Thanks for the memory

 

We had the biggest thunder storm this morning, and for a while we had no power,  it was cold wet and very dark for about an hour.  On these kinds of days I want something comforting that makes you feel like you're wrapped in a comfy blanket when you're eating it. 

Life's a funny old thing isn't it.  Recently an old acquaintance got in touch via face book. Someone I hadn't seen or spoken to in nearly 30 years.  We got to talking about the old days as you do, although his recollections were somewhat different to mine and was surprised when he realised I had got married just three years after we went our separated ways which he considered not very long. 

We have taken very different life paths but It did spark one memory though from 40 years ago. I hadn't been very well with the flu and looked and felt awful and really couldn't face eating much and he presented me with homemade traditional rice pudding, but instead of making it in the oven he had made it in the slow cooker so that it would slowly cook across the day whilst he was at work.   I have to say it tasted absolutely delicious and the nearest thing to the one in the tin and nothing like the claggy mess  we used to get at school and was definitely what the doctor ordered. 

From that time onwards I always made my rice pudding in the slow cooker.  I hadn't made it since my daughter left home as D & youngest aren't the biggest desert lovers but even they have have become a fan. 

If you would like to have ago at making this really easy  comfort food then here goes. 

Small can of evaporated milk

50g caster sugar

1tsp vanilla extract

milk

Pour the evaporated milk into a jug and then top up with enough milk to make 1 litre. 

Add the sugar, rice and vanilla extract to the slow cooker

pour the milk mixture over the rice, sugar and vanilla extract 

Cook on slow for 6 hours or on high for 3-4 hours 

Stir occasionally to make sure the rice doesn't stick together in a lump at the bottom of the slow cooker. 

Thankfully the power came back on and stayed on and there has been a rice pudding slowly bubbling away all day and I can't wait to sit with a bowl this evening. 

Mx

 

Souptember: Pea & Ham Soup a homage to my ex mother in law

 

Souptember continues in our house. Although the nights are definitely drawing in and its at that stage when it's dark when I leave the house and almost dark when I return, I'm not quite at the stage of having a big Sunday roast quite yet but I will go for a gammon joint or ham hock with mash potato and seasonal veg. There is invariably some  left overs which gets used up in sandwiches but I also like to use up in a hearty soup. Pea and ham always reminds me of my ex mother in law as she always made a big pan of pea and ham at this time of year when the weather was cold, wet & windy and it really did just hit the spot.  Ex mother in law recently passed away. She had not been well for a long time and as the children said, she was no longer the nanna they knew and she would of hated seeing herself like that having been such a larger than life character.   So this Pea and Ham today is in homage to my ex MIL.  

These days a lot P & H are made with frozen peas but she did it the traditional way, and in my opinion the best way, with split peas and there was always a packet in her store cupboard as there now is in mine. 

The ingredients needed to make Pea and Ham Soup are:

2 tablespoons of butter

1 onion diced

2 ribs of celery diced 

2-3 cloves of garlic, sliced or minced through a garlic press

4 rashes of  smoked bacon diced or a packet of lardons

1 bay leaf

1 packet [250g] of dried split peas

2 pints of chicken/vegetable stock 

leftover gammon/ham diced into small cubes

salt & ground black pepper

Crème Fraiche [optional]

She would start off by soaking the peas over night to bring them up to their full plumpness, but if short on time they were added directly to the soup but the soup will then require extra cooking time. 

In a large soup pan add the butter, diced onion, celery, garlic and bacon and cook slowly until the onions are translucent but, not brown as that will add a bitter taste to the soup.  It will probably take 5-6 minutes. 

Whilst the onions etc... are cooking drain off the peas if soaked overnight and rinse thoroughly.

Add the peas, left over gammon/ham, bay leaf and stock and stir to combine. Now simmer slowly until the peas are tender and the soup thickened. This will take about 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes if you have added the split peas directly to the soup instead of soaking overnight. 

Remove the bay leaf and season with salt & black pepper before serving. 

This is where I  differ from my MIL's recipe  as I like a smoother soup and therefore use my stick blender to blend the soup but just enough that you can still see whole peas and cubes of ham. Now my ex MIL being a good northern  lass would not of held with adding  a swirl of crème fraiche when serving but I do as I think it adds to the taste but that is personal choice and therefore optional.  Neither was she a baker of bread, she lived next door to a convenience store and would not of thought of making her own bread when she could purchase a loaf right on her own door step. Although she was known for keeping some of the part baked baguettes in her freezer for emergencies, again a practice I also follow. 

Is there a particular recipe a relative made that has influenced your cooking and  is something you now make?

Mx

You can find all my other soup recipe's here

September round up

 Norman & Jax are a legendary comedic duo in waiting, with a five year plan to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe by the time they're fifteen. But when Jax dies before they turn twelve, Norman decides a tribute act for his best friend just can't wait, so he rewrites their plan 

-Look after Mum

- Find Dad

- Get to the Edinburgh Fringe

Sadie knows she won't win Mother of the year and she's not proud she doesn't know who her son's father is. But when she finds Norman's list, all she wants is to see her son smile again... So they set off on a pilgrimage to Edinburgh, making a few stops to find Norman's dad along the way.

👦

Not my normal genre of book but when a work colleague left it on my desk with a post it that said you must read this, how could I refuse.  The story of Norman's journey to get to the Edinburgh Fringe and potentially find out who is his father is, is both uplifting and a little sad.  It touched the subject of loss very well and there were times when you couldn't help but  laugh out loud.  Definitely a good holiday read ⭐⭐⭐⭐

West Yorkshire, 1904. When newly graduated nurse Ruby May takes a position looking after the children of Charles and Lilian England, a wealthy couple from a powerful dynasty of mill owners, she hopes it will be the fresh start she needs. But as she adapts to life at the isolated Hardcastle House, it becomes clear there’s something not quite right about the beautiful, mysterious Mrs England.

Ostracised by the servants and feeling increasingly uneasy, Ruby is forced to confront her own demons in order to prevent history from repeating itself. After all, there’s no such thing as the perfect family – and she should know.

Following on from The Familiars and The Foundling, Mrs England is Stacey Halls third novel and in my opinion her best yet it keeps your attention from the start and definitely worth adding to your reading list ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

📚

Now we turn to what I have been watching on the old telly box.  At the beginning of the summer a work colleague suggested This is Us.  It is only shown on Prime video and runs over 6 seasons with each season containing 18 episodes.  Now you know why it's taken all summer as that's a lot of episodes. Essentially the story is around a family who suffer loss, finds love and everything in between.  In season one you meet Jack and Rebecca a young couple starting on life's journey.  They find out they are expecting triplets which is when life throws them their fist blow.  Over the six seasons you get to know the Pearson family and watch the kids grow from children to adults with a lot of flash backs in between.  I wasn't sure how it would keep my interest over six seasons with so many episodes to each one but I can assure you it does and I can honestly say there are not many programs that I will binge watch but this was definitely one I would and did.   Now the nights are drawing in and autumn is upon us I would definitely recommend snuggling down and enjoy spending the season with the Pearson family. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Adrian Dunbar stars in this new series screened over four episodes. Dunbar plays a retired detective who's wife and daughter have died in tragic circumstances.  Ridley is coaxed out of retirement to help with the more complex cases on a consultancy basis.  A long with the storyline's you get to know Ridley as the man and about his family and how he is trying to come to terms with his loss.  The man who confessed to killing his wife & daughter is serving life in prison.  Ridley has never been comfortable that his informant had betrayed him in such a way but as the man had confessed nobody else is looked at for committing the crime that is until another murder is committed and evidence found to the contrary. 

I wouldn't say Adrian Dunbar is my favorite of actors I wasn't that keen on him in Line of Duty, I find him a bit wooden but as a series Ridley was very good and I would definitely recommend a watch on ITV Hub ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Aidan Turner [of Poldark fame, swoon as the picture of a shirtless AT in a field of wheat springs to mind] stars in this drama/thriller and it is a far departure from his Poldark days. Dr Joseph O'Loughlin is a clinical psychologist played by Aidan Turner, he is convinced that one of his patients is responsible for a women's murder but as he tries to prove this the police begin to think that he may be the murderer and trying to deflect his guilt onto someone else. 

It was a bit of a slow burner for me at the start but as the story unfolds it also begins to pick up a pace.

Definitely worth a watch ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

So that's my September round up and I hope you are all keeping safe & well

Mx