Wednesday 18 March 2015

Home and Away :: Easy Lemon and Garlic Roasted potatoes




Phew we've been busy dashing here and there, staying up much too late and then getting up at the crack of dawn. Eating too many take-aways (again) and then trying to compensate with wholesome home cooked food. AlI good but tiring, and I blame the camera, not the take-aways for adding the extra pounds...Oh and my icelandic lopi sweater, it genuinly does make me look like a teddy bear (and, I had another big woolly sweater on underneath.) It may be cosy for egg collecting but It's not the outfit that I would choose to be photographed in...


I baked the first cake in our new oven with local eggs collected from friendly neighbours...I couldn't put off making this one...It was Hannah's graduation cake. Thankfully it turned out perfectly so no excuse for making more. She asked for  Mary Berry's marble cake which is a nice easy foolproof one. 

We spent a chilly day-off, with her in Bristol, walking by the river, crossing Brunel's suspension bridge, admiring the amazing local architecture, rooting around interesting little shops here and unsuccessfully trying to spot Banksys. Back to hers for blankets and hot chocolate. Waited for boyfriend to get back from uni and then very late drive to London, arriving in the wee small hours to wake very early for her graduation...(I'll share more later) Fun with friends and family actually managing to catch up with one of my sisters here. We had coffee and amazing cake here and awesome soup and olive bread somewhere else but too I was too busy talking to notice where and my memory stick was full...

...good days...

and in my kitchen:
  • Mary Berry's Chocolate and Vanilla Marble cake...very easy to make. The basic recipe is an all-in-one batter.  That you then divide into two halves, adding chocolate to one half, leaving the other plain vanilla. You then alternatively pour some of the vanilla batter followed by some of the chocolate into a prepared baking pan until it's all used up. Once baked you decorate with an easy chocolate icing and finally drizzle with melted white chocolate. You can see that cake icing is not exactly my forte. I was more than a little heavy handed with the white chocolate...But it did taste amazing.  Shame there's non left...
  • These spare ribs with a few adaptations. I successfully substituted the soy sauce with teriyaki sauce (because I hadn't got any soy left) and honey with maple syrup. Ahmad who I would consider to be a spare rib connoisseur, having consumed a great number in his life, declared these to be the best ones he had ever tasted. He even asked if I could make the sauce to have with fish the following day...If you knew how little Ahmad actually likes fish you would understand just how highly he rated it...I didn't try it...just made it, but sounds like it might be worth trying. 
  • Lemon and garlic roasted potatoes with mackerel and spring greens. I've been making a lot of these cheating roasted potatoes with chicken or fish recently. Rather than the slow process of peeling, halving, par-boiling, draining and then roasting; I buying small waxy salad variety. Wash them well and placed in a roasting tin leaving the skins in tact. Cutting up any larger ones into thick slices so that they are approximately equal size to the smaller whole ones. I add one or two lemons cutting them into eighths plus lots of cloves of garlic left in their papery skins, and a small red onion or two similarly divided. I then drizzle them with olive oil and season with salt and pepper and any herbs I have at hand. Fresh basil or thyme are lovely. I may pop in some other vegetables and chicken portions or fish either from the beginning of the roasting time or towards the end depending on the  size of the portion. (I normally put the chicken portions in at the same time as the potatoes and the fish after half an hour. I have the oven on a high heat for a few minutes just to get the meat sizzling and then turn down to a moderate heat for the remaining half or three quarters of an hour.) In less than an hour you have a one-dish-supper. The resulting little mouthfuls of potato have roasted outsides but are soft and unctuous inside. The olive oil, lemon, garlic and herbs make a yummy sauce that you can pour off and serve with it, or just spoon over when dishing up. The chicken or fish are moist but have that lovely golden skins. This is a great quick supper than needs very little preparation and even less washing up! Don't forget to check that all the juices are running clear before serving if cooking chicken. 
  • Cooking in unison...Turkey meatballs with a chunky sweet pepper (capsicum) sauce and spaghetti and chard (me) and  Fiery Chilli Mince Beef (ahmad) 

...wonder if I've got time to make another cake tonight...it's definitely the jumper and not me...







16 comments:

  1. That bridge!!!!!! My feet are tingling just looking at the the pictures....it is so high!!!! Did you walk around on it?
    Thanks for the lovely pictures...tthe shops all look so interesting, and the architecture is beautiful.
    And...it's definitely the sweater...not you. ;)

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  2. That bridge!!!!!! My feet are tingling just looking at the the pictures....it is so high!!!! Did you walk around on it?
    Thanks for the lovely pictures...tthe shops all look so interesting, and the architecture is beautiful.
    And...it's definitely the sweater...not you. ;)

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  3. I know Emily...Bristol is very hilly and the gorge is quite scary. Amazingly when you're walking across the bridge it doesn't seem high. There's a pathway on the bridge that runs alongside the road that crosses it. It's really sound and thankfully doesn't move when you cross so you forget that it's just held up by those metal wires!
    He he...thanks...
    dx

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  4. I don't think that I could walk accross that bridge, far to high for my liking! Your cake looks fabulous as usual, will have to have a go at that one, I love all Mary Berry's cakes. How are all you renovations going?, hope you are free of all that dust now. x

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    1. It must have had high sides Sharon, because I seem to remember looking into the distance and not below...which would have really phased me too. It's only in retrospect that I realise just how high it was, and how deep the gorge! I'm a massive fan of Mary Berry's recipes they always seem to turn out just as they should and she uses all the short cuts possible to make them easy. I'm a big fan too.
      Thanks for asking about the renovations Sharon. Most of the really disruptive jobs have been done now but there is still a lot to do including a couple more dusty jobs. But we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Now that spring is in the air my fingers are itching to do the fun decorating bit. I'll share some finished bits soon.
      Have a good weekend,
      debx

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  5. I have wondered what you have been up to Debby and now here you are back in your space. I think you are beautiful and I love your sweater. Each time I visit here I have an urge to go bake something. :) I do have some bananas that need some attention, but then tomorrow I think I will be baking a cake.

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    1. That is really kind of you Tracey. Thank you. I love my Annabel cardigan but it really isn't the most flattering sweater especially after a spate of winter comfort eating! Happy cake baking day tomorrow.

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  6. I LOVE traveling with you!!! Those little antique-y shops....hope you found some treasures on your adventure. :)

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    1. Wouldn't it be fun if we really could travel together one day. They are great but we were just looking this time...Exploring Hannah's new location with her. I have been doing some vintage and antique shopping recently here In Herefordshire though Steph. You would love our local Pembridge Auction. I will write about it soon. We've bought some fun new things for the house from at bargain prices there. It's amazing how every week wonderful things arrive there...I wonder where they all come from.
      Dx

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  7. Lovely cake, lovely bridge, lovely lopi knit and double lovely cast iron work! I think I also saw a little robin there? So sorry I didn't acknowledge your email about receiving my little robin-y gift. So glad you liked it. Very busy here preparing to unleash my wartime entertainment exhibition on the world in a few short weeks. Been up for hours writing text for it so off to bed now. Glad you're all well. C x

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    1. Hi Caz, good to hear from you especially when you are so busy.I know those metal balconies are amazing. Thanks again for the gift it was a lovely surprise. The exhibition sounds fascinating...will it be travelling to the UK? I was thinking of you last weekend...Hannah went to see a film and discussion in Bristol and said she thought I would have been interested...you may have been too. It was about women Left Bank writers, I think Sylvia Whitman and earlier ones too and the prejudice they faced...it spurred her on to write even more realising how much easier it is for women today. Good luck with the exhibition...Hope you manage to get some rest at the weekend.
      debx

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  8. the roasted potatoes sound delicious! you have been busy and my the places you've been :) Glad to know you are having fun!!

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    1. They are scrummy Karen, Thanks yes it's been busy so good to catch up with everyone.
      Have a great weekend.
      debx

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  9. Loved seeing all of this, my friend.. What lovely buildings... Your food as always looks awesome as do you.. So sweet... Thanks for the wonderful recipes, too.. xo

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  10. Loved seeing all of this, my friend.. What lovely buildings... Your food as always looks awesome as do you.. So sweet... Thanks for the wonderful recipes, too.. xo

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    1. Hi Faye, oh Thank you. Bristol is an amazing city. It's good that I've got my kitchen back I can't wait to start doing more than cooking there, like making soaps and creams and all the kinds of creative projects that you do too.
      Have a lovely week,
      debx

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