Have you seen my plums?

I have always found the idea of making jams, chutneys and the like a bit daunting.  My first thought is that it's going to be way too difficult and wayyyyy too time consuming.  And then there's the whole preserving process.  Who needs it?!  It just sounds like too much work.  Especially when there are so many lovely jams and chutneys in the supermarket for just a couple of quid.  So last weekend, when we left my Aunt and Uncle's house with a bag full of plums, I was a bit unsure of what to do with them.  Also, I had been visiting them for 4 years and had never noticed the big plum tree in the backyard.  Hmm...

Once home, on the advice of my mother, who had been visiting for a few weeks, I soaked them to get any creepy crawlies out.  I'm pretty sure it worked - one little wormy came out.  So either it worked or his little wormy friends were still trapped in the flood.  Extra protein I guess, but to be on the safe side (and the not grossed out side) I sliced them before eating them.  I began by putting 2 or 3 in W's lunch everyday but at that rate they'd be going bad before we finished them.  Although that wouldn't be the end of the world since the tree wasn't exactly lacking in the fruit department (the branches were so heavy with plums that they were nearly touching the ground) I would still hate to waste them.  It was a friends Facebook status that inspired my Saturday afternoon plum fun...hmmm not sure that sounds right.  She had made everything under the sun from plums in an attempt to help her friend unload the fruit from their plum tree - crumbles, flans, a plum charlotte, chutney and plum ketchup which had definitely peaked my interest.  I didn't want to make anything on the dessert front because I knew I'd be the one eating it all since W doesn't have quite the sweet tooth that I do.  And any type of jam or chutney still seemed beyond the realms of my capabilities.  Then I remembered this :

Please excuse the blurry pic, my little Fuji isn't exactly all that and a bag of chips.  Though most of the mistakes are probably due to user error.  Anyway, this is a delicious peach salsa I made last summer while visiting my Aunt and her family near Windsor Ontario.  I followed a recipe she had and it didn't hurt that we used some of the best peaches known to man, grown pretty much down the street from where she lived.  Using this as a reference I got to work on my plum salsa:

1 cup of diced plums
1/2 cup of diced tomatoes
1 small red onion, diced
1 finely chopped red chili
juice from half a lime
chopped coriander to taste
stir all of the ingredients together and serve with nacho chips or toasted pita bread

It was the perfect Saturday evening appetiser with a glass of red wine.

Now I don't know if it was the liquid confidence or if  I was just getting on a plum roll but I felt ready for a small battle on the chutney front.  After a quick google to see what the necessary ingredients are in a chutney I gave it a whirl.  Oh and it's vinegar and sugar - I went with about 1/2 cup of vinegar and 1/4 cup of brown sugar.  I also added the juice from the other half of the lime.  I brought that to a boil and tossed in my diced plums (about 8 small ones), a couple pears and small red onion.  I sprinkled some cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger (about a tsp of each) and let it all simmer for about 30-40 mins - until the liquid had reduced, the fruit was soft and mushy (I gave it a couple mashes with a potato masher too) and it was nice and thick.  I let it cool and spooned it into a glass jar.  Perfect midnight snack with cheese and crackers and the last of the wine!  YUM!

It wasn't that hard after all.  Some recipes I found did seem quite complicated but it would be well worth the effort if you were making a big batch of the stuff.  I have since learned that a friend of mine has a garden full of berries and other good stuff and that there's plenty to go around.  A google search of "preserving" might be on the horizon.

Does anyone do any preserving?  Do you enjoy it?  Am I making a big deal from nothing and should I just get on with it?

One Potato Two Potato

England gets a bad rap for its food.  But this isn't true.  Throughout this blog I will feature some fantastic English cuisine - I'm not promising "pretty, piled up on your plate in tower form" food but the stuff will taste gooood!  The food is here is very much traditional, simple, filling and comforting.  Over the years, I have had to replace many of my favorite comfort foods.  I think I took for granted what was available in Canada and this has resulted in a few friends and family members having to leave room in their suitcase to bring me a few of my favorites - Skor Chippits, Lipton Chicken Noodle Soup, KRAFT DINNER!! (Though I really only ever have that now for nostalgia sake)  Slowly I have found items to replace my loves and adopted new ones.

One of my not so new faves is the jacket potato.  I love any potato product really - mainly because I can put Ketchup on it.  Yes, and I'm not ashamed to say it, I looooove Ketchup.  I don't put it on everything, nothing you wouldn't ordinarily put ketchup on, mainly anything made with potato.  So before moving to England the only thing I had ever had on a BAKED potato back home was sour cream and chives, maybe some bacon bits.  I even did a little research to see if maybe I had lived in a baked potato bubble back home and the most daring filling I found was salsa, or if you really live on the edge - a mix of sour cream and salsa.  The jacket potato here is a meal plan staple and more than just a side dish.  There are so many different fillings that it can appeal to anyone.  And - its cheap as chips ;)  Super easy too.  Wrap your spud in foil and bake in the oven for 1-2 hours at about 200°C or 425°F.  Once its baked I cut it cross ways and push down on the corners to fluff it out but I have since read that there are many ways to slice a baked potato so as long as its sliced, it'll do.  The important part is the filling!  I happened upon my favorite filling by accident.  I was attending a conference (I know that sounds all businessy but it wasn't, it was a Girl Guide Leader conference - see I can't be businessy, I call it businessy!) and I was a bit shy (I know, hard to believe!) so I just ordered whatever the person in front of me did with an "I'll have what she's having".  I watched the woman behind the counter put a jacket potato on the plate and begin to load it with tuna mayo, baked beans (a staple in our house - and it's gotta be Heinz!), and finally some grated cheese.  I know what you're thinking because I thought it too "there's fish, fish on my potato" but it was DE-lish!  And so on Friday, when after a long day, I didn't feel like cooking this is what I rustled up. 

Best bit - The beans count as a vegetable so I have all the food groups in there!  You could add a side salad to fancy it up a bit and get a green leafy veg in there too.  I'm all about a balanced diet!

The possibilities are endless...
beans and cheese
any type of cheese including cream cheese or cottage cheese
tuna mayo and red onion
prawn and seafood sauce
chili, spaghetti sauce or curry (perfect use of leftovers)
coleslaw
egg mayo
ham, cheese and pineapple
sauteed mushrooms
chicken, pesto and melted cheese
chicken and bacon mixed with mayo
And the list goes on and on.

And it looks like the Jacket Potato is already making its way across the pond...

http://www.thestar.com/article/958910--bain-jacket-potato-required


If JP's are already a part of your meal plan, what's your fave filling? Or what's the strangest topping you've heard of?  How about a filling that didn't sound to appetising but once you tried it you were hooked?  If you haven't already had a JP, which one are you going to try?

Summer Time is Barbeque Time

One of my favorite things about summer time is the food.  Well,  my favorite thing about anytime is food!  But I loooooove BBQ's.  What's not to love?!  Friends and family gathering together, the refreshing drinkypoos, the smorgasbord of food on offer, the glorious sunshine.  Oh wait, I live in England and in the north to boot!  Sunshine, and of the glorious kind, is hard to come by.  But with just the slightest hint of the yellow stuff you can smell the meat in the air and hear the sizzling from over the wall (England's version of the backyard fence).

We recently visited my Aunt and Uncle (I'm lucky enough to have some family over here) and they are the BBQ King and Queen.  The weather wasn't brilliant but it was dry and after a few cocktails I was feeling like I had been in the sun all day anyway.  The prep was easy (I helped a little) and the food was fantastic.  All in all a great day!  So, I often try to recreate this at home but it's never quite the same.  A) We don't actually have a barbeque and 2) Well, we don't have a barbeque.  We're on the lookout for one but in the meantime I use my George Foreman Grill for the meat and the oven for potato products.  Too often though, my favorite bbq food is missing because I can never find them in the supermarket...

TA DA!!
For four summers I have looked for corn on the cob, still in its husk with no such luck.  Then on Tuesday there is was, at Morrison's 3 for £1.  SOLD!  Now I'm pretty sure that's more expensive than it is back in Canada but it certainly beat the vacuum packed corn sold for thrice the price - Yes, that's how it normally comes, 2 husk free cobs sealed in a vacuum pack.  So anyway, I took it home and last night we had a makeshift BBQ.  The weather was sunshining all day (rare but true) and eventhough we wouldn't be able to eat outside (sun doesn't actually mean warm) I thought it best to squeeze in one last grill on the GFG before the summer comes to a close.  As I shucked the corn I told W. (my fiance) how as kids, my brothers and I would shuck the corn on the front steps.  It was fun for us to be helping and fun for the adult folk inside getting some peace and quiet.  Then I had to explain to him what shucking meant.  Which tells me that finding this "corn on the bone", as my little brother used to call it, might not happen again for a long while.  Now, it was no peaches and cream but along with our tasty burgers, it was a great meal.

I like to make the burgers myself.  You can change up the meat you use, depending on the taste you're going for or what might be on sale, and use different spices to change up the flavour.  I have a basic recipe that I like to use and then vary it depending on what I have available or what toppings we might be using.

Simple Burger Recipe
500 grams of beef mince
1 egg to bind
bread crumbs (a couple handfuls - just to absorb some of the egg)
chopped onion 
chopped chilli
chopped garlic
salt and pepper

Mix all the ingredients together and press into patties with your hands (or with that burger maker thingy from Tupperware - still trying to find me one of those!)  I haven't put any exact measurements because I think it's all down to taste.  You really only need the first 3 ingredients, and can even get by with just the first two, then add what you like.  This can be cheaper and definitely tastier than what you can find in the shops.  And also more fun - if you have kids get them squishing their fingers in the the mixture - I don't have kids but I was one and it's fun.  And very important, avoid the chilli if you're going to get them involved - it stings a little!

Hopefully you can squeeze in another BBQ or two but for me I'm pretty sure summer is done and dusted.  There's a roaring fire in my living room (don't worry it's in the fireplace) and I'm wearing flannels and slippers.  Oh well, at least I have George Foreman!

Sprinkle Sandwiches

I love to cook.  More importantly I love to eat.  I love food from beginning to end - planning the meal, shopping for it, prepping it, cooking it, tasting throughout, plating it up, savouring it in the right atmosphere and relaxing afterwards.  Before I have even eaten breakfast I am thinking about what to have for dinner (or tea as they call it t'up north). 

I am always experimenting.  I don't always follow recipes and I substitute if I don't have the right ingredients on hand.  I think I have learned this from my parents.  My mom could rustle up an amazing feast with potatoes and very little else and my dad once made a pizza worthy of a gourmet restaurant when I whined "There's nothing in this house to eat!"  The only problem is that it's very difficult to recreate those meals unless you remember to write it down.  We never did have that pizza again...

My mom spent alot of time in the kitchen, cooking from scratch and making budget friendly meals for 4 hungry children - 3 of them were boys with hollow legs!  She had to be very creative to accomplish this and I learned from her.  My first culinary experimentation was when I was about 3 years old.  I thought a sprinkle sandwich would be a fantastic treat and although my mom didn't agree she let me loose in the baking cupboard.  I slathered on a thick layer of margarine on white bread and sprinkled away.  Once I'd had a bite, my mom asked me how it tasted: "Hmm interesting" I replied.  We had been taught to say that instead of gross or ewwww.  Needless to say, my experiments today are slightly more refined.  Though after moving to England I soon learned that sprinkle sandwiches, or fairy sandwiches, are a culinary delight over here.  For children, but still.  Hey, at least I was ahead of the game!


What is your earliest memory of cooking in the kitchen?  Have you ever experienced the sprinkle sandwich?