Windy’s Food Corner

Portuguese Custard Tart

From Delia

I remember some weeks ago there was a food programme called Delia. I don’t know how well known she is internationally, but I guess a lot of British would have heard of her name, especially Norwich City Football fans.

Delia Smith OBE, age 66, has been in the cookery industry for around 45 years. Considering she is an experienced chef, I can’t believe how crap her programme is! She demonstrated how to ‘cheat’ at cooking. Unfortunately, unlike Nigella, most of her ‘cheating’ recipes were uninspiring (e.g. using canned mince instead of the fresh). Another UK celebrity chef, Gordon Ramsay, even made an angry comment about her program. I guess that said it all.

However I did find one recipe of hers that was worthwhile - Portuguese Custard Tart. Mainly because this is one of the foods that I haven’t had since I moved to this country. Anyway, this is what I think:

• In her recipe, she uses crème fraiche, which is made out of heavy cream and sour cream. However, as it is a dessert (i.e. sweet), I would suggest to change it to double cream.

• After cooking the custard, you would need to cool it down before spooning it into the pastry. When I used crème fraiche, I had to wait for ages to cool but the custard was still a bit watery. It works much better when using double cream.

• She also suggested to use caramel sauce in her recipe. Trouble is, I don’t use caramel for my cooking, so I sprinkled some brown sugar on top before putting the tarts into the oven. They may not have a shiny glazed look, but they still tasted great.

One thing I totally agree with her is to eat it while it’s fresh. So, I’m glad that she has shown this recipe and am sure that I will make them more often.

Another Year…

Gosh! I have not been updating my blog for a while due to being busy with preparation for selling my house. Well, my house is on the market for almost two weeks, but the economy in the UK is not very good – only one couple viewed it so far… I just hope that the housing market will recover soon.

On the plus side, I can’t believe that this blog is already two years old! I will carry on cooking tasty but simple food and share my experiences with you. I normally update my blog during weekend, mainly because this is the only time I can sit in front of my computer doing whatever I like without worrying my colleagues giving me disapproving looks! I hope you will visit from time to time and share you thoughts.

I would like to say thanks to my following bloggers, who have been supporting me for the last year:

Tigerfish who I envy as she can eat the food that I terribly miss in the Far East
Chase, the sexy Queer Chef, who gonna get married soon
Eastcoastlife who I would like to meet in Singapore one day
Lovely girl aCey
Jenn, the Queen of Leftover (and congratulations on your marriage)
Margot with her amazing lunch box idea
Rose with her friend Jen
Peter from the Souvlaki for the Soul
Ben and Suanne – hope to visit you one day if I go to Vancouver…

I’m sure I have not mentioned all the people on my list, but I would like to say thank you for visiting my blog and may have even linked my blog somewhere in yours. Anyway, I will start blogging more often for a while… until we find someone who wants to buy our house (please happen soon) which might cause me to be too busy again…

Large Cornish Pasty

Last weekend, my husband and I went to Cornwall for a short break. We stayed at a lovely harbour village called Looe, where you could find a lot of good quality seafood.

Anyway, as I’ve forgotten to take a picture of a Cornish pasty last time, and some of you were disappointed, I reminded myself to take pictures this time. Here you are:

We had one to share for our lunch, as it was really big. It tasted really nice and we enjoyed it a lot.

By the way, my husband and I are thinking to move to a bigger house in the next few months. Therefore I may be on and off the blog until it’s done. Sorry about that, but please stay tuned…

The Ultimate Fish Pie

From The Hairy Bikers

First of all, I wish you have a good Easter Holiday and hope you are enjoying it so far.

I have an impression that one should have fish on Good Friday; I introduce you the Ultimate Fish Pie in Hairy Bikers’ style. I think fish pie in general must be a traditional English dish. Depending on the recipe you have, some of them could taste brilliantly, but some can be so bland that even adding more salt doesn’t help.

So, who are ‘The Hairy Bikers’? They are two big, fat middle aged guys from the north of England. I have watched a couple of their food programmes and found that they were really funny, especially their accents. I never tried their recipes before, as there was at last one ingredient that I don’t use very often. However, when they demonstrated this fish pie, I tried it.

Difficult part:

• When I watched their demonstration, it seemed not too difficult. However, I’d forgotten the fact that it’s only me cooking it, whereas they have two people. Also, whoever did the editing must have cut awful lot of film away as it seemed the cooking time was short. When I made it, it took me more than 2 hours in total.

• As always, I would avoid making white sauce if possible, as it takes me a long time to get it right. However, I found that their idea of putting half milk and half stock is interesting.

Good part:

• I like the crunchiness of bread crumbs on top.

• Compare to Jamie’s fish pie, I would say this one had a more traditional feel while Jamie’s seemed a more modern version. Anyway, they both tasted very nice in different ways.

Breakfast Bars

From Nigella Express book

Rolled oats are good for lowering the cholesterol level and may reduce the risk of heart disease. Also, it is an inexpensive food as it could costs as low as 70p per kilo in supermarket here in the UK. However, I don’t normally make porridge for breakfast as I don’t have the time to warm it up. I tried to use it for cooking, e.g. muffins and flapjacks; but I still had a lot left. But then, I discovered Nigella’s Breakfast Bars, and copied the recipe down and tried to make it at home. Since then, I have come to absolutely adore them.

400ml condensed milk
250g rolled oats
75g shredded coconut
100g dried cranberries
125g mixed seeds
125g unsalted peanuts

Preheat oven to 130C

Warm the condensed milk in a pan. Meanwhile, mix the rest of the ingredients into a bowl. Then add the warmed milk into the bowl and fold the mixture well. Spread the mixture into an oiled baking tin and even the surface.

Bake it for an hour, then leave the Breakfast Bar in the baking tin for 15 minutes. Cut it into 16 chunky bars and let them cool completely. Store them into a sealed tin.

What I really like about it is that you could adjust the ingredients to match your taste. My husband and I are not big fan of seeds, so I use 200g of mixed chopped nuts instead. You could replace the cranberries with any dry fruit. Also, I use the light condensed milk to reduce the calories. Amazingly, the bars are sweet enough without adding sugar. The amount above would last us almost a week and definitely is much cheaper than a pre-made box of cereal bars.

Italian Pork Sausages Pasta with Simple Tomato Sauce

You know, I’ve never really liked to taking my own lunch since I was a child. Unless I had no money, I’d rather eat out because I thought food out there was better. Also, I don’t like to carry unnecessary stuff with me. Whenever my mom gave me a lunchbox, I felt disappointed. However, I find that it’s not cheap even to buy a simple, boring sandwich lately; I have started to make my own sandwiches from time to time.

I’ve been searching for a few ideas from other blogers (here, here and there) and realise that lunchboxes can be interesting and exciting. Also, thanks to Margot, who created the ‘Wholesome Lunchbox Event’, I have been encouraged to make snacks other than sandwiches. So, I’m presenting you my creation, which is inspired by Jamie (Gosh! I start to think this blog becomes a Jamie’s fan blog): Italian Pork Sausage Pasta with Simple Tomato Sauce!

2 cooked pork sausages
125g (any shape) pasta
1 courgette
1 flat mushroom
1 tablespoon olive oil

Jamie’s tomato sauce:
2 clove of garlic
A few basil leaves
400g tin chopped tomato
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper

Firstly, cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package.

Slice the sausages, courgette, mushroom and garlic. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil and add the courgette. 5 minutes later, add the sliced sausages and mushroom, and heat up quickly. Then put aside on a dish.

For the tomato sauce, heat another tablespoon of olive oil with garlic. When you smell the garlic, add the basil leaves for a few seconds. When the leaves are starting to soften, immediately pour the chopped tomato, salt and pepper into the pan. Lastly, put the pasta and the remaining cooked ingredients into the pan and mix.

For me, it is dinner for 2 or lunch for 3. I put some in the freezer and took it to work several days later, using microwave to warm it up. I have to say the tomato sauce was really tasty, even my husband, who is not big fan of pasta, found that was nice. Mmm… can’t wait to make some more!