Category Archives: The Culinary Alphabet

The Culinary Alphabet XYZ…

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Finally after two years …I have reached the end of this series we are on  XYZ…No zebras in sight…haha…I have enjoyed writing this series and my thanks go to Esme for indulging my passion… I love researching and finding out new methods of cooking and foods…

Here we go then…The Culinary Alphabet The Letter XYZ (1)

 

Xawaash Spice Mix…

Xawaash (pronounced Hawash) comes from the Arabic word Hawa’ij (حوائج). Hawa’ij can be translated as ‘requirements’ or ‘essentials’. For example, there are the essentials accompaniments for Arabic coffee, Hawa’ij al-Qahwa (حوائج القهوة). The Hawa’ij spice mix is believed to have originated in Yemen.

In the southern regions of Somalia, Xawaash refers to the spice mix that is added to savoury dishes: meats, stews, soups, etc. However, in the northern parts of Somalia, Xawaash is used in a broader sense and it refers to any spice mix, even the spices that are added to tea and coffee.

Keep in mind that the types of spices used and their proportions are not cast in stone. There are regional variations dictated by personal taste as well as the availability of certain spices.

The use of the aromatic Xawaash is what gives Somali food its unique character and flavour.

Xoconostle…

Or cactus fruit a cousin of the prickly pear…The bright red centre of the Xoconostle cactus fruit has a few dozen, small edible seeds that have an appearance similar to the seeds of passion fruit. The flavour is described as complex with a sour tang and an acidic finish.

Ximenia…

A small fruit, only about 1 1/4 inches (3 cm) long. It will ripen to orange, or red with white spots, or yellow, depending on the diversity. The Ethiopian variety goes yellow. There will be 1 seed in every fruit. The pulp is sour and tart. Birds also love this fruit. Known as a powerful healthy fruit it is packed with Vitamin C as well as Vitamin E, phosphorus, fibre, carbs, starches, magnesium, calcium, and lots of protein too… The stems, bark, and leaves of the tree also contain lots of natural steroids that may be used in the future for treating diseases such as cardiovascular disease and strokes… New studies are underway…

ximenia

Photo credit: berniedup on Visual hunt / CC BY-SA

In traditional medicine, the bark is used to treat oral infections and toothache… It is also commonly known as tallowwood, hog plum, yellow plum, sea lemon, or pi’ut (Chamorro), it is a small sprawling tree native to the tropics, a sour plum found in South-East Africa also a related species grow in the Western United States.

Xiaolongbao…long bun…

Quite simply are the popular bao buns which.is a type of Chinese steamed bun from the Jiangnan region, especially associated with Shanghai and Wuxi. They are made from either leavened or unleaved dough with minced pork or another meat filling. Many of these buns are eaten here they come in different shapes and colours and look very pretty…

bao bun pork filled

 

Photo credit: wallyg on VisualHunt.com / CC BY-NC-ND

Yams

Yams are a relatively low-protein food, yam is not a good source of essential amino acids. Experts emphasize the need to supplement a yam-dominant diet with more protein-rich foods to support healthy growth in children. Although often in the poorer countries this does not happen. This is the purple yam there is also white yam and some are quite hairy they are a common sight on the markets here.

purple yam

Yam is an important dietary element for Nigerian and West African people. It contributes more than 200 calories per person per day for more than 150 million people in West Africa and is an important source of income. Yam is an attractive crop in poor farms with limited resources. It is rich in starch and can be prepared in many ways. It is available all year round, unlike other, unreliable, seasonal crops. These characteristics make yam a preferred food and a culturally important food security crop in some sub-Saharan African countries.

Yokan

matcha-cream-green-tea-yokan

Photo credit: Kirinohana on Visual Hunt / CC BY

Is a Japanese sweet similar to Turkish Delight…which is a favourite of mine and generally a treat at Christmas… The above yokan is made with matcha green tea, chestnuts are also used and other colourings mainly natural colours…Like pandan leaves…

Yeast

The first known yeast was some hundreds of millions of years ago…There are some 1,500 different species which are currently recognised. Most of us know yeast is used in baking, winemaking and brewing…Yeast is a single-celled microorganism that is classified, along with moulds and mushrooms, as members of the Kingdom Fungi. It is also the subject of much research.

Yellowtail Fish…

The Yellow Tail fish or Amber Jack is native to the North East Pacific from Japan to Hawaii. It is also not related to the Yellowtail Tuna.

Sesame crusted Yellowtail fish

In Japan, this fish is eaten cooked or raw and known as Hamachi or Buri…For further info and the recipe for the fish …

We thoroughly enjoyed this recipe which was tried and tested in my kitchen and are looking forward to this fish coming into season again although the recipe could be used with any fish steaks.

Yerba buena

Yerba buena or Hierba Buena is the Spanish name for a number of aromatic plants, most of which belong to the mint family.

Za’atar

A Middle Eastern spice blend …this aromatic spice blend has been around for ages, but the recent surge in popularity of Mediterranean foods and flavours has sent the demand for this bold blend through the roof. And as the spice grows in popularity in mainstream culture, it’s gearing up to become the next everything bagel seasoning: sprinkled on just about everything by just about everyone to make dishes instantly ten-times tastier.

Zest

zest-4180654_640 (1)

Doesn’t the zest of citrus fruits just liven up your cooking? As a garnish, in baking, it just adds that extra zing. I am a big fan of adding lemon, orange or lime zest to my cooking…Both sweet and savoury dishes…

Zingara

Popular in French cuisine it is a sauce made from chopped ham, tongue, mushrooms and truffles combined with tomato sauce, tarragon and sometimes Madeira wine. Additional ingredients may include white wine, cayenne pepper, lemon juice and orange rind. It is also known by the name of gypsy sauce…

Zucchini

smart

I have always called it courgette which is the British/ English name whereas Zucchini is the American/English name…Classes as a summer squash it is harvested when the skins are soft and immature as the skins harden and it grows in size I know it as the Marrow…Very popular now and cooked in many ways …It can be baked, stuffed made into zoodles and used as a healthier answer to pasta…It can be used in baking bread, cookies, shaved in salads or rolled with veggies or prawns so many recipes.

That’s it…Finito, finished, the end…

If you have stayed with me throughout this series then thank you and thank you, Esme…I hope you have enjoyed this series if you are new and have missed it then pop over to Sally’s as she has very kindly offered to repost this series instead of my normal posts on my cookery column over at Smorgasbordto allow me the time to finish my cookbook and novel…It will be the same just with a few tweaks from moi…  Thank you xxx

About Carol Taylor:

Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.

The environment is also something I am passionate about and there will be more on this on my blog this year

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

 

CarolCooks2…2019…A recap and some thank you’s…

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It’s New Years Eve…My last post of 2019…

A time to cast off the old and bring in the new...

 

Here is how the New Year starts around the world…Just a little taster…

First Footing…Is Scotland’s New Year’s Eve celebration of Hogmanay, “first-footing” is practised across the country. The first person who crosses a threshold of a home in the New Year should carry a gift for luck. Scots also hold bonfire ceremonies where people parade while swinging giant fireballs on poles, supposedly symbols of the sun, to purify the coming year.

In Spain, it is customary to eat 12 grapes one for each of the 12 strokes of midnight…

Columbians have a love of travel so traditionally an empty suitcase is carried around the block…Mmmm I know someone who may be happy to adopt that tradition…Debby Giess…

The Danes throw all their old crockery against the doors of family and friends to ward off bad spirits…They also stand on chairs and at the stroke of midnight leap off into the New Year…

Greece…An onion is traditionally hung on the front door of homes on New Year’s Eve in Greece as a symbol of rebirth in the New Year. On New Year’s Day, parents wake their children by tapping them on the head with the onion…

If they didn’t have a headache from the excesses of celebrating they could well do after getting banged on the head with an onion…

Others celebrate by wearing coloured knickers or burning effigies of politicians or famous people…I bet a few of us could relate to that one…after the political years, we have endured around the world…Mmmmm… Nuff said…

The New Year whether you are out partying or spending a quiet one at home…Like Moi…Then I will leave you with my final cocktail of the year…

The 1953 Atomic Cocktail is the definitive version of this iconic drink. An unknown bartender at the Sky Room, on the third-floor bar at the world-famous Desert Inn, Las Vegas, created it. The Atomic Cocktail arrived before the clouds had even cleared. Before the true extent of the devastation inflicted on Hiroshima was known. It then was renamed the Hiroshima…

This one also reminds me of a Bob Marley and the hangover…lol…It was also where my younger son #2 lost some of his eyebrows…That is another story…For another day…x

Ahhh…Jamaica what memories….xx

Here in Thailand although New Year is celebrated the Thai New Year is the Songkram Festival in April…

Fireworks…Is how most of us see in the New Year…This is my thought for 2020…

It may be in our own homes or at an organised display and of course all the major cities around the world vie with each other to see who has the most impressive display…I wonder how many of those will be Climate-friendly or will no such thoughts be applied? Fireworks originated in China and now they have launched a light show with drones as an alternative…

I mean do we really need the bangs? It scares the animals for one…I think we should be writing to our councillors and MP’S….Just saying…Do eco-friendly fireworks exist? Indeed they do…

Lastly but certainly not least...Some thanks …Many thanks go to Sally as she has let me indulge my passion for cookery in my Cookery Column over at Smorgasbord Magazine also for letting me join her in our joint venture to promote health by knowing what foods address any deficiencies in our diets…Sally is a Health Professional…I provide recipes which contain fruits or vegetables which can aid our good health and any deficiences…Thank you, Sally… xxx

Thanks also go to Esme where I have been writing about the Culinary Alphabet ( A-Z) for the last 2 years…Thank you, Esme …xxx

Special thanks go to you my readers for your constant support and comments…Which I love…I have had the pleasure to meet so many wonderful people over the last few years…A variety of blogs which cover many subjects…Some of which I have learnt much particularly about bravery,  fortitude, music, books, writing, gardening and also the unflinching will to live…I have been in tears and awe at times…

When I started my blogging journey I just didn’t know…I found a wonderful community of such strong, kindhearted souls…You all rock…Thank you …I love you all xxx

 

 

 

 

 

The Culinary Alphabet…The letter W…

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It is that time of the month when I am over at Esme’s Salon...This month I am exploring ingredients beginning with the letter W…

The Culinary Alphabet ...The Letter W (1)

Can you believe it, we are getting close to the end of this culinary series.

Welcome to this month’s edition where I am exploring some culinary delights beginning with the letter W…

Walnuts

Classed as one of the world’s healthiest foods the Walnut originated in the Mediterranean region and Central Asia and has been part of the human diet for thousands of years. These nuts are rich in omega-3 fats and contain higher amounts of antioxidants than most other foods.

Walnut-shell

Walnut showing kernel.

If you’re looking for a snack food that lowers your cholesterol levels, research shows that you should get cracking! Ha Ha… In a study published by The Medical Journal of Clinical Nutrition, it was found that people who munched their way through 1.5 oz of whole walnuts 6 days a week for 1 month lowered their total cholesterol by 5.4% and LDL cholesterol by 9.3%.

Wasabi

Wasabi aka Japanese Horseradish is so rare that the wasabi you eat with your sushi probably only contains about 5% wasabi. Wasabi is harvested by hand and takes about 18 months…That surprised me…Does it surprise you? It is hard to grow and takes time…Which in turn pushes up the cost to the consumer…

Photo credit: randomwire on Visualhunt / CC BY-NC-SA

 

Water Bath

Quite simply a water bath is simply a pan of hot water placed in the oven, this method has two benefits when baking. First, a water bath adds moisture to the oven and this is important for baking foods like cheesecakes, which tend to crack from the heat of the oven, or custards which can become rubbery without moist heat.

Water Chestnuts

Wandering around a food market in Wanon, Northern Thailand…and losing myself among the sights and smells of beautiful tempting Thai food. I spied a few fruits and vegetables which were unknown to me and this one. Although once I knew what it was then I recognised the taste ….without knowing the name I was puzzled I sort of knew the taste but didn’t connect the dots…lol

We were talking and looking for these a few weeks ago when were thinking about what to cook for dinner and reminiscing about the Chinese food we remembered having years ago with these crunchy water chestnuts in..you never got many just a few slices… I was then looking in the shops at imported goods to see if I could them and no luck…Then there they were the other day right under my nose and fresh ones….strange world… When your thoughts take you unexpectedly to what you were looking for.

Usually available in specialty groceries or supermarkets, they should be washed thoroughly and peeled with a sharp knife, especially if to be eaten raw. At this point, adding a few drops of lemon juice keeps them from turning brown when steamed or sautéed.

To read the original post…Click Here

About Carol Taylor

Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.

The environment is also something I am passionate about and there are now regular columns on my blog this year. It is important that we are mindful of the world we live in…

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

Thank you once again for reading this post I hope you all have a creative week ahead xx

The Culinary Alphabet…The letter V…

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Welcome to this month’s edition of the Culinary Alphabet…Where I am exploring some culinary delights beginning with the letter V…I can be found over @Esme’s Salon every month…Next month it will be W…

Unusual for me as I am a savory girl and not a sweet girl…I am starting with a dessert…

Vacherin

Well, it could be one of two things they are both spelled the same…

Photo credit: eltham_mob on Visual Hunt / CC BY-NC

Swiss people call this soft, washed-rind cheese  Vacherin du Mont d’Or, in France, it is called Vacherin du Haut Doubs (or just Vacherin in local shops).

Vacherin is made from pasteurized cow’s milk, which offers a full-flavored and slightly acidic taste. The cheese becomes almost liquid after maturation. It has a greyish-yellow blanched rind which has to be removed before eating it. This rare and luxury cheese is eaten like a Fondue. Vacherin is produced only from 15th August to 31st March. The cheese tastes delicious with wines such as Beaujolais Nouveau, Côtes du Jura, and Champagne. It comes in various shapes enclosed with a strip of spruce bark.

Photo credit: distopiandreamgirl on Visual hunt / CC BY-NC-ND

OR…It is a sweet yet simple, French dessert of vacherin, which is made by layering meringue discs and ice cream. A very pretty dessert.

Vanilla Sugar

Dried vanilla pods are long and black encasing hundreds of tiny black seeds expensive but so worth it…Just make sure what you are buying as there are many inferior products on the market. Vanilla sugar is when  If the vanilla bean is whole, slice down the side of bean with back of a knife and scrape seeds into an airtight container with the sugar. Bury bean in sugar and seal tightly with a lid. Let sit for 1 to 2 weeks. Use as regular, granulated sugar…

vanilla-pods-sugar

Veal

The meat I have never knowingly eaten or will but one which is quite popular.  Veal comes from young bovine animals aged 6 to 7 months. When the calf reaches the age of one year they are called a cow/bovine animal. The veal is then called beef. The color of the meat has become darker and the structure and taste have also changed.

My grandad was a farmer and kept cows all his life…He never ate veal and it is through his teaching about the cruelty that I never have. Along with foie gras and shark fins, veal has a bad reputation because of the extreme confinement and cruelty involved in the way veal calves are raised on factory farms.

The Culinary Alphabet ...The Letter V

To read more please click the link…

Thank you for reading I hope you have enjoyed this post…We are nearing the end of the alphabet now next month it will be  W…

About Carol Taylor:

Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and well being.

The environment is also something I am passionate about and there are now regular columns on my blog this year. It is important that we are mindful of the world we live in…

Retired No One Told Me!

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

Thank you once again for reading this post I hope you all having a productive week xx

If you’re new to my blog and missed any of the previous Letters in the Culinary Alphabet, we got you covered, as you can always read them all.

CarolCooks2…Weekly roundup…Climate Change, Health, Recipes …Week ending 19th Oct 2019…

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Welcome to this weeks roundup…What a week …Lily is here for the school holidays so we have been baking… she loves making cakes and helping to prepare dinner she loves chopping veggies as much as she loves eating them her favourite vegetables being broccoli and cabbage she is always asking for seconds…bless her.

Aston is staying in the village with his other nan and has been busy collecting wild honey I didn’t realise he knew quite so much about bees…

I am still having laptop woes and limited to what I can do on mine but hopefully the end is in sight… in the meantime I am PC sharing where I can…good fun…not!

What has been going on this week and no I am not discussing Brexit although I was watching the House of Parliament live yesterday to the bitter end…

great reads a weekly roundup lady with electronic reader

Anyway enough of my chatter…Grab a drink it is time to settle down, relax and have a read something for everyone…Enjoy!

Monday…

I always try to bring you a mixture of the good that is happening around the world and also some of the not so good…I was concerned this week about some of the antics I saw about Extinction Rebellion…It didn’t make good reading and although I agree with some of their views I do not think the actions of some has helped their cause and in fact has probably had the opposite effect…

https://carolcooks2.com/2019/10/14/latest-recycling-and-environmental-news-14th-october-2019/

Tuesday… Healthy Eating…

Healthy - Vegetables- Fruit- Lady

Healthy Eating

I was absolutely shocked to hear that figures were out and England saw a rise for the fourth consecutive year that severe obesity in school year 6 has broken records, and it is up more than a third since 2006.
Levels of severe obesity among children in the last year of primary school have hit an all-time high, according to official figures that have dismayed public health experts…I don’t know about dismaying public health experts it is dismaying me…

Much needs to be done by parents, schools and governments to halt this epidemic once and for all….

https://carolcooks2.com/2019/10/15/healthy-eating-childhood-obesity/

Wednesday…Whimsical Wednesday to be exact…

Let the fun and nostalgia begin…I covered World Food Day, the opening of Disney and lots more…Enjoy!

https://carolcooks2.com/2019/10/16/whimsical-wednesday-with-carol-14/

It was also the day when I was over @Sally’s for  Smorgasbord Health Column – Cook from Scratch to prevent nutritional deficiencies with Sally Cronin and Carol Taylor – #Minerals – Magnesium…

tin ghee

Lots of expert advice from Sally and recipes from me…Enjoy!

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2019/10/16/smorgasbord-health-column-cook-from-scratch-to-prevent-nutritional-deficiencies-with-sally-cronin-and-carol-taylor-minerals-magnesium/

Thursday…

As you know it is National Pumpkin month with lots of recipes and Halloween tales but don’t forget the Apple as that is also being celebrated as there are so many lovely varieties …so from this week coming I will also be adding some apple recipes…Who doesn’t love Apple Pie???

https://carolcooks2.com/2019/10/17/national-pumpkin-month-facts-trivia-and-a-delicious-thai-pumpkin-soup/

Thursdays is also where once a month I can be found over at Esme’s Salon…I am nearing the end of my journey through the Culinary Alphabet and this month it is the letter U…From the Ugli Fruit to Umami…

Although I will add that the Pineapple Upside down cake was the most talked about…I am not surprised as it is delicious…

Friday…

Its store cupboard basics and this week I covered cooking oils…my most used cooking oils are olive oil, ghee and coconut oil…

https://carolcooks2.com/2019/10/18/this-week-in-my-kitchenstore-cupboard-basicspart-6cooking-oils/

Saturday…

Is a subject dear to both mine and Sally’s hearts…

Obesity…The figures out last week about childhood obesity in the UK shocked me…It should also shock you if you have a child who is obese…Of course we don’t want to give children a complex but handled correctly and by us as parents making changes to our families diets and lifestyles as a family would make a difference…It is not about shaming the individual child it is about sharing the problem and tackling it by making changes.

Sally’s posts on this subject make for good helpful reading to help tackle this epidemic…

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2019/10/17/smorgasbord-health-column-the-obesity-epidemic-part-four-finding-a-point-to-intervene-in-the-life-cycle-7-14-healthy-diet-for-brain-function-and-hormon/

That’s it for this week ...Please let me have your favourite pumpkin/Halloween recipes and if you have any ideas for Christmas table decorations instead of buying crackers which invariably add to the plastic mountain…

pumpkin-ghosts-Halloween

I for one am not buying crackers this year so looking for some great ideas from you guys…xxx

About Carol Taylor:

Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

Thank you once again for reading this post I hope you all have a great weekend 🙂 xx

 

The Culinary Alphabet…The letter S…Salmagundi?

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Now S should be an easy one as I can think of many items which begin with S.  I do however like to throw in the odd curveball and come up with at least one which you may not have heard of or don’t know what it means…Z the last letter of the alphabet which I thought would be the shortest post ever for me is looking quite good I think honour will go to X as that is looking quite sparse at the moment…Any ideas gratefully received…The full blog post can be found over at Esme’s Salon…

Header letter S Culinary Alphabet

The first recipe today is:-

Salsa

My favourite is this one.  Mango and avocado with red onion.

Ingredients:

  • 1 mango, diced
  • 1 medium avocado, diced
  • ½ medium red onion, finely chopped
  • ½ bunch fresh coriander (about 1/2 cup chopped)
  • Juice of 1 medium lime (about 2tbsp)
  • 1/4 tsp salt and a pinch of black pepper, to taste

Let’s Cook!

In a medium bowl, combine diced mango, avocado, finely chopped red onion, and chopped coriander. If you like a hint of spice like me then add chopped chili.

Squeeze 2tbsp of fresh lime juice over the top and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Toss gently to combine and serve. If not serving right away, cover and refrigerate.

Sage

Is one of my most used herbs in my cookery I love sage. Sage is probably most well known as one of the main ingredients of sage and onion stuffing, which is traditionally served on Christmas Day with roast turkey or roast goose.

Sage is another herb that has been around for thousands of years and which was not only used in cooking but also as a popular medicine. In fact, the word sage derives from the Latin “salvare”, which means to heal or to save.

Culinary I use it with both chicken and pork.  Sage can be bought cut fresh or dried from your local supermarket. You can grow sage in your garden, although if you live in a cold climate, it will not grow as well as in a warm and sunny country.

Dried sage can keep for about six months but must be stored in an airtight container or glass jar.

Cut fresh sage leaves should be stored in the refrigerator in a plastic bag or you may wrap them in a damp paper towel to maintain their freshness for as long as possible. They will usually last for three or four days.

Freshly picked sage leaves from your garden will keep for at least a week longer if stored wrapped in a damp paper towel and placed in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.

Ideas for using sage in cooking

Sage is not only ideal for flavouring meat or poultry dishes, but it also goes well with cheese, apples, and tomatoes. Try some of the ideas below.

  • Use to make your own homemade stuffing mixed with onion.
  • Use to flavour homemade vegetable soups.
  • Add to your homemade sausage mix or sausage stew.
  • Add some chopped sage leaves to macaroni cheese or other cheese dishes.
  • Sprinkle chopped sage leaves or dried sage onto toasted rustic or French bread rubbed with garlic and drizzled with olive oil.
  • Now add a fresh tomato and cheese salad.
  • Use sage to season and flavor any type of tomato sauce for pasta.
  • Add a small amount of fresh sage to a cheese omelette or frittata.

 

 

  • Sprinkle freshly cut sage leaves onto your pizza.
  • Use to flavor roast chicken or fish.
  • Fry sage leaves in butter to make a delicious sauce for pasta.
  • Use sage in your own homemade pâté recipe.
  • Add some chopped sage to your bread recipe.
  • Rub sage and garlic into pork chops before grilling.

Salmagundi

Is a mixture of foods combined with or without sauce and served cold.  It dates back to Elizabethian times and was a favourite with pirates on the high seas…A stew…A changing recipe from region to region and countries it can be anything from a dry stew to a salad where the ingredients included fruits, nuts, citrus juice, herbs and vegetables, and meats.  A showpiece sometimes or just a family favourite.

Now you have had a taster you need to head over to Esme’s lovely blog to see what other delights I have for you…See you there and please leave a comment as I get pretty lonely over there sometimes and we all know how much I love to chat…xxx Esme will also give you a very warm welcome…Thank you for hosting me again this month Esme…x

Thank you for reading this post I hope there was something that piqued your interest if you liked it please share or reblog, Thank you xx

About Carol:

Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use to have to improve our health and wellbeing.

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

Carol is a contributor to the Phuket Island Writers Anthology

Connect to Carol (Moi)

Blog
Twitter
Facebook 
Pinterest

Thank you once again for reading this post and if you love it please feel free to share or bookmark for later.  If you have any queries then drop me an email carolcookstwo@gmail.com  xx

 

The Culinary Alphabet…Letter R…

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Once a month I can be found over @Esme Salon where I am going through the Culinary Alphabet which this month is the letter R…Of course, @ numero one is my favourite which is of course Rice…Please pop over and have a look I get pretty lonely over there at this time of the month…It would be great to see you there…Come and say hello and see what else apart from rice begins with the Letter R…

Header for the Culinary Alphabet Letter R

Starting with my favourite carb which is?

Rice

There are several grains called rice, which have been cultivated for thousands of years. Asian rice (Oryza sativa) is most widely known and most widely grown, with two major subspecies and over 40,000 varieties. When I first came to Thailand that is when I realized just how many different rices that there were and also colours. The main kinds of rice I cook with are Jasmine Rice, Brown Rice, Black Rice and sticky rice ( glutinous rice)…Thailand is also one of the major exporters of rice and it is the staple food for many here even the dogs eat rice…Mine will not touch dog biscuits or tinned food and many dogs here are the same…

Before I came to live in Thailand I had been on a few holidays here and liked to cook Thai food at home… Mainly it was a disaster I just couldn’t cook a bowl of nice fried rice…It was absolutely awful…

Since living here I have had a few lessons from my daughter in law as to the error of my ways and now I can make a stir fry and hold my head up amongst most Thai cooks.

I will now show you how to make the perfect fried rice

Rice must be cooked and cold so generally, if you have had rice the night before and have leftovers then it is a way to use it up.

That was my first big mistake and why I had clumpy rice which stuck to the pan and why I didn’t ever get that nice dry fried rice.

However, if you must use freshly steamed rice, just try to make sure your bowl of rice has cooled off and that it’s somewhat dried out before you get started.

Fried rice can be anything any vegetables or little bits of leftover chicken or shrimp (prawns) and you can have a bowl of lovely fried rice to go with many a meal.  Traditionally served here with sliced cucumber, spring (green) onions and a chilli dip it is a dish many young children eat or maybe something eaten for a quick lunch or as an accompaniment to other dishes.

Fried Rice

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups cooked cold rice
• 3/4 Spring Onions
• ¼ of white onion chopped
• 2/3 cloves of garlic chopped
• ½ leaves of Chinese cabbage or other cabbage ( optional)
• 1 Egg
• ½ tbsp Oyster Sauce
• ½ tbsp Soy Sauce

For chilli Sauce

Ingredients:

• 5 Thai chillies finely sliced
• 3 tbsp Fish Sauce
• ½ a fresh lime

If you are using shrimp( prawns) then start with the whole fresh shrimp, pinch of the head and de-shell the body leaving the tail on ( Thai style) at the same time try to retain that lovely shrimp oil from inside the head this is what gives your fried rice a wonderful red colour and a nice rich flavour.

Let’s Cook!

Chilli and fish sauce aka prik nam pla

This little dish is always served alongside your Fried rice whenever you eat it in a restaurant…

Just finely chop the chillies and add the fish sauce and a squeeze of lime. That’s it!

Making fried rice only takes about 15 minutes or less to make and this recipe serves ones.

All you need is a wok and a spatula.  Serving more than 1 person just double up.  The more you make this dish you will get a feel for it and will instinctively know how much of this and that you need just by taste.

  1. Firstly peel and finely chop your garlic.
  2. Slice about a quarter of your white onion
  3. Finely slice 3-4 green onions
  4. If you are using Chinese cabbage slice in half along the spine and then slice into 1 cm strips.
  5. Heat your wok or suitable pan and add about a tbsp of oil once your oil is hot add your garlic and stir fry continuously for about 15 seconds we don’t want burnt garlic do we?
  6. Throw in the shrimp and fry for about 30 seconds. Your shrimp should just start to turn pink then add just about less than half of your rice which will soak up all those lovely juices stir fry for about 10 seconds push all the rice to one side and crack the egg into the empty side swirl the egg and let it cook for a few seconds and then start to mix with the rice and shrimp.
  7. This was my second big mistake I used to just pour the egg straight over the rice hence a claggy, clumpy mess which no one wanted to eat.
  8. Then stir in the remainder of your rice and you should have a lovely dry fried rice with separate grains
  9. Now add your soy sauce and oyster sauce and stir, some people add a little sugar at this point. I don’t
  10. Now add your chopped Chinese cabbage and white onions and stir fry for about 30 seconds and then toss in your spring onions and stir for a few seconds a little longer if you like your vegetables a little softer.

Place on a plate with a slice of lime and spring onion and your little bowl of chili dip. If you want it to look extra special put it in a little bowl and turn out on the plate as pictured.

A little sprinkle of fish sauce and some fresh chillies on top of your fried rice with and an extra squeeze of lime just elevates your fried rice to another level.

Younger children, here are generally given just fried rice with egg and a little spring onion and maybe some very finely diced carrot. Fried rice is one of those dishes where anything goes.  As little or as much as you like.

Sometimes if I have a few shrimp (prawns) or half a breast of chicken or a thigh leftover I bag them and they are ideal for 1 serving of fried rice. We all have leftover vegetables chop them and put in your fried rice. For one all you need is a small piece of carrot maybe a couple of peas or a floret of broccoli cut small and bobs your uncle and you have fried rice.

Truly anything goes it is one of those dishes where you really can add almost anything I suppose a bit like you would do when topping your pizza.

To continue reading please click this link…

About Carol Taylor:

Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.

The environment is also something I am passionate about and there will be more on this on my blog this year

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

MeWe

More and more of my blogging friends have joined me on MeWe…A social media site which is fairly new and which promises much without the restrictions some other social media sites are choosing to impose on many of us.  Join me if you will on  mewe.com/i/caroltaylor3 

Carol is a contributor to the Phuket Island Writers Anthology: https://www.amazon.com/Phuket-Island-Writers-Anthology-Stories-ebook/dp/B00RU5IYNS

Connect to Carol

Blog: https://carolcooks2.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheRealCarolT
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carol.taylor.1422

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/caroltaylor56/pins/

Thank you once again for reading this post I hope you all are having a great weekend and have a creative week ahead xx

If you missed any of the previous installments, please hop over and enjoy the previous posts