Good morning everyone and Pete… time for another post which is this crazy idea from one of my fellow scribes …but food fun…this week its food or cookery terms that end with the letter X… surprisingly I  found a few …All good fun once again!

Next week is the final post of the series which has been fun and a learning curve…never to old to learn new tricks…lol

Beeswax:

Made from the honeycomb of the honeybee and other bees. The mixing of pollen oils into honeycomb wax turns the white wax into a yellow or brown colour.

In foods and beverages, white beeswax and beeswax absolute (yellow beeswax treated with alcohol) is used as a non-gelling thickener.

Mixed with a combination of olive oil, honey and beeswax it has been shown to reduce dermatitis and psoriasis.

Another tip is that if you have some pure beeswax you can use it to grease your baking tins and after a few uses it will build up and dispense with the need to grease the tin…I also came across a lovely sounding recipe for canels which given that I was researching beeswax and candles at first I thought it was a typo so clicked the link and they are beautiful little French pastries…

A  small French pastry flavoured with rum and vanilla with a soft and tender custard centre and a dark, thick caramelized crust. It takes the shape of a small, striated cylinder up to five centimetres in height with a depression at the top. A speciality of the Bordeaux region of France, today it is widely available in pâtisseries in France and abroad.

Which brings me nicely onto number two in my list…

Bordeaux:

Is a region in France and it is also one of my all-time favourite red wines…not forgetting the memorable Bordeaux white wines the taste is sublime…Having already completed a marathon(26.2)miles I would happily dust of my running shoes and partake in this one…Marathon du Medoc…

If you are a lover of a great Bordeaux then read this…Vintage Guide.

Breadbox:

As its name suggests it is where to keep your bread…

Choux:

A beautiful pastry dough think profiteroles and eclairs…

Cox:

No, it’s not an orange…for those of you who have read previous posts…lol…it is an Apple a beautiful apple and one I miss…Known however as the “Cox’s Orange Pippin” first grown in 1830, at Colnbrook in Buckinghamshire, England, by the retired brewer and horticulturist Richard Cox.

An apple which is not too sweet and has a slightly sour note…probably one of my favourite eating apples…

Sauté a quartered and peeled Cox’s apple in butter with a handful of sultanas until golden. Add a lug of calvados, a sprinkling of sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice and continue to cook until just tender. Delicious served with ice cream and pancakes…Delicious!

Flax:

Also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, Linum usitatissimum, in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fibre crop in regions of the world with a temperate climate.

Now classed as a superfood the health properties of the flax goes back centuries…In fact, Charles the Great ordered his subjects to eat flax seeds for their health. So it’s no wonder they acquired the name Linum usitatissimum, meaning “the most useful.”

Fruit and Veg Box:

If you cannot grow your own then local fruit and vegetable boxes are fruits and vegetables which are in season, freshly harvested and you are supporting your local farmer win-win all round…You may find something you haven’t tried before which always a bonus …they can also work out more cost-effective and delivered to your door…It doesn’t get much better than that…

Gateaux:

Yes, it’s a fancy cake...a celebration cake…BUT what is the difference between a cake and a Gateaux? A cake is a sweet dish which is made out of flour, eggs, sugar and leavening agent. … Whereas gateau is derived from French which means sponge or foam cake. The main ingredients are flour, eggs and no leavening agent will be used. It has more layers when compared to a cake.

Gravadlax:

A Nordic salmon dish made by using a cure of salt, sugar and dill…usually served as an appetiser…thinly sliced and served on bread with a dill and mustard sauce called hovmästarsås, or served with boiled potatoes instead of bread.

Lox:

A fillet of brined salmon often served in bagels with cream cheese…

Mirepoix:

A sautéed mixture of diced vegetables (such as carrots, celery, and onions), herbs, and sometimes ham or bacon used especially as a basis for soups, stews, and sauces. Also, one way to show of your knife skills as a chef …often young chefs are charged with doing this and spend hours honing that craft as every single piece should be the same size, not an easy task…

Roux:

Is a mixture of flour and fat cooked together and used to thicken sauces. Roux is typically made from equal parts of flour and fat by weight. The flour is added to the melted fat or oil on the stovetop, blended until smooth, and cooked to the desired level of brownness.

There are three types of roux: white, blonde and brown. They all contain the same ingredients equal parts flour and fat—but the colours differ based on how long you cook the mixture. Again a job for a young chef…

Smokebox:

They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes from a basic homemade one to quite a fancy one…

Don’t have a smokebox and want to smoke some fish or meat now? Easy…

Toadflax:

That’s all for today I hope you have found something interesting and unknown…I hope Pete can oblige with something I haven’t mentioned ending in X…I am so kind to Pete…haha…x

Stay safe, have fun and laugh a lot as you know what I am going to say it is free and proven to be good for your health…..Laughter aside…My thoughts and prayers are with all the people who have been or will be touched by this Covid-19 virus…the new lockdowns and ongoing travel restrictions…stay safe be aware and social isolate where required and we will beat this thing…Vaccination programmes are taking off around the world so many of you will now have had your first jab it does seem that there are still those who are wavering or just flatly refusing…my thoughts on that?

Thank you so much for your visit today I hope you have enjoyed the read…Please feel free to leave a comment as you know I love to chat…Love Carol xxx