tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24156366930352093212024-03-13T15:11:06.102-07:00Search Good Foodgerwynelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992776944435879930noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2415636693035209321.post-45585372075119605252017-10-06T04:19:00.001-07:002017-10-06T04:20:15.320-07:00Chicken Poussin<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Chicken Poussin</h2>
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This is an excellent Sunday Roast. With four of us in the family, I cooked one each of these small succulent Chicken Poussin spatchcock style cooked with aromatic spices</div>
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Preheat the oven to 180C whilst you are preparing the poussins.</div>
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To Spatchcock place the Poussin breast size down.</div>
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Either using a sturdy scissors or I prefer a sharp knife, cut up along each side of the parson's nose and backbone to remove it, cutting through the rib bones as you go. If using a knife make sure you are not cutting towards you.</div>
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Open the chicken out and turn over. Flatten the breastbone with the heel of your hand so that the meat is all one thickness as demonstrated in the picture below.</div>
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Roast the cumin, coriander, peppercorns, a small stick of cinnamon (or 1/2 tsp of dried cinnamon)</div>
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black poppy seeds in a small frying pan until you smell the aromatic aroma of the spices. Be careful not to overcook the spices otherwise they will burn and they will lose the pungent smell you are trying to achieve.</div>
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Grind the spices and then mix in the olive oil and garlic. Rub the mixture onto the skin of each poussin. Place the poussins in a try with the preserved lemons underneath and cook for about 40 to 60 minutes on 180C.</div>
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Once they are cooked allow to rest for about 10 minutes and then place on a wooden board and serve with a green or couscous salad.</div>
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Ingredients</div>
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4 x 500g Poussin </div>
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2 tsp cumin</div>
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2 tsp coriander</div>
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1/2 tsp peppercorns</div>
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1 small stick of cinnamon (or 1/2 tsp of dried cinnamon)</div>
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6 cloves garlic crushed</div>
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1 tsp black poppy seeds</div>
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1/4 x2 quarters of preserved lemons</div>
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2 tsp ginger</div>
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2 tbs olive oil</div>
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gerwynelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992776944435879930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2415636693035209321.post-80266729540410652422017-02-07T02:52:00.000-08:002017-11-29T01:33:03.434-08:00<div style="text-align: center;">
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<u>Palm Oil</u></h2>
<img height="209" src="https://www.rainforest-rescue.org/uploads/photos/base/biosprit-subventionen-indonesien.jpg" width="320" /><br />
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Palm oil is destroying rainforests in Asia and Africa. It is used in many food and cosmetics. Please act now to prevent this destruction by looking at using products that are better for the environment, some of these can be found in the following link.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/shoppingethically/palmoilfreelist.aspx">http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/shoppingethically/palmoilfreelist.aspx</a></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #272d2b; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">The warm, humid climate of the tropics offers perfect growth conditions for oil palms. Day after day, huge tracts of rainforest in Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa are being bulldozed or torched to make room for more plantations, releasing vast amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. As a consequence, Indonesia – the world’s largest producer of palm oil – temporarily surpassed the United States in terms of greenhouse gas emissions in 2015. With their CO</span><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; bottom: -0.25em; box-sizing: inherit; color: #272d2b; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.25px; line-height: 0; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;">2</span><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #272d2b; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"> and methane emissions, </span><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: inherit; color: #272d2b; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bolder;">palm oil-based biofuels actually have three times the climate impact of traditional fossil fuels</span><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #272d2b; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">. <a href="https://www.rainforest-rescue.org/topics/palm-oil#start">https://www.rainforest-rescue.org/topics/palm-oil#start</a></span><br />
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Palm oil is high in fat which can lead to weight gain, heart problems, and other chronic disease, one tablespoon of palm oil has 120 calories and 13.6 grams of fat.<br />
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Lipstick</div>
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Palm oil is used in some lipstick as it holds colour well, doesn't melt at high temperatures, and has a smooth application and virtually no taste</div>
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Pizza dough</div>
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Palm oil is added to many frozen and fresh pizza to stop it from sticking together and to enhance texture.</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hVtZkBBfLco/Wh59n5RqHHI/AAAAAAAAF8o/ubQfF857fXI_nlutw3bI0YmUQv6yhQHYQCLcBGAs/s1600/220px-Pepperoni_pizza.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="author, Jon Sullivan" border="0" data-original-height="139" data-original-width="220" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hVtZkBBfLco/Wh59n5RqHHI/AAAAAAAAF8o/ubQfF857fXI_nlutw3bI0YmUQv6yhQHYQCLcBGAs/s1600/220px-Pepperoni_pizza.jpg" title="Pepperoni pizza" /></a></div>
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Instant Noodles</div>
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Palm Oil is up to 20% of the weight of a pack of some instant noodles. It's used to pre-cook the noodles so that all you have to do is add hot water</div>
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Shampoo</div>
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Palm Oil is used as a conditioning agent that helps restore the natural oils of the hair that are stripped away by most shampoos</div>
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<img alt="Tube, Shampoo, Empty, Cream, Container" height="200" src="https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/12/05/17/05/tube-1884373__340.jpg" width="132" /><br />
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Margarine</div>
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Palm oil is used in margarine because it is solid at room temperatures and is free of trans fats.</div>
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Ice Cream</div>
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Palm oil makes ice cream smooth and creamy<br />
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<img alt="Ice Cream, Cartoon, Ice, Food, Snack" height="200" src="https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/03/31/19/12/ice-cream-1294800__340.png" width="100" /></div>
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Many products that use palm oil aren't clearly labeled. Palm oil and its derivatives can appear under many names, including:</div>
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<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: OpenSansRegular, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.25em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">INGREDIENTS:</strong> Vegetable Oil, Vegetable Fat, Palm Kernel, Palm Kernel Oil, Palm Fruit Oil, Palmate, Palmitate, Palmolein, Glyceryl, Stearate, Stearic Acid, Elaeis Guineensis, Palmitic Acid, Palm Stearine, Palmitoyl Oxostearamide, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-3, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Sodium Kernelate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Sodium Lauryl Lactylate/Sulphate, Hyrated Palm Glycerides, Etyl Palmitate, Octyl Palmitate, Palmityl Alcohol</div>
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source: <a href="http://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/which-everyday-products-contain-palm-oil">http://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/which-everyday-products-contain-palm-oil</a></div>
gerwynelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992776944435879930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2415636693035209321.post-47161087666090916442017-01-24T02:46:00.001-08:002017-01-24T05:14:06.623-08:00<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Palm Oil and the destruction of our Rainforest</span></span></h2>
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">The other day I posted a picture on facebook of an Orangutang that had died in a fire caused by people burning virgin rainforest to make room for the production of palm oil. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #990000; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">This shocked me and I decided to look into this more.</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #990000;">Palm oil is cheap and it's a common ingredient in lots of foods and household products, but just like with everything else that's 'cheap'- it comes at a horrible cost.</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #990000;">Huge areas of unspoiled rain forest are bulldozed to the ground each and every minute to make way for palm oil plantations in countries like Borneo, Sumatra, Indonesia and Malaysia.</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #990000;">This deforesting operation is being done on a scale and speed that is unbelievably staggering.</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #990000;">It's appallingly apparent that the people managing the palm oil business and the workers who are carrying out the actual clearing of the forest have zero regard for the fact that they're destroying the abundant and endangered wildlife that calls the forests home.</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #990000;">As a matter of fact the deforestation workers are instructed to get rid of any wildlife that happens to get in the way- and it doesn't matter how inhumanely they complete this task- including running over orangutans with their logging trucks.</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #990000;">Because of forests being cleared to make way for palm oil plantations, in just the last 20 years 90% of orangutan habitat has been obliterated. That's a difficult reality to let sink in.</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #990000;">If this kind of deforestation continues at the pace it's happening at now, orangutans could face extinction in the wild in 2016, and the jungle habitat that they call home could be entirely gone within 20 years. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">Nearly 50% of products sold in supermarkets contain palm oil. Palm oil is grown, at the moment mainly in Malaysia and Indonesia. But now the Congo is under threat. To see </span><span style="background-color: transparent;">HOW YOUR DAILY ROUTINE CAN HELP THE RAINFOREST go to:</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span> <span style="color: #990000;"><a href="http://www.rainforestfoundationuk.org/media.ashx/38436-rainforest-foundation-uk-palm-oil-guide-2016-update.pdf">http://www.rainforestfoundationuk.org/media.ashx/38436-rainforest-foundation-uk-palm-oil-guide-2016-update.pdf</a></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #990000;">Animals threatened by Palm Oil development in the Congo</span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="background-color: white;">BUFFALO</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #990000;">CHIMPANZEE </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #990000;"><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #990000;">ELEPHANT </span></div>
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<a href="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRAvcxvj4ARepIuncRU9lqfoUHUmfcYbACeyuntDOnpRBHyV1APEA" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #990000;"><img border="0" src="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRAvcxvj4ARepIuncRU9lqfoUHUmfcYbACeyuntDOnpRBHyV1APEA" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #990000;">GORILLA</span></div>
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<a href="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQh_wQhV5fS2GgmCmo-nAZyrGI7pvrk_Cjb6zN8u5oim0uFjNvD" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #990000;"><img border="0" src="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQh_wQhV5fS2GgmCmo-nAZyrGI7pvrk_Cjb6zN8u5oim0uFjNvD" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span> <span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span> <span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span>
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<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Varela Round", sans-serif; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #990000;">However, there is something that we can do to make sure that a disaster such as this never happens!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Varela Round", sans-serif; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #990000;">All we have to do is stop buying products that contain palm oil that is not a certified sustainable palm oil product as an ingredient, this will help reduce the insane demand for this incredibly unsustainable product.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Varela Round", sans-serif; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #990000;">Palm oil is found in many of the products that we use every day - from breadsticks to anti-dandruff shampoos - so for goodness sake, please check the label each and every time you buy.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Varela Round", sans-serif; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #990000;">A good site to visit for supermarkets and companies that use sustainable palm oil is <a href="http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/shoppingethically/palmoilfreelist.aspx">http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/shoppingethically/palmoilfreelist.aspx</a></span></div>
gerwynelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992776944435879930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2415636693035209321.post-40940013548863390662016-05-17T08:12:00.000-07:002016-05-17T08:12:50.735-07:00Labskaus - Lobscouse – Lobsgóws<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Labskaus -</span></b></span><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">
Lobscouse – <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="cysill"></a>Lobsgóws<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">The origin of the name is unclear but
Labskaus was first mentioned in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Germany</st1:place></st1:country-region>
in 1701 for a dish associated with sailors.
At that time they would be at sea for weeks and sometimes months and had
to use provisions that would last a long time such as salted meat, potatoes and
onions. This dish can still be found on
menus in Northern German, Danish and Swedish <span class="apple-style-span">restaurant with many variations including the
Schleswig-Holstein</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> version which includes beetroot, gherkin and rollmops
topped with a fried egg. Takes a bit of
getting use to as it comes out pink.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span lang="EN-GB">The seafarers from Northern Germany naturally came to
Liverpool docks and passed on the recipe which was adopted to such an extent
that those working in <st1:place w:st="on">Liverpool</st1:place> docks were called
‘Scoucers’ after this dish.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">In the 19<sup>th</sup> Century thousands of
Welsh people flocked to <st1:place w:st="on">Liverpool</st1:place> to find
work. They brought the recipe back with
them and adjusted it slightly depending on where they lived, the local
ingredients available and include either beef, lamb or pork.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Each family in <st1:place w:st="on">North
Wales</st1:place> will have their own version of Lobsgóws this is my version with a few added ingredients from the
traditional.</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UWw7YHxs2_k/VrjsSaW6opI/AAAAAAAADqg/fYcICzAp5s0/s1600/DSC_1003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UWw7YHxs2_k/VrjsSaW6opI/AAAAAAAADqg/fYcICzAp5s0/s320/DSC_1003.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Serves 4 to 5</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">500g Diced beef (traditional shin beef but I tend to use
stewing steak)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">500g Diced Potatoes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">250g Diced carrots <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">250g Chopped onions <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">250g Diced parsnips <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">250g Diced Swede <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">2 tablespoons<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">2 teaspoon Sherry vinegar <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">3 teaspoon Red Current Jelly <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">2 teaspoons Worcester sauce <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">1 teaspoon Thyme<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">¼ teaspoon Pepper<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Stock enough to cover<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Salt to taste<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pR-9JxJ22Hk/VrjsWjgg1sI/AAAAAAAADqk/qodDySqde6k/s1600/DSC_1004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pR-9JxJ22Hk/VrjsWjgg1sI/AAAAAAAADqk/qodDySqde6k/s320/DSC_1004.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Add oil to a heavy base casserole dish and fry the meat in
batches until brown.</div>
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Remove meat from dish and reduce the heat and gently fry the
onion until soft.</div>
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Return beef to casserole dish add the stock, vinegar,
redcurrant jelly, Worcester sauce, thyme and pepper. </div>
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Place casserole dish in a preheated oven
at 160ºC and cook for 1 hour.</div>
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Add the diced vegetables and more stock to cover if needed and
return to the oven at 150ºC for a further two hours. </div>
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Check after 1 hour to see if more water
is required and taste, add more seasoning if required.</div>
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After cooking for 2 hours check if meat is nice and tender, if
not cook for a further ½ hour.</div>
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This dish can then be served with crusty bread, but it will
taste even better if left for one day and then reheated.</div>
gerwynelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992776944435879930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2415636693035209321.post-9582232841095530092016-01-08T13:04:00.003-08:002016-01-08T13:04:51.144-08:00Chicken Basque with Blaen-y-Nant Chorizo<div style="text-align: center;">
<h2>
Chicken Basque with Blaen-y-Nant Chorizo</h2>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_e2xxvl7QCc/VkD-eumCOWI/AAAAAAAADi4/pOO5csgNNMw/s1600/DSC_0985.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="321" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_e2xxvl7QCc/VkD-eumCOWI/AAAAAAAADi4/pOO5csgNNMw/s400/DSC_0985.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chicken Basque ready for the oven</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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My mother-in-law is an exceptionally good cook and every time we go to stay with them we are spoilt by an array of excellent meals. But occasionally my father-in-law takes over cooking duties and even though he does not have a wide range of dishes this recipe is one he conjures up and always goes down well. </div>
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Even though this dish has a long list of ingredients it is quite easy to put together and does not take long to prepare.</div>
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I have used free range chicken pieces but also a locally produced chorizo from Blaen-y-Nant Farm which is located in the Hearathog Hills just above where I live. The farm is home to the Howatson family business, where livestock is lovingly cared for by the family. The animals are then used to creat artisan cured meats ensuring full tractability, product provenance, low food miles and from experience superior taste.</div>
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Ingredients</div>
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8 pieces of Free Range chicken pieces</div>
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1 tbs Welsh Rapeseed Oil (Blodyn Aur)</div>
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1 red pepper</div>
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2 small onions</div>
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50g sun-dried tomatoes</div>
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3 garlic cloves chopped</div>
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200g Blaen-y-Nant chorizo sausage thinly sliced</div>
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220g brown balsamic rice</div>
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Either 300 ml of home made chicken stock or 1 Chicken stock cube dissolved in about 300 mls of water</div>
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1 tbs tomato puree</div>
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1 tsp Herbes de Provence </div>
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1 tsp paprika</div>
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40g black olives (optional)</div>
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1 orange cut into thin slices</div>
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pinch of salt and pepper to season</div>
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Add the oil to a large heavy duty casserole pan. </div>
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On a medium heat gently fry the onions and peppers for about 5 minutes.</div>
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Add the garlic, tomato puree, chorizo and sun dried tomatoes and fry for a further minute.</div>
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Add the uncooked rice.</div>
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Place the chicken on top of the rice.</div>
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Sprinkle the herbs and paprika onto the chicken, add pinch of salt and pepper to season.</div>
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Add the olives and oranges.</div>
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Pour the chicken stock over the chicken and rice. The stock should just about cover the chicken, if not add some more water.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-23-BI97qLgE/VkD-qA9rC4I/AAAAAAAADjI/EMM5IB9OMtA/s1600/DSC_0988.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="249" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-23-BI97qLgE/VkD-qA9rC4I/AAAAAAAADjI/EMM5IB9OMtA/s320/DSC_0988.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chicken Basque ready to be served.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
You can either cook this on the hob on a medium heat for about an hour, check occasionally and if it is becoming to dry add some more water or place in the oven on 180C for about 1 hour then turn down to 170C for about 30 minutes. Again check after 1 hour that it isn't to dry, add about 100ml of water. When ready place in a bowl and goes well with some rustic bread.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U5vWsE7mTsE/VkD-ovvL3vI/AAAAAAAADjA/wQdvcsa46DM/s1600/DSC_0989.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U5vWsE7mTsE/VkD-ovvL3vI/AAAAAAAADjA/wQdvcsa46DM/s320/DSC_0989.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Served and ready to be eaten and enjoyed</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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If you have enjoyed this recipe please feel free to share it with your friends on Facebook, G+ twitter or through any other social media.</div>
gerwynelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992776944435879930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2415636693035209321.post-22023195419269959802015-12-01T08:23:00.003-08:002015-12-01T08:40:27.967-08:00Italian Style Welsh Lamb Chops<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Italian Style Welsh Lamb Chops</h2>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wKFmWud6jlk/VkD4YPSvgpI/AAAAAAAADig/jNcuxXGaV_4/s1600/DSC_0975.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wKFmWud6jlk/VkD4YPSvgpI/AAAAAAAADig/jNcuxXGaV_4/s400/DSC_0975.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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This is an excellent, easy dish to prepare for an evening meal. Again I have used my local butcher, J. H. Jones in Denbigh who only sources lamb from local farms no more than 5 or 6 miles from his shop. The sauce works well with this dish and for an additional option for a slight fiery kick add some bird's eye chillies. When I served this with some couscous to my family there was nothing left on the plate except the bones.</div>
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When done the lamb is succulent and just falls off the bone.</div>
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Ingredients</div>
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8 Welsh Lamb Chops</div>
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1 tin 400g chopped tomatoes</div>
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2 small shallot onions chopped</div>
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4 cloves of garlic chopped</div>
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4 pieces of sundried tomatoes</div>
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1 tbs tomato puree</div>
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3 pieces of anchovies</div>
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1 birds eye chilli diced finely (optional</div>
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3 sprigs of rosemary (or 1 1/2 tsp dried rosemary)</div>
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1 sprig of mint (or 1 tsp dried mint)</div>
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pinch of black pepper and salt to season</div>
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1 tbs Welsh Rapeseed oil (Blodyn Aur)</div>
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1/2 tbs balsamic vinegar</div>
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200ml water</div>
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Add the oil to a heavy duty casserole pan placed on a medium heat on the hob.</div>
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Add the onion and garlic and gently fry for about 5 minutes.</div>
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Add the sun dried tomatoes. chilli, anchovies and puree and fry for a further minute.</div>
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Arrange the chops on top of the onions.</div>
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Add the chopped tomatoes, rosemary, mint, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.</div>
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Top up with water until the lamb is just covered.</div>
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Place in a preheated oven on 180C and allow to cook for about 1 hour.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Qt-tjQEcVDg/VkD4dYd1J9I/AAAAAAAADio/9kv0kq1xGHE/s1600/DSC_0978.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Qt-tjQEcVDg/VkD4dYd1J9I/AAAAAAAADio/9kv0kq1xGHE/s320/DSC_0978.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The lamb goes well with either couscous or mashed potatoes.</div>
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If you have enjoyed this recipe please feel free to share it.</div>
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<br />gerwynelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992776944435879930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2415636693035209321.post-25673329999668324822015-11-04T11:18:00.002-08:002015-11-26T04:33:09.773-08:00Salt and Pepper Squid<br />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Salt and Pepper Squid</h2>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Salt and Pepper Squid ready to eat</td></tr>
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These are easy to make and excellent as a side dish for a Chinese or Thai meal. Ask your fishmonger to clean the squid for you if you prefer not to do it yourself. Once prepared the squid takes less than a minute to cook but are sensational to eat.<br />
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Ingredients<br />
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400g Squid cleaned<br />
60g cornflour<br />
60g plain flour<br />
2 tsp black pepper cracked<br />
2 tbs ground szechuan peppercorns<br />
2 tsp salt (Halen Mon)<br />
Welsh Rapeseed Oil (Blodyn Aur)<br />
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Cut the squid into rings and cut the tentacles if they are too long.<br />
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Grind the pepper and peppercorns and add to the flour and salt. Mix well together. Add the squid to the flour mixture and toss until they are coated all over.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prepared Squid</td></tr>
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I sallow fried the squid in enough oil to cover them once they were placed in the wok. I cooked these in small batches for about 30 to 40 seconds each time. I removed them and placed them in an oven proof dish and put them in the oven to keep warm on 120C until they are all cooked.</div>
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I served these with some sweet chilli sauce. My children are my biggest critics but these were a big hit. </div>
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If you enjoy this recipe please share using the links below.</div>
<br />gerwynelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992776944435879930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2415636693035209321.post-14730260864139585062015-10-24T05:08:00.001-07:002015-10-27T04:05:35.206-07:00Sa Va Tu'o'ng O't Prawn and Noodles Soup<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Sa Va Tu'o'ng O't Prawn and Noodles Soup</h2>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sa Va Tu'orn ot Prawn and Noodles Soup</td></tr>
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I have gone Posh with this recipe. Posh Pickles <a href="http://www.poshpicklesandpreserves.com/">http://www.poshpicklesandpreserves.com/</a> based in Cheshire recently sent me a jar of Vietnamese Sa Va Tu'o'ng O't relish to try out.<br />
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I enjoy using new ingredients also mixing and matching ingredients from different countries. This lemongrass and chilli relish had a lot to prove being a Great Taste 2015 award winner plus Silver at the World Hot Sauce Awards. It definitely did not disappoint with it's delicate lemony essence balanced by the chilli to give it a slight kick. <br />
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I am sure this relish would work well in a more robust dish but I wanted to see if it faired as well in a more delicate seafood dish using prawns and noodles. I have also used a dash of mirin and teriyaki sauce which go well with seafood plus some sugar snap peas and baby sweetcorn.<br />
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The combination worked exceptionally well and it was a thumbs up from the family when I made it. I can highly recommend this relish and will definitely be using it again.<br />
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Ingredients Serves 4<br />
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350g Prawns<br />
250g Noodles<br />
2 tsp Sa Va Tu'o'ng O't<br />
1 tsp Teriyaki sauce<br />
1 tsp Soy sauce<br />
1 tsp Mirin<br />
75g Sugar snap peas<br />
100g Baby sweetcorn<br />
Sprig of coriander<br />
Lime quartered (optional)<br />
1000ml water<br />
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I buy my prawns from our local asian food store as they are much cheaper than the supermarkets. I have to peel and devein them myself but this does not take long.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prawns peeled and deveined</td></tr>
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Chop up the vegetables ready to be cooked.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Baby sweetcorn and sugar snap peas ready to be chopped</td></tr>
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In a large saucepan add the water, Sa Va Tu'o'ng O't relish, teriyaki, Mirin and soy sauce and vegetables. Bring to the boil then Sa Va Tu'o'ng O't turn down and allow to simmer gentle for a few minutes. In another saucepan with plenty of water cook the noodles for 5 to 6 minutes. <br />
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About 2 minutes before the noodles are ready pop the prawns into the Sa Va Tu'o'ng O't broth. <br />
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Once the prawns are ready drain the noodles and serve into 4 separate bowls. Using a ladle add the prawn and Sa Va Tu'o'ng O't broth to each dish and serve with some chopped coriander and a quarter of lime which can be squeezed onto the dish.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The finished dish ready to be eaten</td></tr>
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If you have enjoyed this recipe please share using the Facebook, twitter or any of the other tabs belowgerwynelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992776944435879930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2415636693035209321.post-35399375708282473982015-10-20T08:06:00.002-07:002015-10-21T06:56:01.810-07:00Kedgeree with Smoked Haddock<br />
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Kedgeree with Smoked Haddock</h2>
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Kedgeree is thought to have originated with an Indian rice-and bean or rice and lentil dish Khichri, traced back to 1340 or earlier. It is widely believed that the dish was brought to to the UK by returning British colonials who had enjoyed it in India and introduced it to the UK as a breakfast dish in Victorian times, part of the fashionable Anglo-Indian cuisine. It is a firm favorite in our house but more at supper time than breakfast.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kedgeree</td></tr>
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Ingredients Serves 2</div>
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300g undyed smoked haddock</div>
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150g peeled prawns</div>
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200ml milk to cover fish</div>
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1tsp parsley</div>
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2 bay leaves</div>
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250g pre cooked rice</div>
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1 small onion finely chopped</div>
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2 tsp mild curry powder</div>
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1 tsp English mustard</div>
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1/4 tsp cayenne pepper</div>
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Pinch of salt and pepper</div>
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2 eggs</div>
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Cut the haddock into 3 or 4 pieces and place in a microwavable dish</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BxrjvHBZwTk/VcJftIXro9I/AAAAAAAACi8/MhQ0B4LHoP0/s1600/013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BxrjvHBZwTk/VcJftIXro9I/AAAAAAAACi8/MhQ0B4LHoP0/s320/013.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Add the milk, parsley and bay leaves and cover with cling film.</div>
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Pierce the cling film before placing the dish in the microwave and cook for 3 to 4 minutes depending on the power of your microwave. Remove and set aside leaving the clingfilm on the dish.</div>
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In a wok or frying pan placed over a moderate heat, pour in one tablespoon of oil and add the onions, mustard, curry powder and cayenne pepper. Fry gently until the onions are soft.</div>
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Add the rice and the milk you used to cook the haddock.</div>
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Add a pinch of salt and pepper and stir gently. Then add the prawns and haddock removing any skin. The haddock should easily flake away from the skin.</div>
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Cover and allow to simmer for a few minutes.</div>
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Place the ingredients into a serving dish and add 2 or 3 hard boiled eggs sliced in half.</div>
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If you enjoy this dish please feel free to share with others.</div>
<br />gerwynelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992776944435879930noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2415636693035209321.post-66375036687538326842015-10-12T09:35:00.001-07:002015-10-12T09:35:58.304-07:00Welsh Leek and Sweet Potato Soup<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Welsh Leek and Sweet Potato Soup</h2>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ibgl5EzCeAE/Vfx9Zh-O6bI/AAAAAAAADcE/Oj-GWMl6ixk/s1600/DSC_0937%2B%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ibgl5EzCeAE/Vfx9Zh-O6bI/AAAAAAAADcE/Oj-GWMl6ixk/s320/DSC_0937%2B%25284%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Those that follow this blog might have seen a bit of a trend recently. Leeks are quintessentially associated with Wales and are used widely in Welsh dishes.</div>
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The leek is proudly sported every St. David's day in Wales on March 1st and of course at every international rugby match. But the history of the leek in Wales goes back much further. In 589 AD as the story goes St. David himself ordered his soldiers to wear the leek on their helmets in a battle against the 'hated' pagan Saxon invaders of Britain. This might be a myth but demonstrates the close association there is between the Welsh and the leek.</div>
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Ingredients Serves 4</div>
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3 medium Welsh Leeks sliced</div>
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1 tbs Welsh rapeseed oil</div>
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4 180g sweet potatoes diced</div>
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pinch of salt and pepper to taste</div>
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Pinch of dry chilli (optional)</div>
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2 tbs cream</div>
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water to cover </div>
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1 cube of vegetable stock</div>
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Pour the oil into a thick based saucepan and place on a medium heat. </div>
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Add the leeks and sweat gently for about 4 to 5 minutes. </div>
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Add the diced potatoes and enough water just to cover all the vegetables.</div>
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Add a pinch of salt and pepper to taste.</div>
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Simmer gently for about 20 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are soft to cut.</div>
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Once ready, blitz the ingredients and spoon in the cream.</div>
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When serving sprinkle a pinch of chillies onto the surface of the soup.</div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">When serving sprinkle a pinch of chillies onto the surface of the soup.</span></div>
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Enjoy with some fresh crusty bread. If you enjoy this dish please share.</div>
<br />gerwynelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992776944435879930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2415636693035209321.post-75377599363224462052015-10-02T08:42:00.001-07:002016-02-07T05:33:44.145-08:00Welsh Luing Beef Casserole<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Welsh Luing Beef Casserole</h2>
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Cooked with Dark Side of the Moose Bitter, Denbigh Plumbs and Welsh Leeks</h3>
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I don't think you will get a more Welsh dish than this one. I have used Braising Luing Beef Steak from my friends farm which is located high in the Welsh Hills, a dark bitter from the Purple Moose Brewery based in Porthmadog in West Wales, Denbigh Plumbs which is specific to the area where I live and finally some homegrown Welsh Leeks.</div>
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I hadn't seen Iwan and Eleanor for a few years until I bumped into them in a local food festival. We got chatting and they showed me the beef they had for sale which comes from their own herd of Welsh Luing Beef. I use to work on a farm many moons ago near to where they now live (Hafod y Maidd, Glasfryn near to Corwen) and you have to be a hardy sole to live and work there all year round. Even in the summer it never really gets warm. This is why they have opted for rearing Luing cattle on their farm. This breed is a cross between a hardy native breed of Shorthorn cross Highland cow, originally from the Isle of Luing in Scotland. They explained to me that these home bred animals graze on the mountain heather and grass which results in a delicious, sweet tasting meat with natural marbling. (To contact Iwan and Eleanor Davies you can email them INFO@WELSHLUINGBEEF.CO.UK or visit their website <a href="http://www.welshluingbeef.co.uk/">http://www.welshluingbeef.co.uk/</a> )</div>
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I was looking for a good quality braising steak to go into a recipe I was developing and after their explanation I was sold and took a kilo of their finest cut.</div>
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The recipe I was looking to develop would incorporates local plumbs which are specific to the area where I live. Each year, around October time, there is even a festival specifically organised to celebrate the Denbigh Plumb. This plumb is sweet and juicy and would be ideal to use in a casserole to give it some sweetness to counteract the bitterness of the ale I was using but also give the dish a bit of depth.</div>
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The dark bitter used for this dish comes from one of my favorite breweries, Purple Moose, and they have a range of ales from a light ale to a dark bitter. <a href="http://www.purplemoose.co.uk/">http://www.purplemoose.co.uk/</a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ingredients for the casserole</td></tr>
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Ingredients Serves 4<br />
<br />
1Kg Diced Luing Beef<br />
500ml Dark Side of the Moose Bitter<br />
3 Denbigh Plumbs diced<br />
2 Carrots diced<br />
1 medium size onion chopped and diced<br />
3 medium size Welsh Leeks diced<br />
1 beef stock cube crumbled<br />
1 tsp pepper corns<br />
2 bay leaves<br />
1/2 teaspoon Anglesey Sea Salt<br />
11/2 tsp Herbs de Provence<br />
1 tbs flour<br />
2 tbs Welsh Rapeseed Oil (BlodynAur)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Diced Luing Beef</td></tr>
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Dice the beef and vegetables.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Diced Carrots and Welsh Leeks</td></tr>
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Pour 1tbs of rapeseed oil into a large casserole pan and add the onions. Fry gently for about 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the onions and set aside on a plate.<br />
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Add the remaining oil and beef in small batches and brown them off in the pan.</div>
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Add all the beef and onions back to the pan and add the flour, stir until the flour has disappeared.</div>
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Now add all the remaining vegetables. </div>
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Pour in the bitter and it should froth up slightly.</div>
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Add the remaining ingredients and a bit of water until the beef and vegetables are covered.</div>
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Place a lid on the dish and place in a pre-heated oven at 160C and allow to cook slowly for 3 to 4 hours. Top up with water if required.</div>
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As I had time to spare until the dish was ready I took the family up a local mountain called Siabod.<br />
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By the time we had been up and down this mountain we were ready for some tasty melt in the mouth beef casserole and this dish did not let us down. The beef was superb and there was an excellent balance between the slightly bitter sweet taste from the ale and plumbs. This dish would be excellent with either mash or jacket potatoes, enjoy.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hlPz706DeU8/Vg6OwAqG7GI/AAAAAAAADeY/iKEWfZ8qcUc/s1600/DSC_0974.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hlPz706DeU8/Vg6OwAqG7GI/AAAAAAAADeY/iKEWfZ8qcUc/s320/DSC_0974.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Casserole ready to serve</td></tr>
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gerwynelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992776944435879930noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2415636693035209321.post-51707500045967781162015-09-30T13:31:00.000-07:002015-09-30T13:31:04.382-07:00Scotch Egg with Hint of Spice<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Scotch Egg with Cumin, Coriander and </h2>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Edwards of Conwy Sausage Meat</h2>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scotch Egg with Edwards of Conwy Sausage Meat</td></tr>
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Recently my children have taken a liking to Scotch Eggs bought in our local Supermarket. Not that this is a bad thing as Scotch Eggs are very taste but as anything massed produced they can be full of preservatives etc. I decided to make my own and they were much easier to make and according to my children much tastier. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Edwards of Conwy Sausages</td></tr>
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For these scotch eggs I have used sausage meat from a local company Edwards of Conwy. I have known the owner, Ieuan Edwards, for a few years and I know he only uses the best quality cuts for his sausages.<br />
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Ingredients makes 4 Scotch Eggs<br />
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For the Sausage Mixture<br />
6 sausages (400g skin removed)<br />
parsley about 10g chopped finely<br />
1/4 tsp nutmeg<br />
1 tsp cumin seeds<br />
1 tsp coriander seeds<br />
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I have added cumin and coriander to add a little bit of spice to my scotch eggs. I roasted the seeds then ground them to a powder.<br />
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Add all the ingredients to a mixing bowl and use your hands to mix the ingredients together well<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sausage Meat mix</td></tr>
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Bring a saucepan of water to the boil and place 4 Free Range eggs into the boiling water. Remove after 5 minutes and place in a bowl of cold water. After they have cooled the egg shells should easily peel off. Once you have done this place to one side.<br />
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You will now need to prepare the coating to the scotch eggs.<br />
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I used 6 slices of bread, lightly toasted and then blitzed in a food mixer to prepare the breadcrumbs. Once done place in a bowl.<br />
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In a second bowl place three table spoons of flour in a bowl and add a teaspoon of salt and pepper and mix together.<br />
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Finally in a third bowl I cracked two eggs and then mix well.<br />
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Now you are ready to make the scotch eggs. Separate the sausage mix into 4 equal parts then place the first lot of sausage meat in one hand and flatten out to make a patty. With your other hand dip the egg into the flour and roll about until all the surface area is covered in flour. Then place the egg into the centre of your patty. Fold the sausage meat around the egg. <br />
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Now dip the scotch egg into the egg mixture and roll around to ensure the whole surface is coated. Then dip into the bread crumbs. Repeat the egg and bread crumbs process until you have a good covering for your scotch egg.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K89PeGr9iiE/Vfx3T8ox7JI/AAAAAAAADbE/mC2InnsKy5A/s1600/DSC_0948%2B%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K89PeGr9iiE/Vfx3T8ox7JI/AAAAAAAADbE/mC2InnsKy5A/s320/DSC_0948%2B%25284%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scotch Eggs coated with breadcrumbs</td></tr>
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Repeat the process for the remaining three eggs.<br />
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I deep fried my scotch eggs at a temperature of 180C for 4 minutes and served them with some home made chips, scummy was my daughter's comment.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scotch Eggs ready to be eaten with some home made chips</td></tr>
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<br />gerwynelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992776944435879930noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2415636693035209321.post-47533310562313839202015-09-22T03:43:00.002-07:002015-09-22T10:09:33.534-07:00TOM YUM KUNG and the History of Thai Food<h2 style="text-align: center;">
TOM YUM KUNG</h2>
<div style="text-align: center;">
By Guest Blogger Paul Muir<br />
Cambodia<br />
<a href="http://historyofasianfood.blogspot.co.uk/">http://historyofasianfood.blogspot.co.uk/</a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I8nOzQRD7n8/Vf_xiLK3JAI/AAAAAAAADdY/o31c1DmIjpk/s1600/Tom%2BYum%2BKung.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I8nOzQRD7n8/Vf_xiLK3JAI/AAAAAAAADdY/o31c1DmIjpk/s1600/Tom%2BYum%2BKung.jpg" title="Tom Yum Kung picture supplied by Paul Muir" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tom Yum Kung</td></tr>
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I have been following Paul Muir's blog for a while now and enjoy not only his recipes but also the history behind the food. Therefore when I asked him to be my guest blogger for this week I looked forward to getting his recipe and maybe a bit of background information. What I got was not only a fantastic Tom Yum Kung recipe but also a full blown history of Thai food explaining why it is one of the world's great fusion cuisine. </div>
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<h3>
Serves 4<br />Ingredients</h3>
<br />
12 large Malaysian giant river prawns (medium size)<br />
1 tbsp vegetable oil<br />
3 lemongrass stalks, white part only, bruised<br />
3 thin sliced galangal, peeled<br />
8 cups (2 litres) chicken stock (homemade)<br />
6 -8 Thai bird's eye chillies, brised<br />
6 Kaffir lime leaves (fresh only) torn and bruised<br />
2 tbsp fish sauce<br />
Good handful of straw mushrooms<br />
12 cherry tomatoes<br />
Small handful of coriander leaves for garnishing<br />
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<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px; text-align: justify;">METHOD</span><br style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px; text-align: justify;">1. In the sink, peel the prawns, leaving the tails attached. Remove the heads from (9) nine of the prawns, leaving (3) still attached, so to make the finished dish look more interesting. DO NOT throw away the shells or heads, they will be used later.</span><br style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px; text-align: justify;">2. In a large bowl or wok, heat the (1) one tablespoon of vegetable oil to medium heat. Add the prawn shells and heads for about 4-5 minutes, stirring and gently crushing the heads with the tip of a wooden spoon until the shells and heads turn bright orange.</span><br style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px; text-align: justify;">3. In the sink clean and devein the prawns with a sharp paring chef’s knife. Be careful not to cut too deep into the flesh of the prawns back.</span><br style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px; text-align: justify;">4. In the pot with the prawn shells and heads, add only (1) one of the lemongrass stalks, galangal, and the chicken stock. Bring to the boil, and then reduce the heat to a slow simmer for about 20 minutes.</span><br style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px; text-align: justify;">5. Now, strain the liquid from the pot through a fine sieve. Discard the solids and reserve the liquid.</span><br style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px; text-align: justify;">6. Bruise the remaining lemongrass stalks with the back of a chef’s knife to release the oil inside and put in the pot with the reserved liquid, chilies (bruised), lime leaves (torn and bruised), fish sauce, mushrooms, and cook gently for 2-3 minutes.</span><br style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px; text-align: justify;">7. Add the prawns and cook for 4 minutes or until the prawns are pink and tender. Take off the heat and add the cherry tomatoes.</span><br style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px; text-align: justify;">8. Now for taste, add the lime juice and check seasoning, adjust the flavor to YOUR LIKING with either more fish sauce or more lime juice.</span><br style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px; text-align: justify;">9. Garnish with coriander leaves, and serve the soup hot. Remember that in Thailand they do not serve the rice hot like in the west.</span></span><br />
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<br />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;">History of Thai Food</span></h2>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white;"><a href="http://historyofasianfood.blogspot.co.uk/"> http://historyofasianfood.blogspot.co.uk/</a></span></div>
<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">The food of Thailand is startlingly bold and imaginative. Carefully crafted to appeal to all senses, it combines beautiful presentation with fragrant aromas, contrasting yet complementing flavors and textures, and often fearsome chili-heat.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6px; margin: 4.5pt 0in; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: white;">Although Thai food appears unique it is in fact one of the world’s great fusion cuisines. The country may never have been colonized, but Thai cooks certainly absorbed foreign influences. As in much of Asia, Chinese culinary techniques are very strong, particularly in the form of noodle dishes, soups, and stir-frying to steaming. Indian spices give fresh-tasting Thai curries their deeper, toasty notes, while the flavors of Southeast Asia are tasted in satay and coconut curries. Even Thai chilies are not indigenous, but were introduced by the Portuguese in the 16 th century.<br />Thai cooks, many of them attached to the Royal Court, transformed these new ingredients and cooking techniques into something distinctly Thai by combining them with ancient seasoning of garlic, pepper, coriander root, lemongrass, pungent herbs, sour kaffir lime, tamarind, galangal, Asian shallots, coconut, palm sugar, fish sauce, and shrimp pastes</span></span><br />
<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/31/Vatch_kaeng_phet.jpg/222px-Vatch_kaeng_phet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/31/Vatch_kaeng_phet.jpg/222px-Vatch_kaeng_phet.jpg" /></a><br />
<span style="background-color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: white;">These flavors are not, by any means, subtle, but Thai cooking blends them into graceful dishes where no one taste overpowers the other. Above all, Thai cooks value balance, and it is the combination of sweet, sour, salty and hot tastes that makes the food vibrant. With seasoning so important, it is no surprise that the mastery of Thai cooking lies in the labor---intensive creation of its curry and soup pastes, which heavily contrasts with the cuisine’s quick cooking techniques.<br />The incredible aroma of a hot bowl of Tom Yum says much about Thai food. One of its distinctive characteristics is the use of fresh seasonings to impart a lemony essence and floral flavors. In Thai cooking, garlic and shallots, along with the aromatic root seasonings of ginger, turmeric, and the peppery galangal, is the foundations of many dishes. Fish sauce and shrimp paste add a salty taste, chili some heat, and coconut and palm sugar bring sweetness. But it is the sour yet refreshing citrus notes of lime, kaffir lime leaves, and lemongrass that balance the dish.<br />Although Thai cuisine is often described as lemony, in fact, lemons do not grow at all in a tropical climate. Instead, the juice of small, sour Thai lime is often added to cut the sweetness and oiliness of dishes. An alternative to a sour Thai taste can come from tamarind or vinegar. The bitter juice of the kaffir lime is very rarely used in Thai cooking, but its leaves and bumpy rind are used for their musty, limey fragrance and to hide the smell of the fish sauce or shrimp paste. Lemongrass, bruised with the back of a chef’s knife to release the oils and yet add more fragrance into the curry pastes and soups.<br />A visit to bustling, cosmopolitan Bangkok can make Thailand appear very urban, but in many ways the country remains predominantly an agricultural society. The food most people eat everyday therefore reflects the simple, labor- intensive lifestyle of the paddy fields. Many families cook in an outside kitchen; the simplest meal is rice, grilled fish and a chili dipping sauce (nam phrik), and chili relish.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="205" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/Rice_farmers_Mae_Wang_Chiang_Mai_Province.jpg/300px-Rice_farmers_Mae_Wang_Chiang_Mai_Province.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rice being harvested in Central Thailand</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">The central plains of Thailand are dominated by rice paddy fields, and the fertile land of the country’s heart beat allows many families there to be essentially self-supporting. Even a small farm can provide rice, vegetables, a few herbs, fruit, fish from the canals (klongs), and frogs and insects from the fields. With enough to sustain themselves there is little need to hunt, with the diet supplemented by a little meat from pigs, chickens and ducks. all over Thailand there is a plentiful supply of food; fish from the southern coastline, rice in the north, and Thais can pick corn, coconuts, pineapples, and harvest rice.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: white;">Like many Asians, the Thais consider a meal a meal only if it is served with rice (khao). Rice and food are synonymous and, with the exception of snacks, Thai dishes are generally thought of in terms of the flavors and nutrients they add to plain rice. Rice makes up the biggest proportion of the meal, a first mouthful is savored before any of the other dishes are tasted, and then just a little of each dish is added to flavor it.<br />The long-grain jasmine rice grown in Thailand is one of the most highly regarded in the world, the Thais themselves calling cooked rice (khao suay), ‘beautiful rice’. Treated simply, the rice is usually steamed to a fluffy yet not sticky texture and releases a delicate aroma, though not a floral one, the jasmine referring to the appearance not the fragrance of the rice. It provides a neutral palate to balance the power of Thai dishes.<br />Thailand is also one of the few countries to value sticky long-grain rice. The rest of Asia rarely uses sticky rice, and then mostly for sweet dessert, snack dishes. Only in the relatively infertile mountains of northern Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos where it flourishes is this ancient grain used as a staple.<br />Black sticky rice is also popular and while other cuisines shun black food, the Thais have embraced this earthy tasting rice, which combines so well with sugar to become a sweet dessert dish.<br />At the table, Thai rice is served much hotter than other Asian countries, and usually kept warm, covered, spoonful’s served out onto the plate only when needed. Sticky rice is traditionally served in a bamboo basket to keep it warm and moist, and is always eaten with the fingers, rolled up into a ball and dipped into sauces or consumed with dishes. Sticky rice is also transformed into sweets, usually combined with coconut, as in the banana leaf parcels of sticky rice sold on the streets.<br />Despite the majority of Thais being Buddhists, very few Thais are vegetarian. Instead most observe a distinction between killing an animal themselves and eating it, with fishing deemed perfectly acceptable. Thais have never been great meat-eaters or hunters. In such a fertile environment food is easily foraged from the land, river and sea, so protein is more likely to come in the form of fish, tofu, and nuts.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.3704px; line-height: 17.3186px; text-align: left;">Snakehead Fish packed with lemongrass <br />and kaffir lime leaves ready for steaming</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #990000; color: white; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">Thailand’s long southern tail offers kilometers of seafood-rich water, relatively inexpensive and eaten at almost every meal, especially in the south. Even in the landlocked north, the country is endowed with plentiful fresh-water fish, in its extensive network of streams, rivers, ponds, even rice paddy fields, especially during the monsoon season.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: white;">Fish tends to be served whole in Thailand, simply steamed or grilled with chili, lime juice or ginger. It is also roasted, wrapped in banana leaves, or deep-fried and smothered with a sauce. Seafood is also notably used in Thailand’s hot and sour salads (yum). Thai dishes also have their distinctive taste from the sea in the form of seasoning like shrimp paste and fish sauce.<br />As the Thais eat almost no dairy products, the creaminess of their savory dishes, rich sweets comes instead from the coconut, a fruit available and scattered with abundance across the whole country.<br />The coconut is one of the most versatile foods in the world. Unusually, Thai cooking doesn’t make much use of animal fats so coconut cream, the main source of fat in the Thai diet, also replaces oil or butter in many recipes. Curry pastes and fresh seasonings are cooked in the oil that separates out from the heated coconut cream, then meat, poultry, seafood or vegetables are added to the soup.<br />Fresh coconut cream isn’t in fact the liquid found inside the nut, but is made from grated coconut meat steeped in hot water and ‘milked ‘to produce a liquid with a rich, thick consistency. This cream contains little water so that it can be cooked to a high temperature. Its thinner relation, coconut milk, is taken from a second soaking. The coconut meat is also grated for cooking some dishes.<br />One of the most distinctive aspects of Thai cooking is its use of fresh herbs. Herbs certainly contribute flavor, handfuls tossed into dishes to give a pungent essence.<br />In most Thai recipes, coriander is the essential herb. Unusually it is the roots that are prized for their aroma and heady taste, pounded with garlic, salt and peppercorns as a foundation for many dishes. The refreshing leaves and stems are added to almost all soups, salads and fish dishes.<br />Thai cooks also use three varieties of basil, all quite different from European basil. Thai sweet basil has a basic flavor, its aniseed pungency sweetening soups and red yellow curries. The strong aroma of holy basil, sometimes called ‘hot basil ‘because of its peppery spiciness, is accentuated when cooked and used only in strong dishes. There is also a delicate lemon basil thrown into soups and seafood. Spearmint is added fresh to seafood or minced meat salads, it’s cool fragrance and taste a contrast to the chili-heat of these dishes.<br />Thai soups are not quite what you might expect from the name. A unique component of most meals, they are neither the individual bowls of chicken noodle or minetrone soup found in western cooking nor the digestive broths of Chinese and Japanese cuisine. Instead, a Thai soup (tom), is brought to the table with all the other dishes, to form a harmonious, balanced meal. Ladled into small bowls, the occasional spoonful is sipped during a dinner to counterbalance the other flavors. Thought of only as part of the whole, never as a dish that stands alone. Thai soups can vary enormously, some bursting with spicy, strong flavors, others almost delicate, balancing the sharp tastes or cutting the richness of other dishes.<br />To many people outside of Thailand, Tom Yum is one of the best known Thai dishes, a hot prawn soup (Tom Yum Kung) aromatic with lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves. To the Thai’s (tom) which literally means to ‘boil ‘and (yum) to ‘mix’. A Tom Yum, with its intense combination of heat, astringency and a sweet fragrance, is a liquid version of the most essential elements of Thai cooking and appear to have originated in China.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Tom Yum Kung</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: white;">Thai food is renowned as one of the hottest cuisines; its use of chilies is world renowned and feared by the uninitiated. With so much use of chilies in Thai cooking it’s hard to believe that chilies are not indigenous, but introduced to Thailand by the Portuguese in the 16th century.<br />There is lots of chili varieties used in Thai cooking and they use different ones to match different dishes. The much used tiny bird’s eye chili (phrik kee ngoo; mouse droppings) is famous for its heat, the Thais say it gives them power and strength. Long, or sky-pointing, red, green or yellow chilies are milder and are used in salads, stir-fries and curries, especially in northern Thailand were dishes are less scorching.<br />Dried chilies are also used to gives a more mellow taste to dishes, they are soaked in hot water to soften and used in Thai curry pastes, very similar to some Indian techniques. While dishes containing fresh green chilies tend to be cooked for a shorter time to keep flavors fresh, red curries made with dried red chilies are cooked a little longer to give a nutty, spicy taste and fragrance.<br />The contribution of the royal court to the cooking of Thai food is perhaps more significant than in any other nation. Thai royalty, by using food as a status symbol to set themselves apart from their agricultural society, elevated the art of cooking to high culture and encouraged immense creativity among Thai cooks. It was thus the aristocracy who mainly recorded Thai recipes, with even kings penning their own cook books.<br />Royal cuisine has, despite this, always been surprisingly similar to the food eaten by the majority of the population, the biggest difference being the quality of produce and exquisite presentation. Elegant, subtle and refined, this Thai cuisine tends to be served as part of a multi-course affair, the emphasis on smaller portions and beautiful fruit and vegetable carving, an art form passed down from the royal court to the humblest Thai in a village.<br />Tom yum kung as a whole dish is hard to trace. The origin of adding prawns, there is no evidence where a Thai spicy soup with prawns originates from.<br />We can write about many aspects of tom yum, including its medical properties, written historical evidence from poems and songs and some of the first Thai cook books, Thai royal court, religion, and the Sukhothai to Ratthanakosia periods (1157 to present)<br />In the case of Thai cuisine, the formation of the culinary form came about in a landscape dominated by the culture of the central Thais, and led by their aristocratic elites. Two factors played an important part in this formulation; first, the social dynamic of Thai settlement, and secondly, the emergence of Bangkok as a political and cultural center of Siam following the fall of Ayutthaya (Old Thai capital) in 1767.<br />Thai cuisine has been influenced by Indian curry and Chinese stir- frying techniques. In fact traditional curry pastes and Thai cuisine has its own culinary style and the most complex and refined in Asia. Thai cuisine today can be divided into seven subsidiary variations. Six of these are distinguishable regional variations, Northern or (Lanna), North-Eastern or (Isan), Eastern, Sothern, Central Plains and Bangkok. The seventh variation is the Royal Court Cuisine.<br />The culture of food responds to major political happenings, changes in the territorial order of regimes, great discoveries, the outcome of wars, and the triumphs and defeats of countries.<br />Thai cuisine has been a product of transnational interactions. During the long period of the 16th- 11th centuries the Dvaravati kingdom was influenced by Indian culture. In the 15th century, Khmer cooks introduced Indian food patterns such as curries and boiled sweets.<br />There is evidence of human interaction starting in the Sukhothai period (1157-1438 A.D.) and the capital of Ayutthaya (1350-1767) and its succession of kings both weak and strong, until the fall of the Thai capital of Ayutthaya by the Burmese in 1767. One of the generals of the last king of Ayutthaya, known as Phya Taksin, succeeded in driving the Burmese out of the country. He became the king of Thailand and moved the capital from Ayutthaya which was in ruins and mostly depopulated, to Tonburi on the banks of the Chao Phraya River (1767-1782)</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/40/WatChaiwatthanaram_2295b.JPG/250px-WatChaiwatthanaram_2295b.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.3704px; line-height: 17.3186px; text-align: left;">The ruins of Wat Chaiwatthanaram at Ayutthaya</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: white;"><br />King Rama I of the present Chakri dynasty succeeded king Taksin in 1782 (Ratthanakosin period, 1782-present). So to understand the cuisine of Thailand it is important to trace back these different periods of time in history.<br />During the Sukhothai period it was an important commercial center for the trade of food. This era of history was the emergence of traditional (muang) administration with Indian mandala concepts of the centralized state.<br />Since the 13th century, concentrated Thai political settlements have been called (muang). With no clear defined boundaries, the muang were subjected to the authority of much larger muang and above this were the ruling landlords called (chao) which controlled the huge labor forces called the (phrai). This can also be seen in the vocabulary of Thai cuisine in which rice for noble (khao chao) and rice for the commoner (khao phrai). This can be traced back in history to the ancient Mons in the Chao Phraya River delta and comes about by the rulers importing good quality rice from foreign traders for their consumption, leaving the commoners to eat the inferior rice. So it was the Chao that came to control most of the trade that came to Siam from other parts of Asia. Many of these traders settled on Siamese shores. In the early days of the capital Ayutthaya there were settlements of Chinese, Viet, Cham, Mon, Portuguese, Arab, Indian, Persian, Japanese and Malay. This was a bubbling pot of culture and trade that heavily influenced Thai cuisine. Some of the curry pastes that evolved in the Sukothai period are very similar to that of the present day Massaman Curry.<br />In this period aquatic animals, plants, and herbs are extensively used, the origin of the Thai diet which begins with water borne communities consuming rice and fish. This can be seen clearly on King Ramkhamhaeng’s (1279-1298) famous stone inscription, so it’s clear that at this time rice and fish are major ingredients in the then Thai cuisine.<br />It was under the rule of King Narai in 1685 that the cooks were cooking Chinese, French, Japanese, Persian, and Portuguese dishes. At this time there was one very important addition to Thai cuisine, the chili, introduced to Ayutthaya by the Portuguese and was included in many dishes to add more spice (heat). In that time before chilies were introduced the spice (heat) used in dishes was pepper.<br />King Nari was noted by the Persian Ambassador as having a keen liking for Indian cooking and this became part of the Royal kitchen at the time.<br />Largely ignored in historical records is the trade and interaction between the Thai muang and its hinterland which was less obvious and based on basic culinary skills and ingredients, but is revealed in Thai language, The Thai word for snack is (khanom) and dervived from old Khmer, and language from Lao. So rural people (Chao Chonabot), stand in great contrast to the Thai muang which are developing more complex cuisines. A constant with both the Chao Chonaba and the muang can still be heard today with the common expression like that of “kin khao, kin pla” which means “eat rice, eat fish” which can be used as a reference to food or as a polite greeting to somebody. It is very common to hear an older Thai person great somebody or you with “kin khao reu yung?”(have you eaten rice yet?)<br />By the 15th century, Ayutthaya had become a seaborne trading city, having close proximity to Siam, it was first influenced by the Chinese (Chin) which stretched back to the 13th-14th centuries. By the 15th century, Ayutthaya had become a crossroads between Chinese and the Indian Ocean trade. Another important thing that happened in this period was the introduction of the iron wok, spatula, and the techniques of stir-frying from the Chinese, particularly from the Hokkien dialect group. In Siam there are reportably five groups of Chinese that settled in Siam. The Hokkien, Teochew, Hainanese, Cantonese, and Hakka, all referred by the Thais as (Chin). The Chinese are a very important part of the rise of Thai cuisine, first dominated by the Hokkien from the 15th century onwards, and the other being the Teochew, which are interwoven with the rise of Bangkok in the early 19th century. After the fall of the Ming dynasty and the rise of the Qing (Manchu) in 1644, a large number of Hokkien fled China and joined the Hokkien community in Ayutthaya. Many were ennobled by the Ayutthaya king’s during those times, and a network of alliances were established between the Thai court and the Hokkien community.<br />At the time it was very clear that the trade was in full swing, with the Chinese market (talat chin) in Ayutthaya offering meals that were not available to the court of King Nari, Simon de la Loubere (1642-1729), observed that the Chinese can eat anything, even cats, dogs, horses, and mules.<br />But it can be said that the Chin were not as strong a link to the nobles as the ‘Farang’s” and the “Khaek’s”. In the Thai language of that time and still very much used in Thai language today it seems the Thai word ’Farang’ is used to indicate every white-skinned foreigner and could come from the medieval Arabic word (fangi) or a French word ‘frac’. The word for guava in Thai is also farang! This fruit was introduced by the Portuguese about 400 years ago, and ‘Khaek’ is used to indicate to Indians, South Asians, Middle-easterners, Persians, Indo-Malay’s and most Asian Muslims. In the early Thai cook books farang referred to Portuguese influence, and khaek to Islamic, Persian accent.<br />The first farangs to arrive in Siam were the Portuguese, who established an embassy to the court of Ayutthaya in 1511, following their capture of the port city of Malacca on the Malay Peninsula. It is documented they began to settle and build a trading station in Ayutthaya during the reign of King Chairacha (1534-1546). Soon came the Spanish, Dutch, English, Dannes and the French throughout the 16th century and early 17th century. This period shows a strong link between the Portuguese traders and the Ayutthaya court and many new ingredients and cooking techniques into Siam.<br />After the fall of Ayutthaya (1350-1767) came the new settlement of the capital Thonburi (1767-1782) on the banks of the Chao Phraya River (River of Kings). The raise of King Taksin, and the turning point of the Hokkien, who enjoyed enormous favors from the Ayutthaya court, while the Teochew community were located outside Ayutthaya’s city walls in the port area of ‘Bann Suan Plu’. After King Taksin established Thonburi as his royal capital, he grew in favor of the Teochew by giving them land on the east bank of the Chao Phraya River, opposite the Royal Palace. During this time, many Teochew families rose to prominence which encouraged more Teochew to migrate from China and the Hokkien-Teochew divided which can be seen today with the location of the old Hokkien temples which are in Thonburi, while the old Teochew temples are on the opposite bank of the Chao Phraya River.<br />Thai cuisine reflects the way people have an identity with the cultural landscape. Initiated by the royal court and two-centuries in the making show how the Thai culinary culture views itself in terms of social classes, gender roles, and importantly national identity.<br />A social site that is important to add, is the role the temple (Wat) played as a religious center of the community and its important to add that most Thais practice the form of Theravaada Buddhism which does not prohibit or discourage the eating of meat except as a voluntary practice. These temples were grounds for cooking techniques, raw ingredients collected from the countryside and those acquired through trade. Through the daily giving of alms to the monks for merit making (tham bun) gave an ongoing communication about food from the surrounding communities. This can be seen in the North-Eastern parts of Siam which is now referred to as an area called Isan and has close borders with Lao; even the language spoken is different today as the language spoken in Bangkok.<br />In the Thonburi period came about the formation of written evidence in the way of cookbooks, poems, and songs about the diet of the era.<br />One of the first cookbooks gave birth through the Royal Court and was published in 1908 by Lady Plian Phasakorawong (1847-1912), the cookbook was called ‘skillful women cooks’(Mae khrua hua pa) perhaps a celebration by Lady Plian to the role of women cooks in the Siamese court, stretching back to the time of Ayutthaya.<br />The Thonburi farang community centered around the Santa Cruz catholic church built in 1770 and the Khaek, Islamic community of Klong (canal) Bang Luang, which still has a Sunni mosque today. This area grew with the exodus out of Ayutthaya in 1767 and many surviving nobles close to the Bunnag family settled in this area of Thonburi and its possible that Lady Plian discovered some culinary delights along the waterways of Klong Bang Luang. Like the Thai dish (Kaeng Mussaman), the word Mussaman means ‘Muslim’ (Curry of the Muslim). Today Klong Bang Luang is known as Ýan talat khaek’ (Khaek market) and one of the reasons many Muslims settled in the area was the market selling Halal produce. First settled by the Persians, the area was also populated in the 20th century by Malay Sunnis from Pattani after the sultanate of Pattanni was annexed by Siam in 1909.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">King Rama II</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: white;"><br />In 1811, King Rama II appointed eight committees to the task of surveying all arable land in the central plains area. He ordered that all land must be cultivated and anyone found to own large stretches of uncultivated land would be required to hand it over to the state. All the landowners were obliged to pay a land tax, which was usually paid in rice-a tax known as “Khawka”. As well as practical reforms, the king ordered that customary ceremonies were to be carried out before measuring land, such as making offerings to the spirits of the fields on ceremonial days and anyone caught doing so would have his land confiscated and given to others.<br />It was well known that Rama II was a lover of the arts and in particular the literary arts. He was an accomplished poet and anyone with the ability to write a refined piece of poetry would gain favor of the king, this led to him being dubbed the “poet king”. It was because of this special circumstance that the poet Sunthon Phu was able to elevate himself from Phrai status to Khun and later Phra. Also known as the drunken writer-Sunthon Phu authored numerous works, many included the foods of the Royal Court, which gives us an insight to that era.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: white;"><br /> Taken from the poem “Nirat phu khao thong”<br /> In front of the wharf I saw the king’s boat-<br /> Tears came to my eyes at the memory,<br /> when the golden palanquin would be.<br /> The king was want to compose poetry,<br /> which it was my duty to recite.<br /> Through the long, long Kathin ceremony,<br /> to his satisfaction and my delight.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: white;"><br />It is only in “Suphasit Son Ying”were Sunthorn Phu describes the ability to prepare ‘Tom Yum’as part of the desirable qualities that adds charm to a woman and also we can find written evidence during the reign of King Rama V (1853-1910), Tom Yum has become part of the Royal Thai cuisine. It this era Thais used mostly fish (dried fish or fish heads) in the preparation of Tom Yum. In the early days, the markets did not offer prawns in a wide variety or affordability of today.<br />The first “Tom Yum” recipe was recorded in Thai in 1889 and that recipe for hot and spicy freshwater fish soup (Tom yum pla mor). The recent discovery of more than half a dozen Thai recipe books, all published before 1990, has made it possible for us to savor a fine selection of these dishes from the 19th century. Two of these included “Tom yum pla mor (Hot and spicy soup with common climbing perch), and “Tom yum pla kraben”(Hot and spicy stingray soup).<br />The scholar and astrologer Prayoon Uroochato, born1921, said that “Tom Yum” originated during the Ratanakosin period, which began with the founding of Bangkok as the capital in 1782. Liked by foreigners and Thais alike. It is always in the top ten list of not only most delicious, but also most famous and popular foods in the world.<br />Thai food has now gained popularity around the world with the combination of all flavors, offering health benefits from herbs which are part of the ingredients of “Tom Yum”.<br />The famous “Tom Yum” has been popularized around the world. Containing medical properties with the ingredients like galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and chilies, the “Tom Yum Kung” is not complicated to prepare. The English word for “Tom Yum Kung” is Spicy Soup with Prawns.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/Tom_yam_kai_ingredients.jpg/220px-Tom_yam_kai_ingredients.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.3704px; line-height: 17.3186px; text-align: left;">Bundles of lemon grass, galangal, <br />lime leaves sold in a Thai market</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: white;">There is no evidence where a Thai food named “Tom Yum Kung” originated from. Mr. Sujit Wongtes, a well-known Thai writer, once wrote about Tom Yum Kung that Äfter the culture of rice had been brought from India to Thailand through Andaman Sea trade and Brahmanism-Buddhism, Thai food was changed. Varieties of soup were introduced. Thick soup with coconut milk is influenced by Indian food, whereas clear soup is influenced by Chinese soup.<br />Neung Nillarat who was a cook in the Rama V Royal Court, talked about clear soup of Tom Yum Kung that “We have to select medium-sized fresh giant freshwater river prawns, wash the prawns, discard the legs, chop off tentacles and peel the shells from the prawns without removing the heads and tails. Use the knife edge to pull the dark vein of the prawn out. The prawns for the soup should not be cut at the back. After pouring water in the pot, adding the herbs like galangal, smacked lemongrass and heating it, peel the heads of the prawns to pull the dirt out and toss in the prepared prawns when the water is boiling with fish sauce, bird’s eye chilies, lime juice and garnish the soup with chopped coriander leaves before serving. This is how the Thai nobilities eat. The prawns can be from anywhere, but must be fresh and of medium size”. She said.<br />These prawns talked about came from the Chao Phraya River, and Ayutthaya province, and other water ways where the prawns are found.<br />The Thais call these prawns “Kung kam kram”and in English they are called the Giant Malaysian Prawn (Latin; M. Rosenbergii), most Thais would pass on the best steak, pork or even the best fillet of fish for a giant river prawn, large, male, long claws and a coloration that combines green with deep blue.<br />These prawns have always been expensive and needless to say, they were not eaten much by the general public. For a Thai with a low-paying job such as a laborer, they would have to work for three days to be able to pay for just one of them. 60 years ago they cost about 100 Baht a kilo.<br />To the fishermen that caught them, it was work that brought them a very attractive income, but to be successful required experience and great patience. A fisherman might have to sit in a little boat all day and all night before catching just one. Then came “greed. The giant Malaysian prawns disappeared from the Chao Phraya River a long time ago due to fishermen using chemicals and explosives to catch this expensive prawn, which in turn led to the prawns not reaching maturity to breed. Also responsible was the changing river environment. The river was no longer clean, and the natural environment for the prawns had disappeared.<br />In the prawns life cycle, when the female’s belly is full of eggs and she is ready to release them to hatch she will swim to the brackish water where the river flows into the sea and the amount of salt water in with the fresh water is about 15%. Once the baby prawns hatch they swim against the current to reach fresh water. They continue swimming to find food, zooplankton, small worms, crustaceans, algae, aquatic plants, mollusks, and aquatic insects.<br />There is change happening, but as normal, it’s always too late before us humans do something about it. Thailand contains many watercourses and rivers that were once full of these giant prawns; the Chao Phray, the Tha Jeen in Samut Sakhon,and the Maeklong in Samut Songkhram.<br />The ’Kung Kam Kram’ is on the comeback trail thanks to some communities hard work, the department of Fisheries, and individuals insights. A great success is the fishermen along the Trat River, who through the Department of Fisheries Freshwater Promotion Division followed a few simple steps, a stop to illegal prawn fishing methods, and throwing female prawns with eggs back into the river. Today the community market has these giant prawns for sale, and they are not expensive. Unlike the giant prawns in Ayutthaya , some the size of your forearm are not caught in the local rivers as you are led to believe, but there is a huge trade of these prawns flown in from Myanmar (Burma) on a daily basis. These prawns come mostly from Myanmar’s Irrawaddy River.<br />Once an expensive delicacy, but now almost impossible to find, there is still hope for the giant river prawn if communities work together and follow a few simple rules.<br />As mentioned Thai food offers health benefits from some of the ingredients used in the recipes such as herbs. Tom Yum Kung uses lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, lime juice, fish sauce, and coriander leaves.<br />Lemongrass is available year round and botanically known as “Cymbopogon Citratus”, part of the Poaceae family and is a tall perennial grass. Lemongrass is native to Sri Lanka, South India, Southeast Asia, and Oceania, and for centuries has been commonly used for therapeutic treatments. Lemongrass can be easily propagated and is commonly found and used as an essential oil. Generally there will be more color of purple and blue in the base of the plant closest to its root source. Younger lemongrass will display a sweet tropical citrus aroma. The stalk and bulb will be tender to the touch. The older the plant, the more fibrous and less flavorful it will be.<br />Oil is extracted from lemongrass for its high vitamin A content. It is also used as an addition to teas and herbal soups. Its medical properties make it extensively useful in Ayuruedic medicine.<br />The distinctive herbal citrus flavor and aroma of lemongrass lends itself well to many Asian dishes, when lemongrass was first introduced to Thai cuisine, it was used to mask meats ‘gamey ’smell. Lemongrass also has antifungal properties, and the oil is used as a pesticide, and preservative.<br />If you were to visit a Thai kitchen, you would most likely meet up with this gnarly-looking root and wonder what it could be called-Galangal. Though it looks a little like ginger, the skin is a different color, more red than brown, and if you were to slice it open; you would find the inside perfectly white (unlike ginger’s yellowish flesh).<br />In Thai cooking, fresh galangal adds flavor, sweet and a little heat. It adds depth to many dishes, and interestingly, galangal is sometimes referred to by Thai cooks as a de-fisher, since it is known to help eliminate any unwanted “fishy “smells.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: white;"><br />Galangal is now grown in most Southeast Asian countries, but was first harvested for use in cooking and medicine in China and Java. By the middle Ages, galangal had traveled extensively, and was already in common use throughout Europe. Referred to as “the spice of life “by St. Hidegard of Bingen (1098-1179), galangal was, in fact, one of her favorite remedies. This famous herbalist used galangal to treat everything from deafness and heart disease to indigestion.<br />During the 13th-14th centuries, galangal was used by the Turkic peoples (who occupied much of present-day Russia) as a tea, and by the Arabs as a stimulant for their horses. It was used extensively throughout the East as a snuff for nasal infections, and in both Europe and Asia as an appetite stimulant and aphrodisiac.<br />Galangal has been found effective as a remedy for indigestion, seasickness, nausea, ulcers, rheumatism, colds, flu, fevers, dementia, bad breath, diarrhea, poor blood circulation, and some tumors.<br />The kaffir lime tree is a tropical citrus valued for its fragrant leaves and its fruit’s peel (rind). The kaffir lime tree is also called ‘Thai makrut’ and its leaves, ‘bai makrut’.<br />The leaves of the kaffir lime tree are two-toned with a dual textural finish as well. The upper sides of the leaves are a glossy deep green while the undersides of the leaves are a matt green. The leaves grow in pairs from stem to stem. Sizes can vary from leaf to leaf, though they each have a teaspoon shape with pointed ends that can also be sharp, certainly a natural defense mechanism. The fragrance and essence of the kaffir lime leaf is incomparable. It has an abundant sweet citrus bouquet that lingers to the nose and touch. Mature darker green leaves are preferred for use over the younger, less aromatic leaves.<br />Kaffir lime leaves are widely used in Thai cooking and in Laotian cuisine. The leaves are never eaten whole, but rather steeped and later removed, or sliced very thinly. Their mildly herbal citrus flavor can be used to infuse desserts such as custard and ice-cream. The leaves can be frozen to extend their self-life.<br />The kaffir lime tree is native to landlocked Laos, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand and other parts of South Asia. The trees thrive in warm, humid climates and like other citrus varieties are extremely sensitive to cold and frost.<br />According to historical accounts, the Portuguese were the “birds” who dropped chilies into the thumbs of the Thais in the 16th century, after the Spanish initially transported them from the New World to Europe. Some accounts suggest that chilies, because of their high concentration of vitamin C, were eaten by sailors together with ginger, as a preventative against scurvy, long before it was discovered that oranges could perform the same function.<br />Researchers believe nearly all the different kinds of chili around the world are descendants of plants native to South and Central America. Chilies have been cultivated by Native Americans since around 6000B.C.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.32px; line-height: 18.48px;">Several bird's eye chilis on a shrub</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: white;"><br />The little bird’s eye chili in Thailand is called ”Phrik kee noo” (Mouse poo chili) and is a Thai-cultivated variety of the New World chili, now called “Thai chilies” in markets around the world. Small and slender, they are intensely hot. The smaller they are, the hotter they seem to be. In fact, there is a strain called “Phrik kee noo suan”, which is no longer than the head of a nail, but packs a big bang. Their hotness, however, is not the only quality that has endeared them to the Thai people; they have a distinctive fragrant taste that spicy food enthusiasts grow to love. Substituting with other kinds of chilies can be disappointing.<br />Prik kee noo chilies turn from a deep green to bright red when they ripen. The green ones may delay releasing their full potency, catching up with you when you are unsuspecting. These chilies dry easily for future use by being left out uncovered on a plate in the kitchen.<br />Limes (Ma nao), and not lemons are the main citrus that gives the sharp sour and zesty flavor that Thai people so love. The larger, thick-skinned, yellow lemon is a temperate-climate citrus and does not grow in tropical Thailand. There is, however, confusion in the use of English terminology among Thai people, and limes are erroneously referred to as “lemons” in Thailand. Perhaps the reason is; the first westerners to translate local language into English did not know what limes were and called them lemons since they are sour like lemons. As a result “lemon” has stuck and “lime” does not exist in Thai people’s English vocabulary. So use fresh limes whenever possible, but avoid the pre-squeezed or bottled varieties, which lack freshness of flavor.<br />Thai limes are smaller than Australian, American and European limes, but they are packed with flavor and juice. They are also a little sweeter and more similar to key limes. Because limes can vary in degree of sourness, as well as juiciness, the best thing to do when working with a recipe calling for fresh lime juice is to go by taste.<br />When buying limes, select ones with smooth, shiny skin and a good weight for their size. They should not be hard; there should be some give when squeezed to indicate ripeness and juiciness. To get more juice out of your limes, roll them on a hard surface, applying pressure to break the juice sacs, or let the limes sit in hot water for a few minutes to soften.<br />The anchovy is not a universally loved fish. In fact, that may be understating the matter. A lot of people hate the pungent, bottom of the ocean flavor of anchovies. The humble anchovy is a food that divides a room that is fish sauce. You may be interested that Worcestershire sauce is mainly vinegar, tamarind and anchovy!!</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/70/Thaifishsauce0609.jpg/160px-Thaifishsauce0609.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13.16px; line-height: 21.056px; text-align: left;">An assortment of prepared fish <br />sauces on sale in Thailand</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: white;"><br />Thai cooking relies heavily on fish sauce, as do the cuisines of Vietnam, Indonesia and southern China. Called ”Nam pla” in Thai, fish sauce is the seasoning that provides much of the saltiness in Thai cooking, as soy-sauce does in Chinese cooking, also it has a very short ingredients list. It’s essentially just anchovies and salt (it can be made with other fish as well).<br />Nam pla is made by layering those two ingredients in big barrels and leaving it to ferment under the hot sum over the course of several months. The anchovies break down in their own juice, and the resulting liquid is extracted, filtered, sweetened with a little sugar, and bottled.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Phrik_nam_pla.jpg/200px-Phrik_nam_pla.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.3704px; line-height: 17.3186px;">Phrik nam pla is served with <br />nearly every Thai meal</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #990000; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: white;"><br />We have no way of knowing exactly when fish sauce was first used in Asia, but during the era when it was the principal flavoring ingredient of the Roman Empire, it would make sense to send it eastwards as a trade or gift item. But for this to happen, it would have presumably arrived in northern China, spread to Korea and Southeast Asia within the next 1000 years, but then faded from use in China itself. To be somewhat skeptical there is reason that Asia gave rise to fish sauce first. However it is possible that it was invented independently in two different places, the Mediterranean and China or neighboring nation.</span></span></div>
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gerwynelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992776944435879930noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2415636693035209321.post-3057351196247326732015-09-18T08:01:00.001-07:002015-09-18T08:01:27.906-07:00BBQ Chicken Drumsticks with Honey, Soy Sauce and Chilli<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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BBQ Chicken Drumsticks with Honey, Soy Sauce and Chilli Flakes</h2>
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Last weekend with summer coming to an end here in the UK the BBQ came out for the last time. These chicken drumstick work well on the BBQ after being marinaded for a few hours in this sweet and spicy sauce. </div>
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Ingredients</div>
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16 chicken drumsticks</div>
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3tbs paprika</div>
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1tbs honey</div>
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4tbs olive oil</div>
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3tbs soy sauce </div>
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2 tsps chilli flakes</div>
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Use a sharp knife to cut incisions in the chicken drumsticks and then place in a mixing bowl. Add all the ingredients to the bowl and mix well together. Placed covered in the fridge for at least 2 hours. </div>
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You can cook these on the BBQ straight away but I partly precooked these in the oven first by placing them on a cooking tray in a preheated oven at 180C for 45 minutes. Then remove from the oven and place on a sheet of foil on the BBQ rack. Pour the remaining sauce from the cooking tray over the chicken and cook on the BBQ for a further 15 to 20 minutes. They will then be ready to eat preferably with fingers.</div>
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<br />gerwynelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992776944435879930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2415636693035209321.post-88885156700553832662015-09-14T07:03:00.000-07:002015-09-14T07:03:01.785-07:00Welsh Rarebit with Snowdonia Ale and Snowdonia Black Bomber Cheese<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Welsh Rarebit</h2>
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Originally called Welsh Rabbit or in Welsh - Caws Pobi</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cWUcowaDutk/VcJl2b_X-pI/AAAAAAAACj8/nR4xq3oKxkU/s1600/025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cWUcowaDutk/VcJl2b_X-pI/AAAAAAAACj8/nR4xq3oKxkU/s320/025.JPG" width="212" /></a></div>
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This is more than just cheese on toast. A fully fledged Welsh Rabbit/Rarebit is a more complicated affair. The cheese is usually mixed with butter, mustard, beer and eggs and is usually poured over the toast rather than just grilled as you would a conventional cheese and toast.</div>
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For this recipe I have used two main local ingredients. Snowdonia Cheese Black Bomber <a href="http://www.snowdoniacheese.co.uk/">http://www.snowdoniacheese.co.uk/</a> is a fabulously creamy, smooth extra mature cheddar and the Golden Pale Ale I used is called Snowdonia Ale from the Purple Moose Brewery in Porthmadog <a href="http://www.purplemoose.co.uk/">http://www.purplemoose.co.uk/</a> (what a great name for a brewery).</div>
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175g Snowdonia (Black Bomber) Cheddar Cheese</div>
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3 tbs Snowdonia Pale Ale </div>
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30g butter</div>
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1 tsp English Mustard</div>
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1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce</div>
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2 Free range egg yolks</div>
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small pinch of salt and pepper</div>
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Place a small saucepan over a moderate heat</div>
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Add the ale and mustard, mix until blended</div>
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Add the butter, mix until melted</div>
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Add the Worcestershire Sauce</div>
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Add the cheese a bit at a time, and keep mixing until you have a smooth sauce type consistence. </div>
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In the meantime toast some bread. If the consistency of your sauce is slightly on the runny side (which happened to me the first time I made this) don't worry. Pour some of the Welsh rarebit onto the toast and place under the grill for a few seconds until gently bubbling, helps to set the sauce. You might have to do this a few times to build up the layers of sauce onto to the toast.</div>
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The Welsh Rarebit is now ready to be enjoyed either on its own or with a salad.</div>
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<br />gerwynelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992776944435879930noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2415636693035209321.post-4955296158682687002015-09-10T06:52:00.001-07:002015-09-10T10:18:36.147-07:00Slow Cooked Game with Vegetables in a Chickpea and Moringa Curry Sauce<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Bim's Kitchen African Inspired Sauces</h2>
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Recipe by Guest Blogger James Adedeji <a href="http://bimskitchen.com/">http://bimskitchen.com/</a><br />
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I first met James "Bim" Adedeji in the local market in Denbigh, North Wales, where he was selling his African inspired sauces and condiments. I have become a fan ever since with his African Baobab Chilli Jam being my current favourite. Bim, which is short for his Nigerian name 'Abimbola' and is the country he grew up as a child. It is where he also first learnt about and tasted many of the ingredients he now uses in his sauces such as baobab fruit, tigernuts, moringa, peanuts, cashew nuts, tamarind, alligator pepper and hibiscus to name but a few. His passion is to find new and creative ways of using ingredients that many people overlooked or used in a very limited way. This passion led to the creation of his first chilli jam and BBQ sauce using baobab fruit which have now become amongst his best selling products.</div>
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Bim along with his wife Nicola, who is also involved in producing these wonderful sauces, started their business more than five years ago and in that time have received recognition by winning several Great Taste Awards and appearing on James Martin's Home Comfort program at the beginning of last year. Since then they have moved to Wales and are now looking to build on their success with future long term plans a possibility that they might opening their own restaurant.<br />
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For further information you can contact Bim's Kitchen by visiting their website <a href="http://bimskitchen.com/">http://bimskitchen.com/</a><br />
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Slow Cooked Game with Vegetables in a Chickpea and Moringa Curry Sauce</h2>
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Ingredients: Serves 6</div>
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Preperation time: 15 minutes</div>
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Cooking Time; 4 hours in a slow cooker*</div>
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450g mixed game meat cut into large cubes (can be obtained from your local butcher but any meat can be used)</div>
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750g mixed root vegetable cut into large chunks (used in this dish baby potatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut squash)</div>
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150g mushrooms sliced</div>
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200g fresh cabbage sliced</div>
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2tsps of cornflour</div>
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2tbs sunflower oil</div>
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A jar of Bim's Kitchen Chickpea & Moringa Sauce</div>
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A few good pinches of salt</div>
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Method</div>
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Season the meat with 1 tsp of cornflour and a bit of salt</div>
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Add 1 tbsp of sunflower oil to a heated pan and briefly brown the meat and then place in the slow cooker.</div>
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Add the other tbsp of sunflower oil to the same pan, heat and then saute the mushrooms and add to the slow cooker</div>
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Add the root vegetables. Pour over the whole jar of curry sauce then mix the remaining corn flour with a bit of water to a smooth consistency and add to the cooker as well.</div>
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Gently mix all the ingredients together. Set the cooker on to 'high' and cook unopened for 3 hours. Then add and gently mix in the cabbage and continue cooking unopened for a further hour.</div>
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Serve as a main dish or with plain rice or some warm bread.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SgAgVbjrwwg/VfAex2YW5CI/AAAAAAAADTM/z4nLHGrIS4c/s1600/Cuury%2Bfinal%2Bpic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SgAgVbjrwwg/VfAex2YW5CI/AAAAAAAADTM/z4nLHGrIS4c/s320/Cuury%2Bfinal%2Bpic.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Tip: this recipe also works well with Bim's Kitchen African Tomato & Cashew and African Peanut Curry Sauce and you can use other meat instead of game.</div>
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*a Crock-Pot 5.7 Litre Slow cooker (SCCPBPP605) was used for this recipe.</div>
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gerwynelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992776944435879930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2415636693035209321.post-50496544388923344132015-09-07T08:25:00.000-07:002015-09-07T08:25:31.479-07:00BBQ Chicken wings with Paprika and Cayenne Pepper<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
BBQ Chicken Wings with Paprika and Cayenne Pepper</h2>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jnNzoo9F5Pg/VcJRr626EcI/AAAAAAAAChc/lrRfbijtO78/s1600/009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jnNzoo9F5Pg/VcJRr626EcI/AAAAAAAAChc/lrRfbijtO78/s320/009.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Having a BBQ with some friends the other day and had a load of chicken wings. I was wondering what to do with them so I put this recipe together and it worked out a lot better than I expected with a nice kick from the cayenne pepper.</div>
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Ingredients</div>
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16 chicken wings</div>
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3 tbs flour</div>
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2 1/2 tsp paprika</div>
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1/2 tsp cayenne pepper</div>
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1/2 tsp salt</div>
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1 tsp pepper</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oxJ5Mx6shls/VcJRzwV5jSI/AAAAAAAAChk/Y_gRwHFpfII/s1600/002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oxJ5Mx6shls/VcJRzwV5jSI/AAAAAAAAChk/Y_gRwHFpfII/s320/002.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chicken wings</td></tr>
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Cut the tip off the chicken wing otherwise they will burn when cooking. Cut the joint in half then place all the chicken wings into a large bag. Add the ingredients to the bag and shake well until all the chicken wings are well coated.</div>
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Remove from the bag and place on a backing tray. Preheat the oven to 180C and place the chicken pieces in the oven for 45 minutes. Remove and then finish off on the BBQ. These are definitely good finger food, serve with some sweet chilli sauce.</div>
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gerwynelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992776944435879930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2415636693035209321.post-50846527702580653072015-09-04T10:04:00.001-07:002015-09-10T10:23:25.024-07:00BBQ Chicken Wings with Honey and Chilli Sauce<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
BBQ Chicken Wings with Honey and Chilli Sauce</h2>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chicken Wings</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Ingredients</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">16 chicken wings cut in two at the joint</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">2 tbs Honey</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">3 tbs Soy Sauce</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">2 tbs olive oil</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">1 tbs sweet chilli sauce</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">salt and pepper</span></div>
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Use a sharp knife cut the tips off the wings and cut the joint in half. Place all the chicken pieces in a mixing bowl. Add all the ingredients to the bowl and mix well together. Placed covered in the fridge for at least 2 hours.<br />
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It is best to precook these otherwise they can just burn to nothing on the BBQ. Place in the oven on a cooking tray in a preheated oven at 180C for 45 minutes. Then remove from the oven and place on a sheet of foil on the BBQ rack. Pour the remaining sauce from the cooking tray over the chicken and cook on the BBQ for a further 15 to 20 minutes. They are then ready to eat and should be finger licking good.</div>
<br />gerwynelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992776944435879930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2415636693035209321.post-82591203412314752842015-09-01T08:25:00.001-07:002015-09-01T08:25:10.367-07:00MEXICAN CHICKEN MOLE<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Mexican Chicken Mole</h2>
<h3>
Provided by guest blogger Dave Davies - <a href="http://www.diddy186.com/recipes/">http://www.diddy186.com/recipes/</a></h3>
<br />
I have a guest blogger this week - Dave Davies. I have visited Dave's blog a few times recently and enjoyed reading and trying out some of his recipes which are mainly Indian or Asian in origin. I therefore asked him a couple of days ago if he would like to be a guest blogger on my blog this week. He graciously accepted and sent me his Mexican Chicken Mole. I have to admit I had never heard of this dish but apparently <i>Mole Poblano</i> is regarded as Mexico's National dish. Mole is the generic name for a number of sauces originally used in Mexico cuisine, as well as for dishes based on these sauces.<br />
<br />
I hope you enjoy this dish as much as I did when I tried it out last night.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lhY2EvJr4TM/VeGfzynMImI/AAAAAAAADLw/M6OAaUFDXhA/s1600/WP_20150821_18_58_27_Pro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="222" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lhY2EvJr4TM/VeGfzynMImI/AAAAAAAADLw/M6OAaUFDXhA/s320/WP_20150821_18_58_27_Pro.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mexican Chicken Mole - picture kindly provided by Dave Davies</td></tr>
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<br />
Ingredients - Serves 6<br />
<br />
500g of chicken breast cut into 2.5cm cubes<br />
3 tbs of vegetable oil<br />
1 medium sized onion finely chopped<br />
2 cloves of garlic crushed<br />
1 5cm of garlic crushed<br />
1/2 tsp of grated nutmeg<br />
4 cloves<br />
2 tins of 400g chopped tomatoes<br />
1 large red pepper deseeded and finely sliced<br />
250ml of white wine<br />
60g of dark eating chocolate finely sliced<br />
Handful of chopped parsley<br />
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Method<br />
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Heat the oil in a large frying pan and brown the chicken cubes in batches and set aside to drain on kitchen towel.<br />
Put the onion and garlic in the same pan and cook on a medium heat till softened.<br />
Add the spices and cook for 2 minutes, add the wine and cook off the alcohol for 2 minutes<br />
Add the chicken, tomatoes and pepper and bring to simmer and cover.<br />
Cook for 20 minutes.<br />
Uncover and cook for another 20 minutes till the chicken is tender and the sauce has thickened.<br />
Add the chocolate and cook till smooth, stirring all the time.<br />
Take out the cinnamon stick and add the chopped parsley.<br />
Serve with basmati rice<br />
<br />
To see more of Dave's recipes visit his blog on <a href="http://www.diddy186.com/recipes/">http://www.diddy186.com/recipes/</a><br />
<br />gerwynelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992776944435879930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2415636693035209321.post-16817284863005838212015-08-26T11:56:00.001-07:002015-08-26T12:05:41.203-07:00Elfed and Tracey's 6 Castle Charity Bike Ride - Taith Feic Elusenol 6 Castell Elfed a Tracey<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Taith Feic Elusenol 6 Castell Elfed a Tracey</h2>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Elfed and Tracey's 6 Castle Charity Bike Ride</h2>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wuQ0Z50u5c0/Vd4JuJDtcaI/AAAAAAAADKU/uWSA0eQ7pT4/s1600/Elfed%2BTracey%2Bby%2BDenbigh%2BCastle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wuQ0Z50u5c0/Vd4JuJDtcaI/AAAAAAAADKU/uWSA0eQ7pT4/s320/Elfed%2BTracey%2Bby%2BDenbigh%2BCastle.jpg" width="179" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elfed a Tracey with Castell Dinbych - Elfed and Tracey by Denbigh Castle </td></tr>
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<div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">As some of you are aware Tracey and I are intending to do a 2 day 160 mile charity bike ride over two days around North Wales visiting 6 historic castles on the way – Denbigh, Ruddlan, Conwy, Caernarfon, Criccieth and Harlech. We will be starting on the 12th September from Llanrhaeadr finishing in Criccieth on the first day then continuing via Harlech returning back home on the evening of the 13th September 2015. Our target is to raise at least £1000 in total from this even</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">t.</span></div>
<span style="background-color: #666666;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">We will be raising money for both Conwy and Denbighshire Mental Health Advocacy Service (CADMHAS) and for Ty Gobaith (Hope House). People can donate to one or the other or both if they wish by clicking on the links below.</span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: #666666;">
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"></span></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: #666666;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">For Ty Gobaith</span></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: #666666;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">
</span></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: #666666;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><a href="https://www.justgiving.com/Elfed-Williams" style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">https://www.justgiving.com/Elfed-Williams</a></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: #666666;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">For CADMHAS</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.everyclick.com/cadmhas" style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">http://www.everyclick.com/cadmhas</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">We would be very grateful if you could circulate this information to as many of your friends as possible</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">CADMHAS </span><a href="http://www.cadmhas.co.uk/" style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">http://www.cadmhas.co.uk/</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Conwy & Denbighshire Mental Health Advocacy Service (CADMHAS) provides a quality, independent user led advocacy service which enables vulnerable people and their carers to have a voice to safeguard their health and wellbeing. This is done by:</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">• Promoting independence.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">• Empowerment.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">• Challenging discrimination and preventing unfair treatment.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">• Safeguarding individual rights.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Ty Gobaith – Hope House </span><a href="http://www.hopehouse.org.uk/home.html" style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">http://www.hopehouse.org.uk/home.html</a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Hope House Children's Hospices - Hope House in Oswestry and Ty Gobaith in Conwy - provide specialist nursing care in addition to practical and emotional support to terminally ill and life limited children and young people.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">For the latest on my training for this bike ride please visit my blog </span><a href="http://searchofgoodfood.blogspot.co.uk/" style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">http://searchofgoodfood.blogspot.co.uk/</a><span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"> and click on the 6 Castle North Wales Charity Bike Ride page in the menu bar</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Thanks in advance for your support</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Elfed Williams</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #666666; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Fel mae rhai ohonoch yn ymwybodol yn barod mae Tracey a finnau yn bwriadu gwneud taith seiclo elusennol 160 milltir dros ddau ddiwrnod o amgylch Gogledd Cymru gan ymweld â 6 castell hanesyddol Dinbych, Rhuddlan, Conwy, Caernarfon, Criccieth a Harlech. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Byddwn yn dechrau ar Fedi 12fed o Lanrhaeadr ac yn darfod y diwrnod cyntaf yng Nghriccieth yna yn mynd ymlaen yr ail ddiwrnod i Harlech cyn troi am adref gan obeithio darfod nos Sul 13ddeg. Ein nod ydi codi oddeutu £1000 o’r a</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">chlysur.</span></div>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #666666; display: inline; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"></span><br />
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<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #666666; display: inline; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Byddwn yn codi arian ar gyfer Tŷ Gobaith ac I Wasanaeth Eiriolaeth Iechyd Meddwl Conwy a Sir Ddinbych. Os hoffech gyfrannu gallwch wneud hynny drwy glicio ar y dolenni isod.</span></span></div>
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<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"></span></span>
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<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: #666666; display: inline; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">I Dŷ Gobaith</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.justgiving.com/Elfed-Williams" style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">https://www.justgiving.com/Elfed-Williams</a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">I GEIMCaSDd (Gasanaeth Eiriolaeth Iechyd Meddwl Conwy a Sir Ddinbych)</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><</span><span style="cursor: pointer; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">http://www.everyclick.com/cadmhas</span><span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Os yn bosib gwnewch chi glicio ar y botwm ‘share’ i rannu'r neges yma hefo’ch cyfeillion ar Facebook.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Gwasanaeth Eiriolaeth Iechyd Meddwl Conwy a Sir Ddinbych</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Chttp://www.cadmhas.co.uk/%3E" style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><<span style="cursor: pointer;">http://www.cadmhas.co.uk/</span>></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Mae Gwasanaeth Eiriolaeth Iechyd Meddwl Conwy a Sir Ddinbych ( CADMHAS ) yn darparu gwasanaeth eiriolaeth annibynnol sy’n galluogi defnyddwyr a’i gofalwyr i gael llais i ddiogelu eu hiechyd a'u lles . Gwneir hyn drwy :</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">• Hyrwyddo annibyniaeth .</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">• Grymuso .</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">• Herio gwahaniaethu ac atal triniaeth annheg.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">• Diogelu hawliau unigol .</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Tŷ Gobaith</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Chttp://www.hopehouse.org.uk/home.html%3E" style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><<span style="cursor: pointer;">http://www.hopehouse.org.uk/home.html</span>></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Mae Tŷ Gobaith yn darparu gofal nyrsio a chefnogaeth i blant, pobl ifanc ac oedolion ifanc sydd â salwch sy’n cyfyngu bywyd - cefnogaeth sy’n parhau drwy gydol bywyd y plentyn a thu hwnt.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Am y diweddaraf am fy hyfforddiant ar gyfer y daith feicio hon os gwelwch yn dda ymwelwch â fy mlog </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Chttp://searchofgoodfood.blogspot.co.uk/%3E" style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><<span style="cursor: pointer;">http://searchofgoodfood.blogspot.co.uk/</span>></a><span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"> a chliciwch ar y dudalen Taith Feicio Elusennol 6 Castle Gogledd Cymru yn y bar dewis.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Diolch ymlaen llaw am eich cefnogaeth</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Elfed</span></div>
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gerwynelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992776944435879930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2415636693035209321.post-34696209640168730712015-08-24T11:41:00.001-07:002015-09-18T01:43:06.239-07:00Welsh Lamb Chops with Pesto Sauce and Pembrokeshire Blas y Tir Potatoes<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Welsh Lamb Chops with Pesto Sauce and Pembrokeshire Blas y Tir Potatoes</h2>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Welsh Lamb Chops with Pesto Sauce</td></tr>
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This is such a quick and easy tasty dish that is ready in about 20 minutes. The lamb chops I bought in my local butcher in Denbigh, J.H. Jones. The potatoes are supplied by a Pembrokeshire company called Blas y Tir (Taste of the Earth) and the runner beans are from my own garden. The pesto sauce even though Italian in origin goes exceptionally well with the lamb.</div>
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I added a marinade to the lamb about two hours before and this helps to keep it moist whilst under the grill.</div>
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Marinade</h3>
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2tbs Soy Sauce</div>
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1 tbs Rapeseed Oil - I used a local brand Blodyn Aur.</div>
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1/2 tbs lemon Juice</div>
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Pour the marinade over the chops and use your hands to mix together well. Cover with cling film and place in the fridge for two hours.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ev6mvnukuOc/Vav39ELVKMI/AAAAAAAAB_o/rVZ3mwiH2Ok/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ev6mvnukuOc/Vav39ELVKMI/AAAAAAAAB_o/rVZ3mwiH2Ok/s320/001.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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6 Welsh lamb chops marinaded for two hours</div>
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<h3>
Pesto Sauce</h3>
50g Pine nuts<br />
150ml of olive oil<br />
large bunch of basil leaves<br />
50g of grated Parmesan cheese<br />
2 cloves of garlic pealed and roughly chopped<br />
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Place all the ingredients in a food blender and blitz until you have a sauce type consistence<br />
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Place the chops under a grill for about 8 to 10 minutes turning half way through. Time will vary depending on size and thickness of the chops. When ready place on a plate with new potatoes and runner beans or any other vegetable of your choice and drizzle over the pesto sauce.</div>
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<br />gerwynelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992776944435879930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2415636693035209321.post-11570135687296886682015-08-04T08:30:00.001-07:002015-08-04T08:39:26.457-07:00As High as Snowdon<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Up into those Hills</h2>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Week 6</h3>
Since starting my biking experience I having been quietly applauding myself how well I was doing for someone who barely cycled 5 or 6 miles with the children a few months ago to doing 40+ miles at one go. But really the routes I have been taking have been relatively flat, in Welsh terms. If you know Wales you will understand what I mean if not Wales is famous for it's mountains and hills. In fact there is hardly a corner of Wales where you do not come across a hill or a mountain that needs to be climbed if you want to get anywhere.<br />
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So this week I have bitten the bullet and set myself a target of climbing the infamous Horse Shoe Pass that needs to be crossed if travelling from Ruthin to Llangollen. From my house coming back through Corwen, a 48 mile route with an ascent of over 3,564ft (that is as nearly as high as Snowdon)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xtdJt9QMq1k/Vbn3L1W2GII/AAAAAAAACV0/DUckZoSTlg0/s1600/IMG_20150619_070003473_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xtdJt9QMq1k/Vbn3L1W2GII/AAAAAAAACV0/DUckZoSTlg0/s320/IMG_20150619_070003473_HDR.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Three Pigeons Pub Graigfechen</td></tr>
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My appointed day arrived, a damp chilly start to this Sunday morning. My wife and youngest daughter had flow out to Italy for the weekend with friends and my eldest daughter was as usual tucked up in bed. <br />
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The route started off gently enough through Llanbedr to Graigfechan past the Three Pigeon Pub (famous for it's Real Ale) but at the end of the village I took a left and from here on in the road climbed and climbed and climbed.<br />
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In fact I was pleasantly surprised that I coped reasonably well on these uphill climbs. My new bike helped with it's thin road tires and 14 gears but all that training was actually paying dividends. If truth be know I was quite enjoying myself in the exhilaration of the climb. Before I new it I was at the Dafarn Dywyrch Farm (which sells Rosie's cider) <a href="http://www.rosiescider.co.uk/">http://www.rosiescider.co.uk/</a> which is more or less the last building before the final push up to the Pass.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wX9U316oJ6U/VbexGwihXcI/AAAAAAAACTw/hhP9PdSMYSU/s1600/IMG_20150712_065357253_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wX9U316oJ6U/VbexGwihXcI/AAAAAAAACTw/hhP9PdSMYSU/s320/IMG_20150712_065357253_HDR.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cider for Sale</td></tr>
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I crossed the roundabout and there is a short downhill descent before the final climb. The road from here zig zags up the mountain and at times, the weather being what it was, felt as if I was going up into the clouds.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mxKG4FVK5co/VbexGw-ljlI/AAAAAAAACTw/dklX8ZEkL6o/s1600/IMG_20150712_065451714.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mxKG4FVK5co/VbexGw-ljlI/AAAAAAAACTw/dklX8ZEkL6o/s320/IMG_20150712_065451714.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Horse Shoe Pass in the distance</td></tr>
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At the top of the pass and out of the mist the Ponderosa Cafe appeared. This is no log cabin and you are highly unlikely to see Hoss or Little Joe riding by and being 8am hardly anybody else either. It was too early even for a cup of tea.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hF3hhOY5rjE/VbexG4skj-I/AAAAAAAACTw/90-OlF57fAw/s1600/IMG_20150712_071544865.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hF3hhOY5rjE/VbexG4skj-I/AAAAAAAACTw/90-OlF57fAw/s320/IMG_20150712_071544865.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ponderosa Cafe</td></tr>
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Just at that moment the clouds lifted and I was rewarded by the magnificent view of Llangollen in the distance nested in the Dee Valley.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Vw92DXq19Ls/VbexG3jGaEI/AAAAAAAACTw/A9wsPCGG8S0/s1600/IMG_20150712_072447265_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Vw92DXq19Ls/VbexG3jGaEI/AAAAAAAACTw/A9wsPCGG8S0/s320/IMG_20150712_072447265_HDR.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View down to Llangollen</td></tr>
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After a quick bite of my chocolate bar and a drink of water and a quick text to my daughter to tell her where I was, not that she would probably see it for another hour or so, I jumped back on my bike and headed down towards Llangollen.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--Bi03dhSeg4/VbexG_t79MI/AAAAAAAACTw/LaYzOMApJwk/s1600/IMG_20150712_072454804.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--Bi03dhSeg4/VbexG_t79MI/AAAAAAAACTw/LaYzOMApJwk/s320/IMG_20150712_072454804.jpg" width="179" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Way down to Llangollen</td></tr>
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If the ascent is long the descent is short and fast a true test of my bikes breaks. With the wind whistling in my ears I shot down the side of the mountain passing the many sheep that freely roam the mountain side<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0CEgaVrQr6c/VbexG0wynKI/AAAAAAAACTw/YA3RrOT3K1E/s1600/IMG_20150712_072501120_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0CEgaVrQr6c/VbexG0wynKI/AAAAAAAACTw/YA3RrOT3K1E/s320/IMG_20150712_072501120_HDR.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of road leading down to Llangollen</td></tr>
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After a few miles the road starts to level out and takes me past the well preserved Valle Crucis Abbey which dates back to 1201 and was home to Cistercian Monks.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qwi_X8pKiGo/VbexG3xt7AI/AAAAAAAACTw/PmdGwwYPKOU/s1600/IMG_20150712_074139708_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qwi_X8pKiGo/VbexG3xt7AI/AAAAAAAACTw/PmdGwwYPKOU/s320/IMG_20150712_074139708_HDR.jpg" width="179" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Valle Crucis Abbey</td></tr>
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Finally after a descent of nearly 4 miles I enter Llangollen itself passing the entrance to the Llangollen International Music Eisteddfod. For one week every year this is home to competitors from around the world who have been coming here since 1947. The festival has also attracted famous artist such as Pavarotti, Kiri Te Kanawa, Jose Carreras and not to forget our own Bryn Terfel who have performed in the Gala nights<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1V4MweZr34o/VbexG0bGdjI/AAAAAAAACTw/P-c1Y5qmSMQ/s1600/IMG_20150712_074653623_HDR%257E2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1V4MweZr34o/VbexG0bGdjI/AAAAAAAACTw/P-c1Y5qmSMQ/s320/IMG_20150712_074653623_HDR%257E2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Llangollen Eisteddfod Entrance</td></tr>
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Less than 1/2 mile later on I arrived in Llangollen passing firstly the Railway Station on my right with the sound of clanking of carriages as volunteers that run this preserved steam line get engines ready for the days activities.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WS7qh2C4_70/VbexGy5MQkI/AAAAAAAACTw/_a48JdcbVcg/s1600/IMG_20150712_074934852_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WS7qh2C4_70/VbexGy5MQkI/AAAAAAAACTw/_a48JdcbVcg/s320/IMG_20150712_074934852_HDR.jpg" width="179" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Llangollen Stream Railway Station</td></tr>
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Going pass the station I cross over the Dee River using the aptly named Dee Bridge which was built in 1345 by Bishop Trevor of Trevor Hall. The bridge on this day was festooned with flags of many nationalities to celebrate the International Eisteddfod.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S86zZovq4ms/VbexG1pS8CI/AAAAAAAACTw/c6m25p6QhmI/s1600/IMG_20150712_074943206_HDR%257E2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S86zZovq4ms/VbexG1pS8CI/AAAAAAAACTw/c6m25p6QhmI/s320/IMG_20150712_074943206_HDR%257E2.jpg" width="235" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dee Bridge</td></tr>
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Crossing the bridge and looking to my right is the impressive Dee river which at this point cascades over Trevor Rocks located between the station and the Corn Mill Restaurant on the opposite bank. This rapid is much favoured by canoeists for it's challenges.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mI0mDzqG4mw/VbexGx7O7wI/AAAAAAAACTw/pxulXfkn8c0/s1600/IMG_20150712_075009679.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mI0mDzqG4mw/VbexGx7O7wI/AAAAAAAACTw/pxulXfkn8c0/s320/IMG_20150712_075009679.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">River Dee</td></tr>
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Once over the river and through the town I end up on the A5 heading for Corwen. For most of the route between the two towns I follow the River Dee and the railway line with many stunning views round virtually every corner.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vT-DyaYjDVo/VbexG44xceI/AAAAAAAACTw/jBWyFRqammg/s1600/IMG_20150712_080209762_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vT-DyaYjDVo/VbexG44xceI/AAAAAAAACTw/jBWyFRqammg/s320/IMG_20150712_080209762_HDR.jpg" width="179" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Llangollen Railway following the Dee River</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K2qBt0HHqoI/VbexG4DsR4I/AAAAAAAACTw/Y0xPXNAx-0A/s1600/IMG_20150712_081109377_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K2qBt0HHqoI/VbexG4DsR4I/AAAAAAAACTw/Y0xPXNAx-0A/s320/IMG_20150712_081109377_HDR.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View towards Corwen</td></tr>
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By the time I arrived in Corwen, just after 9am, I was famished. I new that the Rhug Estate shop and cafe would be open which is located a couple of miles beyond Corwen. My hunger drove me on and I was torn on my arrival as to what to have, a bacon sandwich or an organic Aberdeen Angus burger. The burger won and was devoured in seconds. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-X5iaTRbbLhM/VbexG-fGCQI/AAAAAAAACTw/xN_RNhZTrXQ/s1600/IMG_20150712_090840970_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-X5iaTRbbLhM/VbexG-fGCQI/AAAAAAAACTw/xN_RNhZTrXQ/s320/IMG_20150712_090840970_HDR.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rhug Estate Cafe and Shop <a href="http://www.rhug.co.uk/">http://www.rhug.co.uk/</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Replenished I jumped back on my bike and headed off towards Ruthin and home, a road which I was becoming familiar with by now. I arrived home around 10.30am and much to my surprise my daughter was up munching away at her breakfast.<br />
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<h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Cold, Dawn, Hare</h2>
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During the previous few days leading up to my Horse Shoe Pass challenge I completed a couple of smaller 12 to 14 miles bike rides. But as I have described some of those previously I won't bore you will the details here. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Asq9Pgo5QwU/VZ5o9MrfVxI/AAAAAAAABfg/mPAYFcSK6OM/s1600/IMG_20150709_050939855_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Asq9Pgo5QwU/VZ5o9MrfVxI/AAAAAAAABfg/mPAYFcSK6OM/s320/IMG_20150709_050939855_HDR.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Llnarhaeadr Church</td></tr>
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There is one route I would like to describe which happened on the Thursday before the Llangollen trip. I was up ridiculously early at 5.00am and decided to go for a quick bike ride. I threw on my gear and headed out. For a July morning it was very cold, 6C. but as I climbed up above my village towards Prion and then doubling back towards Cyffylliog I was rewarded by a magnificent dawn breaking over the Clwydian Range.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GLl5sXpYcX8/VZ5o9MJoSkI/AAAAAAAABfg/-O15sbm0EEg/s1600/IMG_20150709_052045723_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GLl5sXpYcX8/VZ5o9MJoSkI/AAAAAAAABfg/-O15sbm0EEg/s320/IMG_20150709_052045723_HDR.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q9c9qovKuIA/VZ5o9DrFDVI/AAAAAAAABfg/AnTVKbMsWzc/s1600/IMG_20150709_053510421_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q9c9qovKuIA/VZ5o9DrFDVI/AAAAAAAABfg/AnTVKbMsWzc/s320/IMG_20150709_053510421_HDR.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>
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And then in the field in front of me a Hare broke cover racing away at a breathtaking speed. I waited a few moment more and much to my delight two more hares appeared before darting away into a long patch of grass. These now rare animals are truly a wonder to see and a sight I have not observed for at least 20 years.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7b/Brown_Hare444.jpg/220px-Brown_Hare444.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hare" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hare - not the one I saw but one kindly supplied by Wikipedia</td></tr>
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It had been worth the effort to get up so early firstly to see such a wonderful dawn but also to observe this rare creature. Being able to see these sights made me realise why I was making all this effort to get fit so that I can get out and about into areas I would not usually visit.gerwynelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992776944435879930noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2415636693035209321.post-78664537565875952582015-07-28T08:29:00.000-07:002015-07-28T08:29:43.150-07:00Classic Chicken Kiev<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Chicken Kiev</h2>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7lQWWSpvsoY/VbZiFVx7xmI/AAAAAAAACSQ/w5I53YB4S7I/s1600/019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7lQWWSpvsoY/VbZiFVx7xmI/AAAAAAAACSQ/w5I53YB4S7I/s320/019.JPG" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chicken Kiev</td></tr>
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I have fond memories of this classic 1970's dish with the moist chicken breast, breadcrumbs and when you cut it open the butter and herbs oozing out all over your plate. When my daughter came home the other day from school and said she had Chicken Kiev for lunch but that it was horrible I decided to make my own. It was a lot easier to make than I thought and the finished article tasted divine bringing back fond memories.<br />
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Ingredients<br />
Serves 4<br />
<br />
4 x 150g chicken breast<br />
3 heaped tbs flour<br />
2 free range eggs<br />
150g breadcrumbs<br />
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For the butter<br />
5 cloves garlic crushed<br />
3/4 tbs traditionally Chicken Kiev is made with parsley but I used Herbes de Provence on this occasion<br />
80g butter<br />
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper<br />
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Place the butter, garlic, herbs and cayenne pepper in a blender and wiz together until you have a creamy paste. Wrap in cling film, in a sausage shape and place in the fridge to set. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Uu34s2L-cPE/VawPmF4LseI/AAAAAAAACAQ/v4hwz8tq0D4/s1600/014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Uu34s2L-cPE/VawPmF4LseI/AAAAAAAACAQ/v4hwz8tq0D4/s320/014.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Herb Butter</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v_1Z2eoYHcc/VawRWfdw51I/AAAAAAAACAw/2D3xhWJNEK0/s1600/016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v_1Z2eoYHcc/VawRWfdw51I/AAAAAAAACAw/2D3xhWJNEK0/s320/016.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chicken Breasts</td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: center;">To prepare the chicken make a pocket</span><span style="text-align: center;"> in the breast meat as shown in the picture. Place a quarter of the herb butter into the pocket and mold it slightly until it fills the gap then </span><span style="text-align: center;">reseal the chicken. Repeat for the remaining three breasts of chicken.</span><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C_4Kgh9zOBY/VawRP2fhc5I/AAAAAAAACAo/D7EeDp32H54/s1600/017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C_4Kgh9zOBY/VawRP2fhc5I/AAAAAAAACAo/D7EeDp32H54/s320/017.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chicken breast with herb butter filling</td></tr>
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<br />Crack two eggs into a bowl and whisk, flour in another bowl and the bread crumbs in a third. Dip the chicken breast into the flour until it is evenly coated then into the egg mixture, then finally cover with bread crumbs.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RY98orML1i0/VawPl9-eeWI/AAAAAAAACAM/KYqDkxPa_1E/s1600/015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RY98orML1i0/VawPl9-eeWI/AAAAAAAACAM/KYqDkxPa_1E/s320/015.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Egg, flour and breadcrumbs</td></tr>
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There are two ways to cook the chicken either shallow fry in a frying pan with oil or as I have done by placing the chicken in a tray, drizzle some olive oil over the chicken and place in a preheated oven at 180C for 25 minutes.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CDbvtSKRN9A/VawRhm7-zBI/AAAAAAAACA4/g2AJiX7Kz1M/s1600/018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CDbvtSKRN9A/VawRhm7-zBI/AAAAAAAACA4/g2AJiX7Kz1M/s320/018.JPG" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Breaded chicken ready for the oven</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
After 25 minutes the breadcrumbs should be golden brown and the chicken ready to be served. Place on a serving plate and serve with some young new potatoes and a side salad.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wY65s9jZlAo/VawSqGwtSkI/AAAAAAAACBM/XZjLNwvwakI/s1600/020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wY65s9jZlAo/VawSqGwtSkI/AAAAAAAACBM/XZjLNwvwakI/s320/020.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chicken Kiev ready to serve</td></tr>
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<br />gerwynelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992776944435879930noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2415636693035209321.post-9048557913046726352015-07-23T08:41:00.000-07:002015-11-18T01:25:47.447-08:00Moroccan chicken with preserved lemons - 1 month in the making<br />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Moroccan Chicken with Preserved Lemons</h2>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
1 month in the making</h3>
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This is the dish I wanted to cook using lemon preserves but when I could not get any I ended up making my own. It was well worth the month I had to wait for the lemon preserves to be ready before I could finally make this dish.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iDAEKMbUhDY/VaAMAdOoSQI/AAAAAAAABlg/LTZgGVIMNeE/s1600/019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iDAEKMbUhDY/VaAMAdOoSQI/AAAAAAAABlg/LTZgGVIMNeE/s400/019.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moroccan Chicken</td></tr>
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Ingredients<br />
1 cinnamon Stick<br />
1 tsp whole black peppercorns<br />
1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds<br />
1 1/2 tsp paprika<br />
1 tsp chilli flakes<br />
1/4 tsp whole cloves<br />
3 tbs Welsh Rapeseed Oil (Blodyn Aur) or olive oil<br />
6 cloves of garlic chopped<br />
2 tsp of fresh grated ginger<br />
2 bay leaves<br />
1 pinch of saffron<br />
1 free range chicken cut into 8 pieces<br />
pinch of Welsh Anglesey Sea Salt<br />
1 medium onion coarsely chopped<br />
1 preserved lemon (see recipe in my blog) <a href="http://searchofgoodfood.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/lemon-preserves.html">http://searchofgoodfood.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/lemon-preserves.html</a><br />
chicken stock<br />
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In a heavy based frying pan, over a medium heat, toast the cinnamon, cumin, paprika, chilli flakes, whole cloves until they start to smoke. Remove from the pan and grind to a powder.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QEF6JlTcXpA/VaAJCOoVseI/AAAAAAAABkk/lsJMV3dyxO0/s1600/009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QEF6JlTcXpA/VaAJCOoVseI/AAAAAAAABkk/lsJMV3dyxO0/s320/009.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heat spice mix gently until they smoke</td></tr>
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Cut the free range chicken into 8 pieces</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Td5lo_2KMHI/VaAKblGIbhI/AAAAAAAABlA/-_QheO-q48c/s1600/012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Td5lo_2KMHI/VaAKblGIbhI/AAAAAAAABlA/-_QheO-q48c/s320/012.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Place the chicken with the spice mix, oil, garlic, ginger, 3 bay leaves, and saffron in a bowl mix all together and allow to marinade for a couple of hours.<br />
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Put a little bit of oil in the tagine and place over a medium heat. Add the onions and fry until tender, about 7 to 8 minutes. Add the chicken, a pinch of salt and marinade to the tagine. Mix one 1 cube of chicken stock with a cup of boiling water and add to the tagine. Remove the lemon preserves from the jar, discard flesh and cut rind into strips and add to tagine.</div>
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Cover the tagine with a lid and either place on the hob over a medium heat for about 30 minutes or, as I prefer to do, place in the oven on 180C for 1 hour. When ready serve preferably with couscous</div>
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<br />gerwynelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992776944435879930noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2415636693035209321.post-78042539290605129882015-07-20T08:00:00.000-07:002015-07-21T09:14:23.990-07:00Lemon Preserves<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Lemon Preserves</h2>
The other day I was looking at a Moroccan Chicken with Olives and Lemon Preservers to cook in my Tagine. It sounded such a wonderful recipe that I went out to get some of the ingredients. But for the life of me could I get hold of the Preserved Lemons. I then got to thinking well how difficult can they be to make, in fact as it turned out they are quite simple to make the only catch for me on this occasion was that I had to wait a month before you could use them.<br />
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This did not deter me and I set about doing the lemon preserves and the dish would have to wait till they were ready.<br />
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Ingredients<br />
3 unwaked lemons<br />
1 1/2 tbs of salt - I have used Anglesey Sea Salt or any quality crystallized salt will do<br />
Water to cover.<br />
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You can use optional extra's such as cinnamon sticks, cloves, coriander seeds, black peppercorn or bay leaves. I didn't use these on this occasion as I just wanted to see how they turned out but by adding them you are increasing the flavour and they also look good enough to give as presents.<br />
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Add a bit of salt to a sterilized Kilner or similar type of jar. Take off the tip of the lemons and quarter<br />
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Place in the jar and repeat, adding a bit more salt to each layer until the jar is full</div>
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Pour some boiling water onto the lemons until the jar is full, then seal.</div>
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Place on a shelve out of direct sunlight for a few days. Two or three times per day just give the jar a gentle shake to mix. Then place in the fridge for a month.</div>
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After a month the lemons can be used. Discard the flesh and cut the rind into strips or dice and add as instructed to any dish. It definitely adds to the flavour and colour of the Moroccan Chicken dish I eventually got to cook. (Recipe to follow soon)</div>
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<br />gerwynelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16992776944435879930noreply@blogger.com0Llanrhaeadr-Yng-Nghinmeirch, Denbighshire, UK53.1594024 -3.380682299999989553.0069644 -3.7034057999999894 53.311840399999994 -3.0579587999999895