8 ozs. Short crust pastry

Jam – use lemon curd as alternative

½ 1b butter

¼ 1b sugar

3 yolks of eggs

1 white of egg

Almond essence – or to make special add Amaretto liquer.

1 – 2 ozs. Ground almonds

 Method

Line a greased sandwich tin with the pastry.

 TIP: You can also use small ring moulds to make individual tarts.

1. Spread a layer of jam or lemon curd over the pastry.
2. Cream the butter and sugar until the consistency is a lovely creamy white.
3. Add the almond essence or you can add 1tbs amaretto liquer.
4. Add the eggs, unbeaten one at a time.
5. Mix and beat really well adding the ground almonds.
6. Add this mixture over the jam.
7. Sprinkle sliced almonds over randomly as you can see in photo above.
8. Bake in the centre of the oven for 40 mins, but if using smaller moulds.

check after 25 mins.

Brining meats is an age-old process of food preservation. Heavy concentrations of salt preserved meats were taken on long ocean voyages and military campaigns before the advent of refrigeration. Today, brining has a new purpose. By using smaller quantities of salt mixed with other spices and herbs, brining can permeate meat with flavor.

The chemistry behind brining is actually pretty simple. Meat already contains salt water. By immersing meats into a liquid with a higher concentration of salt, the brine is absorbed into the meat. Any flavoring added to the brine will be carried into the meat with the saltwater mixture. Because the meat is now loaded with extra moisture it will stay that way as it cooks.

The typical brine consists of 1 cup of salt for each gallon of water (or other liquids). Start by determining the amount of liquid you are going to need.

To do this take the meat you plan to brine and place it in the container you are going to use. The container can be most anything that will easily fit the meat but isn’t so big that you have to prepare far more brine that you need. Plastic containers, crocks, stainless steel bowls, re-sealable bags or any non-corrosive material will work.

Once you know how much liquid is needed start by boiling 2 cups of water for each cup of salt you will need. Once it boils, add the salt (and sugar if you are going to be using sugar) and stir until dissolved. Add other spices and herbs. Combine with the remaining liquid (should be cold). The brine should always be cold before you add the meat so you should refrigerate it before you add the meat. You don’t want the brine cooking the meat.

At this point you can add other brine ingredients like juices or cut up fruit. Submerge the meat into the brine. You can use a plate or other heavy object to ensure the meat/veg/fruit is fully submerged.

The process of brining is easy but takes some planning. Depending on the size of what you want to brine it can take up to 24 hours or more. If you are going to be brining a whole bird, you will also want an additional 6 to 12 hours between the brining and the cooking. If you want your poultry to have a golden, crispy skin, it can use a plate or other heavy object to keep it down. It is important that no part of the meat be exposed to the air. Saltwater brine will kill bacteria and keep the meat from spoiling but it doesn’t work if part of the meat is not submerged fully in the brining mixture.

Brine meats for about 1 hour per pound in the refrigerator. It is important that the whole thing be kept cold. The specific amount of time will vary. Lighter meats like poultry or seafood do not need to be brined as long as denser meats like pork tenderloins. Use the following chart to give you an idea of how long to brine. Remember that the longer you brine the stronger the flavor will be.

TIP: If you over brine you could end up with some very salty meat, fish or vegetables.

Once the meat is properly brined remove it. You do not need to rinse unless you were using a high salt concentration in the brine or if there is a layer of visible salt on the surface. Otherwise you can take cuts of meat straight to the grill, smoker, or oven.

Whole poultry is the exception however. To get a crispy, brown skin, whole birds should be removed from the brine, wrapped in foil or plastic and put in the refrigerator overnight or for at least 12 hours.

Brine Times

MeatBrine Time
Shrimp30 Minutes
Whole Chicken (4 to 5 pounds)4 to 5 hours
Turkey (12 to 14 pounds)12 hours
Pork Tenderloin (whole)12 hours
Cornish Hens1 to 2 hours

Now that you know how to brine, it’s time to turn on the imagination. First of all, you don’t need water. What? That’s right the water can be optional. Any liquid will do for brining. You can substitute some or all of the water with whatever your heart desires. Wine, beer, fruit juices (especially good is apple), or vinegars all make a good liquid base for your brine. Of course, you might not want to spend the money on a gallon or two of beer or wine for a brine that will just get thrown out when you are done. This is why most people use water for the majority of the brine but add a small quantity of another liquid for flavor.

One thing to remember when putting together a brine, is the chemical state of the liquid. By adding liquids like citrus juices or vinegar you will make the brine acidic. This will tenderize meat but, if it is too strong it can turn the meat to mush. If you do plan on using this kind of brine, reduce the brining time accordingly.

As for spices, imagine that you are going to be using a spice rub, but instead of applying the rub directly to the meat you simply add it to the brine. The brining process works better at pulling the flavors into the meat than applying a rub will.

Once you have the liquid chosen and added the cup of kosher salt per gallon, it’s time to add the flavour. Any herb, spice, sweetener, fruit, or vegetable will work. Some chefs make brines much the way you would a soup, by adding cut up vegetables along with whole peppercorns, garlic cloves, diced onion and whatever else works well with the meat being used.

The only limit on brining is your imagination. Experimentation is the key so, open up the refrigerator and the spice cabinet and start mixing those brining potions.

What you can brine: Pork, Salmon, shrimp, or any fish, brisket of beef, vegetables, olives and fruits, eggs.

Cooking time 5-15 mins

Serves 4

4 ½tbs semolina
2 tbs sugar
1 ½ pt milk
pinch of salt
cinnamon if liked

Mix the semolina, sugar, and salt with a little of the cold milk.  Boil the rest and pour it on to the blended mixture.  Return to the pan and stir until it boils.  Boil for 5-15 mins, or cook over hot water for 15-30 mins.  The latter method is easier, as there is no danger of the pudding catching and scalding.  Stir occasionally during cooking.  Add flavouring to taste.

This plain pudding may be served hot or cold with fruit or jam, or may have a little grated nutmeg or cinnamon sprinkled on top and be baked in a moderate oven 375°F,  or Gas Mark 5, for 20 mins or until brown on top.

61bs tomatoes.¾ oz. salt.½ ib. sugar.¼ oz. paprika pepper. ½ pt. spiced vinegar.

       This recipe always reminds me of the film with Doris Day and Rock Hudson – You can also add chillies to this recipe to make it more spicy.  This is a great way of using up tomatoes.

1. Prepare your spiced vinegar (previous blog post)
2. Wash the tomatoes, cut them in halves, and add to a saucepan, heat slowly at first.
3. Rub the tomatoes through a sieve, and put the tomato puree in a saucepan with the sugar, vinegar, pepper and salt.
4. Now bring to the boil until the sauce is of the right consistency.
5. Make sure that the sauce is not too thick or too liquid, it should look like rich cream.
6. Pour into hot sterilised sauce bottles and seal when cold.

As the thinness of the bread is a point of pride in the kitchen, a dense-textured white Pullman loaf is cut with a wide-bladed knife, which guides the cut; daylight should pass through the resulting fine pores. The peel of the cucumber is either removed or scored lengthwise with a fork before the cucumber is sliced. The slices of bread are carefully buttered all the way to the edges in the thinnest coating, which is only to protect the bread from becoming damp with cucumber juice, and the slices of cucumber, which have been dashed with salt and lemon juice, are placed in the sandwich just before serving in order to prevent the sandwich from becoming damp enough to moisten the eater’s fingers. The crusts of the bread are cut away cleanly and the sandwich sliced diagonally twice, creating four small triangular tea sandwiches.

The traditional cucumber sandwich is of British origin. Modern variants (largely of American origin) exist, involving cream cheese, chopped dill or spices, brown bread, salmon, and even bread with crusts left intact. One specific American variant includes benedictine, a green soft spread based on cucumbers and cream cheese.

Cucumber sandwiches are most often served for a light snack or atafternoon tea, a formal light meal served at four in the afternoon or early evening before the main supper. In addition, cucumber sandwiches are supposed to be served in the tea break at club cricket matches in England. Because of English influence on Indian culture, cucumber sandwiches are popular during cricket matches and weekend picnics. The Indian variant is flavoured with green chutney and sometimes contains slices of boiled potatoes.

Because of cucumber’s cooling nature, cucumber sandwiches are often eaten in the summer months or in warmer climates, such as in parts of India. Indian Airlines used to serve cucumber sandwiches as part of its usual vegetarian inflight meal in short-haul domestic flights.

Ingredients:

1 Cucumber

Fresh bread slices

Butter

Method:

1. Slice the cucumber and leave as thinly as possible.  Leave the slices in seasoned vinegar or lemon juice, or oil and vinegar or lemon juice.

2. Butter the slices of bread and remove the slices from the marinade and drain and remove all moisture to make sure the sandwich does not become soggy.  Add to the bread.  You can also sprinkle with salt and black pepper for more seasoning.

Enjoy the perfect sandwich with a glass of pimms and have a lovely English High Tea.

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1 quart vinegar.

 2 ozs Bruised ginger.

 2 ozs Peppercorns.

1 clove garlic.

Small stick of horseradish if available or use a tsp from a jar.

4 blades of mace.

8 cloves.  1 ½  ozs.

Mustard seed.

Method:

1. Put all the spices into a saucepan with the vinegar.
2. Allow to simmer very slowly for 20 mins.
3. You can omit the horseradish if you do not like spicy food.

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3 pts onions. Spiced vinegar. Brine.

Method:

1. Peel the onions, and put to soak in brine and make sure they are all covered.
2. The brine should be 1 tablespoon of salt to every pint of water.
3. Soak for 24 hrs.
4. Drain the onions.
5. Pack the onions neatly into jars
6. Pour cold spiced vinegar over.

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Armed with a meat thermometer, I now needed something to stick it into.

Although you can stick a thermometer into a number of meats (chicken, turkey, pork, lamb, veal, and even fish), I chose a beef roast because it was beef and therefore a challenge. Besides, true to my mother’s bargain hunting instincts, I found the roast offered at a very good sale price and I couldn’t pass it up. I brought the roast home and attacked it with the meat thermometer and a little creativity. The rest is history.

Mrs. Dash pressed into the flesh.

Source: annemaeve

Gloriously Simple Roast Beef

To make this wonderful beef, you need an eye round roast, a container of Mrs. Dash (I use the “original” blend), a meat thermometer, a pan with a rack that fits into it, and an oven. That’s it.

Start with an eye round roast that’s at least 3 pounds.

Take the roast out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before you start to pre-heat the oven.

Pre-heat the oven to 475 degrees F.

Try Some Mrs. Dash, Original Blend or Varieties

The Seasoning

Shake the Mrs. Dash onto all parts of the beef-top, bottom, and sides-and press this wonderful seasoning into the flesh. You might want to do this in your freshly scrubbed kitchen sink. It can make a mess.

When all the seasoning is pressed into the flesh, place the beef onto the rack with the fat side down.

Put the rack and the beef into the pan.

Poke the thermometer into the fattest part of the roast so that the stabbing end of the thermometer goes only half-way down.

Hot Thermometers! What Will They Think of Next?

Time and Temperature

Your meat thermometer may have a temperature setting for rare, medium, and well done beef, or it may not. So set the desired doneness either by words or numbers:

Rare = 140 degrees F

Medium = 160 degrees F

Well done = 170 degrees F

When the oven is up to 475, put the pan and its beef in, uncovered.

Set a timer for 45 minutes.

After 45 minutes, turn the oven down to 275 degrees F.

Depending on the size of the roast, the rest of the cooking may take an hour or two or more. Just check the thermometer’s progress. You can do this by turning on your oven’s light and looking through the glass door. If you don’t have an oven door with glass that you can see through, then you will have to open the door and look, which will delay the cooking time.

The beautiful thing about the meat thermometer is that it doesn’t lie. It doesn’t matter whether your oven’s internal thermometer is working or not. The meat thermometer will tell you when the beef is done.

When the beef is done, take it out of the oven and let it sit in its pan on your kitchen counter for about 10 minutes before you slice it.

My vintage Sabatier carbon steel knife is the perfect tool for slicing a roast.

Source: annemaeve

About Slicing the Roast

You need a sharp, finely honed knife. I use Sabatier carbon steel knives, which I acquired in the late 60′s.

Cut across the grain. Think about your own muscles here. Like in your arm. Muscle tissue runs in very discernable straight lines from your elbow to your wrist. You can imagine threads of tissue in a straight line from elbow to wrist. When you cut across these threads, you are cutting across the grain. This is very obvious with a hunk of beef. You can see how the muscle strands go the length of a roast. You just cut across that.

As you cut, the roast will bleed. Make sure your cutting board can catch the juice, or make sure that you are prepared to pour the juice into a container as it flows. You want to save that juice.

Before you serve your magnificent roast, pre-heat your plates. A warm plate will keep a rare slice of beef warm without cooking it more.

Heat the reserved juice in a sauce pot for pouring over the beef-laden plates when you are ready to serve.

A deck of cards.

Source: annemaeve

About Using the Leftovers

If you like rare roast beef, then you know heating the leftovers will turn the rare into the medium or well done. So here’s an alternative…

We like cold roast beef sandwiches. To have these treats, slice what’s left over of the roast very thinly. Freeze the thinly-sliced leftovers in little packets that approximate the size and shape of a deck of playing cards.

Are You Cooking for One?

Don’t hesitate to make this recipe just because you usually cook only for yourself. Those frozen and thawed decks of cards are not only great for sandwiches but delicious when heated in a pan with homemade or prepared au jus.

Take a look at more tips for planning and preparing meals for one.

When you want a roast beef sandwich for lunch one day, put a frozen packet in your refrigerator the night before. On the next day at noon, just make a sandwich!

My Future Engagement with Beef

I still have a long way to go to master the art of cooking beef. For now, don’t ask me to charcoal grill steaks for a dinner party. I’d simply swill some Scotch and turn the tongs over to the nearest guy.

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How to roast beef

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