So that on Saturday I went out and did some shoppings- a purple postcard, some orange peels, a dark cherry yogurt and of course a bottle of BEAUJOLAIS NOUVEAU.
We are, after all- 2 days after the third Thursday in November. And this blog's name is: A glass of wine and many thoughts. While documenting my many thoughts, I must remember to have a glass of wine. This very one that I am drinking now is perfect for this time of the year!
Mincemeat has always made me feel so English Christmasy! I am participating to becoming one and I thought what else could be more fitting to cook for this time of the year.
BOBO's Fantasy Mincemeat:
Ingredients:
500g dry mixed fruits (I use raisins, cranberries and apricot)
200g orange peels (I bought them from waitrose)
1 large cooking apple, grated
1 orange, zested
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp cardamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground clove
175g sugar
2 tbsp strong liquor (rum, brandy or vsop, depends on what you have at home.)
How to make it:
1. Easy! Just prep everything and mix them all in a large bowl.
2. All you have to do is stirring!
3. Alright. You will have to wash and sterilise your good old jar. But it is EASY! You only have to wash or rinse it before putting it in the preheated oven at 180c for 20 minutes. Leave it to cool down in the oven while you busy away with everything else. It's that DEAD easy! ( I feel like a hairy bikers when I said this...hahaha)
So my good mincemeat baby is ready to sit in the dark place and I will feed it every week with a bit a rum or vsop or whatever I can lay my hands on. Until a week before X'mas that I shall be making mincemeat pie (most likely MINI ones!) I will start to use it.
Simple! No?
While I was AT it, I also had a crazy (not that crazy actually. I was a Fake FRENCH baker before...) idea- to make my very own Sour Dough Starter.
This is how it looks like:
How you will make it: (if you want to make your very own delicious sour dough!) I will just skip the ingredients part because they are just too few...
1. Weight 100g bread flour.
2. Add enough Warm water to it to make a thick paint consistency thing.
3. Cover it with a piece of cling film. Let's wait for it to develop!
4. Feed the Starter baby everyday 100g flour. (if it gets too much, you will have to get rid of half of it by day... we will see... I never could do that- only just change them to a bigger home.)
5. You are ready to use them after 10 days!
I cannot wait to make the good old Sour dough bread with my surname in the oriental writing: YU on it! (haha, this is how I used to style them!)
Anyways, as I was getting hungry, I also made a soup:
Left over lamb shank bone stock with celery, goji berry, green mango, and chilli soup
You will need:
Some left over roasting bones ( I have 6 roasted lamb shank bones)
3 sticks of celery, chopped
1 handful goji berry
1 green mango, peeled and cut up the meaty parts
1 tbsp chilli
250g shitake mushrooms
some cooked meat (sausages, mince, ham, steaks... whatever that's left over... I use 8 merguez sausages.)
Salt and pepper to season
Method:
1. Bring 3 litres of water to boil with the bones in it.
2. Stir in the chopped celery, goji berry, green mango, chilli and shitake mushrooms. Cook for 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the cooked meat options. (you can always keep it vegetarian style- with some tofu additon.) Cook for 3 minutes. Season the soup before enjoying it!
Easy supper!
Yummy!
