Cocktails

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cropped-p1100874.jpgThe Cosmopolitan

As with all cocktails, there are many versions out there.  Basically, this is a vodka based drink, that done right gives a wonderful balance of sweet and tart.  It is undeniably American in origin and was birthed somewhere in 70’s.  I confess that I am never too bothered by the ml quantities, I try my best, but pay more attention to the ratios.  Here is the most official recipe, it is light, delicate, tart but with a sweet base that comes through. Continue reading “Cocktails” →

The Red Folder

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cropped-p1100742-3.jpgRed Folder recipe – Choc Chip Cookie – the most requested biscuit

Cookies, this all American biscuit has thrown away it’s visa and  become a Citizen of the world.  The chocolate chip cookie is the poster girl, gooey, sweet and rich.  Here is the standard recipe I used for years, but beneath it, a new improved version, that is so addictive,  I actually have to limit how many are eaten in my house, or 36 cookies disappear in a day. P1100747 (2) I don’t know why they are so drug like, the proportion of fat to sugar is pretty standard, and the method virtually the same.  Perhaps there is just something special and comforting about eating freshly baked, still warm cookies straight from the tray. Even better, stolen from the jar when mum wasn’t watching! Continue reading “The Red Folder” →

The Green Folder

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Hi, My name is Tofu – Please don’t hate me.

Tofu is basically curdled soybean milk.  It is made the same way as we make cheese, separating the curds from the milk and then pressing them into a block.  It is high in both protein and calcium, therefore as a vegetarian, it provides a handy ingredient for me.It is relatively mainstream now, and I can pick it up in my local veggie shop, but it is interesting that most of my cooking books go from toffee to tomato.  Three of my Vegetarian books barely pay homage to this versatile little block of white.  The word TOFU actually makes some people shiver involuntarily and it is passed over by chefs in favor of goats cheese 9 times out of 10.

 freeze your tofu first, it will transform your cooking.

Good reading if you want to know more about this unassuming ingredient Continue reading “The Green Folder” →

People I love and know

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Hey Janice – tell us a bit about yourself.

Hello to all Elaine’s blog followers – I am her mum, Jan Mount.  She recently asked me to do a piece for her blog.    My lovely daughter left England for NZ seven years ago and I miss her  terribly.  No-one else on this planet can make me laugh so much that I cry, and I’m still laughing at her hilarious accounts on Facebook,  and now on her blog, so I’m more than happy to be a small part of it.P1100830
My parents, two brothers and a sister, are all Londoners.  My father, Sam, found work in Maidstone, in Kent as an engineer and shifted my mum, Rose, and my siblings down to a rented semi in what they first thought was a God forsaken part of the world – the countryside – just before World War 2.  Why he became an engineer was both innovative and brilliant on his part, because he was trained as a hairdresser in his father’s shop on the Isle of Dogs!  (Millwall for the uninitiated).   Actually, one of the chapters in my book is about this area back in the day.  You should read it!  My mum was considered the local beauty when she arrived on the scene of a rural Kentish village, with her latest London styled Eton Crop hair and red lipstick -what a hussy!  She was full of life and a real comic – a proper Eastender.  Quite the opposite to my intellectual, very serious father, but they were a good match and loved each other to bits. Continue reading “People I love and know” →

Cocktails

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Cocktails – Why you should rediscover them.

Cocktails are schizophrenic.  Dressing up cheaply, with too much makeup, they dress in cream and large pieces of fruit, they are sweet but deadly this way.  They hang out at hotel and beach bars, in the Costa’s of this world, unashamedly luring in the young with cheap thrills.  Bizarrely, they then slip into something more demure, stripping back to wear little black dress glasses, elegant and honest. When this happens, you can find them talking politely in the best bars of Europe.Pina-Colada

Gross generalisation, but you get my point, they seem to be one thing, or the other, with nothing in between.  We pushed them out of the door, somewhere in the late 1950’s, and have not let them back in, where they could be good friends with vino and beer.  What did they do wrong? Continue reading “Cocktails” →

Campfire Story

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cropped-p1100674.jpg10 Things My Children Never Knew Existed.

During general conversation, in my house, I often find myself explaining a word or my use of an idiom.  Keep your eyes peeled, caused much hilarity and trumped, racking my brains, which was generally considered the most ridiculous thing I had ever said, by my young children.  Now I know I have the gift of the gab and I don’t want to beat about the bush, nor let the cat out of the bag,  but I won ‘t lead you up the garden path either and I can assure you that I am not in cahoots with anyone …Ok ok I will stop, and wipe the slate clean, sorry.

I can understand why most of these old sayings need explaining, their roots are deeply planted in my English heritage, their origins no longer relevant and perhaps not commonly heard here.  It is with motherly love then, that I have gently explained the meanings behind these and increased their vocabulary with care. However, I have been shocked lately, that my children simply do not know that these 10 things, among others, even existed. Continue reading “Campfire Story” →

The Red Folder

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cropped-choc-bowl-2.jpgRed Folder recipe – Chocolate bowl

Chocolate, I love it, and will sneak in any excuse to eat or cook with it.  Want to upgrade ice cream?   Find an extra  15 mins to do this, a very quick chocolate bowl, the hardest thing about it, is blowing up the balloons.

Cocoa beans are dried, roasted and ground to form a thick paste called chocolate liquor, made up of cocoa solids and a light yellow fat called cocoa butter.

Use no less than 300g of chocolate, it does not matter really what you use, I just used open packets of buttons and some left over dark block, which I chopped. Chocolate chefs use couverture, which has a 35-50% cocoa butter content because it melts easily and is very smooth.  Use this if you are a purest, but honestly, most people are just impressed and do not look for the finished shine! Continue reading “The Red Folder” →

Campfire Story

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cropped-p1100678.jpgBeing 50 – Nothing much changes.

I remember writing a piece at school about what life would be like in the magical millennium, the year 2000.  Then it seemed miles away and I indulged in a story of flying cars, and doctors that could cure anything, pretty standard, I found out later when my paper was handed back to me.  And I think that is it, life can be pretty standard, we plod along take the happy when we can, deal with the sad as it arrives and grow.  On the inside the only thing that is different about me is  experience.  I am basically still that 10 year old, plus knowledge.  Actually that is not strictly true, apparently your ears and nose never stop growing. But on the outside, that is absolutely another thing entirely.

I remember reading in the Daily Mail, yes I am that way inclined sometimes, an article about being 50.  It was written in 2011, I remember because my ex George Clooney had just turned 50 and I was having trouble finding a card that was not too sentimental.  Didn’t want him to think he stood a chance at getting back together. I found the piece , and here it is. Continue reading “Campfire Story” →

The Red Folder

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Red Folder recipe – Shortbread

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My husband loves shortbread and so did my dad, so for their sake I will start here with the biscuit recipes. I try not to think about the amount of butter shortbread uses and to be honest usually forget once the biscuit is melting in my mouth, I guess it is all that butter that makes them so moorish.  Tastes vary so there are two recipes here the first is a totally all butter version which is the family favorite, the second uses a little less butter and is made with brown sugar for a slightly deeper taste.  Both keep well and in fact, mature over time, a week to 10 days in an airtight container, mine never last three days! Continue reading “The Red Folder” →

The Red Folder

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Red Folder recipe – Hummus

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Chick Peas……I love them, eaten extensively in the Mediterranean countries and important in Indian cooking, they are called garbanzos in Spain, pois chiches in France,  simply ceci in Italy and known as chana dhal in India.

Most people have a can in the pantry and as a Vegetarian I am often asked what to do with them.  Where to begin, add them to casseroles, add them to couscous, make a little dressing of olive oil, lemon juice and finely chopped onion, throw over and serve warm as a side salad.  Fantastic as a satay dish or an Indian chana dhal curry…..I could go on and on, but I will start with how I usually answer, Make Hummus. Continue reading “The Red Folder” →