Conversion Charts

I have, German cookbooks, English cookbooks and American cookbooks all use different measurements, Grams and Kilos, Pounds and ounces and Cup sizes. My scales have either the metric or imperial weights and I can switch between the two, I also have the proper cup sizes and a jug with all the measurements on it including fluid cups, so any recipe is no problem for me, I am never going to struggle trying to convert the measurements… It has occurred to me that my posts flit between all of the measurements, depending on where I got my resources from, and that not everyone would have all the equipment that I do, so I thought I would try and do a few, conversion charts of my own. I have checked online, and no one page has the same equivalents, so I have used the ones that I have been using up until now.

1 cup of flour	150 g
1 cup of sugar	225g
1 cup of brown sugar	175g
1 cup of butter	225g
1 cup of currants	150g
1 cup of raisins	200g
1 cup ground almonds	110g
1 cup golden syrup	350g
1 cup uncooked rice	200g
1 cup cheese	110g
1 stick of butter	110g

 

225˚F	110˚C  cool
250˚F	120˚C  cool
275˚F	140˚C   very slow
300˚F	150˚ C   very slow
325˚F	160˚ C   slow
350˚F	180˚ C   moderate
375˚F	190˚C    moderate
400˚F	200˚ C   moderately hot
425˚F	220˚ C   hot
450˚F	230˚ C   hot
475˚F	240˚ C   very hot˚

Fluid Cup (U.S.)		Litres		Pints (IMP)
1		240ml		0.42
2		470ml		0.83
3		710ml		1.25
4		950ml		1.67
5		1.18l		2.08
6		1.42l		2.5
7		1.66l		2.91
8		1.89l		3.33
9		2.13l		3.75
10		2.37l		4.16

 

Sausage Bake

I am continuously on the lookout for new and exciting flavour combinations and because so much had been - NOT ALLOWED - anything is new to me. Cherry tomatoes may have been bought every now and again with the sole purpose of being eaten out of the packet. If I'd attempted to cook them, I would have been met by screwed up faces. Now that I am free to cook almost anything, I can experiment all I wish - and I do. I'll admit that I haven't always enjoyed everything, but with a new philosophy of anything goes I can honestly say I am no longer missing out.

 

Tomato and Sausage Bake

700g ripe cherry tomatoes

1tsp each of dried thyme, rosemary and oregano

1 bay leaf

 1 clove of garlic, peeled and chopped

4 of your favourite sausages

Olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

 

Salt and pepper to taste

1.       Preheat your oven 190˚C/375˚F, place all the tomatoes and the sausages into a roasting pan, if you can place all your tomatoes in one tight layer and then sprinkle all the herbs on top, drizzle with olive oil and vinegar then season with salt and pepper. Carefully toss it altogether making sure that the sausages remain on top. Put it in the oven for 30 mins, take it out give it a good shake and then return it to the oven for 15-30 minutes.

2.       If the sauce is too loose when you remove it from the oven, remove the sausages and place the roasting pan on the hob and reduce the sauce a bit, to the right consistency. Return the sausages to the sauce and serve with crusty bread, rice or mashed potato.

 

 

Chicken and blue cheese salad

One of my most favourite things to eat is a baby leafed green salad, and BBQ'd something, whether it be brats (the sausage kind, not the annoying child kind) burgers, fish or lamb. I'm not too fussed, but I love the contrast between hot freshly cooked barbequed meat and the cool salad. I get bored though of the same green leaf salad and salad dressing though, so I'll mix it up with chorizo, pomegranate, pinenuts, chickpeas, sun dried tomatoes even grapes or apples depending on what I have on hand at the time. This next recipe is lovely and definitely fills all the boxes I have just mentioned.

  Chicken and Blue Cheese Salad

1 bag mixed salad leaves

2 cooked chicken breasts thinly sliced

2 pears, peeled, cored and wedged

25g walnuts, roughly chopped

55g crumbled Roquefort

For the dressing

3tbsp red wine vinegar

2tbsp extra virgin olive oil

¼ tbsp. caster sugar

1tsp Dijon mustard

Salt and black pepper to taste

1.       Put all the ingredients for the dressing into a jar with a lid, seal and give it a good shake, test for seasoning and if needed give it a little extra salt and pepper.

2.       Mix all of your salad ingredients, not the cheese. Add the dressing and toss to coat. Divide the salad between the four bowls and then sprinkle with the blue cheese.

PIZZA

I love pizza; it is one of my favourite junk foods. For me when I am feeling blah, or poorly or just have midnight munchies I always go for a bread type snack, something about it is just comforting, reminds me of the better times when it was just me and my Mummy. I love toast for example, hot and slathered with lots of lightly salted butter or margarine like Utterly Butterly. As a child St Ivel Gold was my favourite. My Mummy didn’t buy it very often but when she did it was a welcome rare treat. I associate it with happier times I remember watching her one day buttering her toast and she looked at me smiled and said “Every now and again, Rebecca, there is nothing nicer than hot toast with lots of melted butter” I have to agree. I also believe that this was the beginning of my ‘dough’ obsession; I still savour every bite and feel comforted when I eat it.

The best pizza I have ever eaten was in America of course, Papa John’s BBQ Chicken and bacon ranch, whenever we ordered pizza that was what it would be and the garlic butter dipping sauce, heaven! As with most things in life I have discovered that all good things come to an end, eventually. America was one of them, I felt at home there and if it had been possible for me to stay I would have done. Never mind there is absolutely no point dwelling on that, I have brought lots of experiences away with me and different ideas about food that would never have crossed my mind before, and thankfully I am able to replicate the Chicken and bacon pizza that we loved so much. I have made three of these pizzas the first two were simple, one with ham the other with shrimp, all three were with store bought pizza base. I had made an attempt at pizza dough but it was too sticky and stuck to EVERYTHING, I did manage to get some of it on to baking paper (also a bad idea) and baked it to see what it would have tasted like… I wish in one way I hadn’t bothered, 95% of it was glued to the baking paper and therefore inedible but that little bit we did try was delicious, in fact I would go so far as to say that it was the best I had ever tasted….. Oh so bitter sweet disappointment. I will try again, I am just not quite brave enough yet. The BBQ was my favourite, sods law though I’ve lost the recipe, it very nearly captured the Papa John’s pizza, I even managed to make the garlic butter dipping sauce….. Gutted…. Here are the other two recipes though.

PIZZA

2 store bought pizza bases (unless you can make your own)

150ml tomato sauce

2 balls mozzarella torn into pieces

A bunch of basil

Salt and black pepper to taste

Olive oil

2 handfuls of rocket

The juice of ½ a lemon

9 slices of prosciutto

100g cooked, shelled shrimp

Parmesan to serve

 

1.      Preheat your oven to 220˚C/430˚F. If you are making your own pizza base now would be the time to do that. Working quickly, spoon enough tomato sauce to cover the pizza base, into the middle and working towards the edges spread it evenly out, leaving the outside edge clear. Scatter the pizza with mozzarella and basil, season to taste with salt and pepper and drizzle with a little olive oil.

2.       Bake your pizzas in the oven for 8-10 minutes, until the base is golden and crisp.

3.      Take the pizza out of the oven and drape one with the prosciutto and scatter shrimp on the other, scatter the rocket over both and a squeeze of lemon juice another drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle on some Parmesan…

Prawn Curry

As far as food is concerned America has ruined me. America's value for money and choice far outweighs that here in the UK and Germany, as a rule I have to travel to two or three supermarkets to get the bits I need, where as in America I could get everything under one roof. It's not just the supermarkets though. Restaurants tend to be rubbish in comparison too, whether it's pizza, Chinese or Curry for example to name but a few. The UK and Germany just doesn't compare, the question now though is where does that leave me? Well I suppose that leaves me with two options, 1) forget it and find something else, 2) Work at finding a recipe that will replicate the meals we ate and enjoyed out in America. I’ve opted for option 2 and in the long run I am saving money by not buying takeout food that I won’t enjoy.

 

Prawn Curry

 

500g raw, peeled shrimp

1 un-waxed lemon, juice and zest

4 cloves of garlic, mashed with a pinch of salt

1tsp salt

1tsp turmeric

3tbsp Olive oil

1 roughly chopped onion

½ tsp chilli powder

1tsp ground coriander

1tsp ground cumin

1tsp garam masala

400g can chopped tomatoes

1 lime, juiced

 1.       In a large bowl, combine the shrimp, lemon juice and zest, a ¼ of the mashed garlic, the salt and turmeric, gently rub the lemony mixture into the prawns and then leave to marinate a little, about 10 minutes.

2.       Heat half the oil in your wok or skillet, add the remaining garlic and the onion, cooking for about 5 minutes. Then add the spices, cook for a couple of minutes and then add the tomatoes, bring to a boil, cover (it is likely to spit) and stirring once or twice, let it boil for about 5 minutes.

 3.       In a small skillet, add and heat the remaining oil. Remove the shrimp from their marinade and using kitchen paper pat them dry, fry the shrimp over a medium heat until they turn pink, this should only take a few minutes, over cooking them will result in rubbery chewy shrimp yuck!

4.       Finally once the shrimp are cooked add them to the tomato mixture along with the lime juice, heat through and serve with boil fluffy rice.

 

 

 

Surf and Turf meatballs

In all honesty I've no idea anymore what attracted me to this recipe, nothing about half and half mince and shrimp seems at all appealing to me. I have moments where it seems like a good idea at the time, but later maybe isn't. Anyway for whatever reason I decided that this was the recipe and I set to work making it. Truth be told apart from my usual meat blunder - resulting in mini-meat toblerones instead of balls, it's actually quite delicious and the shrimp bits add an interesting texture to the meat. The chilli flakes give this dish a little bit of a kick but it's not too intrusive on the more delicate palette, although I am not to sure how willing I would be to try this out on a small child with fussy eating habits, meatballs or not.

 

Surf and Turf Meatballs in Sweet and Sour Sauce

325g half and half mince

325g raw shrimp, shelled and finely chopped                         

½ tsp red chilli flakes

2 spring onions/scallions, finely chopped

2tbsp light soy sauce

2tsp sesame oil

1tbsp corn flour/corn starch

1tbsp olive oil

For the sauce

2 cloves garlic

½ tsp ginger powder  (you can use up to an inch of peeled and grated ginger, I don’t  because I am allergic)

¼ tsp chilli flakes

100ml pineapple juice

2tbsp light soy sauce

1tbsp white wine vinegar

3tbsp tomato ketchup

2tbsp soft brown sugar

1tbsp corn flour/corn starch mixed with 2tbsp water

 Boiled rice to serve

1.       In a large bowl mix together the mince, prawns, chilli, spring onions, soy sauce, sesame oil and corn flour. Once it is mixed really well , make divide the mixture up in to chestnut sized balls.

2.       In a wok, if you have one or a skillet heat the oil and fry the meatballs until browned all over. Now from the sauce ingredients add the garlic, ginger and chilli flakes. Reduce the heat and cook for 5 more minutes.

3.       Now add the pineapple juice, soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup and sugar. Bring to a boil and cook for a few minutes, then add the corn flour mixture you made, stirring continuously for about 2 minutes until thickened.

 

Serve on a bed of rice.

 

 

 

Cheese filled sausages, with creamed leeks and potatoes

I would definitely class this one as comfort food, homey and delicious. It's one of the recipes from my Anthony Worral Thompson book, I am not a huge fan of the man, for various reasons, but his book is very good. I'm of the opinion that if you only read things you are a fan of, you'll never experience anything new. Life is so short and people, I am guilty of this too, spend too much time worrying about what other people will think, or not doing something because it is unfamiliar and out of their comfort zone. I think we miss out on so many things because of this, and for what, saving face? Logically it makes no sense, to learn is to evolve, but to learn we must experience everything, even the stuff we find boring, scary and hate. 

 

Brie Filled Sausages on a Bed Of Creamed Leeks and Potatoes

 

For the sausages

 

1 tbsp. olive oil

8 of your favourite sausages

225g brie

2tbsp mango chutney

8 rashers of prosciutto

 

For the leeks and potatoes

 

450g new potatoes, 1/4

450g leeks, washed and shredded

55g unsalted butter

1tsp thyme

150ml double cream

salt and ground pepper to taste

 

 

1.       To begin with you will need to heat your oven to 180˚C/360˚F.

 

2.       In a heavy based skillet, heat the oil, then add your sausages, brown the sausages but don’t cook them all the way through. Take the sausages out of the pan and set aside to cool slightly.

 
3.       Cook the potatoes in salted boiling water until tender, then drain. Using the skillet you used for the sausages, cook the leeks in the butter and thyme, until they are softened.

 

4.       In the meantime, cut a pocket in each of the sausages and put a thin slice of brie into each pocket, and spoon a little of the chutney on top, finally stretch each of your bacon rashers and wrap them around the sausages making sure to close the open pocket, so the cheese and mango doesn’t seep out during cooking. Place them into an oven proof dish.

 

5.       Place the sausages in the oven and cook for about 10-15 minutes, until the sausages are cooked all the way through and the bacon is crispy.

 

6.       When the potatoes are cooked add them to the leeks and pour in the double cream, cook until the cream has thickened this should take about 5 minutes, season with salt and pepper.

 

7.       Plate the potatoes and leeks and top with the sausages.