Recipes Cooking

I have a lot of cookbooks. I have been collecting them since the 1970s and although I do cull them now and then, each one has a place on my book shelves for a particular reason. I recently had to clear all the books from my custom made shelving unit under the kitchen window. As I piled them into bags, it occurred to me that many if these well loved friends had been neglected in favour of shiny new celebrity cookbooks and review copies Im always delighted to receive from publishers.

Sitting here in my kitchen on a Sunday afternoon seemed the right time to revisit some of these books, many of which will be out of print now, and share them with you. I did consider creating a blog challenge, but there are so many now and I dont need the pressure or the extra work. Instead I will dip into my collection whenever it suits me and share my thoughts and memories of the book in question.


Lets start with
The Best of Marika Hanbury Tenison, 
A Sunday Telegraph Cookbook
Marika Hanbury Tenison died in 1982 at only 44 years old. She had been the cookery editor of The Sunday Telegraph for fourteen years. I never read her articles in the Sunday Telegraph but there are some of them included in the book along with over 400 recipes. Marika seems like quite a character described as fun to be with, fun to work with.



The book was published in 1984 and, as was more common then, there is not a colour photograph for every recipe. However those which do feature are excellent and well. If simply styled. There are also many attractive line drawings by Soun Vannithone scattered throughout the book. I didnt intend to run through every chapter as I do in my other reviews but somehow thats just what I ended up doing.  Ive highlighted some of the recipes I have made, easy to see as I used to fastidiously mark each recipe from 1 to 5 stars!

  
Marikas Scramble only seems to have 3 stars although as I re-read the recipe I thought it sounded delicious, so decided to have another go at making it.  It was really quick to make and definitely worth more than 3*.  Its basically scrambled egg with added flaked, smoked mackerel and chopped tomatoes, in the recipe the base is fried bread but I toasted thick slices of Pain de Campagne, then rubbed the top with a cut clove of garlic, piled on the scramble and topped with two rashers of streaky bacon and sprinkling of parsley.

The title of this recipe reminds me of one of the things I love about this book: the titles of some of the recipes. How could you resist Geldas Fancy, Crumpelettes or Matrimonial Eggs? And thats only in the chapter on Lunch and Supper dishes.
Its interesting to see that the Fish dishes which seemed so alien to me then, are now standard fare. Fish like Sea Bass, Red Mullet and Monkfish simply werent easily available and far too expensive for me in 80s Glasgow. I have, however given 4 stars to Baked Stuffed Herrings in Foil, another surprise as I rarely eat herrings due to the whiskery bones ( I know, Im a wimp) the recipe includes mushrooms lemon juice, cayenne pepper and tomato purée.

In the Meat Chapter I have given Maidenwell Goulash 4 stars. Maidenwell was the home of Marika and her husband, the explorer Robin Hanbury-Tenison, a house high on Bodmin Moor. The Goulash page is pleasingly spotted, always a sign of a good recipe! Ive written at the bottom of the page that it is a good meat stretcher.  In addition to the chuck steak, the goulash contains potatoes, carrot, parsnip and celery. Ive also noted that I made it without red wine or stock cubes, but used 1 pint of miso stock.

I seem to have made quite a lot of the meat dishes, particularly Pork recipes: Pork Adobo 4*; Pork Goulash 4*; Pork Chops with Leeks and Cider 5* and Leftover Meat and Cabbage Casserole 4*

Only one Poultry and Game recipe has been marked, Rabbit and Bacon Casserole 4*. Sozzled Chicken sounds good as does Paprika Cranberry Venisons Turkey Pot Pies which contain no paprika, no venison and no cranberries, instead this refers to the nickname given to her by Private Eye magazine, she loved this cheeky tribute and promptly named this dsh after.

In Vegetables and Salads, Cauliflower with Watercress is a 5* recipe although my handwritten note says I used magnetout and courgettes in my sauce rather than watercress! No change there in my cooking style. Somerset Carrots, carrots cooked with Juniper berries and cider vinegar only merits 3*. Three stars was the cut off point for making something again, so this is still a good score.

In the Dessert chapter I had made Apple and Blackberry Crisp 4* is basically a crumble with flaked almonds in the crumble mix to add the crunch. I noted that the apples needed cooking longer than the recipe suggests. Strawberry Cream Gateau is an easy but impressive recipe using bought puff pastry, a 4* recipe. There are some lovely jellies and water ice recipes in the dessert section.

I dont seem to have made or marked any of the Sauces and Preserves although there are some excellent chutneys, pickles and even some Damson Cheese.

At the end of the book there is a chapter of articles written by Marika entitled First Catch Your Crocodile and other articles, very entertaining and a real insight into the authors lively personality.

The Best of Marika Hanbury Tenison (A Sunday Telegraph Cookbook) is now out of print, but copies can be purchased second hand via a popular online bookstore.

I have already been raving about my crush on Mexican food ever since I opened that tiny tin of Chipotle chillies that Nupur got me. I dont know if winter has officially set in, in Hyderabad or is it some random cyclone effect - but the mornings and evenings are chilly and the day is generally cloudy. I am not a big sun person, so this suits me just fine. More so, I can indulge in infinite cups of tea, drink big bowls of soup for dinner and my taste buds suddenly develop a liking for spicy stuff. "Bring back the Chili" said my tastebuds to me yesterday. And opposites attract, dont they. What better way to complement the hot and flavour blasting chili than this mildly sweet cornbread, scented with cumin and coriander leaves?



I have baked cornbread some 3-4 times and this was THE. BEST. EVER. I am not exaggerating.
Especially if you are someone who has shied away from baking this because you dont eat eggs, you are in for a pleasant surprise. My husband quit eating eggs a few years ago and I am constantly figuring out ways to turn out decent baked stuff with replacements for egg and yesterday I hit gold. Flaxseed which is one of the best sources of Omega-3 for a vegetarian. You can buy the seeds and powder the quantity required for each recipe in a coffee grinder / chutney jar of mixer.

For each egg to be replaced - use 1 tbsp flaxseed powder whisked into 3 tbsp of very hot water. You will get an emulsion like beaten eggs and use it at the stage of the recipe when it calls for eggs.

This was most perfect match for the chili and I must add that my toddler son loved this too - in fact he was making it extremely difficult for me to take a picture, by digging his tiny fingers into it!


Recipe for Eggless Cornbread
Serves 3-4
Loosely adapted from Alton Browns Creamed Corn Cornbread recipe

In a large bowl, mix-
1 cup yellow cornmeal (Makkai ka atta)
1/2 cup all purpose flour (Maida)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar

In a medium bowl, whisk well-
1 cup buttermilk
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp flaxseed powder whisked into 6 tbsp hot water
1/2 cup milk

Extras
2 tbsp finely chopped pickled jalapenos or 1 tsp finely chopped green chillies
2 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves
1 tsp cumin seeds for garnish (optional, but gives a nice look to the bread)
1/4 cup frozen corn kernels (gives a nice sweet crunch, but I did not have it on hand, so did not use)

Directions
Preheat the oven at 200C.
Grease a loaf tin or line with tin foil.
Mix the wet ingredients into the dry - till just combined and stir in the jalapenos, coriander leaves and corn kernels. I added a few spoons of the brine from pickled jalapenos as I found the mix somewhat dry. This gave a big flavour boost to the bread.
Pour into greased loaf tin. Flatten lightly with wet fingers and bake for 20 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
Let it rest for 15-20 minutes outside, before slicing.
Serve warm with chili. Recipe for chili posted here.

Food shopping in Hyderabad

Flaxseed also called Alsi in Hindi and Tashi in Bengali (knowledge shared by my twitter friends) is available with most grocers nowadays.
In Hyderabad, you can buy it at -
Ratnadeep (Srinagar Colony / Madhapur)
Q Mart (Road no.2 Banjara Hills)
Hypercity (Inorbit Mall, Madhapur)
Fabindia outlets that stock food

Pickled Jalapenos are available in all supermarkets. American Garden, Frigata are some of the good brands.

The holidays are QUICKLY approaching and we all will be making pies at one time or another.  Yes, you can buy ready made crusts, but they just are not as flaky and flavorful as a homemade crust.

This is BY FAR the best crust recipe I have ever made (and Ive made a billion or two). This recipe makes enough pie dough for THREE single crust pies.  It is VERY easy to work with and it has a little sugar and vanilla in it, so it has almost a sugar cookie flavor PLUS it is VERY flaky.




PIE CRUST

4 cups all purpose flour
1 3/4 cups BUTTER FLAVOR Crisco shortening
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup ice cold water

Cut the shortening into the flour with a pastry cutter (or a couple of forks) until the shortening is about half the size of a green pea (seeing small chunks of shortening in the dough is a GOOD thing). 

Mix the sugar, salt, egg, vanilla and ice water together, until well mixed, then add it all to the flour-shortening mixture. Work it with your hands until everything comes together in a big ball. Try to do this fairly quickly so that the heat of your hands doesnt melt the shortening. No need to chill this dough, but it handles better if you let it sit covered on the counter for 10-15 minutes before rolling out.

If you are making a single crust pie, roll out a bottom crust, on a floured counter,to fit a 9" pie pan (makes 3). Make sure you dock the pie crust...that just means poke holes in it, like this: 


Docking will help your pie crust lay flat as it bakes and you shouldnt get any big "bubbles". Some people use dry beans or raw rice in a foil "bag" to weigh down the pie crust and to keep it from bubbling up, but Ive never done that....your choice.

Bake at 375° for 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden, it should look like this:


If you are making a two crust pie, put the fruit filling into the bottom crust and then brush the edges of the crust with a little egg white that has a few drops of water whisked into it (this will help "glue" the bottom crust to the top crust).

Roll out a top crust, on a floured counter, and lay it over the filled bottom crust.  Cut off the extra dough that hangs over the rim of the pie plate. Pinch the top and bottom crust edges together (or use a fork). 

After you have pinched the two crusts together, brush the top pie crust with more of the egg white wash (the same that you used to "glue" the edges ) and then sprinkle the whole surface, lightly, with granulated sugar.

Cut several small vent holes in the top crust.  Bake in 375° preheated oven for 35 to 45 minutes or until the crust is golden brown (I usually leave it in for 45 minutes).

COOL PIE COMPLETELY BEFORE CUTTING if you want "perfect" slices. If you dont care if your slices are picture perfect, GO FOR IT, theres nothing like warm pie and ice cream.


NOTE:  You can probably use butter instead of shortening, although I have never done it and I have no clue what the result would be.

NOTE: Some people freak out about using shortening, however, shortening is vegetable based and has less calories and cholesterol than butter (plus it "bakes better").