Making a white sauce fills many people with dread, if you are one of these people, your quest has ended, below is THE simplest recipe for a fantastic white sauce and best of all it WORKS!!

These things are always easier with a few tricks and tips up your sleeve! And this simple sauce will open up an avalanche of new recipes and ideas, you’ll wonder however you got by without it!

A good white sauce can have so many uses and I always use a good chicken stock with some milk and real butter as it adds a depth of flavour that just makes the sauce.
What You Will Need
For a Pouring Sauce
15g or ½ oz or 1 Tbsp Butter
15g or ½ oz or 2 Tbsp Plain White Flour
300ml or ½ pint Milk (this can be skimmed, low fat or full)

** Substitute chicken stock or a mix of milk and stock

For a Thicker Coating Sauce
25g or 1oz or 2tbsp Butter
25g or 1oz or ½ pint Milk or 1¼ cups Milk

What To Do
Warm the milk gently, don’t let it boil, then pour this into a jug, then use the same sauce pan and melt the butter gently then add the flour and give it a good stir with a wooden spoon or if you have a non stick hand whisk use this.

Take the pan off the heat and stir for 1 – 2 minutes cooking the flour mixture. This mixture is called a roux and can be used as a base for all kinds of sauces. When the roux is smooth and has changed colour to a whitish hue it is ready for the chicken stock or milk.

Add half the milk slowly, the secret with white sauce is to keep stirring or whisking in a continuous motion get the spoon/whisk into the ‘corners’ of the pan to incorporate all the milk. The corners is where the sides meet the bottom of the pan and it’s a devil to coax the roux out or these.

When you have added half the milk, return the pan to a low/medium heat. Now this is where a lot of people go askew. So I have some ‘rules’:

• Don’t let the sauce heat up too quickly as this will burn the roux mixture left on the bottom of the pan.

• KEEP stirring or whisking, do a grid like pattern and then really get into the corners and change direction to stop you getting bored!!
• Don’t add all the milk at once, it may be too much, depending upon the thickness you like.

When the sauce begins to thicken add some more milk and then let it begin to thicken again and add some more, repeat this until the sauce is the desired thickness. You may have left over milk, you may need to add a bit more, it just depends upon your thickness preference, usually for a pouring sauce it should coat the back of the spoon.

My White Sauce Tips

• For a thicker sauce add a little more flour at the roux stage

• Try and use a non stick pan

• Keep removing the pan from the heat if the sauce is ‘going’ to fast. sometime the sauce can begin to thicken really quickly, other time it seems to take forever, but one thing is certain when it does start to thicken it can turn to custard is you take your eyes off it for even a second!!

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

These little squares are so much more than mere fried bread. They are a taste sensation: Guaranteed your mouth will light up, your taste buds will linger over the flavours, your teeth will revel in the crunchy texture and your tongue will tingle with the excitement of it all…

Have them is soups, salads or on their own as a tasty snack.

True, croutons are tiny pieces of fried bread, but it’s HOW you prepare them that makes the difference..let me guide you in preparing THE most YUMMY croutons.

What You Will Need:
A day old loaf of bread, you can use brown, whole-meal, white, speciality breads
Olive oil
Herbs
Garlic Salt

What to Do:

• Heat up about an inch of olive oil, slowly in a large frying pan

• Cut the bread into small cubes

To test if the oil is hot enough:
Carefully,drop in a cube of bread, if it sizzles, you are ready to go
(If not turn up the heat a little and wait until the bread begins to sizzle and turn light brown.)

• Place the cubes of bread in the frying pan, just enough cubes for all to lay flat

• Watch them, once the begin to brown, they can burn really easily.

• Turn them all over, I find starting at one side of the pan ad turning the cubes over from the middle to the sides.

• Once you have finished turning aver all the cubes, the ones you first turned over will be done.

• Remove these from the frying pan on t a paper towel

• Once drained, pop them into a glass bowl, sprinkle over fresh herbs & garlic salt

Eat at once or store in an air tight jar, that if they last that long:)

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

These will blow your guests away, they will think you have slaved over a hot stove for a week… believe me, the taste is sublime and they are SO easy… but that part is our secret

Choosing the best Capsicums
Make use of the ‘on sale’ capsicums when the are in season as they can be expensive otherwise, usually the big super markets need to move them quickly or try the farmers markets and get a good deal as capsicums cannot be stored for any length of time.

Choose ones that are undamaged, feel slightly heavy in your hand and have bright almost glowing skins but not ‘shiny’ or ‘waxy’ looking.

A little tip: Use nice, fancy jars and make your own labels to put your finished roasted capsicums in and bingo what a gift for your friends and family.
MORE
What you will need and What to Do:

Capsicums, as many as you want. As I said at the start, it’s more economical to do this when they are in season, you can mix the colors and sizes. You have so many colors to choose from. I grow red, green, yellow and chocolate brown capsicums!!

Wash or wipe the capsicums depending upon where you got them, I usually just wipe mine from my kitchen garden then remove the stalk and seeds by cutting from stalk end down to the bottom tip and gently prizing the pepper apart. I usually cut the capsicums into thick quarters, rather than slicing them thinly.

Make nice sized pieces, put them onto a flat baking tray, drizzle over a little olive oil and coat all the pieces on all sides. You need to get your hands and massage the oil into the pieces, don’t use too much oil, just enough to coat the pieces all over. A bit like using moisturizer just enough to do the job!!

Pop under a hot grill, I put my tray quite low down so that the capsicums ‘flesh’ cooks a little before the skin gets too black. Trust you sense of smell, they will be ready when a ‘beautiful sweet smell’ fills the kitchen. Be near by the grill, you can multitask, but keep alert.

The skins should be black but sometimes not all the skin blackens and it kinda bubbles away from the flesh. Don’t over do them or they will be too dry. Aim for sweet and succulent.

Remove from grill and let cool slightly, you want them so you can hold the pieces without burning your fingertips, but NOT cold. Peel off the skins using your fingers, some people put the capsicum pieces in a plastic bag and rub them to remove the skins. But I find this spoils the shape of the pieces and makes an unsightly mess.

Place the whole pieces into a sterilized jar,you can pop clean jars under the roasting tray to warm them gently.
Pack them gently but fill the jar. It’s hard to explain but don’t ‘crush’ or ‘pack’ the pieces in so you reduce the amount of air space between the pieces.

Cover the pieces with olive oil, there is no need to use virgin olive oil unless you want to, but, the second pressing olive oil is just a good for this type of thing and less expensive as well. When you use the end product, you can use the oil straight from the jar for cooking or as a dressing especially if it has steeped for a week or tow and it gets a rosy hue and tastes beautiful.

Seal the jars while they are still slightly warm, this helps to make a good seal and reduce the chances of them going off. Keep refrigerated once opened and use within a month or less.

Believe me, the oil becomes infused with the fragrance of the capsicums and is tinted by their colours, I use this oil for cooking, substituting plain oil. You can use the roast capsicum pieces where and when your imagination lets you. Eat them as part of a Mezza platter or in stir fries, omelets
Go wild…

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Master this easy peasy recipe and I guarantee it will open up a sea of recipes only limited by your imagination:)
Think of the possibilities: flans, pasties, individual pies, children’s lunchtime snacks and more.

You now have a stepping stone for all you family baking and you can control the fat content and sugar content of all the fillings.

You will need:
250g Plain Flour
125g Butter
1 Egg (medium size)
Sprinkle of Caster Sugar

What to do:
• Put the flour in a mound on a clean work surface, this would be better if it was marble as the coolness of the marble makes the pastry easier to handle. Make a well in the centre.
• Break the butter into little pieces and pop them onto the well along with the egg and sugar.
• This is the part I like:) Using your CLEAN fingertips, mix all the ingredients in the well together.
• As you do this gradually collect the flour from the edges of the well, rubbing the mixture gently through your fingertips until everything is all mixed together and what you have resembles a sandy colour and looks rather like breadcrumbs. This is known as ‘rubbing in’
• Now I REALLY like this part… Gradually add up to a total of 40mls of cold water. Now the secret is NOT to add it all at once, otherwise you could end up with a soggy mess. Add it gradually as eggs are never uniform in size, and you may have under or over done the butter or flour measurements.
• Be patient, add enough water to make the pastry in to a light, smooth ball that doesn’t stick to the work surface or your hands.

Now you have a traditional flan pastry mix

This traditional flan pastry can be used in several ways:
• You can line a flan dish with the pastry and bake it blind, you do this by putting a piece of cooking paper on to the base of the pastry and then covering the paper with baking beans or dried uncooked rice, add just enough to weight down the pastry so it doesn’t ‘rise’ up too much. Pop the flan into a pre-heated oven and bake until it just begins to colour. Remove from the oven, remove the paper and beans/rice allow to cool then add the filling of your choice.
• this mix can be used for sweet or savory fillings
• the mix can be used as a pie crust – a topping only
• the mix can be used for the base and the tip of a pie
Infact the uses are only restricted by your imagination!! ENJOY.

Related posts:

1. Summer Spinach Quiche This is a lovely light brunch, lunch or evening dish...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

These little squares are so much more than mere fried bread. They are a taste sensation: Guaranteed your mouth will light up, your taste buds will linger over the flavours, your teeth will revel in the crunchy texture and your tongue will tingle with the excitement of it all!!¦

Have them is soups, salads or on their own as a tasty snack.

True, croûtons are tiny pieces of fried bread, but it’s HOW you prepare them that makes the difference..let me guide you in preparing THE most YUMMY croûtons.

What You Will Need:

A day old loaf of bread, you can use brown, whole-meal, white, specialty breads
Olive oil
Herbs
Garlic Salt

What to Do:
Heat up about an inch of olive oil, slowly in a large frying pan

Cut the bread into small cubes

To test if the oil is hot enough:

Carefully,drop in a cube of bread, if it sizzles, you are ready to go
(If not turn up the heat a little and wait until the bread begins to sizzle and turn light brown.)

Place the cubes of bread in the frying pan, just enough cubes for all to lay flat

Watch them, once the begin to brown, they can burn really easily.

Turn them all over, I find starting at one side of the pan ad turning the cubes over from the middle to the sides.

Once you have finished turning aver all the cubes, the ones you first turned over will be done.

Remove these from the frying pan on t a paper towel

Once drained, pop them into a glass bowl, sprinkle over fresh herbs & garlic salt

Eat at once or store in an air tight jar, that if they last that long:)

Related posts:

1. How To Make Croutons These little squares are so much more than mere fried...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

You can line a flan dish with the pastry and bake it blind, you do this by putting a piece of cooking paper on to the base of the pastry and then covering the paper with baking beans or dried uncooked rice, add just enough to weight down the pastry so it doesn’t ‘rise’ up too much. Pop the flan into a pre-heated oven and bake until it just begins to colour.

Remove from the oven, remove the paper and beans/rice allow to cool then add the filling of your choice.
this mix can be used for sweet or savory fillings
the mix can be used as a pie crust – a topping only
the mix can be used for the base and the tip of a pie
Infact the uses are only restricted by your imagination!! ENJOY.

What You Will Need

250g Plain Flour
125g Butter
1 Egg (medium size)
Sprinkle of Caster Sugar

What To Do

Put the flour in a mound on a clean work surface, this would be better if it was marble as the coolness of the marble makes the pastry easier to handle. Make a well in the centre.

Break the butter into little pieces and pop them onto the well along with the egg and sugar.

This is the part I like:) Using your CLEAN fingertips, mix all the ingredients in the well together.

As you do this gradually collect the flour from the edges of the well, rubbing the mixture gently through your fingertips until everything is all mixed together and what you have resembles a sandy colour and looks rather like breadcrumbs. This is known as ‘rubbing in’

Now I REALLY like this part… Gradually add up to a total of 40mls of cold water. Now the secret is NOT to add it all at once, otherwise you could end up with a soggy mess.

Add it gradually as eggs are never uniform in size, and you may have under or over done the butter or flour measurements.

Be patient, add enough water to make the pastry in to a light, smooth ball that doesn’t stick to the work surface or your hands.

Now you have a traditional flan pastry mix

This traditional flan pastry can be used in several ways as mentioned above, an absolute must have skill for the kitchen.

Related posts:

1. How To Make Traditional Flan Pastry Master this easy peasy recipe and I guarantee it will...
2. Summer Spinach Quiche This is a lovely light brunch, lunch or evening dish...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Good Old Traditional Shepard’s Pie.

This is a blast from the past, but still goes down well on a cold, dark evening, hugging your plate in front of the log fire.

What you will need:

1kg Minced Beef.
1 Tbsp seasoned Flour.
1 Onion, chopped.
2 Garlic cloves, chopped.
1 Carrot, chopped.
50g Peas.
2 Sticks Celery, chopped.
1 Tbsp Tomato Puree.
1 tin Tomatoes.

1kg Potatoes.
50g Butter.
Grated Cheese.

What to do:

1. Pre heat the oven to 180°C.

1. In a large frying pan, sauté the onions & garlic until soft, add the mince & with a fork separate the clumps allowing it to brown evenly.

1. Add the vegetables, tomatoes, tomato puree & seasoning. Cook until tender, add flour and a little stock to make a sauce. Put into an oven proof dish.

Topping:

1. Cook the potatoes until tender, mash roughly adding the butter. Spread out on top of the mince mixture, top with cheese.

1. Pop into the oven until golden on the top, for about an hour.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

What to Keep in the Kitchen Cupboards?

When people find out I cook they nearly always ask:

‘ What DO I keep in my cupboards for basics ?? ‘

So here goes….

Cupboards & Shelves.

‘Dry’ Stores.

Tip: Save any ‘nice’ jars to put things in, or collect some ‘Kilner’ or ‘Mason’ jars, then I buy out of bulk bins in the supermarket & pop stuff into the jars. It saves a bit of money…

Flour: Plain, Self Raising & Wholewheat.

Rice: Thai Fragrant, Basmati, Brown, Red & Long Grain.

Pasta: An assortment of shapes, lasagne, spaghetti & colours. ( I often make my own..time allowing, it actually doesn’t take that long and WOW!! there is nothing quite like homemade pasta..REALLY it’s to DIE for!!)

Noodles: Egg, Soba & Rice.

Pearl Barley.

Couscous.

Porridge Oats.

Popping Corn.

Lentils: An assortment of varieties.

Beans: Baked ones!! plus Chickpeas, Borlotti, Red Kidney, Cannellini & Black-eyed Ones. ( I use dried ones, but, you can use the canned, this saves on the overnight soaking & cooking required.)

Sugar: Granulated, Caster, Brown, Icing & Muscovado.

Dried Fruit, a selection.

Peppercorns.

Sea Salt.

Cooking Salt.

Dry English Mustard Powder.

Non ‘Dry’ Goods:

Wholegrain Mustard.

French Mustard.

Stock Cubes: Vegetable & Chicken.

Oils: Olive, Vegetable, Extra Virgin.

Vinegars: Balsamic, Red & White Wines, Malt.

Soy Sauce: Shoyou or Tamari.

Tabasco.

Honey.

Thai Fish Sauce.

Capers.

Olives.

Spices:

Ground: Turmeric, cumin, coriander, cloves, sweet paprika, smoked paprika & cinnamon.

Whole/dried: Cinnamon Sticks, crushed chillies, fennel seeds, caraway seeds, cumin seeds, cloves, coriander seeds, tarragon, oregano & saffron threads. Really I could go on…& on.
Vanilla Pods & essence.

Miscellaneous/ Fresh Items:

Vegetables: Onions, carrots, celery, cabbage, potatoes, capsicums, mushrooms, seasonal vegetables.

In The Fridge:

The usual suspects:
Milk, Eggs, Butter, Greek Yoghurt, Cream & Fresh Ricotta. (as needed)

Cheese: Feta, Cream Cheese, big block Cheddar, Parmesan, ones I like to nibble on!!

Selection of Condiments: Mayonnaise, Roasted Capsicums in Olive Oil, Sambal Oelek, Miso, Sweet Chilli Sauce, Maple Syrup & Plum Sauce.

Well that’s about it really, obviously things that catch my eye are in my cupboards, but I think these are the basics.

Related posts:

1. Beautiful Roasted Capsicums These will blow your guests away, they will think you...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Basic Vegetable Stock.

This is a great way to use up excess vegetables, just roughly chop away & toss in the pot.

Put in ends of beans, celery trimmings potato peelings, parsley stalks or mushroom stalks the list is really endless.

One tip to abide by is: AVOID any vegetable with a strong flavour they can make the stock bitter or acidic. For example: artichokes, tomatoes, capsicums, sprouts, cabbage cauliflower, bok choy or broccoli. Use turnips in small amounts, I use only the peelings.

It is worth the effort of making stock, use a slow cooker, then you don’t have to worry about watching the pot, so to speak!!

A good vegetable stock is a must in any dish where there is no meat. It is important to have a good base as vegetarian cooking requires an extra depth of flavour, which, can be missed by leaving out the meat, thus making the meal bland.

You can make up a batch with left over vegetables at any time either use a large saucepan or slow cooker. When ready, cool, then place any unused stock in little zip lock bags, about a portion per bag.

Pop them in the freezer & use from straight from there, it keeps for 6 months here. Alternatively stock will keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Rough Guide of ingredients for those who feel they need it:

1½l Water.
2 Onions. Keep the skins on for extra colour.
4 Carrots.
3 Garlic Cloves.
2 Potatoes.
4 Celery Stalks.
½ bunch Parsley.
2 Bay Leaves.
½ tsp Salt.
6 Peppercorns.

What to do:

• Roughly chop everything

• Add to a large saucepan or crock pot

• Cover with water bring to the boil then reduce the heat & simmer gently until the vegetables have a dull colour or cook overnight in the crock pot on a low heat.

• Strain, use or store.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Back To Basics…Are the pages for those who want to know the basics of cooking , what you should have learn’t at your mother’s knee but never did..

In todays modern world we have lost the extended family environment in which we used to learn the skills required to equip us in the domestic echelons.

Today, everybody is juggling career and family out of necessity to keep their heads above water.

So for those who wish to step back in time…you have come to the right place. These are lessons that will equip you with the knowledge of the basics, then you can build at your own pace, in your own time and believe me save some money in the long run.

Golden Rules To Remember..

• Rome was not built in a day
• Patience and calm prevail
• This should be and CAN be FUN!!!
• Make time and plan what you would like to cook in advance
• Check you have all the ingredients, buy if necessary
• Turn off the phone give the kids away
• Turn up your favorite music and away you go..
• Seriously you don’t want to try and do a thousand things at once, it only leads to disaster..especially when you are learning.
• Be Prepared..read the recipe, follow the instructions and have everything you need to hand..you DO NOT see Jamie Oliver rummaging through the cupboards in the middle of a dish.

• Get Picky!! By this I mean don’t just take the first thing off the shelf, items are expensive especially vegetables, so be selective, dig deep to find the freshest. Sometimes it’s best to do without than settle for second best.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.