Tea and Wheaten Bread

The Perfect Coffee Cake

2011-07-18T12:08:00.001+01:00

I promised myself that the next cake I made would not be a chocolate cake. I tried very hard I really did but then I found this. It's not really chocolate. Not too much anyway. That's what I told myself. The chocolate is concentrated into two layers so when you sink your teeth into a perfectly harmless looking slice you hit this squidgy chocolatey bit. So much for good intentions. Could it be something to do with the fact I substituted the nuts for chocolate chunks? Nonsense. Didn't I tell you I wasn't making a chocolate cake.

So this 'not a chocolate cake' comes from a lovely book called Sweet Secrets by Carine Goren. It keeps really well which is a good thing as it is a large cake. Lots of not chocolate to enjoy. I didn't bother with conversions. Much easier to go with the volume measurements I think. Oh and by the way, it is a called a coffee cake but there isn't actually coffee in it. No I don't know either. It's probably why I was misled into believing it wasn't a chocolate cake in the first place. Just enjoy the chocolate that isn't there.

The Perfect Coffee Cake

A well buttered 9" Bundt Pan

1 1/2 sticks/6oz/220grms butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
3 cups of flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 cups sour cream ( I used creme fraiche)

Filling

3/4 cup dark brown sugar packed
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon coca powder
1 cup walnuts chopped (I substituted chocolate pieces/chips here)
Icing /powdered sugar to dust over the top

Prepare The Cake

Mix the filling ingredients together and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 180.C/350.F
In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar and vanilla extract on a medium speed.
Add the eggs beating well after each addition.
Sift together the flour,baking powder,baking soda and salt.
With the mixer on low speed, add the flour alternating with the sour cream, three tome, starting and finishing with the flour. ( I bunged the whole lot in the food processor and whizzed)
Pour 1/4 of the batter into the bundt pan. Sprinkle 1/3 of the filling on top of the batter and repeat to achieve four layers of cake batter and three layers of filling
bake for about 50 minutes until a skewer inserted comes out almost clean (with moist crumbs) and the cake springs back to the touch.
Turn out while still a little warm. Allow to cool completely and decorate with powdered/icing sugar.

Macaroni Cheese

2011-07-11T23:42:00.002+01:00

The ultimate comfort supper. Just look at it. Bubbling hot from the oven,cheese oozing out, inviting you to have a forkful. While watching the pennies a bit more recently, this plain homely dish often appears on the menu. Little bits of salty bacon added or not as you prefer. Slowly cooked onion adding sweet buttery flavour. A few green leaves for your hearts sake and that's all it takes.

The one thing I am fussy about is the sauce. It needs to be thick as the water from the pasta can dilute it and make the sauce very runny. I want something that sticks to my ribs. If you can be organised enough (I am not but try to make the effort for this.) add a peeled onion chopped in half, a handful of black peppercorns and a couple of torn bay leaves to the milk the night before you make it. Not hugely important but if you try it you will be glad you did. Don't throw the onion away as it can be cooked to go into the dish. We don't want to waste anything now do we?

I use about 75g-100g (3-4 ounces) macaroni per person cooked as per packet instructions. I would like to warn you at this stage that when I cook pasta I could feed the street with it. I never seem to get it quite right.
Now when it is cooked and drained throw in a lump of butter. Yes I know it's supposedly bad for you but nothing tastes quite like it. Now just do it. It's wonderful. Trust me.

Strain the milk if infusing, reserving the onion.
Now finely chop the onion and gently fry in a little oil and butter (yes more butter) for about ten to fifteen minutes in a small pan until it is very very soft and sticky. Keep the heat low and don't let it burn. Set it to the side

For the Sauce

50gms/2 ounces butter
50gms/2 ounces flour
350 mls milk infused as mentioned above if possible
1 large teaspoon of mustard, whatever you have in the cupboard will be fine
A good shake of cayenne pepper
As much and as varied a choice of cheese(s) as you want. In other words whatever you have in the fridge.
I like to use strong cheddar and parmesan. I also like to top it with mozzarella. Delicious

Melt the butter and then stir in the flour letting it cook for a few moments over a low heat to get rid of the floury taste.
Remove from the heat and stir in the mustard and a little milk. keep adding the milk a little at a time and using a whisk get it all blended in.
Return to the heat and keep stirring until it is thick. Then keep stirring until it becomes very thick.
Remove from the heat and stir in the onion, cayenne pepper and your chosen cheese.
Now stir in your macaroni and put it all in a buttered pie dish and top with mozzarella if desired. This bit is not necessary but did I tell you it's delicious?
Set the whole thing on a long piece of oiled foil and pull the foil over the top to form a loose parcel.
Pop into the oven at 180.C/350.F/gas4 and bake for half an hour or so then remove the foil top to let it brown.

Serve with some good for you salad leaves. Enjoy

Wheaten Bread with a Little History Lesson

2011-07-04T18:00:00.003+01:00

This was my very first Blog post in 2008. I have moved it to the top as it is being published on this The Hankering Palate. Sarah is an aspiring Food Writer and has obtained her Culinary Diploma from The French Culinary Institute in New York City. She is publishing posts from other foodie Blogs in a series. It is certainly a privilege for my little post to be used. Pop along, have a read and leave a comment. It will be an interesting week.

Wheaten Bread

Wheaten Bread (or Brown Soda Bread as it is called by non Irish folks) is a part of the everyday diet in this part of the world. Very quick and easy to make it is a wonderful accompaniment to most dishes and delicious with just butter and jam or cheese. I learned to make this at my Mother’s knee. Very few meal times at home did not have this bread on the table. The very smell of it baking takes me back to my childhood. It is a haunting feeling to think that a Grandmother of mine, perhaps two hundred years ago, was making this bread too.
Two major factors have long affected the course of Irish baking. The first is our climate. In this land where the influence of the Gulf Stream prevents either great extremes of heat in the summer or cold in the winter, the hard wheats, which need such extremes to grow, don't prosper... And it's such wheats that make flour with a high gluten content, producing bread which rises high and responds well to being leavened with yeast. Soft wheats, though, have always grown well here.
The other factor, in the last millenium at least, has been the relative abundance of fuel. The various medieval overlords of Ireland were never able to exercise the tight control over forest land which landowners could manage in more populous, less wild areas, like England and mainland Europe: so firewood could be pretty freely poached, and where there was no wood, there was almost always heather, and usually turf too. As a result, anyone with a hearthstone could afford to bake on a small scale, and on demand. The incentive to band together to conserve fuel (and invent the communal bake-oven, a conservation tool common in more fuel-poor areas of Europe) was missing in the Irish countryside. Short elapsed baking times, and baking "at will", were easy.
These two factors caused the Irish householder to bypass yeast for everyday baking whenever possible. The primary leavening agent became what is now known here as bread soda: just plain bicarbonate of soda, hence the name "soda bread". For a long time, most of the bread in Ireland was soda bread -- at least, most of what was baked at the hearthside ("bakery bread" only being available in the larger cities). Soda bread was made either "in the pot," in yet another version of the cloche baking which is now coming back into vogue, but which was long popular all over medieval Europe: or else on a baking stone, an iron plate usually rested directly on the embers of the fire

From these two methods are descended the two main kinds of soda bread eaten in Ireland, both north and south, to the present day.

In Ireland, "plain" soda bread is as likely to be eaten as an accompaniment to a main meal (to soak up the gravy) as it's likely to appear at breakfast. It comes in brown or white, and two main types: cake and farl. The latter are primarily regional differences. People in the south of Ireland tend to make cake: people in Northern Ireland like the farl better (though both kinds appear in both North and South, sometimes under wildly differing names). Cake is soda bread kneaded and shaped into a flattish round, then cut with a cross on the top (this is supposed to let the bread stretch and expand as it rises in the oven but it’s really to let the fairies out) and baked on a baking sheet. A farl is rolled out into a rough circle and cut through, crosswise, into four pieces and usually baked in a heavy frying pan or on a griddle, on top of the range rather than in the oven.

With all this said, the basic business of baking soda bread is extremely simple. The urge to be resisted is to do more stuff to it than necessary...this is usually what keeps it from coming out right the first few times. Once you've mastered the basic mixture, though, you can start adding things, coming up with wonderful variations like treacle bread and so on.

Now you have had the history.............go make some!

Wheaten Bread

8ozs/225gms Wholemeal Flour
4 ozs/100gms Plain Flour
Approx. 15 fl. ozs/400mls Butter Milk
1oz/25gms Butter
1 teasp Bicarbonate of Soda/Baking Soda
1 teasp sugar or honey
1 teasp. salt

Greased and floured round sandwich tin

Oven temp 350F 180.C Gas 4

In a large bowl mix together all the dry ingredients.
Cut the butter into small pieces and rub through.
Add enough buttermilk to form a soft but easily handled dough. It should not be runny.
Knead lightly and quickly into a round and place in prepared tin.
(It is essential you use light hands)
Cut a deep cross in the bread. (To let the fairies out)
Sprinkle with oats if desired

Bake for approx 40 Minutes or until a skewer comes out clean

When it comes out of the oven cut yourself a big slice, slather it in butter not minding that it dribbles down your chin in the enjoyment of it all.

More Wheaten Bread

2011-06-24T18:10:00.000+01:00

Yes, I know, I spend my life trying new ways with this loaf. It probably gets a little boring but when I shuffle the ingredients once again and there is a good final product, I feel compelled to share it. This was good...........very good. Nice moist dark crumb (that's what bread geeks call the inside of the loaf) lovely golden oatie crust. If you are into healthy eating well it's full of oats and you could of course replace the maple syrup with honey or leave out the sugary stuff altogether but there's no fun in that. On the subject of fun don't forget when it comes out of the oven cut a big piece and cover it thickly in butter. Use your other hand to catch the drips while you cram it in your mouth. Just tell your arteries to be quiet.

Oatie Wheaten Bread

Pre heat your oven to 200.C/180.C Fan/400.F/Gas 6

Grease and flour a large loaf tin or a round sandwich tin or just a baking sheet and form the loaf by hand.

350gms/12oz wholemeal/whole wheat flour
100gms/4oz oats/oatmeal + a handful for topping
200mls buttermilk or ordinary milk soured with lemon juice + 50mls milk just in case you need it
50g/2oz butter
1egg beaten
1 teaspoons baking soda
1 heaped teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons maple syrup or honey

Place the oats, butter, salt and maple syrup in a bowl.
Heat the milk in the microwave or a saucepan until quite warm.
Pour onto the oat mixture and leave for half an hour stirring occasionally. Do not be tempted to skip this and throw the dry oats into the mixture.............trust me you will just get a very dense loaf.
Now stir in half of the beaten egg, the flour, baking soda and cream of tartar. You should have a spongy slightly sticky mix.
Don't worry about rushing this bit. I have found that the dough sitting around for a few minutes is quite beneficial

Spoon the dough into your prepared loaf tin/sandwich tin
If forming by hand, flour your hands well and form the dough into a round on your baking sheet. If your dough seems a little soft for that just add a little flour to the mix.....simple.

Brush some of the beaten egg over the top then sprinkle generouly with oats. Now splodge the rest of the egg over that.

Using a sharp knife draw a deepish crevice the full length if the tin. If you are doing a circular loaf cut a deep cross. It's to let the fairies out...........yes it is.

Now bake for 30-40 mins or until a skewer comes out clean. If it is getting a little too brown place a tin foil hat over the loaf after it has formed a skin.
Turn the loaf out onto a wire rack to cool.

Don't forget to cut that thick warm slice and butter it.
Enjoy

PS If anyone knows anything about white balance in cameras give me a call.

Sausage Plait

2011-06-22T20:42:00.002+01:00

Isn't it awful how the prices in the supermarkets have
escalated? More than ever I am seeking out recipes which don't cost a lot to make but are tasty and interesting. This I think fits the bill. I used a product called Vegetable Roll which is peculiar to Northern Ireland but any sausage meat will do. I also made my own pastry which is so quick and easy to do. I am never organised enough to defrost frozen pastry. Five minutes in a food processor and you have it. Simple.



Sausage Plait Serves 2 Pork/beef sausages 4, skinned (approximately 250g/9oz) Onion 1 small, peeled and finely chopped Cooking apple 1 peeled, cored and chopped Chopped sage 1tbsp or 1 tsp dried Salt and freshly ground pepper Puff pastry ½ x 500g pack Vegetable oil for greasing Egg 1, beaten for glaze Preheat the oven to 200˚C/400˚F/Gas 6. Mix together the sausage meat with the onion, apple and sage for seasoning. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to a 30cm (12in) square. Cut around the edges to neaten them. Then make 5-6cm (2-2 ½ in) long cits on the opposite sides of the pastry, at a slightly downward angle and about 2.5cm (1in) apart -but not opposite each other, alternate them instead. Brush water around the edges. Place the sausage meat mixture in the centre of the pastry Fold down the pastry top, then bring up the cut sides, alternatively overlapping them to give a plaited effect, folding up the bottom edge of the pastry before bringing over the final side strip. Press the pastry together well at the ends to seal it. Slide the plait onto a lightly greased baking sheet, then brush the pastry with the egg glaze. Bake the plait in the centre of the oven for 30-40minutes, or until the pastry has risen and is golden. Remove from the oven and serve either hot or cold. I did the whole thing on the baking sheet. Saved faffing around

Pastry (If you so wish)

250g strong white flour
A pinch of salt
250g cold unsalted butter, cut into 5mm slices
A squeeze of lemon juice
5-6 tablespoons iced water

Pulse the flour and salt together in the processor, then add the butter and pulse 3-4 times, the butter should be cut up but still be in visible chunks.

Add a squeeze of lemon juice and the iced water, and pulse till the pastry begins to form a ball, then tip out onto the bench and form a ball. Wrap tightly in cling wrap and rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Dust the benchtop with flour, then roll the pastry into a long rectangle into a long rectangle three times longer than it is wide, then fold it in three like a business letter. Roll out again to the same length and repeat the fold and roll another 2 times (not rolling out after the last fold).

Wrap in cling wrap and rest in the fridge for another 30 minutes before using it to allow the gluten to relax.

When baking, brush with a lightly beaten egg white and bake in an oven preheated to 200 degrees C till puffed and golden brown.

I did the rolling and folding straight from the processor then stuck it in the fridge while I made up the filling. Works beautifully. Half the quantity will do for this recipe.

Hello Fellow Bloggers.

2011-04-12T07:27:00.000+01:00

I haven't been around much I know.. I have missed dropping into all your Blogs. I will be back soon xxx

Sticky Lemon Slice

2011-03-04T15:45:00.000Z

I found this fabulous recipe on a Blog the other day. Lesley has just started blogging and her Blog 'Eat Etc' is well worth a visit. I am looking forward to much more. This recipe is so easy and yet so divinely sweet and tangy I'll be making it again and again. These little bars are lovely with a cup of tea or with a big dollop of double cream on top. It contrasts with the tang of the lemon perfectly. Thank you Lesley for a real keeper.

Sticky Lemon Slice

Base
225g/8oz unsalted butter, softened
70g/2 1/2 oz icing sugar
275g/10oz plain flour

Topping
400g /14 oz granulated sugar
4 medium eggs, beaten
4 tbsp plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

grated zest of 2 lemons

90ml lemon juice, strained

icing sugar to dust

Preheat oven to 170. C./150.C Fan/325.F/Gas3

Line base of non-stick 32 x 21cm/ 12" x 8" Swiss roll tin with baking paper.

Base:

Put butter in food processor and process until whipped.

Add icing sugar and process until light in colour (creamed).

Add flour and process until mixture forms a ball.

Tip into tin and press flat. If mixture is sticky, keep your fingers dusted with flour.

Bake 15 minutes, then remove from oven.

Leave oven on.

While base is cooling, make topping.

Topping: Tip sugar into the cleaned bowl of food processor and add eggs. Process 1 minute.

Transfer mixture to a bowl, sprinkle flour and baking powder over top. Add lemon zest and juice, mixing together with a large spoon.

Pour mixture on top of base (it will fill the tin).

Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden and firmish to touch.

Cool in the tin, then dust with icing sugar and cut into squares.

Transfer to airtight container when cool. Will keep for 3-5 days.

My Notes

I found the base was very sticky so I added a tablespoon of flour to the food processor and whizzed again

Thank you Lesley for a great recipe

Fish Fingers

2011-03-02T09:40:00.001Z

Hands up who doesn't like fish fingers. I love them. I used to love having them with the children when they were small. I have just matured a little and now make them myself. So simple and so tasty. With apologies to Captain Birds Eye although you will always have a place in my heart, I think these may be just a tad better.

Fish Fingers

Firm white fish. I use cod loin
A few ounces of breadcrumbs
A little seasoned flour
1 or 2 beaten eggs depending on how many fish fingers you are making.
Oil to fry

Dry the fish and cut into fingers.
Lightly cover them in the seasoned flour and shake off the excess.
Dip them in the beaten egg and then the bread crumbs.
Dip them in the egg again and then the breadcrumbs again.
Fry in hot oil until golden, a few minutes.
See, simple.
Now wonder why you bother buying the frozen ones.
Serve with chips mushy peas and grilled/fried tomatoes
Enjoy

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cookies

2011-02-27T20:39:00.003Z

As usual I am running at the last minute. Mind you Dom this is the only challenge I have managed this month so feel extremely flattered. Dom is running a random challenge. The idea is brilliant. Run your hands randomly over the spines of your cookery books. Stop at one. Then open the book and cook/bake whatever appears.The book I stopped at was The Essence of Chocolate by John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg. I have never cooked anything from this book so it was good to make me perform so to speak. The book fell open at PB&C Cookies. So here they are. Lovely cookies but (there is always a but isn't there?) I followed the recipe except I halved the amount of cookie dough dropped on the tray. The impression given by the pics and the recipe is that the dough will spread giving you large thin cookies. That does not happen. I had three trays in the oven when I noticed this. I Had four cookies left to bake so I flattened the before ovening. I looked at the pic and I could see they had been flattened by fingers but nowhere in the recipe does it tell you to do so. I hate when recipes leave out details like this. Anyway I flattened the last four cookies with a spoon and that is what you see in the pic. I loved the flavour but would I make them again? No I would not. I will adapt another recipe I have which will give the thinness and chewiness I love. Watch this space.Thanks Dom for making me bake from this book. I don't think I'll use it again though.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cookies

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt (may need to reduce depending on your pb's saltiness)
8 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temp
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter (natural preferred, with no added sugar or salt)
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips (or 6 oz chopped bittersweet chocolate)
1. Preheat the oven to 325° F and line two baking sheets with parchment or a silpat.
2. Melt the unsweetened chocolate.

3. In a mixer, combine the softened butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar and mix on medium speed to blend, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the vanilla, egg and peanut butter and mix for 2 to 3 minutes. Pour in the melted chocolate and mix just until combined. Stop the mixer and add the dry ingredients. Mix just until combined.
4. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the chocolate pieces by hand.

5. Drop large mounds of dough, about 3 heaping tablespoons each, onto the two prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly cracked on top, rotating the pans halfway through.
6. Remove from oven, cool 2 min on sheets, then transfer to a rack and cool completely.

Seville Orange Jelly Marmalade

2011-02-20T00:02:00.002Z

I wait anxiously all year for the Seville Oranges to make this treat. This year I made 12 pounds of it. My kitchen was like a jam factory but it smelled heavenly. Just as I screwed the last lid in place I found out Seville Oranges can be frozen. Oh well I will remember next year.
There is nothing quite like the tang of marmalade made with these bitter oranges. I am not fond of thick cut marmalade so I strain it and add a some finely cut peel to give it a little texture. It is a great job on dark January days when the weather keeps you indoors. So obliging of these fruits to be in season at such a time. It's a three day event but so worth it.

Makes About 2 Kilos/4 1/2 lbs

450gms/1lb Seville oranges
1.75litres/3pints/7 1/2 cups water
1.3kgs/3lbs/81/2 cups preserving or granulated sugar
60mls/4tablespoons lemon juice

DAY 1

Wash and dry the oranges using a soft brush to get into all the wee dimples on the skin.
If you want some fine peel through your jelly thinly pare off the skin and finely shred the rind from 2-3 of the oranges. A zester is good for this. Place it in a muslin square and make a little bag tying off with a long piece of string.
Squeeze the juice from the oranges and place the juice and pips into a large pan.
Chop up the remaining orange skins including the pith and add it to the pan.
Add the bag of shredded peel tying the string to the handle so you can fish it out easily later.
Cover with the water and leave to soak overnight.

DAY 2
Bring the mixture to the boil,reduce the heat and simmer for 1 1/2 hours
Remove the bag of peel and set to the side for later.
Put the kettle on
Line a large strainer with a double layer of muslin.
Now pour some boiling water through the muslin to scald it.(or you can use a scalded jelly bag if you have one)
Place the strainer over a large bowl and leave to strain overnight.
Don't be tempted to squeeze or push the fruit pulp as it will make the resulting jelly cloudy.

DAY 3
Heat your oven to 150.C/300.F and pop your clean jam jars on a baking tray and set inside the oven to sterilise and heat.
Pour the strained juice into a large saucepan discarding the pulp.
Add the sugar, lemon juice and rind .
Stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved then bring to the boil and boil rapidly for about twenty minutes or so until setting point is reached(105.C/220F) Sometimes this can take longer so don't be alarmed. A lot depends on the amount of juice and the vigour of the boil.
If you don't have a sugar thermometer use a chilled plate. Drop a little jam onto it and wait for a few minutes and if the surface wrinkles when gently pushed with your index finger it is done.
Remove the scum with a slotted spoon.
Leave to cool for a while then pot up into your nice warm jars.
Put the lids or covers on and leave to set.
Enjoy

Honeyed Porridge Bread

2011-02-19T09:22:00.003Z

Isn't baking amazing? I love the process of using a set of ingredients and making something. Then, taking the same ingredients using them a slightly different way and a completely different texture results. Magic. I love oats in bread however, I have always found adding them in their dry state to the mix makes bread a bit dense. Nice toasted but not so good for sandwiches etc. After having a bowl of porridge one morning I wondered what would happen if I soaked the oats before adding. Well it worked. This bread is so light and soft it is just .....well magic.

I use 23x13.5x6cm /9"x5"x21/2"(nearly three pounds) loaf tin which gives a large loaf .
If you don't have a tin this size two regular 2lb loaf tins will do giving you of course two loaves.

100gms/4oz porridge oats/oatmeal
400 mls /4 1/4 cups boiling water
3 tablespoons of honey
50gms/2oz butter
1-2 teaspoons salt

Combine these first five ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer or if doing by hand a large bowl. Allow to cool giving it a stir now and then. You will have what is essentially a bowl of porridge when this bit is done.

300gms/18oz Wholemeal flour
300gms/18oz White Bread flour
1 and 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
175mls/3/4 cup hand hot water

When cool gradually stir in the flour and yeast. It will be a really shaggy mess.
Using the dough hook mix slowly. If doing this by hand,use your hand to combine.
Add 100mls water and continue mixing
Now, you want the dough to be soft but come away from the sides of the bowl cleanly while kneading.
Add a little water at a time until the desired consistency is reached.
Turn up the mixer to medium and knead for approximately 5 minutes.
Hand workers take the dough out of the bowl and knead on a lightly oiled worktop and you get to knead for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth ,elastic and satiny.
Now oil a bowl and form your dough into a ball. Turn it round in the oiled bowl (stops it sticking) and then leave it in the bowl cover loosely with cling film or place inside a carrier bag (this keeps the moisture in) and leave for about an hour until it has roughly doubled in size.
When this is done oil your work top and hands to keep the stickies away and gently pull your dough out onto the work top.
Dimple it out flat with your fingers to disperse the air.
Now take an oiled rolling pin and roll it out into a rectangle about 18 inches by 12 inches.
Fold it over towards you like a business letter. You know the top half down and the bottom half up and over it.
Now take the side end and fold it over the top towards the centre then the other end and fold it over that, turn it once and perform the whole thing again.
Once folded ease the sides down and press the top until you get a cob shape that will fit lengthwise into your tin/tins
If using two tins cut the dough in half before shaping.

A little milk in a flat rectangular or oval container
A handful of oats ground up finely in the food processor (or just some wholemeal flour if it is more convenient.) also in a flat container

Now dip the smooth side of your cob(s) in the milk and then the flour of your choice. Place into your greased tin(s) flour side up of course.
Place the tin(s) in a plastic bag leaving a balloon shape while tucking in the ends under the tin to keep it moist. Leave in a warm place to rise again for 30-40 minutes..
A good test of when this rise is finished is lightly jiggle the loaf at the end of the tin. When it is ready you will feel it wobble slightly like a jelly. You really will feel it.
Now slash the tops diagonally with a serrated knife two or three times. This will allow the loaf to rise without splitting in odd places.
Put the bread into the oven and bake for about half an hour.
The loaf should be a nice golden brown, feel firm and crusted on the top and when tipped out of the tin it should tap hollow on the base.
Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before cutting.
Enjoy.

Hope Springs Eternal

2011-02-14T01:01:00.000Z

Having spent a couple of weeks being warmed by the sun, eating deliciously prepared food and being surrounded by some lovely people, we returned tired from a long flight feeling slightly dispirited. Our taxi turned into the drive and a wonderful sight met us. Snowdrops had sprung up all over the front lawn during our absence. A sure sign spring is on the way. I always see their nodding heads as little beacons of hope. Life is good isn't it?

Parsleyed Fish Gratin

2011-01-16T00:21:00.003Z

Sarah at Maison Cupcake has started a new Blog event called 'Forever Nigella'. The idea is we cook a dish from one of Nigella Lawson's books every month. This is not difficult as I have all of her books. A great idea Sarah and thank you for organising.

I chose Parsleyed Fish Gratin from Nigella Christmas. It is a regular in my house. A very easy fish pie which saves all the mashing of potatoes and can be made in advance. It is a tasty everyday dish but would also grace a table for guests as it is just so pretty

I have made a few changes to the recipe. Nothing new in that as I am always fiddling. There is not one thing wrong with the original but I have just added a couple of things which I prefer or are just more convenient. I added salmon to the fish mix as I like the flavour. It also adds an attractive colour and makes it more pleasing to the eye.
I use semi skimmed milk for the sauce rather than full fat for the simple reason it's what I have in the house.
I add onions pepper corns and bay leaves to the milk the night before making (if I am organised enough) as it does give the sauce a lovely flavour. I always do this with any roux sauce. Well worth it.
I also use pale sherry rather than vermouth as I have a couple of huge bottles to use up and I do like the flavour in cooking. It works very well. So because of these changes I get to print the recipe.

Serves 6

Parsleyed Fish Gratin

For the Milk Infusion

One raw onion peeled and quartered
About twelve black pepercorns
Two bay leaves ripped

For the Sauce

50gms/2oz butter
50gms/20z flour
1x15ml tablespoon pale sherry vermouth or white wine
1/4 teaspoon ground mace or nutmeg
1/2 teasp maldon salt or 1/4 teasp table salt
1/4 teasp Dijon mustard
350 mls/12 fluid oz milk
1 1/2 15 ml tablespoons finely chopped chives or 1 spring onion finely chopped
75 gms/3 oz chopped parsley

For the Fish Mix and Potato Topping

2 medium sized (400gms/14oz total) baking potatoes, unpeeled
One Kilo/2.2 lbs of fish to include salmon, white fish fillet and smoked cod or haddock

For the Glaze
1 teasp garlic oil
25gms/1oz butter
Good grinding of black pepper
A little dried parsley

Method

Add the onion, black peppercorns and bay leaves to the milk and leave to soak overnight or for a few hours.then strain to use with the sauce.

Make a white sauce by first melting the butter in a large saucepan and then addi the flour and stir for a minute or so.
Then off the heat whisk in the sherry/vermouth/wine, mace/nutmeg, salt and mustard.

Next whisk in the milk and put the pan back on the heat continuing to whisk the sauce as it thickens. Once the sauce appears to be getting thicker, keep cooking it for a further 3 minutes until it becomes very thick.

Take it off the heat and stir in the chives and parsley then decant into your gratin dish (mine is a round shallow casserole about 26cm x5cm/10 inches x inches)

Once cool you can leave this dish covered in the fridge overnight or up to three days.

When ready to cook preheat your oven 200.C/400.F/Gas 6. and place a baking sheet in . Take your gratin dish out of the fridge and uncover it.

Slice the unpeeled potatoes as thin as you possibly can.

Scissor or cut all the fish into large bite-sized pieces and mix into the parsley sauce

Layer the potatoes in concentric circles over the fish and parsley sauce overlapping half way across each potato slice as you go around the dish.

Melt the garlic oil and butter in a small pan or in a dish in the microwave, stir in a little dried parsley then paint the circles of potato with this mixture

Grind some fresh black pepper over the top and place in the oven to cook for 50-60 minutes. The top should be golden and the underneath of the gratin bubbling

Chocolate Prune Bars

2011-01-14T23:41:00.003Z

This month's challenge is from Chele at The Chocolate Teapot. The monthly challenge is always chocolate but we are given another ingredient and have to make/bake something that includes the two. This month's ingredient to add to the chocolate was leftovers from our pantries. I chose prunes as I had half a bag lurking from Christmas. For once I am on time. Last month I didn't manage at all because of swine flue. Well they do say the world loves a trier. So Ladies and Gentlemen without further ado I present

Chocolate Prune Bars

It is quite a dense but very moist cake. I was uncertain as to what what the flavour would be like but I have to tell you it is amazing. It actually tastes better if you can keep your hands off it for a couple of days. It is grand left plain but covering it in Chocolate ganache takes it to a different level.

Ingredients

250g /9 oz Butter or Margarine

250g /9oz Dark brown sugar

200g /7oz S.R Flour plus 1 teaspoon of baking powder or plain flour with 2 teaspoons of baking powder (sifted)

50 g / 2oz cocoa powder

3 Eggs (beaten)

250 g 9oz dried pitted prunes

250mls strong coffee

a little water or fruit juice

Method

Pre Heat your oven to 180.C/160.C Fan/400.F/Gas 6

Place the prunes in a medium saucepan with the coffee and simmer for ten minutes.

Set to the side and allow to cool a little then whizz in the food processor or puree with a stick blender. If the mixture is very thick add a little water or fruit juice to loosen.

Grease and line a shallow baking tray 24 cms x 33 cms/ 13 inches x 9 1/2 inches.

Leave an over hang lengthwise of your lining paper so the cake can be removed from the tin easily.

Melt butter in microwave on 50% power or in a large saucepan on the hob.

Stir in sugar and prune mixture then the flour and cocoa powder, add the eggs, stirring well. A whisk is good.

Pour into your prepared tin and bake for approx 20 - 30 minutes until the cake is springy to touch.

Leave in the tin until cold before removing then slice into bars.

Could I push my luck here and say it could count towards your five a day.

Thank you Chele for this month's challenge

Potato Wheaten Bread

2011-01-13T08:33:00.001Z

I love all the local (Irish) breads. From those made on the griddle wheaten and soda farls, potato bread and pancakes to the oven soda and wheaten (brown soda) bread. I am a great fan of potato bread, called lovingly by locals as"Tatie Bread", which is a flat unleavened bread made with potato and flour. I got to wondering what it would be like to combine the potato with the oven soda and wheaten. Naturally I had to give it a go.

I made two versions One Wheaten Potato loaf (top) and the other my hubby has called the Ulster Fry loaf as the flavours are just like our traditional Ulster Breakfast Fry in a slice. They were both a great success I have to report. At their best straight from the oven and if any left after a day or two, just heaven toasted with lots of butter. Well I didn't say they were healthy did I?

Wheaten Potato

Ingredients

500 gms/ 1lb 2 oz Wholemeal/whole wheat flour
250 gms/9 oz approximately of cooked mashed potato
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
2 Teaspoons Cream of Tartar
1 teasp of salt
300mls milk
1 egg beaten
50gms/2 oz butter chopped.

Method

Pre heat oven to 200.C/180.C fan/400.F/Gas6

Put the potatoes into a large jug and gradually beat in the milk until you get a mixture resembling wall paper paste.
Tip in most of the egg reserving a little for glazing.
Sift the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt into a large bowl
Rub in the butter with your finger tips
Add the milk and potato mixture and stir until you have a soft dough.
Empty onto a floured work top and knead gently to shape with well floured hands as it is a a sticky mixture. The potatoes make it so.
I bake mine in a well buttered 7 inch brownie pan but you could use a round cake pan
Slash a cross on the top of the dough
Glaze with the remaining egg
Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden brown and a skewer comes out clean.

For the Ulster Fry Bread replace the wholemeal flour with plain /all purpose flour and add two or three pieces of finely chopped fried smoked bacon and two finely chopped scallions/spring onions to the mix. Omit the salt as the bacon adds enough.

Notes

I have given the method by hand but I make this in the Food Processor which makes life a lot quicker,easier and less sticky . Just whizz the dry ingredients then whizz in the chopped butter then add the milk mixture and whizz again.

If you don't have cream of tartar use buttermilk or milk soured with lemon juice as the bicarbonate of soda needs the acid.

For those of you who have never seen an Ulster Fry this is it. Not my photo as I usually only make a 'fry' when we have guests and a delay would not be tolerated. I wouldn't take the risk.

Photo courtesy of Ardtrabane House ,Giants Causeway, Co. Antrim

Lamb,Pear and Cranberry Pie (without the pie)

2011-01-03T01:09:00.002Z

On Violet's Pantry, our members had the privilege of testing some of Lotte Duncan's recipes for her new book Lotte's Country Kitchen which was published last year. The recipes we helped with were wonderful and it was great fun trying them out. I am the proud owner of her book and it is so pretty I am afraid to get a splat of goo on it. It is one of the best cookery books I own.. It does not stop at beautifully laid out pages and stunning photographs. The recipes are seasonal and the chapters laid out monthly so it is very easy to find something that suits the time of year. All are very homely recipes.No complexity involved but Lotte has managed to capture what every home cook wants, lots of flavour and beautiful presentation but as well s being homely everyday fare for the family her dishes would grace a dinner party table perfectly indeed the quantities are mostly for 6-8 people but easily adjusted for smaller amounts. This recipe was for a pie but I just couldn't be bothered making the pastry. The mix of fruit meat and veg is perfect with just the right amount of sweetness and sharpness. A real keeper. If you have a few cranberries still lying around I would recommend this dish. I served it with fluffy creamed potatoes. Delicious.

Preparation time 30 mins
Cooking time 120 mins
Serves 6 people

Ingredients

2 tbsp Rapeseed oil
900 g (31.7oz) Leg of lamb, diced and trimmed of fat
25 g (0.9oz) Butter
1 Large onion, roughly chopped
3 Large carrots, cut into 2.5cm/1inch chunks
1 tbsp Soft brown sugar
2.5 tbsp Plain flour
570 ml (20.1fl oz) Lamb or beef stock
150 ml (5.3fl oz) Red wine
2 tbsp Chopped fresh parsley
0.5 tsp Dried thyme
1 Fresh bay leaf
1 Small sprig of rosemary
2 Large pears, peeled, cored and cut into chunks the same size as the lamb
110 g (3.9oz) Fresh cranberries
1 Small orange – grated zest and juice
0.5 tbsp Clear honey or quince jelly
1 tbsp Chopped fresh mint
1 Pinch of salt
1 Pinch of ground black pepper
225 g (7.9oz) Self-raising flour - For the Suet crust pastry
2 tsp Dried thyme - For the Suet crust pastry
2 tsp English mustard powder - For the Suet crust pastry
110 g (3.9oz) Shredded suet flour for dusting - For the Suet crust pastry
1 Egg, beaten - For the Suet crust pastry

Method

Preheat the oven to 160°C fan oven, 140°C gas mark 3. Aga 4/3-door grid shelf on floor of baking oven Aga 2- door Grid shelf on floor of roasting oven with cold plain shelf on third runners.
Heat 1 table spoon of oil in a large flameproof casserole dish and brown the pieces of lamb a few at a time. When each piece of meat is sufficiently browned, remove it using a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate. You might need to add another tablespoon of oil to brown all the meat.
Now add the butter, onion, carrots and brown sugar to the dish and fry them gently until they are beginning to soften and caramelise due to the sugar. You don’t want the sugar to burn, so keep the heat low. It just makes the vegetables sweeter and gives a lovely colour to the final dish.
Stir in the flour and pour over the stock and wine. Bring up to boiling point, return the lamb to the dish with the parsley, thyme, bay leaf and rosemary. Season with a little salt and pepper.
Cook in the oven for 45 minutes. Remove and then add the pears, cranberries and orange zest and juice. Cook for another 15 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Add the honey or quince jelly.
Now pour into 1.4 litre/ 2½ pint pie dish and set aside to cool a little.
Increase the oven temperature to 190°C fan oven, 170°C/ gas mark 5. Aga 4/3-door Top of baking oven. Aga 2-door Grid shelf on floor of roasting oven.
Make the pastry just before you need it because just like dumplings, when you add a liquid to self-raising flour it starts the rising process and you need to cook it straight away to keep the pastry light. If you leave the pastry hanging around, it will be heavy and tough. Sieve the flour into a medium mixing bowl and add the thyme, mustard powder and a pinch of salt. Stir in the suet and mix with approximately 150ml/5fl oz cold water to make a soft dough. Turn onto a floured board and knead until smooth.
Now roll out the pastry, bid enough to cover your pie dish with a little overhang. Moisten the rim of the dish with some water and position the pastry on the top and press it over the edge of the dish, and tuck it slightly under. It doesn’t matter if the edges are thick and pleated, this is a very rustic pie and the rougher the better!
Make a slit in the middle to let the steam escape during cooking and brush all over with the beaten Egg to give a rich colour to the cooking pastry. Stand the pie on the baking sheet and bake until the Pastry is crisp and golden brown.
Slice the pie and serve with steamed runner beans, tossed in butter and plenty of seasoning.

Christmas Greetings

2010-12-22T08:19:00.000Z

To All My Blogging Friends

Cranberry and Orange Jam

2010-12-18T00:44:00.002Z

Oh the weather outside is frightful

But inside it's so delightful

Since we've no place to go

Let it Snow Let it Snow Let it Snow

Well it has certainly been doing that this past while. What better way to spend incarceration than in a warm kitchen cooking up festive goodies
Last year I made Nigella Lawson's cranberry jam. It was grand but I felt it was a bit stodgy. I like to use it with the turkey, cold meats and cheese as well as on my toast and prefer a softer texture. I also wanted the addition of orange. I always like the flavour of oranges at Christmas so I conjured this up in my kitchen. Nice soft texture and lovely flavour. A little sharpness against the sweetness and a lovely hint of orange. I am looking forward to serving this on my table come Christmas day. Incredibly easy to make and perfect for beginners as cranberries are packed full of pectin so setting is never a problem. Give it a go. It can't fail and it is much much nicer than shop bought cranberry sauces for Christmas. Makes lovely gifts too.

Ingredients

1 kilo /2.2lbs cranberries fresh or frozen
1 kilo/2.2 lbs sugar
Grated rind and juice of two oranges (approx 250mls/1 cup)
500mls /2 cups water

Large heavy based pan

5-6 450gm/1lb jars sterilised in a warm oven

Method

For a smooth jam, place the cranberries in the saucepan with the orange juice and water.
Heat gently until the cranberries just start to soften.
Whizz the mixture in the food processor.
Return to the pot and add the sugar and orange peel.
Heat gently stirring all the time until the sugar dissolves, that is to say when it no longer feels gritty.
Bring the mix to a fast rolling boil for about twenty minutes.
leave to cool slighlty then pot into your warm jars.
You can test for a set by dropping some jam onto a cold plate, leave for a few minutes and push gently with your finger. If it wrinkles it is done. Really you will find you don't need to worry as this will set perfectly due to the pectin content of the cranberries.
If you want whole pieces of fruit just put everything into the saucepan and boil.
Simplicity itself.

Winter Sunset

2010-12-09T10:23:00.000Z

Our cold spell continues. It is causing chaos for those who have to travel. This country is used to more temperate winters so we are never prepared for the snow and sub zero temperatures. The fuel bills will be high but the countryside looks magical covered in it's white sparkling coat. The gutters wear long diamond earrings and the mist thrown over its shoulders lends an ethereal quality to the scene. So much prettier than the usual dark clouds and rain.

Kiflice - Serbian Mini Rolls

2010-11-28T17:36:00.000Z

This is my first entry to the monthly challenge from 'Fresh From the Oven' . November's challenge was set by Maja at Cooks and bakes. Thank you Maja for this challenge. I can't tell you how delicious these are. I have been making my own bread for some years now and I can honestly say I have never produced anything from my oven made with yeast that tastes so heavenly. perfect buttery light soft rolls with a zing of salty cheese. Perfect nibbles for a party at this time of year. I am wondering if a bigger version would make an accompaniment to dinner.

They are incredibly easy to make.

I used Feta Cheese as I am not keen on Cottage cheese

About a teaspoonful is enough for each roll

The cutting out and rolling is very quick

Mine were not quite the right crescent shape but I will correct that the next time and a next time there will definitely be.

Perfect buttery soft rolls with a zing of salty cheese.

I look forward to trying this recipe with different cheeses.

I think this would also lend itself beautifully to a sweet filling should you be so inclined. Perhaps jam or chocolate?

This is Maja's recipe. The only change I made was to use butter instead of margarine. The buttery taste through them was wonderful. Not healthy but wonderful just the same.

Kiflice - Serbian Mini Rolls

Dough:
500 g all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
20 g fresh yeast (2 tsp instant yeast or 2.5 tsp active dry yeast)
1 tsp sugar
250 ml milk
75 ml sunflower oil
1 egg

Filling:
200-250 g cottage cheese (you may use feta or other fresh cheese)
1 egg white (optional)

And more:
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp milk
100-125 g margarine

Directions:
1. Crush the cheese using a fork. Add some salt if it tastes neutral. Stir the egg white in, if the cheese is too crumbly. Filling shouldn't be runny, but thick and compact, thicker than the cream cheese, and pretty salty.

2. For the starter - dissolve yeast with some lukewarm milk in a cup, add a teaspoon of sugar and a tablespoon of flour, stir to get smooth batter. Set aside at room temperature, or near the stove top, to let the yeast activate and fill the cup.

3. Sift the flour, add salt. Add activated yeast, egg, oil and milk, then combine using a wooden spoon to get smooth dough. The dough seems like too soft and too sticky at the beginning, but don't worry, continue with kneading, and soon your dough should start to separate from the bowl, and thicken. It is not necessary to knead the dough by hands, the wooden spoon works just fine (you may use any spoon, of course, the wooden spoon is common tool for all stirring and kneading works here at the Balkans). Grease the cling film with oil, cover the bowl, and set aside for at least an hour, at lukewarm place, to let the dough doubles in size.

4. Re-knead the dough, divide into 5 equal parts, shape them into balls. Each part should make 8 rolls, so you'll end up with 40 rolls, which should perfectly fit the regular oven pan, if lined in 5x8 order. Flatten each ball by hands over the floury working surface, then use a rolling pin to roll the dough out in a circle, a few millimeters thick. Use a sharp knife to cut the circle into 8 triangles. Take one triangle, stretch it in the air with your hands, to get it extended as much as you can, gently. Put some filling at the triangle base, then fold the edges of the base as shown at pic4, to avoid the filling leak out during baking. Roll. Arrange the rolls at the pan (5x8).

5. Lightly beat the egg yolk with a tablespoon of milk, then brush the top of each roll with the mixture. This is used to prevent forming thick crust, and to improve the color of baked rolls. Sprinkle with some sesame seeds, if you like.

6. Arrange the small peaces of margarine between the rolls, then bake in the oven preheated to 180°C for about 20 minutes. Be careful not to overbake them. Let them cool a bit, be careful as the filling is always more hot then the dough, take a seat in your favorite armchair, and start enjoying the softest cheese rolls ever. And don't think of calories, please :)

Cocolate Caramel Oaties

2010-11-28T15:47:00.000Z

This was to be my first entry to a monthly challenge for 'We Should Cocoa' November's challenge set by Chele at Chocolate Teapot Every challenge is chocolate but every month another ingredient is given and we have to conjure up something yummy. I did say was to be my first entry. Unfortunately I have just discovered I am late. I hope Choclette and Chele will forgive me. I have had a terrible month. My 90yr old Mother in law had a massive heart attack. She is as tough as old boots and thankfully is making a wonderful recovery. That said I have been run off my feet looking after her and as I look after my two grandchildren as well the kitchen has only briefly seen me throwing something together something very quickly for an evening meal. However, I have succeeded in organising things fairly well and today is mine. So with apologies for my late entry here is my submission. These don't look as wonderful as they taste. I based the recipe on Vi's Oaties which is lovely in itself and wonderful recipe to have a fiddle with. These were chewy with just the right amount of crunch The caramel in them was divine. With thanks to the Choclette and Chele. for a great idea.

Chocolate Caramel Oaties

Ingredients

4 oz/100g self raising flour

4oz/100g porridge oats

½ level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

4oz/100g butter or margarine

4oz/100g soft brown sugar

2 rounded tablespoon carnation caramel/dulce de leche

4oz/100grams dark chocolate broken into small pieces or chocolate chips

Method

Heat the oven to gas mark 4 or 180 c

Grease two large baking tray with butter or margarine.

Mix flour, oats, and bicarbonate of soda together in a bowl put to one side.

Put margarine or butter, sugar and caramel in a saucepan and heat on a low heat until butter and sugar are just melted, stir occasionally, take off heat and stir in the oat mix and chocolate. Beat well with a wooden spoon.

Scoop dessert spoons of mixture up and make into ball shapes and place on a greased baking tray when the tray is full slightly flatten the balls out with the back of the dessert spoon.

Cook in the oven for 15 minutes, when ready remove from the oven and leave to cool on the baking sheet for 5 mins before moving onto a wire rack.

Repeat and do the same until all the mixture has been used up.

Mince and Tatties

2010-11-15T11:26:00.002Z

Anyone who has lived or stayed in Scotland will know all about this plain simple but oh so delicious dish. At home as a child it was served up once a week. Mince and Tatties night was always to be looked forward to. Now, for me, it has become the ultimate comfort food. When shopping at the butchers a pound of mince is always included. My husband calls it Scottish Caviare. Left overs ,if there are any, can be used in a pastie or as known in Scotland a Bridie.

Ingredients:
500g lean steak mince
1 large white onion, finely chopped.
Beef stock
Salt
White pepper
Gravy browning (optional)
Sploosh of virgin olive oil
A little milk

1. Put oil in a heavy bottomed pan over a low heat and soften the onions but don’t colour them, add the mince, turn up the heat and stir until all the meat is browned and any lumps are bashed out
2. Now add the milk and let it bubble a wee while to remove the graininess you sometimes get with mince. Then add enough stock to cover the mince and simmer gently for about 2 hours during which time season to taste
3. Don’t let the mince dry out, adding a little more stock or water if necessary. Whilst simmering, you may add a teaspoon of gravy browning if you wish to darken the dish but be careful and don’t put in too much!
4. During the cooking period it is important to skim off any fat that rises to the surface. Serve with creamy mashed potatoes and peas
5. I like to add diced carrots to the mince (some add turnips) while cooking, it just depends what jail you did your time in or how your mother made it.

Ingredients for the creamy mashed potatoes:

• 1kg potatoes, (Red Roosters or Maris Pipers work well)
• Good lump of butter
• A little milk or cream
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Peel the potatoes and cut into even sized chunks.

Method for the creamy mashed potatoes:
. Put the spuds in a large pot, cover with boiling water, a dessert spoon of salt and simmer for approximately 25 minutes or until done
Once cooked, drain them, put them back in their pot and cover with a clean tea towel which will absorb some of the steam
Mash the potatoes ( I use a hand held mixer)adding butter and cream and beating with a wooden spoon or a spurtle if you have one
Serve with the mince and some garden peas

If you want to thicken it a little bit add a little oatmeal. Healthier than cornflour or flour and yet traditional.

Shortbread

2010-11-10T01:00:00.000Z

I don't make a huge variety of biscuits/cookies. I don't really find the need. Shortbread makes a great base and is so dependable. Quick and easy to make. Endless flavour variations and a lovely light buttery crunchy mouthful. Perfect on it's own with a cup of tea or made very thin to accompany a dessert. The basic recipe came from Rita who lives away up in the far North of Scotland. A proper shortbread recipe.

Shortbread Trivia

In Shetland a decorated shortbread was traditionally broken over a bride’s head before she entered her new home.

Shortbread was classified as a bread by bakers to avoid paying the tax placed on biscuits.

The Scottish custom of eating shortbread on New Year’s Eve derives from an ancient pagan ritual of eating Yule Cakes.

January 6th of each year is National Shortbread Day.

Basic Shortbread

8oz/225gms butter
4oz/100gms caster sugar
8oz/225gms plain flour
4oz/100gms cornflour for a denser biscuit or rice flour for a crisper lighter texture
pinch of salt

Cream softened butter and sugar.
Add the sifted flours and salt gradually and mix well
Turn out onto a floured worktop and knead lightly into a round
Roll out and cut into biscuits
Or
Roll into a long cylinder, wrap in cling film and set in the fridge for about 30 minutes then slice into biscuits.
Bake at 350F /180.C /160.C Fan/ Gas 4 for about 15 - 20 mins or until golden
Place on a cooling rack and sprinkle with caster sugar while still warm.
Makes about 30 biscuits with a small cutter

Variations:

Chocolate
Replace 50gms/2 oz flour with cocoa and/or add chocolate chips.
Orange
Add grated rind of and orange (this is lovely with the chocolate)
Lemon
Add grated rind of a lemon
Spice
Add sweet spice in any combination or on it's own such as cinnamon, mixed spice or ginger.

Use soft brown sugar to give a hint of caramel
Add earl grey tea
Lavender
Rose

The possibilities are endless. Just a little imagination. They can be as plain or fancy as you like.

Haggis

2010-11-05T01:53:00.004Z

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,

Great chieftain o' the puddin-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy of a grace
As lang's my arm.

Address to a Haggis by Robert Burns. Scotland's favourite son. The Bard. We are expected to revere this eighteenth century poet but trust me when it is a compulsory subject to study in Scottish schools by the time you finish you could see him in hell. Please don't get me started on Tam O'Shanter. While having no love of the poet I am a huge fan of the subject matter, Haggis. Up there with whisky it is one of Scotland's finest exports. I was reared on it and love it.. I can of course buy it in this part of the world, but, for some unknown reason they make it with pork. Mutton /lamb is what should be used. Well would you like a beef burger made of pork?.When I am in Scotland I always buy two or three large sausages from a butchers then slice it and freeze it.

This is a much more convenient way of using haggis. I can just lift a few slices from the freezer as required and turn them in the pan. They take on the crumbly texture just the same as the traditional haggis packed in a sheep's stomach. Lovely an spicy it is a taste experience you should not miss. It also makes a wonderful stuffing for steak or chicken

If you are a very brave and adventurous cook you can of course make it from scratch

Haggis Ingredients:

1 sheep's stomach bag
1 sheep's pluck - liver, lungs and heart
3 onions
250g beef Suet
150g oatmeal
salt and lots of black pepper
a pinch of cayenne
150mls of stock/gravy

Haggis Cooking Directions:

1. Clean the stomach bag thoroughly and soak overnight. In the morning turn it inside out.

2. Wash the pluck and boil for 1.5 hours, ensuring the windpipe hangs over the pot allowing drainage of the impurities.

3. Mince the heart and lungs and grate half the liver.

4. Chop up the onions and suet.

5. Warm the oatmeal in the oven.

6. Mix all the above together and season with the salt and pepper. Then add the cayenne.

7. Pour over enough of the pluck boiled water to make the mixture watery.

8. Fill the bag with the mixture until it's half full.

9. Press out the air and sew the bag up.

10. Boil for 3 hours (you may need to prick the bag with a wee needle if it looks like blowing up!) without the lid on.

11. Serve with neeps and tatties.

Me? I prefer the easy route to my favourite dish. I'll leave the hard part to the butcher. Perhaps someday I will have a go.
As a post script I don't usually serve the haggis as shown in the photo. The idea is just to pile it on a plate with creamy mashed potatoes (tatties)and puréed turnips (neeps) but in that form it is not very photogenic so I poshed it up a little.

Battenberg Cake

2010-10-28T22:45:00.002+01:00

I received the book 'Bake and Decorate' by Fiona Cairns from a dear friend. It is a gorgeous book. Full of beautiful recipes and pictures with wonderful relatively simple but stunning ideas for decorating her cakes. It makes you want to rush off and create a masterpiece. Well want is one thing and do is another but when I opened the book the page fell open at the Battenberg cake. Oh what a rush of memories. Such a retro little cake. I remembered buying them in Marks and Spencers in the sixties. It was begging to be made. The recipe states it serves eight. Well in this case it served one.

Here is a little useless information for you.
The 4 squares in each slice represent the four German Battenberg princes (Louis, Alexander, Henry and Francis Joseph) at the time of the marriage on 30 April 1884 of Queen Victoria's granddaughter Princess Victoria to Prince Louis of Battenberg (1854 to 1921), who would become the grandfather of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. In 1917 Louis changed his surname from Battenberg to Mountbatten.

Battenberg Cake
Serves 8

Ingredients
175g/6oz unsalted butter, softened, plus more for the tin
175g /6oz self-raising flour
½ tsp baking powder
175g /6oz white caster sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 or 2 tbsp milk, if needed
A little pink (or red) food colour
4 tbsp apricot jam
Icing sugar, to dust
250g /9oz yellow marzipan (or natural if you prefer)

Method

Preheat the oven to 170ºC/fan 160ºC/340ºF/gas mark 31/2.

Lightly butter a 20cm square tin and line the base with baking parchment. Also cut out a rectangle of baking parchment, as long and deep as the tin, to act as a divider lengthways between the 2 colours of sponge.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, or in a large bowl with a handheld whisk, first sift together the flour and baking powder. Add the butter, cut into knobs, then the sugar, eggs and vanilla. Beat until smooth, adding a little milk to loosen the mixture if it seems too stiff. Weigh out half the batter and place the divider down the centre of the tin.

Carefully place half the batter into 1 side of the tin. Tint the remaining mixture pink - it's much better to do this not too exuberantly, so take care - and stir until blended. As neatly as possible, spoon the pink mixture into the other side of the tin.

Bake for about 30–35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean and the cake springs back to the touch. Remove from the oven, leave in the tin for a few minutes, then turn out on to a wire rack. When completely cold, slice each colour lengthways into 2 equal blocks, then trim off all the rough edges.

Warm the jam in a small pan, push it through a sieve, then use it to glue the strips of cake together lengthways, so the natural and pink colours form opposite quarters.

On a work surface dusted with icing sugar, roll out the marzipan into a rectangle the length of the cake and wide enough to wrap around all 4 sides. Trim it to size. Brush the remaining jam all over the cake and wrap the marzipan around the cake. Seal the join by gently pressing it together, then turn so this seam is hidden on the bottom. Trim the ends with a sharp knife, then score a criss-cross on the top surface.
© Fiona Cairns

This is Fiona Cairns recipe. The only change I would make is the tin. I think it would be much simpler if the mixture was baked in two separate loaf tins and cut in two. Using the divider is very faffy and requires a lot of trimming. I haven't tried the loaf tin but if you do before me let me know.

Baked Coconut Custard

2010-10-26T00:05:00.000+01:00

I love Grannymar's Blog. She does not have a food Blog but Monday is 'Food Monday' and she always has an interesting recipe. Good old fashioned uncomplicated food of which I am so fond. I love baked custard and when I saw this some time ago I just had to make it. The use of coconut milk instead of cream is lovely. It makes it a very light dessert. It looks pretty and so quickly prepared it would be perfect for a dinner party. I think the addition of a crispy thin shortbread biscuit would set it off perfectly.

Coconut Custard Serves 4

Preheat your oven to 150.C/300F/Gas 1-2

Ingredients

4 eggs
3 ozs light brown sugar
8 fluid ozs coconut milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Method

Place all the ingredients into a food processor and process until smooth or mix together with a whisk in a bowl by hand.
Transfer to individual lightly buttered ramekin dishes
Place the ramekin dishes in a deep sided tin and place in the oven.
Pour water into the tin to come approximately half way up the side of the dishes.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the custard has just set but has a little wobble.
Present as your imagination takes you.

Veda Bread

2010-10-21T21:02:00.003+01:00

There is a little malt loaf particular to Northern Ireland called Veda.

My hubby loves it. I have tried for years but have been unable to replicate it in the kitchen. Why? because I could not get the necessary dark malt flours. Well I could have but they only sold in bulk to the bakeries. Even at my most enthusiastic I don't think I could get through 50 kilos of flour. The other day I finally found my flour courtesy of Bakery Bits. A very good website selling flour and all sorts of bread making equipment. All I had was the ingredients on the loaf sleeve and my fiercest critic (Hubby) and the knowledge that hundreds of ex pat. ulster people have been searching for a recipe but with little success (Google told me this) Previous attempts with just malt extract and treacle failed to give the definitive flavour particular to Veda.
I explained to Rhyley what I was doing. The tension in the kitchen was immense as I took the loaf out of the oven and waited for it to cool. Enter Hubby who had a slice slathered in butter while four female eyes watched in apprehension as he chewed. He then uttered the words 'That's it' and watched in amazement as Rhyley and I danced round the kitchen. Success is heady stuff. I haven't had to buy a Veda since.
You can just make this with the malt extract and treacle and it will give a nice malt loaf but if you are a fan it takes the malted flours.

I make my loaf in a covered mermaid pan as it gives the bread a lovely soft sandwich texture. It can of course be baked in an ordinary loaf pan.

Makes one small loaf.
Oven temperature
200.C/180.C Fan/400.F/Gas 6

Ingredients

450gms/1lb White Bread Flour
1 teasp Roasted barley Malt Flour
2 teasp Nut Brown Malt Flour
1 teasp instant yeast
1 teasp salt
1 tablespoon oil
1 large teaspoon malt extract
1 large teaspoon treacle or molasses
200-250 mls warm water

Glaze (If desired)

A teaspoon of warmed treacle/molasses

Method

Mix all the ingredients together using 200mls of the water. If it seems a little dry add a little more water just a drop at a time. It should be a softish slightly sticky dough
Knead for 10 minutes by hand or five in a stand mixer with a dough hook.
Form into a ball and place in an oiled bowl covered with cling film
Leave somewhere warm to rise for about an hour until doubled in volume.
Gently pull the dough out of the bowl onto an oiled work top and dimple out with your fingers to disperse the gas.

Fold the dough over towards yourself bit by bit firming each roll with your thumbs as you go..
When you have a sausage fold it into thirds like a busines letter.
Turn it over and tease the sides down and under until you get a cob shape.
Place this into a greased 2 lb loaf pan and squash it down until it fills the base.
Place the tin inside a plastic bag and leave for 30-40 mins until it has risen again. You will know when it is ready if you very gently shake the end of it trembles a bit like a jelly.
Brush gently with the glaze and bake for approx thirty minutes.
The loaf will sound hollow when tapped on the underside when it is done. If not pop it back in the tin and bake for a further five minutes and check again.

TIP
Oil your hands and the work top when working with the dough. It stops it sticking to you and everything else

Parmigiana

2010-10-14T22:21:00.004+01:00

This was just an unpretentious supper of ragu pasta of which we all enjoy from time to time.So easy to prepare. I serve it with a little salad and garlic bread and love its simplicity of flavour. This uncomplicated dish however, was pushed into a different dimension using a wonderful three year old Parmigiana from Tuscany. A very dear friend had the big heart to send it to me. If you are used to the supermarket variety of this cheese nothing will prepare you for the real flavour of Italy. My tongue is still tingling two hours later. Heaven on a plate. The rather nice Chianti helped too. Perfect to wash it down with. If you ever have the good fortune to visit Italy please leave room in your case to take home a big chunk of this. You won't regret it.

Spicy Stir Fried Beef

2010-09-30T10:27:00.001+01:00

This is a fairly quick uncomplicated meal. I have used beef but chicken or other meat of your choice could be used. It's also good for using up left overs. Served with rice of course would be the obvious accompaniment but I love it with baked potatoes. What ever you eat it with it is quick and that is always such a bonus. You can of course up the chilli if you like it really hot. The recipe for me is spicy enough. Just nicely tongue tingling. You can also use fresh ginger chilli garlic etc but it's great sometimes just to lift the little jars out of the cupboard and measure out what you need isn't it?

Serves two generously

Ingredients

450g (1lb) thick sirloin steak, cut into thin strips
10ml (2tsp) sunflower oil
1/2 onion, finely chopped

Marinade

10ml (2tsp) sesame oil/wok oil or any vegetable oil if you don't have these
Juice from 1 lime
1 teaspoon chilli flakes
2tbsp brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon garlic granules or 2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
30ml (2tbsp) soy sauce
200ml (7fl oz) coconut milk
150g (5oz) peanut butter (About two large tablespoons)

Boiled rice, noodles or baked potatoes and salad to serve

Method

Place all the marinade igredients into a plastic bag and squish around until well mixed.
Place the beef strips into the bag with the marinade and squish around some more.
Do this for an hour before cooking at room temperature or for a couple of days in the fridge

Heat a the oil in a frying pan
Finely slice the onion and gently fry for about five minutes until it is soft and translucent
Turn up the heat and add the contents of the bag stirring to keep it moving in the pan.
Fry for about five to ten minutes or longer if you like as long as you don't want the beef rare.

Serve with your chosen accompaniment.

If I have peppers or mushrooms etc needing used up I often add them to the pan as well.

Chocolate Orange Cake

2010-09-23T02:02:00.003+01:00

I was finishing off Sally's Lemon Butter Cake when it occurred to me, if it tasted so good and had such a lovely texture, it might make a rather nice chocolate cake. Then the next wave of an idea hit me. Why not orange as well? Nothing for it. I grabbed my wooden spoon so to speak and off I went. I love messing around and experimenting in the kitchen but things don't always work out. I tell myself it's a learning curve. I didn't need to worry this time. The marriage of chocolate and orange was sheer ambrosia. The texture of the cake was light but moist. Intensely chocolatey. Perfect. I know I know, self praise is no recommendation but my resident eating machine agreed completely and as he is my fiercest critic who was I to argue. I hope you'll try it. I think you'll find it worth the short time it takes to throw this cake together.

Chocolate Orange Cake

Ingredients

250g /9 oz Butter or Margarine

250g /9oz Dark brown sugar

200g /7oz S.R Flour plus 1 teaspoon of baking powder or plain flour with 2 teaspoons of baking powder (sifted)

50 g / 2oz cocoa powder

3 Eggs (beaten)

2 large tablespoons marmalade

Rind of two oranges and juice of one

Icing

2-3 tablespoons orange juice
2oz icing sugar

A few squares of chocolate melted with a little oil or butter (optional)

Method....

Pre Heat your oven to 180.C/160.C Fan/400.F/Gas 6

Grease and line a shallow baking tray 24 cms x 33 cms/ 13 inches x 9 1/2 inches.

Leave an over hang lengthwise of your lining paper so the cake can be removed from the tin easily.

Melt butter and marmalade in microwave on 50% power or in a large saucepan on the hob.

Stir in sugar, then the flour and cocoa powder, add the eggs, orange zest and juice from the oranges (reserving about three tablespoons of juice for drizzle icing.) stirring well. A whisk is good.

Pour into your prepared tin and bake for approx 20 - 30 minutes until the cake is springy to touch.

Leave in the tin until cold before removing

Sieve the icing sugar and mix with the juice giving a fairly runny icing.
Drizzle over the cake

Melt the chocolate and oil if using and drizzle over.

Cut into squares/fingers

Thank you Sally for setting of this chain of events. x

Sally's Lemon Butter Cake

2010-09-15T17:58:00.002+01:00

I am sorry my friends. I have not been blogging recently but family life was calling. I was on holiday then I had to attend a family wedding a distance away. None of these were hardships of course. Now I am back to catch up.
Sally a great friend and fellow Blogger drew my attention to this recipe on her Blog. It is perfect. Simple to make and tastes just wonderful. Now grab a baking tray and off you go. Trust me you won't regret it

Ingredients

250g Butter

250g Soft brown sugar

250g S.R Flour or plain flour with a teaspoon of baking powder (sifted)

3 Eggs (beaten)

1 Lemon

Caster Sugar for paste approx 50 gms/2 oz

Method....

Pre Heat your oven to 200.C/180.C Fan/400.F/Gas 6

Grease an line a shallow baking tray 24 cms x 33 cms/ 13 inches x 9 1/2 inches.

Leave an over hang lengthwise of your lining paper so the cake can be removed from the tin easily.

Melt butter in microwave on 50% power or in a large saucepan on the hob.

Stir in sugar, then the flour, add the eggs and the zest from the lemon. (Keep the juice from lemon for later)

Pour into your prepared tin and bake for approx 20 - 30 minutes.until the cake is golden on top and springy to touch

Mix juice from lemon with enough caster sugar to form a paste,.

Spread on cake while still hot from oven. A silicon pastry brush is helpful for this

Using the liner overhang lift from the baking tin and leave to cool on a cooling rack.

My Notes

I used an orange and a lemon. I used all the rind but tipped about 2/3rds of the juice into the cake mix using the rest for the sugar glaze.

Limes would be nice too.

Let your imagination take you

Chocolate Spice Cake

2010-08-09T07:45:00.003+01:00

I have been having a fiddle around. That is to say I was looking for a rich moist chocolate loaf cake without too much faffing around in the making. I finally managed to tick the boxes. It's densely chocolatey,very moist and keeps really well and most importantly it is easy and quick to make. The spice is optional and of course you can use any sweet spice of your choice. It just gives a little tingle in the background which I like. You do need the large pan I mention as it is quite a big mixture but is easily divided into smaller pans if you do not have the larger size. It was suggested to me it would be rather nice with custard. I haven't tried that option but I will soon.

Chocolate Spice Cake

225 gms/8oz butter
300gms/11oz dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons maple or ordinary syrup
2 beaten eggs
100 gms /4oz dark choc
175 gms /6oz SR flour (or the same weight in plain/all purpose flour + 1 teaspoon baking powder)
25gms/1 oz cocoa powder
250mls milk
1 tablespoon allspice optional

Method

Warm the milk slightly in a large saucepan
Add everything else except the flour cocoa spice and eggs.
Melt together stirring as you go.
When cool beat in the eggs then sift in the flour, cocoa and allspice if using and mix in gently but thoroughly
Pour into a greased lined loaf tin

Bake at 180.C/160.C Fan/325.F/Gas3 for 30 minutes then turn down your oven to160.C/140.C Fan/ 125.F/Gas2 for 15-30 minutes or until skewer comes out clean
Leave to cool completely in the tin before turning out.

You need a large loaf tin 23.5 x 13.3 x 7 cms. 9 1/4"x 5 1/4"/ 2 3/4"
or you can use a regular 2lb loaf tin and a 1lb loaf tin or make a few cupcakes

It gets better as it sits for a day or two. The allspice gives just a hint of spice but you can leave it out and just have choccie cake.

It will crack on top and sink slightly so don't worry.

It is a very moist cake and keeps really well.

Little Chicken Pies

2010-07-30T23:08:00.006+01:00

Or to give them their correct title

Mini Torte Poulete-cheddar.

Another lovely recipe from Gloria's Blog. I have made a few recipes from Gloria and they have all been excellent. This is no exception. It is quick and simple and presents beautifully. Tastes divine. This got a big thumbs up from hubby so it must be good. I made my own pastry. That is I made Delia's quick flaky pastry
I have made flaky pastry from scratch. It's a great thing to do when you are at home and can pop back and forwards to do all the rolling but it is not quick. This is so very quick and is light as a feather.

Pre heat the oven to 180/C/355.F/Gas 4

Ingredients (4 servings)

350 gms chicken breast in strips

1 packet ready made puff pastry

100 gms. cheddar cheese

1 celery stalk

3 carrots

1 onion chopped

2 tablespoon of chives chopped

25o mls. cream

30 gms. butter

1 egg

salt and pepper

Method

Cut the chicken into strips. Grate the cheddar. Chop the chives and carrots.
Peel the onions and slice them and the celery.

In a frying pan/skillet, melt the butter over a medium heat.
Fry the chopped vegetables and chicken strips for 10 minutes, stirring often.

Remove from heat and add cream, cheddar, chives, salt and pepper and mix.

Roll out the dough. Cut into 4 rounds with a diameter slightly larger than the ramekins.
Divide chicken mixture between the 4 ramekins.
Brush the edges of the ramekins with beaten egg (reserve the remainder).
Lay the dough rounds on top and press the edges to make them adhere.
Refrigerate 30 minutes (an essential step for the dough to rise during baking).

Brush the dough with remaining beaten egg.
Bake 20 minutes in the oven until the pastry is golden. Serve hot.

Thank you Gloria x

Dishwasher Pre Wash

2010-07-29T09:21:00.004+01:00

Just To Make You Smile

Cullen Skink

2010-07-27T21:18:00.006+01:00

Isn't this the most wonderful title?One of Scotland's national treasures. It is somewhere between a fish soup and a stew. Called 'Skink' locally. Whatever, it is a meal in a bowl and a very good one too. I could push the boat out and tell you you need Finnan Haddies to make it but I wouldn't be so cruel. Any smoked white fish will do. I used a mix of white and smoked cod. You do need the smoked fish to give the special flavour though. It is a perfect winter warmer or a good dish on a wet summer day here. Keep left over mashed potato to make this. It's a good use up.

Serves 4

Ingredients.

750 mls / 1.6 pints full fat milk or a mix of milk and cream if you are feeling decadent
A small handful of chopped parsley (reserving the stalks)
1 bay leaf
12 black peppercorns
450 gms /1lb Smoked haddock fillets or any firm white smoked fish or a mix of smoked and plain fish. Whatever you have or whatever you fancy.
5ogms/ 2oz butter
1 medium onion chopped
2 scallions finely chopped
200gms/8 oz buttered mashed potato
Salt and Pepper

Garnish

Chopped parsley and four poached eggs.

Method

Pour the milk into a saucepan large enough to accommodate the fish.
Add in the bay leaf, peppercorns, parsley stalks and fish.
Bring to the boil and simmer for five minutes.
Remove from the heat and allow to infuse for five minutes or more.

Remove the fish, strain the poaching liquid and reserve.
Flake the poached fish removing any skin and bones.

While the fish is poaching heat the butter in another saucepan and fry the onion until soft but not brown.

Then stir in the strained poaching liquid, then the mashed potatoes until you have a thick creamy consistency.

Add the chopped parsley leaves, chopped scallions and the flaked fish and simmer for another 4-5 minutes
Season well with black pepper and salt if needed.
Pour into serving bowls and garnish with chopped parsley and a poached egg.

Poached Eggs

You can of course poach the eggs in a saucepan of boiling water. A short cut is to put boiling water and a little vinegar into a microwavable dish. Make sure the water is enough to cover the eggs well. Microwave for a minute to make sure the water is good and hot. Swirl the water and drop in the egg and microwave for 30-40 seconds per egg. They will not cook a great deal after removal but will keep hot.

Paremesan Chicken

2010-07-26T21:12:00.007+01:00

This is a really quick and very tasty meal. The chicken stays superbly moist throughout the grilling but has a satisfyingly crunchy top. Great way to use up your slightly past their best salad leaves too

Ingredients

1 chicken breast per person
1 Medium potato per person
1 tablespoon oil(or melted butter if you prefer)
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
A good squirt of sweet chilli sauce
1 egg white
1 good tablespoon finely grated parmesan cheese per chicken breast
A good handful of spinach leaves or tender salad leaves per person
One scallion chopped per person
A handful of frozen peas per person

Method

Turn the grill on to a medium heat
Line the grill pan with foil.

If your chicken breasts are very large baton them out under cling film a bit to flatten.
Beat the egg white in an oval/rectangular dish with salt an pepper just until it is no longer slimy.
Now roll the chicken in the egg white and then into the grated parmesan cheese to cover.
Place the chicken breasts in the grill pan and grill for ten to twenty minutes until cooked through and golden. Turn once during cooking.

Wash and chop the potatoes into cubes and set to boil for ten minutes or until just cooked.
Towards the end of cooking toss in the peas.

Combine the oil vinegar and sweet chilli sauce.

When the potatoes and peas are cooked drain and toss the salad leaves onions and the dressing through them. Serve onto warm plates with the chicken breast on top

Enjoy

Note

You can use up all sorts of bits of salad in the fridge doing this.
If you don't have new potatoes use old ones but make sure they are waxy and not floury as they will just break up.

A Grand Day Out

2010-07-25T07:39:00.011+01:00

This is myself and Grannymar who has a wonderful Blog I have been visiting for a while. It is not a food blog but she covers a wonderful variety of topics with great knowledge and humour. It is truly worth visiting. She has a loyal band of followers and the comments are always so much fun. I would be lost without my daily dose.

Through time we realised we didn't live so very far from each other so at long last we met last Friday for coffee. The venue was a garden centre at Donegore which also boasts a very nice gift shop and cafe. Over coffee we chatted away like old friends for ages. We then wandered around the lovely plants in glorious sunshine and enjoyed the views from this lovely place.

Donegore boasts a pre-Anglo-Norman motte (hill) and from the summit the six counties of Ulster are visible. It was a perfect day to see this beautiful green carpet laid out before us. Unfortunately that green is indicative of the amount of rain poured down upon us hence why we were so fortunate with the sunshine. You can just see Lough Neagh which is the largest in the United Kingdom.

Grannymar has a son in law who has a very good Blog which I discovered only recently. Not Junk Food. It's an excellent blog. A few weeks ago I was very fortunate to win a prize in a give away on this blog, which Grannymar delivered to me. A fabulous book 'Easy Entertaining' by Darina Allen of the Ballymaloe Cookery School. To accompany the book was a lovely pinny, a very useful item in the kitchen especially when, like me, mess follows like a shadow. I think I'll keep it for special use though. A big thank you to George. I am delighted. Do visit his blog. It's really good.

I had such a lovely day and already am looking forward to another blether with Grannymar. Isn't the internet a magical place where you get to meet with people who you might otherwise never have known existed. Such a wonderful medium for making friends.

Grannymar, thank you. It was a special day.

Coby's Cake

2010-07-18T20:30:00.006+01:00

I wandered over to The Claytons Blog and found Coby had posted a recipe for this cake. I just knew it was a winner. It is an old recipe and nothing will make my heart beat faster. Sad I know but I love the old recipes. It is not quite the same as Coby's as I added some chocolate. I love chocolate cake in any shape or form. So does hubby. Unfortunately chocolate does not like him so he has to moderate his consumption. I tend to stick little bits of it in here and there to keep us both happy. I just knew the addition of a little chocolate in this would be a winner and it was. Forgive me Coby for massacring your recipe but it was a run away success.
This is my take. The original recipe is at the link above.

60g / +2oz soft butter/margarine

145g/- 6oz soft brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

155g/- 6oz SR Flour flour/or plain flour with 1 teaspoon baking powder

60ml milk + 1 tablespoon
50gms/2 oz dark chocolate

For The Topping

3 tsp caster sugar

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

10g soft butter

Preheat the oven to 180C./160.C fan/355.F/Gas 4

Line a 20cm cake tin, and here I used a cake liner, if you're not using a liner, grease the tin before lining.

Melt the chocolate with the tablespoon of milk.

Place everything else into the food processor and whiz until just combined

Scrape the mixture into the prepared tin.

Spoon the melted chocolate and milk mixture into about four blobs on top of the cake mixture and using a skewer swirl through.

Place in the oven and bake for about 30 - 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Leave in the tin for a couple of minutes before turning out onto a cake plate.

Make the topping by combining the sugar and cinnamon. Brush the soft butter over the top of the warm cake, and then sprinkle over the cinnamon sugar.
Serve warm or cold.

Serves 8

The metric measurement did not convert easily to imperial so the + means a little more and the - means a little less.

Mammy Rita's Sticky Ginger Bread

2010-07-01T22:06:00.004+01:00

Rita lives way up north in the wilds of Scotland. A Highlander born and bred. This recipe as the title tells comes from her Mammy. It is a snip to make and so moist sticky dark and spicy. Just everything you want in Ginger bread. It keeps very well too. If you can, leave it for a couple of days before eating. It really is the better for it. A slice warmed and custard poured over is a dessert from heaven. I will give you the recipe just as Rita gave it to me. It is very simple but I put everything in the food processor and it works fine. Now Rita's mammy is having none of this so don't tell her will you?

Recipe

In a large saucepan melt the following ingredients

1/2 pint of milk
125 gms/5ozs dark soft brown sugar
2tbsp treacle
2tbsp syrup
100gms/4ozs butter or margarine

Cool until barely warm then beat in

2 beaten eggs

and then stir in

225gms/8 ozs self raising flour
1/2 teasp bicarb. soda
1 tablespoon each of ground ginger, cinnamon, and mixed spice
pinch of salt.

This makes one 2lb and one 1lb loaf
Grease and line the tins.

Bake for 75 mins at / 180.C/160.C Fan / 350.F/Gas 4

My Notes

I use a slightly larger loaf tin which takes all the mixture

23.5 x 13.3 x 6.99 cms
9.25 x 5.25 x 2.75 inches

In this tin it takes an hour to bake. Start testing your cake after an hour.It's ready when a skewer comes out clean.

Try adding a tablespoon of cocoa to ring the changes.

Stuffed Potato Patties

2010-06-28T22:15:00.005+01:00

This is the tastiest recipe I have found for using up mashed potatoes ever. The original recipe is Chilean and came from Gloria's blog. I am not good at quantities and always have mashed potato left. I am not a fan of shepherds pie and dislike mash simply reheated. To me it always tastes like well........reheated mash. This is so tasty. You really need to try it. I had them with pork chops and they were a perfect side dish. The filling can of course be faffed about with. A great way to use up bits and pieces. I used little cubes of mozarella and a finely chopped scallion/spring onion. Delicious. I would recommend making them a little earlier in the day or the night before and store them in the fridge ready to fry. The next time I make them I think I may freeze them then I know they are sitting there for a 'can't be bothered' night. The original recipe is at Gloria's. You really need to have a look there as this is my twist on it. My quantities are non existent and it really is based on left overs. You can of course boil up the potatoes freshly to make these.

Ingredients.

Mashed potato
butter about 25g/1oz
1 egg yolk
25-50G/1-2ozs plain flour plus extra for coating.
a little milk if the potatoes are a bit dry
salt and pepper
Oil or fat to fry.

Filling.
I used a little Mozzarella and finely chopped spring onion but your imagination can run riot here along with the contents of your fridge.

Method

If your mashed potato is cold melt the butter then beat it along with the egg yolk,flour and seasoning into the potatoes. ( I used a hand held mixer)
If it is still fairly stiff add a little milk. You want it soft but not so soft that you can't handle it.
On a well floured board take about a dessert spoon of potato mix and form it into a flat patty on the board.
Pop your chosen filling in the middle and fold the edges over it. Turn the patty over and form it into an oval shape. Dust well with flour. Repeat until all the potato mix is used.
Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry each patty for a few minutes on each side until golden brown.
Place on a plate and keep warm in the oven while you fry the rest. They keep warm very well without spoiling in the oven.

I used a fairly full pot of mash approx. 3-4 fair sized potatoes worth. This gave me ten of these patties.

Thank you Gloria for this very useful recipe.

Scones

2010-06-19T18:01:00.011+01:00

I know I have Blogged about scones before but...........I love to fiddle. I never normally bothered putting fat/shortening into scones. I am a very lazy cook and it was just too much bother to rub it in. Sad I know but there you have it. What started my recent fiddling was Sue on Vi's pantry said a couple of times to do scones in the food processor. Shock Horror. I come from the handle little and lightly brigade and I just couldn't see how using a food processor would work. This from the girl who will chuck cake mixes into the said machine without a moment's thought. There was nothing else but to try it. Sue had recommended 'Lily's scones' from HTBADG by Nigella Lawson. She was right. they worked a treat. I was amazed. The only thing I had against that recipe was the amount of cream of tartar used. 41/2 teaspoons. Seemed excessive to me. I make scones so much I would need to empty the supermarket shelves of the stuff to keep me in stock. So I started fiddling. The one thing I liked was cream of tartar negated the need for buttermilk as it provides the acidic environment needed by the baking soda. Ordinary milk would do. The food processor rubbed in fat for me. A whole new chapter in fiddling was opened with unparalleled success. The result was light fluffy scones with a shiny crunchy top. They didn't even need to be cut in half. One touch of the knife and they obligingly fell into two pieces so light were they. You really need to try them. Trust me they are so quick. You'll have them made before the kettle has boiled.

Ingredients.

250g/9 oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting
250g/ 9 oz wholemeal flour
1 rounded tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 rounded tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp salt (if using salted butter use 1/2 a teaspoon)
1oog/4oz chilled butter cubed
1 egg beaten
300 mls milk

Method

Pre-heat your oven to 200.C/180.C fan/400F/Gas 6

Whizz the dry ingredients together in the food processsor to mix.
Add the butter and whizz again until the mix looks like the texture of sugar.
Put approximately half the beaten egg into a measuring jug, then make up to 300mls with the milk.
Pour this into the mix and whizz for a few seconds until everything just combines. It will form a moist ball.
Turn out onto a floured work top and pat or roll lightly out to about 2cm/3/4 inch thick.
using a 6cm/2 1/4 inch fluted cutter, cut into rounds and place quite close together on a lightly greased and floured baking tray.
Use the rest of the beaten egg to brush over the tops.
Bake for 10 - 12 mintes or until well risen and golden. Remove to a cooling rack.

makes 12 - 14 scones

If you don't want to use the Food Processr just sift the dry ingredients into a bowl.
Rub in the cut up butter lightly with your finger tips
Then stir in the egg and milk

Dig in while they are still warm

Perfect with the raspberry jam posted below.

Variations

Add 50g/2oz grated cheddar for savoury scones

If you want sweet scones. Use all plain flour and add 25g/1oz caster sugar.

Raspberry Jam

2010-06-19T08:31:00.005+01:00

Lucie has a lovely Blog, Cooking at Marystow. which I visit quite a lot. She had a post about jam the other day which used frozen fruit which I thought was a great idea. I wanted to make raspberry jam but the fresh raspberries are lovely just now but much too nice and too pricey to make jam. It's a very easy jam to make and quick. The rule of thumb is 1 lb (450g) of fruit to 1lb (450g) of sugar so it is very easy to calculate whatever the amount of fruit you have. It is just lovely on a freshly baked scone. I don't think it's a good idea to make vast quantities of jam at once as it takes longer to boil. This makes the sugar caramelise and you get a very dark jam. This is great news if you want dark marmalade but not so for fresh fruit jam. A Kilo of fruit will give you about four 12 oz/350g jars of jam. I like to push the raspberries through a sieve to take out some of the seeds but if they don't worry you there is no need to bother. Remember to use a very big pan as the fruit and sugar need room to boil. Raspberries, like most soft fruits, are low in pectin so I use jam sugar to reach a set. It makes life a lot easier.

Equipment

Large heavy based saucepan/stock pot/preserving pan
Warm sterilised jam jars (Pop them in the oven while you are making the jam this does both jobs)
Sieve if required
Wooden spoon or spatula for stirring.
Large jug
Sugar Thermometer if you have one or place a small saucer in the fridge

Ingredients

I Kilo of raspberries frozen or fresh (get the cheapest frozen you can find)
1 Kilo of jam or preserving sugar
Juice of a lemon

Method

Reducing seeds

Place the raspberries in the pan and heat until the juices run.
Push fruit through a wide gauge sieve.
This will remove most but not all of the seeds.
You need to keep scraping it back and forth with a spatula to get all the pulp through..
Now place the juice in a pan with the sugar and lemon juice.

You can skip this bit and just put the fruit in the pan with the sugar and lemon juice.
Keep stirring over a low heat until the sugar dissolves. (This is but a few minutes)
Turn up the heat and bring to a rolling boil for about 4 -5 minutes until a set is reached.
If you are using a jam thermometer a set is 102.C/220.F
If you aren't using a thermometer place about a teasp of the jam on a cold saucer and leave for a few moments. Push it gently with your finger. if it wrinkles it has reached a set.
Using your jug decant into the warm jars.
Wait for it to cool and enjoy

Mushroom Soup

2010-06-13T20:21:00.009+01:00

I needed a quick serve yourself dinner. For me soup always seems to fill this gap. Just add some fresh bread and a meal is served or in this case some savoury wholemeal scones. I had a box of mushrooms needed using up and also, by careless internet shopping, a huge jar of dried porcini mushrooms. A lovely thick soup, this was delicious and made enough for another day. I love a 'raid the fridge' soup. Just add a dollop of imagination. A little cheese and fruit for afters makes sure the tummies are full.

Ingredients

About 500g mushrooms – Dried porcini mushrooms are lovely here adding depth of flavour
25g - 50gms/1-2 ozs butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1 leek, sliced
1 small potato, peeled and diced
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 litre/2.2 pints vegetable or chicken stock if using dried mushrooms include the soaking water
100ml/31/2 fluid ounces double cream
1 tbsp chopped parsley
A good pinch of cayenne pepper

Directions

Soak the dried mushrooms if using

Melt the butter in a pan with the olive oil, then add the garlic, onion, leek, potato and cayenne pepper.

Let the vegetables sweat for a few minutes

Clean and chop the mushrooms, then add to the vegetable base to cook through.

Pour in enough vegetable stock to cover the ingredients. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Use a stick blender or transfer the soup to a blender.

Blend the soup to a smooth creamy consistency.

Bring back to just the boil

Season the soup with salt and pepper and add a good glug of cream.

Pour into bowls and garnish with parsley and some more cream

Carrots From Brownievillegirl

2010-06-07T00:13:00.007+01:00

When this recipe popped up on my reading list I got very excited. When I went over to Brownievillegirl's Blog I saw she too had been very excited. I'm not quite sure if it's a carrot thing or an Irish thing. Like her I have long looked for a nice way to cook carrots. I do love a carrot. Such a bright cheerful little vegetable. Just made to cheer up a plate. This comes from Heston Blumenthalls 'Family Food'. Apparently (and I quote BVG here) "Orange juice shouldn't be used when cooking carrots as the acid interferes with the cooking process.Orange zest gives the flavour while retaining the correct texture. " Whatever the reason these carrots mixed with garlic, coriander and cumin are just gorgeous. I could have eaten them all straight from the pot. Simple done you really need to try them. Thank you Brownievillegirl for the recipe.

Carrots Glazed with Cumin and Orange

750g peeled carrots (I think organic are worth the extra money)
1 clove garlic
2 tsp cumin
2 or 3 cardamom pods
8 sprigs fresh thyme
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
2 tsp caster sugar
zest from 1 orange, in large pieces (remove carefully with a potato peeler, with as little of the white pith as possible)
salt and black pepper

Slice the carrots into 1cm (1/2 inch) rounds - they look better sliced diagonally.
Heat your pot without any oil and when hot add the cumin and cardamom seeds (which you have removed from the pods), toast them for a minute or two until they release a beautiful smell.
Add the oil, butter, garlic (I grate it in, you could crush it), thyme and the carrots.
Turn the heat down to medium and sweat the carrots for 5 minutes.
Add the sugar and about 1 tbsp of water and the orange zest.
Cover with a lid and cook until tender - keep an eye on them and add a little more water if necessary.
When cooked remove the lid and reduce any liquid if necessary.
Season and serve.

Off To The Sun

2010-05-25T21:43:00.001+01:00

Don't be thinking I've abandoned my blog again. I am off to the sun for a week. See you all when I get back xxx

Hummingbird Vanilla Cupcakes

2010-05-22T21:01:00.012+01:00

I heard so much about the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook I just had to buy it. The recipe for cupcakes is quite different to anything I had seen. I needed to try them. I have been labouring with cupcakes for years. They either explode, form volcanic peaks or sink. I have never been able to make the perfect cup cake. Nothing stops me trying. These are gorgeous. So light and they keep so well. The butter cream is so fluffy and so white. I have never had butter cream without a yellow tinge so this is a keeper. I have also made their chocolate cupcakes which are also to die for. I didn't ice them as they were so moist they were just lovely on their own without any embellishment. Don't you just love the cupcake cases? A present from a dear friend. I have been dying to use them. Thank you Fran x
Now remember I said I had problems with cupcakes? Well these were no exception. This was the second batch in the photo. Scroll down and all will be revealed.

Makes 12-18

120g/4+oz plain flour

140g /5- ozcaster sugar

1½ tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

40g/1 1/4 oz unsalted butter at room temperature

120ml /4fluid oz whole milk
1 medium egg
¼ tsp vanilla extract
1 quantity vanilla icing (see below)
hundreds and thousands or other edible sprinkles, to decorate

Have ready a 12-18-hole cupcake tray (depending on whether you’re going for big, US-sized cakes or standard UK ones), lined with paper cases. Preheat the oven to 170C/140 fan/325F/gas 3.

Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter in an electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a handheld electric whisk) and beat on slow until you get a sandy consistency and everything is combined. Gradually pour in half the milk and beat until the milk is just incorporated.

Whisk the egg, vanilla extract and remaining milk together in a separate bowl for a few seconds, then pour into the flour mixture and continue beating until just incorporated (scrape any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula). Continue mixing for a couple more minutes until the mixture is smooth. Do not overmix.

Spoon the mixture into the paper cases until two thirds full and bake in the preheated oven for 20–25 minutes, or until light golden and the sponge bounces back when touched (smaller cupcakes will need 3-5 minutes less baking time).

A skewer inserted in the centre should come out clean. Leave the cupcakes to cool slightly in the tray before turning out on to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

When the cupcakes are cold, spoon the vanilla frosting on top and decorate with hundreds and thousands.

Vanilla icing

250g /9oz icing sugar, sifted

80g / 3 oz unsalted butter at room temperature

25ml/1 fluid oz whole milk and a couple of drops vanilla extract

Beat the icing sugar and butter together in an electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a handheld electric whisk) on medium-slow until the mixture comes together and is well mixed.
Turn the mixer down to slow. Combine the milk and vanilla extract in a separate bowl, then add to the butter mixture 2 tbsp at a time.
Once all the milk has been incorporated, turn the mixer up to high. Continue beating until the icing is light and fluffy, at least 5 minutes. The longer it is beaten, the fluffier and lighter it becomes.

See what I mean? I think I've licked it now. Plenty of time though. I've only been trying for over forty years. :)

Notes - This was a very difficult recipe to convert from metric to imperial. The - means a little under and the + means a little more.

Farewell Rosie

2010-05-19T22:24:00.006+01:00

How sad the blogging world is at the loss of dear Rosie. She suffered long with her back problems but never complained and always had a friendly word for everyone. A wonderful baker, she worked so hard alongside her dear friend Maria with 'Sweet and Simple Bakes'. Her own Blog 'Baking Cakes Galore' is inspirational and testimony to her love of baking. My thoughts and prayers are with her family and also her dear friend Maria who will be devastated by this loss. Farewell Rosie, you will be sorely missed.

Cauliflower Cheese

2010-05-18T22:57:00.008+01:00

Comfort food. Plain, simple, everyday cooking. So why am I putting it in my blog? Well this blog is destined to be a recipe book for Rhyley so a few basics must be included. Everyone has their own way. All a matter of taste isn't it? I always make enough for leftovers to make the soup below. Some of the leaves must always be included for me. They look attractive as they add colour and why waste them? They have a lovely flavour and have all the nutrients of any green leafy vegetable.. I always make a very thick cheese sauce to go with the cauliflower. It is quite a watery vegetable and this dilutes the sauce. I also think it is worth doing a bit of prep to the milk by bringing it just to the boil with a quartered onion, a bay leaf, some black peppercorns , a few sprigs ot thyme, and a crushed garlic clove, leaving it to infuse for a while then straining before use. The sauce won't be a disaster without this but it really does improve the flavour

Pre heat oven to 200.C/180.C Fan/gas 6/400.F

Ingredients

Head of cauliflower cut in to florets discarding the outer leaves but keeping the sweet inner ones. Wash and then boil for five minutes. Strain and run cold water over the florets and greens to keep them from cooking any longer and leave to drain.
When well drained arrange in a buttered oven proof dish

For the sauce

75g/3oz butter
75g/3oz plain flour
500 mls milk (for a very rich sauce you can replace some of the milk with cream)
1 tablespoon of white wine or vermouth
1 teaspoon of mustard ( either dijon for a mild flavour or English for more bite)
A little cayenne pepper (optional)
Grated cheddar cheese. I like to use extra mature cheddar and lots of it but it's up to your taste buds.
A little grated parmesan to sprinkle on top

Method

Melt the butter gently in a saucepan over a low heat.
Stir in the flour and leave to cook for a minute or so.
Remove from the heat and stir in the mustard and wine/vermouth
Start to whisk in the milk gradually.
Return to the heat. keep the heat lowish and keep stirring until it thickens. ( I find my mini whisk perfect for this job.)
Continue on until it becomes very thick.
Remove from the heat and stir in the cheddar cheese and cayenne if using.
Pour over the cauliflower and sprinkle the parmesan on top.
Bake for about 20-30 mins until golden and bubbling.

Cauliflower Cheese Soup

For me this is a great reason to make cauli cheese. I always make sure there are left overs for this. Really quick and easy.

Chop an onion and fry gently in a saucepan until soft
Add about 500mls chicken stock and some chopped parsley
Add the left over cauli cheese and let it heat through in the stock, then puree.
That's it. So delicious

Note

I find that half or just over half the quantity of sauce is enough but I always make the full amount and keep the remainder to make a baked pasta dish later in the week

Louisiana Crab Cakes

2010-05-16T00:54:00.005+01:00

I have had Delia Smith's book 'How to Cheat at Cooking' for some time. Some very good recipes but I haven't really used it much. Why you may ask. Well the thing is the shopping list for the 'cheat's' ingredients is quite lengthy and I never seem to have the right things in the larder. It seems it is quite expensive to be a cheat. I noticed these crab cakes sometime ago and bought the tins of crab but as usual they got pushed to the back of the cupboard. I was however inspired by a photograph of them in Vi' pantry and decided to make them. I didn't have the jarred peppers for the required red pepper mayo but I made my own. They are really delicious and so easy to throw together. I will definitely be keeping the tinned crab meat to make these again. We had them as a main served with chips and salad but one would make a lovely starter I think.

Ingredients

43g tin John West dressed crab, plus 170g jumbo crab meat (Asda Extra Special) or other white crab meat, drained
2 spring onions
1 pack (about 25g) fresh coriander
1 piece jalapeño pepper, from a jar
grated zest of ½ lemon
1 medium egg, beaten
3 rounded tablespoons dried breadcrumbs (Waitrose Cooks’ Ingredients) or dried ciabatta breadcrumbs (Tesco Ingredients)
a good pinch of cayenne pepper
1 heaped tablespoon semolina
1 tablespoon groundnut or other flavourless oil

For the red pepper mayonnaise

the equivalent of ½ fresh red pepper (from a jar of roasted peppers)
1 fat clove garlic, peeled
2 rounded tablespoons Delouis Fils fresh mayonnaise
a good pinch of cayenne pepper

First of all, chop the spring onions, half the coriander (minus any very thick stalks) and the jalapeño in a mini-chopper. Combine these with the rest of the ingredients (except the semolina and oil), season and mix well. After that, divide the mixture into 6 and form it into round patties, squeezing the mixture together firmly. Spoon the semolina on to a plate and coat the crab cakes on all sides.

For the mayonnaise, whiz the ingredients together in a mini-chopper and empty it into a dish.

To cook the crab cakes, heat the oil in a medium frying-pan till very hot and shimmering, then cook them for about 2 minutes on each side. Serve with the remaining coriander to garnish and a good helping of the mayonnaise.

Serves two as a main course. (Three cakes each)

What I did

I didn't have fresh coriander so I used some parsley and dried coriander.

I moulded the cakes in a cookie cutter to give them a good shape

I popped them in the freezer for ten minutes in case they fell apart when frying

I made a sweet chilli and garlic mayo by putting some chilli jam and a little garlic paste into some Hellman's. I used about 4-5 tablespoons of mayo as Delia's didn't give a very large amount. Well I needed something to dunk those chips into now I am no longer dieting.

A Wedding In The Family

2010-05-15T16:22:00.013+01:00

I have been sadly neglecting my blog of late and also my lovely blogging friends. I do so apologise. There was a reason. My son was married last week. I was not involved in the arrangements because of the distance so that was not keeping me busy but I had to lose some weight to fit into the outfit I bought last year so............... no baking and not very exciting meals. I also daren't have ventured into the blogs as the temptation to try would have been too much. Anyhow my will power paid off and I lost the weight and a last minute try on of the dress showed the weight loss had worked. I had to make a quick dash to the dressmakers to have it taken in!

We had a wonderful day. The venue was Pembroke Lodge in Richmond Park, London. As you can see by the photographs it was a perfect place and the views over the city were wonderful. Mother nature was kind and the sun shone and was quite warm. A perfect wedding. I thought I would share it with you.

The Bride and Groom

My Two Little People

Three Generations

Mum and Dad with their two Youngsters (LOL)

The Venue
Pembroke Lodge

The View From the Terrace
(with the tiniest grooms man)

I wish I could re run the day as it was so perfect.. I hope you enjoy sharing a little of it with me.

Now it's back to the kitchen and some decent cooking and baking. No doubt the weight will go on again but who cares.

More Soda Bread

2010-03-16T09:54:00.011Z

Well it is Saint Patrick's day and Soda bread is an Irish tradition so this is my contribution. It is a slightly different version from my usual recipe. Well I need to be adventurous now and again. This was not a huge change but the results blew me away as I was expecting the usual disaster to happen. The change was.............I used Bread flour instead of the usual plain. Tah Dah! Risque no? It made a great difference to the texture and it had a lovely crispy crust. I wanted a savoury loaf so I added cheese and spring onions. Totally delicious. Perfect toasted with some cheese. The spring onions added a little traditional green to the occasion. I made it in a long cob shape instead of the tradional round. I slashed the top diagonally three times to replace the usual cross too let the fairies out. I don't think Saint Patrick will worry about this slight deviation do you?

Ingredients

250gms/ strong white (bread) flour
250gms/strong wholemeal ( bread) flour
50 gms butter
400mls approx buttermilk or milk soured with the juice of a lemon
1 egg beaten
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon salt
Good pich of cayenne pepper
100gms grated cheddar
5-6 spring onions chopped

Method

Pre heat oven to 180.C/160.C fan/gas 4/355.F

Grease a baking sheet

Mix the flours, salt, cayenne pepper, soda bic and cream of tartar together.
Rub in the butter until well dispersed.
Stir in the cheese and onions.
make a well in the centre and add the egg then the buttermilk.
Mix until well combined. Don't add all of the liquid at first. The mix should combine easily but not be too sticky. It's easier to add a little more liquid at a time should it be too dry than take it away if too wet.
Place the dough on a floured work top and shape gently into what ever shape you want.
Place on the baking sheet
Slash the top deeply and bake for approximately 45 minutes. Test with a skewer to see if it is ready.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

Irish Blog Awards

2010-03-13T08:37:00.004Z

This is so exciting. As you can see my Blog has reached the short list of The Irish Blog Awards. I can't believe my humble little Blog has reached this stage. The judging for the finalists starts on Friday. Thank you to she/he/ they who nominated me. Also without the sponsors the event would not be possible. The organisers and the judges who give of their free time to do this deserve a huge round of applause. It's a massive undertaking. I don't expect to get any further but to have been shortlisted is just wonderful. Thank you everyone.

Flying Scotsmen

2010-03-10T23:59:00.013Z

I love 'Come Dine With Me' My net book is beside me on the work top when I am cooking so I can watch away. It sometimes makes me cringe and also makes me laugh. Some of the recipes are very good and it's helpful seeing someone throw it together. This recipe came from a Scots contender. No surprise there. I love chicken and haggis and I thought what a great way to combine the two. It is very pretty when cooked and slices nicely if you want more delicate servings. I know it's not easy for people to get haggis. I imagine it would work nicely with sausage meat infused with some spice. I also wonder what it would be like with pate. All these are on my must try list. When I am in Scotland I buy the haggis in large sausage form and slice it for the freezer. Very convenient to use. My supply is nearly out though and as I have no visits planned to go across the water in the near future I really have to see if I can buy on line. Can't do without my haggis fix. The Flying Scotsmen are served with a whisky cream sauce. Couldn't be simpler to make and can be prepared well in advance ready to pop in the oven. It's yet again a really tasty way to use chicken breasts.

Ingredients

1 chicken fillet per person battened out flat between two sheets of cling film.

2 slices of streaky bacon per chicken fillet spread out flat with a knife (or you can use pancetta)
A little oil or butter
1 tablespoon of whisky (optional)
Approximately 1 tablespoon of haggis per chicken fillet

Whisky Sauce

100 mls chicken stock
100 mls of double cream
2 tablespoons of whisky
cornflour to thicken if needed

Method

Pre heat oven to 180.c/160.c Fan/Gas 4/355.F

Mix the whisky if using with the haggis in a bowl to marinate for a few minutes

Spread the haggis on each flattened out chicken breast and roll up tightly. Don't make the layer too thick or it will just squish out.

Wrap the two bacon slices round each parcel

Place on a baking sheet, drizzle with a little oil/butter and bak for approx 45 minutes.

Whisky Cream Sauce

In a small saucepan boil the stock. Add the whisky and let it bubble for a few minutes.
Add the cream and heat through
You can use a little cornflour to thicken but I found it wasn't necessary

.

A Pie For Grannymar

2010-03-10T14:53:00.005Z

My Blogging friend Grannymar has a dairy intolerance. I know she uses 'Pure' which is a dairy free spread. I wondered if it could be used for making pastry instead of my usual butter and white fat. My other half gets terrible indigestion with pastry and I was unsure whether it was the fat or the dairy part. I decided to experiment. Unfortunately it would seem it's the fat causes my hubby's problems but Grannymar if you like pastry this works very well. It does make the dough very short so a bit footery to work with but the result was lovely short crisp pastry. The filling in the picture is mango and pear. I needed to use them up. It made a gorgeous filling. Worth repeating I think. I always use the same pastry recipe. It came from my Aunt who is in her nineties and her pastry recipe was always a closely guarded secret until fairly recently. It makes the crispest pastry ever.
So Grannymar enjoy your pie.

Pastry

225g /8oz Self Raising flour (If using plain add a teaspoon of baking powder)
100gms/4oz butter
50gms/2 oz white fat
1 tablespoon icing sugar
Milk to bind

I do my pastry in the food processor
Whizzing the flour and icing sugar together
Add the fats and whizz until like fine breadcrumbs
Then add a little cold milk to combine (It will form a ball)
Add the milk in very small amounts. Easy to add hard to take away and you don't want soggy pastry dough. It should be quite firm
If doing by hand, rub the fats into the flour with your finger tips until it looks like fine breadcrumbs and then stir in a little milk to combine.
Wrap the dough in a plastic bag or cling film and pop in the fridge to rest for a little while.

This amount will make a dinner plate sized tart.

Pimp The Biscuit

2010-03-07T11:51:00.009Z

Over at The Clayton's Blog, Gail is running a competition to 'Pimp The Biscuit' that is, choose an everyday biscuit/cookie then make a large cake in it's image. I stole Gail's idea of a Jaffa Cake (sorry Gail) For those of you who have never met a Jaffa Cake they are the small biscuits at the front of the picture. The prize for the winner is (Drum Roll)

A Batter Finger.

Now who wouldn't want one of these hilarious items in their kitchen. The competition is open to everyone. So please have some fun and enter. The entries have to be in before the end of March .Gail runs a communal blog and there are some great contributors and lovely recipes. You will find everything you need to know about the competition here.

The humble Jaffa cake has been around for as long as I can remember. The base is spongy and curved so I decided to bake a sponge in a pasta bowl. As there is an orange filling in the biscuit, I used some Jelly marmalade to spread on top of the sponge I then made a chocolate ganache for the topping. It's nice and glossy so looks like the chocolate topping on the biccie. There are little squares marked on the top of a Jaffa cake so I plonked the cooling tray on top of the ganache to make these. To be honest it made such a nice cake I would make it again.

For the sponge I used an all in one mixture using soft brown sugar to give a slightly darker colour to the base

Cake

Grease and line the bottom of a sandwich tin ( or in this case a pasta bowl)
Pre heat your oven to 180.c/160.c fan/ 355.f/Gas 4

100gg/4oz Self raising flour
100g/4oz softened butter or margarine
100g/40z soft brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon milk

Orange jelly Marmalade for the filling

For the Topping

200 g dark chocolate
120 mls double cream
A knob of butter about 1oz/25g

Just beat the cake ingredients all together until nice and soft. Spread in to the tin/bowl leaving an indentation in the middle. This will keep the surface nice and flat.
Bake for approx 15-20 minutes until the top bounces back to the touch.
Leave to cool completely before removing to a cooling rack or plate.

To make the Ganache topping place the double cream and butter in a small saucepan and break the chocolate into small pieces and place in another pan
Bring the cream just to boiling point and pour over the chocolate.
Beat until the chocolate is well combined and melted.
Leave to cool and thicken then spread on top of the cake.

I think chocolate ganache is one of the nicest cake toppings. Lovely and glossy and oh so rich. The higher the ratio of chocolate to cream the thicker the ganache will be. The usual ratio is 100 g chocolate to 60 of cream. I wanted mine quite thick for this and this ratio was perfect
The butter added gives extra gloss

Thank you Gail for this bit of fun I am keeping my toes crossed for the prize!

Gingered Marmalade Chicken

2010-01-06T00:06:00.006Z

I am not a great fan of chicken breasts when they are not attached to the bird. I always think they lack flavour on their own. In their favour they are a quick and simple meal so I am always on the lookout for tasty ways to prepare them. This is a winner. Very quick to prepare and looks so pretty on a plate. It ticks all my boxes and is made with a fair amount of regularity in my kitchen. I have added a few variations at the end of the recipe so it is handy to use up any of those Christmas preserves.

Adapted from Good Food Magazine

Gingered Marmalade Chicken

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts
1 tablespoon of olive or other oil
250mls hot chicken stock
4 tablespoons fine cut marmalade
1teaspoon fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 a teaspoon of dried
1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
Grated rind and juice of an orange

Method

Heat the oil in a deep frying pan and fry the chicken for about 8 minutes until golden on each side.
Add the stock, orange juice and grated rind,marmalade, herbs and ginger.
Stir well to mix then simmer for five minutes, spooning the sauce over the chicken as it cooks.
Remove the chicken and boil the sauce hard until reduced to a syrup.
return the chicken to the pan and turn the pieces in the sauce until they become glazed.
Serve hot spooning any remaing sauce over them.

I like to serve with mashed potatoes and a salad but they would be equally good with rice.

Some Variations

Use cranberry jam/jelly instead of the marmalade replacing the ginger with cinnamon.

Use chilli jam leaving out the orange juice and rind (just increase the amount of stock) but adding some finely chopped sweet pepper. You can add some dried chilli flakes for extra heat

Plum Jam with finely chopped prunes and cinnamon is also good.

The variations are endless depending what you have in your store cupboard.

Candy Cane Cookies

2009-12-28T07:09:00.005Z

While doing my Christmas shopping I bought some candy canes. I had never seen them in the shops here before and I thought they would be lovely on the tree for my grand children. As is usual for me I bought too many but they looked so pretty and I was so delighted to find them on this side of the pond I couldn't resist. I was wandering around the blogs when I found a lovely recipe using candy canes made by Recipegirl She is in America and used little white chocolate morsels with white and pink stripes made by Hershey which we can't get here. They looked lovely and her pics are gorgeous. The correct name for them is peppermint bark Cookies but Rhyley called them Candy Cane Cookies so I stuck with that. They are lovely. Until now I didn't know these little sweets were peppermint flavoured. So easy to make and a perfect way to use up those candy canes you have still hanging on your Christmas tree. The other biscuits in the picture are Rocky Roads. The recipe for those can be found here. In this version I used Amaretti biscuits instead of tea biscuits and added a handful of dried cranberries.

Candy Cane Cookies

2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg yolk
6 ounces dark or milk chocolate, or a mix of the two, chopped (or use chocolate chips)
6-8 candy canes crumbled
2 ounces white chocolate

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 13×9x2-inch metal baking pan with nonstick spray. Line bottom of pan with long strip of 9-inch-wide parchment paper, leaving overhang on both short sides of pan.

2. Whisk flour and salt in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until creamy, about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in sugar. Continue beating until mixture is light and fluffy, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides of bowl, about 3 minutes. Beat in vanilla, then egg yolk. Gradually add flour mixture, beating on low speed just to blend.

3. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls into prepared baking pan, spacing evenly. Using moistened fingertips, press dough to form even layer over bottom of pan. Pierce dough all over with fork.

4. Bake cookie base until light golden brown and slightly puffed and edges begin to come away from sides of pan, about 30 minutes. Place pan on rack; immediately sprinkle the chopped chocolate over. Let stand until chocolate softens, about 3 minutes. Using small offset spatula, spread chocolate over top of cookie in thin even layer. Immediately sprinkle chopped candy cane kisses over (or candy canes).

5. Stir white chocolate in medium metal bowl set over saucepan of simmering water until melted and smooth. If it’s too tough and thick to stir, add a tiny drizzle of vegetable oil or 1/2 tsp. of shortening to thin it out. Remove from over water. Using fork, drizzle white chocolate all over cookies. Chill until white chocolate is set, about 30 minutes.

6. Using paper overhang as aid, lift cookie from pan and transfer to work surface. Using large knife, cut cookie into irregular pieces.

Cooking Tips:
Can be made 1 week ahead. Store in refrigerator (or freezer) in airtight containers between layers of waxed paper or parchment paper. Can be stored in the freezer for several weeks.

Yield: About 36 pieces

My notes - I chopped the chocolate in the food processor and also the candy canes. Leave the candy cane crushing until the last minute as the crumbs go sticky and clump together making sprinkling a bit difficult.

With thanks to RecipeGirl for this.

Season's Greetings

2009-12-24T21:58:00.003Z

May Peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year through

No Fool Like An Old Fool

2009-12-16T14:35:00.004Z

I have had a hectic couple of weeks and with one thing and another life has getting me down a bit lately. I had an appointment to get my hair cut today. It hasn't seen colour for quite a few years. I gave up the blonding as I disliked the straw it produced. As Grannymar says 'The autumn golds have turned to winter snow'. I consider myself fortunate as my hair is quite soft and silky and not wirey as sometimes happens with the greying. In my youth it was a thick luxuriant curtain of auburn. Do any of you recall those heady hippy days in the sixties? Ah the memories. I digress. Rhyley and I were discussing my forthcoming visit to the hairdressers and she thought it would be a wonderful idea to have some pink highlights. Now who am I to argue with the wisdom of a five year old. I do have to explain we are a very provincial lot here in Northern Ireland so this is quite an event. My hairdresser and I laughed so much. My daughter was less than impressed. The words 'Mum you are nearly sixty' were uttered in horror when she saw it. This just added to the nonsense. I was so restored to my usual humour I don't care how ridiculous it looks. Rhyley is so thrilled with her Granny. I expect when I crawl out of bed in the morning it won't look so appealing. We are off to Barbados next month on our annual jaunt. I think this will go down a storm there. As the title says 'There's no fool like an old fool'

Mini Chocolate Cranberry Christmas Cakes

2009-12-02T07:56:00.006Z

I was given these little cardboard cake cases by a very dear friend. They were a perfect size for little Christmas gifts. It was my intention to use Nigella Lawson's chocolate fruit cake recipe but the raisins I had looked a bit iffy and I dislike currants. I did have plenty of sultanas and dried cranberries and as I love the festive red of cranberries I decided the colour would be perfect in Christmas cake. It is essentially a boiled cake which makes it very easy to make. No need to soak fruit for days on end a quick boil does it. The result is a rich moist cake which is much nicer than some of the dry crumbly cakes I have tasted in the past. With apologies to Nigella here is my version.

Chocolate Cranberry Fruit Cake

Ingredients

350g/12¼oz dried soft prunes, chopped

2oo g/7oz dried cranberries

200g/7oz sultanas

175g/6¼oz unsalted butter, softened

175g/6¼oz dark brown sugar

175ml/6¼fl oz honey

125ml/4½fl oz rum (It should really be coffee liqueur but I didn't have any)

2 oranges, juice and zest

1 tsp mixed spice

2 tbsp good quality cocoa

3 eggs, beaten

150g/5¼oz self raising flour

1/2 teasp bicarbonate of soda

75g/2½oz ground almonds

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas 2.

2. Line the sides and bottom of a 20cm/8in, 9cm/3½in deep, round loose-bottomed cake tin with a layer of baking parchment. When lining the tin with the parchment, cut the material into strips that are twice as high as the tin itself (it is easier to use two shorter strips of parchment, than one long strip); the height of the strips protects the cake from catching on the outside of the cake tin.
Also cut a disc of baking parchment to fit the diameter of the tin. When the cake has set you can pop this little hat on the top to help stop any scorching.

3. Place the fruit, butter, sugar, honey, rum, orange juice and zest, mixed spice and cocoa into a large wide saucepan. Heat the mixture until it reaches a gentle boil, stirring the mixture as the butter melts. Let the mixture simmer for ten minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and leave to stand for 30 minutes.

4. After 30 minutes, the mixture will have cooled a little. Add the eggs, flour, ground almonds, and bicarbonate soda, and mix well with a wooden spoon or spatula until the ingredients have combined.

5. Carefully pour the fruitcake mixture into the lined cake tin. Transfer the cake tin to the oven and bake for 1¾-2 hours, or until the top of the cake is firm but will has a shiny and sticky look. At this point, if you insert a skewer into the middle of the cake, the tip should be slightly sticky .

6. Place the cake on a cooling rack. Once the cake has cooled, remove it from the tin.

To make individual cakes as I have done. I used 6cm x 8cm cases. This made approximately twelve. There is no need to line the cases and they take approximately 1 hour 20 minutes to bake. Test them after an hour.
I decorated by cutting out stars of fondant icing.

Pumpkin Pie

2009-10-28T09:25:00.005Z

There is a saying 'As American as Apple Pie' I have always thought as American as Pumpkin Pie would be better. I always associate pumpkins with our friends across the pond. When I was a child and when my children were wee there wasn't a pumpkin to be seen here. We had to dig out turnips for our 'Jack o' Lanterns'. Not the easiest task in the world. The shops and markets are full of pumpkins now of course. They are such a cheerful sight with their lovely autumny orange colour glowing. I bought two to carve for my grandchildren. Such an easy job to do and such smiling little faces the results produced. I was left with all the pumpkin innards and I have been dying to make pumpkin pie for years. I wanted an American to give me the recipe. I mean if you are going to do a thing you might as well do it right? One of the girls on Vi's pantry who is American kindly gave me her recipe. I can't tell you how gorgeous this is. For anyone who has never tasted it, it's like very spicy custard tart and is a perfect dessert. I have another bag of cooked and pureed pumpkin in the freezer and would like to make individual ones next.

A Few Notes

The recipe as you will see calls for canned pumpkin. A little wander round Google told me that 2 1/2 cups of cooked pureed pumpkin equals a 16 oz can.

I boiled the raw pumpkin for about half an hour and pureed it. This gave me approximately 2 1/2 cups per pumpkin.

I used double cream where it called for whipping cream

I used my own pastry recipe as I knew I would get into a mess with American measures here.

I used a tablespoon of mixed spice instead of the spices specified.

I also used marmalade instead of the apricot jam specified as that is what I had.

Recipe (with thanks to Caesersalad)

Ultimate Pumpkin Pie

Crust: (or, substitute your favorite crust)

1¼ cups all purpose flour
½ cup powdered sugar
½ cup chilled butter, cut into pieces
3 T. whipping cream

Filling:

¾ cup sugar
1 T. packed light brown sugar
1 T. cornstarch
2 t. ground cinnamon
¾ t. ground ginger
¼ t. (generous) salt
1-16 oz. can solid pack pumpkin
¾ cup whipping cream
½ cup sour cream
3 large eggs, beaten to blend

¼ cup apricot preserves

Method

For crust: Preheat oven to 350°. Blend first 3 ingredients in processor until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add cream and process until moist clumps form. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic; chill 15 minutes.

Roll dough on floured surface to 14" round. Transfer dough to 9" glass pie dish. Trim overhang to 1". Fold overhang under. Crimp crust. Freeze 15 minutes.

Line crust with foil (I use the non-stick foil with the non-stick side down), pressing firmly. Bake until sides are set, about 10 minutes. Remove foil. Bake crust until pale brown, about 10 minutes more. Set the crust aside and reduce the oven to 325°

For filling: Using a whisk, mix first 6 ingredients (sugar through salt) in bowl until no lumps remain. Blend in pumpkin, whipping cream, sour cream and eggs.

Spread preserves over crust; pour in filling. Bake until filling puffs at edges and center is almost set, about 55 minutes. Cool on rack.

When the pie is completely cool, cover and chill until cold. (Can be made one day ahead).

Caesersalad's Notes:

If the pie isn't completely cool when you cover it and refrigerate it, it will sweat. I do love that this pie is designed to be made a day ahead.

My pie takes longer than 55 minutes; so, plan accordingly and watch for the middle to just stop jiggling.

Do use a 9" or deep dish pie pan as this is a very large amount of filling.

White Chocolate Strawberry Cheescake Brownies.

2009-10-21T10:40:00.007+01:00

I was a little confused as to what to call these divine little morsels. I was told the white chocolate equivalent of a Brownie is a Blondie. Someone else told me this is not the case. The main flavour in a Blondie is butterscotch not chocolate white or brown. In confusion I consulted the great God Google. Sure enough a blondie is made with brown sugar. Using white chocolate instead of brown gives you white brownies. Regardless these turned out to be lovely. A definite keeper. Nice crisp top and a squidgy middle I used my granddaughter's strawberry milkshake to flavour them. This of course drew her like a magnet and I had trouble keeping her away from them.

White Chocolate Strawberry Cheescake Brownies.

Ingredients

125g/5oz butter
125g/5oz white chocolate, chopped
200g/7oz caster sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
100g/4oz self raising flour, sifted

For the Strawberry Cheese

200g/7oz Philadelphia or other full fat cream cheese
50g/2oz caster sugar
A few drops of strawberry flavouring or 2-3 teaspoons of strawberry milk shake
Pink colouring if desired

Method

Combine butter, and sugar in a medium saucepan and stir over medium heat until melted. Remove from heat and melt the chocolate in the mix. Then whisk in eggs.
Add flour and stir until well combined. Don't over mix
Pour into a greased and lined 18cm x 28cm rectangular tin.
Beat Philly cheese strawberry flavouring and the 50g/2oz caster sugar until smooth and creamy.
Spoon randomly over chocolate mixture and swirl with the tip of a knife.
Bake at 180ºC/160.C Fan/ 350ºF, gas mark 4 for 35 - 40 minutes or until cooked through.
Allow to cool before slicing.

Oatie Wholemeal Bread and Some Bread Making Tips

2009-10-19T07:21:00.010+01:00

I have been making my own bread for two or three years now. I love bread making and I love home made bread. Wholemeal flour has been causing me endless problems as I could never get the lightness and softness i wanted. I usually ended up with loaves that could be used in the building trade. I bought the River cottage bread book recently. That book was quite a revelation to me. Unlike some bread book authors Daniel Stevens has a very laid back approach. This book slid the last piece of the puzzle in. I haven't had a failure in bread since. I used his overnight sponge method for this wholemeal loaf and two rises plus the final proof. Voila it worked perfectly. Light soft wholemeal bread. You can make it the quick route but I haven't tried it that way yet so pleased am I with the results so far.

I always add seeds to my wholemeal bread. Tiny packets full of all the essential nutrients of life. The plant goes to great effort in producing and protecting its seed, filling each genetic packet with high concentrations of vitamins, minerals, proteins, essential oils and dormant enzymes. The problem with seeds especially flax which is the most nutritious of the seeds is, if they are not chewed the nutrients are lost to you. I whizz my seeds in the food processor so nothing is lost then just add a couple of tablespoonfuls to the mix before kneading.

It always amuses me when watching a movie when a breakfast time scene is shown. Mum is standing perfectly coiffed and suited having a final cup of coffee before departing for her high powered job while hubby and kids are all seated round the table eating different breakfasts from pancakes to eggs. Mum must be up at four in the morning to accomplish that lot. The reality is somewhat different. Breakfast is a rushed affair. Mum making sure all is ready for the children before going to school or singles would rather grab an extra ten minutes in bed than take breakfast. This bread toasted at least gives you a nutritious start to the day even if it is taken on the run. It also makes lovely sandwiches so no problems at lunch time either.

I have added some bread making tips. I don't set myself up as an expert, far from it but I have noticed a lot of people are afraid to use yeast. I was the same when I started. I think there are a lot of books which are very precise in instructions and advice conflicts from book to book. Perhaps because the authors are masters of their trade I don't know. Anyway I thought as an everyday home baker I would pass on what experience I have and a few tips I have picked up along the way in the hope it will encourage the fearful to take the plunge.

Oatie Wholemeal Loaf

500gms/18oz Wholemeal flour
300 mls water (warm if going the quick route) or 150 mls milk and 150 mls water
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1-2 teaspoons salt
About 1 tablespoon oil (optional)

Extras
2 tablespoons seeds
1 tablespoon honey
You can also add a handful of raisins or other dried fruit to this but it does make the bread quite sweet so you may want to leave out the honey.

I have started using baker's percentages which makes adjusting amounts of ingredients very simple.

The basic mix is

Flour =100%
Liquid = 60%
Dried InstantYeast = 1% (or 2% if using fresh yeast)
Salt = 2%
Fat = 2 %
(The fat can be oil,butter or lard and is optional. The salt can be varied according to taste.)

You use whatever flour you wish or a mix of flours

After this you have your extras such as seeds, honey, or whatever you want to use. If adding dry extras to the mix you may need a little extra liquid. I add soya flour and horlicks to my white bread to assist the growing bones of my little people so I need to add more liquid.

I base most of my tin breads on 500 gms flour. It suits the fairly large loaf tins I use

Because the basic recipe uses instant dried yeast you can of course just chuck everything into the bowl and knead. I am just giving instructions for the sponge method because it is a slightly different route. Not essential at all. It does however allow you time. That is, if you have a day at home you can do this and leave it until it suits you to make the bread. The same applies to the second or even third rise. If you have to dash off and it doesn't suit to make the bread you can leave it to rise again and gain some time. It does of course improve the bread too.

Sponge Method.

This can be done overnight or for just a few hours or even one makes a difference,
Mix half of the flour, all of the yeast and all of the liquid. Make sure it is thoroughly mixed then cover with cling film and forget about it until you are ready for the next stage.

It will look quite bubbly and frothy now.

Add the rest of your flour fat (if using) salt and any extras. Mix thoroughly. If you find the dough is a little dry, add a more liquid a tablespoon at a time. You don't want it to be a sticky mess. If it does you can add a little more flour. My best guide using a dough hook is, it is right when it leaves the side of the bowl clean but is still quite soft.

Knead for ten minutes if you are doing it by hand. I use a dough hook in my stand mixer so 4-5 minutes is enough. Over kneading is not going to be a problem by hand but if using machinery it could be. The gluten structure can collapse. Keep your machine at a slow speed. If you want to test it the dough should stretch to quite a thin membrane. This is easier to see in white flour dough than wholemeal

Form it into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling film to double in volume which should take about an hour to an hour and a half depending on the temperature of the room.

I cheat a little and turn my oven on very low for a few minutes while the dough is kneading and then turn it off and pop my dough in there to rise.

When the dough is ready pull it gently out of the bowl with oiled hands onto a lightly oiled surface. The oiling stops the dough sticking to you and everything else.

The advice generally given is to punch the dough hard in the bowl to knock it back. I have found this to be the worst notion of handling dough. It is full of all the wonderful air to give the final loaf lightness. I never could understand why it had to be treated so harshly. Handling it gently makes a huge difference.

Just dimple it out with your fingers to disperse the air throughout the dough

At this stage you can form it into a ball againa give it a second rise. It is not essential but it does improve the dough so if you have the time and inclination you can do so. A lot of people fear that the yeast will lose it's 'power'. It doesn't. You can try a little experiment if you are not convinced. Mix 100 gms/4oz of flour with 60 mls of water and a little yeast. Leave it in a covered plastic box . Every so often squash it back. Just watch how often it pushes the lid off the box. It goes on for days.

Now you want to shape the dough for it's final rise or proof. You want to decide at this stage whether you want to make a tin loaf or place it on a baking tray (or stone if you have one) for a more rustic shape. Fold the dough over towards you firming each fold with your thumbs as you go.

Flatten the sausage and fold it in on itself like a business letter

Then you need to pull the sides up to the middle. This creates a surface tension on the top of the dough. It can be fiddly at the start but you soon find your own way of going. Don't worry the dough won't spoil as you work with it. Just take your time.

When you have it all pinched together on the underside turn it over and tighten gently across the surface on either side.

This leaves you with a a sort of cylinder shape. At this stage you want to add any coatings. I like to just dust it over with flour. Rye flour gives a nice rustic look. For the oat coating, dip the loaf in milk and then roll in a mix of oat flakes oat bran and pin head oatmeal. Press it quite firmly on all over so they stay in and on the loaf and don't end up on the floor when you come to use it. Now if you want to make a tin bread make sure the cylinder is about the same length and width as you chosen tin. Just press it gently into the prepared tin for it's final proof. If you want a rustic bread shape place it on a baking sheet.

Enclose the loaf in a plastic bag. This gives a nice moist draught free environment in which to rise. Some like to use towels but I find them difficult to keep off the surface of the bread and they also absorb the moisture.

Tuck in the ends of the bag and leave it in a warm place to rise. I usually turn my oven on at this point for baking the bread and leave the loaf to rise on the hob for about 20-40 minutes. After about twenty minutes shake it very very gently and you will feel how light it is getting. At the point it is ready for the oven it is really very trembly. You will feel it. I find it ready at about 40 minutes. Now you want to slash the loaf diagonally across the top to allow it to expand in the oven. I use a bread knife for this.

Place an old roasting tin in the bottom of the oven while it is heating and boil the kettle. The addition of hot water in the oven gives a nice steamy environment for the bread. Again it is not essential but does improve the crust
Have your oven turned up to about twenty degrees hotter than you need it. This will give you time to get the loaf in, pour the boiling water into the tin, without losing too much heat.
Then turn the heat down. I bake my loaves at 180.C Fan and that suits them perfectly but there are variations in every oven. 200.C/180'CFan/400.F/Gas6 is about the norm. It should take about 35 -45 minutes to bake. After 35 mins remove from the oven and tap the bottom of the loaf. It should sound quite hollow. If you are not sure pop it back in the oven for five minutes and so on. You don't want a doughy crumb. If you find your loaf too brown when ready, that is on the point of burn, the next time turn your oven down a bit. You will soon find what is best for you and your oven.
Place the loaf on a cooling rack and leave it until cool completely before cutting. Cutting it warm just gives a doughiness which spoils the bread.

You could also check out Yeast Spotting for some great recipes and information on bread

Little Cheesy Biscuits

2009-10-05T18:09:00.006+01:00

With thanks to Lottie Duncan for this recipe. These are the most gorgeous little savoury biscuits. Perfect for serving with pre dinner drinks. Be warned once you start eating them you won't be able to stop. I think they would be worth making to use as a crumble topping on a savoury pie instead of pastry. Very quick and easy to make which is always a plus in my book. I didn't cover them with seeds as I thought my little people might like them. They seem to associate biscuits with sweetness so they weren't a hit with them. Perfect for the adults though.

Cheesy Biscuits

Ingredients

100g/4oz butter
100g/4oz self raising
75g/3oz strong cheddar cheese
25g/1oz grated Parmesan cheese
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1 egg for egg wash
Pumpkin, sesame, sunflower, fennel, poppy seeds

Preheat the oven to 200C Mk6 400F
AGA 4/3/2 dr -grid shelf roasting oven

Place the butter, flour and cheeses together in a food processor and whiz until it all comes together.
Remove onto a floured surface and roll out into a thick cigar shape. Wrap in cling film and chill for 1 hour or pop in the freezer fo 15-20 mins
Remove from the fridge, take off the cling film and slice into discs. If you want nice thin biscuits, remember to cut the slices about ½ cm thick. The colder the dough, the easier this is to do.
Place on a non-stick baking sheet and brush with egg wash. Sprinkle over your chosen topping and bake for about 4-5 minutes in the oven until firm and gold brown.
Cool and then serve.

Chocolate Caramel Cake

2009-10-04T17:38:00.004+01:00

Yesterday was my Mother in Law's Birthday. We all went out for a family lunch. I realised I needed to provide a birthday cake. GG (great granny) adores cake especially chocolate cake. I was flicking through Good Housekeeping when I came across this recipe. It required a tin of caramel/dulce de leche. I had accidentally opened a tin last week instead of condensed milk and it was stowed in a jar in the fridge so this was a perfect recipe to use it up and please GG all in one go. It was so quick and easy and yet such a wonderful light moist cake. I will make this again. If you like chocolate cake you will love this

Ingredients

175g (6oz) self-raising flour
2½ tbsp cocoa powder
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
150g (5oz) caster sugar
2 eggs
150ml (¼pt) corn oil
150ml (¼pt) milk
2tsp vanilla extract
125g (5oz) dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
397g can Carnation Caramel
1tbsp icing sugar

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C, 350°F, Gas Mark 4.
Base line 2 x18cm (7”) sandwich tins with baking parchment.
Sift the flour, cocoa and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl and stir in the sugar. In a jug measure the oil and milk, then add the eggs, one teaspoon of vanilla and mix together with a fork until combined. Beat two tablespoons of the caramel until smooth and whisk into the egg and oil mixture. Combine the wet with the dry ingredients and mix well. The cake mix will be quite wet. Pour the mixture into the tins and bake in the centre of the oven for 20-25 minutes until springy to the touch.
Cool the cakes in their tins and then turn out onto a wire rack. Remove the baking paper and cool completely.
Melt the chocolate in short bursts in the microwave, stirring until smooth. Add the remaining caramel and vanilla to the chocolate and beat well until smooth and glossy. Sift in the icing sugar and combine thoroughly.
Place one half of the cake onto a plate, spread with a generous amount of the frosting and top with the other sandwich half. Spread the remaining frosting over the top of the cake and down the sides to cover completely. Leave to set and cut into slices.

PS. The Birthday girl was well pleased with her cake.

St Clement’s Drizzle Cake.

2009-10-01T00:01:00.001+01:00

This cake was this month's challenge set by Rosie and Maria at Sweet and Simple bakes. I have seen various drizzle cake recipes on different blogs but until this challenge I hadn't made one. I don't really know why as I love citrus flavours in cake. This spurred me into action and it is an absolutely gorgeous cake. Feather light and beautifully sticky with more than a hint of citrus. I did cheat a little as I did it in the food processor. Just threw everything in and whizzed. I added 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder to compensate for this short cut. It turned out perfectly and keeps very well. Couldn't be quicker or easier. Thank you Rosie and Maria for another great bake.

St Clement’s Drizzle Cake

Ingredients
175g/6oz caster (superfine) sugar
175g/6oz softened butter
Grated zest and juice of 1 large lemon
Grated zest and juice of 1 large orange
4 tablespoons milk
2 eggs
175g/6oz self-raising flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 180.C/fan 160.C/355.F/gas 4.

Grease and line the base of 1 large (900g) or 2 small (450g) loaf tins.

Place the caster sugar, butter and zest of the lemon and orange in a bowl and beat together until pale and creamy. Add the milk, and then beat in the eggs, one at a time, with a spoon of flour to prevent the mixture from curdling. Mix in the remaining flour. Spoon into the prepared tin/tins and level the surface flat.

Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes for a large cake or 30 minutes for the smaller cakes until they are golden and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the cake.

While the cake is cooking, place the lemon and orange juice in a saucepan, bring to the boil and allow to reduce in quantity to about 3 tablespoons. Leave to cool, and then stir in the granulated sugar so it just starts to dissolve.

As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, prick several times with a skewer, then slowly pour the lemon and orange sugar all over the top, letting it soak into the cake. Leave to cool completely in the tin before turning out and cutting into slices to serve.

Plum Crumble

2009-09-23T21:00:00.000+01:00

I had some sad plums sitting in the kitchen. They were annoying me intensely as they were bought as'Ripen at Home' you know the sort of thing. They were still hard but were beginning to go bad. I love plums and didn't want to waste them. I put my thinking cap on and decided to make a crumble. This is what I did.

Plum Crumble
To serve four

8 - 10 plums
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teasp cinnamon
A good slug of Marsala or other sweet dessert wine ( or fruit juice would do)

Stone and half the plums and place in a saucepan
Sprinkle them with brown sugar and cinnamon and stew them gently in the Marsala until just tender, about ten minutes.
Lift them out and place them, with the juice, in a buttered oven proof dish.

Crumble.

12 (approx)digestive biscuits
2 tablespoons of flour
4 tablespoons of brown sugar
100gms/4ozs butter.

I whizzed it all together in the food processor but if you are doing it by hand you could smash the biscuits to fine crumb in a plastic bag with a rolling pin. Rub the butter into the flour stir in the sugar and then the biscuit crumbs
Scatter the crumble over the plumbs
Bake in a pre heated oven 180.C/160/CFan/350.F/Gas4 for about 15-20 minutes.

It was delicious. I certainly will use this again with other fruits. Lovely and golden and crunchy

A Lovely Award

2009-09-23T20:34:00.000+01:00

I received this award this morning with the following notification

Congratulations! Your readers have submitted and voted for your blog at The Daily Reviewer. We compiled an exclusive list of the Top 100 recipes Blogs, and we are glad to let you know that your blog was included! You can see it at http://thedailyreviewer.com/top/recipes

I am so thrilled and surprised to receive this. Thank you all who voted for me and my Blog.

Join Me In A Dander Where I Live

2009-09-23T11:39:00.017+01:00

I am lucky to live here. Sometimes you don't 'see' what's round you and then when you take some photographs it gives a whole new appreciation. This is my usual route with my grandchildren. Yesterday we were collecting conkers (chestnuts)

Found One

Picking and Feeding Brambles to the Dog.
The Hedgerows are laden

The Majestic Mountains of Mourne in the Background

Pity About the Wheelie Bin

Just beyond the trees Lough Neagh, the biggest Lough/Lake in the UK

Making Friends and Meeting People

The last Bend

And Home

The Conker Haul

Steak and Chips

2009-09-19T00:00:00.005+01:00

What could be nicer than a fillet steak done on the griddle served in a little pool of pan juices and marsala. My butcher knows I am fussy about my steak and always keeps aged fillet for me. I have it cut 3-4 cms thick. I never butterfly it just squash it a bit with the heel of my hand to spread it out a little. The meat is so tender even when raw. It is an expensive cut and the flavour and texture so meltingly delicious it needs little in the way of embellishment.
Oil the steak' not the pan or you will get a smoke filled kitchen' and give it a good grinding of black pepper
Place on a hot griddle and squash it a bit with a fish slice or spatula to get those nice ridges. Cook for three minutes then flip over and cook on the other side until you just see the blood beginning to ooze. This will give you a steak with a thick pink band but no blood. Remove from the pan and leave the steak to rest on a warm plate and while it is doing so add some marsala to the pan to deglaze. As it is frothing add a chunk of butter and whisk in. Pour over the steak. Wonderfully simple and so tasty.
Serve with chips..........what else.

Orange Panna Cotta

2009-09-08T00:01:00.000+01:00

I have heard much of this very simple dessert. I didn't know however that it was so simple or I would have made it ages ago. For some reason I had it in my head that this was a very exotic and complex dish. I was a great fan of jelly whip as a child. Oldies will remember the strawberry jelly with evaporated milk whipped in at the point of set. Oh I loved that. Even ordinary jelly with evaporated milk poured over sets my heart a flutter. I am very easily pleased. Panna cotta has shot to the top of my favourites list on finding out just how simple it is to make. It's just exotic jelly really. A perfect dessert as it tastes wonderful and is oh so easy to prepare. Looks lovely too so it could happily grace any table before the cheese and port. Endless variations too. It would be lovely sitting in a little pool of fruit coulis or perhaps a chocolate or caramel sauce. This particular one is lovely. Just a little hint of orange. Perfect. Thank you to Kerry who gave me the recipe.

Orange Panna Cotta

Ingredients

Vegetable oil, to grease
600ml thickened cream
150ml milk
2 teaspoons finely grated orange rind
100g /4oz caster sugar
2 tablespoons boiling water
3 teaspoons gelatine powder

Method

Brush six 125ml (1/2 cup) capacity dariole moulds with oil to lightly grease.
Place the cream, milk, orange rind and sugar in a small saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 10 minutes or until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is heated through. Strain the cream mixture through a fine sieve into a heatproof jug.
Place the water in a small jug. Sprinkle withthe gelatine. Whisk with a fork to dissolve. combine the gelatine mixture and cream mixture.
Pour the mixture evenly among the moulds. Place the moulds on a tray. Place in the frige for 4 hours or until set.
To serve, invert 1 dariole mould onto a serving plate. Cover with a hot, damp cloth and, holding the mould to the plate, shake to remove panna cotta.

Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies

2009-09-05T00:01:00.000+01:00

These are about the most wickedly decadent things I have ever had the pleasure of making. How can anyone not like brownies? I love full fat cream cheese too so mix the two together and it's heaven on a plate. They are very very easy to make. Gorgeous warm from the oven. Just the thing for unexpected visitors or a quick dessert or just for sheer indulgence

Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies

Ingredients

125g/5oz butter
125g/5oz dark chocolate, chopped
200g/7oz brown sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
50g/2oz plain flour, sifted
50g/2oz cocoa powder
0.25 tsp baking powder
200g/7oz Philadelphia or other full fat cream cheese
50g/2oz caster sugar

Instructions

Combine butter, chocolate and brown sugar in a medium saucepan and stir over medium heat until chocolate and butter have melted. Remove from heat and whisk in eggs.
Add flour, cocoa, and baking powder and stir until well combined. Pour into a greased and lined 18cm x 28cm rectangular tin.
Beat Philly cheese and caster sugar until smooth and creamy.
Spoon randomly over chocolate mixture and swirl with the tip of a knife. Bake at 180ºC, 350ºF, gas mark 4 for 35 - 40 minutes or until cooked through.
Allow to cool before slicing.

(I used self raising flour because I'm lazy)

Enjoy

Milk Loaf

2009-09-03T10:09:00.007+01:00

I like to have soft white bread in the house for sandwiches and toast as my grandchildren will eat no other. I prefer to make my own as I know what is in there and always use milk to add a little extra protein, calcium and vitamins for those growing little people I often cover my loaf with another loaf tin while baking to achieve nice soft white bread as you can see here. I was therefore intrigued to see this bread tin on the Lakeland site. It is called a milk loaf tin

I loved the shape and also the little marks which I thought would make an excellent guide for cutting. The children love their little round slices. It makes perfect sandwiches and is as soft as can be. A good buy I think. The card that came with the tin recommended 350 gms of flour but it wasn't quite enough to fill the tin. It also recommended one rise in the tin itself. This took a very long time. I assume because the metal was cold. I made the bread my own way and it worked perfectly. This is so often the case when you get a recipe with a piece of equipment. It never seems to work. I often wonder where they get these recipes from.

Milk Loaf

450g/1lb Strong white bread flour
1 teasp fast action yeast
250-270 mls/ 1 cup warm milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
25gms/1oz melted butter or 2 tablespoons of oil
A little honey (optional)

Method

I tend to make a starter sponge with my bread but this is not necessary. If you want to do it this way, place all of the liquid and all of the yeast with half the flour in a bowl. Mix well, cover and leave for an hour or up to eight hours if you wish. Then just add the rest of the flour and the other ingredients and knead as usual. I do find it gives a nicer texture and crumb but it's not always possible to make the time. I often do this either just before I go to bed for morning bread or put it together in the morning for bread for dinner. You can do this with any bread recipe you have.

For the quick route

Place all the ingredients in a bowl.
Mix together.
Check at this point if your dough is too dry or wet. It should come together as a nice soft dough that comes away cleanly from the sides of the bowl when you start to knead. If it is too dry (shaggy looking) add a little more milk. If it is sticky add a little more flour
Knead for ten minutes by hand or for five minutes if using a dough hook on your stand mixer. You should have a nice smooth elastic ball of dough.
Form it into a ball and place in a slightly oiled bowl. Cover with cling film and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in volume which should take about an hour.

Lightly grease and lightly flour the tin.

For the next stage oil you hands and work top to stop everything sticking.
Pull the dough gently out of the bowl then dimple out flat on the work top with your fingers to expel the excess gas. Make the long edge about the same length as the tin.
Now roll it in a sausage towards you pressing each fold along the line with your thumbs.
Tuck in the ends and you should have a cylinder shape. Place this in the tin and press it down gently to fit.
Cover with the lid and leave for half to one hour. There is a little spy hole on this tin so you can see the dough reach the top.
(If you are using an ordinary loaf tin it should rise to to nearly the top of the tin and place the tin in a supermarket carrier bag while rising. It keeps the moisture in If you shake the dough very slightly it will feel very light so you know it is ready for the oven)

Bake in a preheated oven 200.C/ 180.c fan/Gas6/400.F
for approx thirty to thirty five mins.
Then it is just a case of unmoulding it from it's tin and leaving it to cool on a wire rack.
If done in an ordinary loaf tin it should be well risen and golden tapping hollow on the bottom

Tip

When I am making up the dough I turn my oven on at the lowest point for a few minutes then turn off. I put the bowl of covered dough in there to rise. This gives a nice warm environment for it
For the second rise I preheat my oven and set the loaf on the hob to get warmth while it rises. In this case I also warmed the milk loaf tin a little too.

Now I'm off to make a brown version for Granny :)

Jammy Doughnut Muffins

2009-09-01T00:03:00.000+01:00

This is my first entry for Sweet and Simple Bakes, a blog run by Rosie and Maria. Every month they put up a tried and tested recipe as a challenge for all to make. They have some lovely bakes. It's a fun thing to do and encourages you to try different recipes. These jammy doughnut muffins are this month's challenge. I changed the recipe slightly and used apples stewed in cinnamon and brown sugar instead of the jam. They were gorgeous straight from the oven. Going down the apple route you need to eat them straight away as they don't keep too well. Mind you that was no great hardship as they were lovely. I have to confess I didn't actually make these at all. It was my five year old grandaughter who is always helping me in the kitchen. I thought she did a really good job too.

Jammy Doughnut Muffins

Any flavoured jam would be equally as delicious to use in this bake as opposed to strawberry and raspberry. You may have some delectable homemade jam(s) you wish to use or what about the sublime Dulce de Leche, (“toffee sauce”) even a thick vanilla custard or stewed apples. The amount of baking powder is correct in this recipe, I know it seems a vast amount but it does work.

Makes 12

Ingredients

275g (10 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
3 tsp baking powder
Pinch salt
100g (4 oz) caster (superfine) sugar
2 eggs
200ml (7 fl oz) milk
75g (3 oz) unsalted (sweet) butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla extract
12 tsp strawberry or raspberry jam

For The Topping

100g (4 oz) unsalted (sweet) butter
150g (5 oz) granulated sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon (optional)

You will need 12 hole muffin tin lined with paper cases.

Method

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas mark 5.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl, and stir through the sugar. In large jug, lightly beat the eggs then add the milk, cooled butter and vanilla extract and beat together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients stir gently until just combined. (Do not over mix, its fine to have a few lumps in the mixture.) Spoon half the muffin mixture into the base of each paper case. Top each muffin with a teaspoon of jam. Now equally between each paper case, top with the remaining muffin mixture. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 – 20 minutes until well risen, golden and firm to the touch.

For The Topping: melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat. Spread the granulated sugar in a wide, shallow bowl with the cinnamon if using. When the muffins are baked, leave in the tin for 5 minutes. Dip the tops of the muffins in the melted butter and then roll in the sugar. You can serve these muffins warm or cold; however, I do prefer to eat them whilst warm.

Boiled Beef and Carrots

2009-08-24T20:19:00.005+01:00

Isn't the title the most unappetising you will ever hear? Yet essentially that is what this is. It's eye of silverside pot roasted and served with onion gravy. A totally delicious Sunday roast if your pocket doesn't want to stretch to Rib. Cooked long and slow in onions and stock it is meltingly tender. I know of people who try to roast this like rib. It won't work. It's too tough a cut for that sort of roasting. It's so forgiving as you can stick it in the oven and forget about it. Great when having folks round for Sunday lunch. Left overs make lovely fridge grazing, sandwiches or/and a superb shepherds pie. It is so tasty do try it if you haven't before. Very economical too.

Pot Roast Beef

Get a good big piece of topside or silverside 2-3 Kgs/4-6 lbs
Two onions finely sliced
Two or three carrots chopped into chunks
A big bunch of fresh thyme chopped
Stock, enough to come half way up the joint in the casserole
black pepper freshly ground
Worcestershire sauce about 2-3 tablespoons
Lard or oil whatever your choice
A little marsala or other alcohol you have sitting around
Cornflour to thicken the gravy if desired.

Melt the fat/oil in a heavy based casserole dish or cast iron pot
Stir in the onions and stir until translucent about five minutes.
Add the marsala or othe booze and let it bubble a little.
Don't let the onions burn.
Turn the heat down low and place a piece of foil into the pot to almost touch the onions.
Leave for half an hour or so until the onions are caramelised and deeply sweet.
Turn up the heat and brown the roast all over.
Add the stock to come half way up the roast
Add the carrots thyme and Worcestershire sauce.
Season well with black pepper
Bring to the boil then cover with foil and a lid and put into a very slow oven
160.C/140.Fan/325.F/gas/1
Let it stay there for three or four hours and enjoy the mouth watering aroma all over the house.

When ready remove the meat and wrap in foil and cover with a tea towel to rest and keep warm.
It will stay warm for half an hour to an hour wrapped this way so there is no need to panic. Plenty of time to do the yorkshire puddings and roast potatoes. Such a laid back dinner.
Reduce the gravy on the hob. Season with salt if needed.
Thicken with a little cornflour mixed with water and whisked in, if desired.

Sticky Maramalade Tea Loaf

2009-08-21T09:03:00.009+01:00

This is a heavenly cake and so very very easy. The marmalade gives a lovely tangy flavour and the spices just lift it to tongue tingling sweetness. It is very moist without being dense. A real keeper. The first one I made ended up in the bin. I had left it to cool covered with a bit of foil and went out for a walk with my furry friend. When I came back and lifted the foil a swarm of wasps rose in the air and I fled! I am hugely allergic to wasp stings. Even contact with them causes a reaction. I didn't want the cake to be the death of me. My resident eating machine was left to sort out the wasps.

The recipe is adapted from GoodFood 101 Cakes and Bakes. This little book is becoming a much used one in my kitchen. Some very good recipes in it.

Sticky Marmalade Tea Loaf

Ingredients

140g/5oz/approx 1/3rd of a 450g/1lb jar of marmalade
175g/6oz butter or margarine
175g/6oz light muscavado sugar (I use soft brown as that is what I had)
3 eggs beaten
225g/8oz Self raising flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teasps ground ginger
1 teaspoon mixed spice
100g of pecan nute ( I don't do nuts so I left these out)
Takes 1 1/2 hours
Serves 12

Method

Pre heat the oven to180.C/160'C Fan/350.F/Gas4

Grease and line a 2lb loaf tin. I use those loaf tin liners. So handy and good for storing the cake too.
Set aside about a tablespoon of marmalade in a small saucepan.
Throw all the other ingredients into a food processor and whizz until smooth. You can do this in a mixer or by hand.
Tip the batter into the prepared loaf tin
Bake for forty minutes then cover loosely with some tin foil.
Bake for a further twenty - twenty five minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
Let the cake cool in the tin for a while before removing carefully.
Heat the marmalade in the saucepan and brush over the still warm cake.
I added a little grated orange peel to the top of the cake
Watch out for passing wasps!

Family Heirloom

2009-08-20T09:05:00.000+01:00

I have long admired this table which belonged to my Mother in Law(GG as she is known). My husband's father sent it back from India before going on to Burma during the second world war. After reading a post on Grannymar's about a similar table I suddenly remembered about it. It had always been promised to me but I hadn't seen it for ages.

I asked GG about it after reading Grannymar's post. It had been sitting happily beside her chair covered with a crotched 'skip cover'. This term was coined by my brother in law. GG is a great hoarder of stuff. Rather than sort out and put her collections away she crochets a blanket and covers the eyesore with it. Hence the crotched skip covers.

It has suffered a bit of damage. Only one tusk from the elephant legs remains and some of the ivory inlay in the centre was dug out by my brother in law when he was a wee boy. He says it is around somewhere so who knows it may turn up yet. I think it is a most beautiful piece of furniture. It has 'Made in British India' stamped on the underside of the table. All the little pieces of white are inlaid ivory. The wood has taken on that glorious patina only time can give.

It is a much treasured possession. I am it's custodian until it will be passed on to the next generation. It is a memory of a much loved man. One of many who went through God only knows what to fight for our freedom. Bless you Bill. You are still very much in our hearts after twenty five years. It is an honour to care for this wonderful item.

Beetroot Chutney

2009-08-12T22:02:00.006+01:00

I love beetroot. I love the colour. I love the way your hands turn bright pink when working with it. Oh the simple pleasures of life in the kitchen. I prefer this chutney to plain old pickled beetroot. If you grow your own this is the perfect way of using it.. The recipe comes from my Mother's old recipe book. Ludicrously simple, you just can't fail. I love it on just about everything. It is perfect with goats cheese and the colour gives wonderful contrast. It keeps for ages in a cool dark place.

Beetroot Chutney

Ingredients

1.3Kilos/3 lbs cooked beetroot cubed
225g/ 1/2 lb cooking apples cubed
2 large onions finely chopped
225g/ 1/2 lb sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teasp salt
568mls/1 pint malt vinegar
juice of a lemon

Approx 6 warm sterilised jam jars.

Method

Place the vinegar, salt, ginger, lemon juice, and sugar in a large thick based pan.
Add the apples and onions and give it all a good stir.
Boil for20 minutes
Add the beetroot amd boil for a further 15 mins or until nice and thick
Spoon into the warm jars.
Seal tightly.
Store in a cool dark place

That's it

Baileys Cheese Cake

2009-08-03T22:50:00.003+01:00

My hairdresser Wendy gave me this recipe at Christmas time. It is so quick and easy. Quick and easy is always good at Christmas. It was such a hit I made it today for the family who have a habit of dropping by for dinner. Very very rich unhealthy and huge in calories. If you want healthy don't eat dessert. Have an apple. It takes but a few minutes to throw together and just needs a little chill in the fridge.

Baileys Cheese Cake

500g/1lb 4 oz Philadelphia Cheese
100g/40z icing sugar
250mls/9fl oz/1 cup double/heavy cream
Baileys Irish Cream to taste

Base

15 digestive biscuits
50g/2 oz melted butter

Method

Crush the digestive biscuits into fine crumb and mix with the melted butter. I did this in the food processor.
Press into the bottom of a 20cm/8" springform cake tin

Mix all the other ingredients together in a large bowl.
Beat until smooth, thick and well combined
Pile on top of the biscuit base
Chill in the fridge until needed
That's it

I decorated it with bits of chocolate. I just spread strips of melted white,milk and dark chocolate on the work top then when it was hard scraped it up with a palette knife to make splinters. I had too much so I popped the extra in a jar for another day.

Quick Lemon Chicken.

2009-08-02T20:56:00.004+01:00

I pinched this recipe from another Blog. Not a food blog but Grannymar's. It's a very good read. Lot's of short stories of interest. The comments are pretty interesting too. Monday is recipe day and I liked the look of this. Grannymar had borrowed it and changed it and in turn I borrowed and changed it. It's just one of those dishes. I always find chicken breast a little tasteless unless it is attached to the bird so I used a little bacon to add flavour. It is very quick and easy. A handy dish for when in a hurry or when you have a few veggies needing using up. Grannymar's version can be found here So with apologies to Grannymar here is my version

Quick Lemon Chicken

Serves two

1 tablespoon oil.
4 strips of smoked streaky bacon cut into smal pieces
2 chicken breasts cut in strips
2 garlic cloves crushed
6 tenderstems of broccoli or florets.
3 chopped spring onions
6 cherry tomatoes halved
1 heaped teaspoon cornflour/starch.
1 tablespoon clear honey ( I used maple syrup.)or 2 teaspoons sugar
grated zest of half lemon plus juice of 1 lemon
Approx. 100mls chicken stock
1/2 a teasp chilli paste
A quick splash from the open bottle of wine (I used marsala)
Handful of toasted pine nuts.
Flat leaved parsley or coriander to garnish

Heat a large frying pan or wok.
Toss the pinenuts around until toasted. Set to the side.
Add the oil to the pan and fry the bacon. Set to the side
Add chicken and fry 3-4 minutes until golden, do not burn. Set to the side with the bacon
Add the garlic, broccoli, tomatoes and spring onions.
Stir fry for a minute or so, then cover and cook 2 minutes more until almost tender
Mix the cornflour, honey (maple syrup)or sugar, chilli paste, stock and booze (if using) in a small jug, then pour into pan and stir to thicken.
Tip the chicken back into the pan and let it heat through, then add the lemon zest and juice and the pine nuts.
Stir and garnish with the parsley and/or coriander.
Serve with rice or new baby potatoes.