My Husband The Budding Chef!

So despite my love of food and cooking, there are times when I am delighted to sit back and let my hubby do all the hard work. Although I don’t let him into the kitchen often, when he does cook he does a darn good job! He’s a master at rack of lamb and toad in the hole, but not long ago he was so sweet and made his American wife a British Thanksgiving dinner. It was all last minute and he managed to find a turkey crown from a local butcher that morning. Now I must say my apologies to my Dad, my Mom and my aunts because I have to admit that Chris’s turkey was THE best turkey I have ever had! It was the most flavorful and moist turkey and that was without a brine.

Roast Turkey Crown

After very thorough research he tried a new (and very successful) method of cooking the turkey. He rubbed it all with a seasoned butter (just salt and pepper) and then painted olive oil on top to seal the butter in. He also used little pigs in a blanket (British versions are cocktail sausages wrapped in bacon) and tucked them into the edges with toothpicks/cocktail sticks. Simple and straightforward but with great results. After cooking it at 160C for awhile, he checked the temperature and it was about 140F (it should be 165F). So he removed the cocktail sausages and raised the temperature to 200C/400F for another 20 minutes or so until it reached 165F. While it rested under a foil tent, he got on with all the trimmings : duck fat roast potatoes, sauteed green beans, sage and onion stuffing, carrot and parsnip puree and super crispy Yorkshire pudding! I do have to note that the carrot and parsnip puree was sooooo yummy. He used one part carrot, two parts parsnip and just added a splash of milk and butter.

It was all so good and helped me miss home a little less. The only thing missing was a Honey Baked Ham which is a tradition with my family. And I haven’t seen any ham in the UK come close to the succulent juicy ham from the Honey Baked Ham store with a crispy sweet crust… Mmm.. But I can’t complain really as for the first time my Thanksgiving dinner was made all by my hubby 🙂

Thanksgiving - British Style!

So you might be thinking – okay – roast meat and trimmings.. Sure that’s nice.. But he really impressed me this past weekend when he made us Thai Fish Cakes! Not only did he make it all by himself but he used a couple different recipes to make his own version! Here are two recipes that he referenced – one from the BBC and another from Good Food.

Thai fish cakes is one of my favorite Thai dishes and something that always felt very daunting. We had some leftover frozen fish that we wanted to use and this turned out to be a great use for it! You just add the fish, egg, lemongrass, garlic, spring onion, chilli, coriander/cilantro, ginger (if you have it), some oil, fish sauce and lime zest into a food processor and blitz. Add it to a bowl and mix in some chopped green beans. The mixture was a little wet, so he added a couple tsp of plain flour to help bind it.

Heat about half an inch of plain oil (vegetable or sunflower) in a large frying pan. Don’t put it on your highest heat but just below it. Make a small patty at first to test the seasoning and oil temperature.

While Chris made the patties, I was flipping and frying them. My method here was to use a large round metal spatula with holes in it and a fork. The oil temperature was hot but not so much so that the oil was splashing out. Basically it was safe and I could stand close to it. After forming the patty, place it onto the spatula and slide it gently into the oil. If it won’t slide, flip it into the oil but use the fork to catch it with your other hand. Let it fry until you can see it browning up on the sides. Then turn it over. You will need to cook these until just before they look burnt. They’ll be a nice dark brown. Keep flipping them if you need to even the coloring. Let cool on kitchen towel before eating with sweet chilli sauce and some salad greens. Enjoy!!

Thai Fish Cakes

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Easier Than You Think – Homemade Crackers!

As you’ve seen, I’ve been baking a lot recently.. There’s something satisfying about rolling up your sleeves, putting on an apron and getting your hands dirty. While baking carrot cake or blueberry muffins is fun, it’s not quite as satisfying as rolling out dough or making meatballs. Sometimes it’s all about getting your hands into it!

Thyme & Parmesan Crackers

So a couple of weeks ago I finally made this recipe I’ve been meaning to try – Ina Garten’s Thyme and Parmesan Crackers. I’ve seen her make it on Food Network before, but when I googled her recipe I found a fellow blogger’s version – The Baker Chick’s Parmesan Rosemary Crackers. The key change that she made was to use cream to bring the dough together. She also used a food processor instead of a mixer like Ina did. Since I don’t have a mixer, I thought I’d use the cream method. It made a huge difference and the crackers turned out great!

In the end I used the Baker Chick’s measurements but used thyme instead of rosemary. The first batch I used a good couple tbsp of thyme and the 1/4 tsp salt in the recipe. My husband (and his co-workers) thought these were great on their own. In the second batch I didn’t have as much thyme left and chose to go less on the salt. They were still nice but not as full of flavor. I think the second batch would probably be better served with a dip or with a cheese platter. And be sure to poke good holes with a fork, otherwise they’ll puff and create an air bubble in the center. Also, to avoid any sticking I rolled out the dough on greaseproof paper which worked out perfectly. And as you can see in the photo below, I lined my baking trays with the paper as well. I also added an additional sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper before baking. Keep an eye on these guys while they bake as they’ll go brown very fast! Check them at 10 minutes and again after 1 minute.

To go with the crackers I wanted a reasonably healthy and easy to make dip. I’ve seen and read lots of recipes for a white bean dip and when I googled it, this was the first to come up – Giada’s White Bean Dip. Normally when I cook from a recipe, I adjust it to my taste but this recipe was perfect! It had loads of flavor and it felt incredibly healthy. The thyme and parmesan crackers go really well with it too. If you don’t want too much garlic flavor you could use roasted garlic instead or maybe garlic powder. Thanks Giada!

White Bean Dip with Thyme Parmesan Crackers

WHITE BEAN DIP

• 1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/3 cup olive oil, plus 4 tablespoons
• 1/4 cup (loosely packed) fresh Italian parsley leaves
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Add all the ingredients to a food processor and blend. Serve with homemade crackers or heated pita chips!

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