Mummy, what's for dinner?

Fisherman's Pub Speightstown, Barbados

2016-07-05T03:40:00.000+02:00

Good old fashioned Bajan cooking. Spent $63 (Barbados) for four. Fish cakes, flying fish, rice and peas, plantain, fried chicken, that's what we had. There was a lot on offer. Excellent value for money. I think the fish cakes would have been even better if they were served as soon as made - however it is buffet service after all!

Best Tomato Soup Ever - Hofbraeu Haus

2016-04-28T23:44:00.000+02:00

I was in Berlin recently and ate the most fantastic tomato soup I've ever had at the restaurant Hofbraeu Haus. I

must have eaten 10 bowls. If you like beer and a party atmosphere it's a great spot.

Chewy Granola Bars

2016-02-16T09:21:00.001+01:00

You will need:

350g of oats

100g of a mixture of seeds and dry fruit

60g of walnuts

3tbsp of honey -generous

100ml of olive oil

100g brown sugar

Cinnamon

1. Mix all of the dry ingredients together.

2. Mix the honey and olive oil together. Add to the dry mixture.

3. Pour the mixture into a grease-proof lined square or rectangular baking tin.

4. Bake at 140° for 30 minutes. 20 minutes into the bake cut square or rectangular bars into the almost set mixture.

5. When baked remove from the oven, follow the cut lines made previously and leave to set. Remove the bars once cool

Dry mixture including goji berries and raisins

The oil and honey added to dry mixtue

Mix well

Place in a baking tin

Shrimp Rice with Fish Trio

2014-04-27T17:49:00.001+02:00

.
I really fancied a seafood festival today. My family loves anything from the sea.

I soaked the fish and shrimp in lemon and a sprinkling of salt for a few hours before I started cooking.
Cook the shrimp in a mixture of white wine, olive oil and your favourite herbs. I also added chopped onions, parsley, carrots and celery. Add some smoked salmon too.
Add basmati rice to the shrimp and stir well. This is a meal on it's own.
Cook the fish in a mixture of white wine, olive oil, curry powder, onions and garlic.
Doesn't take long and is absolutely delicious.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Off to make a chocolate brownie birthday cake for my son now.

White wine, olive oil, onions, curry and garlic

Shrimp, smoked salmon in white wine and olive oil

Add Basmati rice to the shrimps

Salmon, salmon with red pepper corns and sword fish added to the sauce

Ready to eat

Steamed Amerena and Marsala Pudding

2013-07-26T07:18:00.000+02:00

You will need:

A good quality jam, I used amerena cherry.

150 g sugar

150 g butter/margarine

200g flour

2 eggs

2 teaspoons baking powder

Cream the sugar and butter together.

Add a few tablespoons of jam.

Add the eggs.

Add the flour and baking powder.

In a saucepan add about 4 heaped tablespoons of jam. Heat gently until it becomes almost liquid. Next add Marsala wine to taste.

Coat the inside of a heat-proof dish with some of the jam mixture.

Now add the cake batter. Pour the remaining jam mixture on top of the cake batter.

Cover with grease-proof paper and then foil.

Place the bowl inside a colander inside a saucepan of water that reaches about 3/4 to the side of the bowl. Cover the bowl with a saucepan lid.

Leave the water to boil checking periodically that there is still water in the saucepan.

The cake will take about 2 hours to cook but it will be lovely and moist. Check it every now and again.

Cream the sugar and butter

Stir in jam

Add the eggs

Add the flour

Adding Marsala

Add Marsala to the jam

The jam becomes almost like liquid

Coat the bowl

Put the mixture in the bowl

Cover with grease-proof paper

Steam the pudding

Tiramisu'

2013-07-26T06:35:00.000+02:00

You will need:

500 ml mascarpone

500 ml cream

150 g sugar

2 egg yolks

Cup of cold strong black coffee

Sponge fingers

Bitter dark chocolate powder

Marsala (optional)

My family likes me to make the tiramisu' quite creamy so I have adapted the recipe to suit them. Also I don't like the idea of eating raw eggs so again I adapted the classic recipe.

Pour the cream into a heat-proof bowl. Add the egg yolks and sugar. Stir well. Place over a saucepan and allow to heat up but not boil. I added a spoonful of Marsala wine at this point but I don't always do this. A friend happened to gift me a bottle.

Whisk the cream mixture which should have thickened a bit. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Once the cream mixture has cooled add the mascarpone and lightly whisk. Now you can start layering.

Place a layer of sponge fingers in a dish. You can either make one big tiramisu' or make it in individual bowls. I usually have more success if I sprinkle the coffee on the sponge fingers than when I dip them in coffee. You don't want the fingers to become soggy.

Add some of the cream mixture. Sieve cocoa powder on top of this. Start the procedure again. Continue, ending with a layer of the cream mixture covered in the cocoa powder.

Place in the fridge for a few hours to set.

Mix the cream, eggs and sugar

Add the Marsala

Add the mascarpone

Layer the fingers

Cold coffee

Add a layer of mixture

Sprinkle on cocoa powder

You've reached the top. Now refrigerate!

Enjoy a slice

Cin Cin, Prospect, St James, Barbados

2013-07-26T05:32:00.000+02:00

My good friend Sherry and I went to Cin Cin for lunch today. Apart from the great food and service the setting was absolutely beautiful overlooking the Caribbean Sea. I can imagine it being quite a romantic restaurant at night but it was nice to see a Mum treating her little boy to a birthday lunch.

Crab cakes with a spicy remoulade sauce

Chili shrimp penne with garlic crumb

Jord's Carrot Cake

2013-01-18T21:58:00.001+01:00

My son enjoys cooking and baking. Carrot Cake is his speciality.

Grate the carrots

You will need:
250g of wholemeal flour (Jord used white flour)
250g brown sugar
250g grated carrots
200ml olive oil
4 eggs
your favourite spice to flavour

Mix the dry ingredients

Mix the flour, carrots, sugar and the spice together.
Beat the eggs together then add them to the dry ingredients.
Add the oil to the ingredients and mix well.
Pour into your prepared greased or lined tins.
Jord used a goose shaped mould and at Christmas, tree moulds.

Add the eggs

Jord showing me a way to separate yolk from the white.
Use a plastic bottle to suck up the yolk.

Glacè icing

Slice of cake and an espresso

Christmas Carrot Cake

Chicken breast with Maple Syrup and Bacon

2012-07-20T05:11:00.001+02:00

Using a non-stick pan cook the chicken breast. Wrap thin rashers of bacon around the chicken. Add maple syrup but keep the fire low so not to burn the chicken. After a few minutes the bacon should be cooked. Add a little more maple syrup.

We ate the chicken with roast potatoes.

Barbadian Fast Food

2012-07-07T19:11:00.000+02:00

A lot of Barbadian (Bajan) fast food is really good quality.
One of our favourite places is Just Grillin' found in Holetown, St James and Rockley, Christ Church.

Grilled dolphin sandwich with coleslaw and Caesar Salad
at Just Grillin', Holetown

Everything is grilled from the potatoes and vegetables to shrimp, chicken and burgers. I think the food is healthy and really tasty and my children love it.

Forgot to mention, Dolphin is a type of steak fish it is not actual dolphin.

I know that these are chips but it is so nice to be served fresh chips not frozen ones. This meal was from a beach bar called Ju Ju's in The Garden, St James.

Grilled flying fish sandwich with squash and vegetables from
Just Gillin', Holetown, St James

'Big Fat Greek Burger' from Opà, Limegrove Centre,
Holetown, St James

Grilled marlin sandwich with coleslaw and rice and peas, from
Just Grillin', Holetown, St James

Bakewell Style Cake

2012-04-17T22:00:00.002+02:00

Form crumbs

Add water and make into a smooth ball

Using 500g of flour, 250g of butter and a little sugar make the pastry base. Make a breadcrumb-like mixture then add cold water slowly until you can make a ball that's not sticky and well formed.

Roll out to about 1.5cm thick. Place the baking tin you are going to use on the pastry. Cut around it and then grease the tin and place the pastry inside it.

Bake the pastry 'blind' by placing greaseproof paper on the pastry and then weighing it down with rice or dried beans. Bake at 160° for about 15 minutes or until the pastry is almost cooked.

Spread cherry jam or your favourite flavour onto the pastry base.

For the cake mixture cream 300g of sugar and 300g of butter together. Add lemon zest and the juice of 1 1/2 lemons.

Add 5 eggs and mix well. Stir in 400g of flour and a packet of baking powder, (about a tablespoon).

Pour the mixture onto the pastry base and
bake for about half an hour until golden. Use
a chop stick or something similar to check
if the cake is cooked.

Place in a greased baking tin

I had some mixture left over so I half filled cup cake cases with it then added a spoonful of jam. Put some mixture on top of the jam. Bake again at 160° for about 10 minutes or until golden.

Roll out pastry

Cover with greaseproof paper and add rice

Bake until almost cooked

Add your favourite jam

The cake mixture

Pour on top of the pastry case

Smooth the mixture

Ready to eat

Add a little jam

Enjoy the cup cake.

Hot Cross Buns

2012-04-08T23:09:00.000+02:00

The dry ingredients

I use my usual bread recipe to make the buns. For about 18 buns you will need:

700g flour

350g of sultanas

2 packets of yeast

1 tablespoon of sugar

400ml of water

2 tablespoons of olive oil

Cinnamon and spice to taste

Pastry for the crosses

Sometimes I might add an egg but this time I didn’t. Also substituting some of the water for milk means the bun may be softer.

Warm water and oil added to the mixture

Add the yeast, sugar, sultanas and spice to the flour. Stir well and then make a well in the mixture. Add the water and oil and mixing until you can form a soft ball from the dough. Add more water if it is too dry or flour if the mixture is too wet.

Turn onto a floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes. Put the dough back into the bowl and leave to rise for at least an hour. I left mine for about 6 hours as I went to my son’s football match.

After the dough has risen turn out once again and knead. Cut pieces of the dough into the size you prefer and form into buns.

Form into a ball

Place on grease-proof paper and brush with egg.

Cut out strips of pastry and form crosses on the buns (see Salmon and Prawns in crust for my pastry recipe), http://mummywhatsfordinner.blogspot.it
/2012/02/salmon-and-prawns-in-crust.html

Brush with egg again and sprinkle with brown sugar.

The risen dough

Knead the dough

Divide into pieces and form into balls

Brush with egg

Make crosses with pasrty

Hot Cross Buns

Bake for about 15 minutes at 200° . The buns are cooked when they make a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom.

Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Sauce

2012-04-08T22:03:00.000+02:00

What is Easter without a rich chocolate cake? I like strong flavours so I adapted this recipe to make it extra moist and chocolaty.

Place 150g of brown sugar (I ran of brown sugar so I used white), 200g of dark chocolate and 150g of butter into a heat-proof bowl. Melt over a saucepan filled with simmering water. When I have been pushed for time I have melted everything in the microwave but it is better not to.

Remove the bowl from the heat and mix straight away.

Add two eggs making sure to stir continuously so that the egg doesn’t start to cook.

Add 150g of flour 2 heaped tablespoons of dark chocolate powder and mix very well.

Pour the mixture into a fairly deep dish or baking pan as you

will have to add the sauce mixture.

For the chocolate sauce heat 400mls of spring water then add 3 heaped tablespoons of dark chocolate powder and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar. Stir well then pour over the cake mixture. Make sure that the cake is covered. Don’t worry if you have some sauce left over.

Place the cake inside another tin filled with water and cook in the middle of the oven at 180° for about half an hour.

When ready the cake will appear almost black and may have cracks in it.

This cake is very rich so don’t eat lots of it at one time!

Speck filled Focaccia

2012-03-25T23:15:00.000+02:00

I used my usual recipe for bread, http://mummywhatsfordinner.blogspot.it/2012/02/herby-beefburgers-with-fresh-bread.html

After leaving the dough to rise, roll into a rectangle shape. Place strips of Speck ham on the bottom half of the dough. On the other half I spread some tomato pureè.

Fold the dough over and seal the edges. Use your finger to make dimples in the dough and pour some olive oil on top. I wouldn't sprinkle salt on top like traditional focaccia as the speck already has salt in it.

Place on grease-proof paper and bake at 200° in the middle of the oven for until the focaccia has risen and is golden.

Place strips of Speck on the dough

Spread some tomato pureè on the dough

Bake until golden brown

Ready to eat

Serve with a lovely green salad.

Apologies

2012-03-25T22:23:00.002+02:00

Sorry that I haven't been blogging but have had my telephone line down for a coupl of weeks.

Stephanie

Potato Salad with Bruschetta

2012-03-25T22:18:00.000+02:00

Chop and drain the tomatoes

For the bruschetta chop the tomatoes into small pieces. Drain well. I leave the tomatoes in the colander for at least 20 minutes to make sure excess water drains away. If you want to add salt now is good time as that also helps to extract water.

Put the tomatoes into a bowl and add olive oil, black pepper, chopped garlic and your preferred herb. I use basil, parsley or oregano.

Bruschetta bread

Put the tomatoes on slices of bread. If you don't have large slices of bruschetta bread just use normal sliced bread. Cook in the oven until the bread starts to turn golden.

When I make potato salad I don't add mayonnaise
to it as I don't like it. I bring it to the table separately.

Boil potatoes but don't let them get mushy. Drain
well and leave to cool.

Place in a bowl and add chopped celery, parsley,
black pepper and olive oil. Stir well making sure

Add the tomato mix

Boil and drain the potatoes

not to break up the potatoes. Put in the fridge and
leave to cool.

I like the combination of the hot bruschetta with the
cold potato salad.

Add chopped celery, black pepper and parsley to the potatoes

Stir well

A light meal

Lemon Cake and Banana Cake

2012-03-04T22:55:00.000+01:00

Mash the bananas

Beat the sugar and butter

Add the eggs

Lemon zest

This is the basic recipe I use for all of my cakes. I just modify it by adding other ingredients.

150 grams of sugar
150 grams of butter
200 grams of flour
2 eggs
baking powder

Cream the butter and sugar together until soft.
Add the eggs.

At this point I added the mashed bananas for the banana cake. For the lemon cake I added the juice of one lemon and some zest.

Mix and then add the flour and baking powder.

Beat well (I use an electric whisk).

Pour the mixture into lined baking tins and bake at 160° for about 30 minutes.

Add lemon juice

Add flour

Beat until light and fluffy

Add the bananas and spice to mixture

Beat until flufffy

Lemon cake

Banana cake

Melt in your mouth slices

Mummy, what's for dinner?: Some Alto Adige Delights

2012-03-04T22:39:00.000+01:00

Mummy, what's for dinner?: Some Alto Adige Delights: Hot red currents with fresh cream (Calva Restaurant, Laudes) Strudel (Calva Restaurant, Laudes) Fresh fruit salad with icecream ...

Some Alto Adige Delights

2012-03-04T22:35:00.000+01:00

Hot red currents with fresh cream (Calva Restaurant, Laudes)

Strudel (Calva Restaurant, Laudes)

Fresh fruit salad with icecream (Calva Restaurant, Laudes)

Sacher cake

Strudel (need to add the name of the cafè)

Mixed Grilled Meats (Restaurant Edelweiss, Reschen)

Weinersnitchel (Restaurant Edelweiss, Reschen)

We spent a few days in the mountains in Alto Adige where the first language is German. We ate lots of German influenced dishes. I forgot to whip out my camera to photograph the Goulash and canederli (a meat ball shaped combination of speck, herbs and bread). Here are some pictures of some of the things we ate.

Stuffed Chicken Breast with Roast Potatoes

2012-02-13T22:38:00.000+01:00

Bread and crackers for stuffing

To make the stuffing use a variety of bread and crackers. Break the bread into pieces and crush the crackers.

Add chopped onions, garlic, parsley, basil (or your favourite herbs) and pepper.

Add hot water and olive oil and stir so that the bread softens.

Cut slits into the chicken breast and stuff with the bread mixture. Cover the chicken with any remaining mixture. Cover with grease proof paper and wrap in foil.

Break up bread and crackers, add herbs and onion

Add hot water to the bread

Slit the chicken breast

Slice courgettes. Bake in the oven in a dish filled with water, some olive oil, parsley and garlic.

I sauteed some aubergine and served it along with roast potatoes, courgettes and the chicken. I kept the skin on some of the potatoes and par boiled them before roasting them in the oven.

Stuff the chicken and cover it with the remaining mixture

Add parsley, garlic, water and oil

Chicken breast and Roast potatoes

Heart Pancakes

2012-02-13T22:04:00.000+01:00

Add an egg to the milk

Soya milk

It's Valentine's Day tomorrow but I'll be getting home late so I made something for desert tonight.

Pour about 500ml of milk into a bowl and add an egg. I have a lactose intolerance so I made separate pancakes for myself with 250ml soya milk.

Add flour until you have a smooth batter that coats the back of a spoon. I usually add water to pancakes I make with milk.

I used a heart shaped biscuit cutter and poured the batter into it.

Cook until golden.

Serve with whipped cream and strawberry jam. If I had fresh strawberries I would have used them too.

A smooth batter

Cook the pancake in a heart-shaped cutter

Remove the cutter

Serve with cream and jam

Herby Beefburgers with Fresh Bread

2012-02-12T22:01:00.001+01:00

Minced meat, onions, herbs, garlic, tomato ketchup and black pepper

Choose good quality minced meat. Add your favourite herbs, chopped onions, chopped garlic, tomato ketchup and black pepper.

Give the ingredients a good stir and then form into burgers.

I cook my burgers in wine with added tomato pureè and onions. They stay nice and moist as we like our meat well done. This way you don't need to fry the meat.

Serve with home-made bread (see the recipe in
an earlier blog).We had oven chips and onion

Mix well

rings with ours.

Make into burger shapes

Cook in wine with tomato puree and onions

The cooked burgers

Serve in a home-made bread bun

Pork stew and rice

2012-02-12T21:22:00.000+01:00

I was supposed to serve this stew with polenta but we forgot and Ricky made2 a vegetable fried rice instead. He added curry powder to cooked rice just for a little flavour. He sauteed the rice with courgettes, onion and sweet pepper.

Cut a joint into cubes. Put into a saucepan and add bay leaves, a vegetable stock cube, onion, garlic, celery, tomato pureè and carrots. Add salt and pepper if you like.

Leave to boil and then simmer for an hour until the meat is tender. I made the stew a few days before I needed it and decided to freeze it.

Ricky defrosted the stew and then reheated it.

Salmon and prawns in crust

2012-02-06T21:22:00.000+01:00

Using 500g of flour and 250g of butter I made the pastry. Some cookbooks say to use your fingers to make a breadcrumb-like mixture. I use a spoon and it always comes out fine. I even melt the butter a little in the microwave. Pastry is supposed to stay cold.

Anyway, once you have the breadcrumb mixture add cold water slowly until you can make a ball that's not sticky and well formed. I usually make pastry the day before I need it and keep it in the fridge.

If the salmon has skin on remove it. I always soak fish in lemon and salt before I cook it and added the prawns to also remove the raw taste.

After the fish has been in the lemon and salt for about 20 minutes rinse it very well. Remember not to add anymore salt to the dish as the fish will already have some salt residue on it.

Roll out the pastry into a rectangular shape. It has to be long enough to fit the salmon it. Place the salmon along one side of the pastry, put the prawns on top and along the side. At this point I would normally add breadcrumbs to help soak up any juices produced by the fish but I forgot.

Flour and butter

Mix the flour and butter together

Add water

Form into a ball and chill

Skin the fish

Add lemon and salt

Roll out the pastry

Place the fish and prawns on the pasty

Brush with egg

Next sprinkle parsley, garlic and black pepper on top of the fish. Brush beaten egg around the edge of the pastry. Fold the pastry over the fish and pinch the edges to seal in the fish. Brush the pastry with egg and bake for about 30 minutes at 160 degrees.

We ate the salmon with potato wedges made by husband (just cut potatoes into wedges add a pinch of salt, mixed herbs and a sprinkle of paprika) and salad.

Cooked!

Our dinner tonight

Raspberry tart

There was some pastry left over so I made a raspberry tart.

Tomato Soup with Fresh Bread

2012-02-05T23:22:00.001+01:00

This is a favourite of ours. I usually make fresh bread to go along with soup.
Cut just over a kilo of tomatoes into quarters and place in a large saucepan. Add 2 or 3 carrots (sliced), 3 medium sized potatoes (diced), an onion, 3 cloves of garlic, a stick of celery, black pepper, parsley, basel and a dash of olive oil. Add 1200 mls of water. Bring to the boil and then simmer until the potatoes are soft.

Use a hand blender to mash up all the vegetables. Allow the soup to simmer for another 20 minutes or so and add a handful of parsley.

For the bread, I made double the amount but the recipe is as follows
350g of flour
1 packet of yeast
210 ml of warm water
a spoonful of sugar (to activate the yeast)
A spoonful of olive oil

Add the yeast and sugar to the flour. Make a well in the flour and add the water and olive oil. Mix well until a ball is formed. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes. Put back into the mixing bowl and leave somewhere warm to rise.

Quarter the tomatoes

Add water

Bring to the boil

Use the hand blender

Add water and oil to the dry ingredients

Knead

Form into a ball

Leave to rise

Form into shapes

Allow to rise another half an hour

Serve the soup with hot bread

My son added parmesan cheese and mini pasta to his soup

After about an hour the dough should have doubled in size. Knead again and then shape the dough. I made rolls. Leave the dough to rise again for half an hour. Bake at 180 degrees for about 10 minutes (if rolls) 20 minutes if a loaf.