Herb Crusted Salmon

Made this quite a few times, so simple, so quick and so delicious. Served with roasted wedged potatoes, this is one for the whole family!!! Like a healthier version of fish and chips! Enjoy!!

· 3 slices white sandwich bread
· 1 cup fresh parsley
· 2 tablespoons olive oil
· Coarse salt and ground pepper
· 4 skinless salmon fillets, (6 ounces each)
· 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
· 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
· 5 ounces baby spinach
· 1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil; set aside. In a food processor, combine bread, parsley, and 1 tablespoon oil; season with salt and pepper. Pulse until coarse crumb

Place salmon on prepared sheet; season with salt and pepper. Spread top of fillets with Dijon; top with crumb mixture, pressing gently to adhere. Roast until salmon is opaque throughout, 11 to 13 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine lemon juice and remaining oil; season with salt and pepper. Add spinach and onion; toss to combine. Serve salmon with spinach salad.

Androulla xx

Pets2adopt Fun Day

Sausage Rolls

Delia Smith's yummy recipe for sausage rolls, perfect for our Summer outings. This woman ,along with my Mum,taught me how to cook!!

6 oz (175 g) butter

8 oz (225 g) plain flour

pinch salt

For the filling: 

1 lb (450 g) good-quality pork sausage meat

1 medium onion, peeled and grated

2 level teaspoons chopped fresh sage

1 egg, beaten


Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 7, 425°F (220°C).

The butter needs to be rock-hard from the refrigerator, so weigh out the required amount, wrap it in a piece of foil,then return it to the freezing compartment for 30-45 minutes. Meanwhile sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. When you take the butter out of the freezer, open it up and use some of the foil to hold the end with.  Then dip the butter in the flour and grate it on a coarse grater placed in the bowl over the flour. Keep dipping the butter down into the flour to make it easier to grate. At the end you will be left with a pile of grated butter in the middle of the flour, so take a palette knife and start to distribute it into the flour (don't use your hands), trying to coat all the pieces of fat with flour until the mixture is crumbly. Next add enough cold water to form a dough that leaves the bowl clean, using your hands to bring it all gently together. Put the dough into a polythene bag and chill it for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. When you're ready to make the sausage rolls mix the sausage meat, onion and sage together in a mixing bowl. Then roll out the pastry on a floured surface to form an oblong (as thin as you can). Cut this oblong into three strips and divide the sausage meat also into three, making three long rolls the same length as the strips of pastry (if it's sticky sprinkle on some flour).  Place one roll of sausage meat on to one strip of pastry. Brush the beaten egg along one edge, then fold the pastry over and seal it as carefully as possible. Lift the whole thing up and turn it so the sealed edge is underneath. Press lightly, and cut into individual rolls each about 2 inches (5 cm) long. Snip three V-shapes in the top of each roll with scissors and brush with beaten egg.  Repeat all this with the other portions of meat and pastry.If you are going to cook straightaway, place the rolls on baking sheets and bake high in the oven for 20-25 minutes. If you want to cook them later, store them uncooked in a freezer box and freeze until needed. Although you can store the cooked and cooled sausage rolls in an airtight tin, they do lose their crunchiness. For this reason I think it is preferable to remove a few at a time from the freezer and cook them as required.

Androulla. xx

Scotch Eggs

The English have a knack with 'portable' picnic food, like pasties, pies, sausage rolls and one of my favourites, the delicious scotch egg, always bringing back memories of a sunny day, sitting outside a pub with good company, and an ice cold beer. London's exclusive store Fortnum and Mason, claim that they invented it in 1738, using a gamier meat, like a strong Victorian pate and a pullet's egg rather than hen's eggs, which sounds good but here I have the recipe for the Scotch egg we know and love. Enjoy!!

6 eggs
200g plain sausagemeat
200g pork mince
3 tbsp chopped mixed herbs (chives, sage, parsley and thyme)
A pinch of ground mace
1 tbsp English mustard
Splash of milk
50g flour
100g breadcrumbs
Vegetable oil, to cook

1. Put four of the eggs into a pan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for five minutes, then put straight into a large bowl of iced water for at least 10 minutes.

2. Put the meat, herbs, mace and mustard into a bowl, season and mix well with
your hands. Divide into four.

3. Carefully peel the eggs. Beat the two raw eggs together in a bowl with a splash of milk. Put the flour in a second bowl and season, then tip the breadcrumbs into a third bowl. Arrange in an assembly line.

4. Put a square of cling film on the work surface, and flour lightly. Put one of the meatballs in the centre, and flour lightly, then put another square of cling film on top. Roll out the meat until large enough to encase an egg and remove the top sheet of cling film.

5. To assemble the egg, roll one peeled egg in flour, then put in the centre of the meat. Bring up the sides of the film to encase it, and smooth it into an egg shape with your hands. Dip each egg in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs, then egg and then breadcrumbs.

6. Fill a large pan a third full of vegetable oil, and heat to 170C (or when a crumb of bread sizzles and turns golden, but does not burn, when dropped in it). Cook the eggs a couple at a time, for seven minutes, until crisp and golden, then drain on kitchen paper before serving.

Androulla xxx

First Accredited Montessori School Opens in Larnaca

As some of few already know, a Montessori School is now operating in Larnaca making it the very first accredited and recognized by the Montessori Evaluation and Accreditation Board (MEAB) Montessori School in town.

We are very happy for this interesting educational development. Parents and children of our town will now have the opportunity to get an idea of the Montessori techniques and actually see their results.

According to an interview with the School's Director Mrs. Carola Lang-Howard published on www.about-larnaca.info, enrollments are now open. As the school intends to operate with a restricted number of children, parents should hurry up if they want to secure a place for their child.

Read more of the interview here

Go to the School's Website