Wednesday 18th October 2023
Wide awake at 4am, I didn't go to bed till 9 either so I'm a little bit eye tired this morning now, I'm good though, just had me a mug of tea, watching SKY news and thankful for my life compared to what's going on in the world.
The huddle chat yesterday went well, we talked binge eating / over eating and there were lots of nods in the room. I believe we all do it to a certain degree but not enough for it to be damaging to our health, but that conversation is for the huddles.
Back to my world, I finished off my Irish barmbrack (tea loaf), a recipe I found online (and yes there are lots of different versions but this was the one I did and I was over the moon with how it came out.
Here's the recipe;
The perfect traditional Irish barmbrack
Serves eight – 310 calories per slice, 2486 total
Makes one 900g loaf
225g plain flour
2 tsps of baking powder
375g packet of fruit mix
250ml cold tea
50ml of whiskey
125g light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp of mixed spice
A ring to place inside
1. Place the fruit mix in a bowl and pour over the whiskey and cold tea. Allow to soak up the liquid overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 170C/340°/Gas Mark 3, and grease and line a 900g loaf tin. Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and mixed spice in a mixing bowl. Make a well and break in the egg, and using a wooden spoon mix the egg with the dry ingredients. Add a little bit of the liquid the fruit mix is sitting in and mix it through. You may not need all the liquid – you are looking for a wet dough. Then stir through the fruit mix until everything is thoroughly combined.
3. Add in the ring – and any of the other traditional symbols of a pea, a piece of cloth, a matchstick and a coin – and stir through. Spoon the wet dough into the lined loaf tin and place in the oven on the middle shelf and bake for one hour. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before removing from the loaf tin and placing on wire rack.
4. Cover in cling wrap and tin foil and allow to sit for one to two days before cutting into it. Serve in slices spread with a little butter and nice cuppa!
Now I didn't have a large egg so I used two of the smallest ones from my medium box :) I also didn't have enough liquid from the fruit mix so added another dash of whisky and I had to cook it for an extra 10-15 minutes until it was cooked, I checked with a skewer until it came out clear and as the top had browned after the hour, I topped it with foil for the remaining time. I was chuffed with the result, we ate a slice each then I wrapped the rest up, I didn't put the traditional ring or other symbol either. I only used sultanas too as I didn't have mixed dried fruit.
For dinner, I was lucky enough to enjoy chicken tikka masala made by Dave, he bought me a tub to the huddle and I have to say it was amazing!
I had it with these chips from Iceland, they're my new favourite frozen chips, really good!
The recipe for Dave's curry is one of Misty Ricardo's (1) MistyRicardo - YouTube his recipes are amazing but they do involve a lot of ingredients and some patience.
That was pretty much my day, today will be similar but I'll be cooking my own dinner, I need to do the last of my Gousto meals, honey sesame chicken skewers with rice and they do look tasty.
I'm like a domestic goddess ain't I! :)
Yeah, I'll shut up and get on with my day,
Mwah, luv ya
Love me
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