Hi everyone and welcome to the blog. The world will be remembering just one event this week, the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks – The day the world changed. So this week’s blog is dedicated to The Victims and Heroes of 9/11. The recipes this week are Sausage Cobbler, Taverned Bacon and Apple and Plum Charlotte with Custard. The spice of the week is Sesame.
The September 11 attacks (also called 9/11), were a series of four coordinated suicide attacks against targets in New York and Washington, D.C. on September 11, 2001. On that morning, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four passenger jets. The hijackers intentionally crashed two planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre in New York City; both towers collapsed within two hours. Hijackers crashed a third plane into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. When passengers attempted to take control of the fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, it crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, preventing it from reaching its intended target in Washington, D.C. Nearly 3,000 lives were lost in the attacks.
Suspicion quickly fell on al-Qaeda, the Islamist militant group. In 2004, Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who had initially denied involvement, claimed responsibility for the attacks. Al-Qaeda and bin Laden cited U.S. support of Israel, the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia, and sanctions against Iraq as motives for the attacks. The United States responded to the attacks by launching the War on Terror, invading Afghanistan to depose the Taliban, who had harboured al-Qaeda members. Many countries strengthened their anti-terrorism legislation and expanded law enforcement powers. In May 2011 bin Laden was found and killed.
Many lives were lost on that day, and many more would have subsequently been lost if it had not been for the selfless actions of the American emergency services, many of whom perished on that day. The following poem pays tribute to them and those who died on that fateful day in September.
We Shall Never Forget (9-11 Tribute) by Alan W. Jankowski (from www.9-11heroes.us)
Let the world always remember,
That fateful day in September,
And the ones who answered duties call,
Should be remembered by us all.
Who left the comfort of their home,
To face perils as yet unknown,
An embodiment of goodness on a day,
When men’s hearts had gone astray.
Sons and daughters like me and you,
Who never questioned what they had to do,
Who by example, were a source of hope,
And strength to others who could not cope.
Heroes that would not turn their back,
With determination that would not crack,
Who bound together in their ranks,
And asking not a word of thanks.
Men who bravely gave their lives,
Whose orphaned kids and widowed wives,
Can proudly look back on their dad,
Who gave this country all they had.
Actions taken without regret,
Heroisms we shall never forget,
The ones who paid the ultimate price,
Let’s never forget their sacrifice.
And never forget the ones no longer here,
Who fought for the freedoms we all hold dear,
And may their memory never wane,
Lest their sacrifices be in vain.
My first recipe is Sausage Cobbler, courtesy of Good To Know website – first appeared in a 1974 issue of Woman’s Weekly magazine.
Makes 4-6, takes 30mins to prepare, 55mins to cook.
6 x Good-Sized Sausages
125g x Belly or Shoulder of Pork, rind and any bones removed, chopped into 6 or 8 pieces
2 x Medium Onions, peeled and sliced
2 x Large Carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 tbsp x Plain Flour, level
150ml x Cider
300ml x Hot Organic Chicken Stock
Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper
For the topping:
250g (8oz) self-raising flour
Pinch of salt
1tsp x Dried Sage, level
45g x Butter
150ml x Milk
1.25 litre x Pie Dish
6.5cm x Plain Cutter
Fry the sausages and pork in a frying pan over a very low heat for 15 mins until they are golden brown. Use a draining spoon to put them into the dish. Set the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6. Add the onion and carrot to the fat in the pan and fry over a low heat for about 10 mins until softened. Stir in flour and mix well. Take pan off heat and gradually blend in the cider and stock. Put pan back on the heat, stirring all time, to make a sauce. Check the seasoning and pour the sauce over the pork and sausages.
To make the topping: Mix the flour, salt and sage in a bowl. Rub in the butter, then mix in enough milk to make a fairly soft dough and turn it out on to a lightly floured work surface.
Roll the dough out to just under 1.5cm (½in) thick and cut out 8 scones with the cutter. Place them on top of sausage mixture and bake for 30 mins until the scones are golden and well-risen.
My next recipe is Taverned Bacon, courtesy of Good To Know website – first appeared in a 1966 issue of Woman’s Weekly magazine.
Makes 4, takes 30mins to prepare, 2hrs 20mins to cook.
1.5kg x Bacon Collar Joint
1tbsp x Mustard Powder
2tbsp x Demerara Sugar
600ml x Pale Ale or Cider
3 x Sprigs of Thyme
500g x New Potatoes
3 x Medium Carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
3 x Medium Leeks, trimmed, thickly sliced
Cut the thick skin off the joint, along with some of the fat. Mix the mustard and sugar and rub it over the joint. Put it in a casserole and leave for 20 mins while the oven heats up to Gas Mark 3 or 160°C.
Pour the ale/cider into the casserole and add the thyme, potatoes and carrots. Cook in the oven for 1¼ hours. Add the leeks and continue cooking for 45 mins, until the bacon and vegetables are tender.
Spice of the week – Sesame
Sesame is a flowering plant in the genus Sesamum. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cultivated for its edible seeds, which grow in pods. The flowers of the sesame seed plant are yellow, though they can vary in colour with some being blue or purple.
Sesame is grown primarily for its oil-rich seeds, which come in a variety of colours, from cream-white to charcoal-black. In general, the paler varieties of sesame seem to be more valued in the West and Middle East, while both the pale and black varieties are prized in the Far East. The small sesame seed is used whole in cooking for its rich nutty flavour (although such heating damages their healthful polyunsaturated fats), and also yields sesame oil.
Sesame seeds are sometimes added to breads, including bagels and the tops of hamburger buns. Sesame seeds may be baked into crackers, often in the form of sticks. Sesame seeds are also sprinkled onto some sushi style foods. Whole seeds are found in many salads and baked snacks as well in Japan. Tan and black sesame seed varieties are roasted and used for making the flavoring gomashio. In Greece the seeds are used in cakes, and in Togo they are a main soup ingredient. The seeds are also eaten on bread in Sicily and France (called “ficelle sésame”, sesame thread). In DR Congo and North of Angola, ground sesame or wangila is a delicious dish, especially when cooked with smoked fish or lobsters. About one-third of Mexico’s sesame crop is exported to the United States and purchased by McDonald’s for their sesame seed buns. In Manipur (North Eastern State of India) Black sesame is used in the preparation of a favorite side dish called ‘Thoiding’ and in ‘Singju’ (A kind of salad). Thoiding is prepared with ginger and chili and vegetables are used in the spicy Singu dish. In Assam, black sesame seeds are used to make Til Pitha and Tilor laru (sesame seed balls) during bihu. In Punjab province of India and Tamil Nadu state of India, a sweet ball called “Pinni” in Urdu and ‘Ell urundai’ in Tamil, “Ellunda” in Malayalam, “Yellunde” (sesame ball, usually in jaggery) in Kannada and tilgul in Marathi is made of its seeds mixed with sugar. Also in Tamil Nadu, sesame oil used extensively in their cuisine, Milagai Podi, a ground powder made of sesame and dry chili is used to enhance flavour and consumed along with other traditional foods such as idli. Sesame (benne) seed cookies and wafers, both sweet and savory, are still consumed today in places like Charleston, South Carolina. The seeds are believed to have been brought into 17th century colonial America by West African slaves. In Caribbean cuisine, sugar and white sesame seeds are combined into a bar resembling peanut brittle and sold in stores and street corners.
Ground and processed, the seeds can also be used in sweet confections. Sesame seeds can be made into a paste called tahini (used in various ways, including hummus bi tahini) and the Middle Eastern confection halvah. In South Asia, Middle East, East Asian cuisines, popular treats are made from sesame mixed with honey or syrup and roasted into a sesame candy. In Japanese cuisine goma-dofu is made from sesame paste and starch.
East Asian cuisines, like Chinese cuisine use sesame seeds and oil in some dishes, such as dim sum, sesame seed balls, and the Vietnamese bánh rán. Sesame flavour (through oil and roasted or raw seeds) is also very popular in Korean cuisine, used to marinate meat and vegetables. Chefs in tempura restaurants blend sesame and cottonseed oil for deep-frying. Sesame oil was a preferred cooking oil in India until the advent of peanut oil.
Mexican cuisine refers to sesame seeds as Ajonjolí (derived from Arabic). It is mainly used as a sauce additive, such as mole or adobo. It is often also used to sprinkle over artisan breads and baked in traditional form to coat the smooth dough, especially on whole wheat flat breads or artisan nutrition bars, such as alegrías. Mexico exports a large amount of its sesame seed crop to North and South America. Although sesame leaves are edible as a potherb, recipes for Korean cuisine calling for “sesame leaves” are often a mistranslation, and really mean perilla.
The seeds are exceptionally rich in iron, magnesium, manganese, copper, and calcium (90 mg per tbsp for unhulled seeds, 10 mg for hulled), and contain vitamin B1 (thiamine) and vitamin E (tocopherol). They contain lignans, including unique content of sesamin, which are phytoestrogens with antioxidant and anti-cancer properties. Among edible oils from six plants, sesame oil had the highest antioxidant content. Sesame seeds also contain phytosterols associated with reduced levels of blood cholesterol. The nutrients of sesame seeds are better absorbed if they are ground or pulverized before consumption, as in tahini.
Sesame seeds contain a high amount of the anti-nutrient phytic acid. Women of ancient Babylon would eat halva, a mixture of honey and sesame seeds to prolong youth and beauty, while Roman soldiers ate the mixture for strength and energy. Sesame seeds produce an allergic reaction in a small percentage of the general population.
Sesame oil is used for massage and health treatments of the body (abhyanga and shirodhara) and teeth (oil pulling) in the ancient Indian ayurvedic system. Ayurveda views sesame oil as the most viscous of the plant oils and believes it may pacify the health problems associated with Vata aggravation.
My final recipe is Apple and Plum Charlotte with custard. Recipe by James Martin, courtesy of Good Food Channel website.
Serves 6, takes 45mins to prepare, takes 30mins to make.
For the charlotte
500g x Bramley Apples
6 x Plums
175g x Butter
120g x Caster Sugar
4tbsp x Apricot Jam
10 x White Bread Slices
For the custard
8 x Egg Yolks
75g x Caster Sugar
1 x Vanilla Pod
300ml x Milk
300ml x Double Cream
Peel, core and slice the apples; halve the plums removing the stones. Melt 25g of the butter in a large saucepan with the sugar, and add the apples. Cover with a lid and cook over a gentle heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the lid and add the plums. Cook for a further 5 -10 minutes, until the fruit becomes a smooth purée. Stir in the apricot jam and leave to cool.
Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4. Cut the crusts off the bread and cut each slice in half lengthways, and cut each half into 4 even-sized fingers. Melt the remaining butter in a saucepan. Dip each piece of bread into the melted butter and line the mould, reserving some pieces for the lid. Once the mould is lined, spoon in the apple and plum purée and top with more butter-dipped bread for the lid. Transfer to the oven and bake for 30 minutes, until the dessert is golden brown.
In the meantime, make the custard. Beat the egg yolks and sugar in a heatproof bowl until smooth. Split the vanilla pod in half lengthways and scrape out the seeds with the point of a knife. Pour the milk and cream in a saucepan, add the vanilla seeds and pod, and place over a gentle heat. Bring the mixture to the boil.
Sit the bowl with the beaten eggs and sugar over a pan of gently simmering water and whisk in the hot cream. The mixture will thicken as it cooks. Keep stirring until it coats the back of the spoon. Remove the bowl from the heat and serve the custard straight away with the charlotte.
Sleep Well, The World Will Never Forget You
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