Top Nosh

Quantity/Temperature Conversions & Ingredient Substitution

noreply@blogger.com (Gertee) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:28:00 +0000

I know I said the next post would be roast beef accompaniments, but I wanted to make a quick one about converting British recipes to US and vice-versa.

Oven temperatures are easy. Just use this conversion tool.

Quantities are more complicated, because British recipes usually use imperial weight (lb/oz) and US recipes use volume (cups/tablespoons). This site has a lot of useful information on quantity conversions. It also has some useful ingredient substitutions.

Roast Beef - British Style

noreply@blogger.com (Gertee) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:33:00 +0000

When I was growing up, Sunday dinner was a big event. The meal would be a roast joint of some kind, a chicken, pork leg, leg of lamb or everybody's favorite, roast beef!

For the best roast beef, you ideally need a good quality cut (or joint in the UK), preferably a rib or sirloin tip. Beef for roasting needs a good marbling of fat or it will dry out. If buying a rib roast, on the bone tastes better than boneless. You can also use eye of round/topside if it is good quality.

Also, get a meat thermometer! It makes it so much easier especially if you haven't roasted beef much before. You really don't want to ruin an expensive roasting joint by overcooking. Ones that can stay in the roast during the entire cooking time are easiest. A roaster pan with a rack is a good thing to have too, because it lifts the beef out of its own juices, allowing it to get good and crispy on all sides instead of 'stewing' on the bottom.

I like to sear a roast on all sides on the stove top before putting it in the oven. Some people prefer to roast at a high temperature for the first 20 minutes instead, but I think you run a greater risk of over-cooking it that way. I roast at a steady 325 F/160 C for the entire cooking time.

Internal Temperatures and approx cooking times:

Rare:120°F to 125°F, (49°C to 52°C), 15-17 mins per pound
Medium Rare: 130°F to 140°F (55°C to 60°C) , 18-20 mins per pound
Medium: 145°F to 150°F (63°C to 66°C) , 21-23 mins per pound
Well Done: 155°F to 165°F (68°C to 74°C), 25-28 mins per pound

Rare and medium rare are best! Cooking times are very approximate and will be longer for lower quality cuts. Let beef stand on a rack for at least 15 minutes before you carve it.

Next post will be the accompaniments, including Yorkshire Pudding (yummmy!).

Easy(ish) Strawberry Shortcake

noreply@blogger.com (Gertee) — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 18:38:00 +0000

Strawberry Shortcake is one of my favourite desserts. Strawberries + shortcake + cream - whats not to like? This is my third attempt at it and I think I got it right this time. I wanted a quick and easy recipe, so I took shortcuts with the shortcake. But I think I made up for it with the homemade syrup and real cream!

The Shortcake

For the shortcake base, I used an instant 'just-add-water' biscuit mix. I used one called Southern Biscuits, which worked great and was half the price of Bisquick.

Add 1/2 - 3/4 cup sugar to th e biscuit mix and use a little more water than the instructions call for. My instructions said to 1/4 cup, so I added about another 2 tablespoons water to it.

Coat a baking dish with cooking spray, then pour the biscuit mix into it. The mixture will spread to fill the dish when it cooks, so don't worry about the shape. Bake it according to the packet instructions.

The Strawberries

I used 1 lb punnet (is that word used in the US?) of strawberries (about 1lb), washed, topped and halved or quartered depending on their size. I miss English strawberries! But Florida ones are good, just try to get smaller ones. I haven't really enjoyed the California strawberries that I've had so far.

I made a simple dessert syrup for the strawberries. the store-bought glaze is yucky and I didn't really want to use jello/gelatin.

Simple Dessert Syrup
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tblsp lemon juice

Add sugar and water to a small saucepan and heat mizture over a medium to high heat. Stir continuously until the sugar dissolves.

When the mixture begins to thicken, add the lemon juice.

Bring to the boil, then remove from the heat and allow to cool.

When the mixture has cooled, pour it over the strawberries and mix so that they are all well covered in the syrup. Chill them in the fridge until you are ready to use them.

The Cream

The only way to do whipped cream is to buy a carton of heavy whipping cream and whip it yourself, either by hand with a balloon whisk or with a hand-held electric mixer (or a stand mixer I guess, but I don't have one of those yet!). Don't add anything to it, just put i t in a big bowl and whip it. I don't like whipped cream that's been sweetened or the stuff from the can. The dessert is sweet enough already and the canned stuff is not rich enough. If you are going to indulge in something this bad for you, you might as well do it right!

Putting it Together

Let the baked biscuit cool a bit. Then pour the strawberries over the biscuit and spread the cream on top. Chill until you are ready to eat it...or just eat it immediately!