Cooking recipes. & Tips

Here you can place recipes you use or dishes you like and any tips for cooking .

This is the recipe for Guernsey Gache.




1lb plain flour
½lb Guernsey butter
12oz sultanas
2oz mixed peel
1oz fresh yeast
1tsp sugar
1tsp salt
½ pint warm water

1. Sieve together the flour and salt and stand the bowl in a warm place.
   
2. Cream together the yeast and sugar, add a little water and leave in a warm place for a few minutes.
   
3. Rub
   the fat into the flour, make a well in the centre and add the yeast
   mixture and gradually add the rest of the water to make a very soft
   dough.
   
4. Lastly fold in the fruit.
   
5. Cover and leave to prove in a warm place for one and a half to two hours.
   
6. Turn the mix into a 1lb loaf tin.
   
7. Bake for thirty minutes at 220°C (Gas seven), then lower to 200°C (Gas 6) for a further thirty minutes.
   
8. Serve sliced, possibly toasted, and buttered.
   

Have fun and enjoy !

Bean jar.


Guernsey Bean Jar has been part of island life for centuries.It
is said that in the past the bakers of Guernsey used to let islanders
put their prepared bean jars in the warm ovens overnight after they had
finished cooking the bread.By the morning they were well cooked and ready to collect. Many islanders ate the dish for breakfast until around the 1920s.The dish is served every year at the Vaier Marchi and it often runs out well before the show is finished.As
with many traditional recipes, there are lots of variations and family
recipes are a well guarded secret with the tradition being said that no
two Bean Jar recipes are alike.Some use different types and quantities of beans and there is even a vegetarian version. Here is the basic recipe:Traditional Guernsey Bean Jar

1 pigs trotter or shin of beef
½lb (200g) Haricot beans
½lb (200g) butter beans
1 large onion chopped
2 carrots diced
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
2 pints beef stock or water

1. Soak the beans overnight in water.
   
2. Place all the ingredients in either an earthenware pot or a large casserole dish and pour over the water or stock.
   
3. Cover the jar or dish and place it in a moderate oven at gas 2-3 or 150-170°C for 6-8 hours.
   
4. Check the dish occasionally and top up the water level as needed.
   
5. Check the seasoning, remove the bones from the meat and the bay leaf.
   
6. Serve with crusty bread and Guernsey butter.
   

Variations
include using all haricot beans, using 1lb of carrots instead of just
two, using 1lb of onions instead of just one, adding in two potatoes
and adding a bouquet garni with the bay leaf.The vegetarian version is much the same but without the pig's trotter and using vegetable stock instead of beef.

Carrots!!!! did I see Carrots in a Bean Jar - Lala go wash your mouth out :-)))))))))))))))))))))

The 'original' St Sampsons Vraic Eater

A few handy tips...

To peel an orange easily and to get the skin off in one piece, heat the orange slightly for three or four minutes before peeling.

Before scraping new potatoes, soak them for half an hour in cold water which has been salted. Not only do the skins peel off easily, but the hands are not stained.
Keep pared fruit looking bright by pouring a little lemon juice over it.