Oh yus!! It’s Piemas time Granny Annie’s Mini Meat Pies!
A bit of a tradition on the days leading up to Christmas – It seems every Christmas I remember from Cornwall included these mini marvels! But take my word for it they don’t hang around, soooooo morish – ansome me lover! From what I recall, this is me mum’s recipe with a few twists.
This year I put a peck (or six) of chilli in! NICE!
Here’s the recipe from other years: Mini Meat Pies!
It’s good to try new things… and thanks to our daughter’s homework this week we discovered Koulourakia!
They are butter-based biscuits, with egg glaze on top. They’re traditionally made by Greek people at times of celebration and are specifically made at Easter.. Hey, it’s nearly Easter… yes we’re still in the pretence of ‘the desert’ but if I found these in the desert I would definitely shout them from the highest mountain or indeed the highest point of the temple.
Ingredients, to make 24 biscuits… (double it for a bus load!)
And for the egg wash, use a beaten egg with 1 tbls water and a few drops of vanilla essence
Method:
Roll small balls of dough into long ‘snakes‘ then shape into biscuits however you wish.
Place on a baking tray and brush with the eggwash before placing them into a 180°C oven for 20-25 minutes or golden brown.
There’a really sweet video of a lovely Greek lady making some here:
http://youtu.be/ii1qnGHeA7A&w=300
OK the only thing Christmassy about it is that it’s being made near Christmas time.
This year we’ve forgone the Mini Meat Pies, although I heartily recommend them, see here. But we have had a quick play in the kitchen and some Christmas Fudge is on the menu…
Cut to the chase man! Here’s the recipe:
Line a 30cm tin with foil and lightly grease. (Prepare a glass of ice cold water)
Stick all of the above except the vanilla into a solid saucepan and bring to the boil.
Now, it’s vitally important that you keep an eye on it and stir it constantly. If the bottom get’s to hot it will stick and burn!
Boil the mixture for 15-20 minutes, stirring all the time until it’s gone a light golden colour.
You can test it by dropping some into the ice cold water and it should turn solid but remain soft in the middle.
You’ll know when it turns – keep an eye on it cos it’ll happen all at once.
Depending on the pan’s size and how aggressively you boil it – it could take 10mins or could take 20mins. #patience
It will be very hot so no kids, dogs or mobile phones around to distract you!
When it’s ‘turned’, carefully take the pan off the heat and stir in the vanilla.
Using an electric whisk, whisk for a few minutes, the fudge will thicken – don’t over do it*.
Mix in the halved cherries, and pour or push (*depending on the consistency) the mixture into the tin.
Cool it in the fridge for a few hours then cut into squares using a sharp knife.
Cool further in the fridge.
Enjoy! Mheeeery Chrimble!
We used to make this a lot but with kids and costs and stuff, the jars and supermarkets have been easy options. The Greens came around for a few jars and drams this weekend so we returned to our fave Chicken Curry…
I thought I’d posted this before but alas can’t find it anywhere so here ’tis.
Jules’ and Em’s Chicken Curry
It always turns out a tad different depending on how much of what u put in but the basic recipe is:
Add:
We tend to do all the above early, before the meal, turn off the heat, and then let the chicken sit in this mixture for an hour.
When ready you then bring the mix to the heat and stir-fry for a few minutes.
If it’s too liquid then remove the lid to reduce the mixture, alternatively if seeming too dry add a touch of liquid (water, beer, or small tin of toms)…
Enjoy!!!
Ok, I might be slow coming to the party but at last I’ve made me own pasta.
The routine Saturday homemade pizza will now be shared with homemade pasta, thanks to the generous gift of a pasta-maker from my in-laws!
I have heard it said that once you’ve tried your own homemade pasta, you’ll never cook shop-dried pasta again… and i have to agree!
It’s easy!
Mix it, knead it a tad, press it, dry it a tad, and cut it any which way you fancy!
On a 45 year-old’s bday, one might receive a ‘baking stone’ and a home baking book of recipes… and lo it came to pass…
Those who know me know that the girls often have a home made pizza on a saturday, the dough bashing and proving is therapeutic and I recommend it.
Now our pizzas are stonebaked! and it worked really well, no more soggy botts, but crispy! Thanks inlaws!
I also find bread making therapeutic, better than kicking the dog.
And the first recipe from my gift of Gino D’Acampo’s ‘Italian Home Baking’, has been:
Filone All’Arribbiata (Spicy Loaf with Chilli and Paprika).
But my version, using ‘erps and spice brought back from Italy by the folks (‘cos I’m all out of paprika).
500g packs of ‘Shredded Wheat’ from the major supermarkets:
ASDA and Tesco £2
Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Ocado £2.49
and then there’s…
Aldi’s ‘Harvest Morn Wheat Shreds‘ for £1.29
The Nutritional Info is the same for Shreds and Bitesize.
Prices shown are guide prices only – referenced from mysupermarket.co.uk.
I do not assume liability to anyone for loss or damage resulting from errors or omission in respect of information presented.
We’re not great crisp eaters but the kids have been collecting them for a few months and the time had come to create:
Crunch crunch!
When I was a student I fondly recall using a steel wok in my culinary experiments.
Then, since I pretended to ‘grow up’, we’ve always had a new fangled non-stick wok.
The non-stick’s never lasted… they always eventually scratched, and the coating came off and generally they were not as robust. After going through 3 non-stick woks, while always pondering “should we have a steel one?”, we eventually plumped for a basic steel wok. It was the poor relation on the shelf, hidden below the “super”, “new-improved”, “superb”, must have’s that shouted “create oriental heaven” at you.
After a few months, we concur that it was the right decision! OK you need to give it an initial seasoning but, no more worries about scratching the poor thing. After the cooking’s done just scrub the thing clean and re-oil for next use.
I’ll never by a non-stick again!
One more thing I don’t understand why the sell woks without lids!? You need a wok lid!
Beef and mushy’s seared: and stew the slow cooker all day! Emma’s slow-cooked stew is divine!
Em’s Stew: (slow cooker from Asda last year £8! bar-gain?)
Seared cubed beef (or summint)
Mushrooms, onions, sweet potatoes, carrots, and things… We don’t put spuds in, we have them as a side, roasted or summint. *I don’t like soggy potato.
Garlic, herbs of choice (we like to include oregano and chilli)…
Stock cube, Red Wine, and whatever u want to experiment with… balsamic, Worcestershire sauce, beer, etc etc
Chompus Maximus!
Jules P Richards 