Honey and Ginger Glazed Mahi Mahi

I know, I’ve been slacking again. I’ve just been too busy watching Wimbledon, and the World Cup, and I’m now in the process of remodeling my kitchen. Well, not me personally, not yet anyway, I won’t get involved until the painting stage, thank goodness. But, last week, I had the men in tool belts in installing my new counters, and very nice they are too, the counters that is, not the men in tool belts.

I think the old counters had been in here since the house was built, these days, some might consider them to be quite retro, but to me they were bloody horrible. The next job will be tiling the walls around the counters. They were covered with some equally horrible laminate, which we had to rip off prior to the advent of the counters. The walls are now a lovely nicotine brown from the old glue, they remind me of many pub ceilings I saw in England – in the pre-smoking ban days, of course.

Anyway, enough of the waffle, and on with the recipe. You can also cook this dish on the BBQ, just place Mahi Mahi on a piece of heavy-duty foil and baste the fish with the marinade during cooking.

Incidentally, the marinade for this fish is equally yummy with chicken, pork and beef. Just increase the ingredient quantities depending on the size of your cut of meat, (I use about ¼ of a cup, honey, soy sauce and balsamic vinegar), and use fresh ginger for extra pep.

Honey and Ginger Glazed Mahi Mahi




Ingredients:

3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons honey
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 teaspoons ground ginger
Black pepper, to taste
2-4 Mahi Mahi fillets
1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

• In a shallow dish, mix together first 6 ingredients, add the Mahi Mahi, cover dish and marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Turn the fish over halfway through the marinating process.
• Heat olive oil in a large skillet over a medium heat. Add fish to skillet reserving marinade. Cook for about 5 minutes each side, or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Remove fish to a warm serving plate and keep warm.
• Add marinade to skillet and cook, stirring continuously, until reduced to a glaze. Pour glaze over fish and serve.
  
  
  
  

Chicken with Leek and Asparagus

Snakes alive! This is rapidly becoming the year of the snake. Remember, a couple of posts ago, I told you about finding a snakeskin in our roof space? Well, since then we have been finding the real thing. This one was in our shed, yikes!



We have been reliably informed that he is not poisonous, and we should leave him alone as he will kill any mice in there, although I'm sure the cats won’t be too pleased about the competition. We have named him Hissing Sid. Needless to say, I give the shed a very wide berth and let Mick deal with him.

This chap had to be evacuated from our garage, fortunately, he left with good grace.



Anyway, snakes aside, on with the recipe. This is another one from the BBC, but I made quite a few changes to it. In the first place it called for the chicken to be flambéed in brandy. Now, I don’t know about you, but if there’s any brandy lying around the kitchen it does not go in the food! And, I didn’t like the idea of flambéing, as I would probably burn the house down, so I just bunged in some white wine.

Also the original recipe said to use asparagus and shallots, but having enjoyed the leek and asparagus combo in the tart, I decided to use leeks. Anyway, if you’re interested in burning your house down and want to have a go at flambéing, be my guest, you’ll find the original recipe here:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/10599/flambed-chicken-with-asparagus

This is my version, and the end result was really rather nice, Mick declared it a keeper.

Chicken and Asparagus




Ingredients:

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
A few tablespoons of all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
Black pepper, to taste
2 leeks, white and pale green parts only, sliced
¼ cup white wine
1 cup chicken stock
10-12 asparagus spears, halved
¼ cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon chopped basil

Directions:

• Coat chicken with flour
• Heat oil and butter in a large skillet over a medium heat, add chicken and a generous grind of black pepper and cook until browned on both sides. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.
• In same pan, sauté leeks for a couple of minutes until softened.
• Return chicken to pan, add the white wine and cook until wine has reduced a bit.
• Stir in the stock and bring to boil, reduce heat and cook chicken for about 15 minutes.
• Add the asparagus and cook for a further 5 minutes.
• Stir in the cream and chopped basil and cook for a couple more minutes until cream has warmed but don’t let it boil.

Serve with some steamed basmati rice.

Leek and Asparagus Tart

I saw a recipe in the BBC Good Food newsletter for a Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Leek and Almond Tart and wanted to try it. I didn’t have any broccoli, so I substituted asparagus, and it was so good I made it again the following week. The leeks and asparagus made such a great flavor combination that broccoli is out the window now. As you can see in the pic, the pastry got a tad overdone, but it was still yumptious. You can find the original BBC recipe here:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/335627/purple-sprouting-broccoli-leek-and-almond-tart

I served this tart with Mediterranean potatoes, which you can find here:
http://range-warfare.blogspot.com/2009/05/mediterranean-potatoes.html
and the remaining asparagus, which I roasted and served with a drizzle of lemon juice and a dash of Parmesan.

Leek and Asparagus Tart

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 leeks (white and pale green parts only) thinly sliced
1 sheet puff pastry
10-12 asparagus spears, trimmed
2 eggs
2/3 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup Parmesan, shredded
1 ounce sliced almonds

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 425F
• Heat the oil in a skillet over a medium heat, add leeks and a generous dash of black pepper and sauté for about 5 minutes. Set aside while you prepare pastry.
• Cover a baking tray with baking parchment and grease with a little butter.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll the pastry into a rectangle. Place pastry on baking tray, and score a line about ½ an inch from the edge around the pastry sheet. Don’t cut right through the pastry.
• Spread the leeks out evenly within the scored rectangle, and bake for 10 minutes until the edges have puffed up.
• Reduce oven temperature to 400F
• Arrange the asparagus spears on top of the leeks, and sprinkle with Parmesan.
• In a small bowl, beat together eggs and cream and pour over the veggies.
• Sprinkle with the sliced almonds and bake for 20 – 25 minutes, or until golden brown.
• Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Cod Mornay

I know I am always bemoaning the fact that we can’t get any decent fresh fish here in Oklahoma, and that’s still true. But since I started going to Sam’s Club (a discount warehouse store), in Joplin, Missouri, I have at least been able to find some pretty good frozen fish. I do like to have meat free meals, be it something fishy, eggy or veggie, once or twice a week. This is one of my fishy dishes.

Even if you’re not a huge lover of fish, I guarantee you’ll like this one. I served this with some baby red potatoes for soaking up all that yummy sauce, and some roasted asparagus, which after cooking, I sprinkled with a little lemon juice and Parmesan cheese.

Cod Mornay


Ingredients:

3 – 4 cod fillets, or other white fish such as sea bass or halibut
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon lemon juice
¼ cup sharp cheddar, shredded
Chopped parsley for garnish

For the Sauce you will need:

1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
¼ cup sharp cheddar, shredded

Directions:

• Make sauce. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over a medium heat. Remove pan from heat and gradually stir in flour to make a smooth paste.
• Return pan to heat and gradually add milk, stirring continuously until sauce thickens.
  Remove pan from heat and stir in cheese until melted. Set aside.
• Pre-heat oven to 350F
• Melt butter in a large skillet over a medium heat, add fish to pan, sprinkle with a little lemon juice, and cook for 3-5 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillets. Turn fish over half way through cooking.
• While fish cooks, gently re-heat sauce.
• Grease a baking dish with a little butter. Transfer fish to dish, pour over the sauce, and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until fish flakes easily.
• Top with chopped parsley and serve.
  
  
  

Saint George's Day and Jam Roly-Poly and Custard

This recipe is an entry for Family Recipes; Memories of Family, Food and Fun! Hosted by Lynda at: http://lyndasrecipebox.blogspot.com/ Here’s what she says, Make a dish that is a favorite of your family's, whether it's yours, your moms, an aunt, cousin or whoever, and submit it to me. I’m not to sure if this qualifies as, while it’s a favorite, it is a traditional rather than an original recipe. Anyway here goes.

A few months ago, for some strange reason, Mick and I were reminiscing about junior (elementary) school lunches. Back when we were kids, school lunches were really good, absolutely no fried or fast food, just good wholesome grub. But it wasn’t really the main courses that we remembered so much as the puddings (desserts). One thing we both agreed on was that jam roly-poly was one of our favorites. It was obviously the same for the other kids at school, ‘cos if second helpings were in the offing, one could get killed in the rush.

Anyway, I decided to have a go at making jam roly-poly. And I must say, that it’s a good thing I’ve lost my sweet tooth, because if I was to make stuff like this all the time I’d be built like a house-side. I did cheat with the custard, and used Bird’s Custard Powder, which while better than the instant stuff, isn’t as good as homemade.

And another thing, it’s Saint. George’s Day today (he’s the patron Saint of England, in case you didn’t know), and what better way to celebrate it than with a traditional English pud!

You can find Bird’s Custard Powder here:
http://www.britishdelights.com/prod_d3a.htm
And the Atora Vegetable Suet here:
http://www.britishdelights.com/atora-vegetable-suet-m1.htm

The recipe I used is from Brian Turner’s book, Favourite British Recipes. It was actually a recipe for Spotted Dick (no, I am not making that up!). Spotted Dick is basically the same pudding except that it’s filled with currants and raisins instead of jam.

Jam Roly-Poly and Custard


Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
A pinch of salt
½ cup vegetable suet (the book uses beef suet but that isn’t available in the US)
Approx. ½ cup water
Approx. ½ cup raspberry jam

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 400F
• In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together, then rub in the suet. Add the water gradually and mix to a dough.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into 10 x 6-inch rectangle. Spread the dough with a thin layer of jam leaving a ½ inch border. Don’t spread the jam too thickly or it will ooze out when you roll it up. Brush the border with water.
• Turn the two short edges in and seal, then roll up carefully from a long side.
  Rinse a clean kitchen cloth in boiling water and wring out. Sprinkle cloth with flour and shake off the excess. Roll the pudding in the cloth and tie the ends with string.
• Set the pudding on a rack in a roasting pan, add water to the pan, just enough that the water isn’t touching the pud. Cover the pan with foil and place in the oven to steam for about 2 hours. Top up water occasionally, as you do not want the pan to boil dry.

NOTE: Exercise extreme caution when removing the pudding from the oven.

Serve hot with custard sauce – it must be custard, I will accept no substitutes. :-)

Custard Sauce

Ingredients:

2 cups milk.
3 large eggs.
1 tablespoon cornstarch.
2 tablespoons sugar.
½ tsp. vanilla extract.

Directions:

• Reserve 4 tablespoons of milk and put remainder in a saucepan. Heat to just below boiling point.
• In a medium sized bowl mix cornstarch with a little cold water to form a smooth paste. Add eggs, sugar and reserved milk and whisk until smooth. Add hot milk to mixture and whisk together.
• Return mixture to the saucepan and cook over a medium low heat, whisking constantly, until mixture thickens. Stir in vanilla extract.
• Serve hot over jam roly-poly.
  

Leek, Bacon, Mushroom and Pasta Bake

Lately, we’ve been busy tidying up the garden after the ravages of winter. It’s hard to believe that only three weeks ago it was snowing, as this cardinal will attest.


Now the leaves are on the trees, along with peach, pear and apple blossoms. My daffodils have bloomed and gone, and the tulips are taking their bow. I hope that winter is a distant memory where you are too.

Leek, Bacon, Mushroom and Pasta Bake

This is a yummy recipe containing one of my favorite veggies, leeks. It also has a lovely cheesy, mustardy sauce, which enhances the flavor of the leeks, and the fresh breadcrumbs give it a nice crunch. For the breadcrumbs, I usually toast 2 slices of wheat bread and Mick crumbles it up into chunky breadcrumbs. Well it gives him something to do when he’s loitering around the kitchen getting under the feet. :-) You can, of course, pulse them in a food processor, if you prefer.

For a veggie version, omit bacon, use 4 leeks instead of 2, 8 ounces of mushrooms instead of 6, and vegetable stock instead of chicken.

Ingredients:

2 slices wheat bread
6 slices bacon, chopped into 1-inch pieces
2 leeks, sliced
8 ounces penne pasta
1 cup chicken stock
1½ tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons ground mustard powder (use 1 if you don’t like it too mustardy)
½ cup milk
½ cup heavy cream
1 cup sharp cheddar, shredded and divided
6 ounces mushrooms, sliced

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 350F
• Toast bread, crumble into breadcrumbs and set aside.
• In a medium saucepan covered with a lid, simmer leeks in chicken stock for about 5 minutes.
• While leeks simmer, put a pan of water on to boil for the pasta, and fry bacon until crisp. Set bacon aside to drain on kitchen paper.
• Drain leeks and set aside, reserving ¼ of a cup of stock.
• Add pasta to boiling water, reduce heat to medium-high and boil gently for 5 minutes. Drain into a colander and set aside.
• While pasta boils, make sauce. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over a
  medium heat. Remove pan from heat and stir in flour and mustard powder. Gradually add the ¼ cup of stock until you have a smooth paste. Return pan to heat, gradually add milk, then cream, stirring continuously until sauce thickens.
• Remove pan from heat and stir in half the cheese.
• Grease a 7x11x3-inch baking dish with a little butter. Add pasta, leeks, bacon and mushrooms to dish and mix to combine the ingredients. Pour over mustard/cheese sauce, top with remaining shredded cheddar, and finally top with breadcrumbs.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Rice Pudding

Well, it’s been a busy couple of weeks at the old homestead, we have been redecorating our living room, or remodeling as they call it around here, but that sounds rather grand for slapping a bit of paint on. Though we did also install a ceiling fan in preparation for the summer, and replace the door. It’s only taken us three years to get round to it – but there’s always a real shortage of those round tuits around here. :-)

Speaking of the ceiling fan, we had a bit of a close encounter of the reptilian variety. While mucking about in the roof space, we came across a four foot long snake skin – Yikes! Fortunately, there was no sign of its previous owner. (Wipes sweat from brow).

Anyway, enough of the decorating adventures (or misadventures). As you already know, I don’t make many puddings (desserts), but it has been such a cold winter this year that I was craving some nursery food, and rice pudding fit the bill. Whenever I had rice pudding as a kid, I would always put a big dollop of strawberry jam in it and mix it up until it looked like there had been a nasty accident. Nowadays, I prefer to eat it with a few raisins sprinkled on top.

Incidentally, it looks like comfort food will be on the menu for a little while longer yet. Just as we thought that spring had sprung – for the last two days it’s been sunny and a balmy 73F – today it’s been snowing all day. It’s about six inches deep at the moment, with more forecast for tonight and tomorrow. Oh hum! But that’s Oklahoma for ya!

Rice Pudding

No, those aren't rabbit droppings you can see!


Ingredients:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided 2+1
½ cup short or medium grain white rice
3 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 325F
• Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add rice and cook for one minute, stirring constantly.
• Gradually add milk and cream. Stir in sugar and vanilla extract and bring to a gentle boil.
• Transfer pudding mix to a 7 x 11 x 3-inch baking dish, bake uncovered for a total of 1½ hours, stirring mixture every 15 –20 minutes. Bake undisturbed for the last 30 minutes.
• Remove pud from oven dot with slivers of remaining butter, sprinkle with brown sugar (you can also add a dash of nutmeg if you like), and place under broiler until surface is golden brown.
• Serve sprinkled with raisins, or a dollop of your favorite jam.
  
  
  
  
  
  

Tortellini Soup

Thank you everyone for your messages and e-mails of condolence, I really appreciate your kind thoughts and comments.

Beth at http://jamandclottedcream.blogspot.com/ was asking if I got caught in all the snow during my recent trip to England. Well yes, I did, but other than a very scary drive to Manchester airport, and then the worry that my brother might not be able to get home, I didn’t experience too many problems. I did have to spend my last night in an airport hotel, as the snow was so bad I feared I wouldn’t get to the airport if I left the trip until morning.

Amazingly, despite the airport having been closed for most of the previous day, my flight left after only an hour’s delay. I did, however, have a 5-hour delay in snowy Cincinnati for a 1½-hour flight to Tulsa, where incidentally, it was a balmy 55°F (13°C) at 9:30 at night.



Snow on Christmas Day-Note the Union Jack (British flag)

That didn’t last long though, it snowed here on Christmas Eve, which was all very lovely except that it stuck around until the middle of January, and then the next lot moved in. This has been the coldest winter I have experienced since moving to Oklahoma. In early January we were getting daytime highs of 13°F (-10°C) and nighttime lows of -16°F (-26C), brrrrrr, but perfect for a drop of this hearty pasta soup.

The good news is though, my tulips and daffodils are beginning to sprout, so spring is just around the corner, then I’ll be moaning about the heat. Ho hum! Anyway, enough of my weather witterings, on with the recipe, this is so easy to make and cooks in no time at all, perfect for a mid-week meal. Also, I guess if you use vegetable stock, this dish would be suitable for vegetarians.

Tortellini Soup

Note: I used my tomato gloop mix in this recipe as it already contains tomatoes, peppers, and onions and makes a great base for all sorts of dishes. See recipe here:
http://range-warfare.blogspot.com/2008/08/tomato-gloop-2.html

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
½ green pepper, cut into small chunks
2 carrots, sliced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock.
1 14½ -ounce can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons tomato paste
A couple of teaspoons dried basil
Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
½ cup green beans, cut into bite size bits
½ cup frozen peas
1 15½ -ounce can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 9-ounce pack of refrigerated three cheese tortellini
Shredded Parmesan to serve

Directions:

• In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, heat olive oil over a medium heat. Sauté onion, green pepper, and carrots for 3 minutes, add garlic and sauté for a further minute.
• Stir in stock, tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, black pepper, and basil, bring to a gentle boil then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Add green beans, peas, cannellini beans, and pasta, return to a gentle boil then reduce heat and simmer for another 7 minutes.
• Serve with a sprinkling of freshly shredded Parmesan and crusty bread.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Sad to say...

I know it’s been a long time since I put in an appearance around here, but my dad died on December 8, and I was back in England until just before Christmas. Dad had not been in the best of health for some time, but the last six months of his life were extremely worrisome.

And the sad news doesn’t end there, I’m afraid. The day after I arrived back in England, Mick phoned to say his mum was seriously ill in hospital, and three days later she died. So we both lost our one remaining parent within a week of each other. Needless to say, Christmas and New Year were a very subdued affair around here. In many ways 2009 was not a good year for us, and it ended in the worst possible way.

Since then, I just haven’t felt like blogging, to tell the truth, I haven’t felt like doing much of anything. But, that’s going to change, and I will be catching up with y’all real soon, in the meantime here’s a recipe.

Chicken and Bacon with a Mushroom and Tomato Sauce

There is some chicken under there somewhere - trust me!

Ingredients:

4 slices thick bacon, chopped into 1-inch pieces
½ tablespoon olive oil
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Black pepper to taste
1 beefsteak tomato, seeds removed and coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried basil
4 ounces mushrooms, sliced
½ cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
Chopped parsley to garnish

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 350F
• Cook bacon in a large skillet over a medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan and set aside to drain on paper towel. Drain all fat from pan but do not wipe clean.
• In same skillet, heat olive oil over a medium heat. Add chicken and a generous grind of black pepper and brown for about 3 or 4 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to a greased 11x7-inch baking dish and bake uncovered for 20 minutes.
• Add mushrooms to the same skillet and sauté over a medium heat for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, garlic, basil and another dash of black pepper and sauté for a further minute. Stir in the bacon.
• Remove chicken from oven, spoon tomato/mushroom mixture over the chicken and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Return dish to oven to bake for a further 10 minutes.
• Serve with egg noodles, pasta, or rice.
  
  
  

Bonfire Night and Meat and Potato Pie

An American arriving in England on November 5th could be forgiven for thinking the Brits had taken leave of their senses. For on that night, throughout the realm, bonfires blaze, effigies are burned, and fireworks illuminate the night sky. And this has been happening every year since 1605. We do this to celebrate a foiled terrorist attack which would have blown up the Houses of Parliament, killing our King and his government.

On November 4th 1605, Robert Catesby and twelve other conspirators planted 36 barrels of gunpowder in the cellars of the Palace of Westminster. A fellow collaborator, Guy Fawkes, was left behind to light the fuse when King James I and his government entered the Houses of Parliament the following day.

Somehow the King discovered the plot, and in the early hours of November 5th, Fawkes was caught red handed and imprisoned in the Tower of London. His fellow conspirators were quickly rounded up, and all were later tried, convicted, and executed (they were hung, drawn and quartered), for the crime of high treason.

When the public learned of the thwarted plot, they lit bonfires to celebrate the King’s safety, and the event has been commemorated ever since.

Because of the Gunpowder Plot, the reigning monarch only enters the Houses of Parliament once a year, at the State Opening of Parliament. And prior to this event, the cellars of the Palace of Westminster are still searched by the palace guards.

I have many fond memories of Bonfire Night.

"Remember, remember, the fifth of November.
Its gunpowder plot,
We never forgot."

So went the rhyme my friends and I sang in childhood, usually in an effort to raise money for fireworks. The other tried and trusted way of obtaining firework money was to make a “guy” ― which usually consisted of some old clothing belonging to one of our dads, stuffed with newspaper. This dummy represented Guy Fawkes, who we would then wheel around in an old pram asking, “Penny for the guy.” Later we burned the guy on our bonfire, which was made from wood, old furniture, and any other combustible material we could find. The bonfire was always situated on some waste ground in our neighborhood.

It wasn’t until the actual night of November 5th that adults would become involved in the proceedings, with dads setting off fireworks and supervising the bonfire, and moms making all sorts of goodies to eat. My mother always made a big meat and potato pie, parkin, (a sweet, sticky cake), and treacle toffee, (a dark caramel candy), or plot toffee as we kids called it. And when the fireworks were gone, and the bonfire had died down, we would bake potatoes in the fire’s embers.

Bonfire Night was a real community affair and went on the length and breadth of Britain. Nowadays, for safety’s sake, the trend is more towards organized firework displays, and, sad to say, the event is rapidly loosing its appeal.

Now, whenever I make meat and potato pie, while the pie bakes, the rich aromas still evoke fond memories of my childhood and the wonderful Bonfire Nights we all shared.

Below is my mum’s recipe for meat and potato pie, although, unlike me, she did make her own pastry. If you make it, try to imagine a land ablaze with bonfires and a sky alight with fireworks, smell the wood smoke and the gunpowder and, "Remember, remember, the fifth of November."

Meat and Potato Pie



Ingredients:
1 lb. stew beef
¼ cup all-purpose flour, seasoned with cracked black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cups beef broth/stock
1 large onion, divided, half chopped into big chunks, the other half just chopped
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves

1 rutabaga peeled and cut into bite-size chunks
4 carrots, sliced
4 large potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-size chunks
1 refrigerated pie crust (or make your own if you prefer)
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon corn starch
2 tablespoons cold water


Directions:

• Put flour in a Ziplock bag, season with cracked pepper, add the beef stew meat and toss until coated.
• In a large soup pot, or Dutch oven heat olive oil over a medium-high heat. Add the flour coated beef to the pan, season with more black pepper, and sauté until lightly browned. Add the large chunks of onion (reserve the smaller pieces to go in with the veggies) and sauté for a further minute or so. Add the beef broth/stock to the pan, and bring to boil. Add Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves then reduce heat and simmer covered for 1 hour.
• After 1 hour, throw all remaining veggies into the pan. Return to boil, reduce heat, and simmer covered for about 30 minutes.
• Using a slotted spoon transfer meat and veggies to a pie dish. Get all the meat out but you will have some veggies left over, you can serve these as a side dish to the pie. Allow filling to cool for about 20 minutes before topping with the pie crust. Meanwhile pre-heat oven to 400°F.
• Add crust to pie, brush with beaten egg, cut a couple of slits in the top to allow steam to escape, and bake for 35-40 minutes or until crust is golden brown.
• About 15 minutes before pie is ready re-heat stock and vegetables. For a thicker gravy mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with a little water and add to stock. Serve the veggies and gravy with the pie.
  
  
  

Cajun Chicken Burger

This has been another favorite grilling recipe this summer, these burgers have a lovely mild curry flavor.

Cajun Chicken Burgers

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon paprika
Black pepper, to taste
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
3 slices bacon, cut in half
2 slices Swiss cheese
2 Kaiser rolls
Mayonnaise
1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and sliced.
2 handfuls of mixed greens

Directions:

• Pre-heat BBQ to low
• On a small plate mix together cumin, coriander, paprika, and black pepper.
• Brush a piece of heavy-duty foil with a little olive oil. Cover chicken with plastic wrap and beat with a meat mallet or rolling pin until slightly flattened. Brush chicken with olive oil, and dip in the spice mix until coated, then place on foil.
• Take another piece of foil, fold up the edges to make a small baking tray and add the bacon.
• Put chicken and bacon on grill and cook for about 15 – 20 minutes, (grills vary so cook to desired doneness), bacon should be cooked until crisp.
• Place cheese slices on top of chicken until cheese begins to melt. Toast buns at the same time.
• Spread buns with mayo and top with the cheesy chicken and bacon. You can also add the salad greens and avocado to the buns if you like, but I prefer my salad on the side.
  

Caesar Salad with Chicken and Bacon

Do you ever have one of those weeks? - I know you have - where if something can go wrong, it will. First of all the vacuum cleaner started making the most bloody awful noise, then the fridge gasped its last and gave up the ghost. So, then you’re waiting for the third thing to go wrong, because we all know these things happen in threes, right? In our case the third thing was the chainsaw, so then we heaved a sigh of relief because at least one of the cars didn’t conk out. Suffice it to say that the local Lowes store did very nicely indeedy out of us.

Anyway, enough of that! I know I’ve been very lackadaisical (isn’t that a lovely word?) over the past few months, but I do have a couple of recipes I want to share with you before I wave the summer goodbye. Not that I’m sorry to see the back of it – as you all know, I hate the hot, humid weather. Now that it’s turned cooler I will be seeking out the heat of the kitchen, and curling up with my computer while we get down to some good old comfort foods.

But before that, a farewell to summer. The first recipe is a Caesar Salad with chicken and bacon. This has been my absolute favorite salad this summer, and I’m sure it will be making a few encores over the winter. The second, which I’ll post tomorrow, is a Cajun Chicken Burger, it’s a BBC Good Food recipe that I adapted to cook on the BBQ.

Caesar Salad with Chicken and Bacon

Ingredients:

For the croutons
½ a French baguette torn into bite size pieces
3 tablespoons olive oil
A sprinkle of sea salt, to taste. (I know I never use salt but I do here).

For the rest

3 slices of bacon, cut in half.

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite size chunks
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 romaine lettuce, torn into large pieces

For the dressing

½ cup Parmesan cheese, shredded + 2 tablespoons for topping
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
6 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
Black pepper to taste

Directions

• Pre-heat BBQ grill to low.
• In a medium bowl mix bread chunks with olive oil.
• Take a large piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil and turn up the edges to form a small baking tray. Brush with a little olive oil, place bread on foil, crust side up, in a single layer. Sprinkle with sea salt and set aside.
• Make another small baking tray from foil and add the bacon.
• Cook croutons and bacon on BBQ for approximately 20 minutes, or until both are crispy. Turn bacon and croutons halfway through cooking. Remove both from grill and allow to cool, drain bacon on paper towel.
• Meanwhile, (back at the range), heat olive oil in a large skillet over a medium-high heat and add chicken. Sauté until no longer pink, reduce heat to medium and continue to cook for a further 5 or 6 minutes until golden brown. Add garlic and sauté for a further minute. Remove chicken and garlic to a plate and allow to cool.
• While everything cools, wash, dry, and tear lettuce and add to a salad bowl.
• Also prepare dressing. In a small bowl, mix mayo, white wine vinegar, garlic, black pepper, and Parmesan. It should look about the consistency of yogurt, if it’s a bit thick, add a few drops of water.
• Top lettuce with half the chicken pieces, half the croutons, and crumble over half of the bacon. Toss with ¾ of the dressing. Scatter the remaining chicken and croutons on top, crumble over the bacon, drizzle with the rest of the dressing, top with 2 tablespoons of shredded Parmesan, and serve. YUM!
  
  
  
  

Lemon Chicken Chow Mein Salad

I’m sorry to have caused concern and consternation, amazingly, the way things have been going this year, I have not been ill, just busy with other things. My good friend Vicki (see Victoria’s comment on the last post), called me the other day and told me I needed to get back blogging as you guys were missing me. I’ve missed y’all, too, so thanks for the kick up the bum, Vicki. :-)Anyway, we have a long weekend coming up, and I have nothing planned, so I’ll be visiting with you real soon.

In the meantime, I'll leave you all with this scrummy salad recipe, and hope you all have a fabulous weekend.

Lemon Chicken Chow Mein Salad


Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts
Juice from ½ a lemon
Black pepper, to taste
A drizzle of olive oil
1/2 a package (about 3 ounces) chow mein noodles
A handful of sugar snap peas, (about 4 ounces) halved lengthways
½ yellow (red or orange) pepper, thinly sliced
A handful of beansprouts
A couple of sprigs of fresh basil, leaves removed and torn

Salad Dressing

3 tablespoons olive oil
Zest and juice of ½ a lemon
2 tablespoons mayonnaise

• Pre-heat BBQ grill to low.
• Brush a large piece of heavy-duty foil with olive oil. Place chicken on foil, drizzle with the juice from ½ a lemon, and add a couple of grinds of black pepper. Seal foil loosely around chicken.
• Place chicken on BBQ and cook to desired doneness. Remove from foil a few minutes before end of cooking time and brown a little on the bars.
• Meanwhile, cook chow mein noodles according to package directions, transfer noodles to a colander, rinse under cold water and allow to drain.
• While noodles drain, prepare the dressing. In a small bowl mix all ingredients together and whisk lightly with a fork.
• Divide noodles between 2 bowls, throw in the sugar snap peas, peppers, bean sprouts and basil. Pour a little of the dressing into each bowl and toss lightly to coat.
• Slice the chicken breasts and arrange on top of the salad. Drizzle with remaining dressing and serve.
  
  
  
  
  
  

Potato Salad

I haven’t been around much this past couple of weeks, largely due to being glued to the tennis at Wimbledon. Needless to say, the token Brit, Andy Murray, got knocked out in the semi-finals. (Sob!) It’s something like 72 years since a British man won the singles at Wimbledon. And the last British woman to win was Virginia Wade back in 1977, which incidentally was also the year of the queen’s silver jubilee. Anyway, better luck next year, Andy.

Also, I want to thank Pam at http://fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com/ for kindly allowing me to use her recipe for Portabella Burgers in my recent article about a mushroom farm. If you’re interested you can find the article and Pam’s recipe here: http://www.ok-living.coop/Feature1.php

This recipe for potato salad features baby red potatoes from our garden, which were absolutely delish – still are in fact, as we haven’t used them all yet. Tragically the plants did die, but we were able to harvest a decent amount of new potatoes before they finally popped their clogs. Fortunately, however, our robust russets are robust and thriving, so many more spuds to come.

Potato Salad

Ingredients:

2 lbs. red potatoes, unpeeled
1 rib celery, sliced
¼ of a red onion, sliced
3 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
¼ cup plain yogurt
¼ cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
Black pepper, to taste
Dash of paprika

Directions:

• Cut potatoes into halves or quarters depending on size, place in a saucepan and bring to boil over a high heat. Reduce heat to medium-high and boil gently for 10 – 15 minutes until potatoes are slightly tender. Don’t overcook or you’ll end up with mashed potato salad. Boil eggs while potatoes cook.
  
• Allow eggs to cool in cold water. Drain potatoes, and leave to cool for 10 – 15 minutes.
  
• In a small bowl mix together yogurt, mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, and black pepper.
  
• Put potatoes in a salad bowl with the celery, onions, and eggs. Add the dressing and toss gently to coat. Cover and chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
• Before serving sprinkle with a little paprika.
  

Amalfi-Style Shrimp

Many moons ago, I had a fabulous vacation not too far from the Amalfi area of Italy, staying in a lovely place called Sorento. While there I had the opportunity to visit many historic places such as Pompeii, Herculaneum, Monte Casino, and even revisited one of my favorite cities, Rome, for a weekend. I also went to the top of the still active volcano, Vesuvius, and to the island of Capri, so I have many happy memories of this region.

On a less happy note, it’s been sweltering here this week, we’ve been melting in 100°F temperatures, which were further compounded by high humidity. Even at night, temps have been in the low 80’s so it’s been thoroughly unpleasant.

Anyway, it's no use moaning, 'cos I can't do a damn thing about it. Today’s recipe is another one from good old Auntie Beeb and another winner. As usual I changed it up a bit, the recipe said to marinate the shrimp for 1 hour, but I thought that was too long as I felt the mint would completely dominate the flavor of the shrimp, so I only did them for 10 minutes. Personally, I thought that was just right, but by all means marinate them for longer if you like.

I highly recommend this dish, the shrimp were finger-licking good. Also, they only took 5 minutes to cook on the grill, so poor old Mick didn’t have to spend too long sweating over a hot BBQ. Try these, you’ll be glad you did.


Amalfi-Style Shrimp





Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2-3 sprigs of mint, (about 15 leaves) finely chopped
Black pepper, to taste
25-30 large uncooked shrimp
¼ cup Italian breadcrumbs

Directions:

• Peel shrimp, but leave tails on.
• In a medium bowl combine the olive oil, garlic, mint, and black pepper, add the shrimp and toss to coat. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.
• Pre-heat BBQ to low.
• Thread 5-6 shrimp onto skewers, (I used metal ones, but if you use bamboo you’ll need to soak them in water for a few minutes).
• Place the breadcrumbs on a plate then press the skewered shrimp into the crumbs.
• Brush a piece of heavy-duty foil with olive oil. Place the skewers on the foil and grill for about 2 minutes a side, until shrimp have turned pink, and breadcrumbs are golden.
  Serve with lemon wedges.
  
  
  

Parmesan Chicken

It’s 95°F here today, and as humid and sweaty as an old sock, despite this we are still being battered by severe thunderstorms on a regular basis. Last week we had a particularly bad one with straight-line winds that brought down one of our persimmon trees.

We had a really nice grouping of three of these trees, when they were all in leaf they looked like one magnificent tree. These trees have had an unfortunate year; one was struck by lightning and will have to be cut down – now this.


The remaining one looks totally forlorn without his chums. But on a brighter note, we have had a bit of a tree planting frenzy this spring, and have put in 14 new trees. Admittedly, they are not much more than twigs right now, but one-day. :-)

Anyway, on with the food. We have finally had some luck with some salad greens. Yay! We’ve tried growing lettuce and spinach before with very little success. The weather here in Oklahoma changes from warm to baking hot so rapidly that the plants always bolted before we had a chance to eat them. This year Mick planted some mesclun greens which did very well indeedy, in fact, they grew back almost as fast as we could pick them. Mesclun mixes vary, ours was made up of arugula and dinky little spinach leaves. Although they kept us in salads during the spring, that avenue of pleasure is now closed, as they too have bolted in the heat. Oh hum!

To this mix of salad greens, I added a few baby Swiss rainbow chard leaves from our garden, some chopped tomato, a drizzle of olive oil and red wine vinegar, a dash of cracked pepper, feta cheese. You can also add a few toasted slivered almonds for a little extra crunch. I served this salad with the Parmesan chicken. This chicken is light but full of flavor. We cooked it on the BBQ, but you could do it in the oven at 350F, for about 10-15 minutes.

Parmesan Chicken


Ingredients:

1/3 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
Cracked black pepper, to taste
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

Directions:

• Pre-heat grill to low, or oven to 350F
• Mix Italian breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, and a dash of cracked black pepper on a plate.
• Beat egg in a shallow bowl.
• Slice chicken in half into 2 flat pieces.
• Dip chicken in egg, then into parmesan/breadcrumb mix.
• Place chicken in an ovenproof dish, or if grilling, on a double sheet of heavy-duty foil, greased with olive oil. Grill or bake for 10 – 15 minutes.
  
  
  

Wild Cod in a Tomato, Pepper and Olive Sauce

I’ve been having a bit of a break from writing, and catching up on some gardening (yay!), and housework (yuk!), both of which needed some attention after all my recent bouts of illness. But I still found plenty of time for dossing around (English slang for idling about) enjoying a glass or two of wine on the porch in the evenings, reading, doing crosswords, watching some telly, and of course, cooking.


I usually get my gardening and flower planting done much earlier than this, but the weather this spring has been pretty dire. Lots of storms, rain of biblical proportions, and the odd tornado scare thrown in for good measure. Not that I mind gardening in the rain, if the Brits allowed a little rain to stop them they would never garden. :-) Mick’s veggie garden is coming along great, if you’re interested you can check out his blog here: http://oklahomegrownveg.blogspot.com/


This week, however, has been largely hot and sunny, though we did have one day that was really cloudy and cool, thus a perfect gardening day for me. I loathe laboring in the heat. This type of weather always reminds me of summer days in England, endless gray skies, with the ever-present threat of rain.


Anyway, enough of my drivel, let’s get on with the recipe. As many of you know, I am often bemoaning the fact that I can’t get any decent fresh fish here, and my experiences with frozen fish have not been very good. Anyway, the last time I went to Sam’s Club, I picked up a bag of frozen wild cod that turned out to be surprisingly good. They had a number of other varieties of fish by the same producer, so I will definitely be checking those out next time I go there.


Wild Cod in a Tomato, Pepper and Olive Sauce




Ingredients:


1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
½ green pepper, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 14-ounce can whole tomatoes (I used my tomato gloop, recipe here: http://range-warfare.blogspot.com/2008/08/tomato-gloop-2.html) As the gloop already contains peppers and onions I didn’t need to add them, but I did throw in a few chopped spring onions).
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Black pepper
3-4 wild cod fillets
2 tablespoons feta cheese, crumbled
2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, chopped


Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 400°F


• Heat oil in a large skillet over a medium heat, add onions and green pepper and sauté until onion is translucent. Stir in tomatoes, (break them up a little with the spoon), tomato paste, olives, oregano, and black pepper. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for about 5 minutes.


• Brush an 11 x 7-inch baking dish with a little olive oil and add cod fillets to dish. Spoon the tomato mixture over the fish and bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until fish flakes easily.


• To serve, sprinkle with feta cheese and chopped parsley.
  

Pasta Bolognese Bake with Garlic Bread

A few weeks back I mentioned that I had written an article about a local botanical garden for Oklahoma Living Magazine. If you’re interested you can find it here: http://www.ok-living.coop/Feature_3.php

And whilst I’m on the subject of writing, last week, I got my entries back from the Oklahoma Writer’s Federation contest. I won a big fat zero this year, not even so much as a measly honorable mention. Oh hum. On the plus side, I did get some excellent marks from the judges and some very favorable comments, but I guess others just did better. Oh well, you can’t win them all, and there’s always next year.

And continuing the literary theme, a couple of friends from my writer’s group were recently bemoaning the fact that though they like lasagna, they find it a fiddle to make. I told them I had a much easier pasta bake recipe, personally I prefer it to lasagna, and any leftovers freeze beautifully. So this one’s for you Sharon and Margaret.

If you like you can leave out the baking stage and use this as a pasta sauce. Omit the cheeses, and just sprinkle the finished dish with a little shredded Parmesan.

Pasta Bolognese Bake with Garlic Bread
Serves 4

Ingredients:

8 ounces penne pasta
½ tablespoon butter
1 lb. ground sirloin
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 – 3 teaspoons chili powder
1 14½ ounce can whole tomatoes (I used my tomato gloop, you can find that recipe here: http://range-warfare.blogspot.com/2008/08/tomato-gloop-2.html)
3 tablespoons tomato paste
A couple of dashes of Tabasco sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 level teaspoon sugar
Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
4 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded (divided)
½ cup sharp cheddar, shredded

Note: Seasonings, spices, and herb quantities are all guesstimates, I just tinker around until it’s how I like it.

Easy Peasy Garlic Bread


Ingredients:

½ a French loaf, cut in half lengthwise
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped – use less if you want, but I like garlic bread that tastes of garlic
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, + about 2 teaspoons butter.

Directions for pasta bake:

• Cook pasta for about 5 minutes, drain and set aside.
• Melt butter in a deep-sided skillet, over a medium-high heat, add ground beef and saute until browned.
• Reduce heat to medium, add onion, and sauté for about 2 minutes. Add garlic and chili powder and sauté for a further minute.
• Add canned tomatoes, and break tomatoes in half, bring to a gentle boil. Stir in tomato paste.
• Add Tabasco, Worcestershire sauces, oregano, black pepper, and sugar, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile pre-heat oven to 350F
• Spoon a layer of about a 1/3 of the sauce into an 11x7-inch baking dish and top with ¾ of the mozzarella.
• Stir pasta and mushrooms into remaining sauce, and transfer to baking dish. Top with remaining cheeses and bake for about 20 - 25 minutes, until cheese is bubbly.

While pasta bakes prepare garlic bread.

• Spread each half of French loaf with approximately 2 teaspoons butter, and place on a baking sheet covered with foil for easy clean up.
• Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat. Add garlic, and sauté for 1 minute.
• Spoon garlic butter evenly over bread, and set aside.
• When pasta is out of the oven, heat broiler to high.
• Place garlic bread under broiler for 2-3 minutes until bread is golden brown. Keep a close eye on it, as it’s easy to burn it.
  
  
  

Mediterranean Potatoes

Thanks to everyone for all your commiserations and good wishes after my recent illness. You are all so kind, and tolerant of my erratic posting and commenting. I’m afraid I’m still playing catch-up as I had an interview to do, and an assignment to write last week for Oklahoma Living. My editor had extended my deadline because of my recent bout of flu, but it was still a bit of a push to get it done in time. Sometimes the writing just refuses to flow. This piece was about a local mushroom farm – a fascinating place to visit – but tricky to write about.

Until I started doing research for this article, I had no idea what a complex process growing mushrooms is. If you’re interested you can take a short video tour of a mushroom farm here: http://www.mushroominfo.com/aboutmushrooms/howmushroomsgrow.html
The site also has lots of information about mushrooms, and some great recipes.

I did include a recipe for portabella burgers with the artcle, but this one was courtesy of Pam at:
http://fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com/ Thanks so much for allowing me to use your recipe, Pam, you’re a brick.

Today’s recipe, however, contains no mushrooms. It’s based on a recipe I saw in the BBC Good Food newsletter for Spanish Potatoes, I changed it up a bit and called it Mediterranean Potatoes. These were super, the leftovers were also good cold, so you could serve them as a potato salad during the summer.

Mediterranean Potatoes

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon paprika
A few dashes of hot sauce, Franks or Tabasco
2 lbs. russet potatoes, cut into chunks
1 bulb (head) of garlic, leave skin on but top and tail each clove.
Cracked black pepper, to taste
Juice of ½ a lemon
A handful of chopped parsley

Directions:

• Put potatoes in a medium sized saucepan, cover with water and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium high and par-boil for 4 –5 minutes or until potatoes are very slightly softened. Drain and allow to cool.
• Pre-heat oven to 375°F
• When potatoes are cool, mix olive oil, tomato paste, paprika, and hot sauce in a large bowl, add potatoes and stir to coat.
• Add a tablespoon of vegetable oil to a roasting pan and heat in oven. When oil is hot carefully add potatoes and garlic cloves to pan, and season with cracked pepper.
• Roast for about 40 minutes, turning half way through cooking, or until potatoes are crispy on the outside. Sprinkle over the lemon juice and roast for a further 5 minutes.
• Transfer potatoes to a warm serving dish, sprinkle with parsley and serve.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Vegetable Samosas

The wanderer returns. I think I’m going to have to stop saying, I’m back, as every time I do that something else goes wrong. By now, I’m sure you all must think that I’m a complete hypochondriac. The truth is, ordinarily I am not a sick person, but these past few months it just seems to have been one thing after another. (Sigh!) The latest ailment was the flu, and it was a bad one. Anyway, I’m not going to bore you with the details, suffice it to say, I’m okay now, and hopefully will stay that way for a while.

I now have a lot of catching up to do on both the work and the blog fronts. I’ve really missed everyone, but I will be visiting with y’all over the next day or two.

This is another recipe inspired by Jason at http://jasoncooks.blogspot.com
we obviously share the same love of Indian cuisine. I love veggie samosas, and I have tried making them before using frozen filo pastry. They were a disaster, they just fell to pieces. Jason had the ingenious idea of making samosas using egg roll wrappers, I tried his method and they worked beautifully. I did use my own recipe for the filling though. Also, I have to confess that I deep-fried them in the traditional Indian way, naughty – but ever so nice. Next time I will try baking them, honest. ;-)

Vegetable Samosas


Makes about 10 – 12 samosas

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion finely chopped
3 – 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons red curry powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 Russet potatoes, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
1 cup frozen peas
½ cup vegetable/or chicken stock
1 package egg roll wraps
Sufficient vegetable oil for deep frying

Directions:

• Heat oil in a large skillet over a medium heat, add onion and sauté until translucent. Add garlic and sauté for a further minute.
• Stir in all spices and sauté for another minute.
• Add potatoes, carrots, and peas and stir until coated.
• Add stock, and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer covered for about 30 minutes until veggies are tender and liquid has almost evaporated.
• Allow mixture to cool, and place in refrigerator until cold.
• Place a tablespoon of the mixture in half of the wrap, dampen edges of wrap with water and fold into a triangle. When folding the triangle leave a little extra pastry at the edges to fold over and seal the triangle.
• In a deep fat fryer or wok heat vegetable oil to 400F, deep-fry samosas in pairs until golden brown, about 3 – 4 minutes.