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Just wondering what special food, cakes, meals, sweets or whatever you can eat, that you have in your house over Easter? What is your favourite Easter Egg?
Share your recipes, i'll give em a go if they sound nice.
When we were kids, me and my sister used to get an absolutely massive Quality Street easter egg each for Easter, they don't make them anywhere near as big these days. Back then it was really special, it was the one egg we had to have, you couldn't hardly crack the shell, the chocolate was so thick and it tasted much nicer than these modern eggs do too.
I remember as a kid, Easter meant gettng new clothes and on Easter sunday (living in a seaside town), we all used to go down to the fairground, in hindsight it was like something out of Victorian ages, where the well to do people would go to the park on a Sunday afternoon, except with us, it was like the one time of year we actually got new shoes and a new coat. We really weren't well off at the time.
One of my favourite ever meals is an Easter time special that I learned in Switzerland and it's a fairly simple one, basic risotto with wild garlic and emental cheese. I'll dig out the recipe for it later in case anyone else fancies giving it a go. Although you'd probably have to change the wild garlic for normal garlic, unless you live near a river or stream and happen to have it growing within easy picking distance.
Anyway, share your Easter memories and foods and the likes, it's fun to see what others have experienced.
Was never that special for my family really. We used to get quite a few eggs as kids and maybe a bit of money, but that would be about it - no trips or special meals .
One easter though I got a massive version of the Kinder egg. I'd eaten about a quarter of it and was absolutely loving it. Unfortunately I left it on my bedroom floor, my dog snuck in and ate the lot ¬.¬
I'd be interested in that Risotto recipe by the way. Would the wild garlic really make that much difference?
I was born on easter monday and when I was younger my brothers used to buy me an easer egg as a birthday present.
So it's kind of hard to say if we did anything special for easter or not, because if we went out it was usually a birthday treat rather than a easter one.
We always got several easter eggs, and often had relatives round for the weekend. Once we went to this place and did an easter egg hunt and i put my name as Jamie Spudkins, which i thought was hillarious and i won and had to go get my prize vouchers and explain thats not my real surname. Thats the only amusing story i can remember.
I always remember going to woolworths on easter monday and buying loads of cheapy eggs then eating so much chocolate i felt ill for days.
I really should have lots to put being a Christian and all but I dont! As a kids we would get Easter eggs and clothes. The week before Easter my mum would be like this possessed cleaning woman but the house was clean and tidy anyway but she would turn into a right stress head and make us clean under our beds and in wardrobes!
I think Easter was when we would have my grandparents over for dinner and we would sit round the table instead of just eating on our knees. We went to church every Sunday anyway but Easter Sunday would always make mum a bit sad.
For me as an adult its a bit different. We will be having a nice huge beef joint, with all the Sunday lunch dinner, which is nothing really unusual for us (as sash and harv ). But we will have a nice Easter cake in nice bright summery colours.
I havent got the kids Easter eggs this year though. Iv got other treats instead. But they will get Easter eggs from others. At church I look after the kids ages 1/8 month to 12 year old and I do have a Easter egg for each one of them (thanks Asda lol).
Ok, here is the simplest and best Risotto recipe that Switzerland could throw at me, it's the same one we used in the restaurant and the customers always came back for more:
The recipe would serve 6 (4 in our house)
800 ml Chicken Stock (can use vegetable stock) 300 g Risotto rice (has to be proper risotto rice, normal long grain will not work) 2 rounded tablespoons butter 1 large onion (finely chopped) chopped/crushed garlic (up to your personal taste how much) (wild garlic is better if available) 200 ml medium white wine 2 rounded tablespoons parmesan cheese (freshly grated if possible)
1 knob of butter 2/3 tablespoons single cream Salt and Pepper Chopped Parsley
1. Lightly fry the rice in the 2 tablespoons of butter together with the garlic and chopped onion.
2. Add the wine and allow it to evaporate, while stirring constantly.
3. Add the chicken stock and gently simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. If needed (check consistency) add a bit more stock.
5. Before serving stir into the risottothe seasoning to taste, stir in the cheese, knob of butter, cream and parsley.
6. Remove from the heat, cover and allow to stand for 2-3 minutes before serving.
As a slight alternative, you can add mushrooms to turn the recipe into risotto ai fungi (mushroom risotto)
You can also change the wine to any wine that suits your preference, for example, using red wine and omitting the garlic gives you Risotto Ticino style, which is a dish done in the Italian part of Switzerland.
The actual consistancy of the dish is debatable, i've seen it served up in dollops like mashed potato and as runny as custard. Personally and the way I was taught in Switzerland, is that it should be about as firm as in the picture i've attached...
It's not necessarily the most appealing looking of dishes, but it makes up for it in flavour.
A nice alternative is making it with asparagus and porcini mushrooms, or with spinich, or even withi simple stuff like bacon and leek. Risotto is a lot more diverse than it's given credit for and it doesn't half fill you up.
The big point you have to remember when making risotto, is that you can always add more liquid, but it is very difficult to take it away, so if anything be cautious with the stock and don't just pour gallons of the stuff in, yeah it will reduce, but it can only take so much before it turns to slop. Of course, the same applies to adding salt and pepper, a little at a time, don't just tip the tub upside down and expect it to taste like anything other than a salt pit.
Can i have a ballpark estimate/range for the amount of garlic as im an absolute tard with guessing anything cooking related. Also, roughly how much/many shrooms as everyone here loves them (well except me ).
That burger recipe with 3 tons of basil in went down really well btw if i didnt mention already
Can i have a ballpark estimate/range for the amount of garlic as im an absolute tard with guessing anything cooking related. Also, roughly how much/many shrooms as everyone here loves them (well except me ).
That burger recipe with 3 tons of basil in went down really well btw if i didnt mention already
You wouldn't be going to far wrong if you added a rounded teaspoon of crushed garlic, if you were using one of those jars of crushed garlic, like I cheat and do. That stuff can be pretty mild, so generally it doesn't matter if you add a little too much. You've got to be a damn sight more careful with proper fresh garlic though, as that is so much more potent. I'd say 2 cloves max if using fresh garlic, you wouldn't want to mask all the other flavours.
You wouldn't be going to far wrong if you added a rounded teaspoon of crushed garlic, if you were using one of those jars of crushed garlic, like I cheat and do. That stuff can be pretty mild, so generally it doesn't matter if you add a little too much. You've got to be a damn sight more careful with proper fresh garlic though, as that is so much more potent. I'd say 2 cloves max if using fresh garlic, you wouldn't want to mask all the other flavours.
I remember a certain incident involving far far too much garlic with a "just lob the rest in" type attitude, that made the most insane garlic butter ever. It was proper mouth burning to eat and i couldnt get rid of the garlic breath with mouthwash or anything!
i couldnt get rid of the garlic breath with mouthwash or anything!
The only known natural cure for garlic breath is fresh parsley (not chopped). Basically you chew on some fresh parsley and it neutralises the garlic flavour and smell.
Looks good Det. As I've said before, I'm quite interested in these recipes that you've picked up over the years, I'm sure others are as well.
If I remember, I'll give this a go when I'm back at Uni. I'll post pics of the final product, providing they're not too embarrassing .
Well me and my girlfriend gave this a go a couple of weeks ago.
We decided to go whole hog and add bacon, mushrooms and leeks. There was plenty there and we got a few meals out of it
I've added a photo below of me holding the final product. It wasn't as gloopy as it looks hehe. I must say Det, it was gorgeous - so packed full of flavour. I look forward to trying some more of your recipes.
Sorry I look a bit scary but it was late and I was tired and hungry . My girlfriend was too shy to get in front of the camera for a bunch of people she's never met .
Special Easter Meals or Plans in Your House?
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). But we will have a nice Easter cake in nice bright summery colours.
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