This week, the food stylist had a few clever tricks up her sleeve. Yes props, like rice and a fork. I don't know how these people do it. Genius.
I thought I would go a bit up-market this week and do my special Chicken With Apple. It contains a secret ingredient: verjuice.
If you haven't encountered verjuice before, think along the lines of unfermented Blue Nun (which I clearly have a thing for at the moment) with an acidic bite that will strip the enamel from your teeth and make you purse your mouth like a cat's ... ahem ... bottom.
Actually I mustn't malign it so.
Its a gourmet ingredient with a price tag to match and does bring a beautiful balance to something like this chicken dish, which is quite sweet with its apple. Verjuice is a pressing of unripened grapes .... er, sorry not the juice of vers (whatever they might be). The name is derived from the French for green, vert.
So stand back and get ready to throw some of that green juice.
To make this casserole, I tossed some chicken thigh fillets with a bit of flour and powdered garlic. Garlic powder is a particular favourite at the moment. - its cheaper and more convenient than using the fresh stuff ... and probably works just as effectively to repel vampires (though I don't have any evidentiary proof of this). Add it liberally (especially if you are troubled by vampires).
Next I diced some apple and carrot and sauteed it briefly with a bit of sage (other fresh or dried herbs, such as thyme, work just as well).
Finally I threw everything into a casserole dish and sloshed verjuice and chicken stock over the top. A good ratio is about 2 parts verjuice to 1 part stock. I oven cooked this dish, but it could be done on the stove-top or in a slow-cooker. It freezes very well.
This dish is generally considered quite acceptable by the smaller folk in our household .... except on those disappointing evenings when they refuse to eat and purse their mouths like a cat's ... ahem ... bottom.
* In Australia, Orgran No Egg powder is available in the health food aisle at the supermarket and in health food shops. It works very well in baked goods.
I can happily report this week, that I haven't yet botched stencilling. (Of course by dedicating a week to locating supplies and reading tutorials, I have probably cleverly kept myself out of harm's way. Let's wait and see what happens next week).
The freezer paper turned up nice and promptly yesterday from Punch With Judy. I ordered two brands for comparison: Reynold's (which is on a roll) and C. Jenkin's which comes in pre-cut sheets. It will be interesting to see if there is any difference when I use them. The Reynolds paper seems a little thinner and waxier and might be a little more transparent for tracing. The C. Jenkin's paper is labelled as being "industrial", which sounds awfully promising (I'm a sucker for a good adjective). It will also be easier to store, as its flat.
Over the past few days I've been reading through the tutorial links that I posted last week and have done a little extra browsing through places like Flickr, where people have posted pictures and explanations of their stencilling. If you are interested in stencilling too and haven't yet had time to do some reading, here is a brief summary.
Stencilling processFusing the paper
Drying the stencil
I have decided to start out with a very simple design. I would like to make Argy and Bargy some Christmas t-shirts with trees on them. With my craft track record and only 98 days left, I don't have a moment to waste. (Don't laugh - remember the crochet?) Anyway, I thought I might stencil on the tree and then stitch on some decorations (will Mr HB notice sequins on his boys?). The sloth in me is pointing me toward downloading a design, but my conscience (knowing that long, long ago I used to be able to do some passable drawings) tells me not to be so lazy. Let's see which little inner voice wins.
So during this next week, I am going to:
I will be using the beautiful Speedball Opaque Screen Printing Ink in Black Pearl, that I picked up a couple of weeks ago at Riot Art and Craft. I'll let you know next time if (with my amateur eyes) I see any particular differences between the performance of the Reynolds and C. Jenkin's papers.
If you are stencilling along, how have you gone this week? Did you manage to find some freezer paper? (If you'd like other people to see what you're up to, leave a comment and I'll pop your name into the sidebar.)
Crack open the Blue Nun, its 70s night over here at Chez Hoppo Bumpo. I'll be dolled up in my caftan - the green satin one with the frogs and lily pads. Its beef stroganoff, with rice, on the menu.
According to Wikipedia, stroganoff - which originated in Russia - is sautéed pieces of beef served in a sauce with sour cream. The encyclopedic entry goes on to explain that after gaining popularity outside of Russia, there has been quite a bit of variation in the recipe.
With the "quite a bit of variation" caveat, I thought I might just get away with my complete recipe hack. So, fancy a bit of retro indulgence?
To make this, I tossed diced beef in some flour and paprika. Next I threw it into my slow cooker with plenty of sliced mushrooms. After that I got out my trusty ... can opener ... and added a tin of condensed mushroom soup. This was followed by a massive dollop of tomato paste and a top-up of beef stock. I slow cooked the stroganoff, but it would go equally well in the oven or on the stove-top (longer cooking at lower temperatures will make the meat more tender).
At the end I stirred in some very rich, indulgent King Island creme fraiche. Using an extravagant dairy product negates the lazy use of tinned soup: serve this stroganoff at your dinner party with confidence. You can, of course, also use regular sour cream, but if left heating for too long it will "split". Creme fraiche is more stable and gives a better result should you be overcome by the Blue Nun and forget the dinner.
Did you know that the word for apron was originally naperon, a derivative of a French word? As time passed and language evolved the "n" moved: a naperon became an apron.
In a quirk of etymology, 6 hours ago apron further evolved to become apricot. I'm not sure how Argy made this lexical mistake, but I suspect that aprons will forever more be apricots in our household.
So apricots have been in season here. Let me show you a veritable bumper crop of absolute beauties.
The first is from the latest Sassy Apron Swap, which ran in August to a Fall theme. There were 143 people in the swap, which was organised by the delightful and hardworking Lucy. The swap partner I was assigned is far away in North America. However in one of those "its a small world" twists, I received my apron from the lovely Beth over at Cloth and Fodder, who I discovered lives "just down the road"!
So not only have I had the great pleasure of actually meeting another blogger, but I received this beautiful reversible apron. (In hindsight I am a little embarrassed that throughout the swap, I kept asking on her blog about how the apron was going - oops).
There are pockets on both sides and lovely details .... and Beth's sewing is fabulous (click the picture to see in more detail). I love the fabric - especially those gorgeous Japanese prints. I also received two beautiful pot holders,which I know have been filled with that very nifty Insul-Bright batting! Beth also very generously gave me a cookbook and a beautiful aloe vera plant, which with my propensity for burning myself whilst cooking, will be very handy. What fantastic swap gifts - thank you very much Beth!
The next apron arrived in the mail today. I was super-lucky to win this little boy's apron in a giveaway over at Little Munchkins. Both Argy and Bargy took delight in modelling it straight away (which is when the apricots error occurred).
Look at the really cute cowboy print ...
... and the fantastic pockets for putting utensils in.
I can see that we are going to have many fun hours cooking with this apron. Thank you so much, Little Munchkins!
And finally, I couldn't talk about aprons without mentioning this sweet little number - a half apron that I bought recently at the grand opening of the CurlyPops shop.
I was very excited to also receive a beautiful G.W.P. (gift with purchase) - a matching pot holder (thank you very much, Cam!).
Each of the new, beautifully-made apricots will be treasured. Now if you could excuse me, I'm just off to have a cup of tea and some toast with apron jam.
For example, today I have been reading about how to use a blind hemming foot on my machine. I've also been studying how to sew flat fell seams. I've discovered that there's a product that will distress denim so that it frays and become all holey. Hmmm ... how perfect when I need more of Mr HB's jeans for refashioning into clothes for the boys (evil laugh: mwhua haa haaa). More soberingly, I have also read that in the commercial world, a pair of jeans can be sewn in just 14 minutes. Which begs the question as to why this project remains incomplete after nearly 44,640 minutes?
The answer, I'm afraid, may be revealed in the next paragraph.
For in reality, this is what I really do with those spare 10 minutes. Yes: its just me, a cuppa, a block of chocolate and my blog reader.
Note: There is every chance that the illustration in [3] may be indicative of what is happening following over-indulgence in [1] and [2]
Thank you to Sharon at Handmaiden who is guest-hosting "This is". I had great fun picking the theme and I am looking forward to seeing what everyone else has come up with. Look over here to see who else is playing along.
During the week Mr HB reminded me that the daughter of family friends was about to have her first birthday. I wonder if he noticed the look of wild excitement, as I registered the fact. Oh boy - a girl!
I was nearly beside myself. Oooh one .... that's such a lovely ...... size.
In the ensuing time, I have made this birthday skirt: it has the obligatory toadstool print, polka dots and enormous, swirly flounce. I'd like to think, though, that I haven't gone completely over-the-top. There are no ribbons, applique, lace or sparkly things and I have limited the pink to just three shades.
But from the outside, no-one will ever know about the hundred yards of lolly pink bias binding. Sneaky, huh?
(Download: freezer paper stencil tips PDF)
I'm a bit of a magpie: I simply can't resist shiny things.
I like a few sequins, a diamante or two and some rhinestones. I can gaze at twinkling Christmas decorations for hours. I have trouble walking past any fabric containing even a hint of lurex. I habour secret desires to wear inappropriately sparkly eye make-up. I once thought that puffy glitter fabric paint was a good idea.
So you see, the lure of shiny explains this latest acquisition. A pot of shimmering black pearl fabric ink. Its lustrous and beautiful. I had to have it. Another case of buy now; think later.
So I've finally come to the thinking part.
Following a brief interlude after the granny square crocheting, I can see another hapless craft experiment on the horizon: freezer paper stencilling.
If you haven't seen this before, it involves cutting out an image from the sheet of freezer paper, ironing the paper to your fabric and then stencilling. Et voila, a beautiful image! Or that's the theory.
I'm a bit excited about this one.
There are loads of lovely examples of freezer paper stencilling about (for example, look at this one over at Angry Chicken). It would be really fun to do some t-shirts for Argy and Bargy, especially as the materials aren't too expensive. And from what I understand, you can even print nifty initial images onto your freezer paper using an inkjet printer. Note to self: best check this out with Mr HB. We don't really need another printing fiasco like this.
All else aside, this particular project seems to meet one essential criteria: I think I actually understand the instructions. A complete turn-up for the books. In fact, I reckon I could knock out at least one half-way decent t-shirt in a month. And if it all goes pear-shaped, I can quietly sneak the freezer paper into the kitchen cupboard and pretend that it never happened. Excellent.
So, care to join in a Freezer Paper Stencil Along? Trust me, if you are time poor, this is for you. The bar is set low each week.
This week, my aims are to:
A bit on how I've fared, next Thursday ...
OK, someone needs to sack the food stylist.
All these stand-back-and-throw meals look the same. One monochromatic dish after another. Is it my cooking? Or are there only just so many visual variations on the humble casserole? I promise you, though, that this one is different. It has a sweet little twist.
This is my Lamb with sweet potato, maple and orange.
Sounds a little odd, but trust me, its the beautiful oozy maple syrup that is the key. I am a maple syrup convert after living in Montreal for a couple of years. I love it in all things sweet. And I could almost extend to eating it on bacon. Mmmm, I also once had it in a green curry. Strangely wrong ... but oh so right.
But back to the lamb.
For this casserole, I tossed some diced lamb in a little flour and then threw it into a casserole dish. I then confiscated two sweet potatoes from Argy and Bargy, who were apparently recreating a scene from Star Wars. They stood transfixed as I showed them how I could peel and dice two lightsabers.
After throwing in the sweet potato, I searched through the fridge and the pantry. The carrots were black and the tin of butter beans I wanted to use, had a massive dent in the side. I decided against introducing botulism as the surprise ingredient and moved on to the liquids.
The sauce comprised a large slurp of orange juice, a big glug of maple syrup and plenty of chicken stock. After that I slow cooked the lot (but you could do it in the oven or even on the stove top).
Try serving this little number up to your loved ones ... and may the force be with you.
