White Pudding Savoury Rice

Thank you to the lovely Jane Willis for this recipe , ps it is her birthday today so if you like pop over and say Happy Birthday to her , suitable gifts would be tea, wine and bracelets but other than that just a kind word or 2 will suffice. You will find Jane blogging comps over at Compersgrapevine and as her talents know no bounds she also blogs recipes also she is awfully crafty as well displaying this in her craft blog Onions and Paper.

When I was dreaming up this dish, I called it a pilaff, but when we tasted it, it was so deeply rich and savoury that it was crying out to have the simpler name of savoury rice! We ate it with a green salad, but you could add some colour and make it into a one pot meal by stirring in about 125g fresh or frozen peas about 5  minutes before the end of the cooking time.

Ingredients  to serve 4

1 large onion, chopped

1 tbs oil

15 g butter

60 g diced pancetta or streaky bacon

200 g white pudding, diced into pieces about 1 cm cubed

one mugful of long grain or basmati rice

two mugfuls of water or light chicken stock

black pepper and a little salt

a few grates of nutmeg

Method

Heat the oil and butter in a flameproof casserole and gently fry the onion until soft. Add the bacon or pancetta and cook for 3-4 minutes then add the white pudding and cook for 5 minutes more, stirring constantly.

Stir in the rice and cook for a minute until it starts to look translucent, then pour in all the liquid and season lightly (the bacon and white pudding are pretty salty) with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Bring to the boil then cover and reduce the heat to very low. Cook, stirring frequently, until the rice is tender and all the liquid absorbed. This will take 15-20 minutes depending on your rice. If it is very tender and there is still some liquid left, turn up the heat to drive off the moisture. The texture should be soft but dryish.

Annoying Fringe Syndrome

Annoying fringe syndrome ?

Do you suffer from it ?

Are you constantly blowing said fringe out of your hair ?

Are you resisting taking the scissors to it ?


Annoying fringe syndrome ?

Do you suffer from it ?

Are you constantly blowing said fringe out of your hair ?

Are you resisting taking the scissors to it ?








Also my first attempt at vlogging bear with me.

A Time To Remember

I got to thinking.

At 6.08 am precisely.

About the lights out for the First World War, I was all for the light as a way of respect , but you see respect for one event doesn't mean you are thinking of any other situation less.

Yesterday I had tweeted:

"War is always going on sadly ,there is always a quest for peace . Just because I RT world war 1 stuff doesn't mean I think less of Gaza"

And in fact some of my friends tweeted back there are 32 wars going on ~ shocking.

For me the First World War brought family secrets/ sacrifice back to the forefront , so lighting a candle was a small but significant mark of respect.

And that's the key lesson respect for when you have respect of one situation then very often it will help you develop empathy for others.

Fairy Kisses Jam Biscuits

Baking is often born out of boredom or whimsical wandering a for me , the Victoria Sponge cake still alludes me , I 've no idea why but it terrifies me! One day one day  I shall bake a Victoria Sponge but for now I have just baked fairy kisses an ideal to bake with your child/children and no egg and you could even bake it with gluten free flour.

Fairy kisses ideal for a little snack upon a fairy glade in a quiet wood, or perhaps tea in the garden ( weather permitting of course!

Ingredients

6/8 ozs of low fat spread ( you might find you only need 6 ) 

100g caster sugar

2 tea spoon vanilla essence.

Plain flour.

Raspberry Jam

Method

Preheat the oven to 180c

First sift the flour into a bowl.

Then add the spread and sugar , try adding just the 6 oz (spread) if you want less spread the resulting biscuits won't be dry.

Now you could either use a mixer to cream the mixture together, but I just rubbed the fat into the flour gently. This is a task you could get your child / children to do.

At this point you will have a dough. I placed mine in a food bag and chilled for half an hour ( both myself and the dough)

After the half an hour , fetch the dough from the fridge.

Tear off a brussel sprout size piece of dough , roll it into a ball.

Place several the balls into a greased baking tray and gently squash with your palm or the back of a spoon.

Then press your thumb gently into each squashed ball so as it leave a little indent.

Then spoon jam into the indent taking care not to over fill.

Then place in the oven for 12 minutes or until golden brown. You will have enough dough to bake 2 batches.

Perfect to enjoy with a cup of coffee for your cheeky elevenses and I love my coffee machine , it gives me a taste of being in Italy * I have yet to get to Italy but with a good coffee machine and a cup of coffee I am half way there.

Sunday Peak Photo

Upon the Peak

I stand 

Master and surveyor 

Of the land

Where 

Thoughts wistfully want

To conquer

More peaks 

No pits or knots

In my stomach 

For confidance 

Overrides any silly

Irrational 

Fear