This months choice for Dinner and a Movie hosted by Susan of Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy and Marc of No Recipes  is one of my all time favourite movies- “Shirley Valentine.”

This first came out in 1989 (really? 20 years ago?..where DID the time go!?..yikes… eeek!!!) I was in my 20s when I first saw it and now I’m closer to Shirley’s age. But its message  is timeless. Altogether, I’ve probably watched it about 40 times since I first saw it in the theatre. I know most of the dialogue by heart and quote from it fairly often:

 ” I like chips and egg ..on a TUESDAY – today is THURSDAY… Where’s me steak?!”

 ”I enjoy a glass of wine while I’m preparing the evening meal-don’t I wall?” 

“He’s not bad, my fella- he’s just no bleedin’ good!”

“She’s that type Gillian, – I’m not saying she’s a braggart but if you’ve got a headache- she’s got a brain tumor- if you’ve been to paradise- she’s got a season ticket!’

This is a feel good movie about reclaiming your inner girl when you’ve turned into “The Wife” or “The Mother” and most of all about bravely choosing a new path when the one you are on doesn’t suit anymore. Full of quirky British humour and the beautiful scenes of Mykonos in Greece -it’ s a holiday you won’t want to return from either. Pauline Collins, Tom Conti, Bernard Hill, Julia McKenzie, Alison Steadman and Joanne Lumley are a stellar, lovable, brilliant cast.

* Updated* One thing that is funny is that it took a while for this movie to come to DVD in the USA (I was on the Amazon waitlist forever and about wore my VHS copy out) and they put both an UK audio track and an USA audio track. I could find  only 5 times where it is different- watch the UK version and see if you can catch them- I’ll send a nice prize to the first person who emails me (or leaves a comment here) with at least 3 of the correct changes.

“Chips and egg”  appear several times throughout the movie -in Britain as a pivotal meal that seals Shirley’s determination to take advantage of a windfall trip to Greece and then later in Greece she meets “Dougie and Jeannette” and says: “They’re that type you know- if they’d been at the Last Supper they’d have asked for chips and egg.”  After she decides to stay in Greece she offers to cook chips and egg for xenophobic British travelers at Costa’s bar who are too afraid to try any lovely Greek offerings such as Kleftika.

lemon balm and oregano in the garden

For my version I  baked sweet potato chips and added a “gremolata” of fresh oregano, shallot, garlic, salt and Feta cheese- just to pull Britain a bit closer to Mykonos.  I used fresh Oregano from my garden- don’t use dry if you can’t find fresh-skip it or change to a real gremolata with parsley. Alexia is a good brand of pre-made sweet potato chips or simply cut some sweet potatoes into batons and toss with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and bake for about 30 minutes at 400F, turning often and finishing off under the broiler for crispness.

I made scrambled eggs with Feta for Rick as he doesn’t like fried eggs- but I had mine over-medium- fried in one of my favourite Griswold cast iron skillets. They, along with the chips, some chile sauce and a couple of Rick’s homemade cream biscuits, made a divine meal.

Oregano “Gremolata”

• 1/4 cup fresh, washed Oregano
• 1 large shallot
• a few grindings of garlic salt and pepper
• crumbled Feta cheese

Mince the Oregano and Shallot together finely, add the salt, pepper and Feta and toss over the chips and egg.

Opa! Wow! Check out all the other great Greek offerings from the Dinner and a Movie crowd at Susan’s roundup here!

xo

For me one of the benefits of cold weather is that Rick and I get to share tea fairly frequently. One of us will skulk about the kitchen  hovering near the stove and suddenly turn with a smile to the other and say ” How about a nice cup of tea?” 

Last Sunday, as the snow fell from the sky in huge flakes, we cancelled plans to go out to a movie- The Sundance Film Festival was overrunning our favourite cinema house so we avoided the crowd and snuggled up together on the couch with a tea tray and a DVD of “The Wizard of Oz” By the way -those flying monkeys with the blue faces-um they still freak me out just a wee bit. But still- a perfect Winter’s afternoon. Grab the good stuff as you can I always think.

Somehow I always put tea and oranges together in my mind ( lyrics from the Leonard Cohen song Suzanne-”..and she feeds you tea and oranges that come all the way from China” inevitably sings out in the background) so there must be a sliced or quartered orange and if we’re lucky there will be a homemade biscuit or a scone. These scones go very well with a nice pot of Earl Grey tea. As for the blueberries I think using dried works so well- it makes them a bit like currant scones but with blueberry flavour and they don’t turn all grey-blue as they tend to do when you use fresh or frozen.

Blueberry Orange Almond Scones

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Ceylon Cinnamon
• 1/2 cup cold butter
• 1 cup whole dried Blueberries
• finely grated zest from one whole orange
• 1 cup chopped almonds
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 beaten egg for topping
• Turbinado (raw) sugar for topping
• 2 ounces almond paste crumbled, optional for topping

Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt in a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Cut the cold butter into small pieces and cut into the flour with a pastry cutter or rub between your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs with a few pea sized butter pieces remaining. Add the blueberries and almonds and stir in. Mix the buttermilk, one large egg, zest and extract together. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the buttermilk mixture. Stir just until combined and the dough starts to pull away from the bowl. Dump out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead only a few times until the dough holds together. Don’t over work as with most short doughs.

At this point you can form small handfuls of the dough into balls and place on parchment lined baking trays or you can pat out into a large circle, brush with a little beaten egg and sprinkle with the raw sugar and scatter the crumbled almond paste evenly over the top, place the round on a parchment lined or lightly greased baking tray, cut into 8 wedges and separate slightly (a bench scraper works great for this job) and bake in a preheated 375F oven for about 20-25 minutes or until golden and risen and just springs back slightly when very lightly touched in the center.

Serve warm or room temperature. They will keep well covered for a day or two but are best the day they are baked.

Enjoy the Winter as you can and hold on for Spring!

xo

I have had the worst case of the “mean reds“- as Holly Golightly called that kind of indescribable anxiety in Truman Capote’s novel Breakfast at Tiffany’s. I have just been avoiding everything I love to do and feeling kind of apathetic towards all of my favourite things. But recently I can see the sun again  and I’m feeling a little more like getting back to it. These Brownies are a sure cure for a brown study, the blues or even those evil mean reds.

Brownies are a favourite treat around our house.  We make them often and of course I’ve posted about them before.  One of my new rules is that I can have a treat if it’s homemade so I know what ingredients are in it and also make sure it is worth the calories.

I can never understand why people use mixes for these. Made from scratch in under a half of an hour with basic ingredients you can keep at the ready, they are easy and so much better when made with real butter and chocolate. I play around with the flavours now and again but the basic recipe remains the same:

Brownies Master Recipe

• 1/2 cup butter- if you even think of using margarine stop now and don’t make these
• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate- I usually use Guittard Oban buttons
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• pinch of salt
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• Optional add-ins of Espresso powder, chopped chocolate bits, nuts, dried fruit, spices etc. (e.g. chile powder and cinnamon for mole brownies) can substitute other extracts for part of the vanilla such as  peppermint, almond or orange etc.

Prepare an 8″ x 8″ pan by buttering and flouring it or lining with parchment- I use parchment because it is so much easier and cleans up fast- I cut two pieces the width of the pan and cross them to completely line the pan.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Melt the butter and chocolate over low heat until smoothly melted remove. In a medium bowl, place the sugar and pour the melted butter and chocolate into it. Stir until cooled. Add the eggs, one at a time and beat in. Add the pinch of salt and vanilla or other extracts. Stir well. Add the flour and any dry spices you might want to add. Stir just until combined. Add in chocolate, nuts or dried fruit now if desired.

Spread in pan and bake in oven for about 20-25 minutes or just until set. Cool (if you can stand to wait) and cut into squares.

xo

Gabi

Rick, my sweet, has been laid low with a bad cold for the last three days.  I actually enjoy taking care of him although I must admit he’s been a bit of  a right grumpy old Eeyore! He is a worker bee through and through and does not like to lay about so keeping him down is a challenge!

First thing is to start killing off the germ factory in the throat so I heat the freshly squeezed juice of one whole lemon until it’s boiling hot, add a shot of good Woodford Reserve Bourbon Whiskey and a teaspoon of honey (I love local honey such as from Zoe’s Garden or nationally Savannah Bee Company’s Black Sage Honey is excellent) and have him gargle with it a bit before swallowing. The advantages are that it swabs the throat with alcohol, heats it, numbs it and the honey soothes it all at once along with a generous dose of ascorbic acid to change the pH in germ land. (Plus that way he’ll never be a scurvy  knave!  ;)  I do think this home remedy works well and the whiskey helps with the aches too. Another favourite remedy is a big shot of Hennessy X.O.Cognac in a glass of orange juice- put on your warmest pajamas and get right under the covers to sweat it out and sleep.

As for food- I think there is nothing so comforting as a pot of homemade chicken soup loaded with immunity enhancing Alliums such as leek, onion, shallot and garlic as well as all the other healthful veggies you can chuck in there. Served over a scoop of garlic mashed potatoes it warms and comforts the throat and tummy. To really take it over the top make some fresh biscuits or bread to serve along side.

Comforting Chicken Soup

•  1-1/2 Tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 large shallots, minced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced with a little sea salt
• 6 leeks, cleaned well and diced with only a bit of the green tops included
• 3 ribs celery, diced
• 3 carrots, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 4 red potatoes, scrubbed well or peeled and diced
• 1-1/2 cups of chopped spinach- can use frozen chopped spinach
• 1 cup of corn kernels- can use frozen
• 3 slices of Proscuitto  shredded roughly
• a 1 inch piece of Parmigiano Reggiano rind
• handful of Italian Parsley,  washed and minced
• 3 bay leaves
• one 1/4″ slice of fresh ginger, peeled
•  a large soup spoonful of prepared basil pesto
• a large pinch of ground cumin
• a large pinch of Old Bay seasoning or other season salt
• 4 small inner cloves of garlic left whole but peeled
• sea  salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 6 cups of good quality chicken stock- hopefully homemade
• leftover roasting chicken carcass with a bit of meat on it or 1 cup of cooked chicken
• a shot of good quality whiskey I likeWoodford Reserve small batch Bourbon for this too
• To serve:
• warm garlic mashed potatoes

In a large stockpot or saucepan heat the olive oil and add the onion, shallot, celery, carrots and pepper. Cook for about 5-10 minuted or until the onion is translucent. Add the garlic and leeks and continue to cook until everything is soft. Add the potatoes, spinach, corn and Prosciutto. Cook until the Prosciutto is shrinking up a bit. Add the Parmigiano rind, parsley and the rest of seasonings. Cook a few minutes. Cut the backbone out of the chicken with kitchen shears so that the bones don’t come apart in your soup. Add the chicken and the remaining ingredients (except the mashed potatoes) and bring to a boil. Transfer to a crock-pot and cook for several hours or all day. Remove the chick body and take the meat off and discard the bones and skin, return the meat to the soup. Ladle the soup into a bowl over warmed garlic mashed potatoes.

Garlic mashed potatoes are easy to prepare. Just peel or scrub several potatoes- I usually use about 6 so that we have leftovers. Cover with cold water with a large pinch of salt. Add a couple of peeled whole garlic cloves.  Bring to a boil  and simmer until fork tender. Drain and return in the pan to the stove with the burner turned off so that the potatoes and garlic dry out a tiny bit. Mash them in the pan with a potato masher, large spoon or use a ricer. Then add some butter and coat the starchy potatoes before adding a bit of heated milk or buttermilk. This will prevent them from turning into glue. Continue stirring or mashing until they are mostly smooth- I like a bit of lumpiness in mine though. Add salt and pepper to taste and top with a couple of small knobs of butter.

Buttermilk Biscuits with Shallots and Parmesan

• 2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 10 Tablespoons cold butter cut into smallish pieces
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese plus a bit more for topping
• 1 large shallot, minced
• 1 Tablespoon butter to saute shallots
• 3/4 cup cold buttermilk, plus a bit for brushing on tops
•  sea salt (Maldon flakes are good for this)

Preheat the oven to 425F. Mix the flour, baking powder, soda and salt together in a bowl. Cut the cold butter into it until it resembles coarse crumbs with a few pea sized pieces left. Add the cheese and mix in well. Saute the shallot in the Tablespoon of butter in a small skillet and let cool a bit before adding to the flour mixture. Add the 3/4 cup of buttermilk in and mix just until and moist dough forms. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times just until it comes together. Pat out into a 9×9 inch square, brush the top with a bit of buttermilk, sprinkle with a bit more of the grated cheese and a tiny bit of sea salt and cut into 9 squares and then each square crosswise into triangles. Place on a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes or until risen and golden brown on top. Serve warm -butter optional.  Try not to eat them all in one sitting as I am really tempted to do- when cold they are good for ham sarnies!

I put “What a Way to Go!”  from 1964 in his stack of movies to watch just for fun- it’s a quirky classic- a guaranteed laugh to lift the spirits and get that immune system going! “Hop- Hop to Hopper’s….”

Lots of hot tea and buttered toast, some soup and biscuits- old movies- Kleenex- cough drops- ibuprofen- a hot rice bag for his feet- hot toddies- mustard plasters- cozy blankets- a bit of grump… and he’ll be better in no time- he really will!