The world is full of restaurants, some good, some bad. I am sure we all could tell a story or two about restaurants, the food they serve and the service.
Have you ever wondered about the oldest restaurant that is still going? According to The Guinness Book of Records it is Sorbrino de Botin in Madrid, Spain.
The restaurant was opened in 1725 by Jean Botin and his wife. The restaurant was known as Casa Botin. The name changed when Mrs Botin died and her nephew took over. Today the Gonzalez family run it.
I believe there are three main dining rooms. The Bodega (cellar), The Castilla Room and the Felipe IV Room.
They say Ernest Hemingway said it was one of his favourite restaurants.
A cast iron, wood fired oven is kept going all the time. The specialities are the Cochinillo Asado - Suckling Pig and Cordero Asado - Roast Lamb.
The Suckling Pig is served on a plate with potatoes and what looks like a light gravy or jus. They also serve other meat and fish dishes.
The Hors D'oeuvres sound amazing, roast red peppers with codfish, to the simple cured ham and melon.
Keeping with the Spanish theme, I have added my Spanish Eggs. They are not only for breakfast you can make them for lunch or dinner.
Bernadette's Spanish Baked Eggs
Ingredients
4 eggs
1 chorizo sausage, sliced
One 400 gram can diced tomatoes
One 400 gram can cannellini beans, strained and rinsed
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Half a teaspoon of smoked paprika
Quarter of a teaspoon ground cumin
Pinch Cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper
Chopped parsley to garnish
Method
Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius.
Heat oil in a medium sized fry pan. Add onion and cook over a low heat until tender.
Add garlic and spices, cook for another minute. Add tomatoes, beans and chorizo sausage and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Stirring carefully so the beans don't go mushy. If the mixture becomes a little dry add couple tablespoons of water.
Take off heat and season with salt and pepper.
Place the tomato mixture into 4 ramekin dishes or a large flattish casserole dish.
Make a hole in the middle of the mixture by simply moving it with a spoon. Crack and place an egg into each ramekin or crack and place 4 eggs into the middle of the large flat casserole dish. Place on a tray as it is easier to put in and remove from oven.
Bake in oven for about 10 to 15 minutes until the egg whites set and egg yolks are cooked to your liking.
Sprinkle with parsley. I like to serve with crunchy white bread and depending on time of day, maybe a glass of orange juice or wine!
Enjoy!!!
Recently I was watching a movie and they mentioned something about Victory Gardens. After some investigation I discovered what they were and wanted to share.
During WW1 and WW2 there was a short supply with many things and food was top on the list.
Ration books were used to control different food items such as tea, sugar, butter and meat.
In Australia in January 1942 the Prime Minister, John Curtin launched "Dig for Victory", a publicity campaign urging householders throughout Australia to grow their own vegetables as a contribution to the war effort.
Posters were put up promoting the idea, "Dig for Victory" and "Sow The Seeds of Victory"
Peoples front and back gardens were now filling with fruit, vegetables and herbs. Australians already were keen vegetable gardeners and often had chicken sheds in their back yards.
Another idea was to establish "Garden Armies" invented by YMCA. In Melbourne, Australia, recruits rose from 500 to several thousand in just one month. This received media attention, women where photographed in overalls wielding pitchforks. Many councils then organised collectives and some councils provided incentives, including awarding volunteers with a badge (a three carrot design).
It wasn't just here in Australia but also the United Kingdom, United States, Canada and Germany where victory gardens were planted.
I belong to a garden page on Facebook. I see so many people growing vegetables. Pictures and comments from grandparents teaching children where vegetables actually come from, not just a can or packet from the supermarket! It is nice to see some traditions still survive.
The other day I cooked my version of Mexican Tostadas and they are on the make again list!
Bernadette's Mexican Tostadas
Ingredients
Serves 4
1 pkt of corn tortillas (Bread and butter size tortillas)
Vegetable oil
Half an iceberg lettuce, shredded
2 Avocados, peeled and seeded.
Three quarters of a cup of light sour cream
4 tablespoons of sweet chilli sauce
1 (approx 400 gram) can of refried beans
3 large skinless chicken breasts
1 400 gram can of tomatoes, peeled and diced
1 medium brown onion, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon of cumin
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
1 teaspoon of chopped garlic
Half a teaspoon of dried chilli flakes
Water
Method
1. Cut the chicken breasts into cubes and place into a pot. Add the canned tomatoes, chopped onion, spices, chilli flakes and garlic. Add water to cover the chicken mix and place on a low heat. You may need to top up with water from time to time. Stir often and cook until chicken is tender. (about 1 hour) Take from stove and place to one side to cool.
2. To make a guacamole. Peel and remove the seed the from avocados. Place avocados in a blender with 2 tablespoons of sweet chilli sauce and three quarters of a cup of sour cream. Blend until smooth. If you don't have a blender use a bowl and fork. It won't be as smooth but works. Place in bowl and leave in fridge until ready to assemble.
3. In a shallow fry pan place about 1 inch (2.5 cm) of vegetable oil. Place onto a medium heat. Put one tortilla in the fry pan at a time and lightly brown each side. Remove and place on paper towels to drain. The tortilla will go crunchy. Make sure your oil doesn't get too hot. If you find the tortilla burning turn heat down. Do this until you have the right amount of tortillas. I suggest 2 per adult, 1 per child.
4. Now the chicken mix should be cooler, drain all the liquid away and with a fork shred the chicken mix. Then add two tablespoons of sweet chilli sauce, this combines it together.
5. Place the can of refried beans in a saucepan and gently warm.
6. To assemble: Place the tortilla on a plate carefully, lightly spread the refried beans and then add chicken mixture. Finally, top with lettuce and a little guacamole.
If you don't want the meat just leave off the chicken, it's still delicious.
Enjoy!!!
The other day I was going through some old family photographs and came across one with a story I'd like to share.
I can still hear my mother's voice telling me the story. I heard it more than once! The picture was of an old car, similar to the one posted here.
My mother grew up on a farm in Western Australia. Many of the roads, unlike today, were not sealed. Most country roads were very sandy and dusty. Driving in cars or trucks was not an experience you would forget, especially when the vehicle had no windows!
The story my mother told me was of a family trip to town.
Traveling to town was a big deal as it was just over an hours drive from the farm. On one occasion after spending time catching up with friends and shopping they headed home. They were running late this particular day and it started to get dark. My mother said it was scary, as there were no lights along the road. The only lights were on the car in which they were travelling. My mother started to get tired and could hear her parents talking. They were driving slowly because the Australian bush has wildlife that can cause serious damage. Next thing my mother said she thought she was seeing things. Into the windowless car jumped a kangaroo, bouncing onto the front seat with her parents and out the other side. Her father put his foot on the brakes and all she could hear was silence followed by laughter.
I wonder who got the biggest fright, the kangaroo or her parents? It is not a long story maybe an experience you say! No one was hurt and they made it home safely.
This is a memory I will always treasure. It makes you realize how times were tough back then. I am glad cars have windows now!
Many things have changed over the years. My mother often cooked a whole roast chicken. Today you can cook chicken in many ways. I discovered this recipe a while back and it's one of my favourites.
Braised Chicken with Fennel and Figs
Ingredients
1 Fennel bulb
12 to 14 fresh figs, with stem removed
1 whole chicken cut into 8 pieces
Salt and Pepper
1 tablespoon of butter
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1 large leek, rinsed thoroughly and cut into 1 inch lengths
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch lengths
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon of fennel seeds, bruised with mortar and pestle
1 cup of chicken broth
1 cup of dry white wine
Method
Trim the stem end and the dark green tops from the fennel, reserve a few fronds for garnish. Cut the fennel bulb lengthwise into quarters, then into 1 inch pieces. Chill in a bowl of iced water for 20 minutes, then drain.
Place the figs in a small bowl and cover with boiling water and let stand for 10 minutes, drain and cut in half.
Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. On a low heat place butter and olive oil in a large deep fry pan. Place in the chicken and lightly brown about 5 minutes per side. Then take out the chicken and place to one side.
Using the same fry pan put in the following ingredients, fennel, leeks and carrot. Return the fry pan to stove and cook until vegetables are softened. Add the figs and fennel seeds. Cook for a further 5 minutes until the figs are slightly brown. Add the garlic and continue to cook for a minute.
Add the chicken broth and wine into the fry pan and cook until the liquid is reduced by half. Add the chicken and its juices to the fry pan, cover and cook on a low heat until the chicken has cooked for about 15 to 20 minutes. You can test the chicken by piercing it with a fork and the chicken juice is clear.
With a spoon transfer the chicken and vegetables to a serving plate. Cover to keep warm. Replace fry pan to stove and boil the juices until it reduces and slightly thickens. Pour the juice over the chicken and garnish with the reserved fennel fronds.
I like to serve with crusty white french stick bread and a glass of white chardonnay!
Enjoy!
Christmas is not long over and a memory I would like to share came back to me.
Growing up Christmas was a special time, not only for the presents, food was special too. Traditionally my family enjoyed a leg of ham, thinly sliced and served on toast with mustard for breakfast.
My father and I especially enjoyed the mustard.
Later, in my twenties, I frequented a department store in the city. In the gourmet food section I discovered a wonderful looking jar. It was a creamy colour, either ceramic or pottery, with a red wax sealed lid. The seal was similar to the wax on letters or documents used in the old days.
I knew who would love this jar and its wonderful contents of wholegrain French mustard. I wrapped and gave it to my father.
You can still buy the mustard, it is called "Mustard Pommery - Moutarde de Meaux". The jar is about 250grams and comes from Meaux in France.
They say keep it cold and it will stay hot. I always keep mine in the fridge.
I read somewhere, not sure if it's true but makes for a great story, the recipe for the mustard originated with an ancient religious sect that lived in the town of Meaux, northeast of Paris. In the year 1760, the secret was revealed to the Pommery family and they have kept the secret recipe safe ever since.
Have you ever thought of making your own mustard? It's not hard. Here's one I have made a couple of times.
Bernadette's Wholegrain Mustard
Ingredients
50 grams of yellow mustard seeds
50 grams of brown mustard seeds
120 millilitres of white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons of water
Juice of half a lemon
Half a teaspoon of salt
A pinch of pepper
Half a teaspoon of turmeric powder
6 tablespoons of sunflower oil
Method
In a bowl, place the yellow and brown mustard seeds, add 80 millilitres of white wine vinegar and let it stand for at least 1 hour.
The mixture will bubble and the seeds will soften slightly.
Next, pound the seeds and, if they have lost a bit of liquid, add about 1 to 2 tablespoons of water to the mixture.
Pound with the
pestle, adding small batches, grind and twist until most of the yellow seeds are slightly mashed. The brown seeds don't
crack easily but with pounding they will crack and emit
the flavours.
In a bowl with the mashed mustard seeds add the remaining 40 millilitres
vinegar, lemon juice, salt, pepper and turmeric powder. Mix ingredients well and place into a sterilized jar.
Add the oil on top and seal the lid tightly.
Let it stand for at least 4 weeks before use. The reason is because it ferments and forms the flavour.
Enjoy!
Recently, I was cleaning out one of the kitchen draws and came across a round Scottish wooden thistle shortbread mould.
On one of my mother's travels she went to Scotland and brought this piece of culinary art home. I inherited it and use it to make shortbread at Christmas. I love the thistle design on it.
Shortbread is a type of biscuit, or cookie, made from a simple recipe of flour, sugar and butter.
The history of shortbread goes back to the 12th century and originally started life as "biscuit bread". Biscuits made from left over bread dough that sometimes was sweetened and dried out in the oven to form a hard rusk. The practice took place over the British Isles, not just in Scotland
In the 16th century, Mary Queen of Scots had a circular shape made and cut into triangular wedges (known as petticoat tails) and often flavoured with caraway seeds.
In early times, shortbread was very expensive and reserved as a luxury for special occasions such as Christmas, Hogmanay (Scottish New Year's Eve) and weddings. In Shetland and Orkney Isles they say it is a tradition to break a decorated shortbread cake over the head of a bride upon entering her new home.
The first known printed recipe is credited to a Scotswoman, Mrs McLintock, in 1736.
The thistle wooden mould I have is about the size of a bread and butter plate. The thistle is the Scottish flower emblem.
When I was researching shortbread. I came across a story about the thistle. It is said that
a troop of sleeping Scots were saved from ambush when a Norse army tried to sneak up on them. One of the attackers stepped on a thistle with his bare feet. He let out a "Yelp!" waking the Scottish soldiers who went on to defeat the invaders. What a great story, I had to mention it, whether true or not!
My mother's shortbread recipe.
Ingredients
250grams of butter
One third of a cup of castor sugar (or finely granulated sugar)
Two and a quarter cups of plain flour
A quarter of a cup of rice flour
Method
Cream together butter and sugar in a small bowl with an electric beater until light and fluffy.
Gradually sift in plain and rice flours.
Place onto a floured board and knead.
Dust mould with some extra plain flour and shake off any excess.
Press the dough firmly into the mould and trim away any excess dough with a sharp knife.
Turn moulds over and tap gently onto a lightly greased oven tray.
Bake in a slow oven for approximately 30 minutes until lightly golden.
Some people like to lightly dust icing sugar over the shortbread when cool.
Enjoy!
Pizza, you normally smell the aroma in the air before you see it.
Recently I went out with friends to have pizza. When we were there you could see the man making and placing the pizza into his wood fired oven. It came up in discussion, where the first wood fired pizza ovens came from. It was unanimous, it must have been Italy!
Curiosity got the better of me and after reading many articles my findings are Italy was not the first!
They called the earliest ovens "Earth Ovens" A hole dug in the ground where people heated and cooked different foods. In Ukraine archaeologists found ovens in the ground dating back to 20,000 BC. They say there were mammoth bones in them!
Many different kinds and bizarre ancient ovens have been found by archaeologists, but the history of the wood burning oven as we know it today stems from Ancient Greece. The clay oven, or "Iponos" as it is called, is what Greeks used for cooking bread. Traditionally heated with brushwood, olive wood, oak or beech wood. When they finished using the oven for their main purpose, the remaining heat was not wasted: food baked consisted of rusks or drying fruit and nuts.
Rock ovens were used in Rome. A person called a "Law Giver" from Athens stated that bread should be consumed only during the Olympic Games as it was a very expensive product.
The origin of the Italian pizza can be traced back to Ancient Greece about 7000 years ago where they made a flat bread called "Plakous" which was flavoured with toppings like herbs, onions and garlic. I wonder if the Italians will disagree with this finding?
I found an article where Archaeologists were surprised when 30 brick ovens were found in superb condition in the ruins of Pompeii. The Roman city was buried in moulton lava and ash in 79AD. The ovens had petrified bread in them. It is said these ovens were inspired by the Ancient Greeks. They consisted of bricks, ceramics and argyle.
I am glad the wood fired oven was invented to enjoy pizza. You can cook many things in them, but pizza is my favourite!
Since I have you in the mood, what about my homemade pizza?
Bernadette's Pizza
Ingredients
For the pizza dough
300ml of water, lukewarm
25 ml of olive oil
Half a tablespoon of sugar
450grams of plain flour
1 x 7 gram packet of yeast
Half a teaspoon of salt
One tablespoon of semolina
For the pizza topping
200mls creme fraiche
Quarter of a cup of cream
Quarter of a teaspoon of nutmeg
150grams of pancetta, thinly sliced
Half a red onion, thinly sliced
Quarter of a cup of rosemary, finely chopped
200 grams of thinly sliced peeled potatoes
A handful of rocket
Extra olive oil
Method
For the pizza dough.
Mix together in a bowl, water, olive oil, sugar and yeast and put to aside for 5 minutes.
Pour the flour into the yeast mixture and mix together. Put onto a lightly floured board and knead until light and elastic like. Roll into a ball and place back into bowl for 45 minutes or until it has doubled in size.
Topping
Mix together the creme fraiche, cream and nutmeg.
Pre heat oven to 250 degrees celsius.
Take dough and on a floured board knead it for about 10 minutes. Roll it out to approximately half a inch thick.
Sprinkle a little semolina evenly over the oven tray and place the dough onto it.
To assemble pizza, spread the creme fraiche mixture over dough base. Place the potato slices, red onion, pancetta and rosemary.
Place in the oven and cook for 10 minutes, or until the base is cooked through and crispy.
Remove from oven, place rocket on top and drizzle a little olive oil.
Cut into equal portions and place on table to enjoy!
There is one kitchen appliance I would be lost without, my electric beater. In the past I used an electric hand held beater and later was given my mother's standing electric beater, when she passed. It is an old Sunbeam. Even though it is old, it works and still has all the attachments.
Today's electric beaters are equipped to take all types of attachments. Some people still like to use the hand held electric beaters but I prefer the stand type. There are so many colours it makes you wonder what is left to change on this this kitchen appliance!
Even commercially the standing electric beaters have changed making it easy for companies to mass produce their product.
Have you ever wondered who invented this appliance? I read many articles and found in the middle of the 1800's a man named Ralph Collier from America patented a mixer with rotating parts. Then in England a couple of years later E.P. Griffiths patented one. It did not say, but these sound like the early hand-turned rotary beaters.
I read that the first mixer with an electric motor was invented by Rufus Eastman, an American, in 1885.
The Hobart Manufacturing Company from Ohio, America, in the early 1900's introduced a new model which played a large part in commercial cooking. Hobart first produced the Kitchen Aid and Sunbeam in 1910. It was Herbert Johnson, an engineer for Hobart Manufacturing Company, who invented an electric standing mixer. They say his inspiration came from observing a baker mixing bread dough with a metal spoon. In 1915 his large mixer was standard equipment for bakeries. In 1919, Hobart then introduced the Kitchen Aid Food Preparer - a stand mixer for the home.
Time will bring new inventions but one thing is guaranteed, I will still be using my mother's standing beater!
Whole Roasted Chicken With Lime
Ingredients
Half a cup of long grain rice
1 cup of water
1 stalk of lemongrass (white part only)
1 small piece of ginger
2 cloves of garlic
2 stems of coriander leaves
2 kaffir lime leaves (no stems)
Three quarters of a cup of shredded coconut (toasted)
1 large chicken approximately 1.5kilograms (free range if possible)
Ingredients for sauce to go in roasting pan
2 cups of water
Quarter of a cup of fish sauce
Quarter of a cup of brown sugar
Quarter of a cup of lime juice
Method
Pre heat oven to 180 degrees celsius.
Place the rice and water in a small saucepan and cook for approximately 10 minutes on low heat until tender.
In a small food processor put in lemongrass, ginger, garlic, coriander and lime leaves. Blend until finely chopped.
In a bowl combine rice, lemongrass mixture and coconut. This mixture then goes into the chicken as a stuffing mix.
Tie the chicken legs together with string.
In the baking tray place sauce mix - water, fish sauce, brown sugar and lime juice stir until combined.
Place the chicken breast side down in the pan.
Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes.
Take the chicken from the oven and remove foil. Turn chicken over and cover with foil and cook for a further 30 minutes. (If your sauce starts to evaporate, add a little more water).
Again, take chicken from the oven and remove foil. Baste with sauce and place back in oven without foil for 10 minutes.
I like to serve the chicken on a plate with a little rice stuffing, some steamed baby carrots and snow peas. Place the sauce from the chicken pan into a jug and let people pour over their chicken.
Enjoy!
4 eggs
