FLOWER POT KITCHEN: VIVA YANKEE DOODLES & VERY MERRY COOKING...

13 Nov 2011

VIVA YANKEE DOODLES & VERY MERRY COOKING...

FABULOUS YANKEE DOODLE'S NIGHT WITH OUR MOST EXCELLENT OLD CUSTOMERS RELIVING ALL OUR FAVORITE NIGHTS SPENT DRINKING BEER (SADLY NO MICKEYS BIG MOUTH BEER, (damm you miller genuine draft...), CHOCOLATE SPIDER COCKTAILS, JOSE CURVEO, PONCHE CABALLERO AND FABULOUS FOOD.

STARTERS WERE LOADED SKINS, STRAIGHT UP ONION RINGS, NACHOS AND HOT LOUSIANNA BUFFALO FRIED CHICKEN WITH CREAMY BLUE CHEESE DIP.

FINE VEGETABLE FAJITAS WITH MANGETOUT, ASPARAGUS, BABY LEEKS & CORNS, FINE GREEN BEANS, BABY COURGETTES, BELL PEPPERS & ONIONS MARINATED IN AUTHENTIC FAJITAS SPICES, SERVED WITH WARM SOFT FLOUR TORTILLAS, SOUR CREAM, GUACAMOLE & RAW TOMATO & CORRIANDER SALSA

CHICKEN FAJITAS MARINATED IN AUTHENTIC MEXICAN SPICES AND SIZZLED WITH BELL PEPPERS, ONIONS, SOFT WARM FLOUR TORTILLAS, SOUR CREAM, GUACAMOLE AND RAW TOMATO CORRIANDER SALSA & CRISP SALAD

THREE AMIGOS STACKED CHICKEN BREAST BURGER, THREE CHICKEN BREAST CHARGRILLED AND EACH BREAST TOPPED WITH MELTING CHEESE, MAYO AND CRISP LETTUCE, STACKED AND FINISHED OFF WITH SIX RASHERS OF OAK SMOKED CRISPY SWEETCURE BACON, SERVED IN A TOASTED SESAME BUN WITH STEALTH SKIN ON FRIES AND SIDE OF HICKORY BBQ SAUCE

CORIANDER & RAW TOMATO SALSA, RIO MIX CHEESE, LA PERLAS HOT SALSA & BELL PEPPERS MELT FILLED FLOUR TORTILLA, CHARGRILLED AND SERVED WITH STEALTH SKIN ON FRIES, SIDE OF RAW SALSA SALAD AND SOUR CREAM

RICH DARK CHOCOLATE GANACHE CAKE WITH SWEET CHOCOLATE PASTRY

MISSISSIPPI MUD PIE AGAIN !!!

THIS I WILL DO TOMMORROW...

AUTHENTIC FAJITAS SPICE DRY RUB
Garlic powder
Corn masa flour
Salt
Soy sauce
Papain
Plack pepper
Crushed chilli peppers
Soft brown sugar
Ground coriander
Cumin
Parsley
Lime zest
Mix all the above in 2 part oil to 1 part spices

FRESH FAJITAS MARINADE
Lime juice
Coriander
Black pepper & salt
Pinch garlic powder
Pinch brown sugar (to taste)
1 tsp oil to stop mix burning in the wok

Meat, fish or vegetables
Bell peppers sliced
Onions sliced
Sides of set sour cream
Guacamole
Raw tomato salsa
Flour tortillas
Crispy lemon lettuce
lime juice

Marinate your meat or vegetables in the fajitas spices for at least half a day. This is a fast cook, so have your salad and dips all ready to go and flour tortillas standing by ready to warm through in the oven for approx 2 minutes. If you have a griddle platter to serve your fajitas sizzling, put it on the medium heat. In a hot wok add the marinated fajitas, you want the spices to catch a little on the bottom of the wok, when 3/4 cooked add a egg cup of water and put a lid on the wok to steam the fajitas for approx 1 minute or so, remove the lid and add the bell peppers and onions and cook on for a further minute, serve on the sizzling platter and squeeze half a lime over the sizzling fajitas.

THREE AMIGOS STACKED CHICKEN BURGER
3 chicken breasts
3 slices of real cheese
6 rashers sweetcure bacon
Iceberg lettuce
Mayo
Sesame bun
Fries

Take the chicken breast approx 4-5oz in size, put in a large food bag and bash gently with a rolling pin just to level the chicken breast out for even cooking. Toast the bun. On a griddle cook the bacon & chicken breasts, only turning once, when just cooked turn over again and topp with a slice of cheese and allow to melt. Put the base of the bun on a plate and put one chicken breast, top with mayo and small handfull of iceberg lettuce, do it again and do it again and top with bacon, Serve with fries.

TOMATO CORIANDER AND THREE CHEESE QUESADILLA
Large flour tortilla
Mozeralla cheese
Red leicester cheese
Mature cheddar
Raw tomato coriander salsa
La perla salsa
diced bell peppers & onions

In a jug mix the three cheeses, salsa, raw salsa, bell peppers and onions and melt. Heat a frying pan or griddle. fill half the flour tortilla with the melted cheese and salsa mix and fold in half, place on the griddle and cook for approx 3 minutes each side. Serve with fries, salad and a side of sour cream.

RAW TOMATO CORIANDER SALSA
3 Beef tomato's
Bunch fresh coriander
1/4 cuecumber
1/4 raw onion
Salt and Pepper
Fresh lime juice

De-seed the tomato's, finely chopp the tomato's, cuecumber, onion and coriander, mix well and squeeze over the lime juice, taste and season with salt and pepper to taste, chill for at least 2 hrs.
This is also so great in salads, mixed with rice and used in wraps.

LA PERLA'S SALSA
1 tin top quality tomato's
1 lime
1 red hot chilli
Handful jalapenos
Lots of salt
1 onion
20 stalks of corinader
Big dash of tom puree

In a blender add all the ingredients and blend well, taste and adjust the lime, salt and tom puree to your likin. This needs to be served cold.

BEST EVER BLUE CHEESE DIP/SAUCE
Really good blue cheese
Double cream

This is such a excellent sauce, great for chicken, burgers, pasta and dipping anything in... Warm up the double cream and drop chunks of the blue cheese into the cream, gently almost melt together, turn off the heat and de-cante and leave in the fridge to cool.

MISSISSIPPI MUD PIE
Recipe is in Octobers blog

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.