Welcome to series 3 of the Culinary Alphabet…WHERE the middle letter is C…

Nothing is as it seems here…this new series is the brainchild of Chel Owens who writes at A wife, My Verse, and Every Little Thing…my followers are so good to me they think up all sorts of permutations of the Alphabet…not sure if they want me to call it quits or what they will come up with next…Chel like Pete, however, will be called on to make her contribution every two weeks…they don’t get off scot-free…so I hope you have started brainstorming Chel…haha x

So what’s in store? In this series the A, B, C, etc will be the middle letter, for example, Brawn, Cabbage, and Yucca… how easy that will be who knows I am sure some of the letters of the alphabet could cause the grey matter to rebel or implode…haha…I also don’t want to use plurals to form a word as I may need that word for another letter and its sort of cheating I think…unless of course I really get stuck…which I am sure will happen…

Artichoke:

The globe artichoke is the immature bud of a thistle… a flower…The leaves are called bracts and the fuzzy centre called a choke which sits on top of the delicious meaty core which is called the heart the part that is completely edible.

As the artichoke was the subject of a recent post please click this link for recipes and more information on the delicious Artichoke…

Ashcake:

Ashcake (also known as Ash bread; Fire cake) is a type of bread baked over a layer of heated stones or sand and covered over in hot ashes, a practice still found principally in Arabian countries, especially among Bedouins.

It is also a rustic Vietnamese cake made from glutinous rice then covered with the ash of shell rice and eaten with honey.

Avocado:

The Avocado is botanically a large berry containing a single large seed…highly nutritious it contains more potassium than a banana. Also known as alligator pears to butter fruit…from guacamole dips to salads, wraps, smoothies and even brownies… they are included in almost everything now as deemed to be so nutritious…a superfood…me I love guacamole and don’t mind them in salads or a wrap but not in a smoothie and most definitely not in my chocolate mousse…

Bacon:

Now bacon is another thing and I could probably eat bacon with almost anything…with a Sunday morning breakfast, in a burger, a quiche, jalapeno poppers, wrapped around a sausage so many uses…even crisped and crumbled over or in ice cream…

Biscuit:

In England, the biscuit is a biscuit think a dipping in your tea biscuit however MY American cousins call a biscuit what we Brits call a scone…go figure… of course, we are correct…

Biscuits with grits and crispy bacon for breakfast I quite like however a nice scone with clotted cream and jam is a wonderful thing…

Carcass:

Chicken carcasses make wonderful stocks and soups…even a turkey carcass my mother used to make a beautiful soup with the turkey carcass…I learnt from an early age to waste nothing…I had a good teacher…my mum x

In my opinion, Thais make the best soups and stocks their Chicken Noodle Soup is loved and known the world over…

Chicken:

A low-fat healthy meat providing it comes from chooks which are allowed to roam free and not fed chemicals…Eaten and used by cooks around the world be it steamed, fried, roasted, tossed on the barbie…used in curries or with pasta, potatoes or rice it is a versatile low-cost nutritious meat.

Chicory:

Used for centuries in cooking and traditional medicines …chicory is also used to make a coffee alternative does anyone remember Camp Coffee? The pale yellow leaves are also often used in salads…the plant also has beautiful blue flowers.

Cocoa:

Although I don’t drink it often I love a drink of hot cocoa…a highly concentrated powder made from chocolate liquor—a paste prepared from cocoa beans, the fruit of the cacao—and used in beverages and as a flavouring ingredient. Cocoa is the key ingredient in chocolate and chocolate confections.

Cracker;

A dry, thin, crispy baked bread (usually salty or savoury,..eaten with hard cheese or cream cheese they are a nice snack.

Cupcake:

Cupcakes now are nothing like the cupcakes my mother used to make they are now in some cases quite decorative and even used as celebration cakes or wedding cakes such has the humble cupcake evolved.

Gnocchi:

Gnocchi beautifully made can be a glorious thing or just something you would rather not eat…it is not pasta as is often thought It is actually a dumpling made out of potatoes.

You can serve gnocchi with a variety of sauces and toppings such as cheese, tomato sauce, cream or pesto, just like pasta.

Ketchup:

Tomato ketchup…made with tomatoes, sugar, vinegar/acetic acid and spices and is not to be confused with tomato sauce although as a Brit I have always called tomato ketchup …tomato sauce and still do…Although the recipe is different for the UK…we have never called it ketchup but sauce.

Mocha:

Mocha is a high-quality type of coffee made from a specific coffee bean. It’s easily confused with the flavoured drink also called a mocha, which combines coffee and chocolate. Mocha coffee beans are from the plant species called Coffee arabica, and it was originally only grown in Mocha, Yemen.

Muscovy Duck:

Muscovy Duck is the only domesticated duck that isn’t descended from Mallard ducks. … When young, these ducks are considered very good eating, with lean, tender meat, with a taste more like veal than other duck. They have larger breasts than Common Ducks. Usually, just the breast meat is sold, which is quite lean.

Nacho:

A tortilla chip topped with melted cheese and often additional savoury toppings (such as hot peppers or refried beans)

Oatcake:

Is a type of flatbread cooked on a griddle or baked in an oven…Oatmeal is the main ingredient and it can be enjoyed with a sweet or savoury topping for example cream cheese and smoked salmon or bananas and cinnamon.

Pancake:

Pancakes some love them thick and I like mine thin and crispy with lemon and sugar although I am coming around to pancakes with maple syrup.

Pecan:

A smooth shelled brown nut similar to a walnut…the pecan’s distinct flavour and texture is the result of its high levels of monosaturated oil – in fact, it’s the fattiest of all nuts. It goes well in both savoury and sweet dishes, most famously pecan pie, a classic recipe from the American south.

Poached:

If something is poached it is cooked in a liquid…it is a gentle way to cook and an ideal cooking method for eggs, fish and fruits…the cooking liquid can be quite simply water as in poached eggs, milk, stock or wine…

Popcorn:

A popular snack that can be very healthy if air-popped and lightly seasoned or very unhealthy if popped in fat and loaded with calorific toppings…it can also be used to flavour ice cream…

Porcini:

An earthy, meaty flavoured mushroom…This mushroom is generally agreed by connoisseurs to be among the finest eating mushrooms…They can also be very expensive, particularly when fresh, although dried ceps tend to be of better value.

Radicchio:

Is part of the chicory family and often referred to as Italian chicory as it is used a lot in Italian cuisine.

It is grown as a leaf vegetable and usually has colourful white-veined red leaves that form a head. Radicchio has a bitter and spicy taste which mellows if it is grilled or roasted.

Tacos

A traditional Mexican dish that consists of a small tortilla topped with a filling and then folded.

Teacake:

Is a lightly fruited yeast-based bun that is generally split, toasted and buttered then served with tea…A British tradition.

Ricer:

A kitchen utensil with holes about the size of a grain of rice which is used to push soft food like potatoes through to make them very smooth and lump-free.

Yucca:

Yucca is one of the few roots which must be cooked as they contain cyanide…it is used in a variety of dishes in Latin American countries, Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Caribbean Islands.

That’s all for today for the letter C…

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