FORMULA FOOD - ROUND 12

VALENCIA = CANALONS A LA BARCELONESA

Can you spot my mistake? Yes, my lack of research meant that I happily made Paella for the Barcelona Grand Prix - it's Spanish I thought. Well yes it is, but it originated in Valencia - you can only imagine how foolish I felt!! So here we have it, 2 Grand Prix's hosted in Spain, Barcelona with the national dish of Valencia & Valencia with the national dish of Barcelona - I can get over it & I'm sure you will too!! Anyway at least this little mix up added a bit excitement to the weekend, as the race sure as hell didn't provide any. Fortunately there had been a 3 week gap in races, so anything was better then nothing (only just though). Back to the cannelloni (apparently introduced to Barcelona from Italy in the 19th century).
Conclusion: Very good & different to the Italian version.
Would I make it again? I made double the quantity & put half in the freezer - a very good move!

Canalons a la Barcelonesa:
1/4 cup olive oil, 1 chopped onion, 2 minced cloves of garlic, 1 skinned & chopped tomato, 200g turkey mince, 200g pork mince, 200g veal mince, 3 chicken livers, 1/4 cup breadcrumbs, 1 beaten egg, 3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme, 1 tsp ground nutmeg, salt & white pepper, cannelloni tubes (or 12 sheets of fresh lasagne - as I used).
For the bechamel:
2 tbsp butter, 3 tbsp flour, 2 cups of warmed milk, salt & white pepper & 1/2 cup grated Parmesan.

1. For the canalons: Heat the oil over a medium heat & fry the onions & garlic for about 10 mins, lower the heat if they start to catch. Add the tomato & cook for another 5 mins. Add all the mince & livers, turn the heat up a bit & cook for 15 mins, stirring frequently. Mix the egg, breadcrumbs, thyme, nutmeg & salt & pepper. Stir into the meat mixture, remove from heat & allow to cool.

2. Preheat the oven to gm6. Spoon about a tablespoon (or a bit more), down the middle of the lasagne sheets (or fill the tubes), roll up & place seam side down in a buttered baking dish - quite squashed together so they don't unroll.

3. For the bechamel: Heat the butter over a low heat in a saucepan, add the flour & stir to form a thick roux, cook out for a couple of mins. Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens (about 10 mins), add salt & pepper & the cheese & stir off the heat as the cheese melts. Pour over the canalons, sprinkle with more cheese & bake for 25 mins.

WILLIES ARE GREAT

Those who know me best will know that I have a great fondness for anything willy! Now I have discovered a new Willie to admire! It's Willie Harcourt-Cooze. I watched his programme on channel 4 earlier this year, Willie's Wonky Chocolate Factory, a series about his deep passion for chocolate, growing the cacao in his forest in Venezuela, then bringing the beans back to this country & producing & marketing his 100% cacao bar. Very interesting stuff. Well yesterday, I was in Waitrose & finally bought a bar, a bit pricey (I first thought) at £5.99 but now I've actually used some it is so worth every penny.

I have just made some hot chocolate with it & I must admit, it's the nicest I've ever had. 1 part grated cacao, 1 part milk, 2 parts water, 1 tsp sugar, boil & drink - gorgeous! There's a recipe for a chocolate cake that I shall be trying when we come back from Richard & Sam's wedding this weekend & I've just found a nice sounding Mexican Mole recipe (savoury chilli & chocolate sauce), that I shall tweak & experiment with next week.

I can't recommend this enough - just go & buy some & have a play - what's 6 quid?, an everyday bottle of wine that's all, this is much better :-)

I FANCIED A CHANGE

Yes, I know Christian has changed his blog template & I am copying his idea - but I'm his wife, so I can!

Change is good - this can symbolise a new leaf turned. All the holiday fudge has been eaten (God bless The Original Rock Shop in Pwllheli!) & I'm fancying getting back into exercising properly - you can't push these things, you have to really need to do it & I think I have the need! I bet I can loose about a pound by the Christening!!

I would be quite happy to have dropped a dress size & feel a bit healthier by Christmas. Having said that, I bet we have a Chinese tonight! But change can be a slow process - wish me luck!

FORMULA FOOD - ROUND 11

HUNGARY = GOULASH

Yes, I know it's a week late - but we've been on holiday. Got back Friday, watched the race Friday night & had goulash Saturday night. I've been brought up on Delia Smith's goulash (a 70's thing I think!), so I ditched her recipe & found one on a Hungarian website - apart from that I didn't know where to find tinned chuck steak!!! - silly Delia!
Conclusion: Very tasty, I'd maybe use hot paprika next time instead of sweet (both smoked of course).
Would I make it again? Oh yes, a family classic!

Hungarian Goulash:
2 tbsp oil, 1 sliced onion, 2 crushed cloves garlic, 800g chuck steak, trimmed & cubed, 4 rashers of chopped smoked bacon, 200g sliced mushrooms, 400g tin tomatoes (or 6 fresh chopped toms), 1 green pepper sliced into rings, 1 bay leaf, 1 tsp mixed herbs, 2 tbsp paprika, salt & pepper, 150ml sour cream & chopped parsley.

1. Preheat oven to gm2/150c. Heat oil in a casserole & lightly fry onions & garlic.

2. Add beef & bacon & brown.

3. Add mushrooms, tomatoes, green pepper, mixed herbs, bay, paprika & salt & pepper. Stir well & bring to slow boil.

4. Put a lid on casserole dish & place in oven for 2 hours, stirring a couple of times.

5. Season again, if you think it needs it & stir through the sour cream & parsley.

6. Serve with rice or potatoes & braised red cabbage.

FIRST FAMILY HOLIDAY

On Friday, we returned, rather reluctantly from our 1st family holiday. We went camping in North Wales - just outside Abersoch - & had the best time ever! I spent all my childhood holidays around the same area, caravaning with Mum, Dad, Alison & sometimes Nan. So it was quiet emotional for me as we drove through all the places I'd been to before, now only Mum & I are still alive. But the excitement in our car of what lay ahead soon cheered me up! Mixed emotions lets say.But this was our holiday - a time for making new memories.

For our first time camping, I think we did really well. We had chosen a friendly small campsite, that only allowed small quiet families & no rowdy groups of singles! We erected our tent surprisingly well - about 30 mins - even though it was a bit breezy & unpacked our very overloaded car ( roof box for next time). My general theory to life is expect the worst & anything else is a bonus - so we were more than prepared for every eventuality! Plenty of clothes, food, games, 1st aid, blankets, pot & pans, suncream, everything that is apart from our waterproof coats that Christian had left on the sofa at home! DOH! - Never mind, we can't all be brilliant!

For the past week or so, family & friends had been telling us we would have a crap time, be too cold, not be able to sleep, never cope taking a baby etc all apart from my friend Lisa, who had faith & said we'd have a great time & if the weather is crap, just drink beer!! So to everyone apart from Lisa, up yours! We had a fantastic time, we didn't want to come home & we can't wait to go again. We must be natural campers or something. It did rain for half the time, but that didn't spoil anything & at least we know our tent is completely waterproof & you can cook inside!

Talking of cooking, we ate like kings! I had taken my desert island box of tricks - salt, pepper, sugar, garlic, chilli flakes, coriander, cumin, cayenne pepper & veg bouillon powder - so creations were made! I did feel a bit smug the night our neighbours (Alice's friend Rose & her parents), were eating tinned spaghetti on toast & we had locally caught fresh crab linguine with a warm chilli, lemon & brown crab meat dressing!

Alice had a great time too, when we weren't out on day trips, she was playing with Rose (6yr old in the tent next door), they were quite similar in that they both liked singing, running & pretending to be cats! It was so cute hearing them playing! Amelia's big news, apart from being superbaby & still sleeping all night, was that she sat up for the 1st time - hooray! I was so proud, we had some wine to celebrate!

As for day trips, we went to Portmeirion - which is fantastic, so many memories & now we have started watching The Prisoner since we got home. We went on the Snowdon Mountain Railway - which was amazing, if not a little cramped! It could only go up 3/4 of the way because of high winds, but it was still so worth it. We went to the Rabbit Farm & all held rabbits! Oh come on, we had a 3 year old girl with us!! We went to Caernarfon Castle but it rained so much that we didn't even get out of the car! So we went to Inigo Jones Slate Works instead & I finally bought a slate cheeseboard (well its a floor tile actually but don't tell!). Finally we did get to a castle, we went to Criccieth Castle because Alice wanted to be a princess - aahh!

As I keep saying, it was fantastic & our campsite was wonderful. We will definitely be going back there & maybe to France next year!!