Friday feeling fresh spinach and chickpea curry :)!!…..

Hello again everybody, i am truly sorry for not posting in a while. My computer has been sent away to Plymouth and to top things off the home Wi-Fi has been broken for the past two days as well. But apart from that everything has been completely fantastic.

This is a phenomenal curry my mum discovered in a BBC Good Food magazine a while ago. Ever since she first made it, it still remains a firm family favourite, enjoyed on a Friday night when nobody can be bothered to cook. its so easy you just simply bung everything into a pan whack up the heat and enjoy :).

Ingredients :

1 onion, roughly chopped.

2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1 tsp grated root ginger.

1 tbsp light olive oil.

2 tbsp MILD curry paste ( don’t go mad ).

400g can of chopped tomatoes.

400g can chickpeas drained.

500g spinach, stalks removed and chopped.

handful of coriander leaves, chopped.

naan or roti bread to serve.

Method :

1. Put the onion, garlic and ginger in a food processor and blitz until finely chopped. Heat the oil in a large frying pan set over a high heat. Add the onion mixture and cook for 4-5 mins until golden. Add the curry paste and stir-fry for 2 mins until aromatic. 

2. Stir in the tomatoes, 250ml of cold water and the chickpeas. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a medium simmer and cook, uncovered for 10 mins. Stir in the spinach and cook until just wilting. Stir in the coriander and serve with the Indian bread of your choice. 

Simple :)!! Thanks R.

Tarte au citron…..

A perfectly set french tarte au citron has got to be one of my favourite desserts. It has such a complex contrast from sharp to sweet. Im sire you will love this as much as i do :)!!…. So lets crack on! Simple:)

Equipment:
23cm tart tin or flan ring.
Cooks blowtorch (optional)
Baking beans

Ingredients:
1 quantity of my sweet shortcrust pastry or 500g of shop bought. I wont judge.
Filling:
Juice of 2 lemons
180g caster sugar
6 free range egg yolks lightly beaten
150ml double cream
Icing sugar to dust.

Method:

Roll out the pastry to a thickness of a 1 pound coin. Line the tin with the pastry and leave the excess pastry hanging over the sides, then line with greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans. Place in the fridge for 20mins.
Preheat oven to Gas 4 180°C.

Bake the tart for 12-15 mins. Remove the paper and beans and bake for a further 5 mins. Allow to cool and then trim the pastry level with the top of the tin. Turn oven down to lowest setting.

Make the filling now by adding the lemon juice,caster sugar, egg yolks and double cream plus 110ml of water into a bowl and whisk with a fork to combine.

Place the tart tin on the middle shelf of the oven and take care to pour in the filling. Bake for 35mins and turn out the oven leaving the tart inside to cool completely.

Chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours to set. Dust with icing sugar and if using blowtorch caramelise the surface with the torch. Serve at once!

Thanks and hope you enjoy:)!! R.

My musical life :)!!

Okay i haven’t really told you much about my musical life. I am a grade 8 violinist and grade 7 pianist and have been playing both for 6 years i am a member of 6 orchestras 2 symphony, 2 chamber and an ensemble :)!. I have also been studying piano, theory and conducting at the royal conservatoire of scotland.

Well thats a mouthful but anyway my point is that i really want to start sharing recording s of myself and playing with my orchestras either solos or leading etc… But my computer has been sent away to get repaired at the moment so i am unable to get those recordings to you unfortunatly. But as soon as i can the sounds will be filling your ears and sending thoughts to your brains.

I really encourage you to post, reblog, share the music on it would mean a lot to me thanks.
I’m looking forward to sending them to you :)!!.
Thanks R.

Share this:

I saw this and thought autumn has definetely arrived now, the fantastic vibrant colour contrast in these leaves a beautiful lets hope we have a crisp cold winter with lots of snow on the way snuggling up with a hot mug of cocoa and a fat slice of cake bliss :)!

Hey hey hey:)!!

Hello again everyone sorry for not posting today just been such a busy day maths revision english analysis and a violin lesson to top things off which lasted 1hr and a half… But anyway  will do a few posts tomorrow :)!!

Lime and ginger posset:)! Yum:)! Possibly the world’s easiest desserts.

Okay there comes a time in the week when you look into the cupboards and fridge in the kitchen and you really cant be bothered slaving over the stove to make dinner but this has got to be one of the simplest desserts to make and really packs a punch in the flavour stakes department. Its quite a rich dessert so 1 pot per person should satisfy and cleanse those rumbling stomachs:)!

You will require:
6 martini or champagne glasses of small dariole moulds.

Ingredients:
500ml whipping cream
60g stem ginger syrup
1/2 knob of stem ginger finely grated
Seeds of 1 vanilla pod
Finely grated zest of 2-3 limes
Lime juice to taste

Method:

Whip up the cream in a large bowl until it begins to thicken up slightly. Add the stem ginger, grated ginger, lime zest and juice.

Add to the glasses and chill for 1 hour in the fridge. Serve simply with fresh raspberrys and stem ginger shortbread with a sprinkling of lime zest on top for added sophistication:)!

Simple!

Thanks R. 🙂

Continuing my reading journey through the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency books.

Hello again everyone. I am now venturing into the 3rd book of the no1 ladies dective agency series for the second time. They are incredibly interesting books and even though the characters are fictional the plots and emotional aspects of the storys seem realistic.

In the past three books a lot of things and cases have been going on in the life of Mma Ramotswe (Precious). She has now agreed to marry the owner of Tlokweng road speedy motors, Mr J.L.B. Matekoni. A truly respected citizen of Botswana. Also Mma Ramotswe’s secretary Mma Makutsi has now been promoted to assisstant detective and assisstant manager of the garage to manage Mr J.L.B. Matekoni’s several years of putting accountants to one side. Now Mma Ramotswe has to solve her hardest and most toughest cases yet. An American citizen in Africa goes missing in the Kalahari ten yrs ago and then two brothers faking to be doctors earning twice as much money as they should be.

Enough of me spoiling the books for you now. If you are interested and intrigued about African culture don’t give these books a miss. They really shine the light on africa and you experience this all from the comfort of your own home. Simply boik the kettle pour ylurself some bush tea and wrap up on the sofa and slip into the life of Mma Ramotswe. I hope these books appeal to you and sometime in your busy lives you will spare the time to read these fantastic novels.

Thanks R.!!:)

Battenburg Cake:)!

Today i was browsing inside my cookery book collection and found my recipe for battenburg cake, and so i thought straight to the shops for the ingredients.Its nothing like the Mr Kipling version with dry cracked marzipan (substitute) and it’s overpowering almond flavour sponge. Anyway back to my recipe it calls for a delicate vanilla sponge mixture to be divided into two and coloured natural pink and yellow then carefully wrapped up in gorgeous golden marzipan.:)!! Pure bliss :)!! And best of all soo simple. Serves 6-8 people (v)

Equipment:

Two 22 x 12cm loaf tins.

Ingredients:

100g apricot jam.
150g cold butter cubed
150g caster sugar.
150g plain flour
1 heaped tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
3 medium eggs
Few drops of yellow and red/pink food colouring.
Icing sugar for dusting
250g golden marzipan.

Method:

Preheat oven to gas mark 4. Line the loaf tins with parchment paper.

Put the jam in a small saucepan and heat gently until warm then set aside to cool down.

Put the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl or electric mixer and mix until mixture resembles breadcrumbs (concistency of scones before liquid added). Add eggs one at a time beating after each addition.

Divide mixture between two bowls and combine with the food colourings red in one yellow in the other. Use very little red to get pink :)!.

Dollop each into one of the tins and bake in the oven for 30 check after 25.leave to cool then cut into 2 long rectangles for each and sandwich together with the jam (not all of it). Follow picture for position of the sponges.

Dust the worksurface with icing sugar place the block of marzipan on top and roll out to a long rectangle the legth of the cake. Spread it with the rest of the jam and roll the cake along the marzipan pressing as you roll to insure it sticks. Smooth and chill in the fridge for 15mins until hardened. Enjoy:)!

Ouefs brouillès (french scrambled eggs).

Hello so in many cafès and restaraunts where i live scrambled eggs are incredibly bland and very over cooked until they are almost congealed which i must say is not very pleasant at all. But i have stolen this next recipe from mastering the art of french cooking vol.1 where the eggs are whisked ever so slowly and carefully until a consistency of thin custard is achieved then whisked vigurously on and off the heat until soft curds that just hold on the spoon from fork to mouth :)!!! BLISS:)!

okay so you will require:
measuring jug
Medium saucepan
Wire whisk must be wire for even heat distrubution.

Ingredients
About 25g of butter and a further 25g for the enrichment afterwards:)!!
3 eggs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Begin by cracking your eggs into the spotlessly clean measuring jug and whisk together for 20 secs to combine the yolks and whites throughly. Then season lighlt with salt and pepper.

Now place one of the 25g butter into the saucepan and off the heat slightly begin to slowly swirl it round the pan. You may be think thats so much butter but trust me in the taste stakes its tremendous :)!!.

Carefully pour the egg mixture into the saucepan and begin to whisk instantly constantly checking for the thickness of a thin custard with a few curds of egg floating around then take on and off the heat and beat vigorously until soft creamy curds are achieved.

Take off the heat and place the other 25g of  butter into the pan and whisk throughly then carefully tip out into a warmed bowl season with salt and pepper!!:) french bliss in a bowl :)!!!! Bon appètite!  thanks R.

Quote of the day! ;)

“To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable spelled out is a spark” Victor Hugo! 🙂