April 2020 Favourites List

Hello from UK Lockdown!

Here in the UK we are in a Coronavirus lockdown. Public gatherings such as sports events and shows have been banned. Restaurants, pubs and bars are not permitted to open. These measures have been necessary to "flatten the curve"; to ensure that the numbers of people required to be hospitalised, both each day and in total, is a number that our health service can cope with. We can go out for an hour of exercise or to buy essentials, but otherwise, should stay at home. People who can work from home, have been told not to go into work, and many workplaces have closed their buildings. Only those who cannot work from home are going into their places of work. 

In this lockdown, it is our key workers who have done such a stunning job in keeping things going. This means the health care workers in our hospitals, the carers in care homes, the delivery drivers supplying shops and essential services, the teachers still teaching the children of key workers at school and teaching other children online, the shop staff keeping us provided with the fundamentals, the posties delivering the mail, the refuse collectors keeping things clean and clear. These people don't always get a lot of credit, and often don't get paid as well as perhaps they should. When all this is over, I hope that they will not only have received our gratitude, but some boost to their remuneration. They are the heroes, not the CEOs, the billionaires or the politicians.

My university has closed its buildings for the forseeable future and learning is happening online. This has put me on a steep learning curve. I had studied technology enabled higher education teaching and how information technologies can be used in the university setting, and I had experimented with some e-learning in my work. But to suddenly be providing a term's worth of teaching online, with little time to plan it, has been challenging. Some days I am full of ideas, and get lots done. Other days my computer and WiFi seem intent on thwarting me. But that's all OK. If a low upload rate is the worst thing I have to deal with in the current climate, I have nothing to complain about. 

I hope that wherever you are and whatever your situation is in this global pandemic, that you and your family are safe and well. There are going to be days when we feel positive, and others less so. It is fine to feel ups and downs. 

But I do believe we will make it through this. Stay safe!

Here are this month's favourite things. You will note that the TV section is much longer than normal. I have indulged in a lot of binge watching. 

I hope you like this month's selection of Spring flower photos. Flowers are providing me with a boost right now. The garden is slowly blooming and my windowsill orchids are currently in full flower.


Food writing and articles: 


How to help avoid food waste by the Queen of thrifty and delicious food, Jack Monroe: https://cookingonabootstrap.com/2020/02/20/tips-to-reduce-your-food-waste-love-food-hate-waste-x-jack-monroe/

Is reheated rice safe to eat? Yes, if you store it properly and reheat well. Something my mum has been doing for decades. https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/mar/24/is-reheated-rice-safe-to-eat

Best-before and use-by dates - A sensible guide to food labelling:
https://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/a-sensible-guide-to-food-labelling/

Storecupboard recipe inspiration - for pasta, noodles, risotto and more: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/top-10-storecupboard-recipes

Recipes: 

Lamb with olives and preserved lemons by Diana Henry: http://dianahenry.co.uk/recipes/lamb-olives-preserved-lemons/

"Foodycat" Alicia Fourie shares her mouthwatering recipe for Passionfruit pie: http://foodycat.blogspot.com/2020/03/passionfruit-pie.html

Missing your fancy coffee shop brew? Here are some cheater's recipes using humble instant coffee. My colleagues swear by Azera: https://metro.co.uk/2020/03/28/instant-coffee-recipes-make-fancy-drinks-now-cant-get-coffee-shop-12469538/

Looking for an easy weekend cooking project? How about making two bottles of your own Sriracha chilli sauce?

https://www.olivemagazine.com/recipes/quick-and-easy/homemade-sriracha/

Ishan Kolhatkar, editor of the Billable Hour Cookbook, shares his receipe for Spaghetti Carbonara: https://medium.com/@kolhatkar/carbonara-29781604f078

Five Australian chefs share their storeroom recipes: https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/mar/25/back-of-the-pantry-five-australian-chefs-share-their-storeroom-recipes

Tash at Food I Fancy has reinvented Scotch eggs. Check out her Spicy Potato Scotch Eggs here: https://www.foodifancy.com/spiced-potato-scotch-egg

Tins, packets and short ingredient lists are what you need for lockdown cooking, here Rachel Roddy shares her Italian recipes for lockdown:

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/mar/26/rachel-roddy-italian-recipes-for-lockdown-certainty-in-uncertain-times

Wild garlic season is right about now, but if you blitz in oil and freeze it, you can enjoy all year round! Here's Kavey to teach you how, with a wild garlic, bacon and pasta recipe, too! https://www.kaveyeats.com/2011/04/how-to-have-wild-garlic-all-year-round.html

50 most simple, delicious three-ingredient recipes from top chefs and cookbook authors: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/apr/15/easy-as-123-chefs-on-the-50-most-simple-delicious-three-ingredient-recipes#maincontent

What you might have missed at Snig's Kitchen

My home baking recipe for Lockdown Bread Pudding: https://snigskitchen.blogspot.com/2020/04/lockdown-bread-pudding.html

Free things to do in Lockdown or Self Isolation or Self Shielding: https://snigskitchen.blogspot.com/2020/03/free-things-to-do-for-self-isolation.html

TV: 

The Windsors (Season 3)
Noughts and Crosses
BBC Radio 6 Music Festival: Nadine Shah
BBC Radio 6 Music Festival: Kate Tempest
BBC Radio 6 Music Festival: Bombay Bicycle Club
BBC Radio 6 Music Festival: Ed O'Brien
BBC Radio 6 Music Festival: Jehnny Beth
Glastonbury 2019: Michael Kiwanuka

Music:

Nick Drake: Five Leaves Left
Fiona Apple: Fetch The Bolt Cutters

Please note: as with every monthly Favourites List, all of these items have been selected by me simply because I love them. I do not receive any money, benefits in kind or other incentive for posting these links or recommendations. 

Lockdown bread pudding

In the UK we are in a lockdown situation, and we are not meant to be out and about unless it is necessary. So I bought a few extra items for the freezer to keep us going. Thinking about dishes to have with storecupboard staples like pasta, noodles and rice, I bought some packs of mince. 

To make space, I had to take out a loaf of bread I had been saving. I didn't want to throw it away. So I thawed it out and made some traditional British bread pudding. It is rich and indulgent. You don't need a large serving to feel like you've treated yourself. (It is not diet food, but I wonder how much we are worrying about that during the lockdown!)

You can make bread pudding with any leftover bread. You don't have to use wholemeal, like I did. You could even mix up unused bread from different loaves. 

You could add seeds to the mix, alongside the dried fruit. But be careful about how much you add, because you need the whole mixture to stick together, or the pudding might fall apart when you try to cut it up and serve it. 

I can't remember who I learned the tip of marinating the dried fruit from. I think it might be Delia Smith or Lindsey Bareham. That knowledge is lost in the mists of my memory, which is a little foggy in these days of lockdown. But whoever it was, it is a great tip, which makes the dried fruit so much nicer.  

Lockdown bread pudding

Ingredients
450 grams of dried mixed fruit and peel, I used a pack of Waitrose dried mixed fruit but feel free to use the stuff you like and mix it up how you want. Raisins, sultanas, peel, currants, cranberries, diced apricots. 
Around 3-4 tablespoons of dark rum

15 slices of wholemeal bread, crusts removed and cubed
600 ml whole milk
1 whole nutmeg, shelled and ground
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon (ground)
2 eggs
140g light brown sugar
100g butter
Butter for greasing, around 15g/1 tbsp
Brown sugar for dusting before baking
Caster or regular white sugar for dusting before serving

You will need:
2 mixing bowls, one needs to be large
Milk pan
Large dish for baking (I used a glass IKEA one)
Greaseproof paper
Oven
Wire rack
  
Method

Marinade the dried fruit in dark rum for half an hour. This is to make it moist. If you don't want to use rum, you could use orange juice or even a little tea. 

 
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C. I would suggest 180 degrees C for an conventional oven.


Take a baking dish and line it with greaseproof paper. I use two pieces in a cross shape, as this avoids the batter collecting up in the bunched up corners. The cross lining should help make lifting the pudding out when you have finished much easier. Now take the butter for rubbing, and rub it all over the paper. I use a little dab of butter to "stick" the paper onto the baking dish and to stick the top layer of paper to the bottom layer. 

In your large mixing bowl but the cubes of wholemeal bread and add the milk, soak and soften the bread. Leave it to soak in for a couple of minutes. 

Add the nutmeg, allspice and cinnamon. Although something like Speculoos spice would work well here. 

Add in the eggs and the light brown sugar. Mixed thoroughly with scrupulously washed hands. Really get stuck in, because this needs to be mashed together into a thick paste. 

Melt the butter in the milk pan. Now pour into the mixture and mix it in. 

Now pour the mixture is poured into the lined dish, and it is almost ready to go into the oven... 

But first add a little sprinkle of brown sugar for that traditional crust to the bread pudding. 

Put into the pre-heated oven and cooked. I cooked mine for 1 hour 40 minutes. I might suggest you check it at 1 hour 20 minutes and then every 10 minutes after that. 

 
I then put on a wire rack to cool. Sprinkle with white sugar before serving.