Sofia Grey's Blog

Dear reader.

If you found my website in the hope of buying or selling panties (used or otherwise), I’m afraid you’ve come to the wrong place. You want the other Sofia – Sofia GRAY (sofiagray.com).

Sunday afternoon I felt like baking. I found some blueberries in the freezer, and had plenty of lemons, and so they called to be made into a cake. Bill Granger had a recipe I’d never tried: Blueberry Tea Cake. https://foodthatserves.com/tag/cream-cheese-icing/

I made one change to the recipe, to swap out sour cream for yoghurt. I’ve found these to be almost interchangeable in baking. Prior to using the blueberries, I ran them under cold water to shed any ice crystals.

This recipe used the grated zest of two lemons, which left me with 2 lemons needing to be used. It was time for an afternoon snack.

Son asked a week or so ago, if I’d show him how to make pancakes. The English style of pancakes, thin and crisp-edged like a crepe, but smaller, and served hot from the pan with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a spoonful of sugar.

I *LOVE* pancakes, but find them a pain to cook, so I said yes, and we had a delicious afternoon snack. I used the classic Delia Smith recipe: https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/main-ingredient/eggs-recipes/basic-pancakes

I’ve used this recipe for years and it’s bombproof.

The only problem was the size of the frying pan we used, in that it was bigger than the recipe suggested. Instead of making 12 – 14 pancakes, there was only enough batter for 6 and a half. The first one was a mess, but this is normal as the first one is used for conditioning the pan, and judging the temperature etc.

The rest were delicious, and if I can persuade him to make them again, I’ll be happy.

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Anyway, dinner was chicken schnitzel sandwiches. I make my own schnitzel now, having discovered how much better it is than the pieces you buy ready-made. It’s time consuming, though. I cut two fat chicken breasts into four pieces each, but they were still too thick, so I bashed them with a wooden rolling pin, between thick layers of clingfilm. This has the dual result of making them thin and quick to cook, and tenderising the meat. God, does it go tender.

Dunk the pieces in beaten egg, then in seasoned panko breadcrumbs (I flavoured with salt and lemon-pepper), and place on a tray lined with baking paper. I spray lightly with oil, and then bake at 200 degrees for around ten minutes, turning them over after five minutes, and spraying with a little more oil. When they’re done, I carefully lay slices of either swiss cheese or Brie on the chicken, and give them another minute in the oven, to get the cheese melting.

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I’d normally serve them in burger buns, but I didn’t have any, and so I used sliced bread instead. The flavours are really important and need to be layered. I spoon cranberry sauce on the bottom slice, and a combo of chilli jam and mayo on the top slice. Then I pile on shredded lettuce and wafer thin slices of tomato, then the chicken, and finally a rasher of crisp, streaky bacon.

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Each bite is bursting with flavour, and the chicken is soooo moist and tender. Really good.

The cake was good too. I made a simple lemon drizzle icing, rather than using cream cheese, and it will keep the cake moist for a couple of days, if we don’t eat it by then. The blueberries are bursting with flavour. Yumm!

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New Zealand is still under Lockdown restrictions. This blog intends to avoid the bad news about rising numbers of victims. It focuses instead on food, and the challenges of cooking fresh meals every day – with the ingredients from my larder. A much nicer message

I enjoy more adventurous cooking at the weekends, and this time I made quiche again. Partly because I didn’t want a heavily-meat-focused meal, but also because I had bacon and mushrooms that would work perfectly together as a filling.

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I used the same herb pastry recipe as last time, and fumbled my way through the filling (3 eggs, 200 ml of combined milk & cream, and chopped fried bacon and thinly sliced mushrooms.

It was good! I paired it with some simple baked potatoes, topped with a little sour cream & chive dip.

We had dessert too. I had half a dozen plums perfectly ripe, and so I made them into a Plum Betty. Yes, that is the name. I chopped them into an oven-proof dish, sprinkled with cinnamon and brown sugar, and then covered them with freshly made (coarse) breadcrumbs, a little more sugar, and a few dots of butter. Twenty minutes in a hot oven made the topping go crispy, and we ate it with cold, pouring cream. Simple, slightly tart, and deliciously fruity.

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New Zealand is still under Lockdown restrictions. This blog intends to avoid the bad news about rising numbers of victims. It focuses instead on food, and the challenges of cooking fresh meals every day – with the ingredients from my larder. A much nicer message

We had braising steak – and a couple of sheets of puff pastry – in the freezer, and a can of Guinness in the larder. We didn’t have any mushrooms, but we had enough meat to make a pie out of.

This time I didn’t use a recipe. A splash of olive oil in a large pan, and three crushed cloves of garlic. I cubed the steak and tossed it in, turning it over a high heat until it browned a little. A generous tablespoon of flour, and then in went the Guinness in all its frothy glory.

I added some seasoning, and a splash each of balsamic and Lea & Perrins (Worcester Sauce), and then left it to gloop for around ninety minutes, stirring it periodically and checking it had enough liquid.

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When I tasted it, the flavour was a little bitter. I hoped the addition of Cheddar cheese would help with that. I grated a big pile of cheese (maybe 200g?) and stirred in in, before turning it into a deep pie dish. Puff pastry on top, a milk wash, and a sprinkling of more cheese, and it was ready for the oven.

To go with it, I roasted some chopped potatoes in their skins, and a handful of chopped carrots.

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That damned oven. The pastry burned. Even though I cooked it low down, and on a lower temperature than I should. * sigh *

I had to scrape off the burned pastry around the raised edges of the dish, but thankfully the cheesy section in the middle was fine, and tasted good.

The vast quantity of cheese added a creamy richness to the gravy, and completely counteracted any residual bitterness from the Guinness. It was rather good

Have you ever opened a packet of supermarket chicken pieces and found they smelled funny? Yep, that happened tonight. It was a packet of chicken breast fillets that I intended to turn into curry, but they ended up going straight into the bin. I’d frozen them within half an hour of them arriving in the grocery delivery, but there must have been a problem with them somewhere. It happens.

So there I am, with a jug full of curry sauce, ready and waiting for something to use it on. Had it been just myself, I’d have made a potato and pea curry, and tossed in whatever other veggies I could find, but Hubs and Son are committed meat eaters. There was nothing else in the fridge that would work, so what did I have in the freezer that would thaw quickly?

Sausages.

I nuked them on the defrost cycle for around ten minutes, until they were soft enough to separate and chop into chunks, and then fried them in the skillet. In went some chopped raw potatoes, and my jug of sauce, and I left it to simmer for around an hour.

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Son was sceptical. I explained it would be like a standard sausage casserole but with a curry sauce instead of tomato. I checked the taste, added a big spoonful of mango chutney (gives a delicious sweetness) and served it with basmati rice, roti, plain yoghurt and the mango chutney.

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It was unexpected, and quite delicious. #Winning.

Had we not been in Lockdown, I would have abandoned the idea of cooking and headed straight for a takeaway, and so I was proud I worked through a solution instead.

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This is the last night of this level of Lockdown. At midnight we move up to Level 2, with some restrictions lifting. For the time being I’m still working from home, and we don’t expect our daily lives to change. This blog will continue

Subway was on our list of favourite takeaways, and Son was excited when he found the recipe online for their Italian Herb & Cheese subs. The challenge was on. Could we recreate their Meatball Sub?

The sub recipe had a couple of quirks, but I followed it to the letter.

Here it is: https://metro.co.uk/2020/05/04/subway-releases-famous-recipes-12652828/

The dough felt a little dry to me, but I was in a hurry between (online) meetings, and so I kneaded it as best I could, and set it aside to rise. It didn’t rise as much as I hoped, but I shaped it into four footlong rolls, and set them aside to prove. They proved beautifully and puffed up, ready for an egg wash and a generous sprinkling of dried herbs and cheese (combination of parmesan and mozzarella).

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While they cooked, we assembled our fillings. Meatballs (the extra I made yesterday – planning ahead!), and some pork riblets from the freezer. We found a brand in the supermarket that tastes just like the Subway riblets, and they cook from frozen in 12 minutes. Bonus!

The first problem was that the bread burned in the oven. I’m sure the thermostat on my oven is faulty, as I always have to cook with a (guessed) lower temperature than the dial says. Things cook more quickly than they should, and even though I set the timer for ten minutes before the bread should be ready, it was overly crisp at the edges. I was gutted. I’d spent almost 4 hours in elapsed time making these babies, and the damned oven was too hot.

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No matter, we trimmed the dry ends off, and started to cut and fill them – and here lay the second problem. We knew that the Subway staff have a special method of cutting the subs, and we tried to replicate it, but it didn’t work. Two split completely in half, and the others didn’t hold enough filling.

We stuffed half with meatballs, and half with riblets – and found there was no room for salad. A sprinkling of sliced olive was all I could squeeze in. The cutting technique definitely left room for improvement.

They had a super-quick trip back into the oven for the cheese toppings to melt, and then I served them.

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The bread was more dense than the Subway ones, and too crusty. That was partly because of the heat of the oven, but I don’t think they would have come out soft-topped even without that. I need to investigate how to bake bread to come out soft. Maybe it needs to steam?

We’ll try them again, with more attention to the bread dough.

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New Zealand is still under Lockdown restrictions. This blog intends to avoid the bad news about rising numbers of victims. It focuses instead on food, and the challenges of cooking fresh meals every day – with the ingredients from my larder. A much nicer message

There are several things I struggle to cook well. Steak is one of them. Pork chops are another. I manage to dry them out to the consistency of boot leather, and so I rarely cook them. I was determined to find a method that works for me, and remembered an old Delia Smith recipe where you bake them with chopped mushrooms and cream. Lots of cream.

I had the mushrooms, but no cream. Could I adapt it? Why not.

I lightly browned the chops in a frying pan, then transferred them to a roasting tin, one small enough that they fit snugly together. Then I quickly fried the chopped mushrooms in the pork juices, and added a tablespoon of flour, and around 500ml of stock. The texture was lumpy and ugly, but I spooned it over the chops, covered tightly with foil, and placed at the bottom of a medium oven (170 degrees).

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While they cooked gently, I turned my attention to the bag of almost-overripe apples in the larder, and turned them into a pie. Not just any pie, but the “Ultimate Apple Pie” from the BBC Goodfood website: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/ultimate-apple-pie

This had an enriched shortcrust pastry that came out delicious. I added a couple of very ripe, chopped plums to the sliced apples, to make it an apple and plum pie. I like that combo.

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Damned oven. Again. The pastry was done, but the apples were firmer than I preferred. Served with a helping of good vanilla ice cream, though, and it was delicious

Spaghetti & Meatballs – and Nigel Slater’s Focacia

A family favourite for dinner tonight, and with a plan to use the leftovers tomorrow. I made a double-sized batch, using around 800 g of minced beef. I think this started life as a Jamie Oliver recipe, but I adapt it every time I make it.

Mix the minced beef with a beaten egg, and up to a cup of breadcrumbs. I used panko crumbs. To give them some flavour, I add plenty of seasoning – in this case, a pre-mix I had of Moroccan seasoning. Then simply shape them into balls. I make them around the size of a squash ball. It’s important that they are all roughly the same size, so that they cook evenly. I part company with Mr Oliver for the cooking of them. He fries them in olive oil, but since minced beef is quite fatty anyway, I prefer to bake them in a hot oven for around 10 – 15 minutes – until they are cooked through inside, and the outer has a little crispness.

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The sauce couldn’t be easier. Pour a glug of olive oil into a deep frying pan, add one or two cloves of crushed garlic, and some dried herbs. I usually add some dried chilli flakes here. I used mixed herbs, but anything will do. Then tip in two cans of chopped tomatoes, and stir over a medium heat. Add a glug of balsamic vinegar, a tablespoon of tomato puree and a teaspoon of sugar, and then check the seasoning. Tastes good, right?

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When the meatballs are done, let them sit in the hot sauce for a few minutes to soak up the flavour. Serve with pasta and a generous sprinkling of freshly grated parmesan. Nom nom.

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I like to make a big batch of these, and freeze half, but the reality is they usually get eaten on the night

Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken!

Sunday ended up being the dinner we planned for Saturday. Ever since the son told me about the AMAZING popcorn chicken he ate at Mr Go’s café / restaurant in Wellington, I had to try it for myself. And yes, it was beyond delicious. We started experimenting to make it at home, and found a pretty good recipe. Even with a recipe at hand though, it took us several attempts to make a foolproof tempura batter (we had the best results using chilled sparkling water with ice cubes), to find the optimum size for the chicken pieces, and to heat the oil to the correct temperature. We reckon we’ve got it right now, but this was probably the sixth or seventh time we’ve cooked it.

This is the recipe: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/263930/popcorn-chicken-taiwanese/

We prefer to use chicken tenderloins though, rather than thighs, as they are easier to chop into regular sized pieces. I agree that thigh meat gives the best taste and texture, but trimming the thighs is a pain in the butt. For me, anyway

Employee canteens. Love ‘em or hate ‘em? I’ve ben lucky to work for several companies that have provided onsite catering facilities, and they’ve all been pretty good. Simple, delicious food, and usually for the same cost as buying a sandwich.

Saturday’s dinner was a favourite from a works canteen that my husband used to eat at. Canned corned beef, chips and baked beans. It’s about as simple and homely as you can imagine, for a family from north-western England. And you know what? It’s fab. It’s one of those comfort dishes that hits every spot. Easy to prepare and cook. Three larder ingredients. Filling. And let’s not forget, cheap.

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Anyway. We planned to have popcorn chicken tonight, but I had a committee meeting that ran late, and still needed to make time to exercise, and I was hungry. We were all hungry. Hence the change in plan.

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The shopping arrived this morning, and since we now had plenty of eggs, I made French Toast with crispy bacon for brunch, served with a sprinkling of cinnamon and a drizzle of maple syrup. Nom nom.

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New Zealand is still under Lockdown restrictions. This blog intends to avoid the bad news about rising numbers of victims. It focuses instead on food, and the challenges of cooking fresh meals every day – with the ingredients from my larder. A much nicer message