TEN : GREEN PANCAKES WITH LIME BUTTER

PLENTY

JULY 29 2012

TEN : GREEN PANCAKES WITH LIME BUTTER

It is important to point out right up front that I do not like pancakes. Just thinking about them makes me shudder. Doughy bites, slimy with butter, slowly dissolving in maple syrup. Ugh. But here I am, making and eating pancakes. It's all for you, dear reader! As I work, I'm trying hard to convinced myself that Mr. O's colorful interpretation will transcend the spongy mattresses found in on breakfast plates around the country and awaken me to a whole new flapjack world.

THIRTY-ONE - THIRTY-FOUR : BEANCAKES, CARAMELIZED FENNEL AND CITRUS PUDDING

Delia Smith's Winter Collection

APRIL 14 2012

THIRTY-ONE : SAUTEED CARAMELISED FENNEL
THIRTY-TWO : MASHED BLACK-EYED BEANCAKES WITH GINGER ONION MARMALADE
THIRTY-THREE : GINGER ONION MARMALADE
THIRTY-FOUR : HOT CITRUS PUDDING

Me: "Dang, everything on my plate is brown and looks the same." Hubby: "That's how you know it's authentic English food!"

bean cake on the left - caramelized fennel on the right

Thankfully our first bites quickly reveal the two items to offer vastly different taste, texture and experience.

TWENTY-EIGHT & TWENTY-NINE : CRUSTED FISH IN ROMESCO W/ BAKED CELERY

Delia Smith's Winter Collection

MARCH 29 2012

TWENTY-EIGHT : PARMESAN-COATED FISH WITH WALNUT ROMESCO SAUCE
TWENTY-NINE : CELERY BAKED IN VINAIGRETTE WITH PANCETTA & SHALLOTS
 
Why, oh why am I so darn bad at cooking fish?!? I can't understand it. Am I using the wrong pan? Is the pan not hot enough? Do I need a fancy fish spatula? I was determined not to mess up the fillets for dinner tonight. "I can do this! Just use lots of butter and get the pan super hot." Fish into the pan with a reassuring sizzle. Okay, lets turn these babies. AAARRRGGHHH!!! It's all sticking and falling apart and I start panicking and... ugly, ugly, ugly.

TWENTY-FOUR : COLCANNON POTATOES

Delia Smith's Winter Collection

MARCH 20 2012

TWENTY-FOUR : COLCANNON POTATOES
 
Hmm... what goes really well with left-over corned beef? How about mashed potatoes with sauteed cabbage and green onions stirred in! Ya!!

A stroke of genius inspires me to boil the potatoes in the corned beef broth (sorry, recipe) and infuse them with fabulous flavor.

TWENTY-THREE : STEAMED TREACLE SPONGE PUDDING

Delia Smith's Winter Collection

MARCH 18 2012

TWENTY-THREE : STEAMED TREACLE SPONGE PUDDING
 
Steamed treacle pudding.. have you any idea!?! I sure didn't. How about the fact that "pudding" is actually cake. And Delia assumed I am blithely steaming puddings every holiday and therefore failed to mention exactly how to steam a pudding and what that even means. So I turned to my friend internet for more guidance and discovered it is basically a sponge cake cooked in a steam bath for hours and I should be able to rig up a steaming contraption fairly easily from my various pots and bowls. So, here goes!

TWENTY-THREE : TRIPLE TOMATO "RISOTTO"

Delia Smith's Winter Collection

MARCH 14 2012

TWENTY-TWO : ROASTED AND SUN-DRIED TOMATO RISOTTO
 
Risotto is hard, right? It shackles you to the stove for 25 - 30 minutes of continual stirring and brothing and stirring and brothing, right? Wrong! Turns out, after just a few minutes of sauteing, I can stick everything in the oven and ignore it for 35 minutes and suddenly have risotto! Well... kind of risotto. More like baked rice. Which is good, but lacks that all important sauciness and texture contrast of risotto. The rice was flavorful, ooey-gooey and I ate it up, but calling it risotto is a bit of a stretch. Maybe I'm splitting hairs here, but I can so I will.

FIFTEEN & SIXTEEN : ROAST CHICKEN W/ CRISPY POTATOES

Delia Smith's Winter Collection

FEBRUARY 17 2012

FIFTEEN : TRADITIONAL ROAST CHICKEN WITH CRANBERRY, SAGE AND BALSAMIC SAUCE
SIXTEEN : PERFECT ROAST POTATOES

It's clear that Delia is very, very concerned that my roasted chicken might come out dry and embarrass me in front of my husband, our guests and the entire world. Which is why I will be packing a pork-based stuffing under the skin and in the cavity, liberally rubbing the whole chicken with butter and THEN layering on slices of bacon. Finally, as if all that's not enough, I'm supposed to baste it three times with pan drippings while roasting. After all that, there is no way the white meat can be anything but juicy!

EIGHTY-SIX : FRANKIES FRENCH TOAST

JANUARY 4 2012

Usually when I make french toast (which I don't ever do because I don't like it that much) I just whisk a couple eggs with some milk, dip in the bread and fry in butter, side 1 then side 2. This is a whole new ball game. First the mixture of eggs, cream and whole milk is warmed gently until "the vanilla and cinnamon are aromatic". It is now custard and once cooled to room temperature the day-old bread is dredged "for a few seconds on each side - it should absorb some but not get soggy".

Now here's the part that left me saying "what the..." and "for reals?!?" and "what's a fillip?" Gah! Okay... this had better be the best french toast I have ever eaten.

seriously?!?

Custard has been warmed then cooled. Bread dipped, but not until soggy. A pat of butter is crackling in the pan. Time to fry (and flip and flip) this baby!