Let me start by thanking you all for your very kind and warm wishes over the past 8 weeks. You may, or may not, know that I had emergency surgery at the end of April to fix two perforations in my bowel (accidentally caused by routine surgery). 20cm was removed and 8 weeks later I am still recovering. I was not a well person and I am sorry for giving everyone such a scare! My family and friends have been amazing and the generosity of meals, chocolate, bed socks, wine, books, magazines, honey, baked treats, candles, throws for my special chair, flowers and love have gotten me through this tough time. I have been slowly emerging from my illness and have welcomed a few guests to visit me which has been very refreshing to say the least. I also started cooking a couple of weeks ago and I feel a bit more enthused about eating and spending more time in the kitchen. I thought I might highlight the following four recipes for you:
1. Pancake tray bake
2. Chorizo beans
3. Baked Chicken ribs
4. Chocolate tart
I started walking again on Saturday (slowly!) and the flow of endorphins and increased energy has had a profound impact on me. I am getting my mojo back as someone put it! I have cooked some interesting things lately and so this blog post is to let you know that the recipes can now be found on the website and you can even print off a PDF if you wish. I am very slowly getting back to physical work on the farm but I have had the chance to cuddle some pretty cute lambs lately and this was one of them:
I have four recipes for you to try this cold and wet winter. One of my favourites would have to be the pancake tray bake! I literally place the dry ingredients in a zip lock bag in my pantry for when I need it. All then you have to do it preheat the oven, add in the wet ingredients, choose your fillings and wait 15 minutes! It is as simple as that.
I have used Nutella, peanut butter and jam in my fillings but you could add whatever you wish to the batter. You could mix lemon juice with sugar and swirl it around for that lemon sugar flavour. Perhaps a drizzle of maple syrup and mixed berries in the middle? Whatever you choose, beware, it is totally addictive. This recipe fed 6 hungry kids in an instant (no standing at the stove flipping pancakes!) and they were back for more.
The next recipe is another breakfast special that I got from a friend. It is called Turkish Beans with chorizo and speck and it is perfect for those mornings when you need a protein pick me up. You can literally keep it in the fridge for up to a week but it would also freeze very well. Serve it with toasted Turkish bread, add some eggs and bake it and crumble marinated fetta on top with some fresh parsley. Yum!
I have been slowly cleaning out the contents of three, yes three, freezers. I do a bit of an inventory and then decide what needs cooking and how I am going to cook it! Last weekend I saw these chicken ribs and my mouth started watering. I googled quite a few recipes for southern fried (but I wanted to bake them) chicken. Amazingly, I had all of the ingredients in the pantry. I made a bit of a brine using Greek yogurt and milk and then marinated the wings in this brine for the day. As I had baked them in a very hot oven I felt as though they were semi healthy as they weren’t deep fried. Served with Kewpie Mayonnaise or Sriracha they were absolutely delicious.
Last but not least is Maggie Beer’s Chocolate Ganache Tart. I have been watching old episodes of one of my favourite cooking shows, The Cook and the Chef. It features Maggie Beer as the Cook and Simon Bryant as the Chef. I love the way that Maggie and Simon interact with each other and how simple most of their dishes are. They are very achievable and the ingredients don’t seem too hard to source. I have the boxed set (given to me as a present) and I cherish them so much.
I have made this tart a couple of times. You must place your tart tin on a baking sheet to bake it though as otherwise your oven will burn the butter and sour cream that may drip out of the pastry. I have learnt this the hard way and ended up spending a few hours cleaning the oven after the second time I made it!!! Serve it with double cream, strawberries and vanilla ice-cream.
So there you go! I also managed to make some fresh pasta for our Sunday night special of spaghetti bolognaise. It really wasn't too taxing on me and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole process. Have you made your own pasta before? What is your favourite thing to eat with pasta?
I just wanted again to express my gratitude towards all of the people that have messaged me, rang and sent amazing gifts. It really has been the toughest couple of months but it has been made easier with people like you.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart and happy cooking!
Cheers!
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