for pizzerias. Whether you're making pizza at home or baking the frozen one, few sprinkles of pizza sauce will suffice to add up to flavor.

These are available readymade though, you can also try it at home. For people looking forward to cut costs, it is rather better option to make instant pizza sauce.

Homemade Pizza Sauce with Tomato Paste

The sauce can be made from myriad of tomato products from canned tomatoes to crushed tomatoes to fresh tomatoes. You can resort to the easiest one and save yourself the fuss, simple use tomato paste.

You can easily find the paste in the market in small cans. It costs very low and tastes very bold which, I feel, is some of the virtues. To turn the paste into pizza sauce, add dried herbs like parsley, rosemary, oregano etc. Parsley is the perfect to start though. Now, add crushed pepper flakes, garlic flakes and salt. You can also add a pinch of sugar, depending on your taste.

The next step is, to add liquids. There are many options to choose from:

White wine vinegar - adds tart and crisp flavorOlive oil- adds sheen to the sauceBalsamic vinegar- for a bold flavorWater - doesn't add any flavor but gives you the consistency you desire.

In usual 1/4 to 1 cup addition of liquid will give you the desired consistency. If you want it to spread easily, adding more of olive oil will be helpful. Once you are done with this, add spices to adjust to the liquid levels. Add more salt and pepper and taste. With this, your instant pizza sauce is ready to use. You can use right away or keep it in refrigerator for a couple of hours so that the taste develops further. The choice is yours!

You can try it out and share your experiences with friends and family. One thing is sure though, making the sauce at home is very simple with no extra efforts required. Try it out and add flavor to your dishes.

In fact, tomato paste is a multipurpose agent. Adding just basic ingredients, you can make it fit to be added to different cuisines including Greek, Thai and of course, Italian. Store simple tomato paste and add different spices as and when required. All the best for your cooking experiments!

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Pets, Vets & Unexpected cherries

So I know I shouldn't let him, but the dog really loves running through the wheat. And he seems to merely pass through it rather than crashing it all down. The only evidence he is there is a ripple passing over the top as he choffles through at speed, nose down hot on the scent - any scent. The problem with stopping him will be forgoing the look of utter joy that is a springer spaniel 'wheat sharking'. But there we go. I know I shouldn't be letting him do it.

My internal tussle came to a head yesterday after I spent time I didn't have and £50 (ditto) at the vets having a rather viscious spike of grass removed from the dog's ear, so this morning, we avoided the wheat and headed up to a gorgeous little plantation of trees that sits up on the Downs to the north of the village.

Well, it's beautiful up there, shady, cool, green. I go up there in all seasons and it's wonderful at any time, but seemed particularly lush this morning, not least because I stumbled upon cherries. Now, I know that there are cherry trees up there - crab apples too - but usually I see them in the early stages of fruiting, and then they are all gone - the birds have them. I reckon the birds must have sunstroke this year, because there were hundreds - ripe and luscious. Far too good to pass up.

I might not have had a conventional picking receptacle, but being the good, responsible dog owner that I am, I had dog poo bags (unused), and while the dog took advantage of the shade, I picked. I only stopped because I thought I'd better save one bag, you know, just in case...


So 1.5 kilos later, and I am a happy Recipe Junkie. My head is reeling with the thrill of the forage, and the prospect of what I might make with my pickings - and of course, I will need to go back and try and get some more later on.

I'm thinking jam, clafoutis, cherry bakewells, cherry vodka - so much choice...

What should I make?

reade more... Résuméabuiyad