Jamie's Ministry of Food

Hi guys

Just wanted to suggest for you to watch a new show they are showing on tv (Channel 4), called Jamie's Ministry of Food.
The idea is to teach simple recipes to people who don't know how to cook and have them passing the recipes on to their friends, and these friends passing them on to other friends.
It's like our cooking club, but in a chain. :)

Take a look at his website and maybe we could try some of his recipes in our next meetings.

http://www.jamiesministryoffood.com/content/jo/home.html

The show is on at the following times:
Programme 1: Channel 4 - 30/09/2008 at 9pm
(Repeated 01/10/2008 at 11pm, shown on More 4 05/10/08 at 10pm)

Programme 2: Channel 4 07/10/2008 at 9pm
(Repeated 08/10/2008 at 11pm, shown on More 4 12/10/08 at 10pm)

Programme 3: Channel 4 14/10/2008 at 9pm
(Repeated 15/10/2008 at 11pm, shown on More 4 19/10/08 at 10pm)

Programme 4: Channel 4 21/10/2008 at 9pm
(Repeated 22/10/2008 at 11pm, shown on More 4, 26/10/08 at 10pm)

Enjoy.

Savoury muffins

Ingredients to 12 pop-overs (muffins)
- 125g of flour
- 210g of milk
- 2 whole eggs
- half a tablespoon of sugar
- one and a half teaspoon of salt
- a tablespoon of olive oil
- optional: grated parsley, grated cheese

Preparing the muffins:
Put everything together in a bowl and whisk quickly with a spoon or fork. You can add grated cheese, parsley, or ham. Do not use a mixer because the mixture needs to remain grainy to cook well.
Pour the mixture in a lightly greased cup cake baking tray (fill up to 3/4 of each hole)Place in a preheated oven at 200C: the muffins will magically start to rise!



Cooking time: between 40-55 minutes, but it depends on the oven.
You need to give enough time for the inside to bake fully so that the muffins don't fall once removed from the oven. And most importantly, do not keep opening the oven before the muffins are ready!

Bread lasagna

Third meeting, three more recipes. :)

The bread lasagna has three sets of ingredients.



Ingredients for the beef:
- 500g minced beef
- 1 tsp olive oil (or cooking spray)
- 1 beef stock cube
- 200g can of chopped tomatoes
- cumin, paprika and salt to season

Preparing the beef:
Add the olive oil to the pan and add the beef, cooking it in high heat until completely brown. Add the stock cube, the chopped tomatoes and season to taste.
Reduce the heat and simmer for around 20 minutes.

Ingredients for the sauce:
- 1 onion, grated
- 2 tbsps butter
- 1 glass of milk (around 250ml)
- 2 tbsps of flour, plain
- 1 can of extra thick cream (around 280ml)
- salt
- a handful of grated parmesan cheese (around 50g)



Preparing the sauce:
Melt the butter in a sauce pan and fry the onion. Add the flour mixed in the milk, the cream, the salt, and the cheese. Cook in medium to low heat until it gets thick.

Ingredients for the lasagna:
- sliced bread, no crusts
- cream cheese
- ham
- grated mozzarella and cheddar cheese
- grated parmesan



Preparing the lasagna:
Add one layer of bread in an oven-proof dish. Spread a layer of cream cheese on top of the bread, and add one layer of ham and grated cheese.
Add another layer of bread, cover with the minced beef, add a last layer of bread and cover with the sauce, making sure it goes through to the bottom of the dish.
Cover with grated parmesan cheese and take it to the oven (200 degrees) for around 20 minutes.

Greek Salad and Waldorf Salad

Here are two very easy, healthy, and tasty salads! :)

1 - Greek Salad

Ingredients:
- tomato;
- feta cheese;
- cucumber (sometimes I use olives instead);
- olive oil;
- oregano.

Now the hard part: cut the tomato, cucumber and feta in cubes (not too small); add some olive oil and oregano as you wish. Mix everything and enjoy! :)
Note: I usually use about 1 large tomato and around 5 cm of cucumber for 1 or 2 persons.



2 - Waldorf Salad

Ingredients:
- celery sticks;
- granny smith apple;
- yogurt;
- walnuts.

Again, the 'hard part': first cut the celery in medium slices, then the apple in cubes and immediately add some yogurt (this will prevent the apple from getting yellow, though that is still perfectly eatable, just not as good looking). Add some chopped walnuts. Eat and enjoy! :)
Note: about 3 celery sticks and 1-1,5 apples are enough for 1 or 2 persons.

Pizza, pizza, pizza...

Today, our second meeting was about pizza. Well, not only about pizza. We also had two types of salad and a lime mousse.
It was a lovelly afternoon and I hope people are getting more excited about our meetings.
Now, recipes!



Ingredients for the base (for 3 pizzas, 11 inches each):
- 500g plain flour
- 4 tbsps olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 250ml warm water
- 2 tsps dried yeast
- 1/2 tsp sugar

Preparing the base:
Put the yeast, sugar and 50ml of water in a cup and mix well. Let sit for 10 minutes until it develops a foam on top.

Put the flour into a bowl, add the olive oil and salt.
When the yeast is ready add it to the flour, and add the rest of the water.
Mix with your hands and knead until you have a smooth dough that does not get stuck in your hands (In this point, you can freeze the dough and use it some other time).
Cover it with a clean, dry tea towell and let it sit for an hour.
In the meantime, prepare the sauce.

Ingredients for the sauce (to cover the base):
- half red onion, chopped
- 2 tbsps olive oil
- 1 clove of garlic, chopped
- 1/2 red pepper, chopped
- 1 carrot, grated
- 1 pack of passata (500g)
- 1 tsp oregano
- fresh basil
- freshly ground pepper
- paprica




Add the olive oil to a large frying pan and fry the onions, garlic and pepper for a few minutes.
Add the passata and the carrots, mix well. Add the oregano, ground pepper and paprica, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the basil leaves, tearing them small to release the flavour. Stir well and simmer for more 5 minutes.




The dough should like like this after it has risen.
Take 1/3 of the dough and spread it with your fingers into a pizza pan. You can use a rolling pin instead of spreading if you prefer a very thin and crispy base.
Let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes so it can rise again.



For the topping, start spreading the sauce all over it.
Then add your favorite toppings. Our choices were:
- parma ham with mozzarella, red onion, tomato and basil
- pancetta with gorgonzolla chesse and red pepper pesto
- parma ham, pancetta, black olives and mozzarella.

The mozzarella should be the last or next to last topping on it, as it will melt over the other ingredients.



Put into the oven for approximately 25 minutes (200 degrees if fan assisted ovens; 240 degrees if electrical ovens). The heat should come only from the bottom of the oven to cook the base properly.



Enjoy!

Lime mousse

Ingredients:
- Juice of 4 limes
- 1 can of condensed milk
- 2 cans of extra thick cream


Add the condensed milk and cream in a bowl and mix it with an eletric mixer until you have a homogeneous mixture.

Still mixing, pour the lime juice slowly.

Take it to the fridge for 2 hours.