Herman…from Boy to Man

Today was the day…Herman grew from a boy to a man!

After 10 days of talking to, nurturing, feeding and stirring Herman, today he was, apparently, really hungry. So I fed him with…

2 cooking apples, chopped; tsp vanilla essence; tsp cinnamon, tsp baking powder; more flour; more sugar; 2 eggs; raisins (meant to be sultanas); cooking oil

After all that, I gave him a final stir, poured him into a greased tin and baked for 45 mins.

I’ll admit it…I wasn’t sure I could get along with this cake, let alone one whose milky ‘starter’ had possibly been around for years and years. However, as I spent the week caring for Herman, I grew to like him, maybe even love him. And come today, I wanted to do the best I could so he could really flourish.

I also drove to friends’ houses to leave them a little part of Herman to make their own cake. Strangely, leaving these bubbling pots of froth was the most fun part. I felt happy. Not ‘proud’ happy, or ‘it’s finished’ happy, but ‘sunny day’ happy…like I knew that in ten days, they’d feel like I did today!

The Adventures of Herman

Herman, my new best friend, is now ready for his adventures. His bag is packed with extra flour, sugar and milk, he's split himself into four and I'm happy to report, has decided to leave a small part of himself with me to be made into a delicious cake tomorrow!

So, Stacy, Kate and Katharine...you'd better expect a new friend to turn up on your doorstop today or tomorrow! I hope you enjoy him as much as I have.

Seafood Linguine

 

I’ve been wanting to make this ever since some friends of ours insisted on coming over after we’d  had Frankie to cook us dinner: This is what they made and it was absolutely delicious. They’ve just had their second baby and we really must return the favour soon. It was such a kind gesture.

Since then, I’ve searched recipes and ideas and settled on a cross between Gennaro Contaldo’s version, as mentioned in Jamie’s book, ‘Jamie’s Italy’, and Antonio Carluccio’s version from ‘Two Greedy Italians’. I don’t really think the seafood you choose matters, it’s the flavours that count here. I would always use shellfish and include prawns of some sort though. I’ve cooked the dish using tail on king prawns with either scallops or mussels, depending on what Steve the fish man at Lathcoat’s farm had on offer that day.

Ingredients

olive oil

anchovy fillet

garlic

cherry tomatoes, halved

red chilli – dried flakes or finely chopped fresh (seeds removed, you don’t want to overpower the delicate fish!)

white wine

king prawns, tail on

scallops

mussels, in their shells (de-beard, wash thoroughly and discard any that don’t close when you tap them)

lemon juice

chopped parsley

linguine

Method

Put the pasta on to boil.

Heat some extra virgin olive oil in a pan that has a lid.

Add the anchovy fillet and melt down. Throw in the crushed garlic and red chilli and fry off a little to soften.

Once the garlic is soft but not brown, add the cherry tomatoes and continue to cook. Add pepper and a little salt if needed.

Once the tomatoes are beginning to soften, add the seafood. If using scallops, fry off gently first  to brown until nearly cooked, then add. Turn the heat up and pour in a good splash of wine. Put the lid on, shake, and leave to steam for a few minutes until the prawns are pink and cooked through and the mussels are open. Discard any that don’t open before serving.

Take off the heat. Stir some lemon juice and chopped parsley through.

Drain the pasta, retaining a little of the water and stir both into the seafood mixture.

Serve with another sprinkling of fresh parsley and fresh black pepper. And a chilled glass of white wine!

Still Alive!

After first feeding Herman…

Two days after feeding…

I Have a Herman

And what, exactly, is a Herman? Well, I hadn't heard of him either until a couple of weeks ago and when my friend told me about him, I had a feeling I'd be receiving a little pot of Herman soon, and so I did!

Herman is a German Friendship Cake based on a sourdough starter which you have to love for ten days before turning into a cake. So, on the first day, you transfer your little pot of starter (sugar, flour and milk...and presumably the first person added yeast too) to a large bowl and leave on the kitchen surface. You are reminded that if you put him in the fridge he'll die. You'll know this if he stops bubbling. Now, I have a knack of killing most indoor house plants, so was a little worried he might not last very long. However, I've successfully got to day 5, fed him with more flour, sugar and milk, and he's still bubbling away so I know he's breathing. Thank goodness for that.

The idea is that when I next feed him, I split the mixture into four, keep one and pass the other three to friends (who I'm sure will be over the moon to have a Herman to look after for ten days.) I then add the rest of the cake ingredients, including apple and cinnamon, and they begin the tending process until their little monster also grows into a cake!

To find out more about Hermans, look here.

Truffle, Gruyere and Smoked Gammon Egg Pot, a la Leon!

After seeing Lizzie’s photograph of one of these little breakfast pots from Leon, I couldn’t resist giving one a whirl as they looked so easy but so tasty. The most difficult part was finding a smoked (as I wanted as much flavour as possible) ham hock. In the end, I gave in and bought a smoked gammon joint instead. I’ll have to find a local, un-supermarket-ed piece of meat from a farm shop or similar if I do it again though, as this one was far too salty as I forgot to do the ‘soaking’ thing before cooking. For a more detailed explanation, have a look here to prepare your joint properly! 

Ingredients:

ham hock, smoked or otherwise. I used a gammon joint

free range eggs

plain flour

gruyere

truffle oil or butter

milk or cream

pepper

 

Method:

Roast or boil the ham hock or gammon joint as per the instructions. Otherwise, for about 20/25 mins per 500g, plus 20/25 mins.

Meanwhile, make up a white sauce: stir some plain flour and truffle oil / butter together over a hot heat until they form a ball. Add milk or double cream, or a little of each, gradually, whisking after each drizzle is added. Keep the heat high, but ensure you don’t stop whisking or it’ll stick to the pan. When you’ve reached a thick, creamy consistency, stop. Add pepper and finely grated gruyere.

Poach the eggs. 1 per pot.

Once everything has been cooked, it’s simply a question of assembling it all! Stir some pulled ham into the sauce and spoon into dishes / pots. Add a few more pieces of ham and pop the poached egg of top. If you wanted, you could simply crack a raw egg over the top, grate over a little more cheese and pop under a hot grill until cooked instead.

What is should look like, photo courtesy of Lizzie. Many thanks…

Mine…

As I said at the top, the idea of this was really appealing to me but as soon as I added the truffle butter to the white sauce, I knew I wasn’t gong to like it. I usually enjoy the flavour of truffle, just not like this. I also wasn’t keen on the fruity gruyere. So, call me a traditionalist, but if I made them again, I’d forgo the truffle and add a spoonful of Dijon mustard instead. I’d also swap the gruyere for a strong cheddar. But these are pots and flavours you can play with and adapt to your own tastes. Perfect for a special breakfast if you’ve cooked the gammon the day before, or if you have some left from your Sunday roast. Any more leftover gammon is perfect for ham, eggs and chips for tea the next night too!

Salmon and Corn Chowder – baby and you

I’ll begin by telling you that this is not a meal I would ever choose to make, or indeed eat. Having said that, once I’d put all the effort in (although there’s not too much of that if I’m honest) I grudgingly sat down to eat it. And was pleasantly surprised. So much so, in fact, that instead of freezing the remainders, we had them the next night, and I’ll definitely be making it again. Especially since Frankie also gobbled down a rather large left-over portion that wouldn’t fit in any of her freezer pots!

Again, if you don’t want all the peeling and chopping, which really doesn’t take too much time at all, you can always buy ready prepped veg. I like to add cheese to some of the meals to make sure the Little One gets some dairy too, and in this dish, it makes it creamier, but you could always leave it out if you’d prefer. As salmon is an oily fish, you should serve this to girls no more than twice a week, and boys up to four. (Big girls and boys can eat it as often as they’d like!) And for a completely veggie version I’d simply leave out the salmon and replace with a variety of beans.

Ingredients:

leeks

celery

potato

carrots

crushed garlic

sweetcorn (I used a tin)

peas (frozen is fine)

salmon (or any other fish)

water (twice as much than the milk)

whole milk (half the quantity of the water)

mascarpone

Method:

Pour a little rapeseed oil into the pan. You’ll need something fairly deep, I used a wok, as it filled up quite quickly! Most pure vegetable oil in the UK is rapeseed so just check the back and it’ll tell you what it’s made from. Rapeseed is one of the better oils to use.

Peel and chop the leeks, celery, potato and carrot into small pieces and fry off until beginning to soften. Add the garlic too.

Pour in enough water to just cover them and leave at a simmer until the potato and carrot are cooked through. Depending on the sizes of the cubes, this will probably take about 15-20 minutes. If the pans begins to look dry, add more water.

Add the corn, peas, salmon (chopped into chunks and checked carefully for bones) and milk. Again, enough milk to cover the ingredients.

Leave to simmer until the salmon is cooked though, probably no longer than 10 minutes, stirring in the mascarpone along the way.

Now, your baby portions are ready.

Baby:

Depending on which stage of weaning you’re at, either use a hand blender to mush baby’s portions until smooth, or simply fork the fish into small pieces and mash the rest. You can then freeze in individual portions.

Grown-Ups:

This recipe is one that definitely needs pepping up as is quite bland as it is, however, salt and pepper will do the trick perfectly.