Meals in Minutes - Jamie Oliver's 50 quick meals

Jamie Oliver's Meals in Minutes: A Revolutionary Approach to Cooking Good Food Fast
By Jamie Oliver
Publisher: Hyperion

I'M too busy. It's too expensive. I don't know how.

These are the three excuses he gets, according to Jamie, when he asks people why they don't cook at home.

Meals in Minutes is Jamie's book in which he shares 50 meals for you to put on the table: meaty ones, vegetarian meals, quick pastas and desserts, curries and others - meals that you could have thought impossible in a short amount of time.

You will find each recipe on one page which makes the book really user-friendly - no need for flipping back and forth. Most of the meals in this book come complete with a starter, main course and dessert.

If you have watched Jamie's cooking tv shows, you would have noticed that he cooks his dishes simultaneously so expect the recipes on this book to be not the conventional recipe that you are used to.

Besides the gorgeous pictures, you will also find useful basic tips and suggestions such as his list of essential kitchen equipment. According to Jamie, without some of them, you won't be able to work fast enough. The ones you will need are the food processor, the blender, and the microwave oven.

Meals in Minutes (meant for the US market) is actually the equivalent of the British version, 30-Minute Meals.

Happy cooking!

Lemon Curd Tart

Here is a video on how to make lemon curd tarts..

Ingredients: Dough 500g flour 300g butter 200g fine sugar 4 egg yolks 1 whole egg Lemon curd 300g sugar
300g butter
9 egg yolks
6 whole eggs
juice of 7 lemons

Fastest and Safe method to thawing meats

Meat from the freezer can take a long time to thaw especially when it is a big chunk of it. Tests and experiments conducted in labs have found that hot water is the quickest and safe way in thawing meats.

Frozen steaks and other compact cuts can be thawed in as little as 10 minutes, without compromising their quality, and with very little effort. All you need is hot water.

More information can be obtained here, A hot-water bath for thawing meats (New York Times)

Cute Easter Cookies

Easter is coming up this Sunday, April 24. Why not spread some holiday cheer by bringing your neighbors, friends and loved ones some fun, delicious homemade Easter cookies?

These cookies are both cute and delicious and sure to bring a smile to everyone's face. The recipe below is courtesy of Checkcity.com














The Cookies:
# 1 1/2 cups white sugar
# 4 cups all-purpose flour
# 1 teaspoon baking powder
# 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
# 1/2 teaspoon salt
# 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
# 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large bowl, beat 1 egg with 1 cup softened butter or margarine until light and fluffy. At low speed with an electric mixer, add 1/2 cup sour cream and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Add the flour with the baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Mix until well combined, using hands if necessary. Cover dough and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Remove dough from the refrigerator. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Roll chilled dough out on a lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch thick. Cut dough into egg shapes or any kind of festive shapes you'd like. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 10 to 12 minutes.

The Glaze:
# 1 cup confectioners' sugar
# 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
# 2 tablespoons water
# 10 drops food coloring

Stir confectioners' sugar, corn syrup, and water together. Place small amount of glaze into different small cups and add desired food coloring to each cup slowly until you've achieved your desired colors. This glaze must be stirred each time you use it. If it is not stirred before each use it will dry with a mottled look instead of a solid color.

Deliver with Love

If you make egg shaped cookies, delivering them in a clean, empty egg carton adds a cute touch!

Happy Easter!

Cape Breton Pork Pies

I remember reading about pork pies not having pork inside so how did it get its name?

There is no pork in a pork pie - indeed, there is no meat at all. Pork Pies are tender little morsels of short bread tart, date and maple icing according to Pondside which the recipe below is borrowed from. Incidentally, Pondside is today Blogger's Blog of Note. Congrats, Pondsite!

Pork Pie Shells
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons icing sugar
1 cup butter, softened


Filling
2 1/4 cups chopped pitted dates
1 cup water
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Icing
1/4 cup butter
2 1/4 cups icing sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon maple extract
Directions


Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
Pork Pie shells: Sift together flour and 2 tablespoons icing sugar in a bowl. Cut in 1 cup butter; knead until well blended. Form dough into 3/4 inch balls. Press into 1 1/2 inch tart cups into the bottom and up the sides, forming a shell.
Bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Let shells cool in the pan. Using a knife, gently loosen and remove shells from pan.


Filling: Combine dates, water, brown sugar, and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook gently for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly and mashing dates as they cook. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Allow mixture to cool before spooning into tart shells.


Icing: Cream 1/4 cup butter in a small bowl with an electric mixer. Gradually add 1 cup of the sugar, continuing to mix. Add the milk, the remaining 1 1/4 cups sugar, and maple extract. Beat until smooth. Icing should be thick enough to pipe. Use a pastry bag with a small round or star-shaped tip. Pipe a swirl of icing on each tart. If you don't have a pastry bag, use a small plastic zip-lock bag and cut a tiny hole in a corner.


These will freeze well.