Rose's Autumn Menu Part 2

Look at Part 1 here

ROSE'S AUTUMN MENU

SOUP: Pumpkin Soup with a Fresh Bread Roll
MAIN 1: Macaroni Cheese and a Green Salad
MAIN 2: Chicken Caesar Salad Meal-in-a-bowl
FRUIT BASED DESSERT: Apricot Crumble and Custard

This post is a demonstration of how intentions morph as day follows day!  

As my proposed YamDaisy Cafe structure currently stands, the first two dishes are available from when the cafe opens. The next two come on as soon as possible afterward (but certainly by the time the lunch traffic starts picking up). I hope this will be a more practical way for the chef than trying to have everything going right from the start.

I talked about the Pumpkin Soup and The Macaroni Cheese dishes in the previous post, and then looked pleasurably forward to the final two dishes for this post.

Chicken Caesar Salad ~ Meal in a Bowl. As a vegetarianish person I am still not very used to chicken, but quite happy, and even excited, to be making it for this menu. My mouth still waters at the taste of the Caesar Salad dressing I made last time (see here), and I was fascinated at the idea of turning the classic salad into a chicken one, and into a particularly Autumn dish.

I found a lovely, simple recipe for roasting chicken legs Italian style and thought that would be a good start to getting nice chicken ready for the recipe. (And it sort of was!)

And I was thinking about Autumny things to be adding to the dish. Having a mum's point of view for feeding people with delicious, nourishing, home style food, I wanted to have a balanced plate with some good veggies in it. Especially since the Macaroni cheese is a bit lacking in these!

I went a googling and a thinking.... and then I saw this: http://cafefernando.com/chicken-caesar-salad-recipe/ 

O dear. It uses breast, not leg. It has no added vegetables. It uses a different dressing.

But isn't it just perfect?

I decided that if I was running the Cafe I would make it just like this (the dressing is SO easy!), what a treat for my customers! And I would just harangue my customers to start off with the soup to get some extra vegetables in them! (That's the sort of YamDaisy Cafe chef I would be!)

So that is how the Chicken Caesar Salad went in unexpected directions. And what do you think happened to the Apple Crumble and Custard?

Apricot Crumble and Custard
I bought the apples. I was considering the crumble: (The righteous ones have equal amounts of flour and butter as their crumble, and that is that. They would call my sort of crumble 'Apple Crunch'. Which way would I go with it this time?).

I was also considering the custard. How to have custard ready for people coming in over several hours? 

How to cater for those who like it hot, and those who prefer it cold? This was my thought:

 

Sweet little jugs filled with custard that people could have as warm as they like, and use as much of as they like. I was all set!

Then what should happen but the very Rose who composed this menu offered to make Apricot Crumble for dessert! Well, I wasn't going to say no! I just got her to take the photo (above!) and tell me how she made her crumble (crunch) topping:
Oats, flaked almonds, brown sugar, mixed with melted butter and sprinkled over the fruit and baked til hot and crisp. We had our custard hot!

Not what I planned, but supremely delicious! That is what is important at the YamDaisy Cafe!

 

Rose's Menu Part 1

This was one of the first YamDaisy menus I was given, and I have needed to wait for the seasons to roll back around to be right for it!
I asked Rose for a menu that would suit the YamDaisy Cafe that provides delicious everyday food made from scratch. When a customer comes in they find only 4 dishes to choose from! Therefore it is important that those four dishes cover a wide range of tastes and appetites.
There is always a soup, so customers know that wherever there is a YamDaisy Cafe open, there will be a fresh soup made from local, seasonal ingredients at a low price.
Then comes two mains and a fruit based dessert is the fourth dish, for those who feel that a meal just isn't a meal without one!

ROSE'S AUTUMN MENU

SOUP: Pumpkin Soup with a Fresh Bread Roll
MAIN 1: Macaroni Cheese and a Green Salad
MAIN 2: Chicken Caesar Salad Meal-in-a-bowl
FRUIT BASED DESSERT: Apple Crumble and Custard

Pumpkin Soup with a Fresh Bread Roll

There are a hundred ways to make a Pumpkin Soup, but this one is my all time favourite because of the gorgeous colour and taste the added red pepper give and the extra body from the little red lentils. It is also a supremely easy soup. And I made it up myself!
I start by putting 1/4 cup of the little salmon coloured split lentils to soak,  so they will cook really quickly.

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil and add
1 onion chopped,
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large red pepper flesh, chopped,
(and maybe some fresh chili pepper, chopped)
Fry gently while you are chopping up about half a kilo of pumpkin in to chunks. I use Jap, a small dense sweet pumpkin, but any lovely pumpkin (or butternut) would be good.
Add the pumpkin and let it fry a bit while you rinse the 1/4 of a cup of the little salmon coloured skinned lentil you have been soaking.
Add them with a litre of vegetable stock and bring to the boil.
Simmer until the lentils and pumpkin are soft, about 20 minutes.
Season to taste with salt and pepper. When cool enough, blend til smooth.
Reheat and serve with a fresh roll and a little pat of butter!

Macaroni Cheese and a Green Salad
I think Macaroni Cheese might come up a few times in YamDaisy Menus, it is such a wonderful homey comfort food and I am discovering that there are lots of different ways to make it.
I was delighted to see this delicious version on 3 Hungry Tummies blog, http://3hungrytummies.blogspot.com/2010/04/mac-and-cheese-from-tummies-kitchen.html 
I think it would work beautifully here. What a treat of a presentation it is! And I love that the peas are mixed in.

I imagine presenting the salad in a separate low plate to compliment the bowl of hot macaroni. I would use all the fresh greens that are growing now the heat of summer is passed: rocket, sorrel, coriander, lettuce, cress, chives ~ and then I would brighten them up with some marigold petals and maybe a couple of fine strips of juicy carrot. Just the lightest dressing!
Yum!

I think if I went into the YamDaisy Cafe on the day this menu was served, I would eat my Macaroni Cheese and Salad, and then takeaway Soup and Roll to have later. But remember, you can get a 2 course meal for $10, which could be soup as a starter and the Macaroni Cheese as a main.

There are two other menu choices for this day, and I will present them in my next blog. I am looking forward to revisiting the Caesar Salad as an Autumn dish, and O yum, Apple Crumble! Jump to it here!

For more about the YamDaisy Cafe and the YamDaisy Menu check the website.
(I am updating it, it is taking me a long time!)

Marie Cook Needs Help

Hello,
This is a special blog to introduce you to Marie Cook.
I met Marie on the Jamie Oliver Forum, one of the big online food forums. The loveliest thing about the JO forum is the core of lovely people from all around the world who post regularly and share some of their lives as well as their love of food.

Marie has a lovely presence on the forum, she has been part of it for more than twice as long as I have. Her posts and her blogs there show her love of food, entertaining, growing things, and her humour! Although she has been battling cancer all along, she has a warm, upbeat presence. I just love the photo she blogged of her birthday dinner last year. She has her bandanna and big smile and is giving her son such a loving hug.

Marie's battle with cancer intensified this year and we mostly kept track of her through updates from her friends. Then came the frightening news that she was finishing her scheduled cancer treatments without success, and her next option is cutting edge laser surgery that costs 22,000 pounds, way beyond anything she can afford!
Marie is desperate to keep fighting for her life and for her boys.

The forum swung into action! "We just need 22,000 people to donate a pound each!"
The Marie Cook Appeal Facebook Group was started.
A paypal account has been set up so that anyone anywhere in the world (almost!) can donate their 1 pound to help her.

"Let's give them something back for donations over 5 pounds" said Deb.
She suggested a downloadable recipe book full of our most special recipes, ones that hadn't been posted before. (I am in there with our Fallen Chocolate Souffle Cake!).
Within a week she had enough recipes from foodloving forummers across the world to make a book (there are 34 fabulous recipes, we had to stop there or it would get too big to email). It is beautifully designed pdf file that it can be used on the computer, or printed out and folded to make a book.

So now our aim is to find those 22,000 people to donate a pound, or 4,400 people to donate 5 pounds (or more!) for the very special recipe book.

Here is what you can do to help Marie:

Go to the Marie Cook Appeal Website and press the donate button to put your pound in through paypal (it is safe and easy).

To get the very special recipe book: donate 5 pounds or equivalent, and when you are emailed the receipt send to themariecookappeal@gmail.com.Your recipe book will be emailed to you.

If you don't want to use paypal you can send your cheque made out to The Marie Cook Appeal to
89B Hammersmith Grove
Hammersmith
London W6 0NQ
(with a note including your name and address so they can keep a running account please)

Join the Marie Cook Appeal Facebook Group

Spread the news! Make a link to this blog on your blog, your facebook page, or anywhere you think might help!

Note 1: Paypal is easy and safe (that is why we chose it!) When you put your amount to be donated in pounds, and then click your country, it shows you the exact amount it will be in your currency. You do need to fill in the whole form, but we so hope you will do this for Marie.

If you already have a paypal account it is even easier, just press the donate button and log on to your account.

Note 2: The recipe book is best printed out double sided to make a lovely little A5 book. I took mine on a USB stick to Officeworks where they printed it out in black and white for $1:50 (Australian). It printed up just beautifully. Colour is a lot more expensive, so I will have the colour copy on my computer and my handy little book to drip things over in the kitchen! I tied pink cord to keep it together:

If you have any problems with payment or recipe book, please let me know and I will try to help. If you get the recipe book and love it we would like that feedback too!

Thankyou for reading this! I will be back to the YamDaisy Cafe next post!