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I Think…

…this DJ might just be my kindred spirit.

To wit:

Who’s your favourite band/artist at the moment?
I’m totally loving the new album of covers from Seal which is due to be released soon.

Favourite song from the 1990s?
Again, I’m gonna have to go for a top five as of today, as I constantly change my mind!

1. Ace Of Bass – Life is a Flower

2. All Saints – Under The Bridge

3. Wet Wet Wet – Goodnight Girl

4. Take That – Pray

5. Jamiroquai – Virtual Insanity

Anything else you would like to tell us?
Any ideas how I can get rid of this rash??

UPDATE: Crikey, he’s on Twitter. Here’s a sample of the real-life DJ Smashie:

Okay, so its not even 7 and I’m ready for bed! I’m turning into an old man! Pretty lame ehh?! lol

As I said, kindred spirits.

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Food Diaries: Caramelised Salmon

Salmon is one of my favourite fish, and when it’s sold at Sainsbury’s for £6 per two packs, we eat it pretty often too. The best way to cook it is wrapped in a sheet of aluminum foil, with a bit of olive oil drizzled over the top, in the oven for about 15 minutes. Served while still pink in the middle, it’s absolute bliss.

However, I do love pan-frying it with a bit of olive oil, then pouring a generous drizzle of ketjap manis (caramelised-tasting soy sauce from Indonesia – got mine in Brixy market, but it’s quite common, just got to know what the bottle looks like!) and some honey. Fry until still a bit pink and tender inside, and serve. As you can see from the photo, the ketjap manis turns the salmon almost black, and gives it a chicory/caramel taste. Beautiful served with a stir fry.

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Food Diaries: Hummingbird Bakery Key Lime Pie

I first made this pie a few months after getting back from San Francisco with Jim, Laura and Ricky. We had our first (of many, I hope!) San Francisco reunion at Laura’s, where we had the pie with other SF-themed food: clam chowder, prawn sandwiches, lots and lots of prosecco…

The second time was on the weekend when Gemma, Darika, Kate and Libby came over for the Twilight movie night. I forgot to take a photo before we munched on it (well, everyone except Darika, who had to run for her train), so what you see above is the crumbled remains the next day, sans whipped cream.

So, due to popular demand (Kate), here’s the Hummingbird Bakery recipe…

Recipe

Filling
- 8 egg yolks
- 2 397-gram tins of condensed milk
- freshly squeezed juice and grated zest of 5 limes (I can never be bothered grating zest, lest I finish with Madonna arms, so I use the juice of 6 limes instead. And use a sneaky dribble of green food colouring – which the recipe says not to use as the zest will provide the colour.)
- 450ml whipped cream

Crust
- 500 grams digestive biscuits
- 200 grams unsalted butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees

For the crust
Roughly break up the digestive biscuits and put them in a food processor (I do about four lots). Process until finely ground. Put the crumbs in a large mixing bowl, and pour the melted butter in, and stir. Press the mixture into the base and neatly up the side of the prepared pie dish, using a tablespoon to flatten and compress.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, until deep golden and firm. Set aside to cool completely.

Turn the oven down to 150 degrees.

Put the egg yolks, condensed milk and lime juice in a mixing bowl, and mix with a whisk until everything’s smooth. It’ll thicken as you go.

Pour into the cold pie crust and bake in the oven for 20 – 30 minutes. Pull it out when it’s firm to the touch, and not at all wobbly. Leave to cool completely, and put in the fridge for at least an hour (I make it the previous day).

Serve with whipped cream on top.

- If you’re wondering what to do with the leftover eight egg whites, try this white cake recipe. I made it the day after the pie got eaten, using the whites I’d refrigerated, and it was delicious. Light and fluffy, with a slightly sticky and caramelised top. Didn’t even add icing. The recipe calls for just six egg whites, but I increased the whole recipe by a third so I could use all eight whites.

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Food Diaries: Pizza

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Food Diaries: Blue Cheese, Broccolli and Mushroom Macaroni

After having Darika, Libby, Kate and Gemma over for a Twilight movie night last night, Jim and I were left with a lot of leftover cheese. I guess I went a bit overboard when shopping earlier in the day. Rather than smearing the stilton, boursin and brie on crusty bread with slivers of smoked salmon like we normally would, I took inspiration from the amazing food blogger Laura Silver and made a gourmet macaroni cheese.

My Mum rarely made macaroni cheese when I was younger, I guess because it was so similar to salmon mornay and she felt I should get all the iron I could possibly consume after returning from school one day when I was 13, claiming I was a vegetarian. When I was about 14 or 15, and Mum had presumably had an early shift that day (she’s a nurse) I attempted to make macaroni cheese to take to school for lunch.

Sitting under our usual tree on the front lawn of the school, I pulled out my tupperware container and started eating my improvised mac ‘n cheese. My friends were curious why I was eating pasta with grated cheese on top – I explained it was macaroni cheese, that I’d made myself. They all hooted with laughter and said it may have the two title foods – macaroni pasta and cheese – but that it was nowhere like what their Mums made them.

Here’s my homage to that summery Australian lunchtime.

Recipe – inspired by Laura Silver’s.

- enough pasta for however many you’re serving to (my local Sains had sold out of macaroni, so I used fusilli instead. I’m no shape racist)
- handful of button mushrooms
- handful of chopped broccoli and cauliflower
- tablespoon or two of plain flour
- scoop of butter
- two cups of milk
- whatever strong cheese you’ve got. I used stilton and boursin in mine
- breadcrumbs
- milk powder (not essential, but I always use it with breadcrumbs for an extra-crusty top)

Cook the pasta in a saucepan. Make a bechamel sauce my frying the butter in a saucepan, then sprinkling in the flour. Mix quickly, then pour in the milk slowly while still pouring. Crumble in the varying cheeses – I used about 300g in total. Boil the mushrooms, broccoli and cauliflower – or whatever veggies you’re using, if any.

Drain the pasta and veggies when cooked, then put in the oven-proof dish. Pour the bechamel sauce over, and mix well. Grate breadcrumbs and sprinkle milk powder lightly. Cook for 20mins or so, until brown on top.

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Katherinehannaford.com Mark II

Welcome to katherinehannaford.com – again. After my previous hosting provider, Fasthosts.co.uk, accidentally deleted my database (with all my posts going down the gurgler), I’ve switched over to HostGator – and with huge thanks to Jason Chen – have now got a blog.

Again.