Elspeth Evans

Lime & Ginger Thai Chicken Noodles - Easy & Healthy

2012-01-29T07:10:00.000Z

Sorry, no photo yet. We were starving so it just got eaten without any further ado. I'll take a photo next time I make it!

1 tsp olive oil
250g egg noodles
1 medium red onion, roughly chopped
300g skinless chicken breast, diced
1 small red pepper, in bite size pieces
1 small yellow pepper, in bite size pieces
1 small courgette, in bite size pieces
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/2" root ginger, finely chopped
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 kaffir lime leaves, crumbled
2 tsp honey
1/2 lime - finely grated zest & juice
250 ml vegetable stock
1/2 tsp Thai red curry paste
2 tsp cornflour,

Serves 2

Fry the red onions in a drop of olive oil in a saute pan or frying pan until soft. Add the chicken and brown it on all sides. Add all the vegetables and the garlic, ginger, ground ginger, curry paste, kaffir lime leaves, lime zest and lime juice and continue to cook gently until the chicken is just cooked. Add the vegetable stock and honey and stir.

In the meantime, add the noodles to a pan of boiling water and cook, according to the packet instructions for about 3/4 minutes until soft.

Mix the cornflour with a little cold water and stir into the sauté pan until the stock thickens.

Drain the noodles & serve with the chicken mixture piled on top.

Approx Nutritional Values Per Serving
Calories	Fat	Sat Fat	Protein	Carbs	Sugar
509 Kj	4.7	0.9	45.9	69.1	6.2

Spanish Tortilla Omelette with Smoky Bacon

2012-01-27T23:16:00.000Z

The Spanish would no doubt use chorizo rather than bacon and I guess a tradtional tortilla recipe wouldn't actually have either. However, I had some particularly good smoked bacon waiting to be used, and in my opinion, it makes all the difference to this Spanish Omelette recipe and lifts it from the plain to the tasty!

10 ml olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 rashers smoked streaky bacon, cut into thin strips
4 medium size starchy potatoes, thinly sliced
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt

Serves 4

It's best to select starchy potatoes for this recipe and these will be ones labelled good for baking, mashing and frying. Varieties such as Estima, King Edward, Maris Piper and Desiree should be suitable.

In a large frying pan, fry the onions and bacon till soft. Add the potatoes and cook slowly for about 30 minutes until they are soft. Remove from the heat. Beat together 4 eggs and pour into the potatoes. Stir around to coat all the vegetables with the egg.

Heat a small drop of olive oil in a very small frying pan (20 cm). Transfer the egg & potato mixture to the small frying pan. It will be full almost to the top.

Cook gently until the base of the tortilla is reasonably firm. Test for this by sliding a spatula down the side of the pan. Remove from the heat and turn the tortilla. You can do this by placing a plate on top of the frying pan, inverting it and then sliding the tortilla back into the pan. Neaten the edges by smoothing with the spatula. Cook for no more than about 10 minutes.

Serve hot or cold with some salad. I cut mine into 8 pieces: one will be sufficient for smaller appetities and two is a generous portion.

Approx Nutritional Values Per 1/4 Tortilla Serving
Calories	Fat	Sat Fat	Protein	Carbs	Sugar
240 Kj	12.2	3.8	11.9	19.2	2.0

Chicken Casserole - Easy & Healthy

2012-01-22T12:33:00.000Z

This is a favourite of ours. Easy to make, cheap, filling, low fat etc etc. It's also a complete meal all in one pan, so not much washing up either. Nothing not to like really! You can use up little bits of leftover veg from the fridge. This recipe is for 2 people and what's pictured here is as follows:

5 x chicken thighs (3 for him, 2 for me)
400g new potatoes, scrubbed & quartered
3 x outside leaves from a green cabbage, stalks removed, chopped
1 x onion, chopped
1 x small leek, sliced
1 x carrot, chopped
1 x large parsnip, chopped
150g x butternut squash, chopped
2 x stalks of celery
2 x tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
1 x tsp herbes de Provence
Vegetable stock

Serves 2

If the chicken has skin on it, cut it off & discard. Place the chicken pieces in the bottom of an oven-proof casserole pan. Add the rest of the chopped vegetables & herbs on top. Add enough vegetable stock to just cover most of the veg. Bring up to the boil & put the lid on. Put the casserole pot in the middle of the preheated oven at gas 6 and cook for 1 hour.

That's it! Easy peasy!

Approx Nutritional Values Per 2 and 3 thigh serving
Calories	Fat	Sat Fat	Protein	Carbs	Sugar
543 Kj	11.6	2.6	39.0	71.3	12.1
656 Kj	16.6	3.6	54.0	72.3	12.1

Tomato, Sweetcorn & Ginger Chutney

2012-01-20T15:39:00.001Z

I've been sitting on this blog post for some months now. I made this chutney last year when the sweetcorn were in season but we hadn't actually eaten any of it till this week.

We had some the other night and it was a big hit. I was told: "That is the best chutney I have EVER eaten!" . I quite liked it too and I'm glad I had the foresight to write down the recipe, as it looks like I might have to make it again.

500g tomatoes, chopped
430g cooking apples, peeled, cored & chopped
400g sweetcorn kernels stripped off the cob (3 ears corn)
1 large onion (170g prepared weight), finely chopped
200g butternut squash, peeled & finely chopped
120g chopped apricots, finely chopped
80g sultanas
50g crystallised stem ginger, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon mild chilli powder
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
550 ml cider vinegar
450 g brown sugar

Put all the ingredients in a pan and heat gently until the vegetables & fruit start to give off liquid. Turn up the heat and bring up to boiling point. Then simmer for about an hour or until all the vegetables & fruit are soft and the chutney reaches the desired consistency.

Spoon into clean, warm jars. Leave it a 3 or 4 weeks before eating to allow the flavours to develop.

Pizza with Tomato, Pepper & Olive - Reduced Fat

2012-01-19T22:35:00.000Z

Having made a couple of reduced fat pizzas a couple of days ago, I thought I'd try another recipe using similar principles with the two left over pieces of pizza dough.

This time the cheese is replaced by Dijon mustard and pecorino. If you don't want to make your own pizza base, you can add this topping to a ready made pizza base

Pizza dough (makes 4 small pizzas)
1/2 tsp fast action dried yeast
300 g strong white bread flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
170 ml tepid water

Pizza topping (per person)
1 tbspn Dijon mustard
1 vine tomato, thinly sliced
20 g artichoke antipasto
2 Greek style black olives, pitted and chopped
25g red pepper, sliced (about 1/4 of small pepper)
25g green pepper, sliced
1/2 tsp mixed herbs
1.1/2 tsps finely grated pecorino

Method

Make the pizza dough using the breadmaker, adding ingredients to the pan in the usual order used by your machine. Set to the pizza or dough setting. When it's ready, divide the dough into 4 pieces. (At this stage, I often freeze two of the pieces for use another day).

Roll out or stretch each piece of dough on a floured surface to a circle of about a 6"- 8". Spread a small tablespoon of Dijon mustard over the middle. Arrange the vegetables over the top. Sprinkle over the mixed herbs & pecorino.

Cover and set aside in a warm place for 20 minutes while the dough rises. Pre-heat the oven to Gas 7.

Bake for about 20 minutes.

Approx Nutritional Values Per Pizza
Calories	Fat	Sat Fat	Protein	Carbs	Sugar
387 Kj	10.5	1.5	12.7	60.7	8.2+

Pizza with Courgette & Mushroom - Reduced Fat

2012-01-17T15:22:00.000Z

These small pizzas were designed to be lower in calories and saturated fat than the standard cheesy pizza but without compromising flavour. Piling up with loads of cheddar is not on the menu at the moment as Christmas calories have still to be lost!

Using a very strong cheese such as Pecorino provides loads of taste with a fraction of the fat and the reduced fat creme fraiche adds a bit of creaminess to stop the pizza being too dry.

Makes a nice change from a sandwich!

Pizza dough (makes 4 small pizzas)
1/2 tsp fast action dried yeast
300 g strong white bread flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
170 ml tepid water

Pizza topping (per person)
1.1/2 tablespoons reduced fat creme fraiche
1 small courgette, thinly sliced
1/2 portobello mushroom, thinly sliced
1.1/2 tsps finely grated pecorino
1/4 tsp dried tarragon
1/4 tsp olive oil

Method

Make the pizza dough using the breadmaker, adding ingredients to the pan in the usual order used by your machine. Set to the pizza or dough setting. When it's ready, divide the dough into 4 pieces. (At this stage, I often freeze two of the pieces for use another day).

Roll out or stretch each piece of dough on a floured surface to about a 6" circle. Spread about 1 tbsp of creme fraiche over the middle. Arrange the thinly sliced courgette & mushroom over the top. Dab the rest of the creme fraiche over the top, sprinkle over the tarragon & pecorino. Add a little drizzle of olive oil over the top.

Cover and set aside in a warm place for 20 minutes while the dough rises. Pre-heat the oven to Gas 7.

Bake for about 20 minutes.

Approx Nutritional Values Per Pizza
Calories	Fat	Sat Fat	Protein	Carbs	Sugar
388 Kj	11.6	3.6	14.2	57.2	4.1

A Winter's Walk on West Runton Beach, Norfolk

2012-01-15T19:18:00.000Z

This is where we ended up today, a chilly wintry Sunday in January. We wrapped up warm and headed off up to West Runton on the North Norfolk coast, just a bit west of Cromer.

West Runton is great when the tide is out as the beach is wide with lots of interest. Rocky pools which are endlessly fascinating to kids (and this big kid!), breakwaters, seaweeds and stretches of rocks like the one in the photo above. Mostly it's flint but there are also stretches of this creamy coloured rock (chalk?) which looks a bit surreal in certain lights. When you first approach, it looks like a giant froth that has washed up on the beach.

We strode out along the sandy bits as much as possible and picked our way carefully through the rocks covered in seaweeds where it wasn't. Obviously stopping from time to time to take a number of photos!

Great opportunities for photographers, things to keep the kids amused and a good walk along the beach. When the tide is out.

There's a small Pay and Display car park just next to the beach. This beach is about 45 minutes drive away from our guest house.

View Larger Map

Do it

2011-12-31T10:21:00.000Z

I never knew there were so many volunteering opportunities and they've made it so easy to find things close to home that will suit, the hardest part would be choosing.

I've often thought of doing voluntary work myself and never known where to look and this seemed like such a neat gadget, I thought it was worth posting! I hope some of you will find it helpful.

&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;[Your user agent does not support iframes or is currently configured not to display iframes. Please visit &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.do-it.org.uk" title="Do-it Home"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;www.do-it.org.uk&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;] &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;

A Foggy Sunday Afternoon Walk

2011-11-20T22:27:00.001Z

We managed to snatch an hour or so this afternoon to take a walk around Whitlingham Broad. We'd had a busy weekend at the guest house so breakfast had been busy. Two dishwasher loads later, the kitchen was now clear, the guests who were checking out had gone and the rooms had been stripped ready for servicing. We had new guests arriving and some other guests coming back to collect bags. That left us a window of about 2 hours, not long enough to go far but ideal for a quick trip down to Whitlingham!

On top of that the sun was now finally breaking through the fog that had been hanging round all morning and there were blue skies above, so off we went.

Needless to say, once we'd arrived, the weather changed pretty quickly and reverted to fog.

But, we were not unhappy! The fog rendered the scene into a soft focus beauty of calm and I found myself wishing that I'd brought my SLR camera as I was seeing photo opportunities at every turn. But I hadn't, so I had to content myself with a few snapshots from my phone camera.

We decided to walk along the path which goes around the broad, a walk of about 4.1/2 kilometers, quite a comfortable distance, about 45-60 minutes.

The broad is actually an artificial one, which started life as a gravel pit. Over the time that we have lived in Norwich, we've watched the process of excavation and the creation of the broad. Now, it looks like it's always been there and lots of birds have taken advantage of the environments and moved in.

It's in a country park/nature reserve just a mile or so from where we live and it's a favourite spot of ours. Within the park is a river, a broad, wooded areas, a nature reserve, meadows not to mention picnic areas, a cafe and a boating centre. So there's pretty much something for everyone. And compatible with the local wildlife.

Being a natural environment, it's different every time you go.

This is definitely a spot worth visiting if you get the opportunity.

And this is where to find it! You can see how new the broad is because it's actually not yet made its way on to Google maps.

View Larger Map

Carrot, Coriander & Sunflower Seed Bread

2011-11-08T14:55:00.000Z

The carrots make this bread taste a little sweeter than a regular bread. Makes a great sandwich with some strong cheese for example or have it hot and toasted with hoummous. Also great with my soup recipes.

1.1/4 tspn fast action dried yeast
250g wholemeal flour
225g strong white flour
2 tspns ground coriander
2 tablespoons sunflower seeds
1.1/2 tspns brown sugar
1.1/4 tspns table salt
30 ml sunflower oil
240 ml water
200g grated carrot

Method
This recipe is for use in breadmaker, using a quick bake wholemeal setting. Add the ingredients to the pan in the usual order specified by your breadmaker. Treat the carrot as a liquid ingredient and add it at the same time as the water. You may notice that the dough will seem a little stiffer than usual as some of the water required for the dough will be taken from the carrot. It should, however, still form a reasonably elastic ball of dough.

Approx Nutritional Values per Slice (Based on 14 slices per loaf)
Calories	Fat	Sat Fat	Protein	Carbs	Sugar
146 Kj	3.4	0.4	5.6	23.1	1.2

Pesto & Oat Swirly Bread

2011-10-31T16:23:00.000Z

This is a bread for tearing and eating as is. The oats give it a lovely soft crumb. It's less suitable for sandwiches as it comes apart around the swirls. Lovely with tomato soup or a tomato based pasta dish for example.

Ingredients
1.1/4 teaspoon fast action dried yeast
350 g strong white bread flour
125g wholemeal flour
25 g jumbo rolled oats
1.1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1.1/4 teaspoon salt
30 ml sunflower oil
340 ml tepid water
45g green pesto

A few additional oats for decorating the top

Method
Add all the ingredients, except the pesto, to the breadmaker pan, in the usual order required by your machine and and set it to either the dough or pizza programme.

When the programme has finished, remove from the breadmaker. This is quite a wet dough so to make it a bit easier to handle, get the bread machine to turn the dough a few times to reform it into a ball and then sprinkle a little flour on the outside of the ball while you transfer it to your worktop. Try not to incorporate too much extra flour.

Make the dough into a rectangular shape by either stretching it out by hand or rolling it on a floured surface, where the narrow width is about the length of your bread tin. Mine was about 35 cm x 20 cm. How long you roll it will determine how many swirls you have.

Spread with a thin layer of the pesto and roll up like a swiss roll. Carefully lift and place in the bread tin. Brush a piece of cling film with oil and cover the bread tin with it, oiled side down. Leave to rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes until well risen. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 6. Brush the top carefully with a little water and scatter some additional oats on the top for decoration

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until cooked. Test for "cooked-ness" by removing from the bread tin and tapping the bottom. If it sounds hollow, it's cooked.

Try this bread with My Tomato, Sweet Potato & Cinnamon Soup

Approx Nutritional Values per Slice (Based on 14 slices per loaf)
Calories	Fat	Sat Fat	Protein	Carbs	Sugar
156 Kj	2.1	0.3	5.2	23.8	0.7

Still Life Photo of Black Grapes

2011-10-26T15:12:00.000+01:00

Went to see Mum & Dad on Monday and came back with bunches of these lovely little black grapes - sweet as anything and pretty too! They grow them in their back garden and there's more than they can eat. The birds are in for a treat this autumn!

I set them up as below to practise some more still life (food styling) photography. The idea was to use all black items and just use natural light to show the form and textures of the items. And a leaf or two to give life to the photo. This was the best of the bunch (!) but in fact I think I should have used a reflector that was less bright.

Next question is what shall I do with them? Just eat them or make a dish with them? Haven't decided ....

Still Life Photo of Autumn Apples

2011-10-22T14:22:00.000+01:00

Just practising some still life photography today. First time I've done this in ages and I really enjoyed it. Today I've been experimenting with layouts, exposures, lighting etc. Great way to 'waste' half a day!

Here we have a few apples, frankly past their best, and some autumn leaves. This photo was taken with natural daylight and a reflector. Don't judge me too harshly, I haven't done this in ages!

Rosemary & Earl Grey Focaccia

2011-10-20T16:27:00.002+01:00

Earlier this year, I added some linden blossom tea to a Blackberry & Apple Jelly that I made and I was pleased with the result. Since then, I've been meaning to experiment with adding tea flavours into other things and I finally got round to it today!

I decided to try Earl Grey tea because of its strong aroma & added some dried rosemary because they seemed to go together well - and also because I love rosemary. I thought it worked. It didn't especially taste of the Earl Grey tea but it tasted different because of it. And it was good with some cooked ham and a bit of butter, as shown above. (The bread is very soft so butter is really not necessary, however it was very good!)

Ingredients
450 g strong white bread flour
2 teaspoons fast action dried yeast
1.1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon table salt
1.1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary
1 large cup of black Earl Grey tea (I used one tea bag). You will need 225 ml of lukewarm tea.
4 tablespoons olive oil

A little additional olive oil, Maldon Sea Salt & dried rosemary to dress the top of the bread

Method
First of all, add a couple of ice cubes to the tea to bring the temperature down to luke warm. Make sure they are fully melted before using the tea!

Add the ingredients to your breadmaker in the usual order specified by your breadmaker and set to the dough or pizza programme. When the programme has finished, remove the dough and stretch it out to approximately the size of your oiled baking sheet. Place the dough into the baking sheet and roll it out gently into the corners - you don't have to be too precise.

Cover and leave in a warm place to rise for about 30 minutes. In the meantime, pre-heat your oven to about Gas Mark 6.

After 30 minutes, lightly score the bread into 12 squares with a sharp knife and then make the indentations with your (obviously clean!) finger. Drizzle some olive oil into the indentations and then sprinkle with some Maldon Sea Salt & dried rosemary. You should probably use a little less salt than shown in the photos!

Bake for about 20 minutes or until cooked. Cool on a wire rack and then try not to eat all of it at once!

Approximate Nutritional Values per Square
Calories	Fat	Sat Fat	Protein	Carbs	Sugar
172 Kj	5.1	0.7	5.4	26.5	1.2

Living the High Life

2011-10-09T10:38:00.001+01:00

Nigel spotted this little fella doing acrobatics on our washing line this morning. Not quite sure what it was looking for up there. We'll leave it a while and perhaps a story will unfold!

I guess that's one washing line that is going to need cleaning today ....!

Tomato, Sweet Potato & Cinnamon Soup

2011-10-07T22:27:00.000+01:00

There's something about the smell of cinnamon that really gets the taste buds going. Whenever I cook a meal for my husband and I that has cinnamon in, you can almost guarantee that at least one of the guests at our B&B will comment "that smells good"!

Last weekend, I was lucky enough to find a whole box of lovely bright red, sweet & ripe tomatoes at a bargain price from the farm shop in Essex near mum & dad's (the same one where I got the sweetcorn for the Sweetcorn, Leek & Potato Soup ). I use the whole tomato in this recipe by the way, seeds, skins and everything.

Ingredients
1 kg ripe tomatoes
1 large sweet potato (about 220 g peeled weight)
1/2 cinnamon stick
1/2 litre vegetable stock

Method
Wash the tomatoes. Peel & dice the sweet potato. Put all the ingredients in a pan, bring to the boil & then simmer until the vegetables are soft. If you have time, leave the cinnamon stick in the soup for as long as possible to infuse the flavours into the vegetables.

When you are ready, remove the cinnamon stick & blend the vegetables. Yum!

Approximate Nutritional Values per Serving
Calories	Fat	Sat Fat	Protein	Carbs	Sugar
105 Kj	0.2	0.1	3.4	23.5	10.7

Sweetcorn, Leek & Potato Soup

2011-10-03T15:34:00.000+01:00

Found some lovely fresh corn on the cob at a farm shop near to mum and dad's this weekend and bought a load of them for a bargain price. So this week, I'm concocting recipes with sweetcorn.

This is the first of them and it is a thick and filling soup. I like to keep some of the vegetables whole for this recipe so not all of the vegetables are blended. The quantities made about 4 bowls.

Ingredients
1 medium size leek (about 200g trimmed weight)
1 large potato (about 175g peeled weight)
Kernels stripped from 2 ears of corn
1/2 teaspoon dried chives
1 litre vegetable stock

Method
Slice the corn kernels from the ears of corn. Slice the leeks and peel and chop the potato into small cubes. Add all the ingredients to a saucepan and cook until all the vegetables are tender. Remove half of the vegetables and blend the rest with the stock. Add the vegetables back to the pan and stir.

Approximate Nutritional Values per Bowl
Calories	Fat	Sat Fat	Protein	Carbs	Sugar
136 Kj	1.6	0.3	4.1	26.4	1.8

Take care when re-heating this soup as it will stick to the bottom of the pan, and burn if you are not careful!

Parsnip & Fennel Soup

2011-09-29T21:45:00.000+01:00

This was an unexpected success and my other half loved it! Parsnip and Fennel didn't seem like obvious partners but it was what I had in the fridge so I thought I'd give it a try. I'm pleased I did! I had thought the 'aniseed-iness' of the fennel would be overpowering but in fact it wasn't at all and the combination worked well.

Also not sure why I decided to make soup today, when summer seems to have returned and it's been baking hot outside and in all day. I guess I've just got the soup bee in my bonnet!

This recipe makes about two large bowls of a fairly thick soup.

Ingredients
3 small parsnips (about 150g peeled weight)
1/2 large bulb of fennel (about 150g prepared weight)
1 Scallion shallot or small onion
1/2 litre vegetable stock
Sprinkling of cumin

Method
Roughly chop the vegetables. Put all the ingredients, except the cumin, in a pan. Cook until soft. Blend with a stick blender. Garnish with a sprinkling of cumin and serve it with either the Pumpkin Seed & Oat Bread Rolls or the Flatbread with Fennel & Caraway Seeds

Approximate Nutritional Values per Serving
Calories	Fat	Sat Fat	Protein	Carbs	Sugar
90 Kj	0.4	0.0	2.5	20.8	4.1

Pumpkin Seed & Oat Bread Rolls

2011-09-29T15:11:00.001+01:00

Ingredients
225 g Strong Wholemeal flour
250 g Strong White flour
25 g jumbo rolled oats
2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
1.1/4 teaspoons fast action dried yeast
1.1/2 teaspoons brown sugar
1.1/4 teaspoons salt
30 ml sunflower oil
340 ml water

Method
Add the ingredients to the breadmaker pan, in the usual order required by your machine and and set it to either the dough or pizza programme. When the programme has finished, remove from the breadmaker and divide into 16 pieces. Shape into rolls and spread out evenly on an oiled baking sheet.

Brush water over the top of the bread and sprinkle a few seeds and oats on the top for decoration . Press the seeds in lightly. Then just leave in a warm place until it has risen a bit. Preheat the oven while you're waiting.

Bake in a preheated oven at Gas Mark 6 for 20 minutes, or until cooked.

Approximate Nutritional Values per Roll
Calories	Fat	Sat Fat	Protein	Carbs	Sugar
128 Kj	3.1	0.6	5.1	19.9	0.5

These rolls go very well with my recipe for Parsnip & Fennel soup .

Blue Dragonfly

2011-09-27T15:13:00.001+01:00

These are to be found in many places around the Norfolk Broads. I love the vivid blue of these pretty dragonflies.

Photo Prints by Sunlight (cyanotypes)

2011-09-24T18:29:00.000+01:00

These are prints that are made using the sun & chemicals to develop the image. It's a method that works well for prints where the lines of the image, rather than the tones, are important. It's fun to do and you can get quite creative with it. You can use a photo negative as I have here or you can use objects such leaves, flowers or paper cut-outs to create shapes.

This photo was taken in the cafe in West Runton, Norfolk where we sometimes go - they do a great toasted cheese & onion sandwich! They used to serve the tea in old-fashioned china tea cups which I particularly liked. The original photo was taken some time ago as they now serve the tea in mugs. If you've never been to West Runton, it's great for cliffs, rock pools, breakwaters and walks on the beach (oh, and of course, the cheese and onion toasted sandwiches!) Anyway, I digress!

The method to produce a print like this is as follows:

scan the photo into the computer and enlarge it up to the size of the print that you want
invert the image to make a negative print
make an inkjet print onto transparency film
brush some watercolour paper with the chemicals. In my example above, I deliberately brushed the chemicals on, leaving brushstrokes in the style of watercolour painting to match the style of paper used
lay the transparency negative on top and clip together so that the negative can't move
expose to bright sunlight for between 10 and 20 minutes. The length of time that you expose the paper to the sun for will determine how dark the print is.
rinse under clean water
dry away from the sun

And yes, one of those books really is that price! It's a rare one.

I mounted my print on to foam board and kept the perforated ends to keep the effect of watercolour. The chemicals required to produce these types of prints can be purchased from specialist photographic materials suppliers, details can be found online.

Here are another two of my photos that I did the same treatment on. These are of a beautiful cafe in Bilbao, called the Cafe Boulevard.

Flat Bread with Fennel & Caraway Seeds

2011-09-24T02:28:00.000+01:00

I love caraway & fennel seeds on bread and the little flakes of salt crystals that you come across now and again on this bread are an extra little treat.

I wanted to make a tasty bread to go with the soup I was making for lunch. But there wasn't a lot of time so it needed to be one that could be made in the breadmaker. I also wanted it to be a little bit special as we're entertaining my father-in-law this weekend. After flicking through my recipe collection for inspiration, I cobbled together this recipe.

One of the great things about this bread is that it's quick & easy to make - 45 minutes of the breadmaker doing the manual work, about 20 minutes rising time and 20 minutes in the oven. That's only about 1.1/2 hours total which is pretty quick for a loaf of bread!

Ingredients for Dough
2 tspns fast action dried yeast
250 g strong white flour
250 g Allinson Wholemeal Seed & Grain flour
3 tbspns olive oil
1 tspn brown sugar
1 tspn salt
150 ml semi skimmed milk
150 ml water

Ingredients for Seed Mix
Fennel seeds
Caraway seeds
Maldon sea salt crystals

Method
Add the dough ingredients to the breadmaker pan, in the usual order required by your machine and and set it to either the dough or pizza programme, When the programme has finished, remove from the breadmaker and roll out into a rough rectangle about 1.5 cm thick. Transfer to a baking sheet.

Brush water over the top of the bread and sprinkle the seed mix over the top. Press the seeds in lightly with the rolling pin. Score the dough lightly with a sharp knife to divide into 12 portions. Portioning it isn't really necessary but I do it because I like to know what calories/fat etc I'm feeding to myself and my family! Then just leave in a warm place until it has risen a bit. Preheat the oven while you're waiting.

Bake in a preheated oven at Gas Mark 6 for 20 minutes, or until cooked.

Approximate Nutritional Values per Serving
Calories	Fat	Sat Fat	Protein	Carbs	Sugar
179 Kj	4.6	0.8	16.1	27.5	1.7

It went really well with the Chicken & Broccoli soup that we had for lunch.

Who You Looking At?

2011-09-15T22:21:00.000+01:00

I turned the house upside down today looking for a mount cutter for some pictures which I am re-mounting.

As I delved into drawers and cupboards that I don't use very often, I came across this photo which I took a few years ago. I was quite proud of it at the time because despite hand holding quite a heavy SLR, I had managed to get quite good focus on the face of the butterfly.

I'll swear he/she is posing for this photograph!

(By the way, I found the mount cutter!)

Butternut Squash & Butter Bean Soup

2011-09-14T14:58:00.001+01:00

Time for soup!

Looks like summer has almost left us and with the approach of autumn and lots of lovely fresh veg in the shops, it's time to bring out the soup recipes again.

This one is one of our favourites, and it's what we're having for lunch today. It has a smooth, almost creamy texture and makes a soup of medium thickness. It's also filling, low in fat and very quick and easy to make. This recipe makes about 1.1/2 litres of soup, or 4 large bowls.

Ingredients
350g peeled weight butternut squash (about half of a medium size squash)
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
1 410g tin butter beans (220 g drained weight)
2 tbspns chopped parsley
1/2 tspn ground coriander
1 litre vegetable stock

Finely chop the garlic. Roughly chop the onion and butternut squash. Put all the ingredients in a pan. Cook until soft. Blend with a stick blender. Garnish with a little fresh parsley, if you like, and serve with crusty sourdough bread.

Approximate Nutritional Values per Serving
Calories	Fat	Sat Fat	Protein	Carbs	Sugar
119 Kj	0.4	0.1	5.8	24.4	3.5

Blackberry, Apple & Linden Jelly

2011-08-27T02:56:00.094+01:00

This jelly is a sweet one and has a very rich red/black colour.

It is flavoured with a "tilleul" tea bag. Tilleul is a French word used to describe a herbal tea which is a blend of the fragrant flowers and leaves from the linden tree. I'm particularly fond of this herbal tea, which I drank a lot when I lived in France so when I came across it as a possible flavour combination with blackberries, I was keen to try it out! It adds just a subtle enhancement to the flavour which I quite like.

Picking the fruit is a great excuse to get outside on a sunny late summer afternoon. There's always something extra satisfying in the fact that it's free! I keep a few plastic punnets in the boot of the car at this time of year for just such occasions. This year there is an abundance of fruit in the hedgerows and on Sunday afternoon, we collected a few punnets for this jelly.

Hubby got bribed to help with the promise of a blackberry and apple crumble too!

1200 g blackberries, not too ripe
600 g cooking apples
500 ml boiling water
1 tilleul tea bag
600 g granulated sugar (approx)

Make up an infusion with the tilleul tea bag and the boiling water and when it's nice & strong, discard the tea bag. Wash the blackberries thoroughly and then add them to a preserving pan together with the infusion. Wash and roughly chop the apple and put the whole apple into the pan including the core, pips and skin.

Bring to the boil and then simmer for about 30 minutes until the fruit is really soft. Put the fruit into a jelly bag and leave to drip overnight. Don't squeeze the jelly bag because it will make the jelly go cloudy.

The next day, measure the quantity of liquid. For every l litre of liquid, use 750 g sugar (multiply the litre quantity x 75% to get the sugar quantity). Add the sugar to the liquid and heat gently. Once the sugar is fully dissolved, boil until setting point is reached

You can eat this jam, and a selection of other home made preserves, at Wedgewood House, a bed and breakfast in Norwich that I run with my husband!!

Making Your Own Yogurts

2011-08-23T13:54:00.039+01:00

At our guest house in Norwich, we make our own yogurts and I'm often asked for information about how to make them, what equipment I use and so on, so I thought I'd write this blog post as a reference point for those of you that are interested in having a go yourselves. I make mine with 4% fat milk and this makes creamy yogurts which are mild, pleasant to eat and don't need any sweetening. Many of the guests comment that they "feel nice in the tummy" and I know what they mean!

Ingredients:

1 x Litre of UHT milk
1 x small pot of natural yogurt

Method:
It couldn't be easier and takes about 5 minutes!

Put 1 teaspoon of the natural live yogurt into each of your sterilised (see below) glass yogurt pots
Heat the litre of UHT milk in the microwave for about 90 seconds to bring the milk up to around 30-40 degrees C. You can skip this stage if you like, it just speeds up the process.
Using a funnel pour the milk into the yogurt pots, stir to mix with the live yogurt and then put the lids on
Put the jars into the yogurt-maker, set the timer for 8 hours, switch on and leave alone! Do not be tempted to agitate or stir!
8 hours later, check that the yogurt is set and then refrigerate

I recommend sticking a label on the lid with the date on which you made them, so that you always know how fresh they are.

Hygiene:
People have been making their own yogurts for centuries without coming to any harm - it's possibly one of the oldest foods. Just the same, it is a good idea to take a few sensible precautions:

wash your hands before you start
always use scrupulously clean equipment. Ideally wash and dry your equipment in the dishwasher at high temperature. If you don't have a dishwasher, wash up as normal, rinse and then immerse the equipment in boiling water and allow to air dry. Store the pots inside the yogurt-maker so that they don't collect dust inbetween use.
sterilise the glass yogurt pots before use by heating them in the oven. Allow to cool before you use them though
use UHT milk. UHT milk has already been sterilised so it's ready for you to use. If you wish to use fresh milk, you should boil it first.

Once you start finding out about yogurt, you will probably be fascinated by it as I was. It has a long history and it is claimed to have many health-giving qualities

Wild Plum & Apple Jelly

2011-08-22T11:04:00.009+01:00

Made from hedgerow plums & cooking apples, this jam is not as sweet as commercial jams and has a pretty translucent pink colour.

2 kg wild plums including some slightly under-ripe ones
1 large cooking apple
1.3 kg granulated sugar (approx)
500 ml water

Wash the fruit thoroughly. Add the plums to a preserving pan together with the water. Roughly chop the apple and put the whole apple into the pan including the core, pips and skin.

Bring to the boil and then simmer for about an hour until the fruit is really soft. Put the fruit into a jelly bag and leave to drip overnight. Don't squeeze the jelly bag because it will make the jelly go cloudy.

The next day, measure the quantity of liquid. For every l litre of liquid, use 750g sugar (multiply the litre quantity x 75% to get the sugar quantity). Add the sugar to the liquid and heat gently. Once the sugar is fully dissolved, boil until setting point is reached.

You can eat this jam, and a selection of other home made preserves, at Wedgewood House, a bed and breakfast in Norwich that I run with my husband!!

Red Plum & Cardamom Jam

2011-08-20T23:57:00.025+01:00

This is a deliciously fragrant jam with a beautiful vivid red colour.

1.8 kg red plums
2 tspns cardamom pods bruised
1 litre water
1.3 kg granulated sugar

Wash the plums and put into preserving pan with the water. Crush the cardamom pods and tie them in a square of muslin for easy removal later. Add to the pan.

Bring the pan to the boil and then simmer for about 1 hour until the fruit is really soft. Remove the muslin pouch of cardamom pods.

Remove the stones from the jam by the following method:

strain the fruit and liquid through a sieve
using the back of a spoon squish around the fruit in the sieve to find and remove the stones
scoop out stone-free flesh and skins as you go and add back into the liquid

Once all of the stones have been removed, add the sugar to the liquid and fruit pulp and heat gently. Once the sugar is fully dissolved, boil the jam till a setting point is reached.

You can eat this jam, and a selection of other home made preserves, at Wedgewood House, a bed and breakfast in Norwich that I run with my husband!!