Scottish Morning Rolls

These are an institution in Scotland. They just cannot be replicated the same way anywhere else. One of the many things I miss about my youth in Scotland. I remember well in my training days our route from the nurse's home to the bus stop took us past the hospital kitchens. Cookie was always so obliging and shoved a fried egg into one of these delicious warm -from- the -oven rolls to feed each hungry young nurse on the hoof. We ran on to the bus, egg yolk dribbling down our chins. Oh I can taste it yet. Pure Ambrosia. I don't pretend that these rolls are anywhere near what the Scots enjoy for breakfast from their local bakers but, when you can't just pop out and buy them locally they are not a bad second.



500gms/18oz Strong White Bread Flour
50gms /2oz lard
1 teasp salt
1 envelope/7gms fast action yeast
150mls/5 fluid oz/1/4 pint warm water
150mls /5 fluid oz/1/4 pint warm milk
A little milk for glazing.
Extra flour for dusting
Oil for kneading

Mix the dry ingredients together.
Rub in the lard.
Add both liquids and combine with a well oiled hand until a soft dough is formed.
If it is dry add more water but only a trickle at a time.
Knead for ten minutes by hand or your preferred method.
Place in a covered bowl and allow to double in size in a warm place (Approx. 1 hour)
Knock back and divide into 8 pieces. Form into flattish discs about 2-3 cms thick and place quite close together on a floured baking sheet.
Dredge with flour cover with a tea towel and leave to rise again for 1/2-3/4 of an hour.
Brush the tops with milk and dredge with more flour
Indent the top of each roll with your thumb about 1.5cms/1/2 inch
Bake at 180.c/350.F/Gas 4 for 15-20 minutes
Remove to a cooling rack and cover with a tea towel.
Eat while still warm
Better still have that fried egg ready.

Oatie Biscuits with a Bit of Chocolate Decadence

These are the first biscuits I ever made. I was a child then and my mother gave me the cookery lesson. I am still making them today and why not. They are so simple to make, so crisp and moreish. They can be left plain, a wee bit of caster sugar sprinkled over, or, tarted up with a bit of chocolate. What more do you want with a cup of tea in the afternoon?

225gms/8oz softened butter or margarine
100gms/4oz caster sugar
100gms /4oz plain flour
275gms/10oz porridge oats

Cream the butter and sugar together
Add the flour and mix well
Add porridge oats and mix well again.
Roll out on a floured surface to approx. 1/2cm/1/4inch thick
Cut out with a small cutter

Bake at 180./350.F/Gas4
for about 15 minutes or until just turning golden brown.
Remove to a cooling rack to crisp up.
Decorate whatever way you want.
Sometimes I make them a little thinner and sandwich them with chocolate.

Yields approx. 30 biscuits.

Another Chocolate Cake

I have certainly been in cake overdrive this week. My daughter requested a cake to take into work. I decided on the Chocolate cake from Nigel Slater's Appetite. It is a lovely cake and very dependable. He has ground hazlenuts in the recipe which I did not include just in case the happy munchers had nut allergies. It is basically a pound cake recipe. Although he leaves the cake plain I added a ganache topping splattered with white chocolate for decoration. I am happy to report that not a crumb was left and it was greatly enjoyed.

250g/9oz butter
250g /9oz demerara or dark brown sugar
4 large eggs
3 tbspns espresso coffee
250g /9oz plain flour
2 heaped tspns baking powder
200g /7oz coarsely ground hazelnuts
250g/9oz chopped fine dark chocolate (It should look like gravel)

Line a 23 cm tin and preheat oven to 180C/350F/gas4
Beat the butter and sugar till fluffy and pale.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating lightly between each addition. Don't worry if it curdles a bit. Stir in the coffee.
Sift in the flour and baking powder and fold in.
Fold in most of the hazelnuts and chocolate, keeping a little back for the top of the cake.
The mixture should be quite firm.
Pour into tin and smooth the top, scattering over the rest of the nuts and chocolate.
Bake for 1 hour and 20 mins or until springy, leaving an inserted skewer clean.
Leave for half an hour or so before cutting.
Best served warm

Ganache
100mls Double cream
100 gms dark chocolate

Place the cream and broken pieces of chocolate into a saucepan.
Bring to the boil, remove from the heat and beat until thick and smooth.

A Simple Everyday Curry

The notion of a curry is what the British during their rule in India referred to when eating spicy food. Indians in India would never have used the word curry to describe all sorts of dishes. They would use individual names reflecting the regional variations of countless curry dishes. A curry in India is a spicy stew like dish, something that has a sauce base. The days of the Raj were decadent and this was reflected in their cooking.Every social event paid special attention to the food and the British Memsahibs ran households that included chefs and cooks. Many of them were highly trained to cater for the western palate. Often, the grand meals would have consisted of game and poultry which was of poor quality so the cooks would often have to improvise by creating hybrid dishes such as chapatis and homemade jam. Breakfasts would consist of omelettes seasoned with spices and the simple Indian dish of rice and lentils known as kichidi turned into the British kedgeree with the addition of smoked kippers shipped from England. So from morning, noon until night, all the meals became a fusion of western and eastern cooking traditions. Just as the British in India had endeavoured to replicate home comfort cuisine, when they arrived back in Blighty, they craved a little of the East and that was 'curry'.

If you are a purist about Asian food I suggest you turn away now. This is not the sort of curry you will get in restaurants but nevertheless it is a warming spicy dish which can use fresh meat or it can be a quick sauce for left over cooked meat such as chicken. Just the thing for something tasty when you don't want to slave over lists of ingredients.

The original recipe comes from The Good Granny Cookbook by Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall. A wonderful book full of traditional British family recipes with a bit of an update. It is one I reach for when I am tired and don't want any complications in the day.

1 Tablespoon oil
1 Large onion finely chopped
2 Cloves garlic finely chopped
1 Large carrot cubed
1 Large potato cubed
Curry Powder or Paste (Whatever heat and strength suits your palate)
1 Tablespoon tomato puree
1 Tablespoon Spicy Fruit Chutney (If you don't have chutney in your store cupboard marmalade will do)
Stock or water
2 tablespoons of thick cream or greek yoghurt
Salt and Pepper
225gms/8ozs long grain rice of your choice.

Method

In a saucepan fry the onions garlic carrot and potatoes for about five minutes until they begin to brown.
Add the curry powder or paste modifying the amount to your taste
Add the tomato puree, chutney and enough stock/water to cover the vegetables.
Stir well bring to the boil and simmer gently for about twenty minutes.
Meanwhile put a large saucepan with salted water on to boil for the rice.
Put the rice into the boiling salted water.
When it is ready drain and return to the saucepan and cover with a tea towel and the saucepan lid.
When the sauce has been simmering for twenty minutes add the meat, stir and continue to simmer.
Just before serving season and stir in the cream or yoghurt.
Serve with warm flat breads to mop up the delicious sauce.

If using fresh meat use about 225gms/8oz and brown off with the onions and vegetables. Add more stock and if using lamb or beef allow to cook until tender (about an hour) adding more stock/water as required. If using fresh chicken cooking time will be a lot less and of course don't cook the rice until the meat is almost cooked.

I rather like a knob of butter stirred into the rice before serving but that of course is up to you and your personal health standards!

Ruby Velvet Chocolate Cake

It would seem I have been in cake baking mode this past few days. My granddaughter wanted to make a chocolate cake to decorate with smarties so who was I to deny her? We made one in a sandwich tin for her and one in a loaf tin. for me. It would make a wonderful layer cake and I certainly will do this with it the next time and there will definitely be a next time. I had a few items that needed using up so I tried to plan a cake round those. The cake ended up as light as a feather but so intensely chocolatey it surprised me as the colour of the cake was not as dark as some I have made. The ganache topping was perfect for it and just added to the chocolate decadence. The name? Well the little one wanted to call it Ruby. The texture made me think of velvet so Ruby Velvet Chocolate Cake it was.

Ingredients
200gms/7oz self raising flour
200gms/70z caster sugar
200gms/7oz softened butter or soft margerine
50gms/2oz cocoa powder
50gms/2oz dark chocolate
150mls/5fl oz creme fraiche
2 large eggs
2 teasps vanilla extract
2 x Sandwich tins greased and lined

Topping/Filling
50gms/2oz dark chocolate
50gms/2oz milk chocolate (or 100gms dark)
100mls double/heavy cream

Method
Heat oven to 180.C/350,F/Gas 4
Mix the flour and sugar in a large bowl
Add the butter/marg
Melt the chocolate in another bowl and add the eggs, cocoa, creme fraiche and vanilla and whisk well.
Add the chocolate mixture to the dry ingredients in the bowl and beat together really well.
Pour the mixture into the prepared tins and bake for about 30 mins until firm on top.
If using loaf tins they will take about ten minutes longer.
Allow to cool in the tins before turning out.

Topping /Filling
When the cakes have cooled
Break the chocolate into little pieces and add to the cream in a small saucepan.
Bring to the boil then remove from the heat and beat until thick and smooth.

If sandwiching the cakes spread the mixture on the underside of one cake. Place the other on top and spread the remaining mixture on it.

I sprinkled Belgian chocolate vermicelli over.

Time For A Cake

Today I really wanted to make a cake. I had plans for something terribly grand but the arrival of my grandchildren made me think again. I love them dearly but they are not great aids to the concentration. I also wanted to use a silicone loaf tin sent to me by my lovely forum friend George. I have never used silicone bake ware so this was to be something of an adventure. I like to make cakes in loaf tins as it makes it easier to slice and also to store. Now what to make. I lifted Nigella Lawson's How To be A Domestic Goddess. It opened immediately at Store Cupboard Orange Chocolate cake so off I went. It was so easy to throw together. I used my own home made marmalade which I always have in abundance
Melting chocolate and butter in a saucepan and mixing everything in was exactly the simplicity required for today's circumstances. A lovely moist light tangy cake was the end result and I would highly recommend it.

Ingredients:
125 grams /-5 oz unsalted butter
100 grams /4oz dark chocolate broken into pieces
300 grams/11 oz good quality orange marmalade
150 grams/+5oz castor sugar
a pinch of salt
2 large eggs beaten
150 grams /-5oz self-raising flour

Melt the butter slowly in a heavy-bottom saucepan. When it's almost melted, add chocolate pieces, stir and take off the heat. Stir with a wooden spoon, until chocolate has melted.
Add the marmalade, sugar, salt and eggs. Stir thoroughly (it's okay to leave small visible chunks of marmalade in the batter).
Add sifted flour gradually, stirring well each time.
Pour the batter into a buttered and floured 20-22 cm loose bottomed cake tin.
Bake at 180˚C/350.F/Gas 4 oven for 45-50 minutes, until the cake has set (test with a knife or skewer).
Leave to cool in the tin for about 10 minutes, then slide onto a plate.

I dusted with a little icing sugar.

Spuds

The Irish obsession with the humble potato. After a winter of peeling boiling champing and chipping what can be nicer than the first new potatoes of the season boiled in their jackets tossed in butter with herbs and sea salt. Sir Walter Raleigh, British explorer and historian known for his expeditions to the Americas, first brought the potato to Ireland in 1589 from South America and planted them at his Irish estate at Myrtle Grove,Youghal, near Cork, Ireland. Legend has it that he made a gift of the potato plant to Queen Elizabeth I . The local gentry were invited to a royal banquet featuring the potato in every course. Unfortunately, the cooks, uneducated in the matter of potatoes, tossed out the lumpy-looking tubers and brought to the royal table a dish of boiled stems and leaves which, being poisonous, promptly made everyone deathly ill. The potatoes were then banned from court. There have been famines and war but the potato remains one of Ireland's treasures and when you see them on your plate with the butter melting over them could you fault it?