Hello

Welcome to Yet Another Cooking Blog.

As you may have guessed, this is a blog about cooking - in particular my cooking. It has been mentioned to me several times that I seem a little obsessed with food, so I have decided to blog about my menus, my successes, my failures and anything else that springs to mind

Monday 29 October 2012

Week 45 dinner menu

Monday - Spicy lamb flatbreads with cabbage salad
Tuesday - Chicken kiev, potato croquettes and vegetables
Wednesday - Chilli con carne and rice
Thursday - Spaghetti bolognaise and salad
Friday - Home made burgers, oven chips and beans
Saturday - Yaki soba, gyoza and pak choi in ginger and soy
Sunday - Lemon and thyme chicken, roasted root vegetables and stuffing

Sunday 21 October 2012

Week 44 dinner menu

Monday - Chicken fajitas with salsa, sour cream and flatbreads
Tuesday - Chilli con carne with brown rice
Wednesday - Cod fishcakes with baked beans
Thursday - Jacket potato with cheese and coleslaw
Friday - Bermondsey chicken curry and rice
Saturday - Steak pie with mash potato and vegetables
Sunday - Roast lamb with all the trimmings

Sunday 14 October 2012

Bitterballen


Bitterballen are a delicious - if a little unhealthy - snack that is loved in the Netherlands.  A deep fried crumbed ball filled with a beef or veal ragu,  they are often found in take away restaurants and bars where they are often enjoyed with a beer.

The following recipe has been given to me by my Dutch sister in law Angelique


Ingredients

300 g butter
1kg beef mince
3 cups plain flour
Salt
Pepper
Nutmeg
Aromat (optional - if not available I find a good dash of worcestershire sauce works well)
2-3 tbsp tomato ketchup (optional)
2 tsp sugar


Day before:

Melt butter in a large saucepan
Fry mince until browned and separated
Add 3 cups of flour
Add enough water to make a VERY STIFF sauce, so the spoon will stay
upright when stuck in the middle of the hot sauce
Bring sauce to boil stirring continuously as it can burn quickly
Add spices to taste: salt pepper nutmegs aromat, a couple of teaspoons of sugar and ketchup if used
Cool and store in fridge overnight

The next day:

On two plates put breadcrumbs and mixed raw egg
Scoop out 1 tsp of cold sauce - (Use teaspoon for scooping, keep all the balls the same size - slightly smaller than a table tennis ball is the size to aim for)
Roll with one hand through breadcrumbs then use other hand to roll through egg mixture, then roll again in breadcrumbs with your "dry" hand
Freeze on trays lined with baking paper
When frozen store in zip lock bags

To cook:

Deep fry at about 180 deg C (if you don't have a deep fat fryer or thermometer, put a wooden chopstick or spoon in the oil to the bottom of the pan.  If bubbles come up from the wood, it is about the correct temperature) 
Fry from frozen
Do not put too many in at once otherwise your oil will cool too much and
your bitterballen will soak up a lot of fat
Fry for approximately 4 minutes


Alternative flavours:

in stead of mince, use chicken, add curry and other spices to sauce
use fish and prawns
use sticky rice (short grain / sushi rice)  with all sorts of small cut
vegetables (nassi ballen)
use mashed potatoes with cheese

As you can see, you can use your imagination, just keep to the rule that
the sauce or whatever you put in there MUST be very thick when still
hot, otherwise you will not be able to form balls the next day.

Saturday 13 October 2012

Week 43 dinner menu

Monday - Prawn and pea risotto
Tuesday - Honey and mustard pork chops with new potatoes and carrots
Wednesday - Berbery spiced lamb chops with roasted vegetables
Thursday - Spaghetti bolognaise and salad
Friday - Home made pizza
Saturday - Japanese chicken curry and sticky rice
Sunday - Rolled pork loin on rocket, Roasted new potatoes and peas

Sunday 7 October 2012

Week 42 dinner menu

Monday - Lamb kofte with pitta bread and salad
Tuesday - Chicken kiev, croquettes, peas and sweetcorn
Wednesday - Cheese omelette
Thursday - Roast chicken leg, new potatoes and carrots
Friday - Steak and ale plate pie, mash potato and veg
Saturday - Ginger and spring onion chicken, udon noodles with beansprouts, stir fried bok choi and broccoli
Sunday - Slow cooker chicken chassuer, roast potatoes and carrots