Happy National Grilled Cheese Day!

Happy National Grilled Cheese Day Guys!

There is seriously not much that can beat crunchy bread, and melted cheese. It's just so delicious and satisfying for the mind to eat something so good. I occasionally make grilled cheeses here in Glasgow, but since there is no panini press or any of that sort, I've had to resolve to other methods. My solution has been to put them in a frying pan, and while they toast on the first side, I take my pot and press Down the sandwich. It Works fine, but I really can't wait to go home and have access to a real grilled cheese toaster if you will.
I actually cheated a bit on this national Holiday, and made this grilled cheese yesterday.. I honestly thought it was the 12th.. Anywho I took Pictures of it, so here is my sacrifice to the grilled cheese gods (aka my stomach & Prefrontal Cortex).

Ingredients:
Bread
Oil
Hummus (Can you tell I'm on a hummus high?)
Sliced Ham
Chives
Cheese

If I can, I usually try to spice up my grilled cheese a bit. This time I added, hummus, ham, and chives.
Sometimes I will butter the bread, but I've found that oil Works just as fine if its in a frying pan, and it doesn't dirty my cutting board.
I start off by spreading some hummus on my bread, add chives. Then i try to make a sort of pocket of cheese. I put the ham on the bread, the cheese on top in the middle, and the flip over the rest of the ham, to enclose the cheese, so it doesn't end up in the pan. Fry till golden Brown, flip over, fry, and enjoy!

 

It might be too late for you to enjoy the Holiday, but this heaven should be enjoyed much more often.
I miss you!!
XOXO Ann

Tuna Salad

Hello Vibe & Siobhan

After my first post, I actually remembered to take some Pictures of the food I was making!
Today I thought I would share my recipe for Tuna Salad, something that I have been obsessed with for the past 3 weeks. I would actually eat this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and believe me or not but i actually have.. It's just too good to only have it for lunch!

Ingredients:
1 can of Tuna (I use Tuna in Sunflower Oil)
Hummus (I use Tesco's caramalised onion hummus)
1 Red Pepper
Chives

For this recipe you could use Mayo instead of hummus, but as you're well aware, I absolutely loathe mayo. I also think that the hummus adds much more flavor, and a bit of sweetness to the salty tuna.
I don't personally need to add salt or pepper to this, but sometimes i will add a bit of the sunflower oil from the tuna can, to loosen Things up a bit.

Start of by chopping your red pepper finely, and your chives. I love chives so I use a lot of them, but if you don't cut Down the amount, or leave them out. Next open your tuna, add a bit of the oil, drain the rest, and add the tuna to a bowl, with the peppers, and chives. Mix. Lastely you add your hummus. I usually use about half a tub of hummus, but it depends on how the mix is looking. Essentially its up to you how 'loose' you want your Salad to be, but about half a tub usually does it. Mix it all together and add on some toasted bread.

This amount usually makes about 5-6 sandwiches, or about 3 days in my fridge, if i'm trying to limit myself.. It will keep nicely in a Tupperware, but you might find that it seperates a bit, so that there is a bit of liquid, I usually just mix it Again, and everything's fine.

I hope you'll give this a try, it really is worth it!
Miss you so much!
Love Ann

International Food

Hello Vibe & Siobhan

Whoa first blog post ever? I hope I do you guys justice..
For my first post I thought I would take some Pictures of an international dinner I had with some uni friends yesterday. We started out with my friend Anania from Italy making some delicious handpies/calzones.. I don't remember the exact name, but they were delicious! I had one with tuna and olives, and one with ham and tomato. Very good! I'll try and get the name, and possibly a recipe for those cause I think you would love them!
For the main course, I had to showcase my cooking abilities. It was not my brightest moment, but my friends seemed to like it. I made Frikadeller, with potatoes. In my home that's what we usually have with them, no Salad, and not usually any sauce. Anywho the potatoes turned out to be good for mashing, so that's what i ended up doing.. Today I will only give you the 'recipe' for Frikadeller.
I say 'recipe' because I usually eyeball it with frikadeller and the amounts for them..

Frikadeller
 - 500g of pork mince
 - 1 yellow onion
 - 1 egg
 - Breadcrumbs
 - Flour
 - Milk (Or Water)
 - Salt & Pepper
 - Dried Thyme
 - Optionally 1 clove of Garlic

I couuld give you estimates of the amount of breadcrumbs, flour, and milk, but really it depends on how wet your onion is. Basically you want to start out by making a 'slush' of the onions, garlic, flour, egg, breadcrumbs, and your spices. It should be like a clumpy gravy. Then add your meat. Once you've mixed it all together form balls. I usually use a spoon, and the palm of my hand to make them. Into a frying pan they go, with some olive oil and butter, and give them 5-6 minutes per side. I usually just go by colour, and not so much time.

For dessert my friend Maria from Portugal made some traditional portugese desserts including lemon pudding (Made with condensed milk I believe), and these custard tarts. I was so full, but I did taste the tarts and they were delicious!

For the next dinner it will be American & Scottish/British that will be served, and I'm crossing my fingers they decide on brunch! I mean English breakfast and American pancakes?! Hello food coma!

Also just a side note, I made way too much mash, so for dinner today I made potato cakes, just form balls of the mash, dust them with a bit of flour, salt & pepper, and fry them up! There really isn't a lot that can beat fried/baked mashed potatoes, yum!

I hope you're doing great, I miss you guys!
Love Ann

 

Student Food: Pasta Amatriciana

Dear Ann and Vibe,

Eating well as a student can be hard. With limited money and limited time, weekdays can easily turn into an endless monotony of frozen pizzas and mcdonalds. But nice food doesn't necessarily have to be expensive or difficult. I experiment a lot with nice pastas and stir fries. Not only can you get creative with them, but you can easily make enough for a couple of days, giving yourself a night off from cooking the next night. 

This week, I made a (slightly modified) pasta amatriciana. It's easy to make, easily modifiable to your desires, cheap and delicious. 

Recipe adapted from 'The Hungry Student Cookbook' by Charlotte Pike

INGREDIENTS:

• A couple tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• A large handful of cherry tomatoes
• Chopped tomatoes
• 5-6 rashers of nice, smoky bacon
• 200g Pasta of your choice (I chose a chunky rigatoni, but the original recipe calls for spaghetti)

RECIPE: 

Chop up your garlic finely (you can use a garlic press if you have one), and your onions, bacon and tomatoes into chunky pieces.

Heat up the olive oil in a medium to large pot and sautee the garlic and onions until they are soft but not browned. Add your bacon at this stage and heat, while stirring regularly, until it is cooked. Add your cherry tomatoes and heat for another minute or so.

Add your chopped tomatoes and stir through. At this stage, you can also add a splash of white wine if you happen to have a bottle in the fridge, but this is optional. After this, turn the heat down to a low heat, and let it simmer away for around 30-40 minutes. This will really let the flavors come through.

Cook the pasta according to the details on the package. I prefer my pasta al dente, but whatever you like is fine.

Let your pasta and sauce finish cooking. Serve hot in a bowl with some parmesan sprinkled on top! It keeps well, and will serve 2 (generously), or last you a couple days.

I hope you're both doing well. I miss you.

Lots of love,
Siobhan
xxx

We're back!

This blog sort of died, but I am happy to announce that we are rebooting it! And with an exciting new member! Meet Ann: the lovely dane, currently living in Glasgow. She's an incredible cook with a love of both blogs and food. A natural member of the Signed, Sealed, Delicious family. We'll be posting once a week, alternating between the three of us. Welcome, Ann!

Love, Siobhan

Thai Green Curry

Dear Vibe,

As I am sure you are aware, curry holds a very special place in my heart. Half of my family being British, it almost seems my duty to make/consume/think about/purchase/crave Indian curry on a fairly regular basis. Although I don’t do these things quite as often as some of my family does, my love for Indian food tends to resurface fairly often. As you may have noticed, however, this blogpost is not about Indian curry. No, my friend, this blogpost is about Thai curry.

Yes, Thai green curry. Albeit not quite as much as Indian food, I have also grown up with a fair amount of Thai cuisine, and when I saw that the fabulous guys over at www.sortedfood.com had done a recipe for a Thai green curry, I knew I had to try it. You can watch the video recipe here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7nN1puv-3o&feature=player_embedded

Recipe adapted from www.sortedfood.com

INGREDIENTS:

•Green curry paste

•1 can of coconut milk

•Soy sauce

•Fish sauce

•2 kaffir lime leaves

•1 tsp brown sugar

•A handful of string beans

•2 chicken breasts

•1 aubergine

•1 lime

•2 cups jasmine rice

•A handful of fresh coriander

RECIPE

Start by setting the rice to cook however you normally do, or however it says on the packet. One of these days I will share with you the right  my way of cooking rice. 

Throw about 2 tablespoons of the green curry paste in the pan with a splash of oil and fry it for a couple of minutes. You can of course make your own curry paste easily, as was done in the original sortedfood recipe. The other times I have made this recipe, I have made my own paste. However, my blender has been taken hostage, and let’s face it, using the storebought paste is just easier sometimes.

After the paste has fried for a couple of minutes, pour in the coconut milk, a splash of soy sauce, a splash of fish sauce, the lime leaves and the brown sugar.

While this is cooking, you can top and tail the string beans, and dice the aubergines and the chicken. And as always, when cooking with raw chicken, it is so important to wash your hands and keep your workspace clean. Hygiene is everything!

When you have diced everything up, throw it in the curry and let it simmer for a few minutes, until the chicken is lightly poached.

Now here comes the best part. Are you ready for the best part? Here it comes. Taste the curry. It’s good. But it’s missing something. It doesn’t really taste like a proper green curry. Now squeeze the juice of the lime, the whole lime, into the pot. Taste it again. Stare at the curry in awe for a moment, and then swear to never, ever forget the lime.

 I always find it amazing, how much the juice of one lime can change the flavor of the dish. It really brings the flavors together and finishes it off, making it taste like a proper green curry. After this, just throw in some chopped coriander, and you’re ready to go. Serve with plenty of the jasmine rice, and if you like sprinkle on some more coriander.

This is such an easy and delicious meal for both experienced curry consumers and those who are new to its glory.

Enjoy!
Lot’s of love,

Siobhan

Honey-Baked Cinnamon Apple

Dear Siobhan,

I found myself with a little more time than expected this weekend so I thought I would use it to upload a quick and easy late summer/early autumn treat. Though it can be enjoyed all year round, and can be especially cozy during the winter, I associate this easy recipe with late summer nights. One childhood memory in particular stands out.

When I was  about five or six, my family had some friends over for dinner. It was summer and relatively warm out, as warm as it gets in Denmark, so we ate outside, and stayed out until it was dark. We kids, we were four, my brother and I and my best friend and his sister, played hide and seek around our enormous garden, which at this point, still had many trees and shrubs and what not, to hide behind. After dinner, we all roasted apples on a fire my friend's dad had made inside this hollowed out log. My method is not quite as awesome... But none-the-less the result is delicious.

Ingredients:

• apples, 1 for each
• honey
• raisins
• almonds
• cinnamon

All you need to do is remove the core of your apples, and fill it with honey instead, I used acacia honey, but in liquidy honey will do. Push some raisins into the hollowed out cores and top with almonds. Stick in the microwave for about 2-3 minutes. Remember that it will need longer in the microwave the more apples you are heating. Once the apple is tender and the honey has really soaked into it, it is ready. Of course, you can also bake it in the oven if you do not own a microwave, however, make sure that you bake it in a dish as the honey tends to ooze once it is heated up. 

Once it's done sprinkle it with cinnamon, et voila! There you are. Super delicious dessert. I bet it would taste really good with some vanilla ice cream on the side.

 

You can also just eat it hot with a nice cup of tea!

Love forever,
Vibe