The First "Foodie " I ever Met!

My father introduced me to good food, fine wines and opened my eyes to the delights of cooking.

He was diabetic ( not good about it !) But at an early age I learnt to adapt recipes.

30 years ago today with my cousin Mark (a chef) help, we made my father an enormous surprise birthday party, sadly it turned out to be his last.

Tomorrow my father would be 86 had he lived, after nearly 30 years I still make meal on his birthday ,in his memory, Tomorrow night four friends and I will sit down to this meal.

Cock-a-leekie soup is a Scottish soup dish of leeks and chicken stock. one of his favourite soups

Fresh garden herb stuffed slow roasted organic chicken, the herbs gathered this morning pictured above, he loved stuffing.

Double Roasted Spiced Cauliflower Fritters his second favourite vegetable

Colcannon (Irish: cál ceannann, meaning "white-headed cabbage") ( Irish mashed potatoes with cabbage & green onion ) cabbage was his first

Coconut Roasted Pumpkin Purée for colour !

Rich mushroom sauce this was my fathers recipe, he loved mushrooms depending on the thickness you can use this as a basis for soup, as a gravy, to stuff vol au vent, or pancakes . I learnt to make this at nine years old it has evolved over the years .

I know my father would have preferred a double chocolate fudge cake or a trifle as the end to a perfect or any meal, but I have an abundance of apples, and as this is quintessentially an English or British meal although he loved food from all over the world he was very much a very dapper British gentleman , also apple crumble was a dish he showed me to make .. so we will finish with

Organic Spelt & Oat Apple Crumble and Dairy free custard

Organic Decaffeinated Earl grey tea . (from my union jack tea pot !)

Recipes to follow during the week..

My lack of health and energy this week has made this a week long project. The basic stock for the soup was made Sunday and frozen, the mushroom sauce Monday and also frozen . The apple crumble along with the the stuffing this morning,

A friend is coming to help me later as a sous chef.

Right . now in the oven two turkey wings are slow roasting with herbs onion and water to be sliced into the soup with leeks turnip carrots . and a wee tatty..

The cauliflower is soaking in iced cold salty water to open the florets.

I hope to honour my fathers memory with love and food, and the food he loved.

Comments

Not Schmaltz At All ( healthy chopped liver)

Chopped liver often mocked, reproduced and joked about, as traditionally Jewish as chicken soup. Chopped liver can be made with any type pf liver but personally I prefer the traditional favorite of chicken livers. Chopped liver was traditionally fried in schmaltz (chicken fat ) which over the years has given way to oil, my no fry no oil version tastes just as good but weight watchers can eat with guilt. Nutritional Value Liver is a nutrient-rich food and the ingredients in the chopped liver recipe add more nutrients to the mix. Liver is high in vitamin A, which is dangerous to unborn babies so pregnant mothers should avoid liver in any form.It also contains vitamin C choline, betaine, of vitamin B-12, retinal and vitamin E also of vitamins B-6, folate, niacin, pantothenic acid, riboflavin and thiamin in lesser amounts It also contains the following minerals Its high in i ron, magne...

Deli Days ( Remembering Blooms )

In the U.K. we call it Salt Beef, in the US they call it corned beef, but nothing quite evokes my nostalgia taste buds, than a picture of an overstuffed salt beef on rye sandwich with a side order of new green cucumbers.. If you were brought up in the south of England , no trip to London was complete without a visit to Blooms.they were located near Petticoat lane in the East End of London, and on Golders green road in north west London. Once inside the doors one would feast your eyes and all your senses on a whole selection of traditional Jewish dishes, With portions certainly not for the faint hearted or for the cholesterol shy. This week I am going to take some of those dishes, remove the smaltz, sugars and gluten and give the Kitchen Guru followers the flavors without the health risks to your favorite kosher deli menu . Starting today with the item that made Blooms famous Salt...

Let's Rocket !!

Having spent some time in hospital this week and being faced with the blah boring and certainly not nutritious hospital food, I came home so over tired and my stomach totally on empty. So please excuse me for getting on my soap box BUT in a place that is meant to make people well, are they full of germs and viruses, noisy to prevent sleep, and serve meals that are packed full of carbohydrates , fats and sugar. Having explained that I do not eat dairy or gluten and would like to avoid sugar nightshades ,and fats the first morning the breakfast left for me consisted of 6 slices of white bread, slices of hard cheese one pot of soft or cottage cheese, one yogurt, one chocolate desert, and a cup of milky cocoa.... seriously ? Lunch got left on the side as the smell bowl of the lukewarm MSG incrusted pretend soup was enough to put me on a huger strike. ...

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