October 18, 2009 by tabell
If you love pecan pie and pumpkin pie, this is the pie for you! Great for Thanksgiving or any time you want sugar hit!
I made this fabulous pie for Canadian Thanksgiving last weekend. It’s based on Libby’s Pumpkin Pecan Pie, but with a few modifications.
First things first.. the pumpkin… In the past when I’ve made pumpkin pie, I’ve always cooked the pumpkin myself and then pureed it. Unfortunately, I’ve found that the resulting pies were often soggy. When researching pie recipes this year, I found a great tip from Keri Fisher: after pureeing the pumpkin, put it back in the oven spread thinly on a cookie sheet and roast it until it gets drier and thicker. My pie was not in the slightest big soggy.. I think this tip made all the difference. And before we start, I’ll admit that I didn’t make my own crust. I bought all-butter frozen shortcrust pastry from Waitrose. 
Pumpkin Pecan Pie
Preparation time: 20 mins + 50 mins cooking time (assuming you already have the pastry and pumpkin prepared).
Makes one 9-inch pie.
1 (9 inch) unbaked (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell
250 g pumpkin puree (see note above)
65 g brown sugar
1 large egg
2 g pumpkin pie spice (nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves)
160 ml honey
100 g brown sugar
2 large eggs
45 g butter or margarine
3 ml vanilla extract
120 g pecan halves
Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C.
1. COMBINE pumpkin, sugar, egg and pumpkin pie spice in medium bowl; stir well. Spread over bottom of pie shell.
2. COMBINE honey, sugar, eggs, butter and vanilla extract in same bowl; stir in nuts. Spoon over pumpkin layer.
3. BAKE for 50 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.
Serve with freshly whipped cream and enjoy!
Posted in Baking, Desserts, Recipes | Tagged pecan, pie, pumpkin, thanksgiving | Leave a Comment »
February 1, 2009 by tabell
Another great recipe from delicious Magazine..
Mom, I think you’ll like this one.. yummy roasted garlic and beets. Two of our faves!
I made this recipe a few months ago but it was so good I have been meaning to add it here for ages. I thought the flavours worked really well, and a bit of roasted garlic never goes awry.
I hadn’t used beets in quite a while and had forgotten how wonderful they look on the inside. I couldn’t resist taking a picture of them before I cut them up. Since I had the camera out, I thought I’d document the pan before and after it went in the oven. Unfortunately, they looked so good when they came out of the oven that I completely forgot about taking a picture and served them up immediately.
Click here for recipe @ delicious
Beets with magical colours.
All ready to go in the oven.
Posted in Recipes, Side Dishes, Vegetarian | Tagged beetroot, beets, Recipes, roasted garlic | Leave a Comment »
January 10, 2009 by tabell
The Wells
30 Well Walk
Hamsptead
London
NW3 1BX
Map
We discovered The Wells on our first visit to Hamsptead. It was a crisp December day and we were looking for a nice pub to have drink before dinner. We were pleasantly surprised to find The Wells on the corner of Christchurch Hill and Well Walk. I sampled a lovely white from their extensive wine list and got Rob a pint of Leffe. The atmosphere was lovely and the place had a good feel about it. After seeing their food menu and the awards for Best Gastro Pub on the wall, we decided to return someday and sample the food.
We came back for lunch on New Year’s Day. I was glad we had booked as it filled up quickly. We sat next to the fireplace and enjoyed a latte before our meal. It was another freezing cold day so we started with the soup, which was fabulous. We both had fish for our main courses and the apple and blueberry crumble for dessert. It was all very yummy! We wil definitely go back.
Posted in Restaurant Reviews | Tagged gastro pub, hampstead, restaurant, reviews | Leave a Comment »
November 10, 2008 by tabell
This is one of Rob’s all-time favourites. It’s always a joy to watch his eyes light up when we’re on the way home from work and he asks “what’s for tea?” and I get to say “Seafood Risotto”. I usually make it with Sainsbury’s Seafood Collection which is a mixture of cooked mussels, king prawns and squid rings, because its easy and relatively cheap, but I’m sure it would be wonderful with lots of other seafood too.
I’ve been experimenting with this recipe for ages. Sometimes I add a bit less lemon or a bit more cheese. I’ve also used red wine as a substitution for white, which I don’t recommend. Apart from turning it a wierd colour, it just didn’t taste right. The parsley isn’t essential, and could be curly rather than flat if that’s what you have. If I have some asparagus on hand, I like to grill it with some olive oil, salt and pepper, cut it into one inch pieces and stir it in at the end.
Seafood Risotto
Serves 2.
2 1/2 tbsp butter
1 medium onion, chopped
fresh ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
150g arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine
2 1/2 to 3 cups of stock, chicken or vegetable
235g (or more) mixed seafood, cooked
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan
2 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
1. Melt the butter in a large heavy-bottom saucepan over medium-high heat. When the butter is melted add the chopped onion and cook until almost translucent. Add a few grindings of black pepper and the minced garlic.
2. Just before the garlic starts to brown, add the rice and stir well. Keep stirring until the rice has absorbed most of the butter and the pan is almost dry.
3. Add the white wine and turn down the heat a notch. When the wine is almost absorbed, add 1/2 cup of stock. Stir frequently adding the rest of the stock in approximately 1/2 cup portions until the liquid is almost all absorbed. If the rice is still a bit hard, add any seafood juice from the packet or some hot water and cook until it is absorbed.
4. Add the lemon juice and stir for a few more minutes. Add the seafood and a bit more pepper.
5. Just before serving, stir in the parmesan and the parsley.
6. Serve up in bowls with some extra parmesan and a bit more parsley as a garnish.
Posted in Grains, Main Courses, Recipes, Seafood | Tagged Recipes, risotto, seafood | Leave a Comment »
November 3, 2008 by tabell
This weekend I decided to tackle the growing collection of frost in the freezer. At the back of the freezer, long forgotten about, I found two ripe bananas which I had been saving for banana bread. Since it was a lovely fall weekend, I thought some baking was in order.
This recipe is based on Quick Banana Bread from The Joy of Cooking with a few modifications. When my brother and I were growing up, the Joy was one of our favourite cookbooks. With instructions on how to skin a squirrel and recipes that make 200 cookies, the Joy is sure to be a hit with young chefs. We would pore over it for hours before deciding to make some obscure cookies, candies or a cake. Mom never questioned our choices and was always supportive of our efforts, even when we really did make 200 German Honey cookies.
This recipe requires less cooking time than many others I have seen and is very easy. Enjoy it while it cooks and fills the house with a wonderful aroma, hot out of the oven with butter melting on it or the next day for breakfast (if there’s any left!)
Banana Bread
Preparation time: 15 mins + 45-60 mins cooking time.
Makes one loaf.
1 3/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons double-acting baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter or margarine
2/3 cup brown sugar
Grated rind of one lemon
2 beaten eggs
1 to 1 1/4 cups of ripe banana pulp
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C.
1. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
2. Blend the butter, sugar and lemon rind in a large mixing bowl until creamy.
3. Beat the eggs and banana pulp into the butter and sugar mixture.
4. Add the sifted ingredients to the sugar mixture in 3 parts, beating until smooth after each addition.
5. Fold in the walnuts.
6. Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan.
Bake for 45 – 60 mins until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly before sneaking the first hot slice.
Posted in Baking, Breakfast and Brunch, Desserts, Recipes | Tagged Baking, banana, bread, Recipes | 2 Comments »
The Crown
223 Grove Road
Victoria Park
London
E3 5NZ
Map
The Crown occupies an ideal location on the corner of Grove Road and Old Ford Road across from Victoria Park. Formerly the site of a Spanish Tapas restaurant and a previous pub also called the Crown, the newly reopened Crown is a fresh and welcome addition to the Victoria Park scene. Downstairs there are a variety of seating choices including comfy chairs, big tables with chairs and high tables with benches. Upstairs is a dining room with about 12 tables.
Our first visit to the Crown was during opening week in April 2008 and the place was bustling. We didn’t get a table in the dining room but instead we sat on stools at a bar-like area outside the dining room. The menu was limited but considering they had just opened we thought we should cut them some slack. We have been back for a drink in the evening, but hadn’t returned to eat until recently.
This time we got a table in the dining room and the menu was considerably bigger, but we don’t feel the quality of the food lives up to the price. For starters we had the Beetroot Soup and Melon and Parma Ham. The soup wasn’t very hot (although it didn’t seem to be officially a cold soup) but the Melon and Ham was great. We both ordered the Rib Eye steak which came with a tin pot of chips for £17. The steak was definitely not good enough quality to be charging that much for and the chips were a bit hard. To spare our waistlines and pocketbooks, we passed on dessert.
I’m not sure I’d go back for food, but its definitely a nice place to go for a drink. The bar service is prompt and the cider is cold.
Posted in Restaurant Reviews | Tagged gastro pub, restaurant review, steak, Victoria Park | Leave a Comment »
I forgot about this recipe for years but it has become a new favourite. I’m not a big fan of raw mushrooms, which might be the reason I haven’t made this salad in ages, but believe it or not, it doesn’t taste like mushrooms! It is still great if you don’t have time to let it sit for 2 to 3 hours, but it definitely becomes better with a bit of time for the mushrooms to fully absorb the dressing. Fresh and zingy, I think this salad is perfect for summer BBQs or enjoying on the patio.
Fast + impressive + different + doesn’t taste like mushrooms! Have with an omelette or quiche for lunch or supper.
Mushroom Salad
Make 2-3 hours before serving.
1/2 lb mushrooms (any edible variety)
Juice of 1 lemon
1 clove garlic, minced
Fresh ground pepper
1/2 – 3/4 C olive oil (a lot!)
Salt
Fresh herbs, especially parsley, basil, marjoram, thyme, sage
1. Wash mushrooms gently. Trim stalks and cut in thin slices up and down, through stalk and cap. Put them in a medium to large non-metallic bowl.
2. Squeeze a lemon over them. Stir in minced garlic. Grind lots of pepper on them. Mix. Pour olive oil over
all.
3. Let sit 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally if you’re home.
4. Just before serving, add a little more olive oil if mushrooms are dry. Add salt to taste (up to 1 tsp). Add chopped herbs and mix again.
Posted in Recipes, Salads, Side Dishes, Vegetarian | Tagged lemon, mushroom, salad | 1 Comment »
Vildsvin
Ferran, 38
Barri Gotic
08002 Barcelona
93 317 94 07
Map
Where we should have gone for dinner….
We happened upon Vildsvin after our experience at Ateneu Gastronomic. We were looking for some dessert and a drink to recover from our unpleasant meal. Vildsvin has a clean modern style and looked to be much more our sort of place. There probably would have been a wait for a table for supper earlier, but this is the place we should have gone for dinner. We ordered the Chocolate Mousse, which was dreamy, and the Biscuit a la Creme, which was also exquisite. We enjoyed the selection of foreign beers upstairs in the less formal eating area, but there is also a quieter more formal dining room downstairs. And perhaps best of all, one of the tapas on the menu is a slice from a 120kg Bologna sausage which stands just inside the door.
Posted in Restaurant Reviews | Tagged barcelona, beer, dessert, restaurant, review | Leave a Comment »
La Fonda del Port Olimpic
Moll de Gregal, 7-8-9
Port Olimpic
08005 Barcelona
93 221 22 10
Map
This restaurant was recommended to us by our hotel. Having been to similar places in Madeira, I should have known that a seafood restaurant on the waterfront was probably not what we were looking for having asked for a “nice” place for dinner.
The hotel had made a reservation for us and on arrival we were taken to a tiny table for two at what turned out to be a major crossroads. La Ronda is probably best described as a zoo. The waiters were literally running around with whole fish and crustaceans showing them to the patrons who would later be eating them bumping into our table as they went. The place was bustling with the F1 crowd and outbursts of cheering and singing were not uncommon.
We ordered Fishermen’s Soup and Fried Calamari for starters, both of which were okay. We had a Seafood Paella for main course which was also good, but nothing special. Having spent enough time in this chaotic scene, we declined dessert and made a quick exit.
Posted in Restaurant Reviews | Tagged barcelona, port olimpic, restaurant, review, seafood | Leave a Comment »
