Give Pecan Pie a Chance.

I've never really been a fan of the pecan pie. I don't really know why but I've always thought it was a bit naff. Don't ask me where such prejudices come from, I have no idea. I guess I have never actually had a good one. In my mind they are dry and stale and nutty. May be I had a bad experience somewhere along the way and it has tainted my opinion forever....well until now anyway.

So as I am up for new things, I decided it was about time I gave pecan pie a chance. the reason being two fold 1) its pecan pie and 2) I really need practise at pie pastry.

I turned to 'Aunt Delia' for advise....as all the other cook books were of no help whatsoever. Not even 'Sweet Baby James' could help me. But I have come to learn to trust Aunt Delia, she hasn't lead me astray yet, and the one time I didn't believe her and went off on my own...disaster! You have been warned.


PECAN PIE

For the PASTRY....

170g P. flour                      *combine together to resemble bread crumbs
1Tsp icing sugar 
75g butter

1 egg yolk                               * incorporate into mixture

cold water                               * gradually add until dough starts to come together

                                               * rest in the fridge for 30 min
                                                * roll out and line pie tin
                                                * no need to blind bake


For the PIE......

1 egg                                     * gently whisk till foamy
1 egg white

100g brown sugar                 * combine all this with the egg mixture
200g golden syrup                * pour into pastry case
170g chopped pecans           * pop a few whole pecans on top for decoration
40g melted butter                 * bake at 180* for 25-30 min


*even almost a week later it is still sticky yummy nutty goodness.
* OK Aunt Delia does say to use 3 eggs....but really??? I just don't see the need.

Slow Cooked Beef Ribs - warm your cockles

I was on my way home from a night shift, excited about spending the afternoon in the kitchen. Looking forward to breezing through the market on the way home for some inspiration for the afternoon. Needless to say I was slightly disappointed when leaving work to find the summer dress I left home in the day before was now wildly inappropriate. Ahh, London in the summer time. Yesterday lovely sunshine, today howling winds and horizontal rain.

All dreams and aspirations I had had for the afternoon had now gone out the window. The only thing on the menu was to be warm winter stodge. I was reminded of the last time I experienced such harsh wintry weather. . .  sailing off the coast of the Isle of Wight. The only thing to warm my cockles that weekend was the slow cooked beef ribs devoured at a local pub.

So inspired by the memory of warm cockles, I set off to my local butcher for some ribs. It seemed like a perfectly reasonable idea at the time, it wasn't till 8 hours later that I realised my very dainty lady like plates were no match for the  cockle warming dish.....We ate dinner from serving plates that evening.....but it was well worth it.

Holy half a cow batman!

 SLOW COOKED BEEF RIBS


* Beef ribs - one per person
* Carrots
* Celery
* Potato
* Parsnips
* Half a bottle of Sherry - we were mysteriously out of red wine
* Garlic
* Chilli
* Angostora Bitters
* onion
* vegemite
* anything else that takes your fancy



* just throw the whole lot in a melting pot
* put it in the oven on 120* for the rest of the day, the meat will just fall off the bone by the end of the day, so juicy and tender
* put your feet up - perhaps with some of that sherry
* when hansome man gets home, mash some spuds and serve on the largest plate you have
* warm your cockles