Tomato, Olive Oil & Basil Bruschetta

Ingredients:-
Ciabatta cut into 8 Slices
1 Tbs Olive Oil
2 Cloves Garlic
4 Medium Tomatoes Diced
20 or a little more Basil Leaves Finely Chopped
Salt & Pepper

Method:-

Pre-heat Grill
Place Ciabatta Slices on a Large Baking Tray & Drizzle with Olive Oil.
Cut Garlic Cloves in half and rub Cut Side on each Bread Slice.
In a Bowl Mix Tomatoes, Olive Oil & Basil, Season to taste.
Place Ciabatta Slices under Grill until Golden Brown, turn and brown the other side. (dont over grill)
Top with your Tomato Mixture.
Serve Immediately as Finger Food or as a Starter.

This works well with the Rustic Spanish Bread.

I serve this in the summer if we have unexpected guests and I have some Ciabatta in the freezer, it really is a simple impressive little bite.

Tomato Soup

Ingredients:-
1.1/2 Kilo Tomatoes - Cut into 1/4 pieces
1 Medium Onion - Cut into Small Pieces
1 Small Carrot - Cut into Small Pieces
1 Celery Stick - Cut into Small Pieces
1 Tbs Olive Oil
2 Tsp Tomato Pure
Pinch Sugar
2 Bay Leaves
1Ltr of Vegetable Stock
Salt & Pepper

Put Olive Oil in Large Saucepan, when hot add Onion, Carrot, Celery, turn down heat and cook, stirring often until soft, about 10 minutes.
Add Tomato Pure and Stir.
Add Chopped Tomatoes, Sugar, Salt & Pepper, Bay Leaves. Stir.
Put lid on pan and leave on a low heat for about 10 minutes.
Slowly add Vegetable Stock (you can use fresh vegetable stock or stock cubes), turning up heat until bubbling.
Lower heat and Simmer for about 25 minutes, stirring occassionaly.
Remove Bay Leaves.
Allow to Cool for about 10 minutes or so, then blend until smooth.
Pour through sieve into another Saucepan.
Bring back to simmer when ready to serve.
Pour into warmed bowls, adding a dash of cream to each bowl just before serving.

Serve with Crusty Bread.

Tai Green Curry

Ingredients:-
Blue Elephant Tai Green Curry Paste
1 Medium Onion Sliced
2 Cans of Coconut Milk
1 Can Water
1/2 Tsp Olive Oil
4 Kafir Lime Leaves
4 Tsp Fish Sauce
2 Tsp Sugar
1 Dried Lemongrass, Slice and crushed
1 Courgette, Grated, any bits you cant grate, finely chop
12 or so Chopped Basil Leaves
For this Receipe I used 1 Kilo Pork Cubes (Souvlaki) 2 Chicken Breasts

Method:-
Heat Olive Oil in Large Frying Pan, not too hot, add Sliced Onion, turn down the heat and cook gently until Onion becomes soft not brown. Add 200ml Coconut Milk from a can that's not been shaken, you will be able to spoon the cream from the top, stir with a wooden spoon until you can smell the spices develop, then lower the heat. Add another 1 & 1/2 Cans of Coconut Milk & half a can of Water, bring to a simmer slowly stirring all the time so it doesn't burn. Add Kifir Lime Leaves, (remember to remove them later), Fish Sauce & Sugar, Stir. Also I haven't used any salt, just because I don't think you need it, but add some if you wish, and If you want to make it Super Hot, add a couple of Diced Chilles now, I don't think you need it!

There you have your Sauce! It should be nice and milky smooth.

You can now choose what you want to add to the sauce, Prawns, which wont need cooking for to long. Beef Slices, Pork or Chicken Cubes, Chicken Drumsticks, Wings, etc. Or if you have any left overs  that you can add to the Sauce. Make it Veggie, add half cooked Potatoes, Peas, Sweetcorn, etc.

Taste your Sauce now. Is it Hot enough? Sweet enough?

Leave your Tai Curry Sauce on very low heat while you prepare your meat or other ingredients.

Cut Chicken Breasts into more or less same size as your Pork Pieces.
I cut mine into bite size pieces, but remember, all meat will shrink a little when cooked, so you don't want tiny hard pieces of meat.

Put about 1/2 Tbs Olive Oil in Large Frying Pan, cutting off any fat from the Pork. Grate a little Black Pepper over the Pork Pieces and toss. When Oil is hot enough add Pork to brown, don't over crowd pan and turn frequently.
When lightly browned on all sides, remove with a slotted spoon and add to simmering sauce, stir, put lid on saucepan and cook next batch of Pork in same way and add to sauce, turn up the heat a little and stir well, then turn down to simmer. While you Pork pieces are simmering nicely in sauce, brown your Chicken in the same way as you did your Pork, then add to sauce.
You want your Pork to cook for about 10 minutes or so before adding your Chicken.

Scrape bottom of pan with a metal spoon from time to time to release sauce that may have stuck to bottom.
Add about 6 Chopped Basil Leaves, then leave to simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add your Grated Courgette to your Curry, turn up the heat until bubbling, stir well, then turn down the heat and cook without a lid for about 5 minutes or so until Curry thickens and Courgettes has more or less dissolved.

Remove Kafir Lime Leaves with slotted spoon.

I serve my Tai Curry in Warmed Bowls along with Amoy Singapore Curry Noodles and Lebanese Bread.

The Noodles can be quickly heated in Microwave as intrustions on the packet.

Lebanese Bread, I sprinkle with Tap Water, then put in hot over for about 3 minutes each side, Tare and Share.

Spaghetti Bolognese

Ingredients:-

500g Lean Minced Pork
1 Tbs Olive Oil
1 Large Onion Finely Chopped
1 Large Clove Garlic, Squashed and Chopped
2 Tins Chopped Tomatoes
2 Chicken Stock Cubes
1 Tbs Soya Sauce
1/2 Tsp Sugar
1/2 Tsp Salt if needed
1 Tbs Worcester Sauce
1 Tbs Brown Sauce
3 Tbs Tomato Ketchup
1 Tsp Dried Oregano
1 Tsp Dried Basil
1 Bay Leaf (if you have one)
20 Fresh Chopped Basil Leaves
Black Pepper to taste

Method:-
Put the Olive Oil in large Saucepan, you really don't need to use extra virgin olive oil, as I think it can overpower the other ingredients, time and place for it,  but not here.
Heat oil then add onions, you want them to sizzle nicely when you add them to the oil, add Sugar, stir gently with wooden spoon until soft but not brown about 2 to 3 minutes.
Add Mince, handful at a time  (if you add all the mince at once it will steam and you want to  brown the meat).Then add crushed Garlic, (peel clove of garlic, squash it on board with flat of hand to release the juices then chop finely). Stir well, don't fry garlic with the onion or meat or it will taste bitter and be careful not to brown the garlic just keep it soft.
Add Soya Sauce ( I use dark soya), as well as adding flavour to your dish it will turn your pork dark brown just like mince beef. Stir, then add Worc Sauce, don't worry if you don't have any, but it does add a little more depth of flavour. Add Brown Sauce, Tomato Ketchup, Black Pepper about 1/2 tsp you can always add more later. Add Chicken Stock Cubes, Chopped Tomatoes, (cheapest), Then fill empty cans of Tomatoes half full with water, swish around then add to pot, Stir.
Bring to boil then put on lowest setting for about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir. add Dried Oregano, Dried Basil and Bay Leaf. Cook for a further 5 minutes. Add 10 fresh Basil Leaves finely chopped. Stir, cook for another 10 minutes then taste.
What do you think it needs adding to make it how you like it? More Tomatoes more Basil or Pepper?
For me after tasting, I wanted to add more fresh Basil, so I added another 10 Basil Leaves with a little more Black Pepper. Stir, and simmer for another 10 minutes.Taste, Taste, Taste, Taste.
n.b. even though I have salt as an ingredient, I didn't add any, as I felt there was enough salt in the Soya Sauce and the Stock Cubes. While your sauce is simmering nicely cook your pasta.

Bring to the boil a large saucepan of water, (even though salt is usually recommended before adding your pasta, I put a Vegetable Stock Cube in the water, enough salt and more flavour for me).
Just follow instruction on packet for how long to cook, but that is down to personal taste.

I put my Bolognese Sauce into warmed bowls and pile Spaghetti on top, grind some Black Pepper on the Pasta and sprinkle with Parmesan or Grana Pandano.

Any leftovers can be frozen.

Yummy

Our Lemon Trees

We have 2 Lemon Trees in our Garden, Im not sure how old they are, but they have obviously been battered by the wind over the years as one of them leans quite sharply to the left. They produce an abundance of Lemons more or less all year round. The problem is knowing what to do with them all.

I do make a lovely Lemon Drizzle Cake, and I also Juice, & freeze that, I make Buttermilk with them, but a couple of years ago I decided to have a go at making Limoncello, which is an Italian Liquor, which we first tried in Rome and found it to be delicious, so I thought I would have a go, it turned out pretty good, Only made the one bottle, but going to make a few more this spring, so they should be nice and ready for next Christmas, anyhow here is my recipe for Limoncello.

Preparation Time:- about 20 mins or so

Time it takes to prove:- 40 to 80 days or as long as you like really. I have a bottle that is 2 years old and it just seems to get better.

Ingredients:- 1 Litre 40% Smirnoff Vodka

                     15 Medium Sized Unwaxed Lemons

                     Simple Syrup ( 4 Cups Sugar & 5 Cups Bottled Water)

Method:- Wash the Lemons with a small brush (nail brush) rinse and pat dry on Kitchen Towel.   Carefully Zest the Lemons with a Vegetable Peeler or Grater, but you only want the outer peel, no white pith at all (the white underneath the peel) or the Limoncello will taste bitter.

In a Large (I used 1.1/2Litre Mason Jar) Add Vodka and Lemon Zest. Put the Lid on and put in a Cool Dark place for about 30 to 40 days. There is no need to shake or stir at this time. The longer you leave it the better as the Vodka will absorb both the colour and flavour of the Lemon Zest.

All equipment used must be sterilized, please click on link to see how. How to Sterilize-Bottles

After this time make the Syrup. In a Large Clean Saucepan mix the Sugar and Water, bring to the boil and continue boiling for about 7 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
Once cooled add the Syrup to the Limoncello, replace the lid and leave to rest for another 30 days in a cool dark place, shaking the jar occasionally.

After 30 days strain the Limoncello (I use a Coffee Filter inside a Jug), pour the strained Limoncello into Sterilized bottles, (I use Glass Bottle with Clamp Stoppers)glass-bottle-with-clamp-stopper.do

Your Limoncello is now ready to drink, you can store your bottles in the fridge or freezer.

Enjoy

Bevys Burgers

Makes 4 Large Burgers

Ingredients:-

500g Lean Minced Pork or a mixture of Pork & Beef
1 Onion Finely Chopped
1 Tbs Finely Chopped Fresh or Dried Sage (Or just add half a pkt of Sage & Onion Stuffing Mix)
1/2 Tsp each of Salt & Pepper, add more or less to your own taste.

Lettuce, tomato or any other salad item of your choice to garnish.

Method:-

Before you start getting your hands messy, put a sheet of backing paper on a large tray to put the burgers on once mixed.

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl then divide into 4.
Roll each piece into a ball, then flatten on a board by slapping the burger with the palm of your hand.
Lift carefully with spatula and put on baking paper, cover with cling film and chill for and hour or so.

Freezing:-
If your going to freeze the burgers wrap each burger individually in baking paper then wrap in cling film before freezing. To cook, just peel the baking paper from the burgers and cook for about 5-6 minutes until juices run clear, there is no need to defrost.

To Cook:-
Put a drop of Olive Oil into a large frying pan or griddle, making sure pan is very hot before you add the burgers as you want to seal the outside of the burger, cook for about 2 minutes then turn over and cook for a further 2 minutes, keep turning burgers about every 2 minutes until cooked through and juices run clear, dont over cook as you will have dry burgers.

This is what I do but you could choose to do something different.

Put dollop of Mayonaisse onto base of Bun and Lettuce Leaf, Slice of Tomato. Place Burger on top, then top with a Tbs of my Relish, (Receipe below). Serve with homemade Twice Cooked French Fries. (Receipe below).

Bevys Burger Relish:-

1 Tbs Branson Pickle
1 Tbs Picalli
1 Tbs Tomato Ketchup

Mix all together well in a bowl, and use as you wish, will keep covered in fridge about a week.


Twice Cooked French Fries:-

Use 1 Medium sized Potato per person,
Cut Potato in half then slice each half in approx 1cm widths, doesn't matter how long they are.
Turn cut pieces over and cut again until you have all 1cm width pieces of potato.

I use Sunflower Oil, heat through until very hot, (you can dip a potato stick in and if it starts to sizzle you know your oil is hot enough, (never leave Oil unattended as it can catch fire easily).
Add Fries in small batches as adding too many at a time will cause them to steam instead of frying.
After about 4 or 5 Mins, take out fries with a slotted spoon and put them on Kitchen Paper to soak up the oil while you cook the next batch.
I usually put a Colander filled with Kitchen Paper over a saucepan to drain mine. then I put them into another bowl ready to go back in the frying pan to finish.

Once you have cooked all your Fries once. Let Oil heat  up again for another couple of minutes, then add your fries again in batches, they will cook quite quickly this time, about 2 to 3 minutes, until crisp and golden, Drain them again on Kitchen Paper, tip into Colander sprinkle with a little Sea Salt and serve with Burgers.