Heroes Rush in When Fools Crumble

Hi everyone and welcome to the blog. This week’s blog is dedicated to two memorable days for totally different reasons; April Fool’s Day, and National Armed Forces Day in Burma. So this week’s recipes are fit for heroes and fools alike. They are Cardamom Plum Fool, Beef Wellington, Mushroom Wellington, Beef & Red Wine Stew, Wake Up Callcocktail and the herb of the week is Lemon Verbena.

April Fool’s Day is celebrated in the Western world on the 1st of April of every year. Sometimes referred to as All Fools' Day, 1st April is not a legal holiday, but is widely recognized and celebrated as a day which tolerates practical jokes and general foolishness. The day is marked by the commission of good humoured or funny jokes, hoaxes and other practical jokes of varying sophistication on friends, family members, teachers, neighbours, work associates, etc.

Traditionally, in some countries such as New Zealand, the UK, Australia, and South Africa, the jokes only last until noon, and someone who plays a trick after noon is called an "April Fool". It is for this reason that newspapers in the U.K. that run a front page April fool only do so on the first (morning) edition. Elsewhere, such as in France, Ireland, Italy, South Korea, Japan, Russia, The Netherlands, Germany, Brazil, Canada, and the U.S., the jokes last all day. The earliest recorded association between 1st April and foolishness can be found in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (1392). Many writers suggest that the restoration of the 1st of January as New Year's Day in the 16th century was responsible for the creation of the holiday, but this theory does not explain earlier references.

In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (1392), the "Nun's Priest's Tale" is set Syn March bigan thritty dayes and two. Chaucer probably meant 32 days after March, i.e. 2nd of May, the anniversary of the engagement of King Richard II of England to Anne of Bohemia, which took place in 1381. However, readers apparently misunderstood this line to mean "32nd of March," i.e. 1st April. In Chaucer's tale, the vain cock Chauntecleer is tricked by a fox.
In 1509, a French poet referred to a poisson d’avril (April fool, literally "April fish"), a possible reference to the holiday. In 1539, Flemish poet Eduard de Dene wrote of a nobleman who sent his servants on foolish errands on the 1st of April. In 1686, John Aubrey referred to the holiday as "Fooles holy day", the first British reference. On 1st April, 1698, several people were tricked into going to the Tower of London to "see the Lions washed". The name "April Fools" echoes that of the Feast of Fools, a Medieval holiday held on the 28th December.

In the Middle Ages, New Year's Day was celebrated on the 25th of March in most European towns. In some areas of France, New Year's was a week-long holiday ending on the 1st of April. So it is possible that April Fools originated because those who celebrated on the 1st of January made fun of those who celebrated on other dates. The use of the 1st of January as New Year's Day was common in France by the mid-sixteenth century, and this date was adopted officially in 1564 by the Edict of Roussillon.

In the eighteenth century the festival was often posited as going back to the time of Noah. According to an English newspaper article published in 1789, the day had its origin when Noah sent his dove off too early, before the waters had receded; he did this on the first day of the Hebrew month that corresponds with April.

The Burmese Armed Forces Day, in Myanmar Tatmadaw Nay, is celebrated on March 27 in commemoration of the start of Burmese army's resistance to Japanese occupation in 1945. However, countries all over the world have different days when they celebrate their own Armed Forces Day, here in the UK we celebrate our day on 25th June.
The day is an annual opportunity for those nations to show their support for the men and women who make up their Armed Forces community ranging from currently serving troops to service families, and from veterans to cadets. Across the world people get involved in community held events along with businesses to show their support.

My first recipe is Cardamom Plum Fool courtesy of Good Food Channel Website

Serves 6, Prep time is 15 mins, Cook time is 25 mins.

1kg x Plums, stoned and chopped 
125g x Caster Sugar
3 x Cardamom Pods, husks discarded and seeds crushed 
Juice of 2 Lemons
150g x Ready-Made Custard
500g x Greek Yoghurt
Mint leaves, to garnish 
Amaretti Biscuits

Simmer the plums with the sugar, cardamom and lemon juice for about 15 minutes. Leave to cool. Drain the plums (reserving the syrup) then puree the plums until smooth. Re-heat the syrup and reduce by half. Stir the reduced syrup into the plum puree. Mix the puree with the custard and yoghurt, folding together well. Spoon into dessert bowls, cover and chill until required. Garnish with mint leaves. Serve with amaretti biscuits.

My next recipe is Beef Wellington Recipe by Gordon Ramsey, courtesy of BBC Good Food Website

Serves 4, 10mins to prepare, takes 1hr and 30mins plus chilling time to cook.

500g x Button Mushrooms , stalks removed and finely chopped
Olive Oil
1 x Sprig Thyme, leaves stripped off
600g x Beef Fillet, choose a centre cut piece
1 tbsp x English Mustard
500g x Pre-made All-Butter Puff Pastry
3 x Parma Ham Slices
1 x Egg Yolk, beaten

HERB CRÊPES
50g x Plain Flour
½ x egg
125ml x Milk
1 tbsp x Mixed Herbs, such as chervil, chives and tarragon, chopped
½ tbsp x Melted Butter

To make the crêpes, whizz the flour, egg and milk with a pinch of salt in a blender or processor until smooth. Pour into a jug and stir in the herbs and some seasoning. Leave to rest.

Fry the mushrooms in a little oil until they give up all their moisture and it has evaporated, leaving you with a thick paste. Add the thyme leaves and some seasoning and keep cooking for a few minutes. Cool.

Stir the melted butter into the crêpe batter, heat a 15cm crêpe pan and oil it lightly. Pour in enough batter to make a thin layer on the base of the pan, cook until the top surface sets and then turn over and cook briefly. Remove and repeat with the rest of the batter. This will make a couple more than you need so choose the thinnest ones for the recipe.

Sear the beef all over in a little oil in a very hot pan. Brush with the mustard, season and allow to cool. Lay a large sheet of clingfilm on a kitchen surface and put two crêpes down on it, overlapping a little. Lay over the Parma ham. Spread the mushroom mixture over the ham and put the beef in the centre. Roll the clingfilm up, taking the crêpe with it, to wrap the beef completely into a nice neat log. Chill for 1 hour.

Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 4. Roll out the pastry, remove the clingfilm and wrap the beef in the pastry like a parcel, with the ends tucked under. Trim to keep it nice and neat. Brush with egg, score with shallow lines across the top and chill for 20 minutes. Cook for 20 minutes. The best way to test if the meat is done to your liking is to neatly and carefully stick a skewer into the beef, count to three and then test it against your inner wrist. If it is cold the beef will be raw, if it is warm then the beef will be rare and if it's hot, it'll be cooked through. Leave to rest for 20 minutes before carving.

An Alternative to this carnivore’s delight, try this recipe for any vegetarian diners:-

Mushroom Wellington, recipe by Barney Desmazery, courtesy of BBC Good Food website.

Serves 4, prep time 30mins, takes 50mins to cook.

4 x Large Field Mushrooms
4 tbsp x Olive Oil
1 x Garlic Clove , chopped
Approx. 400g x Spinach Leaves
A dusting of flour
1 tbsp x Thyme Leaves (no stalkes)
500g x Read-made All-Butter Puff Pastry
140g x Stilton, sliced
1 x Egg, beaten

Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Remove the stalks from the mushrooms. Heat half the oil in a large frying pan and sizzle the mushrooms for 3-4 mins on each side until golden and cooked through - add a drop more oil if needed. Lift the mushrooms out onto kitchen paper to drain. Place the same pan back on the heat with the rest of the oil. Fry the garlic for a moment, add the spinach to the pan, then cook for 2-3 mins over a high heat until completely wilted. Season with salt and pepper, then tip the spinach into a large sieve to drain thoroughly.
On a lightly floured surface scattered with the thyme leaves, roll the pastry out to the thickness of a £1 coin. Using a saucer and a larger-size plate, cut out 4 circles about 5cm wider than the mushrooms (for the bottoms) and 4 circles about 10cm wider (for the tops), re-rolling the trimmings if you need to. Place the 4 smaller circles on a baking tray and top each with a quarter of the spinach, making sure the pile of spinach isn't wider than the mushrooms. Top the spinach with a slice of cheese, then a mushroom, smooth-side up, and top the mushroom with another slice of cheese. Brush the border to each circle with egg, then gently stretch the larger circle over the mushroom, trying not to trap any air, then press the edges together with a fork. Trim the edges with a knife if you want, then brush each generously with egg. Bake for 40 mins until golden, then leave to cool for a few mins before serving.

Herb of the week – Lemon Verbena (Aloysia citrodora) 
Lemon Verbena is a deciduous perennial shrub, which is killed to the ground with hard frost, though it springs anew from the roots where the ground has not frozen; in mild, frost-free gardens, such as in the west of Ireland, it may attain heights of 25 feet (7.6 meters). It grows to a height of 3 to 7 metres and exudes a powerful lemony scent. It prefers full sun, a lot of water, and a light loam soil. It is sensitive to cold, losing leaves at temperatures below 0°C although the wood is hardy to -10°C. Lemon Verbena, if covered with some straw, cut down and kept free from very moist conditions, will also withstand up to a -15°C frost and will make new leaves in spring. The light green leaves are lancet-shaped, and its tiny flowers bloom lavender or white in late summer.

Lemon verbena leaves are used to add a lemony flavour to fish and poultry dishes, vegetable marinades, salad dressings, jams, puddings, and beverages. It also is used to make herbal teas and can be used to make a sorbet. In addition, it has anti-Candida albicans activity. In European Union, Verbena essential oils (Lippia citriodora Kunth.) and derivatives other than absolute are prohibited when used as a fragrance ingredient (Commission Directive 2009/164/EU of 22 December 2009).

Very little scientific research examines the lemon verbena herb as a medicinal plant, though it has a long history of use in folk medicine for treating a variety of ailments. One of its most popular uses is masking the flavour of bitter or less-palatable herbs in medicinal teas. Lemon verbena tea, however, has its own claim to fame. Herbalists and natural healers often prescribe the lemony beverage for treating digestive upsets, nerves, depression, headache and fever. In addition, it is one of the most effective natural remedies for colic and indigestion. The tea may also benefit sufferers of colds, bronchitis, congestion, cramps, sore or tired muscles, and nausea.

The intense citrus taste and aroma of lemon verbena contribute to its popularity as a culinary herb. The plant’s fresh and dried leaves are commonly used to flavour rice dishes, teas and beverages, fruit salads, custards, steamed puddings, cold soups, gelatine, jams and jellies, cakes, liqueurs and homemade ice cream. Lemon verbena is sometimes used in place of mint or lemon balm, though it takes only half the recommended amount because of the herb’s strength. Lemon verbena tea makes a refreshing drink after eating a heavy dinner.

My next recipe is Beef & Red Wine Stew, this is my variation on a recipe which first appeared in Slimming World Magazine.

Serves 4, takes 20mins to prepare & approx. 2.1/2hrs to cook.

900g x Irish Beef Fillet – chopped into chunks
2 x Garlic Cloves – peeled and crushed
6 x Small Sweet Shallots – peeled and halved
2 x Celery Stalks – chopped into 1” pieces
6 x Carrots – peeled and chopped roughly
400ml x Beef Stock 
Sea Salt
Black Pepper
175ml x Red Wine
Fry Light 
5 tbsp x Beef Gravy Granules
2 x Bay Leaf
2 tbsp x Flour
2 tsp x Paprika

First of all, season your flour with a salt, black pepper and 1 tsp of paprika, then coat your beef chunks with it ensuring that all the beef is covered. Preheat your oven to gas mark 3. Spray a large frying pan with fry light and place over a medium heat. Add the beef and stir fry until browned on all sides. Next add the vegetables, wine, stock, paprika and gravy granules. Season well and add the bay leaves. Bring to the boil, transfer to a lidded casserole dish and cover. Cook in the oven for 1.1/2-2hrs or until the beef is tender. Serve with potatoes.

My final recipe is a cocktail especially for the start of British Summer Time (BST) Which starts on 27th March this year.Wake Up Call. Recipe by Andy Pearson, courtesy of BBC’s Something For The Weekend website.

35ml x Gin
1 tbsp x Orange Liqueur
25ml x Grapefruit Juice
1 x Pink Grapefruit, peel cut into a spiral

Pour the gin, orange liqueur and grapefuit juice into a cocktail shaker. Fill with ice and shake hard to combine. Strain into a tall glass full of ice and garnish with a spiral of pink grapefruit peel

If you have enjoyed my blog, or have tried out the recipes I have included and wish to comment, please feel free to comment using the comment button or by visiting my guestbook, all comments and suggestions will be gratefully received.

Hope you enjoy!!..... ChefGarfy =D

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