What's Cooking in Sophia's Kitchen ?

Sleep well. May day starts late I notice !

it's to hot to think

Hey Pepijn, missed you tonight.
Speak to you tomorrow.
I'm off to bed.

Just popped in to say hello & check out your thread in a bit more depth, Pepijn Sweep. (I'm going to spell your name wrong continually, I just know it. May I call you Pepijn, or Sweep? Or better still, do you have any preference?)

Another thread for folks who love cooking. Hooray! We can't have too many here!

I will return.

Did I hear you say you were banned from a previous forum? For your activities on a cooking thread? Gosh.
That must be a first!

So, I roasted a chicken tonight, stuffed with cut and squeezed lemon, dusted with pasilla chile powder and some cumin, some but not much salt, more black pepper, basted with squeezed orange and pan juices. When I roast, I tend to put water in the bottom of the pan, so now I have some nice juice. I foresee soup. Maybe weird soup, with all that citrus.

Y'all vegetarians?

I would love a soup with citrus now; a bit Thai may-be. I am not a vegeterian but a good vegetarian meal is more healthy and balanced than a big steak.

speaking of thai-style soup with citrus. The absolute easiest, tastiest, quickest soup I know is...

2 cups chicken broth
chopped veggies (I use red onion, red pepper, mushrooms)
1 clove garlic, minced
1tsp ginger root, grated
chicken (left over cooked/cubed) or shrimp (raw or cooked)
pea pods
bean sprouts
lime juice
cilantro leaves


bring the broth to a boil and then simmer the chopped veggies, garlic and ginger for about 5 minutes (less if you like crunchy veggies). Add the chicken or shrimp, simmer about 3 minutes, or until heated through. Add the pea pods, simmer for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add the bean sprouts and stir to mix. Pour into bowls and serve with lime wedges and cilantro leaves.

I like mine a bit spicy so I also add crushed red pepper, but it's also good without it.

YUM!!!

What about carrot and orange soup?
Most recipes use chicken stock.
One of my favourite soups.
Try some ginger with it.
And if not sweet carrots be liberal with the crushed black pepper corns.

Was a vegetarian,
Still do not eat much flesh, but am addicted to chorizo. And cant live without my fish.

Friday night treat is crispy tofu. But you need a quality organic tofu. So much store bought tofu is just awful.

All my best,

I feel like it's me cooking today ! This was the first tropical day in Amsterdam and I still cannot sleep... Baked breads, apple-pie, cooked lunch, dinner and a supper but still feel "empty". Ice-cream !

Oh I am totally shallow in the depth of my pockets.
The chorizo I get and can feed a habit with is not top notch, low grade supermarkets own, It dries out in a matter of three days.
I have been known to treat myself to some quality spiced sausage but it has been a while.
As for my fish on special occasions will I have some fresh mackerel or fresh muscle meat (I don't get along with the shells)
Oh and some good prawns occasionally,
Oh and love my are they called Roll mops?
instead I live predominantly from tinned and jarred fish, but there is wide variety in the UK,
I love tinned kippers and smoked oysters and the tinned crab meat is not all bad when all you do is put them in cakes or stir frys (I am the king of the stir fry, they suit the single chappy)
Oh crab can go well with cous cous as well.
Had a few special offer tuna steaks recently. I know mushroom sauce can go well with tuna steak.
But I don't get along with mushrooms although the occasional Portobello has surprised me by adding either cream cheese and grilling after a slight pan fry or as always my mozzarella or even some good cheddar.
My tofu I make simply with a marinade of Worcestershire sauce with noodles tossed with fried leeks.
What spices do you use with tofu?

All my best,

I've lived - primarily - in a few places. First and most, like 40 years, Los Angeles. Much good fresh fish available. I've also lived near Humboldt Bay (northern california)... immediate fresh crab from shacks. Wild salmon in the market. Not that I could afford it, but I sprung for it a couple of times.

Now I live in New Mexico. Execreble place, re fish. Almost all restaurants cover whatever fish it is with some kind of concrete for major conflagration frying. Consider me dismayed.

Local shrimp, up until recently, were okay.
I don't know what Roll Mops are.
Crab near Humboldt Bay, fresh as possible.

I fool with a lot of spices re tofu. It's all play.

Good morning (for me),

It is still HOT here, no real rain to cool us down. The berries on my balcony turnes red in a few days and the plants are getting yellow already. Hope they do not die from the warmth. Other plants flower a few days, but everything goes really quick and withers away in a couple of days. My dahlia-flowers only lasted two days...

http://nl.tinypic.com/r/21axr10/6
Thanks to the cooks of 2k I managed this picture !

The crust is made of:
- 200 gram butter
- 250 gram whole-weat flower
- 80 gram dark sugar
add peel of 1/2 a lemon, a little salt and two theespoons of "speculaas"kruiden (cinnamon and gloves but I will look for exact species)
Speculaas is a centuries old cookie in Belgium and The Netherlands.

The filling is two cooking-apple in small pieces with a handfull cranberries and a handfull of raisins. I cook it 60 minutes at 160*C. The glazing is a mix of Kirsch (liquor) and apricote compôte heated and mixed together.

Here you go (I clicked on the photo, moved image to a new window, clicked on and copied the url that ends in jpg, and put [img][/img] around that url.



That looks absolutely delicious.

Found a first receipy for the raisins, it's called Weddings Sorrow or Country Lads.

Fill a liter bottle 1/2 with raisins, 1/2 with a good brandy. Add candy-sugar to taste, some cinnamon-bast and a clove. For extra flavour you can add some walnuts...

Leave to bottle for a few months in a dark place; turn it like once a week.

The drink looks innocent but every raisin is the equivalent of 1/2 a shot I guess...

I used to get a little on Sundays at my grandmothers. She was a wise woman because she got us and quiet for the rest of the day. I also loved the double cream I think you call it...

That sounds terrific, Pepi! Love the name: Weddings Sorrow.

Another (simple as anything!) recipe using raisins that I love, is baked apples .
You just remove the core from the centre of the apple & fill it with raisins & nuts (or whatever you fancy) & bake. Pour cream on top while steaming hot & enjoy! Heaven.

If you want to be a bit more posh, or want to make the dish a bit more substantial, you just add a layer of pastry around the outside of the apple before baking.

Oh, it's also fantastic (minus the pastry) cooked in the slow cooker. Yum! And the aroma, as it cooks, is just wonderful!

Starting slowly to-day but receipy by receipy pops up...

I used to make this chicken with apricotes, raisins and an onion. Later I changes the onion for spring-onions when available at a good price. I cook the chicken slowly in the oven at a 160*C for one hour. The fruits take some of the liquids so U need to marinate (oil, lemon, thyme, salt&pepper) well.

A less posh dish would be a layer of bread-crumbs , a layer of apple and raisins with a little cinnamon or mixed species. Candied lemonpeel is also very tasty... Cover it with another layer of breadcrumbs mixed with some butter. I cannot find the receipy at the moment but I remember to cook it at a higher temperature (190*C) than an apple-pie, for about 30 minutes or till its cooked. It doesn't bake to a pie though !

I will keep thinking "raisins" today !

Did your mother also make necklaces from the raisins, so you could eat them later in the day ?

What a lovely idea!

No.

Did yours?

I remember making them... With my sister. Later we got those little boxes but I still think of the ones on a string !

My mother used to bike to the next village to get the right raisins for her apple-pie. The best was the one with her birthday when the GoudReinetten (type of apple) were in season. She baked the best pie ever !