Home made breads for the panzanella salads on Monday

I have just taken these breads out of the oven, normally Panzanella Salad  is served with  stale Italian  bread, I decided to make my own sour dough ( a 5 hour proof in cool temps.) with whole wheat flour, own grown bean sprouts, cooked chickpeas for extra protein, dried basil, caraway & poppy seeds.
The Panzanella salad normally contains anchovy fillets but I am keeping it true vegetarian and just adding capers, black olives, red onion, parsley, own grown basil,  red wine vinegar( own made) and extra virgin olive oil.

Enjoy the photos:

the 3 loaves baking together

The loaves cooling on a wire rack

Own grown bean sprouts ( lentils, peas, adzuki beans and chickpeas), cooked chickpeas, poppy seeds, caraway seeds, and dried basil

Monday Menu..early Halloween Special plus more back stories

this is the temp in the shade today!

I am making an early Halloween feast for Monday Oct 29th, as usual my client's have created the menu, by placing their choices.
I love Halloween, although it is a BIG event in America, I have had some good times holding  Creepy Themed parties in other parts of the globe...

On a private estate in Surrey, England, I held an informal Halloween party, where not everyone got  into costume..so the host made them walk through the frog pond in their bare feet, with their suit pants rolled up to their knees, skirts held high..screaming like banshees, to "pay for their dinner". They came in fancy dress for the Christmas party after that!

In Ibiza, Halloween was a low key affair with the main event being Nov. 1st, (The Day of the Dead), where we had drinks with friends and then a buffet..in a Rustic, 100yr old house in the foothills, away from the main towns. With no running water nor electrical/gas supply.
It was also the night the ( Nanny) goat decided to have her kid..I spent most of the night with her owner, helping ( holding on to the goat)deliver the said kid, in a barn with the light of an oil lamp, very rustic and old worldly even though it was 1982.
I am convinced it was the Spanish brandy that stopped me from passing out during the birth ( I am pretty squeamish).

In America, I spent 3 days decorating a "Victorian" themed dining room, of a Hollywood Estate into the Crypt from Hell, much to the annoyance of the house's owner, as they wanted to know what I was doing. ( I locked the door every time I left).
The night of the dinner, I had creepy music playing over loud speakers in the house,most of the lights out and as the children got dressed and into the spirit of things, so did my boss and his future wife, surprising us all, at the last minute ....then the children began getting scared as I had fake dead rats under their chairs, eye balls in their drinks (peeled green grapes),and when they lifted their napkins, spiders 'scampered across the table'.
The night was a big success and I don't know who was more scared, the children or the adults....it took a week to clean the table ( this was one of 3 dining rooms in the house and was mainly used for entertaining as it could seat 30, comfortably) of all the fake webbing and critters.,,plus there was candy hidden all over the house, that was a few years ago, and I know not every piece was claimed.

In England as a child, we did not have pumpkins to carve, so we used very large rutabegas and carried them tied with string, the smell of burning turnip lingers with me to this day...we wore masks and did our best to scare everyone we met.
I don't think we played trick or treat, it was more like trick, with  our "Jack o'Lanterns" and it was always a  really cold night...right now the day time temp is 93F in the shade!


The Halloween Menu:

Blood & Maggots.. Tomato soup with brown rice

Green pond life... Zucchini based vegetable soup finished with fresh pesto

Frog's legs & slime..okra spicy gumbo


Loose eyeballs with Abnormal sauce...
whole wheat gnocchi with a la Norma  ( eggplants ( they are still on plants outside), tomatoes, and garlic)

Crypt kickers..collard greens sauteed with mushrooms and garlic

Mortician Special... carrots, zucchini & broccoli stir fry with flax seed

Cold revenge..Panzanella with own made bread, tomatoes, garlic, basil and red onion


Screaming witch pie...pumpkin pie with a caramel walnut, glazed crust

Goblin Gobble with grubs..coconut custard pie, this is made with young coconut.

The following pictures are my neighborhood..yes this is how people decorate their homes for Halloween, some go to town and it is fantasticly scary at night..enjoy

LEMONS Recipes: Salad dressings, Lemon Curd, Marmalade, Salad dressings, Pies and Pastries..STILL Fabulous after all these years

Lots of Lemony Dishes and ideas that go just as good today as they did over 90 yrs ago.....

1 cup measure is 8ozs

Fresh squeezed lemon juice naturally sweetens up an hour after squeezing, but after 2 hours becomes bitter again..natural chemical reaction of oxidization.

Lemon Mint Sauce: great for nutloaf, meatloaf, fish and burgers
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice ( juice 3-4 lemons)
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint leaves

combine and let stand an hour.
For a Thai touch, add 1/2 cup chopped basil leaves and hot sauce


Lemon smothered (hearty) greens ( broccoli, collard, cabbage)
1/4 cup melted unsalted butter
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice

steam the greens and pour on the melted butter juice mix, can also add chopped parsley, basil and or scallions.


California Salad dressing
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground paprika
1 tbsp honey or agave syrup
mix well ( can be shaken in a jar), then add
1 tbsp chopped blanched almonds
1 tbsp finely chopped watercress
1 tbsp finely chopped dried cherries

serve with fresh baby spinach, arugula ( rocket salad), sprouts


Golden State Salad dressing ( used for fruited salads)
2 eggs slightly beaten
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup orange juice

combine and cook in a double boiler, until thickened
chill and if desired add 1/2 cup whipped cream


Lemon Pastry..great for apple & or rhubarb pies & for the Golden West Lemon Pie, recipe follows
..makes 3 x8inch shells
3 cups sifted flour  or 3 whole wheat unsifted
1 tsp sea salt
1 cup margarine
1 slightly beaten egg 
3 tbsp lemon juice
zest of 2 lemons

ice water just enough to bind the dough together

mix in a large bowl the flour and salt,
using knives cut in the margarine to form "breadcrumbs"
Add and combine the eggs, lemon juice & zest.
gradually add and mix lightly the ice water.

Divide pastry into 3 pieces & allow to rest for 3 hours in a cool place.
Roll thinly and fill pie

bake at 475f for 15 mins then turn down to 350f for what ever time is needed for your pie recipe

Golden West Lemon Pie
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tsp lemon zest
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
3 large eggs

beat all together well ( if using an egg whisk, whisk for 10 mins)

Bake in an 8inch unbaked pie shell in hot oven 425F for 20 mins, then turn down heat to 250F for 10 more minutes .

remove from oven and cool can be topped with whipped cream

Lemon maple dumplings..hearty old fashioned dessert for cold weather
4-6 servings

Sauce
In a heavy bottomed saucepan cook lemon slices until they are transparent ( about 20 mins)
2 very thinly sliced lemons
2 tsp butter
2 cups maple syrup


Dumplings
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp sugar

mix together well, then cut in 1 tbsp butter

Beat together
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla and add to the butter mix, and combine well.

Drop spoonfuls ( dsrt or teasp) into the boiling lemon sauce, cover tightly  & cook over low simmer for 20 mins( do not remove lid).
The dumplings should be light and large...serve warm, not hot with vanilla ice cream or pouring cream.
This is a very economical and old fashioned dessert.

English Lemon Cheese...every farmer's wife in Lancashire, my home  county used to make this, and sell at local markets.

6 eggs well beaten
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
zest of lemons
1/4 cup unsalted butter

Cook over hot water in a double boiler, stirring, until thick.
Pour into sterilized jars.
great on toast , with scones, or as a tart/cake filling.
Wonderful and brings all good childhood memories flooding back
It is sometimes known as lemon curd ( but that is sometimes thickened with pectin)

Lemon Marmalade
6 well washed, whole lemons

Slice very thin the lemons and measure the fruit in cups, placing in a a heavy bottomed sauce pan( not aluminium)

Add 3 times water to fruit.
Boil for 20 mins or until tender, skimming any scum from top.. also replace any lost water.
Allow 3/4 cup sugar to each cup of fruit
Bring to a boil and cook on high boil for about 20-30 mins, then do the "jelly test"..with a wooden spoon..the mix should be thick, with reluctant drops falling from the spoon, it may take longer depending on amount of liquid, and altitude of your kitchen ( I am  at sea level).
Pour into sterilized jars.
BE CAREFUL AS THE MIXTURE IS VERY HOT..
..it will thicken more as it cools.

Seal and store in a cool dark place, the marmalade with thicken and deepen in color and flavor the longer it is left unopened.

Also a tip..you can add whisky or vodka to the top of  the mix, this also helps seal and makes the marmalade very special for gifts..eventually the alcohol absorbs into the marmalade as it cools down ...happy Cooking with lemons, with love from Southern California, the home of great  citrus fruit for over a 100yrs...