Weekend Cooking: Platinum Jubilee Pudding

This year is the platinum jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II becoming queen of both the UK as well as the Commonwealth of which Australia is a part. What does that mean? Well, it means that she has been doing the same job for 70 years! 

In the UK, next weekend is the big celebration. There is a long weekend in the UK and people are being encouraged to get together to hold Jubilee parties. Think street parties, bunting everywhere and more.  Here there are some official events, but I am not aware of anything that is being done community wise. When Princess Elizabeth became queen, there was an official dish that was created with the idea that no matter where they were in the UK, people could celebrate and many of them would be eating the same dish. That dish was coronation chicken, a cold chicken salad with curry cream sauce.

This year, there was a nationwide competition to come up with a celebration  dish, but this time it was a pudding. There was,of course, a TV show during which the winner was chosen. The winner was an amateur baker, Jemma Melvin, whose recipe was a Lemon Swiss Roll and Amaretti trifle. One of the inspirations was the lemon posset which formed part of then Princess Elizabeth's wedding feast. Here she talks about the recipe and how it honours three women, one of whom is the Queen.

Whilst we won't be necessarily doing anything to celebrate the jubilee, I did think I would have a go at making the pudding. 

If you choose to make every element from scratch, there is a fair bit of work involved, especially since the recipe apparently feeds 20 people. However, there are various points where you can take shortcuts (or as in my case where you are forced to take shortcuts), and it didn't take long for cheaper and easier versions of the recipe to start to emerge.

The elements in the official version are:

Swiss rolls

Lemon curd

St Clements Jelly

Amaretti Biscuits

Custard

Chunky Mandarin coulis

Jewelled chocolate shards

Whipped cream

I was keen to make the major elements in my version, but I did make some changes and this is where I ended up

I started with making the swiss rolls. My husband did suggest that I could just buy a pre-made swiss roll (and I have seen this in some of the easier versions of the recipe too), but that really was the element that I definitely wanted to make because it has been a while since I made a swiss roll, even though they are pretty easy to make. I was really happy with how this turned out, so first element done.

The next thing to be made was lemon curd, which is gets spread inside the swiss roll. It just so happened that I already had some homemade curd in the fridge, so I used that instead of making a new batch. Second element done.

The next element was supposed to be St Clements Jelly, made from scratch using lemon and orange peel and gelatin leaves. I knew that this was one area where I was going to adapt because I did have some time constraints today. Instead I used lemon flavoured jelly crystals to make the jelly.  Third element done.

The fourth element of the recipe was the one that I struggled with the most, and that was the lemon custard. I have made custard numerous times, including for custard tarts and milk tarts and for vanilla slices but the recipe just did not work for me. I usually use milk to make custard but this recipe called for cream rather than milk. The first time I made it, the custard split with the oil from the cream left creating pools of oil throughout. I figured I must have done it incorrectly, and I had all the ingredients so I thought I would try again, only to have the same thing happen again. Luckily I had a box of long life custard in the cupboard so I ended up using that instead. However, I think when you look at the finished result, I probably should only have used part of the box so that it was a bit prettier!

Next up was supposed to be amaretti biscuits. I have made amaretti biscuits before and my husband loves them, but I needed to take into consideration that my son has an allergy to tree nuts so we couldn't really put these into a dessert that he might eat at a family dinner. I therefore decided to just use shop bought ladyfinger biscuits. In the end, I could have used amaretti because he didn't even taste what I made! Oh well. It's not the first time he wouldn't try something I have made, and it won't be the last time. The idea is that you put a layer of amaretti in the trifle, but also crumble some over the top of the cream. I did crumble the ladyfingers as well.

I do have several egg whites left from my two attempts at custard, so I am thinking that I might make some amaretti later in the week, just for Robert and I.

Until I started looking at this recipe, I don't think I ever knew that you could buy tinned mandarin segments, but you can. And you can create a chunky coulis without too much effort.

The jewelled chocolate shards involve melting white chocolate and then sprinkling it with mixed peel. However, I couldn't find any mixed peel when I was at the shops today so I ended up deciding not make these at all. Instead I offered my guests some shop made mini meringues if they wanted to.

Whipped cream should have been the easiest part of this, but unfortunately because I had unsuccessfully made two lots of custard I didn't have as much cream left as I should have.

So what was the verdict? I served this up at a family dinner. As usual my bakes don't look as pretty as they should, but they do generally taste good! Most people enjoyed it and went for seconds, but my nephew wasn't super keen because he "hates" mandarins. Note to self, don't use mandarins in anything in future.

Weekly meals

Saturday - 

Sunday - 

Monday - 

Tuesday - Steak, egg and chips

Wednesday - Pork nachos

Thursday - Pork chop, mash, broccoli and mushroom sauce

Friday - Takeaway Friday

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Top Ten Tuesday: The Red Dress edition

 

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the topic is a book quote freebie. I don't really do quotes, or at least not short quotes. When I save quotes they are usually quite long so not really suitable for a TTT post!

I do, however have this one from The Christmas Party by Karen Swan

So inspired by this quote - I bring you red dress covers!

The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons - Now, I know I am cheating with this one because there is no sign of a red dress on the cover. However, in the scene where the two main characters meet, Tatiana is wearing a white dress with red roses on the cover.

The Jewel of St Peterburg by Kate Furnivall - Now this is a red dress!

A Desperate Fortune by Susanna Kearsley - I never miss an opportunity to include a Kearsley book in one of these lists.

Poison Study by Maria V Snyder - I loved this book!

To Defy a King by Elizabeth Chadwick - I really need to read another Chadwick novel. They are always so good! Luckily I have more than one here to choose from.

The Pearlers Wife by Roxanne Dhand - I haven't read this yet but the premise sounds so interesting.

Seduce Me At Sunrise by Lisa Kleypas - I am pretty sure I could have found ten red dress covers just in the historical romance genre!

Romancing the Duke by Tessa Dare - Another historical romance!!

Shalador's Lady by Anne Bishop - Moving on from historical romance this time to fantasy.

The Christmas Party by Karen Swan - I can't not have this book on the list seeing as it inspired this whole list!

Weekend Cooking: Taste: My Life in Food by Stanley Tucci

Earlier this year I heard about this book, in particular the audio version. I was looking for something engaging and easy to listen to, and so, despite the fact I don't read a lot of non fiction, I gave it a go. Boy, I am glad I did.

I did intend to post  about this back in February when I was on a bit  of a Tucci kick, but I wanted to get the book from the library so that I could grab a recipe or two out of it. Howeverr, it took months for it to come in. Obviously a popular book. Luckily it came in time for me to participate in this round of Cook the Books.

From the opening paragraphs of this book, this was a delightful audio experience. Even now that I have the book sitting here, I can hear Tucci's voice as I flick through the pages and read various paragraphs.

As the title suggests, Tucci takes us on a meander through his life using food as the lens. We start with his childhood, move through to a formative family trip to Italy which really cemented his love of the country, and then on to his life as an actor. 

There are some passages which were a delight. For example, there is an exchange early in the book between his parents and grandparents which made me laugh out loud. The gist of it was that grandma was trying to give his parents some money towards a family meal so there was a prolonged discussion where the parents are saying no, so grandma tries to give it to the kids instead! 

In addition to these simple exchanges, there are also some name dropping and sumptuous meals with famous friends, but the reality is they are people who are in his orbit. For example, he is married to Felicity Blunt, sister of actress Emily Blunt, who is married to Jon Kasinski. You get the idea.

It isn't all glitz and glam. Obviously he does get to mix in those circles, but Tucci has to deal with his own share of challenges including the death of his first wife Kate leaving him to raise their children and his own battle with cancer. In his case, it was cancer of the tongue and the treatment meant that he couldn't eat or taste much at all which for a dedicated foodie like him was obviously challenging.

When I was thinking about which recipe to share for this post, there really was one that jumped at me and that was Spaghetti con Zucchine alla Nerano. There were two main reasons for this. One is the the way that Tucci waxed lyrically about it in both the book and in his TV series (which I reviewed here). The second reason is that I love cooking with zucchini, or more precisely chopping zucchini. When I am chopping zucchini I feel as though I have some knife skills which is definitely not true.

I actually enjoyed the process of making this recipe, but it is time consuming. It took me a long time to fry all the zucchini but Tucci does mention that you could do this part in advance so on the day that you are cooking it you can just in effect put it all together. And as for the taste, it was really delicious. The zucchini was sweet and when you put it together with the cheese and pasta it was deliciously creamy.

I highly recommend this book, in particular the audio version. And now, having revisited this book for this post I feel like I need to go and start watching season 2 of his series Searching for Italy. Or maybe I should start from season 1, episode 1 and make my way through them all....again..

Spaghetti con Zucchine alla Nerano

About 16 fl oz sunflower oil or vegetable oil, or, if you choose, olive oil
8 to 10 small zucchine

75g fresh chopped basil

Sea salt to taste

Extra virgin olive oil
500g spaghetti
200g grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Place sunflower oil in a large potand bring to a low boil over medium-high heat.

Slice the zucchine into thin rounds and fry in the oil until they are golden brown. Remove and set aside on paper towels.

Sprinkle with basil and salt.

Transfer to a bowl and drizzle liberally with olive oil.

Boil the pasta until al dente and strain, reserving about two cupfuls of the pasta wwater.

Place the cooked pasta in a large pan or pot over low heat along with the zucchine mixture and combine gently. Add the pasta water, a little at a time, to create a creamy texture. You may not use all of the pasta water. Now add some of the Parmigiano to the mixture and continue by stirring gently and tossing. When the mixture has a slight creaminess, remove from the stove and serve immediately.

I thought I would also share a Youtube video of Stanley Tucci making a different recipe, for no other reason than I can.

Weekly meals

Saturday - Spaghetti con Zucchine alla Nerano

Sunday - Out for dinner

Monday - Mexican Chicken and rice

Tuesday - Quick Cannellini Bean cassoulet with toasted baguette

Wednesday - Ham and cheese omelette

Thursday - Creamy mustard chicken with crispy potatoes and green beans

Friday - Takeaway Friday

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

This week.....

 

I'm reading....

A quick glimpse at my post last week tells me that I was intending to finish The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles and then I was going to read Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore. One out of two ain't bad right? I did finish The Lincoln Highway and I enjoyed it. I can now see why so many people love his writing and I am definitely intending to read more by him.

I did read a couple of chapters of Birdcage Walk but in the end I realised that it wasn't the book for me right now, so I ended up returning it to the library unread and I started reading The Lost Valley of Stories by Vanessa McCausland. It's early days but I can see myself getting stuck into this one.

I'm watching....

This week I finished watching both Bridgerton and Picard and didn't start anything new! I am already looking forward to the next season of both of those shows.

Actually, we did kind of start something. My husband loves sailing and the third season of Sail GP started this weekend, so we watched some of that tonight. I have a bit of a plan to try and get to Christchurch in New Zealand for one of the later rounds in the season. We'll see how that works out.

Life

I was still crook last week but unlike the week before I actually worked all week! It took until Friday for me to have a day where no one said shoudl you be here.

Luckily, I was recovered enough to be able to go and see Hamilton again! So good! And I then listened to the soundtrack again today.

We also went to dinner last night with three of our four kids and their respective partners (well, the two that have a partner) because it is my husband's birthday today. I think he was happy with that as a celebration! A bit of sailing on the telly, a bit of rain on the roof, some cake and he's a happy man. Or at least he says so!

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish

Weekend Cooking: Cajun Risoni with Chorizo

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: April stats

I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date

Sunday Salon: Historical Fiction Reading Challenge April stats

 

 

This year as part of the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge I am intending to provide some stats after each month and then at the end of the year I will do an overall wrap up for the year. That's the plan anyway. And today I am sharing a few stats about April, so three months in I am sticking to the plan!!

During April there were 80  reviews shared by 27 participants. This month five of you have shared more than 5 reviews which is amazing! Well done and keep it up! 

In terms of the books, there were 7i individual titles reviewed, written by 75 different authors. 

There were only 2 books that were reviewed more than once this month. One was an an older title and the other is a new Austrlalian new release. They were:

Katherine by Anya Seton which was reviewed by Becky at Becky's Reviews and at WhatMeRead.

The Nurses' War by Victoria Purman wsa reviewed by Shelleyrae at Book'd Out and also by Denise Newton

The other authors who were reviewed multiple times were Kate Quinn, Kerry Greenwood and Stacie Murphy

It's not too late to join the challenge this year. You can find all the sign up details here and if you have a link to add to the challenge the May Linky can be found here.

Weekend Cooking: Cajun Risoni with Chorizo

After a few months of not really trying too many new recipes, we have once again said that we are going to try and make some new recipes. It's a solid plan. Now we just need to stick to it. Every month we we get the free magazines from the supermarkets and this recipe comes from one of those.

Recently we made Baked Nasi Goreng and this week we tried another recipe. Only thing is, it really did share a lot of similarities to the nasi recipe! Yes, instead of rice this recipe uses risoni and it is a different flavour profile, but after we finished this one we were talking about the fact that we could add prawns in.

We did find that this stuck a little to the bottom of the pot, but I do think that might have something to do with the fact that we had the heat up too high. Oh and instead of using half a packet of risoni we used the whole packet. Oops.

I would mention that risoni is an example of one of those ingredients which goes by another name in different countries. For example, in the US I believe this is called orzo. 

Usually my favourite recipe to cook with risoni is this Bacon, Vegetable and Risoni Soup, but this recipe will definitely be one that we make again.

Cajun Risoni with Chorizo

1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
250 grams chorizo sausages, thinly sliced
1 brown onion, finely chopped
1 red capsicum, deseeded, finely chopped
3 tsp cajun seasoning
250g risoni
400g canned diced tomatoes
2 cups salt-reduced chicken stock
2 thirds cup frozen peas
3 spring onions, thinly sliced



Heat oil in a large, deep frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook chorizo, brown onion and capsicum for 4 minutes, stirring, or until softened. Add seasoning and risoni, then cook for 1 minute, stirring, or until fragrant.


Add tomatoes, 1/4 cup water and stock, then bring to the boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, for 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, adding peas in last minute of cooking, or until risoni is tender. Season.


Stir half of the spring onion into risoni mixture. Serve topped with remaining spring onion.

Weekly meals

Saturday - Eggs and baked beans with toast

Sunday - 

Monday - Risoni with Chorizo

Tuesday - 

Wednesday - Beef and Veggie stir fry

Thursday - Pressure Cooker spaghetti bolognaise

Friday - Takeaway

3 spring onions, thinly sliced

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish ....

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the topic is Bookish Characters (these could be readers, writers, authors, librarians, professors, etc.)

Here are my choices, which re possibly more accurately described as bookish books or having bookish characters.

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles - One of the central threads in the book revolve around a book called "Professor Abacus Abernathe's Compendium of Heroes, Adventurers and Other Intrepid Travellers" that the youngest character in book carries around with him everywhere he goes

Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran - This book is all about the life stories of these characters and how the past continues to shape us. One of the key characters also moonlights as an author, albeit under a pen name.

The Beautiful Words by Vanessa McCausland - Another ode to words and books, with an author as one of the main characters.

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr - Doerr brings us mutliple stories, all connected through one fable

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley - When an author finds herself living in a cottage in Scotland, the voices of the historical characters from her story come to life (and another excuse to sneak a Kearsley book into a TTT post!)

The Great Passage by Shion Miura - A nice story telling about the creation of a dictionary.

Beach Read by Emily Henry - Two authors who write in different genres end up living next door to each other.

The Tolstoy Estate by Steven Conte - During WWII, the German army use Tolstoy's country house as a base.

Aria's Travelling Bookshop by Rebecca Raisin - Books and France! Yes please.

The Bookshop on the Shore by Jenny Colgan - Books and Scotland. Yes please!

What books did you have on your list this week.

This week...

I'm reading...

Well, after last week's post where I said I needed to finish one of two books for book club on Saturday. In the end, I didn't finish either of them, and I didn't go to book club because I have been sick all week.  I have only got 100 pages to go of The Lincoln Highway so I will definitely finishing it today.

The next read-on-a-theme choice is "family". I am pretty sure I will find at least one book on my real or virtual foundations which will suit that theme.

I have already decided that my next read is going to be Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore. Or rather, the library told me that the book must be returned soon so I have to read it.

I'm watching...

Lots of time feeling crook over the last week has given me plenty of TV viewing time in contrast with previous weeks where we have watched very little.

I finally finished watching The Parisian Agency season 2 so I am going to have to find some other Paris porn to watch. I do really enjoy watching this show with the amazing houses that the very wealthy quite often look at and think it isn't quite enough or just right! I really the family dynamic between the family who run the agency. 

We are big fans of the British show, The Repair Shop and so we were very please to start watching the Australian version. One episode in and we are happy with it so far.

I also started watching a Korean reality show called The Hungry and the Hairy. The idea is that two celebrity friends head out on their motorbikes and visit some of South Korea's famous sites and eat some amazing food. It's a premise that has been seen around the world before, but I don't recall ever watching much set in South Korea. I will watch a bit more and I am thinking that maybe it will be a Weekend Cooking post at some point.

I have a number of shows on my list that I want to watch including shows like Outlander, Julia, Reacher and more, but this week I started season 2 of Bridgerton. I think I am just over half way through so hopefully will watch more this week.

Finally, we binged a few episodes of Picard on Saturday night

Life

We had a few plans over the weekend but none of them happened.

We really are getting to crunch time in relation to this house. We need to get this house to a point where it is ready too start showing people through. To say I am starting to stress and get a bit anxious about this whole selling and moving thing is an understatement. Luckily every time we go to the new house we are pleasantly surprise by the progress that has been made. Just have to keep the end goal in mind I guess.

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: One Word Reviews!

Weekend Cooking: What I Baked in April

Six Degrees of Separation: The True History of the Kelly Gang to The Goldminer's Sister

I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date

Six Degrees of Separation: The True History of the Kelly Gang to The Goldminer's Sister

 

 

Welcome to this month's edition of Six Degrees of Separation, which is a monthly meme hosted by Kate from Books Are My Favourite and Best.  The idea is to start with a specific book and make a series of links from one book to the next using whatever link you can find and see where you end up after six links.  I am also linking this post up with The Sunday Salon, hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz. 

The starting point for this month is The True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey

The Codebreakers by Alli Sinclair - My first choice based on a true story that didn't come to light until the early 2000s. This book tells the story of the women who worked out of a garage in suburban Brisbane breaking codes.

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn - Another book based on the hidden history of codebreakers, this time based in Bletchley Park in the UK.

The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn - Myconnection is really that this another Kate Quinn novel, but it doesn't hurt that this book features  a femail pilot which links it back to The Codebreakers too.

Black Diamonds by Kim Kelly - Speaking of diamonds.....

The Diamond Hunter by Fiona McIntosh- and sticking with the diamond theme

The Goldminer's Sister by Alison Stuart - My final selection moves away from diamonds towards gold. Another name for someone who hunts for diamonds and gold is a miner.

So there we have six choices that  are all historical fiction which often gives us a fictionalised version of history.

The starting poing for next month is Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason.

Weekend Cooking: What I Baked in April and a few other things

The first Saturday each month is generally share all the things I made in the month. Most months that would mean that I have three or maybe four things to share photos and commentary about. This month though, there is only one! I am not sure why I haven't made much. We did go away for Easter and had a few busy weekends and I did work one weekend. Maybe that's why!

The one thing I did make this month was Milk Tart, which I have shared the recipe for previously. I have posted about making milk tart before which was a big hit. My reason for making it this month was because it is my stepson's favourite dessert, and we were having a surprise belated 18th birthday celebration for him, so I decided to make it.

The only flaw in my plan was that I forgot that I, as one of two people there who doesn't come from South Africa, was making the tart for a room full of people of South African origins so I was a little anxious. Luckily, it was a hit!

When I posted about my What I Baked in March and making Milk Tart, I mentioned that my pastry was somewhat rustic and Tandy from Lavender and Lime gave a couple of tips which I attempted to follow this time. I have to say, this was best attempt at a tart case yet. I was very happy with how it turned out. so thanks Tandy!

I thought I would mention a foodie weekend last weekend. I was invited to go to a long lunch on Friday at one of the most famous restaurants in Melbourne called Vue du Monde.  This is a restaurant on the upper end of the dining scale. If you go for dinner there, then it will cost about $320 so it would have to be a very special occasion. Luckily, the food we had was delicious. 

The menu was absolutely delicious bread and butter, sprinkled with salt. I could have been happy just to eat the bread, although that changed once I tasted the first dish, which was spanner crab, served in the shell.

The second course was wagyu beef with delicious onions.

Dessert was a caramel slice with a difference. I think that the base had macadamia nuts in it whereas it is normally just a biscuit base. The green thing on the plate was interesting. This is called pigface, a native ingredient, which I had never tried before. It was served very cold and it had been dipped in some kind of flavouring and then dipped in sugar. Texture wise, it was not disimilar to eating a raw green bean. 

I won't mention how many glasses of wine were consumed between lunch and dinner. Yes, I was also going out for dinner. This was already planned before I knew I was going for lunch. I ended up having chicken with paris mash (the mash was amazing), and then a classic lemon tart for dinner.

You would think that would be enough, but we also went to dinner on Sunday night before heading off to see Robbie Williams in concert. This time we went to a restaurant called Chocolate Buddha, a Japanese restaurant.

We had Terriyaki chicken and then for dessert I had a fun dessert of chocolate spring rolls, which I have never heard of before. They are spring roll wrappers wrapped around white or dark chocolate filling and then came with a miso caramel sauce.

I feel like I should say and then....but no that was enough for one weekend! It isn't all good news. Somewhere along the way I picked up a lurgy and have been feeling dreadful all week.

I did pick up a new cookbook and some new tea towels this week. These were purchased from one of the auxillary organisations which support the work in our hospitals. I am looking forward to see if there is anything I want to make from it!

And finally, Here is a picture from what will end up being my new kitchen.

Weekly meals

Saturday - 

Sunday - Out for dinner

Monday - French chicken

Tuesday - Burgers

Wednesday - Takeaway

Thursday - Risoni and vegetable soup with meatballs

Friday - Out for dinner

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page