My Wok and I

The Humble Banana and the Mighty Egg

I never quite know whether to believe a lot of the stuff that’s put out the Internet as truth. It can be a bit like listening to the opinions of the guys in the bar after a few drinks.

The humble egg is either much maligned or praised beyond recognition. They either give you food poisoning or make you fat and give you high cholesterol. Or, they are the food of fitness fanatics and body builders.

I feel that probably they are somewhere in between, leaning towards the fitness brigade.

Bananas are one of the healthiest foods around. I read some years back in the Readers Digest, that if the malnourished children of the world were fed bananas malnutrition could be eliminated.

Nobody listens though.

It’s not easy to think of a way to serve bananas as part of meal as a dessert or at breakfast. Picture a soft white banana lying between two big red strawberries or purple plums. Not an attractive sight. Normally we’d just cut them up and have them with ice cream or custard. I also use them as the basis to any smoothie I make.

I first saw this way to serve bananas in a woman’s magazine years ago, before anyone had heard of probiotics and Active 8 cultures. Yoghurt though has been a staple food in the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern diet for centuries.

This relatively simple to prepare dish is ideal for a healthy breakfast and it makes a healthy dessert.

Baked Banana with Yoghurt.

What you need;

Fresh good quality banana or bananas, depending on how many you need.

Yoghurt, low or fat free plain yoghurt preferably with probiotic “Active8” cultures.

Honey, optional.

What to do;

You don’t need to use your big kitchen oven, the kitchen top small oven grill is fine to use.

Set the oven to about 350F degrees around 160C.

This temperature works fine for my small oven, different ovens may vary.

It’s best not to try and have the oven too hot, the banana will split and you’ll lose all the nice banana juices.

I line my oven tray with kitchen foil, shiny side down, to help stop the direct heat onto the bananas and to catch any juices that leak out. You can pour them onto your banana if they haven’t burnt.

When the oven has reached the working temperature place your bananas on the grill rack and bake for about 15 minutes. The skin will turn a browny black colour. Test by gently squeezing with your finger and thumb (trying not to burn yourself), you want the banana to feel quite soft before the skin splits. Once they are ready, they go too soft very quickly. It’ll take a few tries to get them how you like them. A little trial and error may be needed.

When they are ready split lengthways with point of a sharp knife, open them up and serve with a few dollops of yoghurt and a little honey if you like.

This idea for baking bananas can also be served as an after dinner dessert.

Why the baked banana recipe?

The South Beach diet website had an article about foods to avoid that can raise your cholesterol count. They weren’t very complimentary about the humble egg. Us Brits were told to “go to work on an egg”, in the 1960’s, until we all died off in the 80’s with salmonella poisoning. But some of us survived.

I think Doctor Who came along in the Tardis and turned the clock back and we were all okay.

In 1988 we were told eggs would give you “salmonella food poisoning”. A government minister, Edwina Currie lost her job over the comment.

It was a shame she messed up over the egg controversy. She was, as far as politicians go, quite good.

According the American Heart Association our daily intake of Cholesterol should not exceed 300mg. If we have a high cholesterol count we should stay below 200mg. The article said there is 213mg of cholesterol hiding inside the egg. It doesn’t say how big an egg or how it’s cooked.

South Beach diet suggests having whole grain cereal and fruit instead.

I have Shredded wheat (the Original health food breakfast before food faddies came along) with banana or strawberries when in season as a starter. Before my healthy full English breakfast, poached or fried egg (in olive oil), grilled English bacon (Canadian here is the USA), Heinz baked beans, grilled or sautéed (posh for frying, using olive oil) mushrooms and a grilled tomato with a couple of slices of whole-wheat toast with olive oil spread.

Tiffin or Scotch Eggs

Don’t get me wrong, the South Beach diet website is excellent, full of information and recipes. I just wish these health websites would not contradict themselves a few days later.

Phase one of the South Beach diet, is quite a drastic change in your eating lifestyle, well it was for me. But they do advocate having an egg of some description 11 out of the 14 days for breakfast.

A few days after the warning about eggs and high cholesterol there was an article telling us the Seven (7) reasons to eat eggs, 3 or 4 days a week. The mighty egg is packed with all the good stuff we need, a good source of low calorie protein, minerals and vitamin A and B.

Just be careful how you have your egg.

Poached egg on a bed of spinach and mushrooms

There’s one breakfast restaurant I go to that boasts the omelettes are made with 6 yes six eggs, crazy. I never have an omelette there. When I make an omelette at home I use one large egg and egg white from a carton.

Then there’s the cheese, bacon, ham or what ever else you may like. So I can see how an egg can get a bad press. But the humble egg has so much going for it, I feel it isn’t something we should leave out of our eating plan. When I fry an egg or make an omelette I use olive oil, it makes the omelette taste better and if you’re frying an egg you need some oil.

Happy Eating

Something Different

THE VERY FIRST HUG

A long time ago in days of yore, when the World was very young, it was cold, so very very cold. At the top of the World it was even colder, it was so cold people like us would not be able to live there.

If we could have been there we would have seen that everything was white. Different shades of white but all the same, white!

Sometimes the white was very dark almost like black white other times it would look like grey white. When the whiteness looked very dark you would never think there was ever a daytime.

For a few months of the year the sky would become lighter and on these days the whiteness would glisten and sparkle like diamonds and silver. On these lighter days sometimes the sun would break through the grey skies. The sun made the whiteness wondrous to see.

The diamond and silver would sparkle from a deep orange in the morning to a blushing pink as the sun went back to sleep.

But most of the time everything was a freezing cold grey darkness.
You would think that nothing could live there but you would be wrong. Some very clever and strong animals did live there. The smallest was a rabbit, the rabbit had to be very clever or they would be caught and eaten by the bigger animals. You may wonder what the rabbit could eat, as the rabbits we know only eat grass and greenery and of course carrots.

These rabbits were different, they would eat anything they could find left over by the other animals. Can you think what colour the rabbit would be?

The animal the rabbit had to be most afraid was the white fox.

The fox was also very clever, who would lie in wait hoping to catch a rabbit. Otherwise he would have to live off the scraps left behind by a bigger animal or even catch a fish.

Sometimes in the wind you would hear a howling noise. You could never be sure if this was an animal or the wind, it may have just been the wind. But there was an animal, the very secretive white wolf that would travel hundreds of miles looking for food.

Then there was the biggest animal of them all, a giant of animal. If it stood up and raised its enormous arms it would measure 10 feet high.

We will call this giant animal Polar, as that’s where it is from. If you had seen his face, you would think he looks nasty and angry. This is because he is. If he smells or sees or even thinks there is another animal nearby. He becomes even angrier. What he didn’t know is that he was so angry because he was lonely.

This giant of an animal would move slowly and surprisingly silently for its size. When it had to, like chasing an enemy or something to eat, it could move very quickly roaring like a giant train. Which would frighten the animal being chased so much it would freeze to a standstill. When Polar was close enough it would strike it dead with a powerful blow with his enormous paws.

This freezing cold country wasn’t all a snow-covered land. It was also the frozen ocean where underneath the ice you could see fish swimming. In most places the ice was so thick you couldn’t break through. In other places you could break through the ice to make a hole to catch a fish. The rabbit was too small to make a hole but would some times be able to find a few scraps of fish left behind. If the fox was careful it could make a hole where the ice was thin enough. But had to be very careful or he would fall in. It was a very lucky day for the fox if he caught a fish. Like the rabbit it would look for the scraps of fish and bones.

It was the giant Polar who made the big holes where he would wait and catch the fish as they swam by. You would wonder how such a big animal could react so quickly when catching the fish. It was while lying there next to his hole that Polar would feel the angriest. Or as we know, he was lonely.

It was when the cold was not so cold and the sky was lighter, even a little sunshine that Polar felt the angriest. He had no friends, any other animal was so afraid of him they would run and hide if they knew he was around. Polar had only seen one face and that was his own. When he broke the hole in the ice and the cold seawater became still, it was as shiny as a mirror.

Polar would look in the mirror and see two black eyes and a black nose.

If he opened his lips like a smile he would see his big vicious teeth, yellow with sharp points and blood red gums. It would not be pretty like a smile we know.

He would lie there and stare at his reflection for a long time, not bothering to catch a fish. Maybe a fox or a white rabbit would creep as close as they dare hoping Polar would catch a fish and leave a few scraps behind. If they made the slightest sound, Polar would jump up so quickly and roar so loud the ice would shake around them.

Two evil black eyes and big black nose with the nostril flaring to his heavy breathing, he opened his lips to snarl at his reflection. Again he smashed his paw into the hole to wipe away his face. Polar stood up with an almighty roar that shook the ice he was standing on. He roared so loud he broke the ice and fell through into the water. Polar was a very swimmer, he swam to where the ice was thick enough for him to clamber out of the freezing water. His coat was made of a special fur that kept him warm and dry. With an almighty shaking of his body, just like your dog will do, he shook the water from his coat.

Polar stood up to his full height and looked into the distance.

At first he just stared, then becoming puzzled. He thought he saw something moving in the distance. There was something moving, it was a ghostly white shape coming towards him. When the shape got closer he could see it was as nearly big as him.

He watched the ghostly whiteness coming slowly towards him. At first he felt angry, he was not used to intruders coming into his world. Then he became confused. As the ghostly shape came nearer he saw the same black holes he saw in is own reflection, two black eyes and a shiny black nose.

The difference with this shape was that it also smiled at him showing big white shiny teeth but not a look of anger. Something he had never seen before a look of love. As the shape came closer Polar liked what he saw and also smiled, something he had never done before.

Looking at the new white shape Polar realised it was the same as him not just a reflection.

This new shape was a little smaller, looked more gentle and softer. As they came within arms reach of one another, they stretched out their huge arms and paws.

Pulling one another together into their arms………The Very first Hug.

The Royal Wedding

British Scones

The Royal wedding will soon be upon us. Many people think it’s the event of the year and others couldn’t care less. I heard on the BBC radio 1’s news beat programme that many Brits will be taking advantage of all the bank holidays and take an extra holiday abroad. There’s always someone to benefit from these occasions.

Never mind them, there will be the thousands, nay millions thronging the streets of London to catch a glimpse of the happy couple.

Below is the weather forecast from the London weather center.

UK Weather Outlook for Friday 29 Apr 2011 to Sunday 8 May 2011:

Southern and central regions will tend to be often rather cloudy and unsettled with showers or outbreaks of rain, heavy at times, through next weekend and during the early part of the following week. Generally drier and brighter to the north and west, though some showers may develop over parts of Northern Ireland and western Scotland later. Often rather windy, especially in southern, eastern and central parts. Whilst temperatures will be near or just above average it will tend to feel quite chilly when conditions are rather cloudy and windy, especially in North Sea coastal areas. The rest of the first week of May looks likely to continue in a similar vein, unsettled and windier to the south and brighter to the north, temperatures largely near or just above average.

Were any of you watching or even at the Chelsea v. West Ham soccer match on Saturday? Before the game they had watered the pitch, the temperature was 27°C about 80°F for those who haven’t joined the modern world.

Then. Whoosh, the heavens opened, I thought I was back in India for the Monsoon season. It all ended well with Chelsea winning and Torres sliding in the rain to score his first goal for Chelsea.

For those of you sensible enough or like us in the USA, watch it all unfold on television. Probably recorded because of the time difference. You would have thought, because of the popularity and love of the British Royal family the wedding would have been at a more friendly time for the USA.

I have a number of American friends who are going to record the whole event and invite friends around for afternoon tea.

To help them out, here is a very good recipe for “British Scones”. This recipe comes from the Marks and Spencer cookbook “The Best of British”.

If anyone is under the impression you can’t get good food in the UK, they should try the recipes in this cookbook. They’ll be more than pleasantly surprised.

I’m still trying to find a good dish that originates in the USA, not including bad coffee.

After the pre-amble here’s the recipe:

British Scones;

Scones are originally a Scottish delicacy. There are some really nice Scottish tea parlours along the Whisky trail of Scotland, they serve excellent afternoon teas.

This recipe should make about twelve scones, it will depend how big you make them.

INGREDIENTS

450grms/1lb plain flour; ½ teaspoon of salt;

2 tsp baking powder; 55grms/2ozs butter;

2 tbsp caster sugar; 250ml/ ½ pint milk;

Milk or beaten egg for glazing;

Strawberry jam/jelly. Devon clotted cream.

METHOD

Pre-heat your oven to 220°C/425°F.

Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar.

Make a well in the centre of the dough and Stir in the milk. Stir in using a round-bladed knife and make a soft dough.

Turn the mixture onto a floured surface. (Ideal for this a marble pastry board ‘cos it’s cold). Lightly flatten the dough until it is of an even thickness, about ½ inch. Cookbook advice, “don’t be heavy handed, scones need a light touch”.

Use a 6-cm/2½ inch pastry cutter, (my Mum would use an old cup) to cut out the scones and place on the baking tray.

Glaze by brushing on a little milk or beaten egg and bake for 10 to 12 minutes until golden and well risen

Cool on a wire rack and serve freshly baked. Traditionally British served with strawberry jam and clotted cream.

In Scotland I’ve also been served with a small jug of the local single malt.

There must be a thousand different ways to make scones from a thousand different Grandmothers and Great-grandmothers recipes. Some say let the dough rest somewhere cold for maybe an hour. Other recipes even use milk just as it starts to turn sour. Whatever is your recipe choice or preference it will usually work out fine.

Depending where you live it may not be easy to get the clotted cream or quality strawberry jam. Here in Las Vegas, Fresh’n Easy have the best strawberry jam, it has big pieces of strawberry in the jam. It’s made in Canada, so probably has an English influence. You can get proper Devon Clotted cream at the Wholefoods market. The British store on Durango also stock the jam and cream as well as frozen scones.

If you live in London, there’s always Harrod’s or Fortnum and Masons.

Selfridges is just as good and far cheaper. Of course there’s also the brand supermarkets.

If you want a marble pastry board and live in Vegas, Williams-Sanoma stock them.

The Pot of Tea

Loose leave tea makes the best pot of tea. Depending where you live, you'll have to find the best tea shop. If you're in the UK it's very easy. Believe it or not, if you are in India it's not that easy. I'll tell you about it one day.
Here in Las Vegas we're not too badly off. The British store and the International World Market stock good quality. If you can't be bothered with loose tea PG tips tea bags make a good pot of tea, Fresh'n Easy stock them.
I buy my loose tea from Teavana, their Earl Grey is very good but even better is their Assam Golden rain. It makes perfect afternoon tea. One thing I don't agree with Teavana on is their advocating not to use fresh boiling water. They sugggest putting a handful of ice cubes in the water when it's boiled. That really is a load of cods' wallop.
Tea has to be made with fresh boiling water.
You'll need a nice roomy teapot and if you can, proper bone china tea cups.
Warm the pot before you pit in the tea leaves, generally 1 teaspoonful for each cup and one for the pot. Pour over the freshly boiling water, give it a brisk stir and let it stand/brew for 3 to 4 minutes. With practice you'll work out what suits your taste best.

Take the day off and enjoy the “Pomp and Circumstance” of a British state occasion. No one does it like us Brits!

Sausage & Bean casserole

The children are on school holiday for Easter/Spring break, a busy time for the parent. Here's an easy to prepare dish the children will love and it satisfy the most active of teenagers appetite.
One of the good things about this dish is that it can be cooked wholely in one pot. Great for your electric wok.

SAUSAGE BEAN CASSEROLE

INGREDIENTS

· 1 tbsp Olive oil

· 8 good-quality pork sausages

· 2 carrots , halved lengthways and sliced, I use the pre-washed and peeled small carrots. It saves time.

· 2 medium or 1 large onion, finely chopped

· 2 tbsp red wine vinegar

· 2 x 410g cans mixed beans in water, rinsed and drained

· 400ml chicken stock

· A handful or two of frozen peas.

· 2 tbsp Dijon mustard

METHOD

1. Heat the oil in a large pan. Sizzle the sausages for about 6 mins, turning occasionally, until brown on all sides, then remove to a plate. Tip the carrots and onions into the pan, then cook for 8 mins, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft. Add the vinegar to the pan, then stir in the drained beans. Pour over the stock, nestle the sausages in with the beans, then simmer everything for 10 mins.

2. Scatter in the frozen peas, cook for 2 mins more until heated through, then take off the heat and stir in the mustard. Season to taste. Serve scooped straight from the pan.

I serve with mash potato or pasta. A dark beer like "Fat Tyre" goes very well with this dish. For a wine a Petit Syrah or Merlot. A favourite of mine is an Argentinian Malbac.

here in Las Vegas I use the Colisimo brand of sausage to me they're the best you get here. Be careful when adding salt for seasoning. Even the Colisimo can be too salty. that's my opinion. wait till the sausages have cooked in the casserole before adding any salt

Meals in Minutes | With Gizzi Erskine

An Easy Recipe for the Weekend

Chicken with Potatoes, Garlic & Sherry

Ingredients
·   Olive oil
·       8 chicken thighs, skin on, or 1 whole chicken cut into 8 portions. Or as much as you need for your guests.
·       600g/1lb small potatoes.
   2 sticks of celery chopped into pieces
·       3 whole heads garlic, cloves separated but not peeled
   You can slightly crush the garlic with the flat side of a
   knife
·       8 sprigs thyme
·       125ml Amontillado sherry (I use any sherry I have)
·       White Wine.

Method

1.    Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a wide ovenproof pan that can take the chicken in a single layer. Season the chicken well then brown on all sides in batches. You just want to get a good colour, not cook the chicken through. Remove to a warm plate.

2.    Heat the oven to 190C/fan 170C/340F/gas 5. Scatter the potatoes over the bottom of the pan while it's still on the hob. Add the garlic, thyme and seasoning and stir to coat everything in juices. Put the chicken on top, skin up, add the sherry and bring up a simmer. When it's simmering, put the pan in the oven, uncovered, for 40-50 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and the chicken is cooked through. Most of the sherry will be absorbed and the chicken crisp and golden.
Add the wine if you think the dish looks too dry. Check after about 30 minutes to make sure the dish is not burning. You could add more sherry, your preference.
John’s Tips: I use a large all metal Calphalon frying  pan to cook this dish. The handle comes in handy when taking from the oven.

Potatoes: Use potatoes you don’t have to peel, just wash’m. You can use bigger potatoes, just cut them into a uniform size so they don’t take too long to cook.

As a side dish asparagas cooked in a little olive oil and fresh ground pepper goes very well with this dish.
As a wine I serve a good Pino Grigio. I even serve Chianti if it’s preferred.

Beer, Beer and more Alcohol

Beer, Beer and more Alcohol.

As we now know alcohol in moderation is not too bad a thing to add to our cooking or drinking.

A good thing about beer isn’t that it’s just nice to drink, well to some of us; it can add a different dimension to your cooking. I put beer or especially wine into most things that I cook. Whether the recipe says to or not.

Here are a couple of recipes that definitely need alcohol.

They can both be cooked in a wok and your small oven/grill for the matchstick fries.

The steak recipe for a pepper steak might sound a bit fiddly for a steak but with the sauce you’ll be glad you bothered.

With the sweet potato matchsticks, green salad and the steak this is quite a good high protein low carbohydrate meal.

Afraid I can’t say that about the mussels in Guinness though. Being close to St. Patrick’s Day, you maybe wondering what do with the left over Guinness besides drinking it.

Pepper Steak

Ingredients

2 tbsp each of black and green peppercorns

2 tbsp green peppercorns in brine (drained)

for the sauce.

2 tbsp coriander seeds

200g Good quality steaks per person filet or sirloin about an inch thick.

If the steak is a bit thick, cover in cling film (plastic wrap) and give it a battering with your meat mallet, rolling pin or empty wine bottle, be careful though.

Sea salt

2 tbsp virgin olive oil

250g roughly chopped shallots

2 garlic cloves finely sliced

(sliced garlic leaves less of a smell on your breath, supposedly.)

80ml port 80ml brandy (rough measures)

250ml white wine

250ml beef stock

3tbsp non-fat sour cream (if you like).

Method

Grind the peppercorns and coriander in a mortar and pestle or a food processor. (Not the drained peppercorns, they’re for later).

Wash the steak under cold water and pat dry with a clean cloth or kitchen roll. Time to flatten the steak now if needed. When dry sprinkle both sides with the salt and rub in the ground peppercorns and coriander evenly on both sides of the steak. Set aside for 15 minutes.

It’s best to cook steak in a griddle pan; you know the pan with the ridges to help keep the steak out of the cooked fat. Though I have cooked pepper steak and other steaks in my wok and they have turned out fine.

When using an electric wok, swirl hot oil around the wok sides where you'll place the steak(s).

Heat the oil in the pan. Once the oil is heated to spitting point, quite hot, drop in the steaks and lower the heat from high to medium. Cook for about 7 minutes 4 minutes on the first side then 3 on the other, this should give you a medium rare steak.

Remove the steak to warm plate and cover tightly with foil.

Now for the sauce:

Pour away most of the fat from the pan, leaving about 1 tbsp. Throw in the chopped shallots and sliced garlic, cook for 2 minutes on a medium heat, should be turning golden brown.

Pour in the drained green peppercorns, white wine, port and brandy and stir well, scraping all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the stock and mix in well, let it bubble away for 5 to 7 minutes to reduce to the thickness you like. Remove from the heat.

If you’re adding the sour cream now whisk in the sour cream- then pour over your steak. Eat well.

A great way to cook a steak and impress anyone.

A good wine to serve with this dish is a spicy tanniny fruity red Zinfandel.

You could just serve a side of salad with the steak but for something a little more wholesome. You can serve a plate of matchstick fries either ordinary potato or sweet potato.

What you’ll need:

2 large baking potatoes or 2 sweet potatoes peel the sweet potatoes but just wash the baking potato, leave unpeeled.

Egg white from 2 large eggs, better still get a carton of egg white and guess how much you need. It’ll come in handy for other things. Like a lower fat omelette or scrambled egg.

Tsp chilli powder salt and ground pepper to taste.

What to Do:

Preheat your oven to 200°C or equivalent about 420°F

Coat a baking dish/sheet with canola oil with a brush or the yucky spray stuff.

Slice the potatoes length ways into chips about as thick as your little finger, being careful not cut your finger while checking. Cut them in half and half again to make matchstick style chips.

Put the egg white and chilli powder in to a bowl add salt and pepper to taste. Whisk until the mixture is lightly frothed. Add the matchstick chips coating them all well before placing into the baking dish.

Cook on the bottom shelf for 40-45 minutes checking and turning every 7-8 minutes or so to ensure cooking to a golden brown all round.

While these were cooking you could have been sorting out the steak.

A John’s Tip: Read through the recipe first and get all the ingredients out on your work top. The number of times I’ve cooked something and forgotten a vital ingredients. How about Chicken cooked with Honey and fresh lemon……….without the Honey.

Mussels cooked in Guinness:

You'll need a large saucepan or even better your wok.

Ingredients you’ll need:

2 tbsp virgin olive oil

2 stalks of celery, chopped.

1 large onion, chopped.

2 cloves of garlic, sliced.

2 to 3 lbs of fresh mussels.

240ml (1/2 pint) Guinness , a can will do, and drink what’s left over.

Bunch of parsley

Some nice country crusty bread, French or Italian style.

What to do:

Chop the celery into 1inch pieces, chop the onions, slice the garlic.

Clean and de-beard the mussels, they die when you de-beard them, best to do this as close to cooking as possible.

Heat the oil in your wok or saucepan, add the onions, garlic and celery, cook until onions starting to soften 3 to 5 minutes, don’t let them burn.

Turn down the heat and slowly add (it can froth up you pour in too quickly) the Guinness, increase the heat and bring to a simmer, add the mussels, cover and cook till the mussels have opened about 5 minutes.

Sprinkle over a handful of chopped parsley.

Serve immediately.

Either serve in large bowls or communally straight from the cooking pot. With chunks of the crusty bread to mop up the Guinness and mussel juices.

To be extra healthy serve with a green salad with watercress.

To drink, well why not a Guinness or two. For the ladies a glass or 3 of Sauvignon blanc or a good Rosé. Goes with most things when you’re not sure what to serve.

The Breville Electric Wok