Bookmarked Recipes 34

NEW ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!!
Two weeks ago I announced that Bookmarked Recipes was coming to an end, but I got emails and comments asking if people could take it over. I was touched that bookmarked recipes has meant something to people - I had only started this to keep myself trying new recipes!

I've rethought stopping the event and decided to keep it on, but I'm looking for people to help with hosting. I'll host occasionally but I'll mostly be sorting out who's hosting each week - Dell has kindly agreed to help me with coordinating hosts for each week (thank you Dell!) however would love to make this more of a community event by involving the people who have been taking part more by having them host when they can.

If you're interested in hosting for a week, send me an email at bookmarkedrecipes [AT] gmail.com and let me know which date you would like to host.

I'm also setting up a new blog just for the round ups - it's not live yet, but will be in the new year.

So keep on recreating bookmarked recipes and sending them in for the round up every Monday

Also..... apologies for no round up last week but I lost track of the days after doing an all nighter with my youth group the weekend before and then it was Christmas and blah blah blah. Sorry everyone!

It's time for this week's Bookmarked Recipes round up....



Katerina from Athens, Greece kicks off the round up with brownies from a Greek book called Lessons of Sweet Alchemy by Stelios Parliaros a very well known Chef of Sweets in Greece.



My contribution this week is Cheesecake Brownie.
Nic has made Cheesecake Brownies and got the recipe from BlogChef.



Deeba is back to the round up with Coffee Butter Cake using a recipe from The Australian Heritage Cookbook, page 104.



Navita Hakim sent in Blueberry and Papaya Syllabub. The story behind Navita making this is - "I got the name of this recipe from an English friend who now lives in Georgia..we were chatting online about various desserts, when she mentioned syllabub...got me curious and after much discussion and research I came up with this dish!"



Dell recreated Hoisin Ginger Pork from Bill Granger's book Holiday!



Usha sent in quick and simple milk fudge adapted from a recipe I found on Uma's Essence of Andhra.



Thanks everyone for your submissions!!! It's always exciting to see what people have been making and recreating as well as meeting some new bloggers.

Remember if you want to take part here's all you have to do....
1. Pick a recipe from a book/magazine/blog/website/tv show and make it. (Note you can only submit 1 recipe per week)
2. Blog about it
- include where you got the recipe in your blog post (including a link to their website if possible)
- include a link to this post or this blog in your blog post
- include the logo (see above) for Bookmarked Recipes in your blog post
- include a photo of your recreation on your blog post
3. Email bookmarkedrecipes[AT]gmail[DOT]com with the following information:
- Your name and where you're from
- The name of your blog
- The permalink for your entry
- A photo of your entry
- A note of where you got your recipe from

Also if you want to host don't forget to email saying which week you would like to host.

Daring Bakers 11: French Yule Log

This month's challenge is brought to us by the adventurous Hilda from Saffron and Blueberry and Marion from Il en Faut Peu Pour Etre Heureux.
They have chosen a French Yule Log by Flore from Florilege Gourmand

I have to be honest and say that when I first saw this month challenge I was scared - scared because it was a huge recipe with 6 elements (each with it's own choices) and scared because this gauntlet was laid down in the busiest month ever!!!! I really wasn't sure I'd have the time to complete it but was able to squeeze it in with a bit of a rush - mind you another problem was who I was going to feed it to and as usual the youth group at church ended up tucking into it.

French Yule Log
1) Dacquoise Biscuit - with orange flavouring
2) Mousse - Vanilla flavoured
3) Ganache Insert - Milk Chocolate
4) Praline (Crisp) Insert - I made it with the rice krispies
5) Creme Brulee Insert - Milk Chocolate Creme Brulee
6) Icing - Dark Chocolate


Unfortunately I've misplaced my camera which has all my photos of my French Yule Log - once I find it I'll add them. But until then you can see the rest of the Daring Bakers' results here. Or enjoy a pic of Marion's test log -

Lemon Cake with Passionfruit Syrup

I made this cake a while ago and forgot to blog about it until someone asked me could I give them the recipe because they wanted to make it for Christmas day instead of Christmas Cake or Christmas Pudding. A good idea I thought because it would complement the Christmas dinner well and be a nice and tasty treat for finishing off the meal.

From what I remember it was a beautifully moist and soft cake, the lemon and passionfruit working well together.



Lemon Cake with Passionfruit Syrup
Recipe from Donna Hay's Simply Essentials: Fruit

Ingredients
125g softened butter
1 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tbsp grated lemon rind
2.5 cups self raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

passionfruit syrup
2/3 cup passionfruit pulp (about 4 passionfruit)
2/3 cup caster sugar
1 cup water

Recipe
1. Preheat oven to 180˚C. Grease and line a 9" cake tin.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together.
3. Add the eggs and beat.
4. Mix in the sour cream, lemon juice, rind, flour and baking powder. Pour into the cake tin.
5. Bake for 40 mins or until cooked
6. Leave to cool for 5 minutes, before removing to a rack over a plate.
7. To make the syrup, place all the ingredients in a saucepan.
8. Cook over a low heat, stirring, until all the sugar is dissolved.
9. Increase the heat and boil for 4-5 minutes or until it thickens a little.
10. Pour half the syrup over the top of the cake and save the rest for serving with the cake.

Mum's Christmas Cake

I'm a big fan of Christmas cake and every year Mum would have bought me my own cake to nibble away at. This year I decided to make it myself and used the recipe from Mum's cook book. I had a load of fun making this, and half way through realised I didn't have a big enough bowl to mix the cake batter and fruit mix together so rushed out to Tesco and bought an 8 litre bowl for £2!!!! Bargain. I'm excited to use it for making big batches of rice krispie buns and things! I know I'm like a child.

Anyways on with the recipe....



Mum's Christmas Cake

Ingredients
1/2 lb sultanas
1/2 lb currants
1/2 lb raisins
1/4 lb candied peel or green glacé cherries
1/4 lb red glacé cherries
2 oz shredded almonds
2 oz ground almonds
grated rind of 1 orange or lemon

1/2lb butter
1/2 lb soft brown sugar
5 eggs
1/2 lb plain flour
1 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
pinch salt
Splash of spirits (or if you're like me some orange juice)

Recipe
1. Line and grease an 8" round tin (or 7" square tin).
2. Mix the sultanas, currants, raisins, candied peel, cherries, almonds and orange/lemon rind in one bowl and set aside.
3. Cream the butter and sugar together but not so much because the fruit may sink if there's a lot of air)
4. In a separate bowl mix the flour, mixed spice, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
5. Mix an egg into the creamed butter, then some flour, then an egg, then some flour - keep alternating until all the eggs and flour have been mixed in.
6. Mix the batter and fruit mix together well, stir in the spirits (/orange juice) and pour into your cake tin.
7. Just before baking sprinkle a little water on top.
8. Bake in the oven at 325˚F for 1 hour
9. Bake for a further hour at 300˚F
10 Bake for one more hour at 275˚F. (During the baking try not to open the oven)
11. Leave to cool in the tin before removing it.

I covered mine with marzipan and white icing but it's fine without and can be stored in a cool place, wrapped in greaseproof paper and foil.



For some other Christmas recipes check out my posts from last year:
Jamie's Mince Pies - which I've made this year again
Traditional Mince Pies
Ginger Glazed Gammon/Ham
Sage, Sausage and Apricot Stuffing
Christmas Roast veggies

Bookmarked Recipes 33

NEW ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!!
Last week I announced that Bookmarked Recipes was coming to an end, but I got emails and comments asking if people could take it over. I was touched that bookmarked recipes has meant something to people - I had only started this to keep myself trying new recipes!

I've rethought stopping the event and decided to keep it on, but I'm looking for people to help with hosting. I'll host occasionally but I'll mostly be sorting out who's hosting each week - Dell has kindly agreed to help me with coordinating hosts for each week (thank you Dell!) however would love to make this more of a community event by involving the people who have been taking part more by having them host when they can.

If you're interested in hosting for a week, send me an email at bookmarkedrecipes [AT] gmail.com and let me know which date you would like to host.

I'm also setting up a new blog just for the round ups - it's not live yet, but will be in the new year.

So keep on recreating bookmarked recipes and sending them in for the round up every Monday

It's time for this week's Bookmarked Recipes round up....



Gloria made Appleauce Raisin Cake from recipe on Dlife



Tigerfish made Jamie Oliver's Baked Snapper Fillet



Tara sent in a great Christmassy Turkey, Leek & Cranberry Pie from Issue 12 of Donna Hay Magazine



Dell has made Easy Fried Rice from Fresh Living magazine.



Finally I've made Chicken and Pea Casserole from a recipe on Market Kitchen



Thanks everyone for your submissions!!! It's always exciting to see what people have been making and recreating as well as meeting some new bloggers.

Remember if you want to take part here's all you have to do....
1. Pick a recipe from a book/magazine/blog/website/tv show and make it. (Note you can only submit 1 recipe per week)
2. Blog about it
- include where you got the recipe in your blog post (including a link to their website if possible)
- include a link to this post or this blog in your blog post
- include the logo (see above) for Bookmarked Recipes in your blog post
- include a photo of your recreation on your blog post
3. Email bookmarkedrecipes[AT]gmail[DOT]com with the following information:
- Your name and where you're from
- The name of your blog
- The permalink for your entry
- A photo of your entry
- A note of where you got your recipe from

Also if you want to host don't forget to email saying which week you would like to host.

Irish Tea Loaf

I absolutely love the world of food blogging. There's such a great community to be found with it, each spurring others on to try new and exciting things. Ning over at Heart and Hearth tagged me recently for Breadline Africa after making some moist pumpkin quick bread for the event herself.

With our support, Breadline Africa can convert shipping containers into locations for food production and distribution to the poor people in South Africa. These sustainable community kitchens will not only provide foods such as bread and soup to those in need, but also opportunities for skills development within these poor communities. So, they are not only aiming to give them bread, but also to teach them skills so that they will be able to earn their own bread as well.

Breadline Africa launched the Worldwide Blogger Baker Bake-Off Challenge aiming at raising $ 1 M in funds. This bake-off gives us baking bloggers the power to make a difference in this world. What do we do? Bake bread. Give Dough. Feed Africa. Vals says, "You can sign up for the campaign, make a donation, upload your bread recipes and document your culinary adventures in the media center to spread the word. You don't have to donate money but simply just mention the campaign and create awareness."

The rules for bloggers are outlined below:
1. If you are tagged, copy and paste the rules into your post.
2. Bake bread, do something you wouldn’t normally do, and blog about it. Upload your picture and recipe.
3. Give dough, donate to Breadline Africa and help us end poverty.
4. Tag five bloggers, and ping us so we know you’ve done so.

It turned out that when Ning tagged me for all this that I had been craving some fruit loaf but resisting to buy any. Then at J's funeral there was fruit loaf and then a few days later in planning for a Christmas Eve service for church fruit loaf was mentioned again. I had a look at my online bookmarked recipes and there was a link for Delia's Irish Tea Bread which I just happened to have bought all the ingredients for in preparation for making Christmas cake and decided that I really was destined to make some fruit loaf.



Delia says on her site, "It's always hard for me to believe that this simple little fruit loaf can taste so good. When we were testing recipes, this one disappeared the fastest – none of us could resist just one more little bit. It's good all by itself or spread with butter, and it's quite brilliant toasted." and I have to agree 100%. This bread was so simple to prepare and utterly delicious, I couldn't resist a slice shortly after I took it out of the oven and it was divine. I'll definitely be making this one again. In fact I may make the 2 that Delia makes in the original recipe and freeze one like she suggests! This time I only made the one, so here's Delia's recipe halved and only very slightly adapted.

Irish Tea Loaf
This recipe is taken from How to Cook Book One and Delia's Vegetarian Collection.
Makes 1 small loaf

Ingredients
4 oz raisins
4 oz currants
4 oz sultanas
2 oz whole candied peel, cut into ¼ inch (5 mm) pieces
4 oz demerara sugar
5 fl oz (275 ml) Lapsang Souchong, Earl Grey or any other hot tea
2 oz (110 g) pecan nuts
1 medium egg at room temperature, lightly beaten with 1 tbsp milk
1 cup glacé cherries (my addition to the recipe
1/2 lb self-raising flour


Recipe
1. Line a loaf tin with parchment paper.
2. Place all the fruits, including the candied peel, in a bowl, then dissolve the sugar in the hot tea, pour this over the fruits, cover the bowl and leave it overnight so the fruits become plump and juicy.
3. The next day, pre-heat the oven to 170°C
4. Add the beaten egg mixture to the bowl containing the fruits and add the cherries. 5. Sift in the flour, and mix well.
6. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and bake in the centre of the oven for 1¼-1½ hours, until they feel springy in the centre.
7. Loosen it straight away with a palette knife and turn out on to a wire rack to cool.


So now to tag 5 people....
1. English Mum
2. Lynn
3. Dell
4. Mr Orph
5. Tina


I've also been tagged for various awards recently too, which have really meant a lot to me and encouraged me, but I've lost track of who all has awarded me things since I got my new computer so sorry to any I haven't blogged about. However, Dell awarded me The Butterfly Award & The Perfect Blend Of Friendship Award. Thank you Dell!!!

Chicken and pea casserole

I was flicking channels one lunch time a few weeks ago when I came across Market Kitchen - I'm a bit of a sucker for cookery shows so I just had to stop and watch. They were making minted gnocchi with chicken and peas when I tuned in so I missed the start of it but the result looked beautiful so I just had to look it up and give it a go.

The next day I was in the kitchen, I had bought all I needed and went for it. All was going well I had been in the kitchen for about 2 hours preparing when all of a sudden I could smell burning - it was the bottom of the pot and it ended up taking the dinner with it. I needed to be a little more attentive to this next time I planned to make it. The gnocchi turned out well though for my first time making it!

I got all the ingredients again and tried it this week, paying closer attention to it all and ended up with a beautiful and delicious meal. I skipped on the gnocchi this time and served with boiled anya potatoes.



Chicken and pea casserole
Adapted from Market Kitchen
Serves 6

Ingredients
3 tbsp Olive oil
1 whole chicken, on the bone, about 900g – 1kg, cut into 10 pieces
1 onion, finely sliced
1 bulb Garlic, cut in half around the middle
1 bunch lemon thyme
1 unwaxed lemon, rind only, peeled into strips
1 large glass White wine
1.4 litres chicken stock
1 tin of drained peas
Dried sage, to serve
100g grated parmesan, to serve

Recipe
1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C
2. Heat the olive oil in a large flameproof casserole, cook the chicken pieces in batches over a high heat until well browned.
3. Remove the chicken pieces to the side and add the onions, garlic and sage to the casserole. Tie the lemon thyme and lemon peel together with butcher’s twine and add to the pot.
4. Turn down the heat to minimum and slowly sweat the vegetables until the onions are softened but not browned. Turn the heat up to high to steam off any residual vegetable juices.
5. Return the chicken to the pot and add the wine: the liquid should sizzle as it hits the bottom of the pot. Boil until the wine has evaporated, then add the stock to cover the chicken. Bring to a simmer and cover with a lid. Put in the oven to braise until the chicken is still moist but falling off the bone (about 1 hour). Check the level of stock from time to time and top up if a little low.
6. When cooked, transfer the chicken pieces to a bowl with a slotted spoon. Set aside to cool for 20 minutes.
7. Lift the garlic and the bouquet of lemon thyme and lemon rind out of the casserole before placing over a medium heat. Simmer the stock until reduced by half and thickened. When nearly there, add the peas and cook for 10 minutes.
8. Strip the chicken from the bones. When the sauce is ready, return the chicken to the casserole. Season to taste.
9. Serve with sage and grated parmesan cheese.






This is my bookmarked recipe for this week.

Bookmarked Recipes 32

ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!!
It's with regret that I have to announce that Bookmarked Recipes is coming to an end. I have loved hosting and taking part in this event however recently I've become busier and often I'm rushing to write the round up. I will keep the event going until the end of this month, but 2009 will not see a round up anymore. I will still be recreating some of the recipes I have bookmarked and blogging about them, but from the end of 2008 I will no longer be hosting the event or writing a round up.

Thank you to everyone who has taken part, supported and followed Bookmarked Recipes, I hope you all continue to recreate your own bookmarked recipes too!


It's time for this week's Bookmarked Recipes round up....



Patsy got a recipe from Stephanie's Kitchen for mini frittatas



Tracy has made Gingerbread Popcorn from Culinary in the Desert



Jen copied a recipe from Bean's Bistro for black bean cakes



Sarah has recreated mustard roasted potatoes based on a recipe from Smitten Kitchen



Laura has made Chickpea Pumpkin Curry from the blog The Days Are Just Packed.



Amanda has sent in Cinnamon Raisin Bread & Cinnabutter made from FamilyCorner.com



Ning has sent in Kokoras Krassatos - Stewed Chicken in Red Wine with Homemade Pasta taken from Kopiaste, to Greek Hospitality



Teresa found a recipe for Pan Sauteed Chicken and Mushrooms with Garlic Spinach from Dinners for a Year and Beyond



Gloria has bookmarked a recipe for Meditteranean chicken pasta from the Food Network website.



Jescel got a recipe for Apple and Horseradish Glazed Salmon from Cooking Light.



Tara copied Tandoori Chicken Burgers with Beetroot Couscous from the November issue of Super Food Ideas magazine & the June issue of Delicious magazine.



Michelle made crockpot peanut (not brittle) candy from A Year Of CrockPotting


Thanks everyone for your submissions!!! It's always exciting to see what people have been making and recreating as well as meeting some new bloggers.

Remember if you want to take part here's all you have to do....
1. Pick a recipe from a book/magazine/blog/website/tv show and make it. (Note you can only submit 1 recipe per week)
2. Blog about it
- include where you got the recipe in your blog post (including a link to their website if possible)
- include a link to this post or this blog in your blog post
- include the logo (see above) for Bookmarked Recipes in your blog post
- include a photo of your recreation on your blog post
3. Email bookmarkedrecipes[AT]gmail[DOT]com with the following information:
- Your name and where you're from
- The name of your blog
- The permalink for your entry
- A photo of your entry
- A note of where you got your recipe from

Bookmarked Recipes 31

Are you ready for the Bookmarked Recipes round up? Well here it is..



The Daily Spud joins the round up with Chickpea, chili and coriander cakes from Delia's "How to Cook, Book 3" also found on her site here.



Shaheen from Ambrosia made Thyme roasted Pecans from A Yankee in a Southern Kitchen



Vicki from A Work in Progress is new to the round up and has sent in zesty braised chicken with lemons and capers based on a recipe from Eat. Drink. Think.



Happy Cook has sent in Hummingbird Cake from an Australian Women's Weekley Cookbook called Sweet old fashioned favourites.



Sarah from What Smells So Good? submitted Baklasagne from Heidi at 101 Cookbooks.



Christine has recreated Cranberry Cheese Tart from the Wilson's Farm Cookbook.



Tina has sent Double-Cheese Macaroni into the round up based on a recipe from Taste of Home.



Tara from Should You Eat That? is new to our round up and just getting back into the swing of blogging again by sending in Eggplant Pasta Bake w/ Spinach & Ricotta copied from Su Yin of The Journal of a Girl Who Loves to Cook



Thanks everyone for your submissions!!! It's always exciting to see what people have been making and recreating as well as meeting some new bloggers.

Remember if you want to take part here's all you have to do....
1. Pick a recipe from a book/magazine/blog/website/tv show and make it. (Note you can only submit 1 recipe per week)
2. Blog about it
- include where you got the recipe in your blog post (including a link to their website if possible)
- include a link to this post or this blog in your blog post
- include the logo (see above) for Bookmarked Recipes in your blog post
- include a photo of your recreation on your blog post
3. Email bookmarkedrecipes[AT]gmail[DOT]com with the following information:
- Your name and where you're from
- The name of your blog
- The permalink for your entry
- A photo of your entry
- A note of where you got your recipe from