**Again, sorry for the lack of pictures. My hubby's camera was in his vehicle and not available, so that wasn't even an option.
My oldest son planned and prepared a Redwall Feast on Saturday. Well, the planning began earlier in the week, but the meal's preparation, cooking & sampling was on Saturday.
To give a little bit of background . . . Redwall, written by Brian Jacques, is the title of the first book in a series about animals. It's an exciting world where Martin the Warrior, a small mouse with an ancient sword and a brave heart, fights for all that is good and noble. Redwall is an Abby where the peaceful animals (such as mice, hedgehogs, hares, & moles ) live together in the forest. The Redwallers always try to win with peace, but when that doesn't work against the rats, cats & other vermin, they do take to arms to defend themselves and the Abby. My husband has been reading this series to our kids for quite a few years. They all enjoy it immensly. So, whenever I see a book related to Redwall, it usually becomes a gift for one of our kids. My oldest received 'The Redwall Cookbook' as a gift about a year ago and has wanted to try the recipes since. Here is what he prepared:
Drink: October Ale
Soup/Appetiser: Shrimp 'n' Hotroot Soup
Main Dishes/SavorySides: Brockhall Badger Carrot Cakes
Desserts/Afternoon Treats: Loamhedge Legacy Nutbread and Hare's Haversack Crumble
October Ale is similar to sparkling grape juice. That was, of course, a hit with the kids.
The Shrimp 'n' Hotroot Soup was good, as well. It was made with leeks, which I hadn't even purchased before. I had to look up the preparation technique in one of my cooking reference books. They look like a very large green onion, but the tops are quite a bit tougher. The top, coarser greens are removed & the rest is chopped for this soup. Both ds and I weren't too sure about this soup because it looked like we would be eating mainly chopped leeks! However, the flavor of the vegetable stock, potatoes and shrimp really evened the taste. This is not a soup we'd prepare often, but it was fun to try.
The Brockhall Badger Carrot Cakes were VERY good. I would definitely encourage ds to make these again. They are similar to fried potato cakes, but with extra ingredients. We haven't tried it yet, but I think they would reheat well in the oven.
Made with pecans, the Loamhedge Legacy Nutbread is free-formed on a cookie sheet. This was good plain, but I believe it would be even better with a bit of berry jam or honey. This time around, the bread was a little too browned on the edges. I'd encourage ds to cut the baking time a little.
The very best was saved for last . . . the Hare's Haversack Crumble. Frozen blueberries, raspberries & blackberries formed the bottom layer. The crumble top of cinnamon and brown sugar was the perfect amount of sweet. Although the recipe recommended custard or ice cream, I wouldn't have added anything! It was so tasty; we all wanted more.
It's fun to see my ds enjoy cooking and baking. I hope he'll plan another feast with as much success. Here's the link to the cookbook: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Redwall-Cookbook/Brian-Jacques/e/9780399237911/?itm=1 If you live close by and would like to use the cookbook to create your own feast, let me know. I'm sure ds wouldn't mind giving it up for a few weeks!
Showing posts with label Redwall. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Redwall. Show all posts
Monday, October 20, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Mini-Cooking Session
**Sadly, my camera is having a fit. I didn't realize the pictures were all lined and grainy until the day was done and I was importing them into the post. So, no pictures of the days work for viewing. Technology is both wonderful and frustrating!
The day started quite early . . . I woke up at 5:30a and couldn't get back to sleep. Rather than lay there thinking about sleep, I got up and started the mini-cooking session. I had planned to make seven different entrees, but quickly realized that I wouldn't have the energy to complete those and chose to scale back to five. The five I chose to prepare were Breakfast McBiscuits x12, Chicken Enchiladas x1, Chicken Rice Soup x2, Italian Sausage Soup x2 and Taco Soup x2.
6a - You can't start a Saturday morning without a little bit of laundry, so that's where I began! One load folded, one transferred to the dryer and one started in the washer. Now, on to transferring the meat, biscuits & produce out of storage and into the kitchen.
7a - The majority of ingredients for Italian Sausage Soup are in the crock pot and cooking. The Italian sausage is browned and reserved with the Mexican tomatoes to be added later.
8a - Biscuits are baked, 1st batch of bacon ready (some McBiscuits are prepared and eaten for breakfast!), hamburger for Taco Soup browned and the chicken breasts are in the process of being poached. I took a few minutes to wash dishes that I will need later.
8:30a - Taco Soup is simmering on the stove, the rice cooker is started, and the 2nd batch of bacon is in the oven.
9a - Taco Soup is cooling, Chicken Rice Soup is simmering, and the chicken is poached and diced.
9:30a - Preparation for the enchilada sauce is underway; and the enchiladas are rolled and arranged in a 13x9 pan. Bacon is done & placed on paper towels to cool.
10a - Chicken Enchiladas in the fridge to cool. Bacon stored in frig for later.
10:45a - Italian Sausage Soup ingredients are mixed together and left to cool on the stovetop. Washed up the dishes by hand or in the dishwasher and cleaned up the kitchen.
11:45a - Re-heated one pot of Italian Sausage Soup for Dinner! Everyone cleaned their bowls so they could have a Peanut Butter Cup Pie treat.
1p - Everything cleaned and put away, soups (save for the Italian Sausage Soup - which still needs to cool) are double bagged & put in the freezer. Time for a break - Chai Tea and check laundry.
2:30p - Italian Sausage Soup double bagged and into the freezer. I'm now ready to fry eggs and assemble Breakfast McBiscuits.
3:30p - The Mini-Cooking Session is done! The kitchen is back to it's normal state & ready for my oldest ds to prepare his Redwall Feast (He's already got a good start on it. Somewhere during all the above activities, he found time to prepare the October Ale and bake both the Hare's Haversack Crumble and Loamhedge Legacy Nutbread. He takes after me - make sure the sweets are prepared first!)
The day started quite early . . . I woke up at 5:30a and couldn't get back to sleep. Rather than lay there thinking about sleep, I got up and started the mini-cooking session. I had planned to make seven different entrees, but quickly realized that I wouldn't have the energy to complete those and chose to scale back to five. The five I chose to prepare were Breakfast McBiscuits x12, Chicken Enchiladas x1, Chicken Rice Soup x2, Italian Sausage Soup x2 and Taco Soup x2.
6a - You can't start a Saturday morning without a little bit of laundry, so that's where I began! One load folded, one transferred to the dryer and one started in the washer. Now, on to transferring the meat, biscuits & produce out of storage and into the kitchen.
7a - The majority of ingredients for Italian Sausage Soup are in the crock pot and cooking. The Italian sausage is browned and reserved with the Mexican tomatoes to be added later.
8a - Biscuits are baked, 1st batch of bacon ready (some McBiscuits are prepared and eaten for breakfast!), hamburger for Taco Soup browned and the chicken breasts are in the process of being poached. I took a few minutes to wash dishes that I will need later.
8:30a - Taco Soup is simmering on the stove, the rice cooker is started, and the 2nd batch of bacon is in the oven.
9a - Taco Soup is cooling, Chicken Rice Soup is simmering, and the chicken is poached and diced.
9:30a - Preparation for the enchilada sauce is underway; and the enchiladas are rolled and arranged in a 13x9 pan. Bacon is done & placed on paper towels to cool.
10a - Chicken Enchiladas in the fridge to cool. Bacon stored in frig for later.
10:45a - Italian Sausage Soup ingredients are mixed together and left to cool on the stovetop. Washed up the dishes by hand or in the dishwasher and cleaned up the kitchen.
11:45a - Re-heated one pot of Italian Sausage Soup for Dinner! Everyone cleaned their bowls so they could have a Peanut Butter Cup Pie treat.
1p - Everything cleaned and put away, soups (save for the Italian Sausage Soup - which still needs to cool) are double bagged & put in the freezer. Time for a break - Chai Tea and check laundry.
2:30p - Italian Sausage Soup double bagged and into the freezer. I'm now ready to fry eggs and assemble Breakfast McBiscuits.
3:30p - The Mini-Cooking Session is done! The kitchen is back to it's normal state & ready for my oldest ds to prepare his Redwall Feast (He's already got a good start on it. Somewhere during all the above activities, he found time to prepare the October Ale and bake both the Hare's Haversack Crumble and Loamhedge Legacy Nutbread. He takes after me - make sure the sweets are prepared first!)
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