Now this is absolutely true and important!

Red Eggs

I got the idea for these Red Eggs from Michael Ruhlman but he referred to them as Poached Eggs in Tomato Sauce.  I don't think they fit the criteria of having been poached since not all the egg was under the sauce.  But they're not fried either… So I just called mine Red Eggs.

First I created a homemade tomato/beef sauce to use to cook the eggs in.

This had the following ingredients;

Tin of crushed Italian tomatoes

A cup of Passata

Some fresh rosemary, finely chopped (don't use very much, it's powerful)

½ a red chilli, finely chopped

Some garlic infused olive oil

A couple of tsp of grated ginger

2 anchovy fillets – chopped

Chopped up leftover cooked steak 

I seasoned this with salt, pepper, a touch of maple syrup and lemon juice.

When you have simmered your sauce for 20 minutes or so and are happy with its flavour, just break the eggs into the pan gently.  When they are almost cooked (which will take about 20 minutes or so) then sprinkle a little parmesan on top and serve on toast.

True but what have the paper hearts got to do with it??

Is this just a food myth?

The theory:  An apple stored with your potatoes will stop them sprouting.

Apparently this is the opposite of true.  I do believe in storing potatoes quite separately from your onions and/or garlic since I think both will keep better as a result.

What do you think?

 

How relaxed is this!

Food on Friday: Fish & Seafood

 

ON

 

The first time Food on Friday had the theme Fish and Seafood was way back in April 2012!  That collection had over 90 links in it.  So I thought it was time to do it again.  I'm sure you have lots of fab fish/seafood dishes to share.

To add your fish or seafood dish, just put the name of the dish together with your blog name/name into the first Mr Linky box you will find below.  Then paste the url for your post about it into the second box.

I'll be pinning the links to this Pinboard (which is the one I pinned the 2012 dishes to)– this is a quick way for you to scan the dishes and choose which ones you want to check out in more detail.

Have lots of 'fishy' fun! 

Good advice but...

Need Some Inspiration? Try Italian Food!

Shrimp Pesto

Boy oh boy, are there some good Italian Food cooks out there.  There were over 100 dishes linked in to Food on Friday: Italian Food!  A big thank you to everyone who contributed.

I have selected a few of the dishes to inspire you with today.  To see all of the dishes, head on over to this Pinboard.

The first pic is of Lisa from Cooking with Curls – Shrimp Pesto.  Looks so yummy! 

Victoria from ABC Creative Learning brought us this delicious Easy One Pot Spaghetti.

 

I do love Michelle's Risotto Stuffed Tomatoes. Way to go Ms En Place!

 

 

James & Everett brought us this stunning Torta di Rigatoni in Piedi

 

Tara from Tara's Multicultural Table brought over lots of lovely dishes.  This Sicilian Watermelon Pudding was a standout for me. 

I must learn how to use polenta – particularly after seeing this Easy Grilled Polenta with Fresh Mozarella and Balsamic Tomatoes by Two Healthy Kitchens. 

I bet these Sausage Stuffed Peppers tasted good.  Fab work by Denise of Soup Spice Everything Nice

 

And I leave you with something sweet and delectable – Castagnole by Palachinka – not diet food but what the heck!

Nostalgia Alert!

 

I once had a girl
Or should I say she once had me
She showed me her room
Isn't it good Norwegian wood?

She asked me to stay
And she told me to sit anywhere
So I looked around
And I noticed there wasn't a chair

I sat on the rug biding my time
Drinking her wine
We talked until two and then she said
"It's time for bed"

She told me she worked
In the morning and started to laugh
I told her I didn't
And crawled off to sleep in the bath

And when I awoke I was alone
This bird had flown
So I lit a fire
Isn't it good Norwegian wood? 

I just loved this Beatles song from the Rubber Soul album - Norwegian Wood.  This brings back 1965 for sure! 

To remind yourself, head on over to this YouTube clip.

Me Before You by JoJo Moyes

 

I advise you to read this book!  Don't look into what it's about – that almost put me off reading it!  But thanks to the recommendations linked to Books You Loved, I did get it from the library.

This book is witty, wise, heart-warming and a quick read

This book is not maudlin.

This book is a bit intense right at the end – have a tissue ready – but up till then not so much.  

Some of the blurb on the back of this book seemed completely wrong – maybe they were comments about another novel?

I'm glad I read it.  The only slight criticism I have is that some of the changes in point of view are a bit clumsy and you can end up wondering whose mind you are in.  But this is just a tiny thing in what is a very good book.

 

Do you make lists knowing you're not going to do them... I often do... sigh

Salmon with a Maple/Soy/Ginger glaze

The maple/soy/ginger glaze helped to make this salmon special.  To make the glaze, simmer the following in a pot and then pour it over the salmon when serving: 

Sweet soy sauce (kecap manis) – if you don't have kecap manis just use soy sauce and maple sauce

A knob of freshly grated ginger

Chilli powder

Fish sauce

 

For how I cook salmon, please head over to this post. 

This is a Low FODMAP dish.

Capital City of the Week – Skopje

 

Skopje (which I think is pronounced  'scope + yay') is a medium sized city. 

 

This bridge – The Stone Bridge – is one of the symbols of Skopje.

 

This statue of Mother Teresa is in Skopje.

 

This is Skopje's coat of arms – note the Stone Bridge.

So where in the world is Skopje?

Skopje is the capital of:

Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel

 

I knew of Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel but when I saw a book about it in the library I got it out because I realised that my knowledge about it was so superficial as to be almost useless. 

What I found was so interesting that I thought I would share some of it with you.  I have chosen pics which don't involve nudes (so that limited the choices a bit since the work is chock full of them). 

 

Michelangelo (with a few assistants) completed the painting of the Sistine Chapel over 500 years ago.  Needless to say there has had to be extensive restoration work over the years.  The Sistine Chapel is where the cardinals meet to elect new popes. 

This became Michelangelo's most famous work (with a couple of other masterpieces as close seconds).  The irony is that Michelangelo didn't want to do it – he refused numerous times until the Pope insisted he do it.  He saw himself as a sculptor rather than a painter first and foremost.  His great sculptures include The Pieta and David. 

Unlike many other famous artists Michelangelo became famous and wealthy in his own lifetime.

 

Michelangelo didn't paint the ceiling lying down as is often thought – he was able to stand up on a platform to do it although he suffered badly with a cricked neck. 

So what was the subject of the painting on the ceiling?    It is huge in scope covering almost all of the Old Testament including Adam & Eve, Noah etc.  In fact a depiction of Eve is right at the dead centre of the ceiling.  He also painted heaps of prophets and sibyls.   

I saw this great work as a child but now I know a bit more about it – it would be great to see it in the flesh again.

Not sure what the elephant has to do with it!

Tips about cooking with water

Some simple tips about using water sourced from Ruhlman'sTwenty which I posted about yesterday.

He says that cooks commonly don't use big enough pots or enough water when they are cooking pasta or vegetables.  He is of the view that you need a sufficiently large quantity of water so that it doesn't go off the boil when you put the pasta or veges in.  Then they will cook much more quickly and better too. 

Another suggestion he had was to cook meatloaf in a water bath in the oven rather than with direct heat.  I am certainly going to try this out.

I do agree with this!

Ruhlman's Twenty

Today's book is a book about cooking which also includes some recipes – many of which have pictorial illustrations of the techniques.  The book is called Ruhlman's Twenty.  The author, Michael Ruhlman has written a number of books.  He also co-authored some famous cookbooks such as The French Laundry Cookbook.  He has been a judge on Iron Chef America.

The book is divided into 20 chapters – hence the title – which he calls the basic techniques of cooking – and most of them have some recipes that utilise the technique.  I found most chapters not only interesting but the source of little tips to improve your cooking that I wouldn't have thought of.

The chapters include: 

Salt

Water

Onion

Acid

Egg

Butter

Saute

Roast

Braise

Poach

Grill

Fry

Chill

I recommend this book – not to buy – but to get from the library.

Fab Vintage Ad!

Food on Friday: Salads

ON

 

Well, it's time to re-visit the theme of salads.  In the first Food on Friday: Salads we ended up with a fabulous source of inspiration and I'm sure that there are lots more ideas out there in the two years that have passed since then!

To add your salads, just put the name of the dish together with your blog name/name into the first Mr Linky box you will find below.  Then paste the url for your post about it into the second box.

I'll be pinning the links to this Pinboard – this is a quick way for you to scan the dishes and choose which ones you want to check out in more detail.

Thanking you in advance for the amazing 'salad bar'.  Cheers

 

Or maybe both at the same time?

Need Some Inspiration? Try Sage & Thyme!

Casarecce with Gorgonzola and Walnuts

Food on Friday: Sage & Thyme was a lovely collection of dishes using Sage and/or Thyme.  Today I have selected a few of them for you that particularly caught my eye.  To see the many other great dishes you could pop over to this Pinboard.

The first pic is of Gerlinde from Cooking Weekends Casarecce with Gorgonzola and Walnuts

 

Grapefruit, Thyme & Lillet Cocktail by Will Cook for Friends

Delicata Squash with Sage and a Maple Glaze by A Frenchtown Kitchen

 

 Lemon Thyme Chicken Stew by Sugar Cookies to Peterbilts 

Chicken & Sage Dumplings by In My World

 

Artichoke Stuffed Mushrooms by Cooking on a Budget

Nostalgia Alert!

 

This land is your land

This land is your land This land is my land
From California to the New York island;
From the red wood forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and Me.

Now, I know that this song is about the USA – which is not my land – but we did sing it at school in my young days so it is nostalgic to me too!

The song was written by Woody Guthrie in 1940 – and, no, I didn't hear it when it was released in 1945!

It has been recorded by many artists including – Bob Dylan and Peter, Paul and Mary.  If you would like to hear the song again, hop on over to this YouTube clip. (It has Bob Dylan and Pete Seegar leading the song)

The Wedding Bees by Sarah-Kate Lynch



Before telling you what I thought of The Wedding Bees by Sarah-Kate Lynch let me first admit something.  The author is a New Zealander so it is possible I am a bit biased.  But actually I got the idea to read this from it being linked up with Books You Loved.

And I did enjoy the book.  This is not intellectual, difficult reading.  It is a happy little story set in the US that involves loss, love, bees and some quirky characters.

For a quick uplifting read, I do recommend this book to you.

Couldn't resist showing you this one!

Cognac Chicken

This Cognac Chicken is adapted from a Dorie Greenspan recipe.  It is easy to do – particularly since once the casserole is in the oven you have to leave it undisturbed for over an hour.

You need a casserole dish which can snugly fit a whole chicken plus some vegetables around it.  This meant that I bought a smaller chicken than usual.

Preheat your oven to pretty much full whack.

While it is heating, truss up your chicken and rub it with salt and white pepper.

Put your casserole dish onto the hob and put a thin layer of oil on the bottom – I used olive oil with a teeny bit of garlic infused olive oil.

Toss your vegetables around in the oil to coat them.  For the vegetables I had 6 or so little potatoes (skin on), 2 small onions (shallots) and a carrot which I sliced on the diagonal.  Add salt and pepper.

Stir in your herbs – fresh thyme, rosemary and a bay leaf.

Push your vegetables towards the sides and pop your chicken in the middle.  

Pour ½ cup of cognac (or brandy) around the chicken.  Leave it on the hob for a minute so the cognac warms up.

Put the lid on your casserole – make sure it is tight fitting or add a layer of foil.

Leave it in the oven for a minimum of an hour.  I had mine in for 1 hour 20 and feel that it could even have benefitted from another 10 minutes or so.

When you are satisfied that the chicken is cooked, put it and the vegetables into a warm bowl covered with foil while you finish the sauce.

The sauce is not thickened at all.   You just skim the fat off the top – or at least as much of it as you can be bothered.  Add a cup of water and boil it away while stirring now and again until it has reduced a bit.  And that's it.

Capital City of the Week – Rome

 

Another super well known capital this week!    Rome has the River Tiber running through it. 

 

Rome is unusual in that the city contains another city within it.  And that city is defended by the Swiss Guard.

 

You find the Spanish Steps in Rome.

 

Rome has 8 Egyptian obelisks. 

Rome has only one twin city – but it's a goodie – Paris!

So where in the world is Rome? 

Rome is the capital of: