TARRAGON & THYME

Unlike a lot of people I actually keep in a lot of baking stuff and dried fruit and nuts, (including ground almonds), chestnuts in tins or just tins of puree ( I digress  - not dried I know but still useful components) of differing descriptions as I bake, make my own mincemeat, use in breads and tea breads as well as fruit cakes.  I keep a check on the fruit and because it is expensive I try and get the best out of the fruit before it dries out and is of little use in baking or of utilising in preserving.  I tend to buy my fruit anyway when it is on offer.  I am a bit tight and buy as cheaply as I can but primarily I go for quality.  It pays with dried fruit.   I keep dried cranberries, golden raisins (available from Asian stores), mixed fruit, cherries (of different colours) raisins, currants, apricots, dried mango, pineapple,mixed peel, dried cherries, dried coconut, dried coconut slices, flaked almonds, apple slices, prunes, sultanas and mixed ...

There's so much I want to have a go at and ultimately fit into my routine on a regular basis  - I want to get to grips with bread and pastry and get back to making my own instead of purchasing bread from the store and which on my part at least I find it severely wanting.  My pastry is very short and tends to fall to pieces as soon as I make it and I need to find a way of dealing with this and have a seriously good play at putting this right. I am considering doing a mass weigh up of ingredients on bits and bobs I make on a regular basis, like a pastry mix or bread mix or scone mix etc. etc.  and create my own mixes and just grab them off the shelf marked up with a sticky label as to what I have to add instead of scrabbling around for my old faithful cookery book during the week when time is at a premium so that I can get things done quickly whilst using the cooker for tea and not wasting any heat. So far this year I have been playing with new things like the Grav...

We have had a bit of a problem here at home this evening in the stair well the ceiling sprung a leak and we were not sure where it has come from but the stair carpet is dripping wet so I traced it back to the old airing cupboard which is in my bedroom but overhangs the hallway.  The old airing cupboard is now my walk in wardrobe.  It seems that the remnants of the original piping  (which was modified when the new boiler was put in) and specifically a valve had sprung a leak and it would appear to have been dripping for some time.  Result is leak is fixed but its left a mess and I have a load of extra washing to do as some of my clothes smell fusty  and the odd item has mould on.    I have also lost over £300 worth of children's books that I had packed up in there (mostly children's classics). None of them could be salvaged  Bit of a b......... but it could have been a lot worse.  And I had had the books from new and they were in...

OH is particularly fond of Stilton so come Christmas we buy if we can afford it either a half Stilton or something a little smaller.  It soon get used up but whilst I have the Stilton in the house I like to make this soup - it is one that I am quite partial too as well. alternatively though instead of Stilton use Gorgonzola. Serves 4 450g sprouting broccoli or calabrese 30g butter 1 onion roughly chopped 2 small potatoes cut into chunks (a good thickener) 2 garlic cloves roughly chopped 1.2 litres of hot chicken stock 1 tablespoon lemon juice 200ml milk 115g of Stilton or Gorgonzola Salt and black pepper 3 tablespoons double cream (optional) Trim the purple sprouting broccoli/calabrese retaining much of the stem as well as the heads.  If the stems are tough take off the outer layer and then thinly slice.  If using calabrese split the tiny florets off the main head into small tiny florets breaking the off the main stem. Melt the butter in a pan and put in...

Other citrus fruits can be used for this cordial recipe.  This version is not hot water bath processed in the recipe but I always do this in the baby bottle steriliser for small bottles of produce and if it is a larger bottle I use a deep pan and fill up to the neck bring to the boil and then process for about 30 minutes which takes all the air out.  It is the air that makes the produce go off so the hot water bath processing in effect removes the air and provides a tight seal. 3 unwaxed lemons 900ml boiling water 850g white sugar - granulated or caster 30g citric acid or tartaric acid With a potato peeler cut thick ribbons of rind from the fruit leaving the pith behind but if you do manage to take some of the pith it can be scraped off with a sharp knife. Place the rind into a heatproof bowl and pour over the boiling water stirring in the sugar until all the sugar has dissolved.  Leave the mixture to cool and then add the juice from the lemons and the citric aci...

Further to my post on the Sourdough Starter for the bread machine here is the basic recipe for the  plain white bread dough which is made in the bread machine, shaped by hand and then popped into the oven.  I tend to make my dough and then cook in the oven in any event as  I amm not too clever at kneading with my hands being arthritic. "Sourdough is tempermental and the bread can vary from batch to batch because the sourdough starter is left open to colllect wild yeasts.  In addition the dough may require varying amounts of liquid because the starter also absorbs varying amounts of liquid from the air.  Be patient watch the dough as the bread machine kneads it and add a splash of water or a tablespoon of flour as necessary.  A traditional French Sourdough loaf is made without sugar or fat. We have included  a small amount of each - sugar to encourage the yeast to ferment and butter so that the bread does not turn stale and hard too quickly.  Pur...

Its lemons again but this time using the peel of the lemon to make a dry rub/marinade for chicken: You will need: 2 lemons 2 tsp lemon thyme chopped 1 tbsp lemon verbena chopped 1 tbsp lemon grass chopped Peel the lemons into strips and air dry the peel and the herbs on a rack for on or two days. When thoroughly dry powder the lemon rind in a pestle and mortar.  Add the other flavourings then crush and blend them.to the desired consistency.  Decant into an airtight jar.   I have the herbs ready to hand having already dried them last summer and they are part of my dried store, but you may not be able to take advantage of this recipe at the present time. but it is one for keeping hold of and to make come the summer months especially as the shops charge an arm and a leg for dried marinades when in fact they are quite simple to put together. To use Rub the dried mix into the chicken about an hour before cooking and leave somewhere cool to stand and take ...