Two easy after Thanksgiving foods

After cooking the feast and eating leftovers for a day or so I'm ready to move on in the world of food. Since I am totally enamored of Jamie Oliver I've been getting his mag from the UK ($65/year - sort of a surprise when I added it to my cart. I was aware of the general exchange rate, but not the specifics). So, I've got the pile of them on my desk right now and each one has a fold out section of recipes for the month. Typically quicker than the ones in the main part of the magazine and I've had a little rash of making them this week.

Since I already have a scale (which I bought for weighing WOOL) and the recipes are mostly in metric weights, it's easier to weigh everything out before cooking. Kind of like you're supposed to do it, heh. For dinner I made a double batch of Chorizo & Butter Bean Stew

1/2 lb sliced chorizo
2 red onions, sliced
3 garlic cloves, sliced
1 tsp smoked paprike
14.5 oz can of butter beans
14.5 oz can tomatoes

Cook chorizo, red onions, and garlic over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add 1 tsp paprika, tomatoes, and beans, then cook on low heat for 20 minutes.

Serve with crusty bread.



The double batch will be nice for lunches this week!

Then, for tomorrow when I get the peeps back, I made Lemon & Poppy Seed Drizzle Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat 1 1/4 cup sugar with 3 eggs until light. Add 1 3/4 cup self-rising flour, 14 T melted butter (almost two sticks), grated zest of 1 lemon and 2 T poppy seeds. Mix batter until smooth. Spoon batter into a buttered and floured 8" cake pan and bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Leave to cool, then split in half horizontally. Whisk 6 oz double cream with 2 T powdered sugar to soft peaks. Spread thickly over the bottom half of the cake. Mix a scant cup of powdered sugar with the juice of 1/2 lemon, and slice the other lemon half very thinly. Place the top half of cake on the cream, spread with icing, top with lemon slices and finish with a scattering of poppy seeds.

I haven't tasted all three bits together yet, but they were each damn good separate!

I'm dog sitting until Sunday - Eowyn is pleased, she loves Mac. Yesterday afternoon I couldn't find them and then when I was putting laundry away I found them on Chicky's bed. Happy dogs. I wonder if they'll leave any room for her tomorrow night?




The back of the Arwen sweater is finished and I'm finally on to the left side. I'm done with the hem and have increased for the cabled edge. I've only done two sets of the cable repeats, but the pattern is emerging - yea.