Toad in the hole

Today has been really cold, rainy and blustery. I braved the weather to go the gym so feeling fairly saintly but now just want to curl up in front of the fire with some warming winter food. I haven't made toad in the hole for a long time and Andy suggested it. Sausages, gravy and yorkshire pudding - perfect for a wintery dinner. This is my way of doing it - the first time I made it I didn't have an actual recipe to hand so made it up - so it probably isn't the 'right' way to do it but it works for us.

Ingredients

Six good quality sausages
4oz strong plain flour
Pinch of salt
1 large egg
300ml/half a pint of semi skimmed milk

Grill the sausages
Put all of the other ingredients in a bowl and beat until bubbles appear. To see the bubbles pause every so often and watch to see if they rise
When the sausages are done, heat dripping in a roasting tin in the oven. Leave the sausages to cool slightly
When the dripping is piping hot, add the batter and then add the sausages
Cook for about 30-40 minutes or until the pudding has risen and is golden

Serve with any of the following:
Tatties roasted or baked
Green veggies like peas and broccoli
Mashed tatties
Green and red cabbage

Some folks put the sausages uncooked into the batter. I prefer to grill them first because it gives them a good crackling skin all round and also makes sure they are heated all the way through. If you like a lot of pudding around your sausages then the pudding can be cooked but not the sausage all the way through.

I usually use a roasting tin but tonight in Tesco I spotted a metal lasagne dish which I am going to try. It is a bit smaller than a roasting tin which should mean I will get a better 'bottom' to my pudding and high sides so the pudding can rise with some support. So keen to see how it will work out and if my theories will be proved right or not!

Jamie Oliver and his food crusade

You know, some people hate him and other love him - and today Jamie Oliver is in the Sunday Herald talking about his Ministry of Food project. Well, I like his recipes but at the same time can only take the chirpy chap for so long but one thing he said hit home. And that is that nowadays sitting down and eating dinner as a family at the table is seen as 'middle class'. I don't know how true that is but if there is any grain of truth in there it makes me worry. Along with everyone else there are times when flopping in front of the tele with a pizza is exactly what you need but since when did tables become middle class? I mean, I can see that owning microwaves and having a TV in every room could be seen as the trappings of the middle classes, where every kid has their own bedroom and box to sit in front of to have their tea.

If anything sitting round a table would be, to my mind, working class. Although I concede if the table is half the length of a football pitch and has more cutlery than John Lewis on show then it may be more upper class. But your basic kitchen table and eating your weekday meal - I don't get it. Then again, my family always had tea at the table, but we are a talkative lot and while we like our tele we are all so keen to tell everyone about our day that the tele is in a losing battle. Unless Corrie Street is on in which case my Mum demands silence.

In our house the kitchen was and still is the hub of the house. It's where all the action is. And, in these credit crunch times, doesn't it make sense to have your tea in teh warmest room in the house, toasty from eth oven and hob being on the go?

Well, whatever 'class' dinner round the table is now a part of my own thought is that sitting at the table for tea is, for me, definitley a good thing. Life is so busy that sometimes we forget to take some time to just sit and savour our food and find the time to catch up with one another. Some nights we sit down to dinner and are still yabbering on long after the meal itself has been devoured. We get to really talk with one another. And, of course, we are often talking about what we have eaten, gluttons that we are, but we are also talking about all the wee things that otherwise you wouldn't say because of time and other pressures.

Mind you, I love a night in front of the TV as much as anyone and I can remember my Mum making us our 'Saturday Night Tea' which would be something like egg and chips or macaroni cheese, and we would sit in front of the TV to have it. I stil like to do that too.

So a wee ramble from me and a plea for everyone to have their tea at the table once a week or so. It's amazing what good company your family can be and how much funnier and more interesting they are than whatever third rate soap is on (of course, I do not include River City, shining beacon of Scottish talent and all round modern Shakespeare, in that assessment!). And if that makes me middle class then for once maybe they are right!!

No time for cooking!

I have started a new job and it has all been so busy that I have had little time to cook and have left most of the cooking duties to Mr Judson recently. But now I have moved my weekday lodgings to coincide with my new job I am hoping to have more time.

I did cook some salmon last week for Sunday dinner as a way to treat Andy. I just baked the salmon with olive oil and seasoning and made some sauce using creme fraiche and pesto and served it on spinach stuffed pasta. Pretty simple but tasty and healthy (well, almost).

Today I made some rock buns to take down to the pool where dive training was taking place - and I made enough for Andy to have during the week to keep him happy. Andy and I both do scuba diving with Dundee University Sub Aqua Club (DUSAC). When diving food is very important so when I next go diving will post on that!

Lemon sole, red onion and baked potatoes

Last night I made a new dish - pan fried lemon sole, red onion gratin and garlic and lemon baked potatoes. I was really in the mood for some fish - I wanted a light but tasty Sunday dinner that gave me some vitamins and was fairly healthy. I started a new job this week and it threw me out food wise and instead of taking in food I was indulging in a lot of M&S lunches so felt I needed to make up for that!

Onion Gratin (based on Jamie Oliver recipe)

Take four red onions, quarter them and then flake out the layers into an oven proof dish
Slice up four cloves garlic and add to onion along with some olive oil, a glass of white wine and some salt and pepper
Mix together, cover with tinfoil and put in the oven to roast until soft (approx 45 mins)
Take off foil and allow to roast until they start to caramlise
Then add four tablespoons of creme fraiche, a small cupful of gruyere cheese and a small cupful of parmesan
Roast until all golden and yummy looking (very techy terminology here!)

Lemony, garlicky baked potatoes

As many potatoes as people pricked with a fork and wrapped in foil
Bake in oven until cooked through (medium ones will take 50-60 mins)
Remove foil and bake until skin is nice and crisp
Take potatoes out the oven and allow to cool for about 10 mins
Cut potatoes in half and scoop out the insides into a bowl
Add some olive oil, a couple of finely chopped garlic cloves and the juice of half a lemon
Mix up then add milk as needed to make lovely silky mashed potatoe
Spoon mashed potatoe back into the skins
You now have two choices:

1. Leave the halves apart and top with sliced tomatoe and cheese and bake until golden on top
2. With the cheese in the red onion you may feel more cheese is too heavy. In which case press together the halves of potatoe to make 'whole' potatoes again and bake for another 10 minutes. If the halves won't stik together knit them with a coktail stick!

I did the 2nd option and they were really light, fluffy and zesty.

Lemon sole

Take as many fillets as there are people
In a dish give a quick salt and pepper to the fillets then dust with flour
Gently shake off any excess flour
Heat oil in a frying pan
Fry skin side down until the skin is crisping then flip over to cook for another 1-2 minutes or until cooked

Serve with glasses of the white wine you opened earlier and enjoy!

The Doric Tavern

On Wednesday I had dinner with my friend Mac at The Doric Tavern on Market Street, Edinburgh. It is just across from one of the entrances to Waverly Station which was great for me as I was going back to Dundee - it's a good place to meet up if train travel is involved. The Doric serves traditional Scottish food in paired back surroundings that reflect the history of the building and with none of the usual kitsch tartan-shortbread trappings you often get in restaurants that deliver traditional Scottish food.

I had the Cullen Skink for starters and Mac had a pear and wlanut salad that looked very tasty. I had never had Cullen Skink before and was a bit worried at the idea of a soup based on fish and dairy. But it was light and the fish was chunky and not too overpowering. Next, Mac had haggis, neeps and tatties which were served in the old fashioned trimuvirate of scoops - albeit almond shaped ones. But sometimes old Skool is what you want and certainly Mac seemed quite happy with his choice. I had a goats cheese and beetroot salad which was lovely - just the right balance of cheese, beetroot and salad leaves. Of course, I had to balance the salad by ordering a side of chips - chunky wedges that were perfect to satisfy the craving for carbs I had. I am sure many diners who consider themselves sophisticates in the arena of food would balk at my behaviour but what is food if not something to enjoy?

So - a good meal and fabulous company made for an excellent evening!

nick nairn cook school

When we are in Tesco we sometimes browse the recipe book selection and a week or so ago saw this book at a good price and decided to give it a shot. I haven't ever used a Nick Nairn recipe before and we both liked the look of the section on techniques. It doesn't just explain the techniques in text but has very good accompanying pictures for each step. I mean, unless you have been shown how do you know what egg whipped to a 'ribbon' state looks like?

So, with my birthday coming up Andy perused the recipe book and suggested he make the flourless chocolate cake. It involved whipping up egg whites and then egg yolks with sugar - using seven eggs no less - and folding in melted chocolate to make the cake. The cake is a strange one because it rises hugely and then when you cool it it collapses in on itself - usually you don't want a collapsing cake but for this one the idea is to make sure through all your whipping and gentle folding that it rises high with even air bubbles and then collapses gradually and evenly until you get a light, moist and rich sponge that is between a mousse and a dense choclate sponge.

Well, I have to say I would have been fairly daunted by this and, while there were a few exclamations at points during the baking, Andy turned out an amazing cake that was choc cake heaven! He served it with creme fraiche and ginger sauce which really complemented the Green & Blacks dark chocolate used in the cake. What more could you want - a husband that makes amazing chocolate!!

Mason and Cash mixing bowls

One particularly important piece of equipment for me is the mixing bowl. I like a traditional Mason and Cash mixing bowl - the ceramic ones with a cream inner and darker cream/mustard outer side. I like the weight they have so they don't go skiting off the surface and they are good for keeping your mixture cool. Plastic I don't mind for things like tossing veggies in olive oil before roasting but I don't like the idea of using them for other stuff. You can get them from John Lewis or from M&C direct. I think it is important to find what works for you and then you will be more inspired on those days when you woudl like to make a victoria sponge but aren't quite managing to move your body and do it. Knowing you have good, fail proof equipment that you enjoy using can make all the difference. But then, maybe it is just me who creates relationships with inanimate objects!!!