Antics of a cycling cook

Homemade honey and walnut granola with Activia pouring yogurt

2010-11-16T20:16:00.002Z

I've had a really busy few weeks with not much time to cook any real food, I've been grabbing bits and pieces here an there as I and when I can. I'm sure you know the feeling.

Well, In my current state of having no time to do anything I was extremely happy to be sent some of Activia's new pouring yogurt to try, they even sent me a recipe for some delicious homemade granola to go with it.Pouring yogurt is a relatively new concept in the UK, I think I've seen it once before but it disappeared from the shelves pretty quickly. The taste is as good as the best yogurt you can buy, it's smooth and creamy and has that yogurty tang that I love. What makes this yogurt special is that it has a thinner consistency which makes it perfect for pouring over you breakfast cereal or it would be great for making smoothies or pouring over summer fruits for a snack.

The new Activia yogurt comes in three flavours, plain, vanilla and strawberry all of which are really tasty. My personal favourite is the plain, it sounds boring but what I really like about it is that it's so versatile, I can add all manner of lovely things like nuts fruit or honey.The granola recipe they sent me used maple syrup which I didn't have so I modified it to use honey instead, I also added some walnuts and seeds. Even if you can't get the yogurt you should definitely try this, it takes 5 minutes to put together, tastes great and makes a perfect breakfast. I've been eating mine with pouring yogurt and honey...

Homemade honey, walnut and seeds granola

Ingredients:

200ml honey
45g butter
300g rolled oats (not the quick cook kind)
1/2 tsp sea salt
75g each of walnut peices, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds (or use whatever nuts and seeds you like)
1 or 2 handfuls of sultanas or raisins

Method:

Preheat your oven to gas mark 4 and line a large baking tray with baking parchment.
In a small pan melt the butter and the honey together, meanwhile in a large bowl mix the oats, salt and nuts and seeds.
Once the butter and honey mixture has melted pour it into the bowl with the oats and mix everything well.
Pour the mix out onto the baking tray and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. You may need to turn the mixture once or twice during cooking to ensure it cooks evenly.
Once cooked leave to cool then mix in the sultanas.
Store in an airtight container and enjoy!

Lamb tagine with apricots and chickpeas

2010-11-02T19:57:00.005Z

I always struggle to answer when people ask me what my favourite food is, there are just so many delicious things out there that I couldn't possibly narrow it down to one. If I had to pick my top ten I think I could just about do it, although even then my list would probably have changed by the next week. There are a few things I just couldn't be without and they would definitely be on the list, pasta, cake, bread and tagine.Tagine is probably Morocco's best known dish and most famous export, it is a combination of meat (usually lamb but sometimes chicken), fruit, sweet spices, hot spices and often aromatic flavours like rose petals. I can't remember exactly when I first tried tagine but I do vividly remember how the melt in the mouth tender meat, sweet and spicy flavour and the amazing smell simply blew me away, it was as they say love at first bite and I've been hooked ever since.If you're going to make tagine yourself it well worth trying to get hold of a spice blend called ras-el-hanout (I really like this one). Ras-el-hanout roughly translates as top of the shop, so called because the spice sellers in the souks of Morocco blend their very best spices to make it. There are no rules as to what goes in to ras-el-hanout, it can contain up to and over twenty ingredients but there is almost always cinnamon, cumin, coriander, and chili, the blend I'm using contains all manner of good things including rose petals, lavender, cloves and ginger, it smells amazing!

This is my recipe for tagine, it is highly adaptable and I change it depending on what I have in the cupboard, you could add black olives, preserved lemon and you just have to have some kind of dried fruit, I really like dried apricots in this but prunes are delicious too.

Lamb Tagine (Serves 4)

Ingredients:

Olive oil
2-3 medium onions roughly chopped
4 cloves of garlic peeled and crushed to a paste
3 tsp Ras-el-hanout or 1 tsp each of ground cinnamon, cumin and coriander
1 small red chilli chopped (add more or less depending on how hot you want it)
1 tin (400g) of chickpeas drained
1 pint of stock (any kind)
1 tin (400g) of chopped tomatoes
Half a shoulder of lamb on the bone
3 medium carrots peeled and chopped into large chunks (you could use squash or sweet potato)
A good handful of dried apricots
Salt and pepper
A large handful of chopped fresh coriander

Method:

In a large pan over a gentle heat soften the onions in a little olive oil.
Add the garlic, chilli and spices to the pan and cook for a minute more.
Add the chickpeas, stock and tomatoes, mix well and bring to a simmer.
Add the lamb, carrots and apricots, season to taste and put in a low oven for 3-4 hours until the lamb falls off the bone.
Stir in the coriander just before serving and serve with cous cous or flatbread.

Pumpkin and spice cake

2010-10-27T10:04:00.004+01:00

A few weeks ago the people at Silver Spoon sent me some of their decorations to make something for Halloween. I had no idea what to make but eventually decided I'd make a pumpkin cake, after all when most people think of Halloween they think of pumpkins...
Halloween is almost upon us and while I don't really celebrate it myself I do take full advantage of the piles of the bright orange Halloween pumpkins that are being sold everywhere right now.

Pumpkin can be a delicious vegetable simply roasted with butter and a few herbs or stirred into a rich and creamy risotto. Unfortunately the pumpkins sold for carving are normally grown for size rather than flavour and can be a bit bland and watery, but don't be put off, they still have there uses such as in this pumpkin cake.The recipe I used is adapted from a bundt cake recipe I found at Pinch My Salt. I've converted it to a sandwich cake and used yoghurt rather than sour cream for the batter, I don't know how but yoghurt seems to give cakes softer, lighter texture, I use yoghurt in scones too for the same reason. I've also added walnuts to the cake because they just taste so good in this kind of cake.Pumpkin and spices belong together so I've used cream cheese cinnamon icing for this cake topped with candied orange peel and some fruit jellies kindly sent to me by Silver Spoon. The finished cake is very similar in texture to carrot cake but it has a distinctive pumpkin flavour, think of pumpkin pie in cake form and you'll have some idea of what it's like.

So when Halloween is over and your jack o' lanterns are finished with maybe you could give them a second life as a delicious pumpkin cake.

Caramelised mango with coconut panna cotta

2010-10-21T21:58:00.007+01:00

Having an organic veg box delivered is a great way to get your hands on a regular supply of top quality, super-fresh fruit and vegetables direct to your door. It's brilliant for those times when there's just too much going on and you're just too busy to get to a market or a good greengrocers. I love my veg box and wouldn't be without it.

Of course there are times when the veg box presents challenges, sometimes I get vegetables or fruit that I'm not used to cooking or on rare occasions something that I just don't like that much. The last two weeks have been like that, It's obviously the time for mangoes because they've been in my box two weeks in a row.I've used mango a few times before but it's not something I often buy. I've made mango cheesecake before and a really fantastic spicy mango salsa, this time however I chose to chop it into chunks and caramelise it to make a sweet, golden mango compote. It would have made a great topping for ice cream or paired with a dollop of Greek yogurt, I chose to serve mine with a silky smooth coconut panna cotta.Panna cotta is a classic Italian dessert that's incredibly easy to make having just four ingredients, cream, sugar, gelatine and vanilla. To make a coconut panna cotta I left out the vanilla and substituted some of the cream for coconut milk, the flavour of coconut isn't strong but the cream does have a light, delicate, tropical coconut flavour, the perfect partner to sweet sticky caramelised mango.

Coconut panna cotta with caramelised mango (Serves 6-8)

Ingredients:
For the caramelised mango:

1 Large mango, peeled, stoned and diced
5 Tablespoons white sugar
Water

For the panna cotta:

600ml/1 Pint double/heavy cream
400ml Coconut milk
75g White sugar
Gelatine leaves, enough to set 1 litre of liquid (Every brand of gelatine is different, I used 7 leaves of supercook gelatine but check your packet)

Method:
For the mango:

Put the sugar in a pan with a few spoonfuls of water, put it on the heat and bring to a boil. Keep boiling until it has turned a golden caramel colour.
When your sugar has caramelised add all the mango to pan, the sugar will seize but keep cooking and it will soften again.
Cook until the mango is soft and coated with a sticky syrup.
Set aside to cool for a few minutes then store in the fridge.

For the panna cotta:

First off put your gelatine leaves into a bowl of water to soften.
Place the cream, coconut milk and sugar into a saucepan and place on a gentle heat until it just begins to simmer, don't let the mixture boil.
When the cream mixture is just beginning to bubble around the edges take it of the heat and add the gelatine one sheet at a time whisking the mixture after each sheet has been added.
Once all the gelatine had been dissolved pour the mixture into molds or glasses and place in the fridge to set.
Serve with a spoonful of caramelised mango on top.

In The Bag - Chicken and Chestnut Pie with Leeks, Mushrooms and Tarragon

2010-10-13T09:22:00.010+01:00

This October sees the return of 'In The Bag' the seasonal food blogging event run by Julia from A Slice of Cherry Pie and Scott from The Real Epicurean. The challenge is to cook a dish which includes three seasonal ingredients which are chosen for us. The ingredients this month were mushrooms, herbs and nuts, I couldn't have been happier with that selection, it's almost as if they were chosen just for me.Aside from any Blumenthalesque concoctions sweet dishes were obviously out of the question, on the savoury side however the possibilities were almost endless. October really is a great month to be in the kitchen, the sheer vastness of the fresh, seasonal food available to me right now meant I really was spoilt for choice. I toyed with idea of doing a pasta dish -pine nuts, wild mushrooms, mixed herbs and maybe a creamy sauce- or maybe making a stuffing with the nuts and the herbs to fill some chicken breasts. In the end it was the weather that decided it for me, it's got quite a bit colder here in the past week and what I needed, what I really wanted, was pie.
The inspiration for my pie came from a recipe I saw a while back for a beef and chestnut pie, I thought that while the beef pie sounded really good chestnuts would probably go better with chicken, so that's what I did.

Chicken thighs are much more succulent and flavoursome than chicken breast which can easily dry out and can taste a bit bland. For the meat in my pie I first roasted chicken thighs on the bone until they were golden brown then shredded the meat off the bone ready to add to the filling. For the base of the pie I gently softened sweet young leeks and mild onions in butter so they cooked without colour, they add a sweetness and a delicious background flavour to the pie that perfectly compliments the chicken.To the base I added chopped chestnut mushrooms which are a bit chunkier and meatier than the usual white ones, I would have loved to use wild mushrooms if only I had had some. For the herbs I used a mixture of parsley and chickens best friend, tarragon. The parsley was more for colour than flavour but the tarragon has an amazing aniseed flavour that I just love and works fantastically well with chicken.

The final ingredient was the chestnuts, I used ready cooked and peeled chestnuts, the ready prepared are usually excellent quality but you could use fresh ones if you can get them. The chestnuts added a much needed texture contrast, without them it would all have been a bit too soft, they also add a wonderfully autumny nuttiness to the whole dish. I'm always sad to see the summer slipping away but it's delicious treats like chestnuts that remind me that there are still good things to look forward to, it won't be long before I'm drinking mulled wine and roasting fresh chestnuts over the fire.....

Chicken and chestnut pie (serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

125g cold butter, diced
250g plain white flour
Salt
Water

For the filling:

6 Large chicken thighs, bone-in, skin on
Butter
Olive oil
2-3 Leeks
3 Medium white onions
250g Chestnut mushrooms
2 Handfuls of finely chopped parsley
The leaves from 3 or 4 sprigs of tarragon
200g cooked and peeled chestnuts
6 large heaped spoonfuls of creme fraiche
Salt and black pepper
An egg for glazing the pastry

Method:
For the pastry:

First make the pastry. Place the flour in a large mixing bowl with a pinch of salt, rub in the butter cubes using your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs.

Add a couple of tablespoons of water and bring the mixture together with your hands. If it doesn't form into a ball add a little more water.

Once you have a smooth ball of dough place it back in the bowl, cover it and leave it in the fridge while you start on the filling.

For the filling:

First you need to cook the chicken thighs, season them well with salt then place them in a roasting tin and cook in a medium oven until golden brown. Once cooked leave them to cool then remove the skin and tear the meat from the bones. Set the meat aside and discard the skin and bones. (or do as I did and feed the skin to your cat).

Now clean the leeks by slicing them lengthwise from the base leaving the root intact, wash them well to remove any grit or soil them slice into smallish pieces along with the onions.

In a large heavy frying pan melt a good chunk of butter and a splash of olive oil, add the leeks and onions and cook slowly and gently so they are soft but not coloured.

Slice the chestnut mushrooms leaving them quite chunky and add them to the leeks and onions, stir them well in and leave them to cook.

Finely chop the parsley and tarragon and add it to the pan, tarragon is quite strong so you won't need a lot, taste the mixture and add more tarragon if it needs it.

As soon as the mushrooms have cooked stir in the shredded chicken, chestnuts and creme fraiche, season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. taste the mixture and adjust the seasoning to taste.

Spoon the mixture into an oven proof pie dish then roll our your pastry.

Lay the pastry over the top of the pie filling, pushing it well down onto the edge of the dish so it has sealed. Trim off any excess pastry and brush the top with a little beaten egg, cut a few holes in the top to allow steam to escape the bake at about gas 5/190c/375f for 30-45 minutes or until the pastry is cooked and golden brown.

Rillons - Confit pork belly

2010-10-07T21:57:00.001+01:00

I'm not a vegetarian but I'm no blood-thirsty carnivore either. I'll happily much my way through meat-free meals without so much as thinking about the big hunk of chicken or piece of steak that I could have been eating. To me a well made vegetarian dish can be every bit as good as -if not better than- its meaty counterpart. That said, there are those times when I get an itch that only something rich, unctuous, succulent and meaty can scratch, it's times like these that rillons were invented for...Rillons -a French speciality from the Loire Valley- are a kind of confit pork belly. Chunks of fatty belly pork slowly cooked in there own fat with a splash of wine, lots of garlic and thyme until they they become succulent, soft and melt in the mouth tender. After 3-4 hours of slow cooking they are very hard to resist but the French way is to eat them cold, I ate mine with homemade bread and Dijon mustard. Left preserved in their fat they should keep for a good few days in the fridge and make a great snack to take away hose carnivorous hunger pangs.I used Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's recipe as a guide adapting it to my taste. This kind of food is hugely adaptable, there's no reason why you couldn't use all manner of different herbs and seasonings, although being French I would say garlic was essential.

Recipe:
Ingredients:

1 pork belly weighing around 1kg or bigger diced into 1 1/2 inch squares
Sea salt
Lard
5-6 cloves of garlic
A glass of red wine
Sprigs of fresh thyme

Method:

Melt about a tablespoon of lard in a very hot pan and brown the cubes of pork until they are golden all over.
Season the pork with the salt and put all the pieces into a roasting dish along with the garlic, red wine, thyme and the fat from the frying pan.
cook in a low oven for anywhere from 2-4 hours until the meat is very tender.
Leave the meat in the roasting dish until cold and eat with good bread.

Adventures in bread

2010-09-29T10:11:00.006+01:00

When I was in year 7 (age 12) my class at school were given few 'cooking lessons' as part of our design classes. I don't remember everything we cooked but I do remember the first lesson making toasted cheese sandwiches and hot chocolate, I don't know how we did it but somehow we managed to make that class last two hours.

As the class went by things got a little more taxing, I remember doing flapjack one week and I can distinctly remember the pizza with the pre-made frozen pizza base, you wouldn't have gone back for a second slice, that's for sure.My last class was right before we split up for the Christmas holidays, and this time there was actually some cooking involved, we were going to make stollen. As you'd expect the marzipan was ready made and the dough was leavened with bicarb not yeast but still, it was cooking and I loved it!

My stollen was a disaster, the bread split as soon as I took it out of the oven, searing hot liquid marzipan gushed out across the worktop and on to the floor and I was lucky not to have been burnt! But that's not the point, I learned to love food and cooking and I've never stopped since.I'm not really going anywhere with this other than to show how far my baking has come along, I've made cakes, buns, scones, puddings and breads and more besides.

From top left clockwise: Chocolate Guinness cake, Sticky Chelsea buns, Clotted cream scones, Christmas pudding, Pumpkin bread

Although I am quite good at making simple breads I know that with a little work I could be a lot better. So I've set myself a challenge to improve my bread making as much as possible, I want to be able to make bread that's crisp on the outside but soft and chewy in the middle, the kind of bread you can buy in French bakeries that has great big air holes in it and bags of flavour. It's no easy task but I'm off to a good start, I've got myself a copy of Daniel Stevens River Cottage Bread Handbook and It's fantastic. I've already got books of bread recipes but where this one differs is that it explains why bread is made the way it is rather than just telling me to do it. No book I've had before has been so clear on what the consistency of the dough should be or how I should fold it, but those little points make the difference between good bread and great bread.These two loaves are my first attempt at making bread using the pre-ferment method, this involves making a small amount of very wet dough at least a day before the make the main batch. The pre-fermented dough is then added to the new dough giving it an amazing boost in flavour and vastly improving the texture. I actually couldn't believe how much difference such a simple technique could make until I tried it. I'll posting about my bread making every couple of weeks or whenever I discover anything new, hopefully by this time next year I'll have successfully baked sourdough and if things go really well croissants...Some other tips I picked up from the book were: -

Use Canadian bread flour if you can get it, it has the highest gluten content that results in the best bread.
The dough should be relatively sticky before you begin kneading it will begin to feel dryer and more elastic the longer you knead it.
Placing a tray of hot water in the oven prior to baking creates steam which keeps the crust softer for longer and allows your bread to rise higher during baking.
Most importantly of all, good bread takes time. Be patient!

Does anyone have any tips for making really good bread?

Spelt, walnut and plum cake

2010-09-22T14:18:00.008+01:00

We have a farmers market once a month here in Leicester, it has a small but growing range of stalls some good, some not so good and some fantastic. My favourite stall undoubtedly is Woodhouse Farm, they raise all their own animals and produce the most amazing meat, the pork is possibly the most flavourful and succulent I have ever tried and the bacon is to die for.

The last market was two weeks ago, all the usual stalls were there, the pie stall, the organic farm, the chili stall and a new stall that I had never seen or heard of before. Elizabeth's Bakery had a small stand on the end of a row, like all the best bakeries they had a range of cakes that was so beautiful and looked so mouth wateringly delicious I couldn't pull myself away. What I really liked about Elizabeth's was the baker himself (I don't know where Elizabeth was), he was just so enthusiastic about everything he sold, for every cake he would tell me exactly what was in it, how he made and why it was absolutely the best cake ever and I just had to buy some!

There were fruit tarts, meringues, sachertorte, and individual blueberry cheesecakes all of which looked beautiful. I however took home a square of spelt, plum and walnut cake, I'd never seen a cake made with spelt flour before and was really interested to see how it came out, plus I love walnuts and plums so in the end the choice was a no brainer.

I don't know whether it was the spelt flour or the skill of the baker but the cake was unbelievable, it had a soft and tender texture, it was extremely moist and the plums and walnuts added lots of flavour. The cake was so good I had to have a go at making it myself. Unfortunately bakers aren't so enthusiastic about giving away their recipes so I scoured the Internet for ideas and inspiration. As is so often the case the prolific and ever brilliant Nigel Slater came up trumps, he has created a recipe for a spelt cake that used damsons and spelt flour, although his final cake wasn't quite the same as the cake from the market it gave me some idea of where to start.

Ready for the oven

My cake is a combination of Nigel Slater's recipe, the cake from the market and my own ideas. It turned out so much better than I ever thought it would, I'd almost go as far as say it was the perfect cake. I used Victoria plums for my cake, they're coming to the end of the season now but there are still a few around and are well worth buying if you find some otherwise any good plums will be fine. I finished the cake with an apricot glaze and dark chocolate, I wasn't sure about adding the chocolate thinking it might be one ingredient too far but it actually works really well, the bitterness of the chocolate sets off the sweet cake perfectly.

The finished cake

Spelt, walnut and plum cake (makes 9-12 squares)

Ingredients:

150g Butter
150g Light soft brown sugar
3 Medium eggs
120g White spelt flour (I used Doves Farm organic flour, available from Sainsbury's and Waitrose in the UK, you can substitute with plain flour if you can't find any spelt although it won't be quite the same)
75g Ground almonds
2tsp Baking powder
9-10 Plums halved and stoned
70g Walnut pieces
Apricot baking glaze or smooth apricot jam
30g Dark chocolate (I used Green and Blacks cooks chocolate)

Method:

Grease and line a 22cm square cake tin with a removable base and preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180C.

In a mixing bowl or in an electric mixer cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy then one at a time beat in the eggs until everything is smooth and well combined.

Next sift in the flour and baking powder and add the ground almonds and half of the walnuts, fold everything together gently. Pour the mixture into the cake tin and smooth down the surface with a spatula. Lay the plum halves on top, place them close together as they will shrink during cooking and you want to be sure there is plum in every slice, scatter the remaining walnut halves over.

Bake for 45-60 minutes, it's done when it feels firm to the touch. Leave the cake to cool on a rack before removing from the tin. Spread the apricot glaze over the top of the cake, be quite generous with it. Melt the chocolate in a bowl placed over some warm water then drizzle over the top. Once the chocolate has set the cake is ready.

Kentish cobnut pesto

2010-09-15T20:06:00.001+01:00

I always like to experiment with new ingredients so I was delighted (and somewhat surprised) to find these fresh cobnuts at my local supermarket, still green and in there husks as nature intended. Cobnuts are a cultivated variety of hazelnut and a speciality of Kent, they are slightly larger than normal hazelnuts and have a delicious mild and milky flavour when eaten raw but a much more robust and nutty flavour when toasted. They are also a very seasonal ingredient, only available for a few weeks at the beginning of September.According to the Kentish Cobnut Association children used to play a version of conkers with cobnuts but I had a much better use for them. I was torn between two possible recipes for my wonderful cobnuts. One was a cobnut and apple cake which I'm sure would be a perfect combination, the other, and the recipe I settled for was a cobnut pesto using toasted cobnuts, flat leaf parsley, olive oil and Parmesan.

Shelling cobnuts is a time consuming task but by the time I had reached the last of the nuts I had become quite proficient at cracking the shells using a meat tenderiser, one swift whack and off the shells came. I dry toasted all but a handful of the shelled nuts in a hot pan until they were golden brown, the smell of toasted nuts was too good to resist nibbling on a few as I grated some Parmesan.Once The nuts had cooled I added them to the blender along with a large bunch of parsley, a big handful of grated Parmesan and a generous quantity of olive oil which I added in a steady trickle until the consistency looked just right.

Served tossed through tagliatelle pasta with a handful of wild rocket leaves, a few tomatoes and sprinkling of chopped raw cobnuts for a bit of crunch this made a delicious alternative to the usual basil pesto. If you can't find cobnuts this would work almost as well with good hazelnuts.
Cobnut (or hazelnut) pesto recipe (Added to pasta will serve at least 4)

Ingredients:

450g/1lb cobnuts in there shell (or about 200g shelled nuts)
A large bunch of fresh flat leaf parsley
A good handful of grated Parmesan
The best olive oil you have

Method:

Shell the nuts and toast in a hot dry pan until golden brown, nuts burn very easily so watch them!
Set the nuts aside to cool while you grate the Parmesan cheese
Add the cooled toasted nuts, parsley (stalks and all), Parmesan and a good slug of olive oil to a blender, blend everything together to a paste and add more oil until the consistency is right, it should be quite loose not thick or dry.
Toss through pasta or use in any recipe where pesto is called for

Alternatively you can use a pestle and mortar to make this, follow the steps above but grind everything in the mortar.

Honey glazed Bara Brith

2010-09-12T15:08:00.004+01:00

Bara Brith is a classic and very traditional Welsh fruit bread. The name Bara Brith literally translates as "speckled bread" as it is liberally speckled with raisins, currants, sultanas and mixed peel, it is made with brown sugar and flavoured with a mixture of spices such as cinnamon.Bara brith is sold in bakeries and tea shops all over Wales and is available in two varieties, one is risen with yeast which gives a more bread like texture, the other is risen with baking powder which results in a cakier texture. The yeasted version is the more traditional of the two but they are both equally good, if you ever find yourself in Wales make sure you stop by a tea room and order a slice.

Bara Brith is one of those strange foods that's right on the line between bread and cake. On the one hand it is sweet and full of fruit like cake, on the other hand it contains no added fat and can be toasted like a bread. Whatever you call it it is undeniably delicious and just perfect with a good cup of tea.The recipe I used comes from North Wales Tourism, I figured if ever there was an authentic recipe this would be it.
The first part of this recipe is also the most important, the mixture of dried fruit must be soaked in strong tea until it has become swollen, plump and juicy. It is vital that the fruit is soaked so that the finished bread is tender and moist not dry and crumbly. Once you have soaked your fruit the recipe is a doddle to make, just mix the ingredients together and bake in a greased pan, the mixture takes a long time to bake so you may need to cover it with foil halfway through to prevent the top from burning. Once cooked give the top a liberal brushing with honey and leave to cool. Serve spread with butter, Welsh of course!

The recipe can be found here.

Beef satay skewers with peanut dipping sauce

2010-09-07T15:55:00.003+01:00

I know, I know, it's been way too long since I last posted! I'm sorry. After I finished my exams (which I passed, yay!) I just kind of ran out of inspiration. It's not that I haven't been cooking just nothing particularly blog worthy.

A couple of weeks ago I was skimming through the Serious Eats newsletter when I came across a recipe for beef satay. Now I love satay but normally it's made with chicken and the peanut sauce is cooked onto the meat this recipe is different and it instantly grabbed my attention.Unlike the more usual chicken this satay is made with cubes of beef which are marinaded in a mixture of soy and fish sauce with garlic, chili, coriander, onion and a little brown sugar. The marinade alone is unbelievably good, it's salty, sweet and slightly spicy and would make fantastic steaks just simply grilled.
For the satay part of the recipe a peanut sauce is made with peanut butter, chili, garlic, coriander and brown sugar. It makes a wonderful creamy yet spicy sauce to dip the skewers into or pour over the top.Ideally these would be cooked over charcoal for an authentic charred and smoky flavour, when I cooked these it was cold and raining so I just used a very hot griddle which worked well. I served them scattered with chopped coriander leaves and a squeeze of lime juice. Thai Jasmine rice makes a perfect accompaniment.

The recipe can be found here.

I haven't been abducted!

2010-04-21T18:44:00.002+01:00

It's just that I have piles of essays, reports and exams to do! Normal service will resume shortly....

Chocolate Guinness cake for St. Patricks day

2010-03-17T21:46:00.003Z

St Patrick's day isn't really a big celebration here but I couldn't let it pass by without a mention, especially as I had found the perfect recipe for it.

Anyone who knows me could tell you that I love chocolate and I love Guinness so the idea of combining the two together in a cake had instant appeal, the fact that I had all the ingredients and it's st Patrick's day left me with little choice but to try this recipe out.The cake itself has a whole cup of Guinness in it as well as cocoa, flour, butter and an alarming amount of sugar. I hope you can see from the photo just how moist soft and rich it is, you really can taste the Guinness too which I was particularly pleased about. The topping is a simple cream cheese affair of the kind you'd put on a carrot cake, I've flavoured mine with Irish whiskey but you could also use Baileys to good effect.I've made a lot of chocolate cakes in the past and I can safely say this is one of the best, it's deep flavoured, rich and not at all dry. Perfect!

There are recipes for this cake all over the Internet, I found this one over at Moveable Feasts who got it from the New York Times. It looks like originally it came from Nigella. I should have guessed...

Recipe

For the cake:
Butter for pan
1 cup Guinness stout
10 tablespoons (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter
3/8 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups superfine sugar
3/8 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

For the topping:
1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
A splash of Irish whiskey to flavour

1. For the cake: heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and line with parchment paper. In a large saucepan, combine Guinness and butter. Place over medium-low heat until butter melts, then remove from heat. Add cocoa and superfine sugar, and whisk to blend.

2. In a small bowl, combine sour cream, eggs and vanilla; mix well. Add to Guinness mixture. Add flour and baking soda, and whisk again until smooth. Pour into buttered pan, and bake until risen and firm, 45 minutes to one hour. Place pan on a wire rack and cool completely in pan.

3. For the topping: Using a food processor or by hand, mix confectioners' sugar to break up lumps. Add cream cheese and blend until smooth. Add the whiskey and mix until smooth and spreadable.

4. Remove cake from pan and place on a platter or cake stand. Ice top of cake only, so that it resembles a frothy pint of Guinness.

Haddock with chorizo, peppers and potatoes

2010-03-03T16:10:00.003Z

You may remember a few weeks back I wrote about the hamper of foody goodies I won from Unearthed, in amongst the feta, salami and olives was a little tray of mini chorizo sausages which were just crying out to be turned into a dish that was vibrant, colourful and summery. So that's what I did.Foodycat suggested I try pairing the chorizo with squid which sounds like a wonderful combination, unfortunately I didn't have any squid but I did have some Haddock fillets so in keeping with the seafood idea I used those instead.

I've mentioned before how much I like one-pot recipes and this is another on of those, it's a quick and easy recipe that gives fantastic results.

First I fried the little chorizos until their deep red paprika infused oil began to fill the pan then I added chopped new potatoes, tossed them in the oil and left it to sizzle for a few minutes with the lid on.
While the potatoes and chorizo were cooking I chopped some red and yellow peppers and crushed some garlic, I added these to the pan along with a generous splash of sherry and covered it again for five minutes more.
When the peppers had softened I added a handful of cherry tomatoes, laid the haddock fillets on top and covered the pan once more.
Five minutes later it's done! serve with the cooking liquid spooned over the top and some good crusty bread to mop it up.

Slow-cooked cottage pie

2010-02-21T15:44:00.002Z

It's been a long time coming but here it is, my cottage pie recipe!

Although there's no sign of it today I have been confidently assured that spring is no far away, with that in mind I've been cooking up some of my favourite winter dishes before the weather turns back to spring and the time for summer recipes returns.

One of mine (and I think everybodies) favourites has to be cottage pie. My cottage pie is a slight twist from the classic recipe as I used braising steak instead of the usual mince, after slow-cooking the steak for several hours it became so tender it just fell apart and left me with a fantastic rich, meaty stew, the perfect filling for my pie.I really love the crispy crusty bits on top of a cottage pie, to achieve maximum crustiness I always fluff up the top before baking and then flash it under the grill before serving.
Recipe:

For the filling: -

400g braising/stewing steak cut into large chunks, seasoned and dusted with flour
Sunflower or other cooking oil
2 medium onions roughly chopped
A stick of celery finely sliced
3 carrots roughly chopped
A pint of beef stock
A couple of bay leaves
Salt and pepper

For the topping: -

3 large potatoes peeled
Milk
Butter
Salt and pepper

Method: -

To prepare the filling first put a large casserole dish on the hob at a medium heat
Add a little oil and cook the meat until it is well browned
Add the onions celery and carrots and cook for a minute longer
Tip in the stock, add the bay leaves and bring to a gentle simmer
Cover the casserole dish and turn the heat right down, leave it to cook for at least an hour, preferably 2 or more.

To make the mash topping simply boil the potatoes until tender, drain, add hot milk, butter and seasoning then mash!

To assemble pour the filling into an oven proof dish
Spoon the potato on top and fluff up well for extra crustiness
Bake at gas 4 for 1-1 1/2 hours until golden
If the top isn't crusty enough just stick it under the grill for a minute.
Serve!

Back soon!

2010-02-10T22:29:00.002Z

I know there's been a distinct lack of posts recently so I thought I'd let everyone know that I've not vanished I'm just really busy! As well as studying full time for my degree I have a job and over the past few weeks the workload has gone right up.

I have a recipe for a delicious slow cooked cottage pie coming in in the next few days and hopefully I'll be back to regular posting soon.

I will be back!

I won, I won!

2010-01-21T19:38:00.003Z

It's not often that I win competitions but just before Christmas I won! I entered a competition run by a new company called Unearthed to win a hamper of food and a cookbook by Silvana Rowe (of Saturday Kitchen fame) called Feasts: food for sharing from central and eastern Europe.The hamper I was sent was fantastic! Unearthed produce a really wide selection of traditional foods from around Europe such as barrel aged Feta cheese, chorizo, Milano salami, and olives with manchego and whole chilies. The hamper I was sent contained all of these and a whole lot more besides. I was particularly pleased with the mini cooking chorizos they sent me which I have been searching for for a long long time with no success. The Catalan mini cooking sausages with fennel sound really interesting too and I have the perfect recipe lined up for those...
Unearthed are a new company that are bringing out new products all the time, the food is of really high quality and is a joy to cook with and eat! If you're in the UK you can find their products in Waitrose or get it from Able and Cole. If you're not in the UK then sorry, you can't! but there is a great blog that's worth checking out, it even features a couple of my recipes!

Now, on to the cookbook.I was really excited to get the cookbook as eastern European food is something I know virtually nothing about. There are recipes for strudel, goulash, poppy seed cake and a whole chapter on dumplings! I was thoroughly impressed by the book, the layout is attractive and easy on the eye, the pictures are fantastic, and best of all the recipes are different to what I'm used to and that makes them interesting and exciting to cook.

The recipe I chose to cook from the book was Chicken Imereti, it's Georgian recipe containing a whole lot of garlic, chili, cumin, saffron and walnuts. To make it the walnuts are ground to a paste along with the other ingredients then cooked up as a stew with some chicken pieces and stock, the result is chicken cooked in a spicy, almost satay like sauce. The recipe was a big hit, it's only down side being the cost, saffron and walnuts aren't cheap!
I whole-heartedly recommend the book, it really is brilliant, if you want to try something different then give it a go!

My thanks to the people at Unearthed for the brilliant prize!

Chicken with tomato basil and red pepper sauce

2010-01-17T19:28:00.004Z

I've often heard it said that the best meals are those that are unplanned and prepared from just what you have in your cupboards and freezer. That was certainly proved true yesterday when I found myself needing to prepare a meal and had nothing planned.I came up with this chicken dish which looked so good I just had to get a photo to post on the blog. Not only is it delicious but it's quick to prepare and only uses one pan which is always a good thing in my book!
Using an oven proof pan I first prepared a sauce made from onions, red pepper, tomatoes, garlic and basil, I buried some big juicy chicken breasts in the sauce making sure they were well smothered then baked them until perfectly cooked, a good handful of grated Parmesan finished the dish perfectly.

Chicken with tomato basil and red pepper sauce:

Ingredients:

A large white onion roughly chopped
A large red pepper chopped into dice
Olive oil
2-3 Cloves of garlic crushed and chopped
A 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
A large bunch of fresh basil (substitute dried)
3-4 Large chicken breasts
A large handful of grated parmesan

Method:

In an oven proof pan soften the onion and pepper in the olive oil
Add the garlic and cook for a minute longer
Add the tin of tomatoes to the pan along with the basil and bring to a gentle simmer
Bury the chicken breasts in the sauce making sure they are well covered, this will stop them drying out
Bake the chicken for around half an hour in a medium oven, halfway through cooking scatter over the parmesan.
Serve with pasta potatoes or rice.

Jordans Country Crisp tropical pavlova

2010-01-05T09:40:00.005Z

Just before Christmas I was sent two boxes of Jordans Country Crisp to try, thanks to the hecticness that is Christmas it's taken until now to finally get around to trying them! For those of you that don't know Country Crisp is a mixture of crunchy oaty clusters that come mixed with a variety of delicious additions such as chocolate or strawberries.I've actually tried Country Crisp lots of times before, like a lot of people it's one of my favourite cereals and something I've grown up with. What I didn't know was that there is a Country Crisp Appreciation Society and that there was more to Country Crisp than pouring milk over it for breakfast, you can cook with it too!I was sent a whole page of recipe ideas to try and then found even more on their website, there are brownies, scones, muffins and loads more, the recipe I most liked the sound of was the meringue layer cake with cream and tropical fruit.

The original recipe called for layers of meringue baked on a bed of Country Crisp stacked up with whipped cream and tropical fruit. I borrowed the idea to make a Country Crisp pavlova with tropical fruit and passion fruit cream. The meringue base is made to a basic meringue recipe (egg whites, sugar) with a little of my home-made vanilla extract for flavour, the twist is that I spooned the meringue on top of a layer of chocolate Country Crisp before baking which gave it a fantastic crunchy texture and a lot more flavour than just plain meringue.The topping is made from cream whipped with the juice of two passion fruits then topped with chopped mango, kiwi fruit and more passion fruit. The finished pavlova was the perfect dessert for New Years Day, it wasn't to heavy which was a relief to everyone after all the heavy Christmas food, plus it brought a bit of sunshine into my house so we could all forget it was -3c outside!

Happy Christmas!

2009-12-30T22:27:00.003Z

I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas! This is The Best Christmas Pudding I Have Ever Tasted soaked in brandy and set on fire, it was just as good as I hoped it would be!Thanks to everyone who has supported my blog by reading it and leaving comments over the last year, you're what keeps this blog going.... Happy new year everybody!

Christmas gift ideas

2009-12-16T20:08:00.008Z

A couple of weeks ago Nick from vouchercodes.co.uk challenged me to find a really great gift for foodies. The challenge was broad, I could choose anything at all from coffee machines to waffle irons, pots and pans to food hampers, I even considered a hot dog rotisserie although I came to my senses and quickly abandoned that idea! So what did I choose?

Eventually after much thought and trawling the web I settled on a genuine Italian Imperia pasta machine. You might be thinking it's an odd choice, you quite likely have a pasta machine long forgotten at the back of a cupboard probably next to the bread machine and the smoothie maker. I decided to go for a pasta machine quite simply because I love pasta, it's proabaly my favourite food of all and I like the idea of being able to make my own. It also allows me to be creative, I have plans to try flavoured pasta such as tomato or spinach or herbs.For the first test run of the pasta machine I went for the simple option, I wanted the pasta to be the star of the dish and not so much the sauce, although of course it still had to be delicious! So my old friend and standby pasta carbonara it was.

The pasta machine can make four different types of pasta with the attachment I have (you can buy different attachments for ravioli, fusili etc), lasagna, papardelle, tagliatelle and linguine, I chose tagliatelle this time around.Making the pasta was much easier than I expected it to be, once you've made the dough (just flour, eggs and salt) you simply pass it through the rollers progressively rolling it thinner and thinner until it is as thin as you want it the put it through the cutters and out comes beautiful fresh pasta!

Pasta carbonara, find the recipe here.

I was really very impressed with the Imperia pasta machine and think it would make a great gift for food lovers, especially if they love Italian food like I do! What do you think of my choice? What would your perfect foodie Christmas gift be?

Of course no pasta dish would be complete without wine! vouchercodes.co.uk are offering £15 off a £50 spend here. My thanks go to vouchercodes.co.uk for setting the challenge and providing the pasta machine. Thanks!

A Merry Christmas Tray from Interflora

2009-12-13T21:46:00.001Z

I have been very fortunate recently to have been sent lots of yummy things to review, last week I received a fantastic selection of Christmas goodies from none other than Interflora - the flower people.It was a revelation to me that Interflora did anything other than flowers but having sampled a selection of their food in the form of a Merry Christmas Tray I can honestly say I was impressed. I was sent both red and white wine, mince pies, choc chunk and orange oat biscuits, fudge, amaretto flutes, mixed fruit and nuts and a Miniature Christmas cake.

The tray came really well packed in a black cardboard box, in fact it was so well packed I had trouble getting it out! The good news once I'd found a way in was that everything was in perfect condition inside and really well presented too.

I haven't managed to try everything thing yet but I can report that the fudge is wonderfully rich and buttery, a quick glance at the ingredients revealed that it contained only real butter with no margarine or vegetable oil in sight - something I was exceptionally pleased about.

The mince pies were particularly good too, according to the box they are hand made and I think it makes a difference. The pastry was delicate and flaky with good flavour and most importantly of all there was plenty of mincemeat filling. The wine and cake are being saved for Christmas day, at least they are if I can resist them that long!

Christmas puddings, the best I have ever tasted!

2009-12-08T08:16:00.003Z

This year stir it up Sunday fell on the 22nd of November, that's the day when traditionally everyone makes their Christmas puddings with all the members of the family taking turns to stir it up! In typically disorganised fashion I missed the 22nd by almost two weeks but I always make the puddings and this year was no different, I was just a bit late!

Stir it up!

Christmas pudding can be a bit heavy and hard to eat especially if you try to eat it right after Christmas dinner like we always do in my family, in my search for the perfect pudding I've tried lots of different recipes in the past some better than others. The most successful was a recipe from Riverford Organics called The best Christmas pudding I have ever tasted, with a name like that I had high expectations, thankfully it didn't let me down.

Like a lot of traditional British puddings Christmas puddings are cooked by steaming, the mixture is spooned into a pudding basin, covered tightly and placed in a pan of simmering water (lid on) and steamed for two to three hours. If you have never made a steamed pudding before it can be a bit daunting but it's really very easy, once you've made your mixture you can just leave them gently simmering while you go and do other things. Just don't let the pan boil dry!

The puddings waiting to be steamed, I won't see them again until Christmas day.

I wouldn't say that this makes a 'light' pudding but it is lighter than normal, it's also sweet, fruity, boozy and delicious. I changed the recipe slightly by switching some of the raisins and sultanas for dried apricots, you could use all kinds of dried fruits, cherries, cranberries or figs would be good. You could also add nuts such as walnuts or pecans, the recipe is really flexible.

The great thing about making Christmas puddings is that they keep almost indefinitely, in fact the flavour gets better over time so the earlier you make them the better!

Find the recipe here.

Christmas flavour ice cream

2009-11-29T17:06:00.001Z

Christmas is undeniably on it's way now, it's time to put up decorations, buy presents, write cards and if you haven't already done it make the cake.

We were talking about Christmas at work last week and some gave me a idea for an ice cream recipe, she said that if you take some store bought vanilla ice cream, leave it to soften, then mix it with a jar of mincemeat it makes a really delicious Christmassy treat.I really liked the idea and I'm sure it's delicious with store bought ice cream but I wanted to make the whole thing myself, so that's what I did! As well as making the ice cream myself I also added a hefty glug of brandy for good measure, not only does it make it even more Christmassy it helps stop the ice cream from freezing rock solid too.

When I served this I was told it tastes like Christmas cake which is exactly what I was aiming for, mission accomplished!

Recipe:

Ingredients:

For the custard ice cream base:

3/4 pint whole milk
vanilla extract
Two large egg yolks
1 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch
30-40g caster sugar

You will also need:

Half a pint of double/heavy cream whipped to soft peaks
450g micemeat (recipe here or buy some)
Brandy

Method:

To make the custard pour the milk and vanilla into a saucepan and gently bring to a simmer, don't let it boil.
Meanwhile beat the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour/cornstarch together in a large mixing bowl.
Once the milk is up to heat pour a little into the egg yolk mixture and quickly beat it in.
Pour everything back into the saucepan and cook over a very gentle heat stirring constantly until it coats the back of a spoon. Don't leave leave it unattended for even a minute or it will burn, curdle or both!
Once made cool the custard completely before continuing.
Once the custard is cool fold it into the whipped cream, add the mincemeat and brandy to taste. Be careful not to add too much brandy or your ice cream will never freeze! 4-5 tablespoons should be enough.
Churn the mix in an ice cream machine or put into a tub in the freezer and beat every hour until frozen.

Christmas goodies from Able and Cole

2009-11-16T20:38:00.002Z

There's a house just down the road from me that always have their Christmas decorations up by the beginning of November, it seems strange to me that anyone would want to start celebrating so early. I always try to leave all things Christmassy to the last minute, that way the novelty and excitement hasn't worn off by Christmas day!

Of course sometimes there are exceptions to the rule and this year was one of those times. Able and Cole offered to send me some 'Christmas goodies' to try, sausages wrapped in bacon and some cranberry and orange relish. The goodies arrived on Friday well packed in an insulated box full of ice, so far so good...

I cooked a mini Christmas dinner on Sunday -that's a roast chicken to me and you- to eat with the sausages and relish and put them to the full Christmas dinner taste test.Sausages wrapped in bacon sometimes quaintly called pigs in blankets are one of my favourite Christmas foods, I actually much prefer these to the turkey! Normally I'd make my own but after trying the sausages from Able and Cole I'd be really happy to serve theirs. Whenever I buy sausages the first thing I check is the meat content, anything below 70% and I don't buy them, the sausages I had to try came in at 85% so no problems there. They had a really good texture and were perfectly spiced with coriander, nutmeg and pepper. If you're looking for something to serve with your Christmas dinner this year I can highly recommend these.Next up was the cranberry and orange relish, I really loved this it made the perfect accompaniment to the sausages and chicken. Normally I would serve traditional cranberry sauce on Christmas day, this relish is quite different but I would say even more delicious. The flavour is far more complex than normal cranberry sauce, you can clearly taste the orange but there are also subtle spice flavours in the background, I'm sure I could taste cloves and star anise in there. The texture is thinner than cranberry sauce in fact it's almost pourable but that's no bad thing at all especially as the cranberries are left whole making this quite a chunky relish. As well as being perfect for Christmas I can imagine pairing this relish alongside pork, sausages, bacon or poultry.

Winemaker's grape cake

2009-11-08T20:54:00.001Z

A few years ago I planted a grape vine against the wall in my garden. At the time I didn't really expect it to do that well, England isn't isn't known for it's grapes after all!

I couldn't have been more wrong, it seems that in cold damp England grape vines can thrive, mine has gone wild climbing up the wall, over the windows and along the washing line! What's made me really happy is that it's also produced a bumper crop of beautiful purple grapes.Although the grapes were deliciously sweet enough to eat out of hand I'd seen a few recipes for grape cakes that sounded really interesting. We don't really cook with grapes in England so this idea was totally new to me.

The recipe I settled on was from Epicurious.com called winemakers grape cake, what really drew me to this recipe was the use of olive oil rather than butter which not only gives the cake a wonderful texture but a delicious flavour too.The lived up to all expectations being both perfectly soft and moist but full of flavour too, the little grapes were like bombs of flavour that exploded when you bit into them. A fantastic cake!

You can find the recipe HERE.

Mackerel served with a delicious mango salsa

2009-10-29T22:06:00.001Z

Mackerel is a delicious fish, it's sustainable and it's really cheap too, yet despite this it remains one of the most underrated, under appreciated fish.

One of the great things about mackerel is how amazingly quick it is to cook, 5 minutes in a pan and it's done, ready to serve. It's a bargain too, for this recipe I bought enough mackerel for three people for the grand total of £1!
I served my flash fried mackerel with a delicious mango salsa, it sounds weird but it really works! I based the recipe for the mango salsa on a recipe from the fantastic book Go Faster Food by Kate Percy, she suggests serving it with tuna steaks but it's equally delicious with mackerel.

For the salsa chop into smallish dice:

Half a mango
2 or 3 de-seeded tomatoes
A small red onion
An avocado

Mix with:

A finely chopped chilli
A large bunch of fresh green coriander
1-2 tsp ground coriander
1-2 tsp ground cumin
The juice of a lime
4 Tbsp olive oil
A generous pinch of salt

Stir everything together and serve with grilled or fried mackerel.

Rocket risotto with scallops and crispy ham

2009-10-19T19:24:00.006+01:00

Scallops seem to be very in vogue at the moment, if you watch Masterchef you'll have noticed that every other dish has scallops in it, not to mention they're on every restaurant menu and in every supermarket too. I didn't understand what all the fuss was about until I tried one at a food show in Birmingham last year, they are possibly the most delicious seafoody thing I've ever eaten! I picked up some perfectly fresh and delicious looking scallops last week, unfortunately they weren't in their shells but you can't win them all.

I wanted to cook a main dish with my scallops rather than the usual starter, I wanted to incorporate ham into the dish too. It's a delicious combination. I settled on making a risotto -nothing fancy, just a basic risotto- stirring through some peppery rocket leaves and serving the fried scallops on top with some crisped up ham.

Black forest ham

Although Parma ham would have been really tasty I used German Black Forest ham, it's similar in texture to Parma ham but has a darker colour and a smoky flavour. Well worth trying if you come across it, it tastes superb!

The risotto was really good way to serve scallops and the ham that I crisped up in a pan complimented the scallops perfectly. My scallop dish repertoire is extremely limited, I'd love some more ideas. How do you cook scallops?

A tribute to Keith Floyd

2009-10-11T20:36:00.002+01:00

If you're from the UK and perhaps even if you're not then you'll probably have heard the sad news that Keith Floyd, TV chef, one of my food heroes and all round great guy died on September 14th. He was one of the first people to make cooking shows entertaining rather than just educational, his passion for food, his flamboyance and his willingness to visit unusual places and put himself in strange situations made his programmes unmissable TV. He will be sadly missed.

If you've never seen Keith Floyd then here's a classic Floyd moment.

As a tribute to Keith Floyd I made this Andalucian paella using his recipe. The recipe is quite basic, it's what I would consider to be a traditional recipe.I browned some chicken pieces in a paella pan, added rice which is cooked with onions and peppers in chicken stock for flavour. Then saffron and turmeric were added for both flavour and to give the rice a fantastic golden yellow colour. Just before the rice was cooked I added prawns, mussels, tomatoes and a handful of chopped parsley.Paella is undoubtedly one of my favourite dishes, it's brilliant for sharing if you have friends over. Just put the pan in the middle of the table with lemon quarters for squeezing over and let everyone dig in!

You can find the recipe for Keith Floyd' paella here.

Toffee apple muffins

2009-10-02T14:24:00.002+01:00

Autumn is well and truly upon us now, the leaves are falling and there's definitely a chill in the air. It's not all bad though, with Autumn comes Autumn fruits, blackberries, plums, pears, and of course apples.

Bramley apples are undoubtedly one of the best varieties for cooking, they have a fantastic slightly sharp flavour which becomes sweeter and milder with cooking. They are perfect for adding to cakes and muffins which is exactly what I did.Toffee and apples is a truly delicious combination and it works fantastically well in these muffins.

I made a traditional muffin batter to which I added big chunks of peeled chopped apples, pieces of soft toffee and of course cinnamon. To give the muffins a nice crunch I sprinkled the tops with demerera sugar.Supermarket muffins are so often disappointing, being bland, doughy and with hardly any fruit. These muffins are so easy to make there's really no need to buy them again, they taste great too!

Recipe

Ingredients:

350g plain flour
2 Tsp baking powder
2 Tsp Cinnamon
200g Caster sugar
2 Large eggs
120ml Vegetable oil
120 milk
A large handful of soft toffees chopped into chunks
3 Bramley apples, peeled, cored and chopped (you could use other apples, try Cox or Granny Smith)
Demerera sugar for sprinkling

Method:

Preheat your oven to gas 4/180c and line a 12 hole muffin tray with muffin cases
In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients together (flour, baking powder, cinnamon, sugar)
Add the wet ingredients (eggs, oil, milk) to the bowl of dry ingredients and mix to a batter, a few lumps don't matter so don't over mix
Add the chopped apples and toffees to the batter mix in well then divide the mixture between the muffin cases.
Sprinkle the tops with the demerera sugar and bake for about 30 minutes
serve warm or cold

Mediterranean fish stew

2009-09-23T17:36:00.003+01:00

I've been cooking up this fantastic fish stew for a while now, it's so delicious I new I'd have to post the recipe but it kept getting eaten before I could take a photo!

I've finally managed to get a shot after cooking this three times in less than a month, thankfully it tastes so good that I could never get bored with eating it.This is one of those dishes that you can mix about a bit, you can use all kinds of vegetables and different types of fish too. I kept my stew quite simple using sweet peppers, celery and fennel, for the fish I used monkfish and cod. There are loads of things you could use such as courgettes, aubergines, or artichokes, for the fish you could use haddock, prawns, halibut, scallops etc. It's up to you...The secret ingredient in this dish is the fennel, it's the perfect partner to the fish and gives the stew a slightly sweet aniseedy backnote. It's flavour is subtle but it makes a big difference to the flavour.I like to serve this with good crusty bread a wedge of lemon, a glass of chilled white wine is a very welcome partner too.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Olive oil
A large onion, chopped
A bulb of fennel, finely shredded
2 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped
2 large sweet peppers (yellow or red) chopped into largeish chunks
A glass of white wine
A 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
About 500g of fish, chopped into bite-size chunks (cod, haddock, monkfish, prawns, halibut etc)
A handful of basil leaves, finely chopped (optional)
A bunch of parsley, finely chopped

Method:

In a large pan over a medium heat sweat the onion in the olive oil for two or three minutes
Add the garlic, fennel and peppers to the pan, stir and cook for a few minutes more stirring occasionally
Pour in the white wine and let it cook for a minute or so
Add the tomatoes, season with salt then cover and let simmer gently for about 20 minutes or until everything is tender
Add the fish and basil (if using) stir well and cover, leave for around fives minutes or until the fish is cooked though
Serve scattered with the parsley with good bread and a squeeze of lemon

Maple syrup and walnut scones

2009-09-15T17:00:00.004+01:00

When I think of scones I think of summer, I think of sitting outside in the sun, of jam, of strawberries, and of cream. At least, that's what I normally think of, these maple and walnut scones have a more autumnal feel to them. I sweetened the scones with maple syrup rather than sugar, added chopped walnuts to the dough and used half wholemeal half white flour, altogether this gave the scones a more rustic hearty feel, no less delicious than more traditional scones just different!

Roll the dough into a long sausage shape

What I really love about scones is how amazingly quickly they come together, within half an hour of reading this you could be taking a tray of freshly baked scones out of the oven. What's more you probably already have all the ingredients too!

I served my scones with whipped creap and maple syrup

I served these with whipped cream and more maple syrup drizzled over the top. Delicious!

Maple and walnut scones

Ingredients (makes 8 huge or 12 normal scones):

225g white self raising flour
225g wholemeal self raising flour (if you can't find wholemeal self raising use plain wholemeal and add two teaspoons of baking powder)
100g butter
60g maple syrup
75-100g chopped walnuts
225ml of buttermilk (substitute milk or yogurt)
demerera sugar for sprinkling

Method:

Preheat your oven to gas 7/220c/425f
In a large bowl mix the two flours together
Rub the butter into the flour until no lumps remain
Stir in the walnuts
Make a well in the centre and stir in the maple syrup and buttermilk, mix everything together to form a soft dough
On a floured board roll the dough into a long sausage shape and cut into rounds
Lay the rounds on a lightly floured baking tray, brush the tops with a little milk or buttermilk and sprinkle with the sugar
Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden

Tagliatelle with leeks prawns and pine nuts

2009-09-08T16:44:00.002+01:00

I'm probably a bit mad but when a friend asked if I wanted to run the Leicester half-marathon with him I didn't give it much thought and just said yes. Well, I can't resist a challenge!

With just one month to go until the big day I've been training hard going on runs of 10 miles and more, yesterday I ran the full 13.1 mile half-marathon distance just to make sure I could actually do it - thankfully I could!

What's all this got to do with food? Well it'll come as no surprise I'm sure that running works up a big appetite, it's particularly important when running or doing any kind of exercise to eat enough carbohydrates. That's why I came up with this dish of Tagliatelle with prawns, leeks and toasted pine nuts, not only is it delicious but it's got plenty of carbs it's healthy and it's really easy to put together.I started by putting a pan of tagliatelle pasta on to cook meanwhile I softened some finely chopped leeks and garlic with the zest of a lemon in a little olive oil. Once the pasta was almost cooked I added chopped tomatoes to the pan of leeks along with some prawns and a dollop of creme fraiche (substitute sour or double/heavy cream). As soon as the tomatoes and prawns had heated through I tossed the pasta and sauce together along with some shredded basil and served it with toasted pine nuts on top.

The sauce was really light and fresh tasting, it was just what I wanted after a long run. If you don't want to use prawns then you could use white crab meat or tuna for a different but no less tasty dish. You could also try adding different vegetables such as peppers or broccoli.

Parmesan crusted chicken with tomato and basil sauce

2009-08-31T18:34:00.003+01:00

Right now is probably my favourite time of year, the weather is good (well most of the time), the days are still long(ish) and best of all there is good fresh food in abundance.

I took a trip down to my local market recently to see what looked good and was really spoilt for choice. There were plump and juicy Victoria plums, bright red tomatoes on the vine, lettuces, courgettes, aubergines, peppers, fennel, cherries.... You get the picture.

While I wobbled home from the market having bought far more than I should I came up with an idea for a dish that would use up some of my newly acquired tomatoes. I was going to encrust a chicken fillet in parmesan and serve it with a tomato and basil sauce. Not only did it seem like a great way to use some of the tomatoes I had bought (way too many really) but I knew it would be delicious too!

The first thing I did was made the sauce by gently simmered cherry tomatoes with olive oil, crushed garlic, salt and a little sugar until they were very tender but still holding their shape. To prepare the chicken I bashed the chicken fillets flat with a rolling pin, a fantastic way to releive stress! I cooked the chicken on a lightly oiled very hot griddle pan for a couple of minutes on each side. To serve I put a fillet on each plate, stirred a large handful of roughly torn basil into the sauce then spooned it over the chicken.What I really like about this dish is how quickly it all comes together, it's the perfect after work dish. I'm sure I will be making this reguarly from now on, for as long as I can get beautiful tomatoes from the market anyway...

Scottish butter tablet

2009-08-22T21:40:00.003+01:00

First off I should apologise for not posting as reguarly as I would like to and not visiting all your blogs and leaving comments as much as I want to. It's been a busy few weeks recently and I've not had a lot of time to do much of anything, hopefully I'll have a bit more time soon!. I did however find time to make one of the most delicious sweets you could ever make, Scottish tablet....

Scottish tablet is a traditional Scottish sweet made from sugar, butter, cream, vanilla and that most wonderful of ingredients, condensed milk. With that list of ingredients you just know it's going to be good, right?Tablet is very sweet and very rich similar to fudge in almost every way except that tablet has a crumbly rather than smooth texture. Eating it reminds me of my childhood holidays, it's the kind of thing you can pick at seaside stalls and gift shops, I used to buy it as a holiday gift for my Grandma out of my pocket money!

One of the things I was most worried about when I first made this was that it just wouldn't set, that I'd be left with a sickly sugary gloop in a pan rather than crumbly cubes of butter tablet. I needn't have worried, it turns out this recipe is almost foolproof, as long as you cook the mixture for the full length of time and never, never leave the pan and stop stirring then I give you my guarantee that this will set.The traditional, and my favourite flavour for tablet is pure vanilla but you could add other flavours if you really want to. Whisky would work quite well or you could try chopped nuts, or dried fruit.

The recipe is adapted from Barbecues And Grilling by Antony Worrall Thompson, I'm not really sure what it has to do with barbecues but it's a good recipe! I've adapted his original recipe, changing the quantities slightly, I also added some sea salt, I just love the combination of salt and caramel flavours.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 can of condensed milk (397g)
150ml of milk
2 vanilla pods
450g Demerera sugar
100g butter, diced
A good pinch of sea salt

Method:

Grease and line a 20cm square tin
Split the vanilla pods and scrape out all the seeds, put the pods and seeds in a large saucepan along with all the other ingredients.
Place the pan over a medium heat stirring all the time, the mixture should start out golden and gradually become darker. Cook for 15 minutes stirring continuously.
After 15 minutes remove the pan from the heat and beat the mixture for about 5 minutes, this will give your tablet it's wonderful crumbly Texture.
Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and leave until completely cooled before cutting into squares.
Enjoy!

Spanakopita - A foray into Greek cuisine

2009-08-14T21:02:00.003+01:00

Although I really enjoy Greek food I very rarely cook it. Greek food is simple and healthy using fresh vegetables and herbs, fish and meat, it shares many of the characteristics of my favourite cuisine of all -Italian- most notably it's wide use of olives and olive oil.

Clearly something had to be done about my lack of Greek cooking experience, and what better place to start than with one of Greece's most famous dishes, Spanakopita.Spanakopita is a spinach and feta pie made using filo pastry. Filo, meaning leaf or sheet is a type of pastry that unlike other pastries comes in wafer thin sheets which are layered up before being filled and baked. The resulting pastry is very light and wonderfully crispy and crunchy.

Normally I would make my own pastry but when it comes to filo there's no shame in buying it ready made. For the filling I used spinach, feta, spring onions, dill, eggs and a little nutmeg, it's probably not very authentic but hey, it if tastes good...

Ingredients:
A packet of filo pastry
olive oil
A couple of handfuls of spinach blanched, chopped and excess water squeezed out.
A small bunch of dill chopped
2 eggs
2oog feta crumbled
5-6 large spring onions/scallions, chopped
A grating of nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

Method:
Tip: Once you have opened the packet of filo you should keep it covered with a damp tea towel to stop it drying out - it dries out really fast!

For the filling mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl, season and set aside.
Take a baking dish and lightly brush with olive oil, lay a sheet of filo on top and brush with oil. lay another sheet over the first and continue to layer up. Filo sheet, oil, filo sheet, oil until half the pastry is gone.
Fill the lined dish with the spinach mixture and top with the remaining pastry brushing each sheet with a little oil as you go.
Bake at a medium heat about 180c until golden and crispy.
Serve with buttered new potatoes and steamed vegetables.

Salmon steaks with lemon and caper butter sauce

2009-08-07T14:07:00.002+01:00

I awoke last Friday morning to find that a large white box had mysteriously appeared on my back doorstep, it took me a while -I was still half asleep- to work out it was the salmon that Able and Cole had sent me to try.Inside the box were two pristine organic salmon steaks surrounded by ice packs to keep them cool. I could tell it was top quality fish the moment I looked at it, the two steaks were perfectly cut and prepared, they looked really fresh too.

When I have ingredients of this quality I like to prepare them simply so as not to mask their flavour. For these steaks I prepared a lemon butter sauce from lemon juice and zest, butter, capers and salt.I gently fried the steaks in a little olive oil, I was worried they might break apart as I cooked them but in the event they held their shape perfectly. The flesh was succulent and tender, the flavour which was mild and delicate was perfectly complimented by the lemon sauce. I served the fish alongside some dill potatoes, quite simply boiled new potatoes tossed with chopped dill and butter.

Overall I was really impressed by the service and the quality from Able and Cole, as sadly few of us have access to a proper fishmonger nowadays it's good to know that it's still possible to buy expertly prepared fish and with the added bonus of it being delivered to your door. My only criticism -and it's only minor- is that for the price it would have been nice if they had cut the steaks a little thicker.

Salmon with lemon butter sauce and dill potatoes

Ingredients:

75g Butter
A shallot or half a small onion very finely chopped
A large juicy lemon, zested and juiced
2 tbsp chopped capers (rinsed if packed in salt)
Salt
1 Salmon steak per person

For the potatoes

New potatoes
Butter
Dill finely chopped
Salt

Method:

First make the sauce. In a small saucepan melt the butter and cook until it just begins to brown at this point add the chopped shallot and lemon zest and mix well.
Next add the lemon juice and capers to the pan, stir the sauce and taste it should be quite sharp. Season with salt if you think it needs it.
For the salmon heat a little olive oil or butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Season the steaks on both sides then add to the pan. Cook for 4-5 minutes per side turning halfway through cooking. The time will depend on how thick your steaks are so check they are properly cooked before serving, they may take longer or less time than mine did.

For the potatoes:

Boil some new potatoes in salted water until cooked.
drain and add the butter and dill, mix well and serve.

Serve the salmon steaks with the sauce poured over the top and the potatoes on the side.

Roasted peaches with vanilla mascarpone

2009-07-30T19:38:00.002+01:00

A good peach is a thing of beauty, sweet smelling, fragrant and juicy, and they're at their best right now. The peach season is short so if you haven't been devouring them with reckless abandon like I have may I suggest you pick up a punnet next time you go shopping, before it's too late.

Some of my favourite ways to use peaches -besides eating them raw- are to add them to cakes, crumbles and pies. These are all delicious and fantastic ways to use this wonderful fruit but my favourite is perhaps the easiest of all, I like to roast halved peaches with butter, brown sugar and a little cinnamon.The peaches come out of the oven golden and caramelised, the juices run and form a delicious syrup which can be spooned over the top, like everything that's roasted the flavour is intensified and becomes intensely sweet and peachy. I served mine with vanilla mascarpone for a bit of luxury, you could of course use cream, ice cream or nothing at all.

How to make roasted peaches with vanilla mascarpone

There isn't really a recipe for this but here is the rough method:

You will need:

1 peach (or nectarine) per person
Brown sugar
Cinnamon (optional but it works really well)
Chopped almonds (again optional but really good with this)

For the mascarpone

125g Mascarpone
Icing sugar
Vanilla extract

Method

First halve your peaches and remove the stones.
Put the peaches in an oven-proof tray and put a dab of butter in each of the hollows that the stone came from.
Mix some brown sugar and cinnamon together, about one teaspoon of sugar per peach half and as much cinnamon as you like.
sprinkle the sugar over the peaches, followed by the chopped almonds.
Bake the peaches in a medium oven basting every now and again. The cooking time depends on how ripe your peaches are, mine were still a bit hard and took one hour.

To make the mascarpone simply mix the mascarpone, sugar and vanilla together.

serve with the peaches with the mascarpone and pour any juices from the roasted pan over the top.

Tomato and basil bread

2009-07-23T19:47:00.006+01:00

For me fresh bread still warm from the oven slathered with melting butter is one of the greatest culinary joys there is, it's just one of the reasons why I've almost entirely stopped buying bread from the supermarket. Not only does fresh homemade bread taste amazing but it's also cheaper to make and much better for you than most supermarket breads.

Normally I just make plain white or wholemeal loaves, all purpose bread that's as good with Nutella as it is with a big wedge of cheddar. Every now and then though I like to be a bit more creative by adding different flavours to my bread or making it using new methods and techniques to make it. A few weeks ago I came up with an idea for making tomato bread, instead of adding water to the flour to make a dough I used a tin of chopped Italian tomatoes.The result is this beautiful loaf of bread not only did it taste amazing and have a fantastic soft texture but it also had a brilliant reddish colour, I only used white flour so all the colour you can see is purely from the tomatoes. I added some basil simply because it works really well and is one of my favourite combinations.This would make the perfect accompaniment to soup, especially something Italian such as minestrone, it also works really well with cheese, ham and obviously tomatoes!

Tomato bread recipe

Ingredients:

500g Strong white bread flour
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Sugar
A 7g Sachet of dried instant yeast
2-3 Tablespoons of oil
A 390g Tin of chopped tomatoes

Method:

In a large bowl combine the flour, salt, sugar and yeast. Mix well.
Make a well in the flour mixture and add the tomatoes and oil, bring everything together to form a dough using either you hands or a wooden spoon. Alternatively use a stand mixer with a dough hook attached. You may need to add a little more flour if your dough is too wet, it should be slightly sticky but not cling to your hands.
Knead the dough (by hand or in the mixer) for around 10 minutes then cover with a piece of clingfilm which has been smeared with oil (this stops the dough from sticking to the clingfilm) and leave to rise for around half an hour or until doubled in size.
Once the dough has doubled in size knock it back and knead for a few minutes more then, either shape the dough however you want it and place it on a baking tray or place it in a loaf tin.
Cover again and leave until it has doubled once more then bake in an oven preheated to gas 6/200c/400f for about half an hour until the top is golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

Spatchcocked chicken with lemon, thyme and chilli

2009-07-15T13:40:00.004+01:00

I cook up a nice roast chicken at least a couple of times a month, it's one of those dishes that never fails to please, unless you're a vegetarian of course. I normally add herbs, spices or marinades to my roast chicken to make it a bit more interesting, lemon and thyme is a good combination, Moroccan spices work well and I have had a lot of success with stuffing bacon under the skin before roasting.

Recently I've been experimenting with a completely different way of preparing the chicken - spatchcocking. Not only is it fun to say it's also a really good way to cook chicken, spatchcocking is a simple method for preparing chicken that results in it being spread out flat.One of the brilliant things about using this technique is that unlike on a conventional roast chicken where the bottom tends to stay pale and soggy, on a spatchcocked chicken all the skin is on top which means you get loads more delicious golden crispy skin when it's done. not only that but it cooks in about half the time of a conventional chicken and it's perfect for the barbecue too!

To prepare a spatchcocked chicken is actually really simple, essentially all you do is turn the bird breast side down and using some good strong scissors cut out the backbone (save the backbone for stock). Turn the bird the right way up again and press down firmly on the breast until you hear a crack and that's it! I said it was simple.

Lemon, thyme and chilli marinade

I came up with this marinade to go with my spatchcocked chicken, it's the perfect blend of sweet and spicy.

Ingredients:

The zest and juice of 1 lemon
A large handful of finely chopped fresh thyme
A heaped teaspoon of flaked dried chillies or a couple of whole red chillies chopped
4-5 tablespoons of olive oil
4 tablespoons dark soft brown sugar
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Mix everything together well then rub all over your chicken, leave for as long as possible, an hour will do but preferably overnight before cooking.

For detailed instructions including photos on how to spatchcock a chicken why not visit Mike at Mike's table HERE. I forgot to take photos of the preparation, sorry!

Light ricotta cheesecake

2009-07-10T08:00:00.004+01:00

You've probably seen ricotta cheese used in pancakes to give them a light, fluffy texture but did you know it could be used in cheesecakes with similar effect? Cheesecake is normally about as far from light and fluffy as you can get, but trust me this cheese cake is much lighter but every bit as delicious as it's richer denser counterparts.

Unlike most cheesecakes this one has no biscuit or cake base, the cheese mixture is poured straight into the tin to be baked.

The recipe is adapted from one of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's, he used home made goats curd cheese for his version. As I don't have any goats of my own and I couldn't get any goats curd cheese in the shops I used ricotta which made the perfect substitute.

The finished cheesecake was creamy and light with a subtle lemony flavour in the background, a raspberry sauce made the perfect accompaniment.

The original recipe can be found here. The recipe below contains my adaptations.

Ricotta Cheesecake

Ingredients

•750g Ricotta cheese
•45g unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
•3 tablespoons medium oatmeal
•a good pinch of salt
•75g caster sugar
•2 eggs, lightly beaten
•Grated zest of 2 small lemons, plus 1 tbsp lemon juice

For the raspberry sauce
•250g raspberries
•75g caster sugar
•A tablespoon of water

Directions

Preheat the oven to 170C/gas 3 and butter a 20-23cm springform cake tin.

Beat the cheese with a wooden spoon until smooth, then add the melted butter, oatmeal, salt, sugar, eggs and lemon zest and juice. Mix well. Spoon the mixture into the tin and smooth the top. Bake for about 25 minutes, until just set.

For the sauce put all the raspberries into a saucepan with a tablespoon of water and the sugar, bring to a simmer and cook for a couple of minutes. You can serve it as it is or pass the raspberries through a sieve for a more refined sauce.

Serve the cheesecake hot, warm or at room temperature with the raspberry sauce and cream if you like.

A heatwave and a Summer Berry Fool

2009-07-02T16:37:00.006+01:00

It's been a scorching few days here the thermometer is my kitchen is reading a whopping 38.9c, OK, so that may not be considered hot at all in some places but here in the UK it's an official heatwave.

Hot!

In these temperatures there's no way I'm going to have the oven on or do anything too intense in the kitchen, it's hot enough already! What I needed was something cool and summery, something that requires minimal cooking but still tastes great.

It was time to make a fool, not of myself you understand although that's not hard to do, but from summer berries. A fool is a very simple dessert made from whipped cream, fruits and sometimes -as in this case- custard too. The fruit is stewed, the cream is whipped, the custard is made and the whole lot is stirred together and served well chilled, simple as that.I like to stir the fruit in last thing so I can leave it not quite fully Incorporated in to the cream mixture, it just looks good that way! I served mine with crushed shortbread scattered over the top for some added crunch, it would work really well with nuts too.

There is no recipe as such for this but here are the steps.

Stew some fruit with a little sugar, any summer berries are good so is rhubarb. Use whatever you like or whatever you have. Chill the mixture while you prepare the cream.
Whip some double/heavy cream to the soft peak stage, you don't want stiff peaks.
Make some custard or buy some, as long as it's good quality. You need about the same quantity as the whipped cream.
Stir the custard into the cream, make sure the berries are completely cold and stir them in too.
Serve well chilled scattered with crushed shortbread or nuts.

A box to try from Able and Cole

2009-06-23T20:20:00.006+01:00

Able and Cole contacted me last week to see if I'd like to try one of their mixed fruit and vegetable boxes. I've had a mixed experience of organic boxes in the past, some good some not so good, so I was keen to try Able and Cole to see what they were like. Sure enough at 8:00 on Friday morning their was a knock on the door and I was greeted with a large cardboard box brimming with super fresh produce.My box contained apples, bananas, broad beans, carrots, cabbage, lettuce, Jersey royal potatoes, melon and spring onions. Clearly not all of it was locally grown -we don't grow many bananas in the UK- but it was, on the whole seasonal, mostly British and never air-freighted which is much better than most supermarkets can manage. It also contained a newsletter and recipe card which I thought was a nice touch.I was really impressed with my box, the quality was excellent, everything arrived looking really fresh and vibrant. The box I tried was the mixed fruit and veg box which cost £15.95 which I think it's pretty good value considering the box is organic and delivered right to your door. One thing to bear in mind if you ever do decide to get a box delivered is that you have no choice as to what goes in it. Personally I quite like the challenge of using unfamiliar vegetables and conjuring up new recipes but if you're the kind of person who likes to plan their meals a month in advance then maybe it's not for you.Cooking with vegetables of this high quality is a joy, I could tell they were good when I cooked with them and I could certainly taste it when I ate them.

The first meal I cooked using vegetables from my box was this broad bean and bacon risotto, simple but delicious.

Home-made beef burgers

2009-06-18T20:12:00.003+01:00

There's nothing quite like a good beef burger, fat, juicy and full of flavour. With barbecue season in full swing I thought I would try to convince you just how good burgers can be if you make your own, not only do they taste fantastic but they're a breeze to make too.

All you need to make the most basic of burgers is good quality minced beef, salt and pepper. I like to make mine a little more interesting by adding other flavours to the mix, you could add chilli, herbs, cheese, fried onions etc whatever you like really. For my burgers I used chopped sun-dried tomatoes and basil for an Italian feel then finished them off with some melting mozzarella, trust me, they were good!Once you've chosen your flavours it's just a case of mixing everything well together and using your hands to form them into burgers. I find it helps to leave in the fridge for an hour or so after you've made them as it helps them to firm up and keep their shape, of course if your really desperate you could cook them immediately!

So here are my top tips for making fantastic burgers:

Use good quality mince/ground beef, you need some fat but not too much so don't buy the really cheap stuff.
Add plenty of salt and pepper, they really need it.
Don't add anything to chunky or too wet to the mixture this will cause the beef to break up during cooking and you'll be eating it from a bowl not a bun!
Get the pan, grill or barbecue searingly hot before you put the burgers on, this will create a caramelised crust on the outside.
Let the burgers rest in the fridge for an hour or so after you've made them so they can firm up.

I hope you'll try making your own, once you do you'll never go back!

Creamy seafood tagliatelle with asparagus

2009-06-10T08:13:00.003+01:00

I have managed to achieve something that I never thought was possible. I've crammed so much into my freezer that there really is no more room. At all. It's completely my fault, whenever I see something that's reduced or on promotion I buy it and freeze it for later. The problem is I normally forget all about it then buy more stuff and freeze that too!

The freezer is stuffed with vegetables, meat, homemade stock, Ice cream, bread and a whole draw full of mysterious tubs, bags and packets that are unlabelled and I have no idea what they are!

My challenge this week is to run down the freezer to free up some space. Yesterday I made this creamy seafood tagliatelle using some frozen seafood mix (mussels, crayfish and prawns), I also used some fantastic fresh British asparagus which is optional but I really recommend it.
Considering the cream sauce this is a surprisingly light meal that's perfect for summer, great served with a glass of chilled white wine.

Recipe:(serves four)

Ingredients:

350-400g tagliatelle or your favourite pasta
A bunch of fresh asparagus cooked and chopped into halves (optional)
2 Small onions or shallots finely chopped
2 Cloves of garlic crushed and chopped
A large glass of dry white wine
150ml Sour cream
500g mixed cooked seafood (mussels, prawns clams etc)
A good handful of chopped parsley

Method:

First bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and begin to cook the pasta according to the packet instructions.
While the pasta is cooking fry the onions and garlic with a good pinch of salt in some olive oil in a large frying pan until just softened.
Once the onions have softened tip in the white wine, turn up the heat and reduce the wine by half.
When the wine has reduced down add the cream and mix well, taste the sauce to check the seasoning and correct it if necessary.
Just before the pasta has cooked add the seafood, asparagus and parsley to the sauce, mix it well and leave for a minute to heat through.
Toss the pasta in the sauce and serve.

Victoria cream sponge

2009-06-03T08:03:00.004+01:00

The company that I work for is celebrating it's anniversary this year, to mark the occasion a buffet was laid on and there was a huge cake to share. Just in case we hadn't had enough cake already they also sent us home with a 'cake making kit', in it were all the ingredients (except the eggs) for making a Victoria sponge, flour, butter, sugar and jam.

It's hard to improve on a classic like a Victoria sponge but by adding whipped cream I found a way. Of course cream is entirely optional but it is highly recommended, your cake won't keep as long but in my house at least, that's not a problem...I use the traditional method for making sponge cakes, first I weigh all of the eggs in their shells, I then use an equal weight of butter, sugar and self raising flour. For example if I use three eggs that weigh 50g each then I'll use 150g of butter, sugar and flour.

Maths lesson over it's time for the recipe...

Victoria sponge recipe

Ingredients:

3 Large eggs
Butter
Sugar (I used golden caster sugar)
Self raising flour
Vanilla extract (homemade if you have it)
Jam and whipped cream for the filling

Method:

Preheat your oven to gas 4/180c/350f and grease two 7 inch sponge tins.
First weigh all three eggs together in their shells, make a note of how much they weigh.
Whatever the eggs weigh add the same weight in butter and sugar to a large mixing bowl and beat well together until light and fluffy, this will take a few minutes.
Next beat in the eggs followed by an equal weight again of self raising flour, add a few drops of vanilla and mix well together.
Divide the mixture equally between the two sponge tins and bake for around 25 minutes. Check they're cooked by inserting a skewer into the cake, if it comes out clean they're done.
Cool the cakes on a rack, once they have cooled fill with jam and whipped cream and enjoy!

Trout with lemon, basil, capers and olives

2009-05-27T18:49:00.003+01:00

I love a good bargain, whenever I go to the supermarket I always take a look at the reduced price section to see what's going for a knock down price. Last week I'd obviously timed it just right, there was loads of fresh meat and fish being sold for mere pennies.

Most of my bargain haul went to the freezer to be cooked another day but I kept some whole trout aside, I wanted those for a simple stuffed trout dish. Like all fish dishes this one is quick to cook and simple to prepare, the only tricky part is filleting the fish but even that was a lot easier than I anticipated.

Trout with lemon, basil and olives.

Ingredients (serves four):

4 Whole trout, filleted (8 fillets).
Sea salt and pepper.
A fresh unwaxed lemon.
2 Tablespoons chopped capers.
A good handful of chopped black olives.
A large bunch of fresh basil.
Olive oil
You will also need some oven-proof string.

Method:

Lay half four of the trout fillets out on a board and season well.
In a large grate the zest of the lemon and add the capers olives and tear in the basil. Mix everything together.
lay the lemon, basil, olive mixture over each trout fillet.
Place the remaining fillets on top of the others so the filling is in the middle. A kind of trout sandwich.
Tie each 'sandwich up with the string to make little parcels.
That's it! bake in the oven on a medium heat for about 25-30 minutes.

It doesn't photograph well but trust me, it tastes good!

Smoked salmon linguine

2009-05-21T08:40:00.003+01:00

Yesterday was one of those days where everything that could go wrong did go wrong. I'd been down the the bike shop to pick up some new parts for my bike and ask for some advice, the conversation went something like this,

Me: Are these easy to fit? I've never done it before and don't really know what I'm doing.
Bike shop man: Yeah it's easy, you'll have no problem at all.

So I took my shiny new bike parts home with me and set to work dismantling my bike only it wasn't quite as easy as the bike shop man had me believe. Things quickly went wrong, I got stressed and now my bike is in pieces dumped at the bike shop for them to sort out the mess.

While my bike was out of action I turned to something far less stressful than amateur mechanics -making pasta.Smoked salmon linguine is a regular feature in my house, it's cheap, quick, simple to make and most importantly of all delicious. I chose to use linguine pasta, I don't know why but it just seems to suit seafood, you could of course use any pasta you fancy.

Recipe: Serves 3-4

1 onion, finely chopped.
1,2 or more cloves of garlic very finely chopped.
Butter for frying.
300g linguine or other pasta of you choice.
200ml Cremé fraiche (substitute sour cream or double/heavy cream).
150g smoked salmon chopped into small pieces.
lemon juice.
Black pepper.
1 bag (about 80g) rocket leaves.
Good olive oil for drizzling.

Method:

In a large frying pan on a low heat fry the onion and garlic, meanwhile put a large pan of water on to boil for the pasta.
Once the water is boiling add your pasta to the pan and cook according to the instructions on the packet.
While the pasta is cooking the onions should have softened, at this point add the créme fraiche and mix everything together. It will probably be too thick, it it is add some of the pasta water until you get the right consistency. Add lemon juice and black pepper to taste.
Once the pasta has cooked stir the smoked salmon into the sauce, take the pasta out of it's cooking water and add to the pan with the sauce. mix well.
Finally stir in the rocket leaves reserving a few for garnish.
serve drizzled with olive oil and scattered with rocket leaves.

Shakshouka

2009-05-15T07:54:00.003+01:00

Shakshouka is a traditional Middle Eastern dish of eggs cooked in a tomato and pepper sauce which is often eaten for breakfast served with pita bread for dipping. I don't often cook first thing in the morning -making toast is about as much as I can manage when I've just woken up!- so I made this as a main course instead served with salad and bread.Typically this is made in one large pan on a hob or over a fire, once the sauce is cooked the eggs are broken into it and when they are cooked it is served, I made mine slightly differently. After I'd made the sauce I poured it into individual dishes, I broke an egg over the top of each of them and then finished them in the oven. It might not be the 'proper way' to make shakshouka but it worked really well, the only tricky part was making sure the egg white was cooked but the yolk was still runny!

The recipe is adapted from this one from Riverford Organics which I originally got from a recipe card in our organic fruit and vegetable box.

Shakshouka recipe (Serves: 3-4)

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp olive oil
2 Onions, Finely chopped
4 Cloves garlic, crushed
1 Yellow pepper, chopped into small-ish chunks
1 Red pepper, chopped into small-ish chunks
1/2 tsp Black pepper
½ tsp Each cumin and coriander
1 Fresh red chilli pepper, Chopped (optional)
400g/1 tin Chopped tomatoes
Sea salt
3-4 eggs (1 per person)

Method:

First preheat your oven to gas 4/180c
While the oven is warming up you can make your sauce. First, I a large frying pan over a medium heat fry your onions until they are softened. (about 5 minutes)
Add your garlic and chopped peppers to the pan, give everything a good stir and fry for a couple of minutes more.
Next add your black pepper spices and chilli (if using) to the pan and mix well.
Pour in the tomatoes, season well with salt and leave to simmer for a couple of minutes - until everything is soft and well cooked.
That's the sauce made, now pour the sauce into three of four oven proof dishes (if you'd prefer use one large dish)
Make an indentation in the sauce mixture and break an egg into each one, try not to break the yolk!
Bake for around ten minutes until the white is firm but the yolk is still soft, it may take less time depending on your oven so keep an eye on them!
Serve with bread for dipping and enjoy!

Panzanella - Italian bread salad

2009-05-07T20:01:00.004+01:00

There has been a noticeable change in the vegetables I've been getting in my organic box recently. Now the weather is warmer and the days are longer it's goodbye to swedes, turnips, Brussels sprouts and winter cabbages, hello to tomatoes, peppers, courgettes and asparagus.

This week I got some fantastic sweet peppers and a bunch of beautiful tomatoes on the vine, the perfect ingredients for making Panzanella.Panzanella is an Italian summer salad which can contain all manner of ingredients but always contains tomatoes, basil, olive oil, vinegar and most importantly bread. Panzanella was originally a peasant dish designed to use up leftover bread, -isn't it funny how peasant dishes are almost always the most delicious?- to make this salad chunks of old bread are torn up and tossed with the other ingredients where it absorbs all the delicious juices and takes on a fantastic flavour.I don't think it's possible to find an 'authentic' recipe for this, by it's very nature it's made from whatever people had to hand at the time. My version uses tomatoes, peppers, olives, capers and mixed salad leaves. I also added some flaked trout fillets to make it more substantial, you could add salmon or chicken to equally good effect or just leave it out altogether.

the bread I used was an Italian ciabatta but any firm textured bread will do, just don't use anything too light and airy.

Roasting peppers gives them an amazing flavour

Panzanella recipe: (Serves one as a light meal, two as a side dish)

Ingredients:

One large red or yellow sweet pepper roasted (see method)
Two large tomatoes chopped into eight moon shaped wedges.
A handful of olives, green or black.
A tablespoon of chopped capers.
Sea salt, extra virgin olive oil and white wine vinegar (or lemon juice).
Mixed baby salad leaves, I used spinach, rocket and watercress.
As much leftover bread as you want to eat torn into chunks.
Flaked trout or salmon - optional.

Method:

First up you need to roast you pepper, you can do this either in the oven, under the grill or if you have a gas hob like I do you can use that. Basically you need to char the skin, and I mean really char it, it should be black.
What I do is stab the pepper onto a fork and hold it above the flame on my gas hob so the skin crackles and blackens, do this all over. I f you using an oven or grill the same rule applies, it needs to be black.
Once your pepper is blackened all over place it inside a plastic bag and leave it while you prepare everything else, when you come back to it the skin will slip right off and the pepper will taste amazing.
Next put the tomatoes, olives, capers, into a large bowl. Add as much oil. vinegar and salt as you like, personally I like mine quite sharp but it's entirely down to personal taste. The salt is really important here as it's the salt that draws the juices out of the tomatoes and peppers, this is the juice that will soak into your bread.
Now to the peppers, remove them from the plastic bag and pull the skin away, it should be really easy. Slice the pepper open, tip any juice that has collected inside into the bowl with the tomatoes then chop the flesh and add that to the bowl too.
Leave the salad to stand for at least 15 minutes, preferably longer so that the juices can be drawn out and the flavours can meld together.
Just before you want to serve toss in the bread and salad leaves, mix everything well, check the seasoning and the oil/vinegar is perfectly balanced then serve. Top with flaked trout or salmon if you'd like.

Clotted cream scones

2009-05-03T21:06:00.005+01:00

I know my posting has been a bit slack recently, I have been very busy with work which means I've had barely any time to cook anything. Of course I still have to eat and when you're short on time super quick recipes are very attractive.Recipes don't come much quicker than these yogurt scones from Chocolate and Zucchini, ten minutes to prepare, fifteen to cook and they're done, ready to eat straight from the oven. I ate my scones outside in the sunshine served with clotted cream and jam, they made a delicious treat before I hopped on my bike and went back to work.

Hopefully normal blogging will resume shortly...

For the recipe head over to Chocolate and Zucchini.

Grow your own

2009-04-27T08:35:00.004+01:00

Growing my own herbs and vegetables is one of the things I look forward to most about the summer, If you've never tried growing your own before then now is the perfect time to get planting! Even if you live in a small flat on the 50th floor with no room to swing a cat you can still grow something, a pot of herbs such as parsley or basil is ideal for growing indoors on a windowsill.

Basil seedlings

Of course if you have more space then you can grow all sorts of delicious things, I would highly recommend growing tomatoes, not only are they easy to grow but they are also one of the most rewarding. There's nothing quite like a tomato picked straight from the vine still warm from the sun.

Young tomato plants

In the past I've also had a lot of success growing potatoes -it's like digging for treasure when it comes time to harvest- , beans, broccoli and leeks.

This year I'm growing basil, tomatoes, rosemary, chillies and rocket, hopefully I'll get a bumper crop!

Rosemary is easy to grow from a cutting, just put a spring in a glass of water and wait until the roots sprout.

100% Pure

2009-04-21T07:27:00.004+01:00

It was a few months ago now since I first saw Willie Harcourt-Cooze on TV espousing the virtues of real chocolate. Willie is an eccentric entrepreneur from Devon whose aim is to produce the worlds finest chocolate, by hand, from bean to bar.

At the age of just 27 Willie went to Venezuela and bought a 1000 acre farm -as you do- and planted it with 50,000 Criollo Cacao trees, widely regarded as being the best and highest quality strain of cocoa.

A bar of Venezuelan black 100% cacao

Back in the UK Willie set up his factory and began to produce his first bars under the name Venezualan Black. This is chocolate but not as you know it, the bars are made from 100% pure Cacao, they are not at all sweet and are not meant for eating raw. This chocolate is meant to be used as an ingredient, just like you would use garlic or salt and pepper. In fact Willie puts his cacao into just about everything from pasta and chilli to cakes and desserts.

I finally got hold of some of his cacao a few days ago, the bar I bought was described as having "tingly notes of nut and spice" which makes it sound almost like a bottle of wine.

I plumped for a pot of chilli as my first dish to get the cacao treatment, chocolate is a common ingredient in chilli -i'm sure you knew that- so it seemed like a good place to start. I just used my normal chilli recipe but just before serving I added a handful of grated cacao. The effect was quite astounding, the chilli became deeper, darker and richer and gave a complex and interesting flavour.

Chocolate chilli tacos with sour cream and cheese

I'm definitely a cacao convert just a small amount can make a massive improvement to a dish like chilli. The downside is that at £6 a bar this stuff is not cheap for now it will have to remain an ingredient for special occasions.

Willies official website can be found here: http://www.williescacao.com/

Souvlaki

2009-04-15T19:59:00.005+01:00

My knowledge of authentic Greek food is extremely limited, in fact everything I know could probably be wirtten on the back of a postage stamp. I've had Greek salad, olives and moussaka, I really like taramasalata and I love a chunk of crumbly Feta, but beyond that I draw a blank.

At least I did draw a blank, but now I can add one more dish to the list. Souvlaki.

Souvlaki are pieces of meat -traditionally pork- which are marinaded and threaded onto skewers for barbecuing or grilling, the word souvlaki comes from the word souvla which means skewer.
To make souvlaki cubes of pork are marinated in a mixture of red wine or red wine vinegar, olive oil, lemon and oregano, they have a very 'fresh' flavour and are surprisingly light. They would be perfect for the upcoming barbecue party season, it's the kind of food you can pass round on a big platter for everyone to dig in and help themselves.

I served mine with some delicious vegetable rice which was so good it's worthy of a post all of it's own, you could serve this with pita, flat-breads or cous cous equally well.

Although this recipe is all my own I should give credit once again to the fantastic River Cottage Meat Book and to Kalofagas for inspiration.

Recipe: (serves four)

About 800g pork cut into one inch cubes. I used the shoulder cut because 1)it's cheaper 2) it's got more flavour. You can use whatever you like though.

For the marinade:

A good half a glass of red wine.
4 Tablespoons of olive oil.
The finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon.
A lot of dried oregano, about 6 tablespoons or more if you like.
Salt and pepper.

To make souvlaki simply mix all the marinade ingredients together in a large non-metallic bowl, add the pork and mix well then cover and leave in the fridge for at least 4 hours. Thread the pork onto skewers and cook either on a hot barbecue or on a smoking hot griddle. Serve with a squeeze of lemon juice and rice or salad.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken

2009-04-10T10:54:00.005+01:00

Every year at the height of summer Leicester is brought to life by a Caribbean carnival. It all starts with a parade, dancers wearing colourful and elaborate costumes make their way though the city on their way to Victoria Park where a day long party kicks off.

I'm sure it will come as no surprise that the highlight for me is the food, anything and everything Caribbean is there from fiery curry goat (never called goat curry) to corn on the cob fresh from the barbecue glistening with melted butter. It was here that I discovered Jamaican jerk Chicken, the mixture of herbs, spices and chillies is just delicious and has become one of my favourite foods.

There are hundreds of different recipes for jerk chicken - there is no 'authentic' recipe - the ingredients can vary widely. What every recipe has in common is that they all contain Scotch bonnet chillies, thyme and allspice.

I've been experimenting with different recipes over the years, trying to find one that was just right, most of the recipes I have tried were bland, boring and a bit disappointing. Now at long last I think I have it, a recipe with just the right amount of heat that's flavourful and delicious.

Chicken marinating

I like to cook this on the barbecue when the weathers good, cooking over charcoal not only adds a delicious flavour to the meat it also gives it it's characteristic charred blackened look. In Jamaica they would always use legs or thighs for this, they have much more flavour than breast meat and don't tend to dry out.Recipe:
You will need a pestle and mortar or a blender.

Ingredients for the marinade:

1 Tbsp each of salt, black peppercorns and allspice berries (sometimes called pimento berries)
1 Tsp ground cinnamon or half a cinnamon stick
3 bay leaves
1 Small white onion finely chopped
4 Scallions/spring onions chopped
Chillies, what type you use is up to you it depends how hot you want it to be. I used two whole red chillies for a medium heat, in Jamaica Scotch bonnets would be used but be warned, they are very hot!
The juice of 1 lemon or 2 limes
2 Tbsp of plain vegetable oil such as sunflower or rapeseed
A large handful of fresh thyme woody stalks removed and chopped
5 Tbsp brown sugar

You will also need 2lbs/1kg chicken legs or thighs

To make the marinade:

Either in a pestle and mortar or in a blender grind the salt, peppercorns and allspice berries. They don't need to be ground to dust but try to get it quite fine.
Now add the cinnamon and the bay leaves to the mix and grind these up too.
Add the onion, the scallions and the chillies and really mash it up to a paste.
Finally mix in the lemon or lime juice, oil, thyme and sugar. Stir everything together and that's the marinade done.

To prepare the chicken:
You can skin the chicken or leave the skin on for this recipe, it's up to you. I would suggest skinning it if you don't have much time to leave the chicken to marinate.

Put all the chicken in a large plastic box or a zip-lock plastic bag. Pour the marinade over the chicken then really work it with your hands, you need to get the chicken really well coated and the marinade reall well rubbed in. Now leave it in the fridge for at least 4 hours but anything up to two days is good.

Ideaaly cook the chicken over a charcoal barbecue on a medium heat, other you can cook it in the oven at 180c/350f/gas 4 for about 1 hour, to get the charred skin flash it under a hot grill.

Traditionally served with rice and peas but potato wedges or salad are both good with this.

Bringing home the bacon - How to make your own

2009-04-05T09:17:00.006+01:00

Anyone who was up on the main road near my house last week may well have seen a cyclist riding somewhat unsteadily into town. That would have been me as I wobbled home with a whole pigs belly on my back, it makes for an interesting riding experience I can tell you.

A whole pork belly

I found a recipe for home-made bacon in The River Cottage Meat Book which required no fancy equipment or expertise, a large plastic container and a few select ingredients were all that was required. It seemed wrong not to make it.

I used a whole pork belly for my bacon which I had to order in advance, I got mine from a fantastic farm shop -actually the farmers kitchen- which is just a few miles from where I live. Belly pork is the cut used to make streaky bacon, it is quite a fatty cut which makes it ideal for adding flavour and richness to soups, stews, pasta etc...

My bike outside the farm shop

There are two methods for making bacon, brine curing where the pork in soaked in a brine solution and dry curing where a salt cure is rubbed directly into the pork. My bacon was dry cured which results in a firm, dense texture similar to Italian pancetta, Ideal for adding to stews, casseroles and pasta dishes or just sliced thin for a bacon sandwich.

Rubbing in the salt cure

The cure I used is a simple mixture of:

1kg Salt
250g Brown sugar (this helps counter some of the saltiness and adds good flavour of it's own)
20 crushed Juniper berries
4 crushed Bay leaves
2 tsp Saltpetre (optional)

This makes more than enough for 1 whole pork belly.

The saltpetre is the only ingredient that is hard to find, it is a key ingredient in the making of gunpowder and few shops are willing to sell it to the public (If you know a friendly butcher who makes his own bacon or sausages you might be able to buy some, failing that try Ebay). It's purpose in the cure mix is to help the pork retain it's pink colour, it is by no means an essential ingredient and can be left out, your bacon will still taste great.

The finished product

Getting all the ingredients together is the bit that takes the most time, once you come to actually make your bacon it's a breeze.

First you'll need a large clean plastic container to store the pork in while it cures, I used a rectangular bucket but anything will do. Cut your pork belly into two or three pieces, small enough to fit inside the container.

Rub handfuls of the cure mix into the pork. Make sure the pork is well covered all over with the cure mix then stack the pork in the container. Cover and store somewhere cool such as a cellar or pantry.

After about 12 hours you will find that a lot liquid has leached out of the pork, drain this off and rub with more of the cure mix, re-stack the pork alternating the layers so the piece that was on the bottom is now on the top.

That's it! Continue for about 5 days for good sandwich bacon, curing for up to 10 days will give your bacon a much longer shelf life but it will be very salty so you'll need to soak it before you use it.

So far with my bacon I've made countless bacon sandwiches and one batch of pasta carbonara, it tastes amazing, much better than anything I've ever bought. Unlike bacon from the supermarket this won't shrink when you fry it and no strange white liquid will come out!

A nice surprise in a HUGE box!

2009-03-31T18:17:00.004+01:00

I love it when I get a parcel in the post, it's so much fun tearing off the paper to reveal what goodies are inside. It's even more exciting when the parcel is unexpected and you have no idea what it could possibly be.

A couple of weeks parcel arrived for me, it was a huge box, "that's funny" I thought, as I hadn't ordered anything. Inside the box was a wooden crate of the kind that zoos might transport deadly poisonous snakes in. I tentatively opened the crate and then it became clear, what was inside wasn't snakes (which was a relief!) it was something far more useful, and tasty. Muesli.

I ate all my muesli before I realised it might be a good idea to take a photo! This picture is courtesy of Kelloggs.

Kellogg's had contacted me a few weeks earlier to ask if I would like to try their new muesli range, of course I said yes and then promptly forgot all about it. The crate contained all four flavours of their new Nature's Pleasure range for me to try, they even sent me a bowl and a spoon!

The flavours were:

Almond, pecan and cashews: A bit dull and bland but a good basic muesli with plenty of crunch. If you like you breakfast quite plain or your not keen on fruit in your muesli then this is the one for you.

Almond, pecan and raisins: This one is very similar to the almond, pecan and cashew version but with raisins!

Apple and blackcurrant: I really liked this one, just as crunchy as the others but with big pieces of freeze-dried apples and blackcurrants and a hint of cinnamon, delicious.

Raspberry and cherry: The overall winner for me by a country mile, oaty crunchy goodness with tangy flavourful raspberries and cherries, this is as close to my idea of perfect muesli as I'm ever likely to find in a box!

One thing that really impressed me about these was that there was nothing strange or artificial in the ingredients list, in fact I think I have almost everything I need to make my own in my cupboards right now!

Nature's pleasure should be in the shops sometime around April so if you want to try some for yourself look out for it!

Spinach and ricotta lasagne

2009-03-28T09:44:00.007Z

When I was younger their were few things I hated more than spinach. my Dad tried to encourage me to eat it by telling me it would make me strong like Popeye. I wasn't that easily convinced so I found ways to dispose of any spinach that appeared on my plate, usually by shovelling it down the side of the table when no one was looking.I can't remember when I willingly tried spinach again all I know is that now I can't get enough of it, I've been adding it to all sorts of things recently. Spinach is a perfect partner to fish, it makes a fantastic addition to soups and is delicious cooked with eggs in a Spanish tortilla.

One of my Favourite ways to use spinach is mixed with ricotta cheese as a stuffing for pasta. The first time I tried it was when I stuffed cannelloni with the spinach and ricotta mixture and baked it with tomato sauce. I loved the recipe but as stuffing cannelloni is very time consuming I've converted the recipe into a lasagne, it tastes just as good but takes a fraction of the time to make. By happy coincidence the green spinach, white ricotta and red tomato sauce are the colours of the Italian flag.Recipe:

For the tomato sauce:
Olive oil
A medium onion, finely chopped
Two cloves of garlic finely chopped
Two 400g tins of tomatoes
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp red wine vinegar ( you could use balsamic or any other vinegar you have to hand)
salt and pepper

For the ricotta mixture:
500g fresh ricotta cheese
300g fresh spinach (substitute frozen)
A handful of Parmesan cheese (optional)
A grating of nutmeg
Salt and pepper

You will also need:
250g oven ready lasagne sheets or the equivalent of fresh lasgane
1 ball (125g) Mozzarella chopped into large chunks (if you can use buffalo mozzarella otherwise ordinary is fine)
Parmesan cheese
A bunch of fresh basil
A 9x13 inch baking dish
Tin foil

To make the tomato sauce:

In a large frying pan on a medium heat fry the onion until it begins to soften (around 5 minutes) then add the garlic and fry for a minute more.
Tip both cans of tomatoes into the pan along with the dried basil.
Taste the sauce to see how sweet it is, if it isn't sweet enough add the sugar and vinegar. You may not need to use it all, keep tasting the sauce until you get it right.
Add the salt and pepper to taste and simmer for five minutes more before taking off the heat.
Set aside while you make the ricotta mixture.

To make the ricotta layer:

First prepare the spinach. wash the spinach and put it all into a large pan, add a splash of water (you don't need a lot) and cook on the hob on a medium heat until all the spinach has wilted down, it will shrink a lot.
Take the spinach off the heat and immediately immerse it in cold water, this will preserve it's bright green colour.
Drain the spinach way and squeeze through a sieve or between your hands to remove as much water a possible.
Finely chop the spinach and place in a large bowl along with all the ricotta, the Parmesan (if using) a grating of nutmeg ( use only a very small amount it is strong!) and the salt and pepper.
Mix everything together well.

To assemble:

First spread a thin layer of the tomato sauce over the base of the baking dish.
Cover the sauce with a layer of lasagne sheets then spread over a layer of the ricotta mixture.
Spread some tomato sauce over the ricotta layer then add more lasgane sheets.
Continue building up the layers until all the mixture has gone.
Cover with tin foil and bake at 350f/180c/gas 4 for 25 minutes.
Remove the foil scatter with the mozzarella and grate over some Parmesan.
Return the dish to the oven for another 25 minutes.
Scatter the fresh basil over the top and Serve.

Baked onions with Camembert and thyme

2009-03-22T09:16:00.005Z

Onions are one of the most useful and versatile of all vegetables, they form the base of so many recipes and are an essential ingredient in most kitchens. What you might not have realised is that onions are really good as a vegetable in their own right. When baked onions become soft and tender, they release their natural sweetness and are transformed into something that's just plain delicious!For this dish I roasted onions with white wine and thyme until they were incredibly soft almost melting in texture. The finishing touch -and what made these really good- was a piece of Camembert cheese which I stuffed inside each onion and left until it was oozy and melting. Trust me when I say this was really good!Baked onions would make a perfect side dish to go with roast pork, chicken or anything else really!Recipe: (serves 4)

Ingredients:

12 small onions
White wine, 1 glass
Dried thyme or fresh if you have it
Sea salt
Olive oil
Camembert cheese chopped into cubes (You could use any other cheese that melts easily)

Method:

Peel the onions, trim the roots but lave the base intact and cut in quarters almost to the bottom but not right through.
Pack the onions into a baking dish -it should be a tight fit- Pour over the white wine, sprinkle with the thyme and sea salt and drizzle with olive oil.
Cover with tin foil and bake at around gas 4/350f/180c for 60-90 minutes, until the onions are very soft and tender
Finally push a piece of Camembert inside each onion and return to the oven for a minute until the cheese has melted.
Serve.

St Patrick's day with Miele

2009-03-18T08:20:00.016Z

Yesterday I had a very early start, and when I say early I mean early, 4:45am. Now I'm not accustomed to getting up at that time of day -as far as I'm concerned it's a time no one should have to see- but I had a train to catch, I was going to Didcot to meet up with four other food bloggers for a day of Irish inspired St Patrick's day cooking, courtesy of Miele.

We were going to Miele's experience centre, an amazing place where potential customers can get hands on with Miele appliances to test them for themselves. As we walked in it was clear who the food bloggers were, the first thing we all noticed was the heavenly smell of pastries baking!
After a warm welcome we were served drinks. A perfect double espresso for me - just what I needed to wake me up before we headed upstairs to the kitchen, and into the very capable hands of Elspeth, the Miele home economist.

Picture taken from miele.co.uk

Working in four groups we prepared an Irish feast, and what a feast it was. There was far too much good food to list it all here but some of the highlights were a beef and Guinness casserole, roast gammon, salmon kedgeree and goats' cheese and tomato tarts. I was working with Joanna from Joanna's food, together we prepared,

Roast chicken with lemon and thyme
Irish soda bread
stir fried cabbage
Quiche with caramelised red onions and Cashel blue cheese

The quiche was a exceptionally good, the onions were sweet, caramelised and perfectly cooked while the Cashel Blue was mild and creamy, surprisingly didn't have that strong overpowering in your face flavour that blue cheese can have. It was delicious!I was really impressed with all the Miele kitchen appliances we tried, but there were two that particularly stood out. The first being the combination microwave/conventional oven which could roast a whole raw chicken in an amazing 35 minutes whilst keeping the skin crisp and golden. The other was an oven that heats from the base and uses a fan, removing the need to blind bake pastry.We ended the day with a tour around the centre where I was thrilled to discover Miele used to make bikes, very appropriate I thought for The Cycling Cook! Unfortunately I couldn't ride it as it was dangling from the ceiling but it was still nice to see it there. We were shown countless kitchen appliances everyone one of them ingenious and innovative. From a dishwasher that automatically opens when it's finished to let the steam out to an oven the plays a welcoming jingle when you turn it on, everything here amazed me.The journey home was a long one, I fell asleep on the train and almost missed my stop, but that's another story...

My thanks go to everyone at Miele and Steph from 1000 Heads for a great day.

The bloggers who were there were:

Joy of Almanzos Belly
Alex of Just cook it
Joanna of Joannas food
Alexandra of The Princess and the Recipe

Cooking in the Miele kitchens

Stir fried cabbage with garlic and pine nutsPreparing onions for the quicheIrish soda breadVegetables waiting to be cooked on the charcoal grillGoats cheese and tomato tartsSalmon kedgereeLunch!

Hot Cross Buns

2009-03-12T20:10:00.006Z

Q: What do you get if you pour hot water down a rabbit hole?
A: Hot cross bunnies!

Sorry, I couldn't resist!

As Easter is now fast approaching I thought I would share with you the recipe for one my favourite Easter treats, hot cross buns.

So what are hot cross buns? They are spicy, fruity bread buns which are made and sold for Easter. They have a cross marked on top, usually made of flour dough but sometimes icing or pastry is used. Traditionally they were made for Good Friday but these days they are available throughout Easter, some supermarkets have even started selling them year round.Hot cross buns are fantastic toasted, spread with melting butter they are just sublime, in fact I wouldn't eat them any other way.

Of course you can just buy them from any good bakery and I'm sure they would be fine but there's something special about making them yourself, homemade just tastes that bit better. Making your own also means you're free to tinker with the recipe, you can choose your favourite fruits and spices, and you get them at their freshest, straight from the oven. I've adapted my recipe from this one, it's a good recipe, the buns were spicy, fruity and delicious!

They do take a lot longer to rise than the original recipe stated, I left mine for a good 90 minutes before baking. You may also need to add a little more flour than is listed, your looking for a dough that is slightly sticky but you should be able to handle it without it clinging to your hands.

Hot cross buns recipe

Ingredients:

2 oz Caster sugar
1 sachet (7g) of easy blend yeast
1 lb plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 heaped teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 oz Raisins, sultanas or other dried fruit
The finely grated zest of an orange
2 oz mixed peel
4 fl. oz. Water
4 fl. oz milk
2 oz melted butter
1 beaten egg

For the Cross (optional)
Mix these together to form the paste that is piped into the buns

4 tablespoons plain flour
1 tablespoon caster sugar
3-4 tablespoons water

Method:

In a large bowl add the sugar, yeast, flour, salt and spices. Mix well
Add the dried fruit, zest and peel to the bowl and mix
Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and add the water, milk, butter and egg, bring the mixture together with your hands to form a dough. If it feels too sticky add more flour now.
Knead the dough on a hard surface for 10 minutes until it fells smooth and elastic.
Put the dough back in the mixing bowl and cover, leave to rise until it has doubled in size, up to 2 hours.
Knock the dough back until it is the original size and split into 12 pieces.
Roll the pieces into buns and place on an oiled baking tray, cover and leave to rise for around 90 minutes or until they have doubled in size.
To make the cross mix the flour sugar and water together in a bowl, put the mixture into a small plastic bag. Snip the corner off the bag and pipe the mixture in a cross shape onto the buns.
Bake in a preheated oven at gas mark 7/220c/425f for 15-20 minutes.
To glaze warm some honey or golden syrup and brush over you buns with a pastry brush

Crema Catalana

2009-03-09T08:28:00.007Z

A lot of countries lay claim to the invention of crème brûlée, the French claim it as their own while the English say they got there first with the Cambridge burnt cream, and the Spanish? well they say it was their creation in the form of crema catalana.

Although I perhaps should have been patriotic and made the English version I just couldn't resist the charms of the Spanish crema catalana which is delicately flavoured with orange, lemon and cinnamon. Unlike it's French and English counterparts which are baked in a bain marie, crema catalana is cooked on the stove and set in the fridge.
The caramel topping is made using a blow torch, if you don't have a blow torch you can use a very hot grill, it just won't be as fun! It is crucial here that you don't do this more than half an hour before you serve if you want the caramel to stay hard and crack satisfyingly as you break in.

I used a recipe by Rick Stein, taken from his book, Mediterranean Escapes. I've recommended this book before and I'll do it again, it's one of my favourite cookbooks, if your at all interested in Mediterranean cookery this book is a must.

Crema catalana recipe

Serves 4

10fl oz/300ml single cream
10fl oz/300ml full-cream milk
Finely grated zest 1/2 orange
Finely grated zest 1/2 large lemon
3in/7.5cm cinnamon stick, broken in half
4 large egg yolks
24oz/75g caster sugar, plus 4 tbsp 2 tbsp cornflour

Bring the cream, milk, orange zest, lemon zest and the cinnamon stick halves to the boil in a non-stick pan. Set aside for one hour for the milk to become infused with the flavourings.

Put the egg yolks into a bowl, add the 2½oz/75g sugar and beat with a hand-held electric mixer until pale and creamy. Beat in the cornflour. Bring the milk back to the boil and strain into a jug. Mix a few tablespoons into the egg yolk mixture to loosen it slightly, then stir in the remainder.

Pour the mixture back into the pan and cook over a low heat for 4-5 minutes, stirring all the time, until the mixture has thickened and coats the back of the wooden spoon. But don't let the mixture boil.

Pour the mixture into four wide shallow dishes (terracotta if possible), measuring about 5in/12cm across. Leave to cool, then chill for 4-6 hours, or overnight. Shortly before serving, sprinkle the surface of each custard with 1 tablespoon of the remaining sugar and caramelise under a hot grill. Serve immediately - the sugar will stay hard for only about 30 minutes.

Chicken Kiev

2009-03-02T16:16:00.003Z

Until recently my only experience of Chicken Kiev was the frozen supermarket variety, I loved them when I was younger but the thought of eating one now makes me shudder. If that's your only experience of chicken Kiev or if (gasp!) you've never tried one at all then you really are missing out on a treat. The real thing freshly made is a joy to eat, crispy crumbed chicken with a garlic butter centre, cut into one and the butter oozes out and floods your plate. Food heaven!

Made fresh with good ingredients the Kiev is a winner and a sure fire crowd pleaser.

Recipe

Ingredients: (serves 4)

4 Large chicken breasts,
120g butter,
2 Cloves of garlic crushed to a paste,
2 tsp Parsley, finely chopped,
1 tsp Tarragon, finely chopped (optional),
1 egg lightly beaten,
Plain flour for dusting,
2 Cups of breadcrumbs.

Method:

First make the filling my mixing the butter, garlic, parsley and tarragon (if using) together in a bowl season to your liking and set aside.
Preheat your oven to Gas 5/190c/375f
Slice through the chicken breasts horizontally about 3/4 of the way through and open them out.
Place a sheet of cling film over each breast and bash them out gently with a rolling pin. You don't want to make them really thin so be gentle!
Pack 1/4 of the butter mixture into the centre of each chicken breast then roll them tightly around the filling. Make sure the butter is well secured inside, you don't want your lovely butter to leak out!
Finally the Kievs need to be breadcrumbed, take one of your chicken breasted and dust it with flour, then dip it in the beaten egg and finally in the breadcrumbs making sure it is well coated.
Repeat with the rest, place them on an oven proof tray and bake until golden brown and the meat feels firm to the touch (around 45mins)
Serve!

Chocolate Caramel Mousse Pots

2009-02-26T19:38:00.005Z

Everyone should have a good recipe for chocolate mousse in their repertoire, it's simple, elegant and can be prepared well in advance, the perfect dessert for entertaining. These Chocolate Caramel Mousse Pots have a layer of salted caramel at the bottom and are finished off with whipped cream, the flavour is intensely chocolatey and very rich. You couldn't eat much of this but served in small glasses they are the perfect end to a meal.

Recipe: Makes four individual portions.

For the salted caramel layer:
45g Light brown sugar
15g Butter
40ml Double cream
A large pinch of sea salt

For the mousse:
100g Good dark chocolate
3 Eggs, seperated.
40g Granulated or castor sugar
Whipped cream to finish
Method:
To make the caramel:

Mix the sugar with a tablespoon of water and heat in a small pan over a gentle heat until it has melted and become liquid.
Remove from the heat and stir in the butter, followed by the cream and the salt.
Pour into the base of four ramekins or glasses.

To make the mousse:

Break up the chocolate and place it in a heat proof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water.
Once the chocolate has melted take it of the heat, allow it to cool slightly the beat in the egg yolks making sure they are well incorporated.
Meanwhile in a seperate bowl whisk the egg whites until they hold soft peaks, add the sugar and continue to whisk for another minute.
Fold a spoonful of the egg whites into the chocolate using a metal spoon, be careful not to knock the air out of the mixture.
Fold the rest of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and pour the mousse over the caramel in the ramekins or glasses.
Leave the mousses to set in the fridge for at least 2 hours before topping with whipped cream.
Serve.

Fantastic focaccia bread

2009-02-20T13:37:00.005Z

Focaccia is a delicious Italian flat bread which can be topped with all kinds of delicious things, herbs, olives or cheese are common toppings and a great place to start. What I really love about focaccia, what makes it really special is the olive oil which is both mixed into the dough and drizzled liberally over the top before baking. This is THE recipe for using that expensive bottle of extra-virgin you've got stashed away in the cupboard, nothing will show off it's flavour quite so well.
Recipe:

For the dough:
350g/12oz Strong white bread flour
200ml warm water
50ml Extra virgin olive oil
One 7g sachet of quick action yeast
1/2 tsp Salt

For the topping you can use whatever you like although the olive oil is essential and the salt highly recommended, I used:
1 Small onion cut into wedges
A handful of black olives, halved
Mixed Italian herbs
Extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt flakes

To make the Foccacia:

Mix the flour yeast and salt together in a large bowl, make a well in the centre and pour in the oil and water.
Bring everything together to form a dough (it will be quite sticky) knead for a few minutes on a well floured surface (you will need to rub some flour on your hands too, it is sticky!)
Cover the bowl with oiled clingfilm and leave to in a warm place to rise for at least 1 1/2 hours but preferably overnight.
Once the dough has risen knock it back and press out onto a large baking tray (you could make smaller breads by cutting up first)
Pre-heat your oven o gas 6/400f/200c
Using your fingers press dimples all over the surface of the dough, this will stop all the olive oil running off.
Sprinkle over your toppings, drizzle generously with olive oil (don't be stingy with it!) and sprinkle over some sea salt.
Leave to rise again for about 1 hour or until doubled in size.
Bake for around 30 minutes.

Slow cooked bolognese sauce

2009-02-16T08:05:00.006Z

I make bolognese relatively often, it's a great standby recipe that I like to think I've got down to a fine art. I've tried all manner of recipes and techniques, from different herbs to different vegetables or meat, you name it I've tried it! If there was one thing that every recipe has in common aside from the essentials like tomatoes and herbs, it would be that they all use minced meat.

When I have an idea I just can't let it go, weeks may pass, months even but I just have to try it in the end, and I had a great idea for improving my bolognese. I was going to replace the minced beef that I would normally use with whole pieces of braising steak then cook it long and slow. It did take months but I finally got around to trying it last week.

Other than swapping the mince for steak I followed my normal recipe. It took a lot longer to cook, around 4 hours, but needed no attention so I could go and do other things while it simmered gently on the stove.The finished sauce was rich and meaty, the flavour just seems to get better and better the longer it cooks. Tossed through some papardelle pasta with shavings of pamesan this made for an extremely tasty bolognese indeed.

A few tips for a great bolognese sauce:

Always brown your meat first, it improves the flavour no end.
Bacon can improve anything, add some chooped bacon to your sauce for a delicious flavour.
Don't add too many different herbs and flavourings, keep it simple.

The BloggerAid cookbook

2009-02-10T22:18:00.006Z

If you've not heard of BloggerAid you should head over to their page and take a look. They are a group of food bloggers who are committed to fighting world famine. How? By raising awareness, holding fund-raisers, drawing media attention and now in their biggest and most ambitious project yet, by writing a cookbook.The project was unveiled by Ivy of Kopiaste.. to Greek Hospitality , Giz of Equal Opportunity Kitchen and Val of More Than Burnt Toast and in their words "We have announced our largest fundraiser to date ever!!!! ..., we will be publishing a cookbook with 100% of the profit from sales being directed to our chosen agency. The funds we raise will be directed to specific programs of The World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations frontline agency. The needs are great and choosing a specific effort is currently being negotiated."

And YOU can contribute! but you'll have to be quick, the deadline is the 12th of February, that's tomorrow!

"The cookbook is targeted for sale on Amazon by November/December 2009. There is a great deal of work involved in delivering this project and we will rely on you to help in any way you can. We will keep you informed every step of the way on Bloggeraid !!!!"

I thought it was a great Idea and definitely want to be a part of it, if you do too click here!
My submission to the cookbook is a pear and ginger upside down cake, it's a twist on one of my favourite childhood cakes, pineapple upside cake. I was inspired to make this as the weather here is very cold at the moment. In fact it's the coldest winter we've had in 20 years so I was aiming for a really warming, spicy cake. I scored a hit with this recipe, sticky, spicy and moist, perfect! I chose to submit this recipe because it's quite simple, the ingredients are widely available and I think everyone will love this cake.

I can't share the recipe here as they are exclusively for the cookbook, so if you want the recipe you'll have to buy the book!

Bacon wrapped stuffed pork fillet

2009-02-08T09:14:00.005Z

I'm a firm believer that everything is better with bacon. It adds an extra layer of flavour and succulence, stops food from becoming dry, looks good and, well who doesn't love bacon? So when I got this pork fillet I knew exactly what to do with it.

Pork fillet is a fantastic cut of meat, it cooks quickly and so is great if you don't have much time to cook. The main drawback is that unusually for pork it contains very little fat, this means it can become dry and tough. A problem which can be solved with bacon, stuffing, or both.

To give my pork bags of flavour I decided to stuff it with olives, basil and feta cheese and wrap it in streaky bacon. It tasted fantastic, the pork was perfectly cooked and it wasn't at all dry. Result!

Recipe

Ingredients:
For the stuffing:

A large handful each of basil and black olives.
100g (half a pack) of Feta cheese

For the pork:

1 pork fillet (sometimes called tenderloin) about 500g.
200g good streaky bacon.

Method:

Preheat your oven to gas 5/190c/375f.
To make the stuffing chop the olives, basil and Feta and mix together well the set aside. (it should be quite finely chopped but some bigger chunks are good).
To prepare the pork first lay bacon rashers out on a board next to each other and place the pork fillet on top.
Using a sharp knife slice the fillet lengthwise but not all the way through and open it out.
Pack the stuffing mixture into the pork, try to get as much in as you can.
Close the pork and roll the bacon around it.
Roast for 45-50 minutes then rest for 5 minutes before serving.

How to make Vanilla Extract

2009-02-03T10:15:00.004Z

One of the most useful ingredients I have in my cupboard is Vanilla Extract, I use it for all kinds of baking and desserts. Whether I use it for a full on vanilla flavour as in vanilla ice cream, or as a subtle background flavour in brownies and cakes, it is an ingredient I couldn't be without.

The vanilla orchid is native to Mexico although Madagascar is now the worlds largest producer supplying 59% of total production, it is the second most expensive spice with only saffron costing more. The vanilla bean is actually the seed pod of the vanilla orchid, a plant which is not at all easy to grow. Each flower must be pollinated by hand and each bean must be harvested by hand, the beans then have to be dried and cured for several months before they can be used. The whole process is very labour intensive so if you've ever wondered why vanilla costs so much, that's why!
Although buying vanilla from the shops is expensive it's surprisingly easy to make your own extract, all you need are vanilla beans, vodka and patience. It will take 2 months before it is ready to use but after that you should never run out again, just top it up with vodka and add a fresh bean every once in a while.The vanilla beans themselves are widely available online (try Ebay and Amazon) and at a fraction of the price of the supermarkets, it is well worth ordering in bulk as they keep for a couple of years well wrapped.

To make your own Vanilla Extract

You will need:

A 350ml bottle of vodka (Cheap stuff is fine for this)
5 vanilla beans

Method:

Split the vanilla beans lengthwise almost all the way but leaving them intact at the base.
Push them into the bottle of vodka, place the lid on and give it a good shake.
Store in a dark place for at least 8 weeks and give it a good shake now and again.

Nigel Slater's Ginger Cake

2009-01-26T14:31:00.005Z

I don't think there is any cake as suited to winter as ginger cake, a slice of this dark, sticky, spicy cake is just what I want when it's cold and dark outside. Ginger cake is quite an old fashioned cake, the kind your Grandma might make. It doesn't look much, in fact it looks positively dull but looks can be deceiving, just wait until you taste it!This version by Nigel Slater contains both ground and stem ginger so it has a real spicy kick to it, the Golden Syrup is what makes this cake so sticky and delicious. What I really like about it is that it only gets better over time, it's hard to resist taking a slice right away but if you can I would recommend that you leave it at least one day in an airtight tin before cutting in to it.I would like to try this recipe again substituting the golden syrup for treacle/molasses to make an even darker cake, lemon zest would make a great addition too.

Recipe (Original here)

250g self-raising flour
2 level tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 level tsp bicarbonate of soda
a pinch of salt
200g golden syrup
2 tbsp syrup from the ginger jar
125g butter
3 lumps of stem ginger in syrup (about 55g)
2 heaped tbsp sultanas
125g dark muscavado sugar
2 large eggs
240ml milk

You will need a square cake tin measuring approximately 20-22cm, lined on the bottom with baking or greaseproof paper.

Set the oven at 180°C/gas mark 3. Sieve the flour with the ginger, cinnamon, bicarbonate of soda and the salt. Put the golden and ginger syrups and the butter into a small saucepan, and warm over a low heat. Dice the ginger finely then add it to the pan with the sultanas and sugar. Let the mixture bubble gently for a minute, giving it the occasional stir to stop the fruit sticking to the bottom.

Break the eggs into a bowl, pour in the milk and beat gently to break up the egg and mix it into the milk. Remove the butter and sugar mixture from the heat and pour into the flour, stirring smoothly and firmly with a large metal spoon. Mix in the milk and eggs. The mixture should be sloppy, with no trace of flour.

Scoop the mixture into the non-stick or lined cake tin and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer, inserted into the centre of the cake, comes out clean. Unless you are serving it warm, leave the cake in its tin to cool, then tip out on to a sheet of greaseproof paper. Wrap it up again in foil and leave to mature for a day or two before eating.

Obama's chili

2009-01-21T19:47:00.005Z

Not only is Barack Obama the President and a great politician, but it seems as if he can cook too, At least he can if his chili recipe is anything to go by.

I found this recipe over at Hopies Kitchen and was intrigued to find out just how good Obama's cooking is. The chili contains a couple of unexpected ingredients, turmeric, basil and red wine vinegar, I've never seen these in a chili recipe before but they didn't seem out of place in the finished dish, in fact they were a nice addition that I will use again.
I followed the recipe pretty closely the only changes being that I doubled the spices and herbs to add more flavour and I used an extra pepper. I also used black beans instead of kidney beans simply because that's what I had.

Recipe (Original from ABC News)

1 large onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
Several cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound ground turkey or beef
1/4 teaspoon (each) of ground cumin, ground oregano, ground turmeric, and ground basil
1 tablespoon chili powder
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Several tomatoes, depending on size, chopped
1 can red kidney beans

Method:

Sauté onions, green pepper and garlic in olive oil until soft.
Add ground meat and brown.
Combine spices together into a mixture, then add to ground meat.
Add red wine vinegar.
Add tomatoes and let simmer, until tomatoes cook down.
Add kidney beans and cook for a few more minutes.
Serve over white or brown rice. Garnish with grated cheddar cheese, onions and sour cream.

I thought the finished dish was really tasty and well flavoured and well balanced, I'll certainly be making it again although next time I will add more vegetables.

Tortilla Española

2009-01-15T21:19:00.006Z

Last year I set out on a cycling trip across Spain following the ancient pilgrimage route to Santiago De Compostela, a journey of 550 miles crossing two mountain ranges along the way. The journey completely changed the way I view Spain, for one thing, I discovered (the hard way) that Spain is not always hot and sunny! I also found that the culture of the people changed significantly as I moved around, and that each region is fiercely proud of it's identity.

Food of plays a major part in Spanish culture and each region has it's own specialities, from the fantastic fish dishes in the north to the world famous paella in the south. Of course each region claims their food is the best and most authentic! It was all very confusing for me as I don't speak a word of Spanish, choosing what to eat at restaurants usually meant pointing at the menu and hoping for the best!

If there was one dish that could be found anywhere, was always the same and always delicious it would have to be Tortilla Española. It's strange how the simplest of dishes can taste so good and Tortilla is certainly simple. Onions and potatoes are fried in olive oil to which beaten eggs are added and cooked into a thick omelet which can be cut into wedges. It is very good hot but is more commonly served cold either in cubes as tapas or in bigger slices as a meal on it's own.
I think the trick to making a good Tortilla is to cook everything slowly, I cooked the onions over a very gentle heat for a whole 4 hours until they were deliciously sweet and soft, it's not necessary to cook them that long but you definitely want to take it slow. Cooking the eggs gently is also important to ensure that they don't burn but become wonderfully golden.
Tortilla Española recipe (serves 4)

Ingredients:

2 Large onions chopped.
A large handful of New Potatoes. (you could use any other potatoes chopped)
8 Medium eggs whisked.
Olive oil.
Optional extras such as peppers, mushrooms, Chorizo or ham could be added if you wish, I added a red pepper.

Method:

First boil the potatoes until fully cooked, drain and chop into disks.
In a large frying pan fry the onions gently until they are fully cooked and soft but not coloured, Add any extras now as well such as peppers.
In a large bowl mix the onions and potatoes with the beaten eggs, season with salt and pepper.
Wipe out the frying pan, add a splash more olive oil (make sure there's enough to stop the eggs sticking) and pour in the egg mixture.
Fry very gently for about 10-15 minutes until it's cooked at least half way through.
To finish your Tortilla you can attempt to flip it like the Spanish do or play it safe and cut the pan under the grill for 5 minutes to cook the top.
You could eat you Tortilla now or leave until it's cold, either way it's delicious!

Just peachy

2009-01-13T21:07:00.004Z

A Pithivier is a French pastry or pie with an almond frangipane filling, very similar in fact to a British Bakewell tart. Although it looks plain from the outside it contains a filling that is sticky, sweet, nutty and altogether delicious.

There are plenty of variations on the recipe both sweet and savoury, my own twist was to add peaches both for colour and to cut the richness of the frangipane. I was slightly worried that the juice from the peaches would turn my pastry into a soggy mess but I needn't have worried. The peaches worked brilliantly with the almond filling, my only regret is that I didn't add more!
I used this recipe by Wolfgang Puck as a guide, I simply added tinned sliced peaches (in the summer I would use fresh) in between layers of frangipane filling.

Oven Baked Risotto

2009-01-08T19:19:00.003Z

I don't know about you but I have a list of bookmarked "must try" recipes that seems to keep on growing. Whenever I come across an interesting recipe I bookmark the page with every intention of coming back to it and cooking it, the problem is I never do. Those recipes it seems are doomed to languish in my bookmarks folder for all time. So when I found an interesting recipe for making risotto in the oven I knew I had to make it right away or condemn it to the same fate.

I've written about risottos before, they are one of my favourite meals, something I make time and time again. The only downside is that stirring the pot for what seems like hours can become a bit tedious. When I found this recipe over at Anne's Kitchen for a risotto that is baked in the oven I just had to try it. No stirring, brilliant!
I really couldn't tell the difference between this and the conventional version, what's important is that it tasted great!

You can find Anne's recipe here, I changed it slightly by adding peppers and using chopped tomatoes, this recipe is very adaptable so use whatever you like, anything goes!

Creamy Mango Cheesecake

2009-01-04T21:56:00.004Z

I know I haven't been blogging that much recently, Christmas and new year has been busy with not much time to cook or do anything with my blog really, so if you left comments and I haven't replied I wasn't ignoring you I promise! things are getting back to normal now though and today I had time to do some baking.

I've mentioned before that I get a box of organic fruit and vegetables delivered every two weeks, during the winter when fresh fruit is a bit scarce they often send imported tropical fruit. This week we had two beautiful fresh mangos which I thought would make a great cheesecake. And they did!I chose to make a baked cheesecake rather than no-bake version, mainly because I wanted to cook the fruit within the cake, I served it with a simple sauce made by blending sugar and mango together. The result was a dense rich cheesecake that was perfectly contrasted by the fresh mango and tasted great!

For whatever reason it cracked as it cooled, I think I probably cooled it too fast, next time I'll turn off the oven and leave it there to cool gradually.
Recipe Ingredients

175g/6oz digestive biscuits(If you can't get digestives another plain sweet biscuit would work, try shortbread)
50g/2oz butter , melted
600g/21oz cream cheese (e.g. Philadelphia)
2 tbsp plain flour
175g/6oz white sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract
2 eggs
150ml/1/4 pint Sour cream
1 Mango peeled, stoned and diced

Method

Preheat your oven to 350f/180c/gas4.
Place the biscuits in a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin into fine crumbs, mix with the melted butter and press the mixture into the base of a 20cm springform tin. Bake the base for 5 minutes.
Beat all the remaining ingredients except the mango together with a whisk until smooth.
Add the diced mango to the cheese mixture and pour over the biscuit base, bake for 40-50 minutes. It should be just slightly wobbly in the centre when it's cooked.
Leave to cool completely in the tin then serve.

Christmas turkey curry

2008-12-29T07:56:00.003Z

I don't know about you but the week between Christmas and new year is all about using up the Christmas left-overs as fast as possible. Our fridge is loaded with little containers of cranberry sauce, stuffing, left-over vegetables and of course turkey.

One way of using up leftover turkey is this curry which, has become something of a tradition in my family and is as certain as Christmas dinner itself! It's a great way to turn your leftovers into something fresh and completely different.Turkey curry recipe.

Ingredients:

2 Onions, finely chopped.
2 Cloves of garlic crushed.
1 Green (or red) Chilli chopped.
1 tsp each (or more if you like) Turmeric, coriander and cumin.
Leftover turkey meat cut into chunks.
400g tin of tomatoes.
200ml Chicken or turkey stock.
5 tbsp natural yoghurt.
Chopped fresh coriander to serve.

Method:

Add a tablespoon of vegetable oil to a large pan and fry the onions until they begin to soften.
Add the garlic and chilli to the pan and stir, fry for a minute more.
Add all of the spices and mix well, fry for one more minute.
add the chopped turkey, stock and the tinned tomatoes, stir everything, cover the pan and leave to simmer very gently for 15 minutes.
Finally stir in the yoghurt, season with salt and serve with rice or naan bread.

Mulled wine

2008-12-21T19:28:00.002Z

With Christmas fast approaching things are getting pretty busy around here, the food still needs to be bought, the presents wrapped and the house decorated, add to that two days of overtime at work and there is very little time to spend cooking!

I did however find time to whip up a pan of mulled wine, a Christmas essential and one of my favourite drinks. Made from red wine, spices and fruits simmered and served hot, this warming drink is perfect for winter.There are endless variations to this, the recipe below is the basic version to which you could add apples, pears, berries or even fruit liqueur, to give it a bit of a kick try adding a good glug of brandy.

Mulled wine recipe

Ingredients:

1 75cl bottle of red wine.
1 orange, half sliced half studded with 4 or 5 cloves.
1 lemon sliced.
1 cinnamon stick snapped in two.
1 tsp ground/powdered ginger.
A wine glass of water.
3 tbsp white sugar or honey.
As much brandy as you like (optional).

Method:

Place all the ingredients into a large pan with a lid.
Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer stirring until the sugar has dissolved.
Place the lid on the pan and leave on a very low light to simmer (don't boil) for at least 20 minutes.
Serve.

Lemon Posset

2008-12-15T17:35:00.004Z

It may sound like a small furry animal but Posset is in fact an old English dessert, made from just three ingredients, lemons, cream and sugar. This could be the easiest dessert in the world.Although simple the end result is heavenly, a silky smooth, creamy, tangy, pot of lemony goodness. A perfect end to a meal and elegant enough to serve on special occasions too, it's tanginess make it a perfect palate cleanser after a rich meal. Or as I'm planning, served in shot glasses between courses.

I served mine with shortbread biscuits to add a bit of texture, you could make your own or be lazy like me and buy some!

Recipe
The acidity of the lemon juice is what makes the cream set so no eggs are required, I was surprised at just how well and how quickly the mixture firmed up after adding the juice.

Ingredients:

1/2 Pint/300ml double/heavy cream (don't be tempted to use single/light cream, it will not work here!)
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
75g/2 1/2oz Sugar

Method:

Pour the cream and sugar into a small saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer for 3 minutes.
Take the cream off the heat and add the lemon zest and juice, whisk well.
Pour the mixture into small dishes or ramekins and leave to cool in the fridge.
Serve with shortbread biscuits.

Retro Black Forest Gateau

2008-12-11T17:03:00.005Z

I love retro food and it doesn't get much more retro than Black Forest Gateau! This cake seems to have gone a bit out of fashion, probably thanks to the cheap frozen version that always made an appearance at parties and on cheap pub menus.

There is no reason why it shouldn't be a fantastic cake, made with decent ingredients it has a lot of potential, we all know how well chocolate and cherries go together. So, with that in mind I set out to make my own, from scratch, using quality ingredients. I wanted to see just how good this cake could be.
I'm pleased to report that it was delicious, though there was never really any doubt that it would be. Chocolate sponge soaked in cherry brandy syrup, layered with cream, cherries and chocolate. How could that be anything but delicious!I'll admit this cake is completely over the top, there was no birthday, no anniversary and it's nothing to do with Christmas. I just felt like making it, and I don't regret it, not one bit!

Recipe

For the chocolate sponge:

In a large bowl or mixer beat 150g/6oz butter with 150g/6oz of granulated sugar until light and fluffy.
Add three eggs to the mix and beat well.
Gently mix in 150g/6oz self raising flour, replacing two tablespoons of the flour with cocoa powder.
Pour into a greased and lined round baking tin (approx 25cm), bake at gas 4/350f/180c for around an hour or until a skewer comes out clean.
Leave to cool completely before slicing into three layers.

For the filling:

Whip 1 pint of whipping or double cream until it holds stiff peaks, be careful not to over-whip.
Drain three 400g cans of cherries in juice reserving the juice.
Mix two thirds of the reserved juice with a heaped tablespoon of cornflour and a splash of brandy. Heat gently in a saucepan until the liquid has clarified and thickened. Cool completely.
To make the syrup bring the remaining juice to the boil in a small pan, adding sugar to taste and a splash of brandy. Reduce by half.

For the chocolate edging:

Line a baking tray with cling film then melt 250g of good dark chocolate.
Spread the molten chocolate over the cling film to form a thin layer.
Leave to set the break into shards.

To construct the cake:

Place the first layer of the cake on the plate or stand you intend to serve it from (it will be impossible to move later).
Drizzle with one third of the syrup.
Add one third of the cream.
Then add one third of the cherries.
Finally spoon over one third of the thickened juice.
Repeat with the remaining layers.
Place the chocolate shards around the edge for decoration.
Admire your cake!

Traditional mince pies

2008-12-08T14:14:00.009Z

Mincemeat is a Christmas essential in the UK, it just wouldn't be Christmas without it. Made from a boozy mixture of fruits, spices, sugar and alcohol it's most common use is in traditional mince pies.

It is a good idea to have a good supply of these on hand, ready for unexpected Christmas visitors. They are delicious served still warm and even better with an unhealthy amount of brandy butter and a generous glass of mulled wine!

My home-made mince pies

So here it is, the recipe for mincemeat. Possibly the easiest recipe ever!

Mincemeat (makes around 4lb)

Ingredients
12 oz Apples – Grated
2 oz chopped mixed peel
18 oz mixed dried fruit, e.g. raisins, currants and sultanas
6 oz shredded suet (I used vegetarian suet)
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp mace
1 oz flaked almonds
6 oz soft brown sugar
Zest and juice of a lemon and an orange
2 ½ tbspn Brandy or rum

Method

Put all the ingredients in a big mixing bowl and stir until well mixed. It should look something like this.
Pack the mixture into sterilised jars and leave to mature for at least 1 week. It will become darker and stickier over time. (It should keep for quite a few months)

Mince pies

For the best flavour use and all butter pastry for making mince pies, it has the best flavour.

I can't remember where I found this recipe but it is excellent. Makes enough pastry for 24 pies.

All Butter Crust for Sweet and Savory Pies (Pâte Brisée)

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
4 to 6 Tbsp ice water

Method

Rub the butter into the flour, sugar and salt until well incorporated.
Drop by drop add the ice water and work into a dough, try to handle the mixture as little as possible.
Rest the pastry in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
To make mince pies

Preheat your oven to 350f/180c/gas 4.

Roll out a third of your pastry, using a pastry cutter cut 24 discs of pastry and line two twelve hole shallow pie trays.

Place a teaspoon of mincemeat in each pastry case.

Roll out the remaining pastry and cut out smaller discs for the pie lid, top each case with a pastry lid.

Dust the pies with icing sugar and bake for around thirty minutes or until golden brown.

Enjoy!
What foods do you cook for Christmas?

Stollen

2008-12-04T20:29:00.006Z

I have a policy of not preparing anything for Christmas until the start of December. I'm not being miserable, I absolutely love Christmas, it's just that if I started any earlier I'd have got bored of it by Christmas day!

Once December comes around I really get into it! It just wouldn't be Christmas without mulled wine, mince pies or Christmas cake, so much to make, so little time! As it stands I have already made a tray of mince pies, a Christmas pudding and this Stollen.Stollen is a German yeasted Christmas cake, loaded with fruits, nuts and spices it has a marzipan centre and is one of my favourite Christmas treats.

It is especially good toasted although I should warn you, use an electric toaster at your peril, I'm still cleaning bits of charred marzipan out of mine...

What do you make for Christmas?

The recipe I used is by Simon Rimmer, it turned out really well although next time I will add more fruit.
Original recipe by Simon Rimmer here.

Ingredients
100ml/3½fl oz warm milk
2 tsp dried yeast
pinch salt
1 tsp caster sugar
225g/8oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp ground mixed spice
200g/7oz mixed dried fruit (including glacé cherries)
25g/1oz flaked almonds
50g/2oz unsalted butter
1 free-range egg, beaten
250g/9oz marzipan
To finish
25g/1oz butter, melted
50g/2oz icing sugar

Method
1. Place the milk and yeast into a bowl and mix well. Leave to sit for 5-6 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, sift the salt, sugar, flour and mixed spice into a large bowl.
3. Add the dried fruit, almonds and butter and mix well.
4. Add the yeast and milk mixture and mix well.
5. Add the egg and stir well to make a dough.
6. Knead the dough for 5-6 minutes, then cover and leave to prove for 20 minutes.
7. Uncover the dough and turn out onto a clean, floured work surface. Using your hands knock the dough back to reduce the volume, then knead the dough for 3-4 minutes.
8. Push and roll the dough out by hand into a flat oval shape about 23cm x 18cm/9in x 7in.
9. Roll the marzipan into a piece about 18cm x 5cm/7in x 2in. Place the marzipan into the centre of the dough, then fold over the sides of the dough to seal in the marzipan.
10. Place the stollen seal-side down onto a greased baking tray. Cover and place somewhere warm to prove for one hour.
11. Preheat the oven to 180C/365F/Gas 4.
12. Place the stollen on the baking tray into the oven to bake for 40 minutes, or until golden-brown and cooked through.
13. To finish, remove the stollen from the oven, brush with the melted butter and dust with icing sugar immediately.
14. Allow the stollen to cool, then serve in slices

An amazing day at the BBC Good Food Show, part 2

2008-12-01T16:19:00.013Z

Click Here for part 1

After a morning of sampling and shopping we were taken backstage for a fantastic VIP lunch.

A beautifully presented prawn dish for the starter.To follow was a selection of cold meats, poached salmon, salad and bread. Not so photogenic but no less tasty.And finally an elegant chocolate dessert with caramel sauce, yum!

Then came what we'd all been waiting for, a private book signing with the great James Martin himself. Each of us was presented with a signed copy of his book, The Collection, mine now proudly adorns my coffee table! He then rushed off to do yet another cookery demonstration, while we had some more time to look around before taking our place in the supertheatre...

The book signing
(photo courtesy of Forever Better)

My own signed copy!

The supertheatre was huge, over 2000 people packed in to watch James Martin prepare a three course meal. Teryaki mackerel was followed by bread-crumbed veal chops fried in an obscene amout of butter! (health concious he isn't!) and finally a mouth-watering dessert of layered pastry and berries with mascarpone and raspberry sauce. As you would expect it all looked fantastic and was no doubt scoffed backstage as soon as the demonstration was over.

Not only is James Martin a great chef he proved he was a great entertainer too, he had everybody laughing as he picked on an unsuspecting volunteer, using her to demonstrate where the different cuts of meat come from! Later he used an old man's walking stick to make his trademark spun sugar, the audience loved it!A few of us stayed behind afterwards to watch Gordon Ramsay who, working with Mark Sergeant made a great team. As you would expect Gordon made good use of his favourite word, in fact the show came with a warning beforehand! They were both fantastic to watch, even though we had seats way back in row Z!

But onto the food, first up was a hearty minestrone soup served with garlic toasts, it looked very homely and is a recipe I am very keen to try. Interestingly he used parmesan instead of salt which I thought was a brilliant idea. Next up was a tuna steak served with refried beans, I love fresh tuna but am never quite sure what to do with it so this was great for me. To finish he made some simple caramelised plums.

And with that it was all over, the time had come for us to go home, I could quite happily have spent hours longer wondering around! Thanks again to Miele, ForeverBetter and 1000Heads for a fantastic day!

A beautiful tin of chocolates give to us by Miele and my VIP pass

An amazing day at the BBC Good Food Show, part 1

2008-11-28T07:56:00.015Z

The BBC Good Food Show is nothing short of heaven for a foodie like me. With hundreds of exhibitors, plenty of free samples, cookery demonstrations and more celebrity chefs than you can shake a big pointy stick at, for food lovers The Good Food Show is THE place to be.
When show sponsor Miele (pronounced mealer, I'm told), the people at foreverbetter.co.uk and 1000heads sent me an invitation to the show with a VIP pass I had to think about it for all of a nanosecond before saying yes please! A group of food bloggers from the UK were invited, in no particular order they were:

Becky - Girl Interrupted Eating

Francesca - 101 Things

Nicola - Cherrapeno

Katie - Apple and Spice

Anne - Anne's Kitchen
Joanna - Joanna's Food

Here we all are posing in front of the Meile stand!

My day started at 5.30 in the morning as I had an early train to catch. Once I arrived I met up with the other bloggers and my hosts for the day, Colin, Kaz, Juliette and Molly then it was into the show!

Before lunch we had some time to explore, we ate and drank our way around the free samples admiring what was on offer and chatting to the producers. The scale of the place was breathtaking, with over 600 stands it was hard to know where to begin!

Doves farm had an interesting selection of bread mixes, flour and cakes. Although I don't often use prepared mixes I couldn't resist the Ezekiel bread mix, apparently it's inspired by the prophet himself!
Munchy seeds were selling a fantastic selection of flavoured roasted seeds, the vanilla pumpkin seeds were especially good.
I'll admit it was the name that attracted me to the Grumpy Mule Coffee stand but their coffee was fantastic, some of the best I've ever had.
It wasn't just food on offer, there was some fantastic cooking equipment too.
Do I make myself clear!? A very coulourful selection of liquorice.

Coming up in part 2, I have a fantastic VIP lunch, meet James Martin and watch Gordon Ramsay do his thing in the supertheatre.

Crème fraîche

2008-11-25T15:59:00.004Z

Crème fraîche is a delicious soured cream from France that is made using a bacterial culture added to fresh cream. It is similar to regular sour cream although much thicker and richer with a fat content of around 30%.

Crème fraîche is an incredibly versatile ingredient which is fast becoming a favourite in my kitchen. You can use it as a dip or dollop it on top of a bowl of chilli, it's also delicious served alongside fresh berries or as an alternative to cream with any dessert.

One of my favourite ways to use crème fraîche is as a pasta sauce. I add it to hot pasta with some herbs, a few vegetables, parmesan and maybe some bacon or smoked salmon and hey presto! a delicious meal in under 20 minutes.
I made this pasta dish using crème fraîche, bacon, chopped fresh tomatoes, mushrooms and parmesan (in other words whatever I could find in the fridge!) It was very quick and really tasty.

Super nutritious walnut and seed bread

2008-11-21T16:35:00.004Z

Sylvie over at A Pot Of Tea And A Biscuit has tagged me to bake bread as part of the worldwide blogger bakeoff. I love baking bread and as this was for a good cause too I was more than willing to participate.Breadline Africa is a charity that is working to put an end to poverty in Africa by helping communities help themselves. The aim is that the communities will become self sustaining and therefore require no further aid.

On Blog Action Day, Breadline Africa launched their Worldwide Blogger Bake-Off campaign. The aim is to raise $1 million in funds for a project to convert shipping containers into locations for food production and distribution in Africa. It is hoped that these sustainable community kitchens will not only provide food such as bread and soup to those in need, but also opportunities for skills development within poor communities.

So how does it work?

Join our campaign.
Submit your bread baking recipe.
Make a donation to Breadline Africa.
Vote for your favourite recipe.
Bake a loaf of bread and blog about it.

My submission for the bake-off is my super nutritious walnut and seed bread. Not only does this bread taste really good but it is really nutritious too!Soft light and full of flavour it is particuarly good with cheese of for dunking in soup.I'm not going to tag anyone in particular, if you've read this consider yourself tagged! Go on you know you want to join in!

Recipe

Ingredients:
150g Strong wholemeal bread flour.

350g Strong white bread flour.

1 7g Sachet of instant yeast.

2 Tsp brown sugar.

1 Tsp Salt.

30g Each of crushed walnuts, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds.

2 Tbsp olive oil.

300ml Warm water.

2 Tbsp olive oil.
Method:
Prepare a baking sheet by lightly dusting with flour or lining with baking paper.

In a large bowl mix the two flours together.

Add the yeast, salt, sugar, walnuts and seeds and mix everything together.

Make a well in the centre and add the oil and warm water.

Gradually incorporate the flour into the water and work into a dough. Knead for a good 10 minutes. (if it's too wet or dry and this point add a little more flour or water, it should feel just slightly sticky)

Cover the dough with a place of oiled cling-film and leave in a warm place for an hour or until doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to gas 6/200c/400f.

After the dough has doubled in size knock it back and knead for a minute more, shape into a round and place on the prepared baking sheet. Cover and leave to double in size once more.

When the dough has doubled bake for around 30 minutes or until golden.