Steak Au Poivre

Yesterday was a long day and all I had to eat all day was a rice crispy square and a bag of wotsits! Not bad for a self proclaimed foodie!

So by the time I got home I was starving and wanted a quick tea so I decided to make two things from 'How to Eat'. Luckily Zach was off work so I called him and sent him up the shop to get what I needed to make Steak Au Poivre.

This recipe was so simple I was surprised and I even got to get my flambe on! Steak Au Poivre is basically steak coated in crushed peppercorns and cooked in butter and oil and then once the steak is done and out the pan you pop in a bit of brandy to make a sauce...yum! I served this with a green salad and also made basic french dressing to go with....When ever I make a dressing (Nigella suggests this too) I put all the ingredients in jar (small jam size will do) and then shake it all up, then its already in a container to store too! I also had a crusty roll to mop up all the juices ;o)

Due to lack of sustenance during the day I munched this as soon as I served it and forgot to take a pic, sorry guys! I'm sure I will make this again though as it was simple and tasty (two good recipe components). Only changes I would make would be a few less peppercorns, I would also make double the sauce as I like lots of sauce. Now Nigella says you can also add cream to the sauce and I would totally do this but maybe as a winter version of the dish! Summer version = no cream in sauce and served with a salad. Winter version = cream in sauce and served with fluffy mash potato.

Have my knitting to finish today and I'll be making cupcakes later (not from How to Eat so won't count in the count down) so will let you know how I get on.

Off to have some black pudding and poached eggs for breakfast! Enjoy your weekend everyone.

Keeley x

Update:31/10/11 - Made it again...heres the pic this time!

Night off already...

No cooking tonight I'm afraid. Had a netball match tonight (only our 2nd full game ever) lost by 7 goals which was awesome considering last time we played them, which was only a couple of weeks ago they thrashed us by 30+ goals...GO THUNDERCATS!!!

Anyway...got home and Zach made me poached eggs on toast! I'm the cook in the house but the man can cook eggs (and a decent fry up and a toad in the hole believe it or not).

Finally decided on a starting point to tackle the book from too...as I'm currently a member of Fat Fighters (well Slimming World as it's officially known) and only have 5lbs left to loose, I've decided to start with the 'Low Fat' section in the book. Hopefully, it won't damage the weight loss to much but because I can never be 100% good each week I might have to cook up some treats too....Victoria Sponge has caught my eye so watch this space!

Remember any comments (good or bad) are welcomed :o)

Thanks for reading

Keeley x

First recipe...

...So sleeping on it didn't help at all and I'm none the wiser on how to attack this! Also, feeling a little nervous about writing a blog that is all the things I would want a blog to be: Funny, informative and interesting!

One thing I have decided is my deadline (oh no). While I'm no Julie Powell and would never attempt to cook 500+ recipes in 365 days I am going to use the same time frame. 298+ recipes in 365 days. I've been playing around with my blog design today and somehow managed to add a countdown (go me!).

On to the main event..cooking from 'How to Eat'. Today I decided just to pick something and have it for dinner and then it will give me a little longer to suss out some sort of methodical way to do this. I therefore, gave my husband Zach free rein to choose what he wanted to eat...he chose 'Meatballs in Tomato Sauce'. I was pleased as it was something I was familiar with to get started. I did have to laugh though when I realised that the first recipe he chooses is from the 'Feeding babies and small children' section! Very telling!

I'm not usually one to follow a cook book...I seem to have a lot of them but I think its because I actually like to read them like I would a novel. Rarely do I cook from them unless I want to bake a cake or maybe entertain and do something different. Most of the time I just do my own thing so this was going to be a new experience.

Despite having only myself and my husband to feed I followed the quantities..now I have about a weeks supply of meatballs in my fridge. At least I know what I'll be taking to work tomorrow for lunch!

Nigella's meatball recipe is similar to how I would have done it myself the main differences being her recipe calls for the chopped onion to be cooked prior to adding (I usually leave raw) and for the addition of some semi stale bread that had been soaked in some milk and then squished.

The sauce also started as I start most of my sauce bases with soffritto (chopped onion, carrot an celery). Now, because I am a true believer in making my life easier in the kitchen how ever I can, I actually keep soffritto mix in the freezer ready! In my weekly shop I buy a bag of carrots and a bunch of celery and the finely dice and pop in the freezer and keep till needed. I buy frozen chopped onions too. This tends to produce a little extra liquid but as it's mostly used as a sauce base you can simmer the sauce till its the consistency you desire.

Anyway...I followed the recipe and while Nigella eats hers with rice I chose Spaghetti. Can't knock spaghetti and meatballs (think lady and the tramp). Result = it was good, I'd definitely make the meatballs again but the sauce lacked something. I think it was Marmite! I always put about a teaspoon of Marmite in my tomato sauce (like bolognese and in things like shepherds pie) and I missed the kind of beefiness and depth that it gives a sauce. If I make it again then the Marmites going in!

Recipe number 2 tonight was 'Roast Sugar-Sprinkle Peaches'. Now Nigella says herself that this can 'scarcley' be called a recipe but it is...it's just a very simple one and therefore, perfect for my first night. It was peaches halved, sprinkled with butter and sugar and roasted in the oven for 20mins. I served with ice cream and it was lush. There is something about eating hot and cold together that works wonderfully and the sauce that was left in my bowl at the end...well, I could have stuck in it a glass and drunk with a straw! It was yummy...I will certainly be making these again.

Any questions and comments are all welcome. Hope you enjoy the read.

Night Night

Keeley x

Phase one...

Wow! Turns out I may have bitten off more than I can chew and its only day 2! I've roughly counted the recipes in 'How to Eat' and I counted 298.

I say 'roughly' as some recipes have different variations i.e. Bechamel sauce = cheese sauce, parsley sauce an so on. Therefore I have only counted the recipes with titles and some of the subtitled recipes...

So, 298 is my goal (but will prob count more along the way) I'll post the final amount of recipes when I'm done but for now its 298! The next question is how long shall I give myself to complete the book? This question I'll address tomorrow as was eating dinner with the Fab Five (my friends Aimee, Lisa, Anna & VJ) and left my blog stuff too late and now its sleepy time.

Night for now...hopefully sleeping on it will help me come up with some sort of POA!

Sweet dreams

Keeley

It starts...

Hello All...well hello to those who are reading this in such early days!

My name is Keeley and in a moment of extreme boredom I had a moment of divine inspiration...to write a blog!

Now, I have never written a blog before and I don' t proclaim to be a writer of any sorts so please forgive bad grammar, mistakes in punctuation and general muck ups. I do however, proclaim to have a few passions in life...one of these said passions is food!

I know to state food as a passion is quite a broad statement but my passion lies in the alchemy of bringing ingredients together to create something that ignites the senses and most of all gives pleasure...like most people I love to eat! That doesn't mean I think doner meat is a delicacy (although once a blue moon only a kebab will suffice) but I do enjoy good food. Nor does this mean I only eat in Michelin Star restaurants or that I'm some sort of food snob, I'm just trying to state that I'm an ordinary woman who enjoys good grub...

Hand in hand therefore, with my love to eat comes my love to cook, I'm no chef but I've been know to cook up a good meal (even if I do say so myself) but most of all I enjoy it...so with this in mind what better to write about then food and cooking.

So in my mentioned moment of inspiration I thought I would do a blog, think Julie and Julia but a UK version...so who better to be my Julia than Nigella Lawson!

My plan is to cook my way through her book 'How to Eat' and to share my trials and tribulations with you all and hopefully have some fun along the way.

This is my first post so any comments will be greatly received...

...Tomorrows task: Count the recipes in 'How to Eat' and give myself a time frame to complete! Wish me luck!

Good night for now.

Keeley x