Oven dried tomatoes

I absolutely love sun dried tomatoes, come to think of it I love tomatoes of any description. When I was at school I used to fill my lunch box with them, at break time other people ate crisps or chocolate, I ate tomatoes! So when I first heard that it was possible to make oven dried tomatoes at home it instantly appealed to me, I had plans for them, in pasta, on pizza or for making amazing sandwiches.
That was over a year ago and until today I still hadn't made them, as the last of this years summer fruits and vegetables disappear from the shelves it was a case of do it now or wait another year. Although tomatoes are available all year round it's only really worth making these during the summer when tomatoes are at their sweetest and tastiest.
I used regular tomatoes but if you can get them the more unusual varieties would be well worth trying, yellow tomatoes would look fantastic while I imagine cherry tomatoes would be deliciously sweet.

Oven dried tomatoes are a breeze to make but do require patience as they take around six hours to make, so set them going and forget about them, watch a film read a book and do the shopping. By the time you get back they should be done and they will have been well worth the wait.

I didn't follow a recipe but used different bits of lots of recipes and kind of worked it out as I went along, this is what I did...

Take 1 1/2 lbs of good tomatoes, slice them in half and place cut side up on a lightly oiled baking tray, sprinkle with salt and if you want some dried herbs.Light your oven set as low as it will go, you just want it to be warm. Put your tray of tomatoes in the oven on the middle shelf. at this point put your jars in the oven to sterilise.
How long it takes now will depend on the size of tomato and heat of the oven, mine were medium sized tomatoes and took just under six hours, obviously the smaller the tomato the quicker it will be. When done they should look like this....Now take the tomatoes and jars out of the oven and pack the tomatoes into your sterilised jars, pour olive oil over the tomatoes until completely covered and seal.These should keep for quite a long time in the fridge and will make a delicious addition to pasta dishes or they would be great in a ciabatta sandwich with parma ham.

Sausage and mash for british food fortnight

The 20th September saw the start of British food fortnight, now in it's seventh year British food fortnight is a celebration of great British produce and cooking. There are events taking place across Britain including several food festivals and tastings by local producers. The aim to educate people about British food which has suffered from a bad reputation for far too long.Jacques Chirac the French president famously said, referring to British food "One cannot trust people whose cuisine is so bad," I'm sure if Mr Chirac had sampled a delicious summer pudding or a freshly baked steak and ale pie he wouldn't have made such rude comments! There are some fantastic foods available to us in Britain, from wild Scottish salmon to Cornish clotted cream.

Clotted cream and scones

To mark British food fortnight Antonia from FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD! has set a challenge to create a dish that is thoroughly British, wherever possible it should use locally sourced British produce. For my entry I have cooked sausage and mash with apple cider gravy, it doesn't get much more British than that!

Sausage and mash with apple cider gravy

Sausage and mash is often referred to in Britain as bangers and mash, I don't know why this is, I can't say I've ever heard a sausage bang which is probably for the best. I would rather eat my sausages than have them explode in my face!
Bangers and mash is typical "pub grub"and can be found on pub menus up and down the country along with other British classics such as steak and kidney pie or the famous fish and chips.
I made mine with apple and cider gravy as apple is such a good partner to pork, other than that I kept to tradition serving it with buttery mash and peas. Comfort food of the highest order!

This is my entry to the British food fortnight blogging event, to enter a dish of your own click here.

Tarte Aux Pommes or French Apple tart

I've got to hand it to the French, no one can make pastries quite like they can. A visit to a French patisserie is as much a treat for the eyes as it is for the stomach, the hard part is knowing what to choose! Who can resist an éclair with freshly whipped cream? I know I can't! While their fruit tarts are such beautiful works of art it seems a shame to eat them!
For the most part I'm happy to leave patisserie to the professionals, the level of skill required to produce such elegant pastries is way beyond me. That said I did attempt a classic French apple tart, which although simple still makes an impressive dessert, great if you want to show off!I was pleasantly surprised at just how easy this was to make, although as I had a lot of very small apples to peel it was a little time consuming. The end result was excellent the perfect combination of crisp buttery pastry and soft sweet apples, made even better with a generous pouring of cream but then, what isn't?.

You can find a great recipe for this tart here.

Hooray I've won an award!

A big thankyou to Sylvie of A Pot Of Tea And A Biscuit for passing on the Brilliante Weblog award to me, I'm flattered!
1. When you receive a diamond, make a post about it on your blog.
2. Name the blogger from whom you received it.
3. Award the diamonds to seven other bloggers.
4. Link them.
5. Tell them they received an award.

So without further ado I would like to pass the award on to,

Hopie of Hopie's kitchen
Antonia of FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD!
Kittie of Kittens In The Kitchen
Marielle of La Petit Chef!
Foodycat of Foodycat
Ben of What's Cooking?
Kadeeae of Consuming The Harvest

Beef and Guinness casserole

When I set out yesterday morning there was a distinct chill in the air, although I hate to admit it I have to accept that winter is coming.
Now I'm not a big fan of winter, there's something about the freezing cold the sun setting at 4:00 and the terrible weather that just doesn't appeal to me. The only consolation is that when conditions outside are so bad it is the perfect time to cook food this good.
Casseroles and stews are amongst my foods of choice during the winter, perfect for warming up again after I've been out in the freezing cold! They also provide a great way to use all the winter roots that are abundant at this time of year.Last night I cooked Beef and Guinness casserole, although it was a simple affair containing few ingredients it packed in plenty of flavour, thanks largely to the Guinness. This beer (stout to be accurate) has an intense flavour that is a perfect match for beef. After long slow cooking the flavour mellows quite significantly to leave a beautifully rich meaty gravy which is why I served mine with good crusty bread to mop up every last bit.

Recipe

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 2 pounds (900g) Stewing beef, diced.
• 6 onions roughly chopped.
• 4-5 carrots roughly chopped.
• 2-3 sticks of celery roughly chopped.
• 2 cloves of garlic crushed and chopped.
• Herbs, I used thyme sage and bay.
• 2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard.
  
• 1 can of Guinness (you could use another beer, choose something with plenty of flavour)
• 1 Beef stock cube.
• Salt and pepper
  

Method

• Preheat oven on a low heat, around gas mark 2.
  
• Heat some oil in a large oven-proof pan on the hob and brown the meat on all sides.
• Add all the vegetables to the pan and cook for a couple of minutes.
• Add everything else to the pan and season well with salt and pepper.
• Make sure everything is well mixed, put a lid on the pan and put in the oven for at least 2 hours, preferably longer.
• Serve with good bread.
  

Fruit-packed Rock Cakes / Rock buns

I haven't made rock cakes since primary school. I think everyone made these at some point in their school cookery lessons, probably because they are so quick and easy to make.

Rock cakes are very similar to scones, they have a crisp crust and light crumbly texture and are an excellent recipe to have in your repertoire. Great for teaching children to cook or for when you want to make cakes and don't have the time (or can't be bothered) for anything elaborate.
I like loads of fruit in mine so I put some extra in, I also sprinkled sugar crystals over the top before baking for some extra crunch.

Recipe

• 225 g (8 oz) Self Raising Flour
• pinch of salt
• 100 g (4 oz) margarine
• 75 g (3 oz) mixed dried fruit
• 25 g (1 oz) mixed peel
• 50 g (2 oz) caster sugar
• 1 medium egg
• milk to mix

Method

• Heat oven to 200ºC, 400ºF, Gas Mark 6. Grease two baking trays.
• Mix the flour and salt, rub in the margarine.
• Stir in the dried fruit, mixed peel and sugar.
• Mix to a stiff dough with egg and milk.
• Place in rough heaps on the baking tray and bake for 10-15 minutes.

Speedy Spaghetti Carbonara

When I've been out all day and come home tired and hungry I turn to Carbonara to satisfy the hunger pangs. Why? because it's incredibly quick and absolutely delicious, I've yet to find a single person who doesn't enjoy a good Carbonara. This simple meal of bacon, eggs, Parmesan and pasta is universally popular and the great thing is I almost always have all the ingredients at home, so there's no need to go shopping.English and American versions often add cream, Italians don't and as it's their invention I do it there way, although I can't deny the creamy version does taste good too. I've also added some courgette to mine 1. because it was lurking in the fridge and needed using and 2. because I don't like having no vegetables at all in a meal.
I learnt the trick to making a decent carbonara sauce from watching Jamie Oliver. It is important to take the pasta off the heat before adding the eggs, this prevents them from scrambling and gives you a silky smooth sauce. The other important thing to remember is to add freshly ground black pepper, lots and lots of it, this dish needs it!

Courgette carbonara recipe
Serves 4

Ingredients

• 400g spaghetti or other pasta
• 250g bacon chopped
  
• 2 courgettes chopped
  
• 4 eggs lightly beaten
  
• Large handful of parmesan grated
• Finely chopped parsley (optional)
• Salt and pepper

Method

• Put your pasta on to boil.
• While the pasta is cooking fry your bacon and courgettes in a large pan.
• Once your pasta is cooked remove from the heat and toss in the beaten eggs, work quickly and make sure all the pasta is coated.
• Add the remaining ingredients reserving a little parmesan and mix well.
• Serve with a sprinkling of the reserved parmesan.