I'm afraid this is pretty much true!

Stonehenge

Stonehenge is, of course, the famous English pre-historic monument.  It is in Wiltshire – only 8 miles north of Salisbury (which is famous for its cathedral) 

The first time I went there as a child you were able to walk right into it and even touch the stones.  Now it is all cordoned off.  I guess they had to do that to preserve the stones.

Quite apart from the mystery of what it was for, the mere fact that it was built so long ago makes you marvel at the engineering skill!

And for all of us who enjoy Diana Gabaldon's works we can enjoy the romance of what uses the stones may have been put to. And, no, that's not me in the pic - just wanted to give you a sense of scale!

How about those ruffles!

Food on Friday: Bread

 ON

I have an admission to make.  I have never baked my own bread (I don't count baking par-baked bread rolls).  So I am in awe of all of you who do!

Bread goes well with:

Avocados	Bacon	Beef
Butter	Caramelised onions	Cheese
Chicken	Eggs	Extra virgin olive oil
Grilled eggplant	Ham	Jam
Marmalade	Mayonnaise	Olives
Pate	Roasted sweet peppers (capsicum)	Rosemary
Salad leaves	Sardines	Smoked fish
Soup	Spreads and dips	Tomatoes
Vegemite/Marmite

To add your bread post, just pop your name and the name of the dish/recipe into the first Mr Linky box and paste the url for your post into the second one.

I will be pinning the dishes to this Pinboard as fast as I can. This will help you check out other dishes.

Have a bready good time!

To all my American friends!

Need some inspiration? Try Eggplant

Baked Eggplant with Pistachio Pesto and Goat Cheese

There were over 120 links in Food on Friday: Eggplant!  Just fantastic!  I have selected a small number that caught my eye.  To see the other great dishes just hop on over to the original post or to this Pinboard.

The first pic is of Baked Eggplant with Pistachio Pesto and Goat Cheese by Citron Limette.

 Baba Ganouj by Food Love Food

Light Summer Eggplant Burgers by Nuts About Food

  

Ratatouille by The Home Heart

Eggplant, Tomato & Pesto Puff Pastry Tarts by Thibeault's Table

Indian Spiced Eggplant Yoghurt Dip by Farm Fresh Feasts

Coconut and Boysenberry Concoction

This Coconut and Boysenberry Concoction took less than a minute to whizz up and was very tasty.  The coconut flavour was a nice addition (but not one for every day since that coconut milk is not very slimming!)

I just put the following ingredients into a jug and blended them with a stick blender.

Small can of coconut milk

2 frozen  tangelo juice blocks

2 smallish pieces of frozen banana

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tin of boysenberries in syrup

Capful of brandy (obviously optional – I didn't want to taste it so didn't use much)

The end taste is of coconuts and boysenberries with a slight lemony twist– you don't taste the tangelo juice or banana.

At Home: A Short History of Private Life

At Home: A Short History of Private Life  by Bill Bryson was a great read.  Bryson manages to tackle all sorts of subjects in a very readable and accessible way. 

I was left with a few anxieties after reading the book – for instance, he says that every time you flush the toilet all sorts of bacteria escape into the air and so you should always have the lid down when you flush.  I did this for a while but just couldn't make it a habit so now I just wonder about it.

So the book looks at how the various rooms in houses came to be from a historical perspective.  It's a fun, engaging read.

Lucky I don't really like anchovies!

Curry Easy Corn

This side dish, which I have called Curry Easy Corn, was the second dish I have cooked from Madhur Jaffrey's book Curry Easy. 

I followed her directions pretty closely (for a change) and was pleased with the result.  The corn was not too creamy and had subtle spicy flavours that melded together well and had a pleasant afterburn in your mouth that built up gradually.

I used 3 sweetcorns on the cob, but you could use canned kernels or frozen ones (Jaffrey says that if you use frozen you need to let them thaw and then drain before cooking).

I suggest you prepare all the spices/flavourings first because when it comes time to cook it all happens very quickly.  From beginning to cook to the completed dish takes no more than 5 minutes – super.

So in one little bowl put:

1 tsp mustard seeds (I used yellow ones)

4 cardamom pods (whole)

4 cloves

1 in stick of cinnamon

2 bay leaves.

And in another little bowl put a teaspoon of freshly grated ginger and 1 or 2 teaspoons of finely chopped green chili (seeds left in).

You heat up some oil in a frying pan (I used leftover duck fat but pretty much any oil will work).

When the oil is hot throw in the first bowl with the mustard seeds etc (when I say throw in the bowl I meant throw the contents of the bowl in!).  The mustard seeds will start popping almost straight away.  Just give it one stir and then add the chilli and ginger.  One more stir and put your corn in.

I pre-cooked the corn and then took it off the cob before hand.

A quick stir for a minute and then add the naughtyish ingredient 150ml (5 fl oz) of cream and 1 teaspoon of salt.

Lower the heat and stir away until almost all the cream has been absorbed.  This won't take long.  Do keep stirring at this stage – you don't want the cream to catch on the bottom.

Now you are done – just fish out the cardamom pods, cloves, cinnamon and bay leaves before serving.

Capital City of the week – Warsaw

This is the National Stadium in Warsaw

Royal Baths Park looks like a nice one – another reason to visit Warsaw

This is the Palace on the Water

The Chopin museum is in Warsaw – Chopin moved to Warsaw before he was 1 year old.

And Marie Curie was another famous inhabitant of Warsaw.

So where in the world is Warsaw?

Warsaw is the capital of:

The Drifters

The Drifters, in their various incarnations, had 13 chart hits spanning a number of years.  Over 60 different musicians were in the Drifters at one time or another.

The group's make up may not have been stable but who can forgets hits such as:

There Goes My Baby

This Magic Moment

Save the Last Dance for Me

Up on the Roof

Under the Boardwalk

Memories are Made of This

Good old Winnie!

Roast chicken leftover "enchilada" invention test

What do you do with leftover roast chicken.  We usually just have it cold with vegetables … but I wanted to do something completely different.  I had some garlic naan bread in the freezer and for some reason an enchilada type dish came to mind.  I have never cooked enchiladas but did know they involved tortillas.  I substituted the garlic naan for the tortillas and it worked out pretty well.

Here's what I did:

Sautee ½ an onion (chopped up) in olive oil together with a chopped chilli (add more if you like it hot), ground cumin and coriander seeds and a chopped up slice of red bell pepper (capsicum) for extra colour.  (If the naan hadn't been quite garlicky, I would have added garlic as well)

While that is gently frying, shred your chicken with two forks (then let the better half pick at the bones for a treat). Chop a spring onion (scallion).

Mix the shredded chicken up with your onion mixture.  Add a little sour cream and cream of chicken soup (just enough to get a moist but not sloppy texture).  I also added a small handful of grated pizza cheese.

Put the mixture into your naans and roll them and pop them into a lightly oiled baking dish (seam side down  - so they look pretty).

I let them sit like that in the fridge for a while, figuring that the flavours would meld that way. 

I didn't have any store bought sauce – let alone enchilada sauce so I made my own with what was on hand.  I mixed up some tomato sauce, chilli powder, a hint of a Cajun spice mix, a small amount of the cream of chicken soup, ½ a tub of sour cream and some water.

I then poured it over the top of my naan cum enchiladas, sprinkled grated cheese on top, seasoned with salt and pepper and sprinkled some paprika on it as well.  Then back into the fridge until it was time to bake it for dinner.

This is what it looked like going into the oven.

I baked it in a medium oven for about 35 minutes.

To compare it with a packet enchilada pack I made one using pork mince instead of chicken.  I did add an extra chilli.  It tasted and looked nice – but not as nice as my invented dish.  The tortillas though had a much better texture than the naan.

This is what the more mainstream enchiladas looked like.

Some days it is so hard to get up any!

Need some extra inspiration? Try Pies and Tarts

Yesterfood's Homemade Apple Pie

Food on Friday: Pies & Tarts was a biggie – we ended up with over 280 in the collection!  So, as you can imagine, selecting just a few to tickle your tastebuds today was not easy.

I do recommend that you hop on over to this Pinboard or to the original post to check some more of them out.

The first dish that you see at the top of this post is Yesterfood's Homemade Apple Pie

Heirloom Tomato & Cheese Pie by Taking On Magazines

Candied Ginger Tropical Fruit Tart by True Blue Baking

Homemade Chicken Pot Pie by Persnickety Plates

Pear Pie by Susan Can Cook

Quiche Lorraine by Eating Adelaide

Old-fashioned Custard Pie by Docaitta

St Cecilia – Patron Saint of Musicians - it's her day!

Food on Friday: Picnic food

 ON

It may not be picnic weather where you are but there's no harm in thinking about what makes good picnic food.

To add to the collection just pop your name and the name of the dish into the first Mr Linky box and paste the url for your post about it into the second box.  Your post doesn't have to be a recent one.

To make it easier for you to check out the other dishes I will be pinning them to this Board so you can see them at a glance.

And a reminder – previous Food on Fridays are still open for entries – so please add your dishes as you like.  To make sure I pin them to the appropriate board please leave a comment.