PURPLE RASPBERRY CURD

My husband and I have joined the National Trust in the UK compliments of my lovely Mother  It is absolutely wonderful going out on a Saturday with a picnic and just taking in fresh air and seeing all the magificant stately homes and countryside in our beautiful country and just walking to try and get a bit healthier.    When we went a few weeks ago to see the burnt ruins of a stately home in Worcestershire called Whitley Court, we went into their shop in the entrance where they sell different items to bring in funds for the National Trust like food, wine, books etc and one of the foods that they were selling were jams and raspberry curd which they allowed us to sample and it was delicious.

As I had made some passion fruit curd a few weeks ago and my husband loving it, I just knew that I wanted to try and make this one.

I got home and dug out my passion fruit recipe and just decided that all I really needed to do was swop the fruit and this is the result although I did double the recipe.

  The taste is wonderful however, perhaps a bit sweet so next time I would reduce the sugar slightly.  However not sure about the colour being quite right as what started off as a wonderful red raspberry has ended up as a delicious purple delight.

I put 400g of frozen raspberries in my food processor

and pureed them to an inch of their life.

And I then put the raspberries in a sieve so that my puree was smooth without any pips.

I put the strained raspberries in a pot on the hob together with 280g of butter and six eggs

and added 500g sugar and 4 tablespoons of cornflour

and cooked it very very slowly for a long time stirring continuously to prevent burning and to prevent the eggs curdling.  It barely came up to a simmer but eventually it started to get thick and when it was the consistency of very thick custard.
 I strained it once more to get rid of any stray pips or bits of egg that might have curdled,

  before I poured the curd into steralised jars -

(all three of them).

I left it overnight to cool and set and it was perfect - exactly what curd should look like.

I then went to my Mum with some scones, the curd and some squirty cream 

to get her to try my creation with her morning cup of tea.

And this is what I presented her with.

She loved it although said the colour was a bit strange and bright !!!

Until next time.

Love The Tipsy Tart

xx

SUNSHINE ON A PLATE

In anticipation of summer being just around the corner and a friend saying that she was coming to visit me from South Africa later this year, my spirits were high and I wanted to create something that was as bright and happy as I was feeling.

So supper last night was a simple version of Spanish Paella and it looked like sunshine on a plate and it did not taste too bad either.

I chopped two onions and used a sprinkling of oil from a jar of Roasted Peppers and browned them for a while together with 1 Spanish Ring of Chorizo Sausage which was about 225g in weight.

I then added one chopped green pepper and a jar of the drained Red and Yellow Roasted Peppers (about 280g) and six skinned chicken thighs.

I added no spices, salt, pepper or garlic as the chorizo sausage has so much flavour and this simple dish just did not require it.

When it had all browned nicely, I added two big cups of brown rice.  I love brown rice as it is just has such a nutty flavour and obviously more healthy. However, because the chorizo contains a lot of fat, it probably would not matter too much in this dish if you use white rice.

I added chicken stock to two litres of water and just allowed this to cook slowly stirring occasionally until the rice had doubled in size.  Brown rice does take longer to cook and I left it simmering for about half an hour.

When the liquid had reduced and the rice was almost cooked, I added about a cup of frozen peas and 70g of mixed olives  If I was having friends over, I would also at this stage, add a few prawns as well.

And this was my sunshine on a plate - absolutely delicious with the smoky flavour of the chorizo coming through and so pretty to look at as well.

I only served it with garlic bread because my son loves everything with garlic bread.

Until next time and Happy Cooking to you all always.

Love The Tipsy Tart
xx

HOT CROSS BUN PUDDING FOR MICHELLE

Michelle today and her two beautiful children,
Justin and Isabelle.

A little story that always makes me smile -

When my younger daughter was about 7, our family went for a trip around America for about 7 weeks or so.  We started in Miami and after spending about a week at Disney World we got in the car and just drove - not really with any aim where we were going but just knowing that by Christmas we had to be in Canada to visit family.

We had a few places that we wanted to see and one of them was to go to New Orleans and see the great Mississippi River.  We managed to get there and also went on a river boat. As it was a freezing day, we sat inside trying to get some warmth and as we were all starving, we also found a canteen selling food.  We ordered a variety of foods but Michelle was the only one who ordered a "Bread and Butter" pudding.  

As we lived in South Africa at the time and generally did not eat heavy puddings - it was something that we had not ever tasted before and something that Michelle had never come across.

So she ate it quietly, finished the lot and disappeared to the lady behind the counter.    She came back a while later with a piece of paper in her hand and said "Mom, because I loved it so much, I went and asked for the recipe and here it is!!!.  The smile - I will always remember...  Although I do not have that recipe anymore, I found this recipe in the latest Good Food Magazine that I get every month and it looked delicious.

So my daughter, this is for you and although it is slightly different to the original one you tasted, I hope you love it as much today as you did all those years ago.

Spread a thick layer of Lemon Curd on 4 Hot Cross Buns.

Beat 2 eggs and then add 200ml double cream, 200ml milk, 4 tablespoon of sugar and the zest of one lemon and about 2 big tablespoons of lemon curd as well.

Mix together and then pour over your lemon curd hot cross buns and leave to soak up all the egg custard for about 30 minutes.

Put in an oven of about 160C degrees for about 45 minutes until it has puffed up and cooked until golden and the custard has set..Leave to stand for a while.

And serve with either custard or pouring cream.  

I hope you enjoy it as much as my little girl did all those years ago.

Love The Tipsy Tart
xx

LAMB POTJIE

Today is a glorious day. The sun is shining after months of winter, the windows are open and my husband has decided that we need to have the first potjie of the season.

He has decided that today the blog is his to have and hold and that no Tipsy Tart will be getting any part of the cooking process other than to take photos and add a bit of gloss and substance.

This is a potjie - which translated into english is a three legged cast iron pot used by our Dutch ancestors to cook their food in the open when they travelled across Southern Africa.  It is still a very popular way of cooking food today as it imparts a unique taste and flavour and there is nothing more that South Africans enjoy more than outdoor cooking over an open fire.

My husband prefers his vegetables chunky and just used what we had available although he did buy the lamb chops.  Although mutton is what is usually used in this traditional dish,  is it almost impossible to find in the UK.  The brown soup powder is from South Africa but any homemade stock is suitable.

This is what my husband made for me which is still to this date an incomplete pizza oven.

However it retains the heat well and does not burn the food easily even in a hot fire.

Lamb chops put in the potjie to brown

Vegetables added with a bit of garlic and salt with the occasional bit of water added.  My husband kept it simple to allow the food taste to come through rather than the any spices.

He left the food on the fire for a good few hours to simmer away while we enjoyed our first afternoon in the sun.

And after a few hours and a few glasses of wine later - my husband's potjie was ready to be enjoyed.

and it was everything he told me it would be...
it was simple food at its best cooked by the one I love the most.....

Love The Tipsy Tart
xx

ATCHAR - THE KING OF ALL PICKLES

Anyone who knows me, knows that at 5.00pm most evenings (well every evening if I am honest) is wine time.  The chores have been done, the dinner planned and ready to be prepared later and after a hectic day, is my time.

After a few days of eating a sweet chocolate cheesecake, I decided that I needed something salty to enjoy my glass of wine with and when a packet of crisps is never good enough,  Atchar is always my perfect snack which will satisfy my cravings.

When I open the lid of the pickle jar, the spicy aroma always takes me back to South Africa when friends would come and  visit and after a quick hello, head straight for my kitchen to make themselves toast and smear a thick layer on it or when my family and I were on a farm in the Western Cape and we would sit in the garden in the late afternoons enjoying the last of the sun rays and eat Provita biscuits with cheese and homemade Atchar.

Atchar is a spicy condiment often eaten with curry.  It comes from the Indian cuisine in South Africa. There are many versions to making it - some with fruit and others with vegetables - and the one that was passed to me by a good friend is made with a variety of vegetables.

Because Proviate Biscuits are hard to find at the best of time as they are only made in South Africa - any cracker will do.  However, the cracker must be crunchy, the cheese must be strong and smooth and the Atchar must be spicy and it was all that and more...perfect to munch on in between glugs of cold white wine.

Aah...the simple things in life as always the best.

CHOCOLATE PHILLY CHEESECAKE

I love trying out new things in the kitchen and cooking up a storm and nothing makes me happier that being in my kitchen with a glass of wine and music in the background.  Anytime, I can try out new recipes I do so with relish and nine times out of ten, my book of choice, is probably a cooking book.

 So when I saw such a funny ad on TV with Jennifer Saunders advertising a new Chocolate Philadelphia cream cheese that Kraft has brought out, I headed off to my local supermarket with a hop, skip and an excited jump and grabbed four tubs at "Buy One - Get One Free" - only to find happily that each tub contained 86 calories per tub.

Oh my beating heart - even more joy...a chocolate cheesecake would soon be mine to eat guilt free.



However, why settle for plain and boring when decadence is the only way to go and so I created a cake to test my already failing willpower and decided to add a chocolate ganache for the top.

And the following photos are the result of my happy day.  The taste -

all I am going to say is that you need to rush out immediately and buy the Chocolate Philly Cream cheese 

and make it yourself.......

CHOCOLATE PHILLY CHEESE CAKE

400g chocolate biscuits of your choice
50g butter - melted
4 x 160g tubs of Chocolate Philly Cream Cheese
300ml Sour Cream
160g Caster Sugar
4 eggs
200g dark chocolate
284ml double cream
100g white chocolate

Blitz the chocolate biscuits in your food processor and add the melted butter.  Press in the bottom of a greased cake tin and leave in the fridge for a while to firm up.

Add all the filling ingredients - cream cheese, sour cream, eggs and caster sugar to your food processor and combine.

Pour the chocolate mixture on top of your chilled biscuit base and place in an oven heat of about 160 for about 45 minutes.  I also placed my cake tin in a big roasting dish with hot water until it reached halfway up the sides of the cake tin.

The cake should be firm but retain its wobble when it is cooked.  Leave it in the oven with the door slightly open to cool and then chill for at least 4 hours in your fridge or overnight if you can wait that long....

For the topping - I melted dark chocolate and 200g of the double cream in a double boiler until it had all melted together to a delicious goo.   After it had cooled slightly, I poured it over the chilled cheesecake.

I then left it to chill some more - and afterwards melted a bar of white chocolate with the balance of the double cream and made a few squiggles...

I left it again for a while in the fridge to chill a bit more and then tucked in.......and......

HEAVEN WAS MINE!!

IT TAKES A LONG TIME TO GROW AN OLD FRIEND

Odi - My Friend and My Chicken Soup,

We met in a school classroom and who would have guessed that the friendship we started then would still be going strong over 30 years later.

We have always been as different from each other as friends could ever be.

You are the loud and confident friend and I have always been the quiet and shy friend and I suppose that is what has made our friendship work.

We are like yin and yang or the chicken and the pudding -  two friends who both bring different elements to their friendship who both accept each other for who and what they are.

You are the friend that I first always turn to for advice in times of troubles.

 You have been the keeper of my secrets for all these years.

You are my chicken soup when I have just needed a smile or to get some laughter back in my life and you never disappoint me.  You will always find something funny to tell me and no matter how silly, we both end up laughing.

When I am with you, you always bring excitement and craziness into my day and I think I am the friend who brings the quietness after the storm to yours.

 You are the most positive person I have ever met with such high morals and in all our years that we have known each other - you have always found a way of turning all your negatives into positives and I do not think I have ever known you not to smile or have laughter in your voice.

As I am writing this blog today to wish you the best birthday you could possibly wish for yourself - my heart is so sad  knowing that you are on the otherside of the world and I cannot be with you to celebrate with you.

I am not there to give you a hug and to wish you health, happiness and for your family always to be near.  I wish I could give you my special wish for love to come knocking at your door and to remind you to start looking for the hidden key so you can open the door forever.

You are so beautiful as you are - inside and outside and here is a poem for you by Maya Angelou which I found and love so much  :

PHENOMENAL WOMAN

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies

I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion size

But when I start to tell them

They think I'm telling lies

I say,

It's in the reach of my arms

The span of my hips

The stride of my step,

The curl of my lips

I'm woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That's me.

I walk into a room

Just as cool as you please,

And to a man

The fellows stand or

Fall down on their knees.

Then they swarm around me,

A hive of honey bees.

I say,

It's the fire in my eyes,

And the flash of my teeth,

The swing in my waist,

And the joy in my feet

I'm woman.

Phenomenally

Phenomental woman,

That's me.

Men themselves have wondered

What they see in me.

They try so much

But they can't touch

My inner mystery.

When I try to show them

They say I can't see.

I say,

It's in the arch of my back,

The sun of my smile,

The ride of my breasts,

The grace of my style.

I'm woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman.

That's me.

How you understand

Just why my head's not bowed.

I don't shout or jump about

Or have to talk real loud.

When you see me passing

It ought to make you proud.

I say,

It's in the click of my heels,

The bend of my hair,

The palm of my hand,

The need for my care.;

'Cause I'm a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman.

That's me.

YOU ARE THAT PHENOMENAL WOMAN....

So my dear dear friend from across the ocean, I say cheers and wish you all these things and also to say thank you for being that perfect friend that has made the last 30 odd years so much nicer just knowing you have been a part of my life.

If I could make a wish today for just me it would be that one day soon I could be laughing with you again as we did in all these photos and perhaps even sitting on a block of concrete at the Eiffel Tower for three hours watching the world go by because only you could make it so enjoyable all over again......

You are a friend in a million and one of God's blessings and I love you to the moon and back.

From your sweet sweet dessert.
xxxxx