Country and Game Fair

Dave and I went to the Game and Country Fair at Raby Castle today.  While there I watched a cookery demonstration about how to prepare and cook rabbit. The dish that was cooked was rabbit in a cider and cream sauce, so a rabbit and some scrumpy cider just had to be bought and the recipe tried for tea. It was easy to make and at only £2.99 for the rabbit it was reasonably cheap (though the rabbit wouldn't have served more than two).Pictures and recipe below.

Rabbit with Cider & Cream Sauce

1 Rabbit jointed

2 tbsp Seasoned flour

About 1/2 pint decent cider

Rapeseed oil for frying

1 Chopped onion - (In the demonstration they used shallot, but I didn't have any)

Chopped or sliced mushrooms

A sprig of fresh thyme - (They used tarragon, but Dave doesn't like the flavour of tarragon so I substituted thyme - they did say in the absence of fresh herbs to use a pinch of dried.)

4 tbsp Cream

Coat the rabbit joints in the seasoned flour and lightly brown them in rapeseed oil, just to seal. Transfer to a saucepan. Add the chopped onion and mushrooms to the frying pan and saute lightly then add the cider and scrape up any tasty bits stuck to the bottom of the pan - add the contents of the frying pan to the rabbit in the saucepan. Add the herbs then bring to the boil and then turn down to a simmer  - continue to cook for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes add the cream and reheat, but do not allow to boil at this stage. Serve.

I served it with boiled new potatoes, steamed carrots and courgettes sauteed with garlic - it was yummy!

It wasn't all about me and food though - Dave was in his element - he got to fire a big musket loaded shotgun, not once but twice! - Boys and their toys ; D

Courgette Rissoles and Monsters

Whilst on our holidays we saw some little monsters in a gift shop similar to the one above, but with an £8 price tag I wasn't going to let "Grandad" buy one for our little granddaughter when I could make her one myself. So that's what I did, and I have to say he was very well received.

The front side is shown in the picture above and below you can see the reverse side.

The fabric was recycled from a patchwork skirt that I bought in a charity shop...

...and now for the courgettes!

I keep getting loads of courgettes in my vegetable bag and with another bag due to be delivered this afternoon I thought it was about time I tried using some up. Having read a few recipes for courgette rissoles recently I thought I'd have a go at making some for my lunch, but as is typical for me I couldn't be bothered to hunt out the recipes I'd seen so decided to make it up as I went along.

I fried a chopped onion with a clove of chopped garlic then put them in a bowl with a grated courgette, about 2oz of grated mature cheddar, a small slice of wholemeal bread grated, an egg and salt and pepper.and mixed it all up. I heated a frying pan with a teaspoon of olive oil in and placed two separate tablespoons of the mixture in and flattened them slightly. Whilst they were cooking I decided a dip of some sort might be nice to go with them. I had a couple of teaspoonfuls of guacamole left over from last night so I mixed them with a tablespoon of mayonnaise, then went to flip my rissoles - Disaster!!! they just broke up into pieces. Not liking to waste things, I popped them onto a plate and still ate them - they tasted okay but a little bland.

Sooo... back to the drawing board, or in this case the mixing bowl - to the mixture still in the bowl I added 1/2 tsp chilli powder, 1 tsp tomato puree and 1/2 oz flour and mixed them well in. This time I tried frying just a teaspoon first - success!!!

Recipe: Courgette Rissoles with Chilli and Cheese

1 Small onion - chopped

1 Clove garlic - chopped

1 Largish courgette - grated

2 oz Grated mature cheddar cheese

1 Small slice wholemeal bread - grated into crumbs

1 Med egg

1/2 tsp Chilli powder

1 tsp Tomato puree

1/2 oz Flour

Salt & Pepper

Lightly fry the garlic and onion and add to a bowl with all the other ingredients. Mix well. Shallow fry tablespoons of the mixture on each side till browned and cooked through - serve.

Olive oil for frying.

Lunchbox Special - Thai style sweetcorn fritters with a creamy chilli dip

I needed a low fat but tasty lunch for my daughter and myself to take into work tomorrow. I had a hankering after something Thai style, but was unsure what. I then remembered I had seen a recipe in one of my many recipe books for a Thai corn fritter. Knowing I had sweetcorn in the freezer, I went searching for the recipe but alas couldn't remember where I'd seen it. I decided to just make it up as I went along, the result is shown on the left with the fritters nestled on a bed of shredded lettuce, carrot and cucumber and the dip in a littlle pot. I had to try one as I was making them, it would have been rude not too and I have to say "yum" I can't wait for my lunch tomorrow.

Makes 16 Fritters

( Slimmers World - Syn Free)

Sweetcorn - I used frozen defrosted in the microwave, probably about 2 cups full or I would say approx 1 tin? (Sorry can't be more precise I didn't think to measure!)

1 tsp Thai Yellow curry Paste

1/2 tsp Garlic Granules

1/2 tsp Dried Chilli Flakes - I would have used fresh garlic and chilli, but was feeling a bit lazy!

1/2 tsp Grated Fresh Ginger

1 tbsp Thai Fish Sauce

2 Eggs

Spray oil for frying.

Mix all the ingredients for the fritters together. Spray a frying pan with the oil, fry heaped teaspoons of the fritter mix on each side till lightly browned and set. Cool and pack 8 of the fritters per lunchbox on a bed of salad.

Creamy Chilli Dip

(3 Syns per portion)

For each portion of dip mix together 1tbsp 1/2 fat creme frais, 1 tbsp low fat natural yogurt and 1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce.

Elderflower Cordial and Champagne

I have made elderflower cordial every year for about the past five years now but until last year I have never had the courage to try making the champagne. I think I've always felt a bit nervous in case the bottles exploded, but then realised that I could use plastic bottles so gave it a go.

I had only tasted elderflower champagne once before and that was when I was ten years old and I went to tea with one of my friends who lived on a farm. I still have vivid memories of that tea, it was a glorious sunny day and her parents opened a bottle of home made elderflower champagne - it was gorgeous and I never forgot the wonderful taste. So, it was with great anticipation that I tried the first bottle of my own, it was fantastic every bit as good as I remembered - success!!!

For the past week or so I've kept promising myself that I will get out and collect elderflowers to make cordial and champagne with, but either I end up running out of time or the weather turns against me. Do you ever get the feeling you're running to catch up?

Last night I determined to get out for a beautiful evening stroll in the sunshine and to collect the elderflowers. The evening was beautiful and I thoroughly enjoyed my little walk, but best of all I collected enough elderflowers to make both ...

elderflower cordial

and...

elderflower champagne

The cordial only takes 24 hours so had my first glass tonight - yum! The champagne has another 24 hours before bottling then 5-7 days in the bottle -can't wait.

Recipes:

Elderflower Cordial

20 heads of elderflowers (don't wash them just shake them gently to remove any insects)

2 oz citric acid

1kg sugar

3 pints water

1 lemon sliced

Place sugar in a large bowl and pour over the boiling water, stir till the sugar dissolves. Add the other ingredients. Cover. Leave for 24 hours. Strain through sterilised muslin (just pour boiling water over it first) into sterilised bottles. You can make this without citric acid, but it won't keep too well, though it can be frozen.

Elderflower Champagne

6 heads of elderflowers

900g sugar

2tbsp white wine vinegar

4 1/2 litres of cold water

2 large lemons

Shake the flowers to remove any insects. Boil 1 litre of the water. Place the sugar in a large container and pour over the boiling water, stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add the cold water, the lemons, thinly sliced, the vinegar and the flowers. Mix well and cover. Leave for 48 hours. Strain carefully and pour into plastic screw top bottles. Should be ready after 1 week. check the bottles every day or so as you may need to release some of the fizz.

Enjoy!!