Thai Red Beef Curry... Update..

Have just finished eating and cleaning up... dinner again was lovely, I'm ever so grateful that everything seems to be going according to plan so far. Apart from the cheesecake which was okay but could have been better in my opinion the varying dishes I attempt seems to be turning out the way they should.

The starters of cheese and olive bites as well as cheese and sausage bites were light and tasty; the only problem was that I failed to make enough as my hungry family seemed to have wanted more particularly the kids... I think I should have reminded them that it was just a starter and not a meal on its own.... they were just meant to tickle the taste buds and leave them wanting and I guess that's what they did.



The main course of Thai Red Beef Curry, served with Basmati rice and steamed vegetables was relatively easy to make and my fear that it will perhaps go awry considering the differences in how the curry is made from what I'm used to was unfounded. In fact dinner today all in all was a piece of cake compared to the last two weeks meals. It tasted very good and the compliments as usual were positive; everyone cleared all their plates and I must say that with the family I have when they give compliments they are normally genuine and have never failed to tell me in the past when I have not made something to their liking and why.

Desert was nice; the Lemon Flummery was served with whipped cream and caramelized lemon zest. It was refreshingly cold and creamy and left me wanting more. My Sis-in-law had a helping of my coconut ice-cream made last week also and couldn't seem to get enough of it, in fact she declared it to be so nice that she wanted to try making it herself and requested the recipe; to which my response was the recipe is on my blog... lol....





As you may have noticed I have been posting recipes, I figured there was not much point me ranting and raving about the foods I make if no one can attempt to make them themselves after reading my rants... so if you should try anything... I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Coconut Ice Cream

4 egg yolks 125 g (4 oz) caster sugar
1767 g (6 oz) grated creamed coconut.
300 ml (1/2 pint) milk
300 ml (1/2 pint) double cream
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 tbsp dessicated coconut (omit if not desired)
Strawberry fans to decorate/pineapple slices


Method:
1. Put the egg yolks and sugar into a bowl and whisk until light in color

2. Heat the milk in a heavy pan with the coconut cream, allowing the coconut to melt. Heat to just below boiling point. Add a little of the hot milk to the egg-yolk mixture and stir to blend, then pour in the remaining milk.

3. Pour back into the pan and heat gently, stirring until the froth disappears and the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Do not boil.

4. Leave the custard to cool, then stir in the cream and vanilla essence and dessicated coconut.

5. Pour into a container and freeze for 3 hours. Tip into a bowl and mash to break down the ice crystals. Return to container. Freeze for 2 hours. Mash and Freeze for another 2 hours.

Remove from the freezer 30 minutes before serving and decorate as pleased.

Friendly Tip: If you require a delicate flavoring of coconut then cut down on the amount of grated coconut cream used as this ice-cream made according to this recipe will be very rich in coconut. To make Vanilla ice-cream omit the coconut and add more vanilla essence (1 1/2-2 tsp).

Tropical Fruit Cheesecake

Ingredients: (Serves 10)

2 Ripe Mangoes
150ml (1/4 pint) mango and apple fruit juice (any juice of your choice)
2 tbsp powdered gelatin
250g (8 0z) full-fat soft cheese, at room temperature
125g (4 oz) caster sugar
2 eggs, separated
150ml (1/4 pint) whipping cream, whipped until thick

Biscuit Base

125g (4 oz) coconut biscuits, crushed
2 tbsp dessicated coconut
60g (2 oz) butter, melted
30g (1oz) demerara sugar
Decoration

2 Kiwi fruit, peeled and sliced
1 x 250g (8 oz) can pineapple pieces in natural juice, drained
* 23 cm (9 in) loose-bottomed or spring form cake tin.

1. Make the biscuit base: Mix together the biscuits, melted butter and sugar, and press evenly over the bottom of the tin.

2. Slice the mango flesh away from the stones, peel then puree in a food processor.

3. Pour the fruit juice into a heatproof bowl, and sprinkle the gelatin over the top. Leave for about 10 minutes until it becomes spongy. Stand the bowl in a small pan of hot water, and heat gently until the gelatin has dissolved.

4. In a large bowl, beat the soft cheese until smooth and creamy. Beat in half of the caster sugar, the egg yolks and the mango puree. gradually beat in the gelatin mixture.

5. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff but not dry (these can be whisked in a mixer if you have one) Whisk in the remaining sugar, 1 tsp at a time, and continue to whisk at a high speed until the sugar is incorporated and the mixture is stiff and glossy.

6. Fold the whipped cream into the cheese and mango mixture, then fold in the egg whites. Pour on to the biscuit base and chill until set.

7. Use a knife to loosen the side of the cheesecake, then remove from the tin. Slide on to a serving plate. Decorate the top with slices of kiwi fruit and pieces of pineapple before serving.

Friendly Tip:

Having followed the recipe please be mindful of the amount of liquid used as if your mangoes are juicy then you may need to cut down on the amount of juice you use. Good luck and enjoy if you choose to make this desert.

Thai Red Beef Curry...

After many hours of perusing the cook book, deliberating and lamenting on whether or not the varying dishes I looked at would appeal to my palate I have finally settled on making a curry.

Yes I know it's not a Chinese meal but hey it's close sort of... it's Thai... It sounds good and I fancy beef this week, the last 2 weeks were Chicken dishes and one can only eat so much chicken before fancying something different... though I think I will still have to do some chicken as the curry may just be a tad too spicy for my niece's and nephew. My brother has volunteered himself and family to be my guinea pigs again this week.

Making the Thai Red Beef Curry will be a challenge as it's very different from how us West Indian's normally make our curry dishes.However I'm not going to be daunted as you won't know if you can do something until you try so I shall continue trying... as long as I stick to the recipe then surely I can't go wrong. Right??

I shall update you on the outcome and the feedback received from my guinea pigs of the week.

Starters...not very Thai/Chinese inspired will be Cheese and Olive bites (some will be substituted with sausages for the kids) ... it is literally olives covered by a cheesy pastry.

For desert: A frozen Lemon Flummery, as usual desert will be made on Saturday as it requires a minimum of 14 hours prior to serving. My audience will prefer Pavlova as my nephew and sister-in-law really enjoyed it last week after I sent them some, but I intend to stick to my plans of trying something different every week for the time being.

And so I shall say... Watch this Space for an update on the meal of the week.

Sporting Heroics

So the West Indies cricket team have prevailed and managed to draw a match that from beginning looked completely out of their hands and boy do I feel great... I was jumping up and down screeching like a happy puppy... simple things that pleases us huh...

:)

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Yeahhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My Slice of Heaven...Awaits...

Work today was better than yesterday my grouchy mood somehow disipated and I spent my lunch hour booking my flight to "Sunny SVG" in August, I can't wait to go.... that alone has ensured that a smile/ or maybe I should say that I maintained a better mood throughout the day.

With thoughts of going home in my head nothing could put a dampener on my day, not even when I had to try and communicate in English to two Brazilians who clearly had no great understanding of the English language and the UK's Government and Benefit system, even after nearly an hour and a half of gesticulating and rephrasing and a headache, I was still upbeat.... only one thought in my head..home, awaiting... my own little slice of heaven tucked away where only I can access.... willing the months to roll on by.


On the cooking front....

I'm still trying to figure out what to make on Sunday, I'm sure I'll get some sort of inspiration soon, but for now different recipes look appealing but not quite appealing... can't quite explain.

I seem to have encouraged some little monsters as well, my older brother has somehow heard through the grapevine (his wife) that I intend to cook a different meal every Sunday and has kindly volunteered himself and family to be my guinea pigs once again this week, not sure if this is a good thing, with only 2 of us in my household we normally have the left-over on a Monday. The last time I invited him around on Sunday he came back on the Monday and ate my dinner and had the cheek to send me a text saying thanks for dinner on both nights... lol... Brothers!! You really have to love them right.... mines they're annoying but I love them dearly...