Houston ..

… we may have a problem

I wouldn't want you to think that I'm spending all my time in the kitchen – I'm not – but as I plan to teach my friend various bits and pieces whilst I'm here it requires a little thought.

What better way to gather my culinary thoughts than to sit, with my morning coffee – notebook at the ready - cuddling the dogs – here's my view :

Hmmm – I need to check the kitchen kit and experience has taught me that it's as well to do this before you leave the house! There are certain essentials that are absolutely necessary.

You can do what you like cooking your signature dish with a drop of this and a pinch of that to refine your recipe and make it your own but you can't mess with baking – it's a science and the recipes are not there for fun, so we need scales. There are no scales – gulp!

Thank you Walmart – you can buy anything in Walmart – cheaply. Panic over!

Confession time - for years I used scales for baking that I know, hand on heart, were not accurate. Do yourself a huge favour and drag yourself kicking and screaming into the 21^st Century and invest in a digital set. Here's why. The majority of cooks have old books which give weights and measures in Imperial. In the UK we use metric weights and measures and have done so for a long time. In the US they still use Imperial. How much joy is there in having a set of scales that does it all – grams, pounds and ounces, fluid ounces, millilitres blah, blah.

The cherry on the top is that your baking is much more likely to be successful if your ingredients are accurately weighed.

If my friend is willing – at the age of 75 years old – to get to grips with a new piece of kit!

You won't regret your investment.

P.s. I only ever knew one person that never used scales - my grandmother - who was a brilliant pastry cook - I never saw her use a set of scales – in truth I don't think she owned any. The best apple pie ever. I'm not sure whether it was skill or practice in that she baked regularly and therefore experience meant that she just knew the amounts were accurate. It couldn't be just luck – I saw her produce and ate the results too many times for it to be a fluke – may be it was a combination of both.

On location - in South Carolina

It's time for a holiday and for me it's time to catch up with my friend in Lake Wiley, South Carolina. Just so you get your bearings Lake Wiley is in the north of South Carolina – yippee that means one flight to Charlotte!

My friend moved earlier this year so his home is completely new to me. I feel it only right that you should get a picture of where I am, so, here's the back view of the house :

Who let the dogs out - me – say hello to Choo Choo and her new best friend Hugo, aka Huggie, two wheaten terriers.

I should explain that this holiday will include some teaching but since my friend (and student) is more than interested we'll have the best time.

It's weekend and taking it easy is definitely the intention so we need to get the shopping out of the way so that we don't have to interrupt this fantastic weather - even by US standards it's warm – actually no it's hot – top 70ies.

On tonight's menu, smoked chicken fillet in Alfredo sauce with roast potatoes, roasted carrots in lemon and butter.

A little revision for me – back to old style Imperial temperatures and getting to grips with a new oven.

It's a tough life!

The end …

of the grid for the week

So my Multitaskers, what did you think – were you sceptical?

My intention was not to turn you into some crazy person obsessed with lists. If you've enjoyed the basic concept of the multitasking and, if only in a small way, have adjusted the way you plan, shop and cook - then all I can say is yippee!

If it has made you think about saving yourself time and money - for example, shopping randomly and usually expensively – then ditto!

If you're now using your oven to its fullest capacity and have a supper or two under your belt and it eases your working week – then ditto again!

Here's another thing – how much food have you wasted this week – have a look in your fridge – only you know how much food you condemn to the recycling bin each week. I'd like to bet that there's not much left in the fridge to recycle.

You never know you might actually begin to cook more than you'll use so that you create your own home cooked ready meals to freeze, so, when you're suffering from the revolving door syndrome – you know exactly what I mean - everyone coming and going at different times - you're able to pull meals out of the freezer.

If you've been impressed, nay pleased with the results, you could even go one step further and actually work out how much money you've saved – you've shopped once at the supermarket so you'll know – compare it with your previous shop. In terms of wastage the fridge and recycling bin speak for themselves.

Best of all it does not take into account your stress free, happy mood.

Give yourself a pat on the back and treat yourself with the money you've saved.

I know it's not rocket science but may be you've had a light bulb moment!

Retro night continued

I know that I've mentioned bread more than once.

Here's the thing – if you want to buy French bread or posh expensive artisan bread that's your choice.

However, you could try either of the following :

Soda Bread

170g self raising wholemeal flour

170g plain flour

½ tsp salt

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

290ml buttermilk – 300ml pot works

fine

Pre heat your oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6.

Tip the flours, salt and bicarb into a large bowl and mix.

Make a well in the centre, pour in 290ml of buttermilk and mix quickly with a large fork until you have a soft dough formed. You may need an extra drop if your dough is too stiff but take care it should not be too wet or sticky.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly.

Form the dough into a round a flatten slightly. Place on a lightly floured baking sheet.

Slice an “x” on the top of the loaf and bake for 30 minutes – the base should sound hollow when tapped.

Just to confuse the issue I've found buttermilk in different weights. A low fat version weighing 284ml and a full fat version weighing 300ml – either works well.

Cheese & Pecan loaf

60g Parmesan cheese, grated

350g plain flour

1 tbsp baking powder

pinch cayenne pepper

125g mature cheddar cheese, cut

into small cubes

60g chopped pecan nuts (or walnuts

if preferred)

4 spring onions, trimmed and chopped

250ml full fat milk

1 large egg

170ml tub of sour cream

salt and black pepper

900g (2lb) loaf tin, well buttered and

lined

Pre-heat your oven 180c/160fan/Gas 4

Sprinkle half the grated Parmesan cheese into the loaf tin to coat the base and sides.

Mix the flour, baking powder, cayenne pepper, 1 tsp salt and lots of black pepper into a large bowl. Mix in the cheddar cubes, nuts and spring onions.

In a separate bowl whisk the milk, egg and cream together then fold into the dry ingredients.

Spoon in the loaf tin, smooth the top and sprinkle with the remaining grated Parmesan cheese.

Bake for 50/55 minutes until golden brown – skewer test i.e. insert skewer into loaf, on removal should be clean. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, turn out and transfer to a rack to cool.

Serve warm with lots of butter.

One thing is certain, both these breads are great. The Cheese & Pecan Loaf takes longer than the Soda Bread but both are equally delicious.

I might make one suggestion – if you opt for the Soda Bread I'd bake two loaves – it's the quickest loaf I've ever made. It doesn't pretend to be anything other than rustic and the perfect piece of cutlery – i.e. for dipping into melted cheese or paté or garlic butter.

Any bread left over is great toasted so not wasted at all or, if you prefer, you could freeze it.

I'd like to bet it's academic since it will all disappear.

By the way, for the meat eaters – I'd serve a platter of cold meats of your choice – not forgetting the Nasi from last night too.

No standing on ceremony – everyone helps themselves!

Saturday night is “Retro” night.

Here's the plan – Saturday night should be easy in every way – to prepare and to eat from a plate on your knee watching your favourite programme/film – whatever is your bag.

With that in mind the following suggestions don't take any time and effort and you don't have to produce them all – it's just a selection of bits and pieces that would hit the spot.

Here goes :

Baked Camembert

250g Camembert

1 clove garlic or garlic paste

olive oil

Bread of your choice

Pinch of sea salt

Handful of chopped dried cranberries

Handful of chopped mixed nuts

Preheat your oven 180/350/Gas 4. Leaving the Camembert in the box, score around the top about half cm in and cut off the top layer of skin. Slice the garlic clove and poke into the top of the cheese. Drizzle with a little olive oil then bake in the oven for 15 minutes – or until gorgeous and oozy in the middle.

Serve the Camembert with warmed flat bread or French bread – dunk the bread into the cheese and then into the cranberries and nuts – repeat!

Cream cheese and cashew nut paté

1 carrot, finely grated

225g cream cheese

100g roasted cashew nuts, crushed to a rubble – not

to a dust!

1 tbsp of chopped chives

salt and black pepper

black olives – pitted and sliced (optional)

Mix all the ingredients together, box and fridge. If you are feeling really virtuous have a side of raw carrots.

(any leftovers are perfect for lunch, served on whatever takes your fancy – rice cakes, gluten free cheese oatcakes, toast or even as a sandwich filling – a toasted bagel would be good too – sounds positively healthy).

Retro Rooms

Serves 6

750g chestnut mushrooms cut into quarters

2 tbsp flat leaf parsley – finely chopped

2 tbsp lemon juice

Glug of dry sherry

6 tbsp rapeseed oil

100g unsalted butter – at room temperature

4 garlic cloves – or equivalent paste

salt and black pepper

Mix the butter with the garlic. Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the mushrooms and season with salt and black pepper. Add the lemon juice and a glug of dry sherry. Add the butter and garlic mixture and cook for 5/7 minutes, fold in the chopped parsley.

Serve in ramekins with warm crusty bread to mop up the garlicky yumminess.

As an alternative you could add croutons to your mushrooms and not bother with the crusty bread.

Speaking of bread … read on

Friday already …

… and Friday night is fish night. Here's my “fish” version of an Indonesian favourite – Nasi Goreng.

There are two main types of Goreng – Nasi Goreng which is fried rice and Mie Goreng which is fried noodles. There are lots of variations of both dishes but they have basics in common. They began life as a breakfast dish using up leftovers and evolved into a popular street food choice, right up to being served in posh restaurants. They can be spicy or not depending on your taste and vegetarian or not and you'll find many recipes out there.

I made my first Nasi Goreng in 1987 and still make it – with my own variations along the way, like the following :

Nasi - but not as we know it

4 tbsp vegetable oil

2 onions, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed or garlic paste

half tsp chilli powder

*225g cooked rice

*175g cooked salmon fillet, flaked

*175g smoked salmon, finely sliced

*175g peeled prawns, defrosted if frozen

2 tbsp Kecap Manis (sweet soy sauce)

1 tsp soft light brown sugar

1 tbsp lemon juice

4-6 hard boiled eggs, quartered

black pepper

Serves 4-6

Add the vegetable oil to a wok and heat gently. Add the onions, garlic and chilli powder and fry until lightly browned. Add the rice and cook for a few seconds then stir in the salmon and prawns.

Mix the soy sauce, sugar and lemon juice together, stir into the rice mixture, then season to taste with pepper.

Add the eggs, folding in gently, serve immediately, straight from the wok.

You can adjust the amounts of fish/seafood to your own personal taste – bearing in mind that you have two elements to replace from the original recipe – chicken and ham – 175g each plus 175g of prawns. You are adding hard boiled eggs - these are not a garnish but an integral part of the dish since the sauce is quite punchy and the fish quite salty so they play an important part in the balance.

Make it your own – adjust to suit yourself, if you want more prawns then adjust the amount of salmon accordingly. You can still get great deals on on cooked salmon fillets or flakes and smoked salmon too, so keep your eyes open!

Oops, nearly forgot – any leftovers box and fridge.

Friday morning …

… whilst you're splitting the breakfast atom or juggling breakfast balls, hard boil the eggs as per the following recipe – don't forget to set your timer!

For Friday's supper I have made certain assumptions. That you're tired and you really don't want to be bothered about food at all. You're ready to do another supermarket shop – whether it's physical or virtual you still need the time – the cupboards whilst not bare are definitely depleted.

I have therefore taken it for granted that you want minimum fuss and maximum flavour in the shortest time possible. To this end ...

You'll notice that there are four items marked * on the recipe. The first is cooked rice. Stock your freezer with frozen rice – you can also buy rice and vegetables too. This rice and/or vegetables can be stir fried straight from the freezer or microwaved. To give you an indication of time – 250g of the rice and vegetables takes 4 mins 750w or 3.30 mins 850w. It comes in 500g bags and apart from the rice contains petits pois, sweetcorn and fried onion – available from Marks & Spencer. Frozen rice is widely available at most supermarkets.

This task can be left until you are ready to cook this evening. If you buy the rice and vegetables you don't need the onion in the recipe since they're already in the rice.

Take the cooked salmon fillet/flakes, smoked salmon and the prawns from the freezer, ensuring that the prawns are placed in an appropriate sealed container to defrost during the day.

These tasks take seconds. The eggs can be peeled this evening – whilst the rice is in the microwave.

I suppose what I'm trying to say is that by taking advantage of deals when you see them and freezing ingredients life is so much easier when you've the wherewithal to produce an excellent meal very quickly without having to go anywhere near a supermarket!

Get into the habit of stocking your freezer with ingredients you know you'll use. I appreciate you need the space in the freezer and I'm not suggesting you rush out and spend a fortune you can't afford. A little thought goes a long way …

… to saving your sanity!