Upside Down Plum Cake

In the summer we have lots of plum tree's. Different varieties & sizes but all sweet. I tend to make lots of jam with the smaller variety both red & white but also preserve them for the winter.
I have used some of my preserved plums & homemade jam for this recipe but you can use the larger variety plum & either plum or mixed fruit jam.



 For the base

30g Butter softened

30g Demerara sugar

2 tbsp Plum jam

Plums halved & stones removed

For the cake

100g Butter softened

100g Caster sugar

3 Eggs

100g SR Flour

1 tsp Baking powder

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

2 tbsp Milk

Preheat oven 180c or 160c fan

Sauce..... Beat butter, sugar & jam together & spread over the bottom of a cake tin. Add the plums.

Beat together butter & sugar then add one egg at a time with a little flour & beat well.

Sift remaining flour, baking powder & cinnamon & fold in well. Spoon mixture over the plums.

Bake for 45 - 50 mins untill well risen

Serve hot with Mascarpone cheese, cream or custard

Baked Cinnamon Bananas with Strawberry Sauce

Mmmm, tonight we have the perfect dessert for this time of year.
Why is it perfect, you ask?
OK, you didn't really ask.  But humor me.
1. Spring is coming, so strawberries are starting to show up at the grocery store.
2. Yet it's still chilly enough outside that making an oven-baked dessert is not a bad warm-up strategy.
3.  You can use any frozen strawberries you happen to have if the fresh ones haven't yet appeared in your part of the world.
4.  Bathing suit season is not far off.  And certain people have perhaps over-indulged in the baking department this winter.
Sorry, bathroom scale.
BAKED BANANAS WITH STRAWBERRY SAUCE
2 firm bananas
1 t. lemon juice
cinnamon, to sprinkle
2 c. strawberries, sliced
2-4 t. sugar, to taste
1/2 t. vanilla

Preheat oven to 375.  Peel bananas and slice lengthwise.  Put on parchment-covered baking sheet (or non-stick baking sheet).  Brush lemon juice on cut sides of bananas.  Sprinkle with cinnamon, and bake for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, make the sauce:  put sliced strawberries in bowl with sugar and vanilla.  (If you're using frozen whole berries, you can just smush 'em up a bit with a pastry blender at this point.)  Put about half a cup of strawberry mixture in blender and whirl them around, then add back to the rest of the sliced berries.  When bananas come out of the oven, top with sauce.

Anything healthy-ish going on in your kitchen?

Kavarma, a Traditional Bulgarian dish

Kavarma is a traditional Bulgarian meal & must be tried when you are here. Every region has its own recipe so you will come across different types of Kavarma in different restaurants let alone regions. It can be served with rice or with potatoes & vegetables.
Its delicious & can be made with other meats but this recipe uses pork. You will find restaurants here will have Pork, Chicken & veal.
You will need.....
3/4 kg Pork
Dash of  sun flower oil
4-5 Leeks
Garlic
Onion I have omited this here as I am intolerant but add with leeks & Garlic
Mushrooms
1 tbsp Tomato paste
1 tsp Red pepper
1 tsp pepper1/3 cup wine
1/2 cup water
Chop meat & remove excess fat, fry in a little oil. Remove & put aside in dish
Fry the leeks in the oil add a salt to taste, tomato paste & Peppers. Pour in white wine & water. Put meat back into sauce & stew on a low heat until the sauce has reduced but don't let it dry out.

Serve with rice or with potatoes & vegetables.
Enjoy........

Chilli, Ristra's, Drying & flaking

Wow its been 5 months since my last food blog so here it is................
I grew my own chillies through the summer & as well as cooking with fresh chilli I also made chilli ristra's & hung them up to dry. I apologise for not having a photo of the Ristra's.
To make a chilli ristra you need to pick the chilli with a long stalk then thread a needle with cotton & pierce the stalk at an angle slanting upwards pull the cotton through then add the next chilli in the same way. Move the chillie's around so the ristra is evenly spaced & then hange it in a light but cool dry place that will get air around them. Do not use or keep any chillie's that have gone white as this is mouldy, throw these away as soon as you see them so they do not infect the other chillie's.

When the Chillie's are completely dried out you can chop them grind them or flake them & store for use in sauces & con carne's etc I also add a bit of a pep to mince with a little chilli.
If you can, wear gloves while doing this :)
Take the chilli & pull of the stalk. Split the chillie & remove the seeds then break up & put on a chopper grinder or Mortar & pestle. Grind or chop till you have the consistency you want then fill a jar with the chilli & some seed's (but not all).
Save some or most of the seeds for growing new plants.

 Please be careful or like me you will end up burning your mouth & worse very sensitive parts!!!! I have washed my hands 20 odd times & still I keep getting areas of burn, Please don't go near your eyes till you know for definite the next day that all the chilli oil has been washed away.

Chocolate-y Toffee Shortbread

According to one of my favorite magazines, FamilyFun, these rich chocolate-y shortbread bars are a hit among Irish families, making them the perfect choice for serving on St. Patrick's Day.

All I know is these received two bellies up -- the highest honor -- among the guys who gather at our house for weekly Bible study.

Two bellies up -- these babies are winners.

Go see the recipe at the FamilyFun site, here.

Coffee Liqueur

This time of year I have lots of extra empty jars around, as we've been making our way through the year's stash of olallieberry jam, sweet freezer pickles, peach nectar, etc.
This seemed like the perfect moment to try making some coffee liqueur.  I've never made this before, but  love the flavor of coffee in chocolate desserts.
And hey, I've got all those empty jars, right?  It had to be done.
I won't know for sure the success of this experiment until the liqueur has "mellowed" for two or three weeks.  But based on a preliminary taste I'd say this will be a winner.  It came from the book Homemade Christmas by Mary Harvey Gurley, the same book that gave me this yummy lemon curd recipe.  Same exact page, by the way -- page 41.  It's a good page.

One more note:  I checked in my trusty Pyromaniac's Cookbook to see what dishes I could set aflame with this and, alas, I learned that while coffee liqueurs are acknowledged as tasty, author John. J. Poister says "their low proof does not make them suitable for flaming unless neutral spirits are added to bolster up the alcoholic content."
Sigh.  I did so want to light my food on fire.

COFFEE LIQUEUR
2 c. water
4 1/2 c. sugar
4 t. instant coffee
drop vanilla extract
1 c. brandy
1 c. rum

In saucepan, combine water, sugar, coffee, and vanilla.  Heat over low-ish heat, stirring, until sugar and coffee powder are dissolved.  Set aside for a minute or two to cool, then add the brandy and rum.  Pour into clean jars and close 'em up good.  Liqueur should be ready in two to three weeks.

NOTE:  This seemed like it would be a whole lotta liqueur, so I cut these amounts in half and still ended up with two-plus small jars full.  FYI.

Five Sneaky Little Healthful Steps that Even Diehard Foodies Can Live With

Michele at Fit Foodista blog is hosting a blog carnival on food, health, and wellness.  When I hear the word carnival, I think cotton candy and caramel apples and I am most definitely in.  Here's my contribution to the carnival: 

Five Sneaky Little Healthful Steps that Even Diehard Foodies Can Live With

1.  Don't drink soda, drink water.  Except with pizza.  You gotta have soda with pizza.

2.  Make your own Happy Frappies.  I don't know the exact calorie count of my homemade blended frappuccino, but I'll bet with skim milk it's less than half the 500-plus calorie count of some local coffee shops' offerings.

3.  Good bread without butter is actually quite tasty.  Really.

4.  Instead of joining the rest of the family in shoveling in yummy salty French fries at the drive-through, just take a deep whiff instead.  The smell is just as good as the taste.  Maybe better.  And no calories whatsoever.

5.  Find some form of exercise you love and schedule it regularly into your life.  It will become like brushing your teeth; you will automatically do it without even thinking of skipping.

Bonus tip:  Better one blissful bite of blueberry muffin that actually tastes good than a whole huge fiber-filled wad of muffin that tastes like particle board.  As the author of the book French Women Don't Get Fat says, "Fortunately, with good chocolate, you don't need, and should not want, pounds of it for pleasure.  A couple of choice pieces a day won't disable your budget or your weight maintenance program."

Amen?

Amen.

Have you got any healthful tips to share with those of us who love our food?