March 3. Stormy weather makes for great cooking

  "The weather bomb" that could have been much worse.

Throughout the night it was a little freaky, the wind and rain certainly let us know they were there, they seemed to swirl and twirl around the house never settling too long anywhere.
The dogs spent (what felt like the entire night) pacing the hallway,the clip clip of their claws on the wooden floor was another reminder of the unsettled weather around us, even Kodak (who is deaf) got in on the hall parade... it was a long night...

The morning was somewhat calm and dare I say it, warm. Throughout the day it's been a bit weird with moments of pure calm, then major bursts of high winds with torrential rain.

Talk about wind in the Willows! our poor trees took a battering, but have stood up well.

What do you do when faced with weather ambush?

You create in the Kitchen that's what!

Recipe share 1.

Maggie's Muesli: this recipe makes about 12 servings of breakfast muesli and is a fantastic starter to your day, it's a slow energy release recipe that will sustain you easily until lunch. I double the recipe as it keeps for ages

Ingredients:

2 cups rolled oats

1.5 cups shredded coconut

1. 1/4 cup wheatgerm

1/2 cup wheat bran

1/2 cup raw (unsalted), bashed mixed nuts (I bash mine in bag)

1/2 cup sesame seeds

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup liquid honey

2/3 cup vegetable oil (not olive oil)

1/2 cup dried fruit

Prep Method:

Set oven to 180'

Place first 8 ingredients into mixing bowl or baking dish (I prefer a deep baking bowl to prep).

Mix honey and oil together either in pan or microwave just to warm.

Pour honey/oil mix over dry mix and mix thoroughly (using your hands is best)

Transfer mix to baking dish and level out

Oven:

Transfer dish to oven

about every 5 minutes YOU MUST stir mixture to ensure heat reaches all ingredients evenly, the aim is to toast all ingredients from top to bottom.

When complete, remove from oven and let dish sit to cool (I usually take dish to a cool room like laundry).

When completely cool (an only then) add the dried fruit. If you add fruit to early it will harden and ruin dish)

Transfer Toasted Muesli to a air tight container and eat at your leisure!

      Prepped ingredients,
ready to transfer to baking dish    

              
                     Prepped and ready for oven 

  

             Stir every 5 mins                 

      

Leave to cool down

 

 Recipe share 2.

Caramelised Onion.
This a wee take on Annabel Langbeins steak sauce dish, this dish was a complete winner and is really easy. I made 2 different dishes from this batch.

Ingredients:

6 red onions (a mix of red and white is fine)

1.5 cups water

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp oil

1 tsp salt

pepper 

Method:

peel and cut onions into wedges.

Place all ingredients in to a large pot and bring to boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for 40 45 mins, stir now and again until onions are soft and juices are all but gone.

Remove from heat and cool to store or use for next recipe.

Sausage and Mash with Caramelised Onion.

Using 2 cups of the prepared caramelised onions add 1.5  cups of quality beef stock. Thicken with 2 tsp of cornflour mixed to a paste with a little water and simply simmer for 1-2 mins.

Make Mash Tatties (tip! - don't add butter when mashing, add it after and beat with wooden spoon, they come out so much better)

Cook sausages how you like them

Put tatties on plate, lay sausages on top and pour caramelised onions on top..it's a winner.

Caramelised Onion soup with Cheesy toast.

Use 2 cups of the prepared caramelised onions and add 2.5 cups of quality beef stock. Thicken with 2 tsp of cornflour mixed to a paste with a little water and simply simmer for 1-2 mins.

Make cheesy toast and sprinkle some Lea and Perins on top.

Then just serve.

The perfect stormy weather soup..yum.

 Thought for the day:

If you always tell the truth, you never have to remember what you said.