Sunday after noon High tea

Sunday after noon High tea
Welsh rarebit ( alt name Blushing Bunny with tomatoe )
Eighteenth-century English cookbooks reveal that it was then considered to be a luscious supper or tavern dish
Based on the fine cheddar-type cheeses and the wheat breads

Surprisingly, it seems there was not only a Welsh Rarebit, but also an English Rarebit, an Irish and a Scotch Rarebit, but nary a rarebit.

A legend mentioned in Betty Crocker's Cookbook claims that Welsh peasants were not allowed to eat rabbits caught in hunts on the estates of the nobility, so they used melted cheese as a substitute.

1 tsp English mustard powder
3 tbsp stout (Guinness :)
30g butter
Worcestershire sauce, to taste
175g Chedder cheese, grated
2 egg yolks
2 slices bread

1. Mix the mustard powder with a little stout in the bottom of a small pan to make a paste, then stir in the rest of the stout and add the butter and about 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Heat gently until the butter has melted.

2. Tip in the cheese and stir to melt, but do not let the mixture boil. (
Very important !!!

Once smooth, taste for seasoning, then take off the heat and allow to cool until just slightly warm.

3. Pre-heat the grill to medium-high, and toast the bread on both sides. Beat the yolks into the warm cheese until smooth, and then spoon on to the toast and cook until bubbling and golden.
Serve immediately.
#WelshRabbit #recipe



Originally shared by Jon “the chef” Hole

Sunday afternoon Tea Jazz with french fancy cakes.

Part of hosting a tea party is learning how to set the tea table.

Tea and tea snacks will be laid on a table covered with white linen tablecloth (or lace tablecloths) just before the guests arrive.

The tea table is usually set up in dining room, though the mingling of people may not be confined to the dining room.

Prepare two large trays, one for tea and one for the coffee and set them at both ends of the table.

Even though its a tea party, you should serve coffee for the coffee drinkers. You may also serve hot chocolate.

The cups and saucers are placed at the left of the tray, from the viewpoint of the person pouring the tea. That makes it easy to reach for him or her as tea is usually poured with the right hand unto the cup and saucer held by the left.

What if you don't have all the trays, table cloth and all that jazz ? Host it anyway! :)
#Teajazz   
https://soundcloud.com/spacemonkey-1/tea-jazz

Know your Onions ? and how to chop.

Know your Onions ? and how to chop.
The onion plant (Allium cepa) is unknown in the wild but has been grown and selectively bred in cultivation for at least 7,000 years.
The ancient Egyptians worshipped it
believing its spherical shape and concentric rings symbolized eternal life.
Onions were even used in Egyptian burials, as evidenced by onion traces being found in the eye sockets of Ramesses IV.

The Onion Futures Act passed in 1958, bans the trading of futures contracts on onions in the United States.
This prohibition came into force after farmers complained about alleged market manipulation by Sam Seigel and Vincent Kosuga at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange two years earlier.
The subsequent investigation provided economists with a unique case study into the effects of futures trading on agricultural prices. The act remains in effect as of 2013.

Great post Lacerant Plainer thanks
#knowyouronions #onions

Originally shared by Lacerant Plainer

The Onion :  The onion (Allium cepa) is used as a vegetable and is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The humble Onion has been cultivated and modified by humans for over 5000 years.  Onions have been used for their medicinal properties and in food down the ages.

What makes you cry when cutting an Onion? : The component in an onion that makes your eyes water is called lachrymatory factor, from Latin lacrima, or “tear.” (How appropriate is that!) Lachrymatory factor irritates the eyes and stimulate the tear glands to produce tears, much like the action of a tear gas. Onions are rich in two health-benefiting compounds: flavonoids and sulfur-containing compounds. Flavonoids are potential antioxidants that could protect us against cancer, heart disease, and aging. They are often found at high concentrations in the skins and outer layers of onions with yellow or brown color (but some are masked by red or purple color). http://goo.gl/T7mPtI

Tear-free (GM) onions have been developed by Crop & Food Research (NZ) and in Japan : As a matter of fact, inhibiting lachrymatory-factor synthase would not only stop onions from making your eyes water, but would also increase the yield of thiosulfinate because all the sulfur compounds released from onions will be converted into thiosulfinate. So the onions lacking lachrymatory-factor synthase activity would be tear-free but retain that odor and flavor distinct to fresh onions. http://goo.gl/T7mPtI

How temperature affects potency : When temperatures drop, reactions take place more slowly because all the molecules have less energy. So, chilling onions in the fridge before chopping them reduces the amount of syn-propanethial-S-oxide that can be produced. Freezing the onions works even better, in fact it completely disables the enzyme, although it might make chopping a bit more challenging. http://goo.gl/zqhNxL

Common myths : Powering an Ipod with an onion, rubbing your hands with stainless steel reduces the smell of onions (This is a commonly held belief, but there is no scientific evidence to support it, though one can theorize why it may happen). Rub an onion on your foot and you can smell it 30 minutes later....This is definitely not true. Can onions reduce the smell of fresh paint (fumes)? .... there is some truth in this, though part of it is psychological.

Medicinal uses : Onions have been shown to improve cardiovascular health, blood sugar lowering abilities and blood thinning properties.

Smelly Chemicals (The organic Chemist's view) : http://goo.gl/KuEzqE

Wikipedia link : http://goo.gl/YfZ9yV (link to main pic on left).
PBS link: http://goo.gl/RAErfT

Additional reference: academics.hamilton.edu/foodforthought/our_research_files/allium.pdf

A little bit of history : http://goo.gl/S0HuA1

Pic credit for pic on right: http://goo.gl/vAXA8t

#onion #science  

Scallops,bacon,black pudding and a splash of Sauvignon Blanc. :)

Scallops,bacon,black pudding and a splash of Sauvignon Blanc. :)
and potatoes.

Scallops are a cosmopolitan family of bivalves
Found in all of the world's oceans, though never in freshwater.

They are one of very few groups of bivalves to be primarily "free-living"; many species are capable of rapidly swimming short distances and even of migrating some distance across the ocean floor.
A small minority of scallop species live cemented to rocky substrates as adults, while others are more simply attached by means of a filament they secrete called a byssal thread.

The majority of species, however, live recumbent on sandy substrates, and when they sense the presence of a predator such as a starfish, they are able to escape by swimming swiftly but erratically through the water using a form of jet propulsion created by repeatedly clapping of their shells together.

Scallops have a well-developed nervous system, and unlike most other bivalves they have numerous simple eyes situated around the edge of their mantles.
#Scallops

Extra Corona Wok Chicken Harissa

Extra Corona Wok Chicken Harissa 
Chicken breast stuffed with haggis
Wok,ed with harissa paste { fiery North African paste that is orangey-red in colour. It's a mixture of peppers, dried red chillies, garlic, caraway seeds, ground cumin and coriander, tomato purée, salt and olive oil.)
good slug of Corona extra and lemon juice
Salt and pepper
Quick  ten minuet supper  
Original dish from the kitchen 
Kildrummy castle 13th century kitchen full montage @ 
https://goo.gl/bOMOVL

Afternoon high tea is served in the drawing room.

Afternoon high tea is served in the drawing room.
Your table awaits you Padraig Ó Raghaill  ;)
#3pm  

Originally shared by Jon “the chef” Hole

The Whisky Afternoon Tea at Cameron House may put hairs on your chest !

Cameron House and their rather more butch take on the afternoon tea. Their concept includes a
Chest-beating combo of Glengoyne whisky;
Beef and mustard sarnies’
A black pudding Scotch egg;
A mini burger;
A haggis sausage roll and a mug (no pinkies held out here) of tea.

Rather than a three-tiered cake stand, it is all served on a rugged slate.
Find here http://blog.5pm.co.uk/2011/07/afternoon-tea-mans-up/

#afternoontea   #21stcenturydigitalfood

Chefs secrets Spice my go to knowledge base.

Chefs secrets Spice my go to knowledge base.
According the Austrian Food Law, the term spice refers to plants or parts of plants (possibly dried) that are used to enhance the flavour or taste of human food.

Spices must not be technically modified or mixed with any other components (the law applies special names to such mixtures).

It will be seen that this definition is rather narrow: Many ingredients serving exactly the same purpose as spices, like beef extract, dried fish, fish sauce, shrimp paste, soybean sauce or fermented wheat, are excluded. This is probably because, with the exception of beef extract,

Of course, also salt is not considered a spice.

It will also be noted that this definition does not make any distinction between herbs and spices, as seems to be common in English language.

Thence, the meaning of herb will refer to a subset of the meaning of spice in all documents on this site, or, put the other way, the meaning of spice will include tropic plants with aromatic fruits or barks (traditionally called spices) and plants of temperate climate featuring aromatic leaves (traditionally called herbs).

You might call that bad and idiomatically incorrect English, and you’ll be right with this critique; still, that’s the price native English speakers have to pay for the advantage of reading the Internet in their mother tongue (please let me make perfectly clear that this is no private war against English language, but simply a statement about the dynamics of living languages).

Although at most forty different spice plants are of global importance (economically and culinarily), many more are used as condiments locally, in the region of their natural occurrence.

Some of these are traded in small quantities and used in ethnic restaurants or by emigrants who do not forsake their cooking traditions, other have some use as medicine and are therefore available in western pharmacies.

Many spices that have been used extensively in past centuries in Europe have now become obsolete and are now not even known to the Western public – mostly because other spices with similar sensory quality became cheaper and were preferred.
It is my interest to gather information about well-known and well-researched spices as well as about those exotics. Gernot Katzer

#Spice  of life
http://gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com/engl/index.html#top

Delphic spice

Delphic spice
A mix of Allspice,
Chili pepper,
Cloves,
Cinnamon, 
Onion,
Nutmeg,
Thyme,
Garlic,
Black pepper and salt.         
Spice mix rubbed into steak. Pan-fried nice and rare for me Remove steak keep warm and rest
Delphi sauce made from chopped onion browned with a sprinkle more of spices splash of white wine or beer.Table spoon of brown sauce and tomato ketchup.Reduce, season to taste and serve.
#Delphi

Black Velvet is a beer cocktail made from stout (often Guinness) and sparkling wine, traditionally champagne.

Black Velvet is a beer cocktail made from stout (often Guinness) and sparkling wine, traditionally champagne.
The drink was first created by the bartender of Brooks's Club in London in 1861, to mourn the death of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's Prince Consort.
It is supposed to symbolise the black or purple cloth armbands worn by mourners.

Mmmm slange ;)
#BlackVelvet

Would you care to have an antejentacular coffee with me ?

Would you care to have an antejentacular coffee with me ?
Hat tip Charles Strebor for the word

Originally shared by Jon “the chef” Hole

Coffee Time
The Penny University.( Like Google+ )
Instead of paying for drinks, people in the eighteenth century were charged a mere penny to enter a coffee house.
Once inside, the patron had access to coffee,
the company of other customers, pamphlets, bulletins, newspapers, and news ‘reporters.
These reporters were called "runners" and they went around the coffee houses announcing the latest news, like we might hear on the radio today.
Before television advertisements and bulletin boards, people visited coffee houses to hear about the newest developments and business ideas. ( Bit like Google+ )

One of the most unusual aspects of this environment was the eclectic groups of people that ran into each other at a coffee house.
In a society that placed such importance on class and economical status, the coffee houses were unique because the patrons were people of all levels.
For example, a merchant could converse with a prominent businessman.
Anyone with a penny could come inside. Students from the university’s also frequented coffee houses, often spending more time at the shops then at school
It is easy to imagine the wide range of ideas that were produced as a result of this intermingling of people.
The term “Penny University” is often used in reference to the eighteenth century coffee houses because of this reason.
 
Coffee houses encouraged open thought and gathering of community. This environment, which was so conducive to intellectual discovery, could almost be called a school of social learning.
To some people this was probably more of a school then rigid classrooms where people could not step out of a particular social role.

Picture Vintage Arabic coffee making contraptions like this one (photographed at a coffee shop on the corner of Al Gumhoria and Mohammed Sabry Abu Alam streets, near Al Abdin Palace) remain in operation. Credit @ http://goo.gl/yBXvFR

#coffee   #googleplus   #coffeetime

Wok time

Wok time
The wok can be used in a large number of cooking methods.
Before the introduction of western cookware it was often used for all cooking techniques including:
Boiling: For boiling water, soups, dumplings, or rice. 

Braising: Braised dishes are commonly made using woks.
 
Deep frying: This is usually accomplished with larger woks to reduce splashing, but for deep frying of less food or small food items, small woks are also used.

Pan frying: Food that is fried using a small amount of oil in the bottom of a pan

Roasting: Food may be cooked with dry heat in an enclosed pan with lid.
Whole chestnuts are dry roasted by tossing them in a dry wok with several pounds of small stones.

Searing: Food is browned on its outer surfaces through the application of high heat

Smoking: Food can be hot smoked by putting the smoking material in the bottom of the wok while food is placed on a rack above.

Steaming: Done using a dedicated wok for boiling water in combination with steaming baskets

Stewing: Woks are sometimes used for stewing though it is more common in Chinese cuisine to use either stoneware or porcelain for such purposes, especially when longer stewing times are required. Small woks are for hot pot, particularly in Hainan cuisine. These are served at the table over a  flame.

Stir frying: Frying food quickly in a small amount of oil over high heat while stirring continuously.

Get #Wok  ing

Originally shared by Jon “the chef” Hole

Wok 鑊 cooking with Prawns 

A round bottom wok enables the traditional round spatula or ladle to pick all the food up at the bottom of the wok and toss it around easily; this is difficult with a flat bottom.
  
With a gas hob, or traditional pit stove, the bottom of a round wok can get hotter than a flat wok and so is better for stir frying.

Cast-iron woks form a more stable carbonized layer of seasoning which makes it less prone to food sticking on the pan.
While cast-iron woks are superior to carbon steel woks in heat retention and uniform heat distribution, 

#cooking   #wok