"An urge..."

“ COOKINGWITHMAVIS “ #31           “ An urge… ”

                                      Auctions…..

I don’t suppose YOU  ever get an ‘urge’ ?....DO YOU! -huh?

  

Lately ’COOKINGWITHMAVIS’  has had an  urge!  

 Yes!  A real URGE   to seek out household auctions…the excitement of Saturday morning pre-views…then the antissssipation of going to the auction…

The STRESS leading-up to your “auction lot-number”   - about to roll off the tongue of that eloquent Auctioneer, and ZINNNNNNNG!  Before-you-know-it! ...you’ve either bought ‘what-you-came-for’   …or lost to a “Dealer’ s ”  bid!  Hmmfph!    

You’re  there for no other reason, but to acquire unusual aesthetics that are truly, TRULY, not needed!

A recent resounding bid bought two very stylized 1940s oil paintings …artists unknown, and sohh well priced too!    The larger of the two, is a portrait of an ample-bosomed very  “Colonial” -“W.a.s.p.-ish”   young woman,  staring straight at you, out of that canvas……blue eyes and blonde hair set in curls with pale turquoise dress, of conservative, tailored, square-cut neckline…..

‘My M’  isn’t too partial to her!...

    “Why  do  we  have  to  live  with  dead  people  staring  at  us !!!  ” - says he, gesticulating wildly.

 I choose not to hear, and promptly give her pride-of-place on the livingroom walls.

(In case you didn’t guess, this is a HUGE  compromise  - as I already have 40-plus,   * exceptionally - framed *  ancient  photographic portraits  of my distant ancestors …all bubble-wrapped and in our garage storage.

As, best for us to have no “  Persons  Passed  ”  be staring at us , off our walls! )

♫ Oh dear-what-can-the-matter-be?....

Three-old-ladies-locked-in-the-garagerie…!              ♪♫   ♪

So?   Dare I   unwrap that  sepia   picture of the ‘Great-aunts’ and uncles?...

Of Great ~ Aunt  Minna ,  and Frankie …and Mousy…and Morris   and  Boris ..a-and….. My Granny Dolly   too!

…and thinking of  ‘My M’  , so do I resist !

And so to recipes…..

GRANNY  DOLLY’ S

       BRAISED  CHICKEN .…

                                       

                          MMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…..                                   

 “ Those-of-Them”    ( I have 2 specific close friends in mind here)-  who don’t cook, might be happy to eat whatever plate of food is served-up to them….

In other words… They’ll   eat  ANYTHING!                             ... “ INDISCRIMINATE taste”!

‘My M’  and our dearest friend  “LL- CEO ”  aren’t too dexterous  in any room beginning with a “K”….they’ll  eat  ANTHING  SERVED  UP  TO  THEM                            …( is that to say they have indiscrim…..? )

Out of absolute*lust*  for this dish, they ventured into my kitchen one day, and well produced this wonderfully, simple comfort food …albeit, with heat on high!

Mmmmmmmmmm……….dont be fooled by the simplicity of this recipe…

nehctik>>>>>KKKKKKKKKKKKK<<<<kitchen

                                                            *O*

(I use 2 portions of the ‘brown’ meat of chicken per serving...either 2x thighs or a leg and a thigh, per serving)

INGREDIENTS:

INGREDIENTS FOR GRAN's
BRAISED CHICKEN

POTATOES, ONIONS, FLOUR, CHICKEN PORTIONS,
  OIL, WATER, BLACK PEPPERCORNS, SALT,
 BAYLEAVES, WHITE PEPPER & CHOPPED ONIONS

4 chicken thighs

4 chicken legs   (The white meat will be too dry)

2 large onions, peeled and diced into about 1cm squares (never can be too much browned  onion! ..can use more if you like)

3 large potatoes pre-cooked steamed till almost soft, peel and cubed into 6 pieces

2 Bay leaves

Little flour (about ¼ cup) to coat the chicken pieces

10 whole black peppercorns

Salt to taste

A pinch of white pepper

½ cup to 1 cup boiling water

2 tablespoons sunflower oil (or even better: shop-bought or homemade vegetarian  "chicken-fat" spread called “Schmaltz” …see blog # 20 - how to make your own! )

METHOD:

1)    Coat the chicken pieces lightly in flour/salt/white pepper, shake off the excess flour, and keep about 2 tablespoons of flour aside to add to the pot later,  then gently brown in the oil or schmaltz, till nice and golden, on medium heat.

2)    Remove from pot.

3)    Sauté the onions slowly, in same pot  that you used for the chicken, on medium heat, turning occasionally, till just more than golden browned ,(not burnt!), as this gives flavour and colour to this dish.

4)       Return chicken pieces, with the pre-cooked potatoes, Bay leaves and whole peppercorns to the pot, add the 2 tablespoons seasoned flour,  ½ to 1 cup boiling water, cover and simmer on low heat  for another 45 minutes.

LIGHTLY-BROWNED SAUTÉED
CHICKEN PORTIONS 

SAUTÉED AND CARAMELISED,
BROWNED ONION 

MMmmm... GRAN's BRAISED CHICKEN

Serve on a mound of steamed white rice.

I use Basmati  - or fragrant long grain rice                                    

BASMATI RICE AND SAUCE FROM
 GRAN's BRAISED CHICKEN

Have you made my   SEMOLINA-AND-ROSEWATER CAKE?…

   just see earlier blog #3 – you’ll find it in:

“ RUNNING AWAY FROM ‘MAVIS ”

‘till next time…

     ‘cookingwithmavis’ 

"The Crisp Is In The Prick!" - Real roast potatoes........

 ‘COOKINGWITHMAVIS’ #30      “The crisp is in the prick !”...

Making the bestest roast potatoes is an art…

Knowing HOW TO make the bestest roast potatoes is easy! …well that is, if you had a Granny Dolly  …..

Juicy rich 'n crispy roast potatoes

Granny Dolly lived in widowhood with spinstersister  Frances :  AKA “Auntie Frankie”  , as companion…NOW, WE’RE  TRULY  TALKING  EONS AGO..WHEN  MOST  OF  YOU  WEREN’T  YET  BORN,  and cooks were cooks…not showmen!

Rigid in her Victorian beliefs and Pseudo British manners, lunch was “dinner” and supper was, welllll…”supper”! ...and in Gran’s  house, ssssssupper-to-us, was served at 12noon…the main meal of the day - being her “dinner”!

Granny Dolly and   “Auntie Frankie”  lived across the street from Young ‘COOKINGWITHMAVIS’ s  school….thus allowing the occasional clandestine  midday feast  – especially if  to be served-up, was a crown roast of lamb ribs and ROAST POTATOES!

Granny Dolly liked her food…while “Auntie Frankie” ,  bless her,  ate like a bird!

….and Frankie ?... She  bloomin’ smoked like a chimney!..a-and Me ?  ...I just LOVED My  ROAST POTATOES…AND STILL DO !

Visions of a memory of Granny Dolly come forth: She upright, mighty chested,  and rigid-of-back, white-powdered face, and deep-red , rose-painted  lips   , and of course, stylish hat with brim upturned  on one side, She  sitting side-by-side to her peak-capped-and-white-gloved chauffeur  - him driving her   cream-coloured 1958 Morris Minor 1000  on their excursion out, to the greengrocer’s shop!...well she had no choice, as poor vision was no-longer an excuse acceptable, for her to  drive though red traffic lights!

A CAR LIKE GRANNY DOLLY'S

And so to recipes……

Crisp and juicy decadently oily roast potatoes !

….… Mmm…More commonly described by friend Mel as :

 “ The crisp is in the prick ”…

       ˜ REAL  ROAST  POTATOES   ˜

                            

Quantities I shan’t give you -  as who knows what glutton you are ?

…or how many mouths you might be feeding?….

METHOD:

1) Boil your HOWEVERMANY quantity of potatoes in the skins till almost soft right through, using just a small amount of water, no need for a full pot, and add 2 teaspoons salt – this apparently helps the peels to come off more easily)

(‘COOKINGWITHMAVIS’  steams them in the pressure cooker…from the moment the stove plate is switched-on…for 30 minutes start to finish )

2) Remove from pot, split skins with a sharp small knife, gently in one or two shallow slits around each potato’s circumference, then soak in cold water for about 2 minutes.

Easy then to peel off the skins.

3)Cut into halves or quarters…size-dependent.

I CHEAT!  …Yes! Easiest to do them on the stove…can you believe it!

4) Pour a 750ml bottle of sunflower oil into a pot and heat ‘till really nice and very hot.

5) Carefully place the pre-cooked potatoes one-by-one into the hot oil.

Bring the heat down to “medium”, and cook gently, pricking each potato with a small sharp knife, every 10 minutes, turning occasionally too, till crisp and juicy.

NOTE!....

You can pre-cook them till almost done a couple of hours prior to serving, then pop them back into hot oil for a minute-or-two just before serving.

         

CRISP AND JUICY ROAST POTATOES!

                   >>>>>>>>>ppppppppppppppppppotatoes<<<<<<<<<<

Have you ventured to read the DIVINE  " A FestiveBlog: Fanny Cradock "  - just go back to the top right of this page, and click on 2011...December !...it's worth it!


'till next time, 
        'COOKINGWITHMAVIS’  

Elephant Green....and a Pink Blancmange!

‘COOKINGWITHMAVIS’ #29        ‘Fixating on choosing the right colour…and pink blancmange! ’

 “Elephant Green”

To know that the  wall colour  you’re going to live with for many years-to-come….that exact  shade that you WANT TO LIVE WITH for those said years-to-come, is a very, very stressful task!

I mean, after-all, you don’t want it  too intense a shade… and not too dark either, as at night that same colour, in different, synthetic light, might hurt the eyes…well, so  it is for  ‘ COOKINGWITHMAVIS’

I am extremely particular when it comes to aesthetics….

 A-B-S-OL-U-T-E-L-Y   NO  grey areas !

 ITS  “ cut ‘n dried “  … just BLACK-OR-WHITE!

 W hatever ;  be it an item of Kitch, …or furniture..or motor  vehicle…or paint colour…often design so easily ‘misses the mark’ 

…It’s easy to collect Kitch …but to collect GOOD  Kitch ahhhhhh !    Just look no further that some wonderful things in our home!

1950's AFRICAN BUST

"GOOD" KITCH - A POLYNESIAN BUST

1950's AFRICAN BOY

....And furniture?   ... Well, I’m a stickler for keeping some ‘hand-me-downs’   from  ‘ GraN ’   and   ‘ Ouma ‘    given to my parents, and eventually to me.

Oh  ...and  ‘ GraN ’   had style, …… ‘ GraN ’   had understated sophisticated genteel taste…

……..While   ‘ Ouma ‘    -  welllllllll , ‘ Ouma ‘    was the        ‘ Queen of Ornate ’ …her taste was  “Jo’burg -Jewish - Baroque”! ...so, so ” schmaltzy”…..

And so, ‘My M’  and Me,  we live amongst some of their ‘choice’ choices …choices  that  I  didn’t choose , and  have  chosen  to  keep !

The absolute quandary  I found myself in, for the months leading up to renovating and painting our new home, was what bloomin’ colour    to paint those “Post-Modern“  walls,  in order to offset the unique,  quite eclectic array of beautiful ‘hand-me-downs’   as well as our  Mid-20th Century  restored coveted acquisitions….

‘ COOKINGWITHMAVIS’   drove the  “Painting Contractor”-come-wall-decorator  UP-THE-WALL!

It took a multitude of months of examining a myriad of Plascon Paints colour chits  - all in varying tones of similar colours

I wanted an “Elephant Green”   - or…was it an “Elephant Grey”?

…Can you imagine such ?  …yes!  - grey with a hint of olive green…or is it khaki with some gray?…or is it grey with a touch of khaki and a smidgen of black…or..or is it perhaps ‘taupe’?

Yes…like those American tones that all buildings in Pittsburgh seemed to be painted:  ‘dirty dark red’…‘dirty olive’…‘dirty yellow ’…‘dirty blues’…they get those tones by adding that ‘smidgen’ of black!

  

By golly…I found my perfect wall colour:     Plascon Paints’: “Botticelli”!

It is by day: “Elephant Grey”…and by night: muddy olive-stone-come-elephant-green …perfect…sohhh absolutely perfect.  And do you know, that 8 years after-the-fact…we still live with “Botticelli” walls ...and never  tire of them, and Oh!!  - how they enhance those choice “hand-me-downs”  !

ELEPHANT GREEN

ELEPHANT GREY

DEFINITELY ELEPHANT BROWN!

ELEPHANT TAUPE

ELEPHANT  WHITE !

...AND A SPECIAL "ps" for Solvej   ....."ELEPHANT WET"

Needless-to-say, that   “Painting Contractor”-come-wall-decorator  gets her miles’ worth…..

STILL bringing clients to sample the example of our walls! 

               ElephantGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGgggggrey   

And so to recipes…..

‘ COOKINGWITHMAVIS’ s

   Jello Blancmange

I remember, as a young teenager, discovering Mrs Mintz ’s light and fluffy  jello  pudding…NOTHING  that I’d EVER experienced before!!!!!

…and wanted more  – and more!  ...AND MORE!

Might I say that Mrs Mintz made marvelous,  mouthwatering Moir’s Jelly  mélange…did I say “mélange” ?...welll, yes - it was a mixture of ingredients…no, not many ingredients, perhaps better to call it a blancmange!  - (Pronounced “blahhma-a-a-njh!”)

Traditionally a “blancmange” would be :  A cold dessert made with milk, sugar, flavourings, and cornstarch , and white in colour,  but Mrs Mintz , I do now realize, was just like me, in that she believed in ‘no-nonsense’ quick ‘n easy recipes , and her’s  was NOT the traditional!  

Instead, her very light and fluffy fruit-flavoured “blancmange”  was made from a packet of jello ( “jelly”, as we call it) and a chilled tin of ‘Evaporated Milk’ …also known as “Ideal MilK”…yes, you know…the rich , full fat long-life creamy stuff!

An extra-light mousse this is! .... a dessert that I often make, and never tell my dinner guests how effortless it is to prepare.

So simple,  so splendid…so quick and easy…and SOHHHH more-ish!

So here goes…….

Ingredients:

1 or 2x  80g packets jello (cherry or strawberry or raspberry, lemon, etc, flavour) - If you don’t have a sweet tooth, just use 1x packet jello!

¼ cup sugar (optional)

2 cups boiling water (500ml)

1x  410g tin “Ideal Milk” chilled

Optional:

Plus 2 stiffly beaten egg whites (then you must use 2x packets jello)

PACKETS  OF  JELLO
and  EVAPORATED  MILK

INGREDIENTS  FOR
JELLO  BLANCMANGE

Method :

1)  Chill tin of Evaporated Milk at least 12 hours (I just keep a tin always in the fridge) -  only chilled, can it be beaten and thickened.

2) Dissolve the jello granules in ½ the quantity of water suggested on the packet :  only 1 cup boiling water to 1x  80g packet of jello.

Add the sugar too.

Stir well for a minute, until all granules are dissolved.

3) Leave to cool 30 minutes at room temperature, and when cool, put into the fridge for 15plus minutes   – until it just begins to thicken.

Do NOT let it set!

4) Then beat the Evaporated Milk very well for at least 5 minutes, till thick and very stiff, and large in volume.

5) Then slowly,  gently pour the cooled jello into the beaten Evaporated Milk.

6) Optional:

If you choose to add beaten egg whites, then lastly, gently fold them into the jello mixture with a large metal spoon.

7) Gently pour this mixture into a large glass serving bowl, or into individual dessert / parfait glasses.

8) Put into the fridge to set…for at least 1 hour.

9) To serve, decorate with sliced strawberries, or other berries.

WHIPPED  CHILLED
'EVAPORATED  MILK'

ADDING  THE  LIQUID  JELLO

CHERRY  FLAVOUR,  PINK
 JELLO  'BLANCMANGE' 

Note:

This dessert can be made a day in advance, and also keeps well for 4 to 5 days.

MMMMMMmmmmmmmm…..

You WILL   find yourself sneaking back to the fridge for ‘just a little spoonful more’, once your dinner guests have gone!

Until next time!

‘COOKINGWITHMAVIS’