Sunday, February 7, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
Monday, December 28, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
Comfort Food
We definitely need comfort food today. The weather here has changed and looks more like home but rain is desperately needed but the last two weeks have been so beautiful and warm with blue skies and hot sun in the middle of the day that I really can't complain. In Manchester the rain is unremitting and we don't get much of a break from it, here the rain is blessed and very welcome because of the draught.
Yesterday our little cousin Rut passed away at the age of 8, and returned her beautiful Neshama to her creator after fighting cancer for half of her life. I have never been to such a sad but beautiful and spiritually uplifting funeral. It was truly heartbreaking but the courage of her parents and immediate family and their unshakeable faith and belief was something I have rarely witnessed before and I felt truly humbled.
We were exhausted last night when we got back and all I wanted to do was cuddle Eliana and feel her soft warm skin next to mine and I was comforted.
Which brings me to comfort food. Stressful and upsetting situations always create a rush of energy in me, so this morning I went for a swim, did some shopping and I have spent the last couple of hours cooking dinner. Rainy days mean cottage pie, I usually use the Evelyn Rose recipe book but there are no cookery books yet in my Jerusalem kitchen and the ingredients here are slightly different so this is how I made it.
Potato Topping
I used 3 large white potatoes and 1 large sweet potato
Boil the potatos till soft in salted water and mash with olive oil or margarine and soya milk.
Leave to cool
Meat Layer
1 kg minced steak
1 onion diced
mushroom soup, onion soup mix or 2 tbsps flour
1 small tub tomato puree, or about 5 oz
soy sauce
Fry the onion till soft and golden
Fry meat in the onion till broken up and has lost its redness
Add the soup or flour (to thicken) and fry for a couple of minutes more
Add tomato puree and soy sauce, cook a few minutes more.
Turn heat off and leave to cool
Preheat oven to 200C
Put meat mixture in a large ovenproof dish and top with mashed potato. Bake in oven till top is brown and crispy. Serve with green beans in tomato sauce.
Green Beans in Tomato Sauce
In the local greengrocer today there were lovely fresh runner beans. This is how I cooked them.
1kg runner beans
1 large onion diced
2 cloves garlic
1 large tin tomatos
salt, pepper and 1tbsp to taste
basil, oregano
Fry onions and garlic in olive oil till soft and brown
Add tinned tomatoes and seasoning
Add topped and tailed beans, cut into pieces
Simmer for about 1/2 hour, while the cottage pie is cooking
Serve with a nice glass of red wine
YUM!
Yesterday our little cousin Rut passed away at the age of 8, and returned her beautiful Neshama to her creator after fighting cancer for half of her life. I have never been to such a sad but beautiful and spiritually uplifting funeral. It was truly heartbreaking but the courage of her parents and immediate family and their unshakeable faith and belief was something I have rarely witnessed before and I felt truly humbled.
We were exhausted last night when we got back and all I wanted to do was cuddle Eliana and feel her soft warm skin next to mine and I was comforted.
Which brings me to comfort food. Stressful and upsetting situations always create a rush of energy in me, so this morning I went for a swim, did some shopping and I have spent the last couple of hours cooking dinner. Rainy days mean cottage pie, I usually use the Evelyn Rose recipe book but there are no cookery books yet in my Jerusalem kitchen and the ingredients here are slightly different so this is how I made it.
Potato Topping
I used 3 large white potatoes and 1 large sweet potato
Boil the potatos till soft in salted water and mash with olive oil or margarine and soya milk.
Leave to cool
Meat Layer
1 kg minced steak
1 onion diced
mushroom soup, onion soup mix or 2 tbsps flour
1 small tub tomato puree, or about 5 oz
soy sauce
Fry the onion till soft and golden
Fry meat in the onion till broken up and has lost its redness
Add the soup or flour (to thicken) and fry for a couple of minutes more
Add tomato puree and soy sauce, cook a few minutes more.
Turn heat off and leave to cool
Preheat oven to 200C
Put meat mixture in a large ovenproof dish and top with mashed potato. Bake in oven till top is brown and crispy. Serve with green beans in tomato sauce.
Green Beans in Tomato Sauce
In the local greengrocer today there were lovely fresh runner beans. This is how I cooked them.
1kg runner beans
1 large onion diced
2 cloves garlic
1 large tin tomatos
salt, pepper and 1tbsp to taste
basil, oregano
Fry onions and garlic in olive oil till soft and brown
Add tinned tomatoes and seasoning
Add topped and tailed beans, cut into pieces
Simmer for about 1/2 hour, while the cottage pie is cooking
Serve with a nice glass of red wine
YUM!
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Barbeque Meatballs
This is the first time I have cooked in my Jerusalem kitchen, we ate out the last two nights because we were so exhausted from doing grandparent things and trying to get organised here all at the same time. We thought we were mummy and baby sitting tonight while Josh was out but he stayed in and he, Bas and the baby are having some quiet time.
So I decided to cook dinner, well I had to start sometime. I don't have any recipe books here, yet and fruit and veg are very seasonal here , which is good because you get some kind of annual rhythm to food here which you don't get in the UK because we can get anything.
I bought rather a large quantity of minced meat in the market yesterday, it was all bagged in kilos so we lugged home 6lbs of mince along with 3 chickens, a kilo of something for stew but I'm not sure what and various wings and giblets for soup.
There was only one choice for tonight, meatballs in barbeque sauce. I have a great recipe for them at home, the challenge was to remember it. I kind of did, with a few adaptations and they were pretty marvellous so here goes.
Meatballs
1kg minced steak
2 eggs
a large dollop tomato ketchup
bread crumbs or matzah meal
salt & pepper
Mix the above together so it forms a firm, bound mix that can be easily shaped into balls.
The sauce
1 cup black coffee (sounds weird but really is the magic ingredient)
1/2 cup tomato ketchup
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar ( really doesnt matter what type)
1 clove garlic finely chopped or crushed
juice of a lime, lemon or orange (whatever you've got in the kitchen)
1/4 cup oil or margarine
pinch of hot pepper
Bring all the sauce ingredients to a boil in a large wide necked pan
Make meatballs the size of small tomatoes and drop into the sauce.
Simmer for at least one hour on a low light, the longer the better it tastes.
Serve with pasta or rice and a salad. YUM!
Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy
So I decided to cook dinner, well I had to start sometime. I don't have any recipe books here, yet and fruit and veg are very seasonal here , which is good because you get some kind of annual rhythm to food here which you don't get in the UK because we can get anything.
I bought rather a large quantity of minced meat in the market yesterday, it was all bagged in kilos so we lugged home 6lbs of mince along with 3 chickens, a kilo of something for stew but I'm not sure what and various wings and giblets for soup.
There was only one choice for tonight, meatballs in barbeque sauce. I have a great recipe for them at home, the challenge was to remember it. I kind of did, with a few adaptations and they were pretty marvellous so here goes.
Meatballs
1kg minced steak
2 eggs
a large dollop tomato ketchup
bread crumbs or matzah meal
salt & pepper
Mix the above together so it forms a firm, bound mix that can be easily shaped into balls.
The sauce
1 cup black coffee (sounds weird but really is the magic ingredient)
1/2 cup tomato ketchup
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar ( really doesnt matter what type)
1 clove garlic finely chopped or crushed
juice of a lime, lemon or orange (whatever you've got in the kitchen)
1/4 cup oil or margarine
pinch of hot pepper
Bring all the sauce ingredients to a boil in a large wide necked pan
Make meatballs the size of small tomatoes and drop into the sauce.
Simmer for at least one hour on a low light, the longer the better it tastes.
Serve with pasta or rice and a salad. YUM!
Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy
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