Fuss Free Flavours has moved to www.fussfreeflavours.com

Fuss Free Flavours has moved

2009-05-13T20:36:00.002Z

I have moved to www.fussfreeflavours.com

I look forward to seeing you on the new site.

The Iron Cupcake Challenge: London

2009-05-13T10:58:00.006Z

<%
Response.Status="301 Moved Permanently"
Response.AddHeader='Location','http://fussfreeflavours.com/2009/05/13/the-iron-cupcake-challenge-london/'
%>

The Caked Crusader creator of all manner of baked goods has a mission in life to spread the word that cake is good. As life missions go this is a pretty good one!

To spread the word she is organising the first Iron Cupcake challenge outside of the USA with the theme being chocolate.

Full details are here, in short turn up on the 1st June with 12 chocolate cupcakes baked to the same recipe, have a drink, look at and sample other's cupcakes! There will be a chocolate themed prize for the winning cupcakes. Admission / entry fees are £5.

I think that I will be on holiday, but will hopefully be at the next challenge.

Black Bean & Butternut Squash Tortillas

2009-05-09T20:08:00.002Z

I spent all day at the Decanter New World Fine Wine Fair and I was desperate for something simple and speedy to soak up the alcohol when I got home, I had half a butternut squash in the fridge and beans, peas, corn and tortillas in the freezer. From start to plate these took about 15 mins and I have enough filling to freeze for another meal.

The earthiness of the black beans works well with the sweetness of the squash and absorbs any flavourings or herbs that you add. The griddled tortilla is crispy with a soft fluffy filling. I also added some liquid smoke for a BBQ flavour if you do not have any (it is not easy to get hold of in the UK) add some smoked paprika or smoked salt.

I have no exact quantities for this recipe as it really is a use-whatever-you-have-to-hand general idea rather than a recipe, any beans would work, use different vegetables; any root vegetable would work in place of the squash.

Black Bean & Butternut Squash Tortillas (Serves 2)

Handful black beans
Handful aduki beans
½ small butternut squash
¼ green pepper finely chopped
¼ yellow pepper finely chopped
Handful peas & corn
1 chopped pickled chilli
1tbs Sunflower oil
Dash soy sauce
Dash liquid smoke

2 tortillas

Peel and chop the squash into ½” cubes, put in a bowl,cover and microwave for 3 or 4 minutes until soft. Whilst the squash is cooking fry the vegetables and beans (I fry my beans straight from the freezer, they defrost soon enough in the pan) until the beans are soft, add the squash and give it all a good mash until the beans and squash are squidged together. Add liquid smoke, soy, spices, salt and pepper to taste and remove from the heat.

Oil a griddle pan (or a clean frying pan) and put on the hob on the hottest ring at full blast. Meanwhile spread a dollop of the mixture over half of each of the tortillas (If you get these out of the freezer when you start cooking they would have defrosted by now) fold over and press firmly.

Fry on each side (about 2mins) until they are crispy, keep a close eye on them as they go from perfect to burnt in a matter of seconds. Serve with chutneys and some salad.

Apple & Blueberry Gyoza with a Hot Peanut Butter Sauce

2009-03-15T17:01:00.007Z

I love gyoza and whenever I go to Chinatown I buy a few packets of wrappers to keep in the freezer until I next have a gyoza craving, I could make my own wrappers, but frankly life is far too short and the ready made ones are delicious, cheap and fuss free. Gyozas (or potstickers) are little pastry wrapped parcels that are fried and then steamed and eaten with a dipping sauce.

Gyozas are usually savoury, but recently I saw sweet gyozas on the menu at Root-Master and thought that it was a brilliant idea and set about recreating it at home. I filled them with stewed apple and blueberry and served them with a warm peanut butter sauce.

Apple and Blueberry Gyoza (makes about 20)

1 packet Gyoza wrappers
2 apples
1 tbs sugar
Handful blueberries (2 or 3 for each gyoza)

Stew the apples by peeling, coring and chopping and cook with the sugar and a dribble of water until they are soft and mushy I usually do this in the microwave. Allow to cool.

Stuff each wrapper with a teaspoon of apple and a couple of blueberries, wet the edge of the pastry and fold over and crimp and pleat to close (video here). I have a gyoza press (photos wtih a different filling) that I bought very very cheaply at the Japan Centre. Put the stuffed gyoza on a board, pressing down lightly to give it a base so it sits upright.

To cook the gyoza fry them in oil (light olive or sunflower) until they are browned on the base and both sides (I find it easier to work with 2 smaller frying pans), stand them up in the frying pan turn the heat right up and carefully pour about 1/3 mug of water over them. The water will furiously bubble and turn to steam, when the water has all evaporated the wrappers will start to look translucent. Take off the heat and serve immediately.

Hot Peanut Butter Sauce

Equal quantities of: (I used one heaped dessert spoon of each)

Peanut butter (smooth of crunchy)
Sugar (I used soft brown)
Marge or butter (I used Pure Soy)

Gently heat stirring all the time until the marge/butter is melted and the sugar is dissolved. Serve warm.

Spare uncooked gyoza can be frozen.

Sardine & Caper Pate

2009-03-10T19:27:00.003Z

This is perfect for a light mid week lunch, either with or without soup. The amount pictured is half the recipe and was perfect for me, giving the perfect amount of pate for 2 pitta breads. It is such a simple recipe; made from store cupboard and fridge ingredients and takes less than 5 minutes to put together, it barely warrants blogging about, but I was quite pleased with the photo!

Sardine and Caper Pate (serves 2)

1 tin sardines (in either oil or water) drained
2 tbs mayonnaise
2 tsp lemon juice*
2 tsp capers (I use salted rather than the ones in brine as the flavour is far more intense)

Simply put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix well together using a fork to break up the sardines. Garnish with some chives and serve.

* Fuss Free Tip: I buy my lemons several at a time and juice them and freezer the juice in an ice cube tray. 1 frozen lemon cube is perfect here.

Lavash Crackers

2009-03-06T17:38:00.007Z

I am currently playing Daring Bakers catch up; the September challenge hosted by Natalie from Gluten A Go Go, and Shel, of Musings From the Fishbowl made history by being the first “alternative” Daring Bakers challenge being vegan with a gluten free option. There are many alternative Daring Bakers, who all have to use every ounce of skill and wit to adapt the already challenge recipes to vegan, gluten free or what ever their needs are. Being increasingly occasionally omnivorous I was delighted to see a vegan challenge that was also savoury.

The Lavash cracker recipe comes from Peter Reinhart's Bread Baker's Apprentice, and I have copied it below from the Daring Bakers' website.

The key to a great Lavash cracker is to roll out the dough very thinly. I made nornal non gluten free crackers in two batches one with smoked salt from Brown and Forest (who make wonderful smoked eels and other goodies) and the other with chilli flake. Both were served with guacamole; in my flat guacamole is a food group!

Many thanks to Natalie and Shel for hosting the challenge and apologies for being so appallingly tardy about posting, I did make them in September last year but life took over and I didn't post them.

The crackers were amazing; in fact that I had forgotten just how good and am off to make another batch right now!

Lavesh Crackers

* 1 1/2 cups (6.75 oz) unbleached bread flour
* 1/2 tsp (.13 oz) salt
* 1/2 tsp (.055 oz) instant yeast
* 1 Tb (.75 oz) agave syrup or sugar
* 1 Tb (.5 oz) vegetable oil
* 1/3 to 1/2 cup + 2 Tb (3 to 4 oz) water, at room temperature
* Poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, or kosher salt for toppings

1. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt yeast, agave, oil, and just enough water to bring everything together into a ball. You may not need the full 1/2 cup + 2 Tb of water, but be prepared to use it all if needed.

2.: Sprinkle some flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Knead for about 10 minutes, or until the ingredients are evenly distributed. The dough should pass the window pane test and register 77 degrees to 81 degrees Fahrenheit. The dough should be firmer than French bread dough, but not quite as firm as bagel dough (what I call medium-firm dough), satiny to the touch, not tacky, and supple enough to stretch when pulled. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

3. Ferment at room temperature for 90 minutes, or until the dough doubles in size. (You can also retard the dough overnight in the refrigerator immediately after kneading or mixing).

4.: Mist the counter lightly with spray oil and transfer the dough to the counter. Press the dough into a square with your hand and dust the top of the dough lightly with flour. Roll it out with a rolling pin into a paper thin sheet about 15 inches by 12 inches. You may have to stop from time to time so that the gluten can relax. At these times, lift the dough from the counter and wave it a little, and then lay it back down. Cover it with a towel or plastic wrap while it relaxes. When it is the desired thinness, let the dough relax for 5 minutes. Line a sheet pan with baking parchment. Carefully lift the sheet of dough and lay it on the parchment. If it overlaps the edge of the pan, snip off the excess with scissors.

5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit with the oven rack on the middle shelf. Mist the top of the dough with water and sprinkle a covering of seeds or spices on the dough (such as alternating rows of poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, kosher or pretzel salt, etc.) Be careful with spices and salt - a little goes a long way. If you want to precut the cracker, use a pizza cutter (rolling blade) and cut diamonds or rectangles in the dough. You do not need to separate the pieces, as they will snap apart after baking. If you want to make shards, bake the sheet of dough without cutting it first.

5. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crackers begin to brown evenly across the top (the time will depend on how thinly and evenly you rolled the dough).

6. When the crackers are baked, remove the pan from the oven and let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. You can then snap them apart or snap off shards and serve.

Chocolate Valentino

2009-03-06T17:07:00.004Z

I have been very lax about my blog and the Daring Bakers for the last few months. Being sick at the end of last year did not help, and I have got out of the blogging rhythm and an also not really certain where I have been going with it. However I have actually completed most of the challenges but have not had the energy to post them.

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.

Wendy and Dharm chose a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan, to be served with home made ice cream.

I was very unsure about this recipe, I read it and went out without a list to buy everything and came back with the correct ingredients and several packets of ground almonds as I was convinced that a flourless chocolate needed them. Upon rereading the recipe I was somewhat surprised to see that it really did contain only butter, eggs and chocolate. Upping the Daring ante I cooked the cake and make the ice cream when away from home, staying with my boyfriend's parents' and with the help of his 3 year old nephew and 5 year old niece!

I was amazed at how much my two assistants could do; both regularly cook at home, and they were more than happy to weigh, measure and mix and all of the credit for folding the chocolate mix into the egg whites has to go to 5 year old H.

Chocolate Valentino

16 ounces (1 pound) (454 grams) of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons (146 grams total) of unsalted butter
5 large eggs separated

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.

2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.

3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.

4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).

5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.

6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.

7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter.

8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C

9. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C. Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.

10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

The recipe was very easy to make, I weighed the chocolate and butter into a bowl; set up as a bain Marie and let 5 year H, gently stir and keep watch as I whisked the egg whites up. I have a feeling that we may have added the chocolate to the egg whites rather than the other way round. It certainly did seem to take quite a bit of folding.

Temperature probeless I baked the cake until it seemed done and got it out of the oven, once it had cooled a little I realised that it was in fact still liquid inside and really was not going to firm up so I broke all the rules of baking turned the oven back on and put it back in.

3 year old F who regularly helps me to make a smoothie with a stick blender; telling me that it is “quite tricky”, helped with the ice cream; I made Nigella's Bitter Orange Ice Cream as I wanted an easy child friendly recipe and partially because I had been wanting to try it for some time as I could not believe that a not churn; mix and freeze recipe would work. Happily it did and was delicious.

The finished cake was enjoyed at a Sunday lunch party and greatly appreciated by all including the children present who really did not believe that it was a “silly cake” with no flour and only 3 ingredients. The bitter orange ice cream went very well with the cake and was loved by all.

I don't think that I was sufficiently wowed by the cake to make it again; if I want a flourless chocolate cake I will probably stick to making Nigella's Chocolate cloud cake, but I enjoyed making it and the challenge and stepping outside your comfort zone is what the Daring Bakers are about!

So many thanks to Wendy and Dharm and apologies for my tardy posting.

2009 To Cook List

2009-02-15T11:31:00.004Z

I did very badly on my 2008 To Cook List so here is hoping for a better 2009 and the list of cuttings in the "To Cook" file.

First Courses, Soups and Side Dishes

Braised chicory with orange and juniper
Roasted beetroot, coconut and lime soup
Pea filled potato cakes
Celery gratin
Lentil pate
Butternut falafels

Mains

Fig and dolcelatte pasta
Pea parsley and lemon risotto
Smoked haddock gratin
Creamy mushroom and chestnut filo pie
Sweet soy pork hocks

Puddings

Ginger Meringues with Passion Fruit
Red pear and marzipan tarts
White peaches in muscat
Passion fruit curd tard

Baking

Apricot buttermilk cake
Breton Gateau
Parmesan sables
Cheddar and mustard soda farls
Macaroons
Chocolate, cranberry and orange cake
Gingerbread house
Kourapiedes

Misc

Perfect crumbly fudge

Easy Peasy Ginger Cake

2009-02-13T12:22:00.003Z

This is one of my favourite cake recipes, made entirely from non-perishable store cupboard ingredients. The recipe is very forgiving so you can vary quantities and really is a genuine bung it all in the food processor and whizz then bake recipe.

Although delicious fresh from the oven the cake keeps well and actually improves with age, the top becomes wonderfully moist and sticky after a few days in a tin. It reminds me of shop ginger cake the texture is similar to the Lyle's one in a green foil wrapper – but with fewer additives and more flavour. I far prefer baking using oil rather than fat as I think that it gives a far moister cake.

For extra zing in the cake add a dash of chilli powder, I often add a handful of dried dates or figs for extra texture and flavour. The seeds of the figs provide a slight popping crunch to the otherwise soft cake. If you do not have treacle, golden syrup, dark maple syrup or molasses would work well in its place.

One Step Ginger Cake (makes 16 x 2” pieces)

350g Plain Flour
225g Sugar (I use soft dark brown for colour and flavour but any would work)
100g Cooking oil (Sunflower or rape/canola)
2 – 3 tsp ground ginger
1tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
Pinch salt
About 60g treacle *
225ml boiling water

½ – 1 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
½ – 1 tsp ground all spice (optional)
Dash chilli powder (optional)
Handful dried dates or figs (optional)

Place all the ingredients into the food processor bowl and whizz until you have a smooth golden brown batter. Pour into 8” square pan lined with greaseproof paper and bake at GM4/180C for about 35 - 40 mins until risen and a cocktail stick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

* When weighing the treacle I put the spoon into a jug on the scales, then zero them, use the spoon to dollop the treacle into the jug without scraping the spoon I then rezero the scales and weigh 225g of boiling water into the jug which will dissolve all the treacle which saves any sticky scraping for spoon to food processor bowl. As the recipe is so forgiving accurate measuring is really not necessary.

Fruit Compote

2009-01-19T18:26:00.005Z

I have childhood memories of my mother making a dried fruit compote, which I used to take great childish delight in calling Fruit Compost. Despite my childhood name for it, it is not at all compost like and is delicious for a pudding served with cream or Greek yoghurt or for breakfast with my “perfect” porridge.

Like many of my recipes it is highly adaptable and sort of dried fruit can be used; chopped finely and soaked in ordinary tea overnight. The tea is partially absorbed which plumps and softens the fruit, and forms a lovely rich syrupy sauce with no added sugar. I used plain old PG tips – or builder's tea – as we call it, Earl Grey would work well, but I think a fairly robust tea is needed to be tasted above the fruit. Interesting the day after I made this I found a recipe card in Waitrose that used fruit tea to soak the dried fruit.

Dried Fruit Compote (Serves 4 for a pudding or 8 portions as a porridge topper)

12oz dried fruit roughly topped (I used a mix of apricots, prunes, plums & figs)
½ pint strong black tea

Put the dried fruit in a bowl and pour over the hot tea and leave for 12 hours. Serve chilled. The compote will keep in the fridge for several days.

Photo of the dried fruit before soaking for comparison.

I have just made another version of this, which was even easier as I put the tea bag into the bowl of dried fruit and then covered with boiling water and left to infuse overnight.

Roast Carrot Dip

2009-01-19T17:24:00.002Z

This simple healthy dip is packed with flavour and is lighter on the calories as I used water rather than oil to thin it; roasting the carrots and onion concentrates the flavour and makes a sweet tasting delicious dip which will count towards your 5 a day, the addition of sesame oil adds a nutty flavour. Serve warm or make in advance and keep in the fridge for a few days

Roast Carrot Dip (Serves 2 as an appetiser)

1lb carrots - peeled and roughly chopped
1 large onion - peeled and cut into quarters
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp sesame oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Place the carrots and onions in a roasting tin and toss with the oils and season with the salt and pepper. Roast in a moderately hot oven GM5/190C/375F for about 40mins until the carrot and onion are starting to caramelise. Scrape into the food processor and blitz; adding water if needed to thin, make a textured purée, season to taste, garnish with fresh herbs and serve with pitta bread strips and crudités.

Red Lentil & Sweetcorn Soup

2009-01-07T13:39:00.004Z

This filling and delicious soup is a very pretty pale pastel salmon colour, and is mainly made from store cupboard and freezer ingredients and one fresh onion; so is perfect for when you do not have many vegetables in. The fried caramelised sweetcorn adds texture and a hint of sweetness.

Red Lentil & Sweetcorn Soup (serves 2)
1 onion
4oz red lentils
6oz sweetcorn (frozen or rinsed tinned)
1 pint vegetable stock (I use Marigold)
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp smoked paprika

Roughly chop the onion and fry in the oil until translucent, add the lentils, paprika and the stock and simmer for about 15 mins until the lentils are soft and losing their shape. Add half the sweetcorn and blitz. Fry the remaining sweetcorn until it starts to caramelise and serve on top of the soup.

Avocado & Sunflower Seed Dip

2008-12-27T22:42:00.003Z

One of my food resolutions for 2009 will be to eat more raw food, I have been reading around raw foods and the reported health benefits seem almost too good to be true; whilst I am not intending to eat solely raw incorporating more raw foods into my diet surely cannot be a bad idea as at the very least more raw will mean less processed foods.

I had seen several recipes for sunflower seed cheese and decided to combine this with my much loved avocado to make a healthy (and almost) raw and delicious dip. I thinned the dip with water rather than the usual olive oil to cut down on calories and fat.

Avocado & Sunflower Seed Dip

1½ oz sunflower seeds – soaked in water for at least 4 hours
1 ripe avocado
2 tbs lemon juice
Small glug olive oil
1 tbs fresh coriander
1 spring onion
2 or 3 pieces of sun dried tomato
Fresh green chilli to taste (optional)
Salt & Pepper to taste

Rinse and drain the sunflower seeds and place all the ingredients into the food processor (reserving some of the spring onion for garnish). Whizz and thin the dip with a little water until it is at the desired consistency.

Serve with crudities. (I know I cheated and used crisps in the photo!)

Options

Once the dip is ready add some pumpkin seeds to the processor and briefly pulse to add some crunch and texture.

Spiced Triple Orange Muffins

2008-12-27T13:05:00.007Z

It's been a while, I have been sick, unemployed and have been suffering from dreadful RSI that has sent my whole back and right arm into agonising spasms and lead to my physio banning me from the kitchen and laptop. This all served to make me somewhat miserable and I have been hiding from the world, neglecting myself, my friends and my blog and all my lovely food blogger friends. There are 549 new posts in my RSS feed to read, drool over, comment upon and bookmark for later cooking, which is going to take me some time!

To celebrate my return to food blogsphere I present Spiced Triple Orange Muffins! These are bursting with orange cinnamon and allspice, like most of my baking they are vegan and by adding bran I can pretend that they are vaguely healthy! Detailed muffin instructions are here.

Spiced Triple Orange Muffins (Makes 6)

Wet Ingredients

2 oz freshly squeezed orange juice
2 oz soy or other milk
2 oz vegetable oil

Dry Ingredients

4½ oz plain flour (I would have used half plain and half spelt but had run out of spelt)
1 ½oz sugar (I use soft light brown)
Zest of one orange
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground all spice
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbs wheat bran
pinch salt

Orange Marmalade

Place all the dry ingredients into a bowl and mix well, briefly whisk the wet ingredients and add to the dry. Mix together; the mix should be slightly lumpy and you need no more than 15 folds.

Pour into muffin cases or a silicone mould and put ½ a teaspoon of marmalade on top of each muffin. Gently push the blob of marmalade into the batter so it is almost covered.

Bake for 20 to 25 mins GM4/180C/350F until risen and golden brown.

Microwaved Date and Fig Steamed Pudding

2008-10-06T20:18:00.010Z

Winter is upon us; it seemed as it rained all day yesterday and I am ashamed to admit that I did not actually leave the flat as it was so grey and damp. Instant comfort food was necessary to combat the bad weather blues. I had recently been reading about making microwave cakes and this was the ideal moment to find out if a microwaved steamed pudding was in fact as easy and as good as a quick Google would lead one to believe.

For the uninitiated a steamed pudding is a traditional British pudding - a sponge cake cooked in a pudding basin in a water bath. You usually put syrup or jam in the base of the basin and then when the pudding is cooked you turn it out then sweet sticky sauce pours over / soaks into it

I am happy to report that the steamed pudding was a huge success; far better than my quick photos make it look; and indistinguishable from a traditionally cooked steamed pudding and it took me 6 minutes to make from start to finish. There are two tricky things about this recipe – the first being cooking it for the right amount of time – all microwaves are different so cooking times will vary; the second being what flavour of pudding to make. Happily both are easily solved, the first time you make the pudding cook it in a pyrex pudding basin (so you can see what is going on) and check it every 30 seconds. And the second – well winter is long and there are lots of opportunities for trying different flavours. I made a date and fig pudding using date syrup from my local Middle Eastern shop for the sauce.

And it being Vegan Mofo this pudding is also vegan.

Microwaved Date and Fig Steamed Pudding (Serves 2 on a wet afternoon)

4 oz plain flour
3 oz sugar (I used soft dark brown)
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch salt
2 oz vegetable oil
4 oz soya milk
3 dried figs – chopped finely

3 tablespoons date syrup

Put sugar, flour, baking powder, salt and figs into a bowl and stir well. Whisk the oil and milk, pour onto the dry ingredients and stir until you have a batter.

Thoroughly grease a 1½ pint pudding basin, add the date syrup, spoon the batter over the top. Cover the bowl with clingfilm, then prick the film a few times. Then microwave on full power until done It took 4 mins in mine, but as all microwaves are different cook in 1 min bursts until it it risen and a cocktail stick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Put a plate over the basin and flip it to turn the pudding out. Serve immediately.

Teacups would be ideal for making individual puddings in.

Vegan Month of Food

2008-10-06T17:13:00.005Z

October is Vegan Month of Food. Organised by Isa Moskowitz & Terry Romero creators of the Post Punk Kitchen and authors of three awesome vegan cookbooks – Vegonomicon, Vegan with a Vengeance and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. The aim of Vegan MOFO is to blog as much as possible about vegan food during the month of October, as it is now the 6th October and I have missed 6 days of Vegan MOFO I will keep Fuss Free Flavours vegan until the 6th November.

Although I am not vegan I eat vegan about 90% of the time; my motivation for this is largely health and environment driven, I feel fabulous eating a plant based diet, there are very very few things I actually miss out on, vegan food is healthy, but there are all manner of treats that you can make, cakes and biscuits and comfort food. It is not all cabbage and lentils. Tofu, tempeh and setian all sound scary but they are all delicious and easy to cook.

I will write more about the environment and health and vegan diets later in the month, but in the mean time please try a new vegan dish. Cook tofu or tempeh, switch to soy milk, try and bake egg free and realise that there are so many healthy vegan options out there that you wil not feel deprived. More importantly please use the month to examine your diet and where your food comes from, thinking about your health, the environment and animal welfare.

Fried Oatmeal

2008-10-03T21:45:00.002Z

Mrs W wrote about fried oatmeal the other day, which she described as a breakfast for people that do not like porridge; I was intrigued and puzzled. I do like porridge – sometime – and I like to have a good variety of breakfasts, which are low GI and filling and give me at least one portion of fruit or vegetables to set me on the right track for the day. A quick google later I realised that fried porridge in various guises is in fact more common that you might think.

I adapted the basic idea to make a savoury breakfast that is also diary free. A little organisation is needed here as the oats need to soak overnight. The recipe is identical to my scrambled tofu breakfast with the soaked oatmeal being used in place of the tofu. Despite the not very attractive photo it was delicious and more importantly kept me full all morning.

Fried Oatmeal – Serves 1

½ Cup (2oz) rolled oats
½ Cup (3oz) milk (I used soy)
2 heaped teaspoons flour

Glug Olive oil
Chopped vegetables
Soy Sauce to taste
S&P to taste

Mix the oats, milk and flour together in a small bowl and leave to soak overnight. By morning the mix will be thick and gloopy.

Chop and fry the vegetables in olive oil for a few minutes using a good non stick pan, turn out of the pan on to a plate, add some more olive oil and heat, pour the oat paste into the pan and fry, stirring from time to time and scraping from the bottom of the pan (it does stick, but if you use a non stick pan you can easily nudge the crispy stuck bits with a wooden spoon). When the oats are slightly crispy and in clumps return the vegetables to the pan, add some soy sauce to taste and serve and enjoy straight away.

My boyfriend tells me that he thinks that this recipe is just plain wrong, he has a more traditional ideas as to what to eat for breakfast than I do.

Notes

A little organisation is needed here as the oats need to soak overnight. You can use which ever vegetables you have to hand, I had mixed peppers and spring onions in the fridge so used them.

Baked Tomato, Mackerel & Chickpea Risotto with Pea Puree

2008-09-28T17:36:00.001Z

Kathryn at Limes & Lycopene is having a pantry challenge, challenging fellow bloggers to product a healthy meal from a list of 15 ingredients that she feels that most of us will already have in our cupboards, fridges and freezers. I am hugely excited by this, I certainly have most of the items on the list in my kitchen most of the time and I am looking forward to seeing what other foodbloggers come up with, and what ideas and inspiration I will get for those evenings when I think that I have nothing to eat and end up phoning for a takeaway.

Kathryn's 15 Foods Are:-

1 Olive oil
2. Tinned tomatoes
3. Tinned legumes or beans
4. Soy sauce
5. Frozen vegetables
6. Flour
7. Pasta
8. Tinned fish
9. Eggs
10. Rice
11. Bread
12. Vinegar
13. Fresh onions
14. One spice or spice mix
15. One dried herb or herb mix

When presented with a list like this my immediate thoughts turn to all sorts of dishes that use everything PLUS ONE OTHER not allowed ingredient. For some reason I was desperate to be allowed to include lemon in my recipe; but Kathryn's rules were very firm on this point.

“You don’t have to use all the ingredients but your recipes must only use these foods. No tweaking the list and no adding in extra sneaky ingredients”

So that would be a no to the lemon then...

I eventually came up with a simple (chuck it in the oven) baked tomato risotto with mackerel and chickpeas, with a pea puree for a splash of colour. I have to confess that there was one cheat here in that my chickpeas were from my freezer rather than from a tin, but the recipe would work equally well with tinned chickpeas, I just prefer to cook mine from dried than buying tins.

Baked Tomato, Mackerel & Chickpea Risotto with Pea Puree (Serves 2)

For the Risotto
½ large onion – chopped finely
glug olive oil
4oz/100g (half a cup) risotto rice
½ tin chickpeas – drained and rinsed
1 tin tomatoes – roughly chopped
1 small tin mackerel – drained well
Soy sauce
Mixed herbs

For the Pea Puree
½ onion
4oz/100g (half a cup) frozen peas
1tbs olive oil

To make the risotto fry the onion in the olive oil over a low heat until it starts to turn golden, add the risotto rice and fry until the rice is translucent. Place in an oven proof dish. Add the chickpeas, and mackerel (breaking the flesh up) and a tin of tomatoes. Add a good glug of soy sauce and a sprinkling of mixed herbs and give it a rough stir. Top the dish up with boiling water so all the rice is covered and bake for about 25 mins at GM54/180C/350F checking from time to time and adding more water if needed.

Just before the risotto is ready, fry the other half of the onion and when it is soft add the peas to the pan together with an egg cup full of water. Allow the peas and onions to simmer until the peas are defrosted and most of the water evaporated. Blitz with the olive oil in the food processor until they are a smooth puree, seasoning with pepper and salt to taste. Serve immediately on top of the risotto.

Prune and Walnut Muffins

2008-09-27T18:16:00.009Z

Blogsphere is full of posts about smoothies at the moment, I have also recently starting having a smoothie most mornings for my breakfast which I am really enjoying. My favourite smoothies currently all have prunes in them, which thicken, and add flavour as well as colour.

I have wanted to make a prune breakfast muffin for sometime; and last night had the idea of blitzing the prunes into the wet ingredients in the style of a smoothie, rather than just having pieces of prune within the muffin. It worked a treat – the muffins were moist and a glorious chestnut colour and packed with flavour – I added more chopped prunes and some crushed walnuts for extra flavour and texture. I think that as the muffins are so moist the recipe would easily take a spoonful or two of bran and the fat content could be reduced (I used 25% less than I normally would for a muffin). Like many of my muffins these are diary and egg free.

Prune and Walnut Muffins (makes 6 medium muffins)

Wet Ingredients

4 ½oz milk – I used rice milk – soy or diary would both work well
1 ½oz sunflower or rape oil
6 prunes (stoneless) – I use the semi dried ones that are lovely and fat and juicy*

Dry Ingredients

5oz Plain flour
1oz sugar (I used Light brown soft sugar – but any would work)
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
4 prunes – chopped – I fine it easier to use scissors and to cut them up
6 walnut halves – chopped – again I used scissors

½oz rolled oats

Place the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well, blitz the wet ingredients with a stick blender in a separate jug (They will be quite thick) . Fold wet ingredients into the dry (no more than 15 folds) to make a batter (some lumps are fine).

Pour into muffin cases or a silicone mould. Sprinkle some rolled oats and lightly press into batter. Bake for 20 to 25 mins GM4/180C/350F until risen and brown.

*If using dried prunes cover with boiling water and leave for 5 mins to rehydrate slightly before draining and then adding the prunes to the wet ingredients

The Great Service Charge Rip Off

2008-09-15T12:12:00.001Z

Do you think that the “optional” Service Charge on a restaurant bill is going to the staff? Well think again.

I am not anti tipping – far from it, if a job is done well then I am more than happy to tip the staff in a restaurant, many are on minimum wages, spend all day on their feet dealing with members of the public; some of which can be quite rude and unreasonable.

However at some restaurants that “Optional Service Charge” listed on the bill in fact goes to the company or individual that owns the restaurant and is not given to the staff as a tip on top of their wages. Sometimes it is used to supplement the staff wages up to the minimum wage, sometimes the management just keeps the service charge. In my opinion this practice is at best misleading and at worse downright morally bankrupt as most people assume that the service charge will go to the staff as an extra to their basic wages and it is not used to further line the restaurant owners’ pockets. (One establishment has the nerve to charge a cover charge per person and to then also pocket the service charge, they also have declined to answer my e-mails to them questioning this practise).

The law is due to change and in the UK all service staff will be paid the minimum wage as basic, stopping employers making wages up to the minimum with service charges and tip.

So, now whenever I eat out I always ask if the service charge goes to the staff, if not I ask to speak to the manager and explain to them why I will not be paying the service charge and ask them to take it off the bill, I then check that a cash tip will go to the staff as an extra above their wages.

Generally I try and pay the tip in cash separately to the main bill, rather than pay the service charge, tips paid as part of the bill by card are generally added to wages through payroll (and the company make take a % of tips paid by card as an admin fee) and can be liable for National Insurance as well as tax deductions, cash tips go directly to the employees.

So next time you eat out, please ask where the service charge goes, and if possible tip by cash. If you are told that the service charge goes to the company, please decline to pay it and contact the company to make your feelings known.

Frugal Spinach Risotto

2008-09-12T10:55:00.003Z

I bought a bag of salad spinach in Sainsbury’s the other day and when I got home it had already started to turn slightly with some of the leaves going slimy. This annoys me as it was well within date and food is not cheap and the supermarkets make massive profits. I salvaged the good leaves for a salad and put the rest of the bag in the freezer to cook with at a later date, and resolved to e-mail Sainsbury’s to complain (my tomatoes from the same shop were also turning).

I used half the frozen spinach very successfully in a “Frugal” or waste not want not Risotto which made a simple and delicious week night supper.

Lots of risotto recipes call for constant stirring and gradual addition of the stock to the rice until it is absorbed, and some writers even say that its relaxing to stand and stir for 20 minutes. Frankly after a day at work I want my supper with the minimum of attention from me giving me time to catch up on my e-mails or a few chores whilst it cooks. My risotto solution is to bung most of the stock in all in one go and cook on a diffuser over a low heat, giving it a stir every 5 mins, adding more liquid as needed which allows me to get on with something else. This recipe is adaptable so use whatever you have in the fridge or freezer.

“Frugal” Risotto for 2

1 small onion finely chopped
1 clove garlic finely chopped
1 small red chill finely chopped

Glug olive oil

5oz / 125g risotto rice

¾ pint stock – I use Marigold boullion
Glug of white wine or vermouth

Handful spinach (mine was from the freezer)
1 tbs capers (drained)
Handful frozen sweetcorn
1tbs Nutritional yeast to taste (See notes on this post)

Fry the onion, garlic and chilli until soft, add the rice and fry until it starts to turn translucent at the edges. Add the stock and wine. Set the heat so the stock is just bubbling around the edges of the pan.

Check and stir every 5 mins, adding some more stock or water as needed.

After 15 mins add the spinach, sweetcorn, capers and nutritional yeast and cook for another 5 mins.

Check and adjust the seasoning and serve.

Tofu on a Tuesday*: Scrambled Tofu

2008-08-20T16:31:00.003Z

*but posted on a Wednesday

I have two bloggers to thank for inspiring this post – firstly Lizzie who is both a fellow Londoner and tofu addict and whose blog has a regular “Tofu Tuesday” spot and secondly Kathryn who is writing an excellent series on 31 Days to a Better Diet with a new and inspirational post every day throughout August. The theme for August 10th was eat vegetables with every meal even breakfast. I make this scramble on a regular basis, and it almost seems too everyday to be worthy of blogging.

I have never been a toast and cereal for breakfast type of person, it simply does not suit my metabolism, too many starchy carbs and not enough protein lead to my blood sugar level crashing mid morning and leaves me rushing to the vending machine, I am sure that my body knows what is best for it; and my tastes have developed accordingly.

Tofu scramble is a very easy and adaptable breakfast recipe that can use whichever vegetables are in the fridge, it’s quick to put together and can be made from fresh or previously frozen tofu, and is more than happy to be reheated in the microwave making it portable and perfect for work. Scale the amounts and flavours up or down according to numbers and hunger.

Tofu Scramble (for 1)
Piece Tofu – (about the size of a pack of cards for each person)
Chopped peppers
Spring onion
Spinach
Good glug soy sauce
2 tsb Nutritional yeast*
Glug Olive Oil

Lightly fry the peppers and spring onion in the olive oil until soft, roughly chop the tofu and add, stirring all the time to slightly break the tofu up. After a few minutes add the soy sauce, nutritional yeast (or substitutes) and a splash of boiling water. Cook for another minute. Stir in the spinach and serve when wilted.

Variations
Use any other vegetables, mushrooms, grated carrot, spring greens all work well.

* A word about nutritional yeast. It is hard to describe this salty, cheesy, yeasty goodness to those that have not had it before. Nutritional Yeast or “Nooch” as it is know by legions of Vegans the planet over has to be tried to be appreciated. I think that it can be likened to marmite; but without the intensity and the saltiness and with a big cheesy kick. I cannot believe that it took me 35 years of my life to discover this wonderousness and can quite happily eat it straight from the tub with a spoon!

Its not wildly available in the UK but Marigold have their own brand Engevita and their customer services are hugely helpful in pointing you in the directions of your nearest stockist. If you not have any just add some chilli flakes and salty and pepper instead – and then go and find some nooch and be prepared to be an addict!

Taste & Create: Cinnamon Crackers

2008-08-18T15:05:00.004Z

A good few weeks ago it was Taste & Create time again and I very belatedly cooked and am even more belatedly posting my dish. Apologies to both Nicole and my partner Laurie as the deadline for this month’s challenge that I am skipping is in only a few days.

When I saw I was paired with Laurie who hosts the wonderful (and wonderfully named) Heaven is Chocolate, Cheese, and Carbs, I was looking forward to the challenge despite the fact that I am trying to cut down on diary and I knew that the recipes would set off cheese cravings. Happily Laurie is also a keen baker and there were plenty of diary free bread recipes to keep me happy.

In the end I chose to make cinnamon-sugar crackers, I had been reading about Snickerdoodles on the internet and was craving cinnamon so these were perfect. Easy to make from stuff in the store cupboard, delicious and possibly not too bad for me. Everyone at work hoovered them up the next day and they are definitely on my cook again list, along with some of Laurie’s other recipes. I used a ¼ of the recipe for a first try and have converted the whole amount it to weights to make it easy for those in Europe without cup measures, I think I probably added far more cinnamon to the dough than listed.

Cinnamon Crackers
10oz / 280g plain flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Generous pinch salt
4 Tbs olive oil
1/3 pint / 180ml cold water

For sprinkling on top
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400F/GM6/200C. Mix the dry ingredients together well, add the oil and half the water and mix, slowly adding enough water to make a rough dough. Turn out and knead until it comes together. Divide the dough into 4. Mix the sprinkling ingredients together in a separate bowl.

Roll out each ball of dough on parchment paper (I used a silicon baking sheet) until it is as thin as you can get it, cut into diamonds and prick well with a fork. Sprinkle the cinnamon/sugar mix over and lightly press into the biscuits. Bake for about 15 mins or until golden brown (on a few of my crackers the sugar had melted and caramelized) when cool snap apart. Repeat with the rest of the dough.

Dairy Free Breakfast Smoothie

2008-08-11T17:18:00.004Z

Having made the connection between permanently having a large amount of mucus at the back of my throat and eating dairy I have been looking for new ideas to avoid diary in my foods. Although I drank huge quantities of milk as a child (only starting to drink both tea and coffee in my late teens), as an adult I completely stopped drinking milk to the extent that I really dislike the smell of milky coffee or tea. Oddly; and sadly for my waistline, my adult aversion to milk has not extended as far as cheese until last weekend where I had a plate of cheese after supper and really did not want to eat any of it.

I need to be careful to what I eat at breakfast as I tend to have wildly fluctuating blood sugar levels and there are only a few things that I can eat where I am not starving hungry by 11am, leaving me both grumpy and ready for lunch. This smoothie seems to do the trick, the addition of oats not only lowers the Glycaemic Index but makes the smoothie thick and creamy, I am also getting 2 portions of fruit in my breakfast, setting me well on my way to my five-a-day. This makes quite a large smoothie, around ¾ of a pint, enough to make it a complete breakfast meal to keep hunger pangs at bay until lunch.

Diary Free Smoothie – Serves one for breakfast or 2 to accompany breakfast

20g / ¾oz oats
1 banana - chilled
300ml / ½pt soy milk (I use homemade with no additives – but use your preferred brand)
Handful mixed berries – chilled or frozen

Pour the oats into a container and cover with the soy milk and leave in the fridge overnight. In the morning peel and add the banana and berries and whizz with a stick blender adding more soy milk if needed.

I make mine in a Lock and Lock container (my latest kitchen discovery as whatever you do to them with normal use, they will not leak) first thing in the morning and take it to work. Frozen berries whizz easily with my stick blender and mean that my smoothie is still chilled even after an hour’s commute in the summer.

Variations
Soak dried prunes, figs or dates with the oats, these are delicious but can give your smoothie a slightly unappetising brown tinge!

Sesame Crusted Baked Tofu

2008-08-01T16:42:00.002Z

My love affair with tofu continues. Here I baked; rather then fried, my tofu to concentrate the flavour, baking the tofu also makes it chewier and firmer, the sesame coating adds crunch and more texture.

A lemon, soy sauce and sesame marinade make this tofu perfect with a summer salad. Leftovers are also great cold in a packed lunch.

Sesame Crusted Baked Tofu (serves 2)

1 block tofu

Marinade
Juice one lemon
Same quantity of soy sauce
1 tbs sesame oil

2tbs sesame seeds

Salad to serve

Press the tofu for about 20mins by wrapping it in a clean tea towel under a chopping board with a couple of cans of beans on top (I use my fruit bowl), you will be amazed at how much water comes out. Slice the tofu into thinish slices (about 1cm) and then cut each slice diagonally to get 2 triangles.

Place in a container and pour the marinade over, leave for at least 20 mins, turning over half way through if the marinade does not completely cover the tofu.

When marinated roll each piece of tofu in the sesame seeds and place onto a greased baking tray (I use a silicone mat on a tray which does not need greasing). Bake for 20 to 30 mins at GM5/375F/190C until the edges are browned turning half way through cooking.

Serve on a bed of salad – I used baby spinach leaves with baby plum tomatoes and pepperdew peppers and garnished with chives, from my window box, and tahini dressing.

Next time I make this I am going to add some chilli to the marinade.

Other Tofu Recipes
Asparagus with Fried Tofu and Charred Caper Dressing
Crispy Chilli Soy Tofu
How to make home made tofu
Spinach Tofu

Daring Bakers - Almond Gateaux with Praline Buttercream

2008-08-01T10:00:00.017Z

Another month and another Daring Bakers Challenge and my 100th post. This month Chris at Mele Cotte challenged us to make Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream from Great Cakes by Carol Walter. I read the recipe and gulped. I re read and gulped again. I then remembered that I was after all a Daring Baker and I was going to be daring about this cake, I remember the age old question to ask when faced with a daunting task.

Q. How do you eat an elephant?
A. With a teaspoon.

Not that I am advocating eating elephants, but everything can be broken down into manageable amounts and that was what I was going to do with this cake. The recipe was very well written and was broken down into very manageable stages, many of which I have mastered before.

Nut Genoise

– not really that different from madeleines in making the batter
Sugar syrup – hard to go wrong on
Praline – I have made before
Swiss buttercream – I can make meringues in my sleep, could it really be that hard? I did have a slight fear of it as the talented and lovely Abby had told me of her previous disaster with it.
Fruit glaze – I admit I completely forgot it
Chocolate Ganache – I had made this before for truffles, I had never iced with it, but needed to learn.

I made a few changes. I used almonds not hazelnuts, I also completely forgot to toast and skin them, it did affect the colour making a darker genoise than others' cakes.

I baked 2/3 of the genoise recipe using 5 egg yolks and 4 whites. (this was not quite 2/3 but worked very well)

I made half the buttercream and did not have enough to decorate the top of the cake so I used almonds.

Verdict

This cake took me an afternoon and an evening to make. I made the praline, buttercream and cake on one afternoon, then made the ganache and put the cake together the following evening.

I can honestly say that the hardest part was slicing the cake into 3 layers. I did it by having Ed hold the cake on its side and me cutting very carefully and slowly.

The idea of putting the cake on a cardboard circle on a cooling tray to pour the ganache over made things far far easier. I am annoyed with myself for running out of buttercream and having to decorate with nuts.

I greatly enjoyed the cake, and felt very proud of myself for making it, it was a real achievement for me. We both loved it and my colleagues were in raptures over it (when I got home with the empty box Ed was most put out and asked why we had not kept it all for ourselves) .

I would bake it again; I am sure that the second try would take less time, but only for a very special occasion or friend.

Many thanks to Chris for organising this and to Lis and Yvonne the Daring Bakers Founders.

For the original recipe please see Chris's blog.

It is the start of Cowes week tomorrow and I am slightly amused that I am a Daring Baker in the kitchen and daring on the sea as the class of boat I am sailing on is a Daring!

Which Brand?

2008-07-23T13:33:00.002Z

I am increasingly overwhelmed by the choice in supermarkets; there is so much choice that it almost paralyses me into a state of indecision. I rarely buy ready made food but I do notice the huge plethora of products on the shelves on offer. Its almost as bad for staples - Waitrose has literally 10’s of types of ground coffee; I cannot remember which one that I like best, or indeed which ones that I disliked and vowed never to buy again. At home I have various labels from various Thai and Chinese products and sauces stuck to my kitchen pinboard according to if I want to buy again or not.

I have been thinking about writing about products for some time; not really reviews, but notes for me, as I am increasingly fed up of spending money on products that I am not actually that keen on or I actively dislike, that I force myself to use up as I hate throwing things away. Being budget conscious I shall also attempt to work out which of the economy and value products from various supermarkets are worth buying and which are in all honesty a waste of money and end up being thrown away.

My “holy grails” of brands are to find perfect:-

Plain chocolate with coffee – currently Waitrose own brand is streaks ahead of any others
Vanilla Ice Cream – Currently Green & Blacks
Coffee – both cafetieres and for stove top espresso makers; normal and decaff.

I hope that this will be helpful or informative, please comment and let me know your thoughts and favourites.

More Holiday Breakfasts - Muesli Muffins

2008-07-04T12:05:00.006Z

More holiday muffins, this time I used muesli as a ingredient to make these perfect for breakfast; use a good quality muesli for these muffins with lots of nuts, seeds and fruits and no added fats or sugars. I used Quantock Muesli that we have bought in Somerset en route to Cornwall.

Muesli Muffins (makes 6 small or 4 medium muffins - perfect for 2 for breakfast)

Dry ingredients

2oz spelt flour

2oz plain flour

2oz muesli
1oz golden granulated sugar

1tsp baking powder

pinch salt

Wet Ingredients

5oz soy milk (Or use regular milk)

1oz sunflower oil

Extra muesli

Place the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well, whisk wet ingredients in a separate bowl or jug. Fold wet ingredients into the dry (no more than 15 folds) to make a batter (lumps are fine).

Pour into muffin cases or a silicone mould. Sprinkle extra muesli on top and lightly press into batter. Bake for 20 to 25 mins GM4/180C/350F until risen and golden brown.

Enjoy!

These were quite cakey from the spelt flour if you prefer a more bready muffin leave the spelt out and make with 100% plain flour.

Holiday Breakfasts – Peanut Butter Muffins

2008-07-02T11:51:00.005Z

(This is not a good photo as the peanut butter is almost the same colour as the muffins, but if you look closely you can see a large dollop of peanut butter oozing from the top of the muffin)

Have I mentioned that I love baking muffins and that I have been expermenting with vegan baking and that they are our staple breakfast at weekends? Maybe once or twice before!!

We have just had a holiday in a lovely self catering cottage in the West of the West of Cornwall and naturally I packed my silicone muffin tray just in case we had muffins for breakfast.

I had about 1/3 of a jar of peanut butter that I wanted to use up – slightly too much for my usual method of using up peanut butter (long handled teaspoon, mug of coffee, comfy sofa, spoon PB from jar to mouth making sure you get every last morsel from the jar)

I made these to my usual vegan muffin recipe and reduced the fat – but if you prefer use the standard sweet muffin batter, a ratio of half spelt to plain flour seems to work the best, if you do not have spelt four, just use plain flour instead.

Peanut Butter Muffins (makes 6 small or 4 medium muffins - perfect for 2 for breakfast)
Dry ingredients
2.5oz spelt flour
2.5oz plain flour
1oz golden granulated sugar
1tsp baking powder
pinch salt

Wet Ingredients
5oz soy milk
1oz sunflower oil
Large dollop peanut butter (I used 1oz but you could easily double this amount - Sunpat smooth peanut butter is perfect)

Extra peanut butter
Oats

Place the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well, whisk wet ingredients in a separate bowl or jug. Fold wet ingredients into the dry (no more than 15 folds) to make a batter (lumps are fine)

Pour into muffins cases or a silicone mould. Put a spoon of peanut butter into each muffin and push down so it is almost submerged in the batter. Sprinkle oats on top. Bake for 20 to 25 mins GM4/180C/350F until risen and golden brown.Enjoy!

Notes:

I may add some crushed peanuts to the batter next time - or use crunchy peanut butter.
I am sure that these would be sublimely rich if made with nut milk

Sausage, Butternut Squash, Pepper & Tomato “One Tray” Roast

2008-07-01T13:05:00.004Z

We have just been on holiday, staying in a lovely cottage in Cornwall, miles from anywhere with a sea view! Being miles from anywhere we tended to eat in of an evening to so we could drink and not have to drive

Even though our cottage had a very well equipped kitchen I am not that keen on cooking in strange kitchens and using strange ovens, so simple good cooking was the way forward, easy for me and easy on the washing up (there was no dishwasher). Happily the cottage had an excellent heavy roasting tray, perfect for this colourful “one tray” roast.

I had packed olive oil, salt & pepper grinders, garlic and I had picked a large handful of fresh herbs from my boyfriend’s parents’ herb garden when we stayed with them to break the long drive to the West of the West of Cornwall, these herbs lasted all week in a glass of water in the corner of the kitchen. The sausages were from Pitney Farm bought on the journey west and the BNS, pepper and tomatoes were bought in a local farm shop near to St Ives.

Served with a large green salad this supper gives at least 3 to 4 portions of vegetables and was an excellent way to eat vitamins and to partially make up for all the ice cream and cream teas we have been working our way through!

Sausage, butternut squash, pepper & tomato “one tray” roast (Serves 2)

1lb good quality sausages
½ Butternut squash – peeled and cut to 1” cubes
1 red pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped
Handful of cherry tomatoes
Good glug of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
Spring rosemary
Salt & Pepper to taste

Place the cubes BNS and sausages in a roasting tray, add the olive oil, garlic, rosemary and season with the salt and pepper, put in the oven at GM4/180C/350F and roast. After 15 mins add the tomatoes and pepper and give the tray a good shake to turn the BNS and sausages and to coat the tomatoes and pepper with oil. Return to the oven for another 20 to 25 mins until the sausages are cooked and the vegetables roasted.

Serve immediately with a green salad & crusty bread and wash down well with a glass of wine or two!

Daring Bakers - Danish Plait

2008-06-29T01:00:00.013Z

I have joined the Daring Bakers! I swore I never would as I did not want to have to bake something every month, but my baking skills are lacking and need some help so I signed up; the logic (and theory) being that complicated baking would make the more every day things easier.

On the 1st June I got the challenge - A Danish Plait! Laminated yeast dough. I gulped and horrific memories of making puff pastry at school sprang to mind, rolling all that butter into pastry was not fun all those years ago and I have never ever repeated the experience.

However I had a go and am really pleased with the results. I cheated slightly and halved the recipe, my thoughts being that when it went wrong there would be less ingredient wastage. BUT my thoughts of doom and gloom were totally unfounded. My Danish plait worked a dream - well it would have worked a dream but when I came to cook it for some reason there was absolutely no pressure to the gas supply to my oven and it would not heat above GM3! I cooked it anyway - it was ready and it was my boyfriend's birthday - so I bunged it in the oven.

Considering everything it was great! The pastry was laminated and had risen a little, I am sure that with a hotter oven it would puff up and rise, I have more pastry in the freezer which I will make another plait with.

I think that the basic recipe given would have made far too much dough for a novice baker to be able to handle easily. It also makes enough dough to make 4 plaits to feed 2 people. I used a silicone mat to roll my dough and to assemble the plait on, this was fabulous as it was the perfect size to give me a guide to rolling out the rectangles, there was no sticking and also meant that I was handling the dough less as I could pick up the mat, put it on a chopping board and put it in the fridge. I could roll, cut, assemble and bake the plait on the mat so did not have to transfer rolled and cut pastry to a baking tray. For an investment of £10 it was well well worth it.

I made the dough by bunging it all in the food processor with the dough blade which seemed to work well. I loved working with the dough, the butter block spread easily and behaved, no buttery leakage when rolling and folding, I am going to try puff pastry again using a butter block rather than cutting the butter in.

My filling was homemade apricot jam topped with buttered cinnamon apple and pear and then a sprinkling of toasted pine nuts.

The full recipe is below: Once broken down it really is not that daunting!

DANISH DOUGH (Makes 2-1/2 pounds dough)

Ingredients

For the dough (Detrempe)

1 ounce fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1/2 cup whole milk

1/3 cup sugar

Zest of 1 orange, finely grated

3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped

2 large eggs, chilled

1/4 cup fresh orange juice

3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

For the butter block (Beurrage)

1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

DOUGH

Combine yeast and milk in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed. Slowly add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice. Mix well. Change to the dough hook and add the salt with the flour, 1 cup at a time, increasing speed to medium as the flour is incorporated. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until smooth. You may need to add a little more flour if it is sticky. Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Without a standing mixer: Combine yeast and milk in a bowl with a hand mixer on low speed or a whisk. Add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice and mix well. Sift flour and salt on your working surface and make a fountain. Make sure that the “walls” of your fountain are thick and even. Pour the liquid in the middle of the fountain. With your fingertips, mix the liquid and the flour starting from the middle of the fountain, slowly working towards the edges. When the ingredients have been incorporated start kneading the dough with the heel of your hands until it becomes smooth and easy to work with, around 5 to 7 minutes. You might need to add more flour if the dough is sticky.

BUTTER BLOCK

1. Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and then beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free. Set aside at room temperature.

2. After the detrempe has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 13 inches and ¼ inch thick. The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour. Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough. Fold the left edge of the detrempe to the right, covering half of the butter. Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third. The first turn has now been completed. Mark the dough by poking it with your finger to keep track of your turns, or use a sticky and keep a tally. Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

3. Place the dough lengthwise on a floured work surface. The open ends should be to your right and left. Roll the dough into another approximately 13 x 18 inch, ¼-inch-thick rectangle. Again, fold the left third of the rectangle over the center third and the right third over the center third. No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. The second turn has now been completed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.

4. Roll out, turn, and refrigerate the dough two more times, for a total of four single turns. Make sure you are keeping track of your turns. Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight. The Danish dough is now ready to be used. If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, freeze it. To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch in thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze. Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling. Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.

DANISH BRAID Makes enough for 2 large braids

Ingredients

1 recipe Danish Dough

Filling

For the egg wash: 1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk

1. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the Danish Dough into a 15 x 20-inch rectangle, ¼ inch thick. If the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again. Place the dough on the baking sheet.

2. Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 5-inch-long cuts with a knife or rolling pastry wheel, each about 1 inch apart. Repeat on the opposite side, making sure to line up the cuts with those you’ve already made.

3. Spoon the filling you’ve chosen to fill your braid down the center of the rectangle. Starting with the top and bottom “flaps”, fold the top flap down over the filling to cover. Next, fold the bottom “flap” up to cover filling. This helps keep the braid neat and helps to hold in the filling. Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished. Trim any excess dough and tuck in the ends.Egg WashWhisk together the whole egg and yolk in a bowl and with a pastry brush, lightly coat the braid.

Proofing and Baking

1. Spray cooking oil (Pam…) onto a piece of plastic wrap, and place over the braid. Proof at room temperature or, if possible, in a controlled 90 degree F environment for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume and light to the touch.

2. Near the end of proofing, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.

3. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan so that the side of the braid previously in the back of the oven is now in the front. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake about 15-20 minutes more, or until golden brown. Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature. The cooled braid can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.

Taste & Create: Sesame and Honey Oatmeal Bread

2008-06-19T14:08:00.008Z

I was very excited to get my partner for my first Taste & Create (and event where food bloggers from around the world are paired up to cook something from each other's blogs) and was even more excited that when I had a look at the Backyard Pizzeria to see that Pam is a keen breadmaker.

I have only just started making bread, and am getting to grips with it and the dough hook on my new(ish) Magimix.

Having signed up for the Cuilinate Whole Grains Challenge Pam’s Sesame and Honey Oatmeal Bread seemed the obvious choice to bake. Being me I adapted the recipe, making enough dough for 2 mini loaves in my mini silicon tins and using half brown and half white bread flour.

The bread was delcious, I loved the slow rise that enabled me to make the dough one evening and then leave it in the fridge all night and all day until I got home from work. The bread did not seem to rise as much as Pam’s original recipe, this may have been down to me, but also I have been having problems with the gas pressure to my oven (there are road works just down the street) and I cannot always get the oven hot enough the last few times I have baked.

We had the bread last night with 3p Soup (Pea, Split Pea and Paprika) !

3p Soup (Pea, Split Pea and Paprika)

2008-06-19T12:08:00.005Z

Here the 3p stands for peas, split peas and paprika, not 3p of money; although this soup probably cost less than 33p to make! (Fiona the Frugal Cook will be proud of me!). Although not at all photogenic this soup was delicious and easily assembled from store cupboard and freezer ingredients. I served this with Sesame & Honey Oatmeal Bread. The paprika adds an earthy dryness and a touch of heat to the soup. Next time I will make this using smoked paprika to add another layer of flavour.

Pea, Split Pea and Paprika Soup (Serves 2)

1 medium onion
1 clove garlic
1 tsp olive oil
4oz split yellow peas (soaked for 12 hours to reduce cooking time)
1 pint vegetable stock (I use Marigold)
4 oz frozen peas
1tsp paprika (or more to taste)
S&P to taste

Roughly chop the onion and garlic and fry in the olive oil in a saucepan until translucent and starting to turn brown, drain and rinse the split peas and add them and the stock to the pan, add the paprika (remember you can add more later). Put the lid on the pan and allow to simmer for about 30 mins or until the peas are soft. Using a sitck blender blitz the soup (leaving some of the peas whole to add texture), check the seasoning and serve garnished with chives or parsley (my chives are from my window box).

This soup should freeze well.

Mixed Bean & Roasted Butternut Squash Salad

2008-06-17T11:56:00.004Z

I eat lots of bean salads and they are my staple packed lunch for work. As any regular reader will know I am a huge fan of both beans and butternut squash, this recipe seemed the perfect dish for June’s No Croutons Required event hosted by Food and Spice and Tinned Tomatoes. Here I slowly roasted BNS with rosemary and mixed beans with finely chopped spring onions to give a flavour packed satisfying summer bean salad. Its best with the BNS served still warm.

Bean salads are great as they are filling, cheap and portable. The huge variety of beans available means that you never get bored of one type. I buy tinned beans from the supermarket and then free freeze them before adding them to a mixed bean pot in the freezer, at any one time my freezer bean pot will include at least 5 of:-

Adzuki Beans
Black Eyed Beans
Borlotti Beans
Cannellini beans
Flageolet Beans
Haricot Beans
Kidney Beans
Pinto Beans

When making my lunch I simply put about 4oz (100g) of frozen beans into a tupperware pot and top with dressing and salads, the frozen beans will slowly defrost and keep my salad cool until it is time to eat it.

Mixed Bean and Roasted Butternut Squash Salad (for 2)

½ small butternut squash
Olive oil
Spring rosemary
8oz mixed beans (see above)
2 spring onions finely chopped
Handful baby spinach leaves
Handful rocket leaves
Cherry tomatoes
Alfalfa (or other seed) sprouts

Peel and chop the squash into ½ cubes, place in a roasting tray with a good glug of olive oil, a sprig of rosemary and plenty of pepper and salt. Give the tray a good shake to coat the squash and roast at GM5 for 20 to 30 mins until soft and turning golden.

Meanwhile add the spring onion to the beans and mix well.

Put the spinach and rocket into a salad bowl, add the beans and then arrange the still warm roasted BNS around the beans, top the salad with chopped cherry tomatoes and alfalfa sprouts.

I serve this with Tahini Dressing (make the dressing with the olive oil the BNS roasted in)

Remember to roast the squash seeds too for a tasty snack.

The Wholegrains Challenge

2008-06-17T07:30:00.004Z

As I am one to jump on every culinary bandwagon I immediately signed up for the Culinate Wholegrains Challenge after reading about it on Joanna’s blog.

In a nut shell the challenge is:

To spend the month of June practising eating more whole grains. To eat whole grains at every meal. To choose whole grains over refined, processed grains.

As I am starting the challenge mid June I will try to carry onto mid July, I am sure that I am not going to manage every meal as I eat a number of bean based salads and adding wholegrains to them would probably be overkill!

Looking through my cupboards I already have a number of wholegrains already which I use regularly.

Brown Rice
Quinoa
Bulgar Wheat
Spelt
Buckwheat (Kasha)
Wholegrain Bread flour
Bran
Oats

First on my list to cook is Sweet Potato and Kasha Burgers from Diet, Dessert & Dogs one of my favourite vegan food blogs.

I often add a handful of quinoa or bulgar when cooking rice, I always eat brown rice (Fuss Free Tip – cook in a steamer in the microwave as it is ready in 14 minutes) and I am getting into the habit of adding some brown flour or a handful of bran when baking.

Hopefully I am off to a good start!

Looking through my recipes I realise that my cooking is definately more bean than wholegrain based, but here are some wholegrains that I have already cooked;

Special Fried Bulgar Wheat
Coconut & Lime Oaty Biscuits
Crunchy Oat Sailing Biscuits
Sesame & Honey Oatmeal Bread
And all my muffins can be made with spelt flour or have some bran added.

The very attractive photo is of flowering quinoa taken from the Culinate website.

Asian Bean Dip

2008-06-12T14:00:00.003Z

Last night I was starving hungry and supper was not ready so I whizzed up this quick dip to keep us from snacking on more unhealthy options. As I have posted numerous times before beans are good for you, they are cheap, low GI and count towards your 5-a-day. Sophie at Mostly Eating has written everything that I want to say about why beans are good for you (and the planet), far more eloquently that I could.

In this dip a can of flageolet beans are mixed with tamari, sweet chilli sauce and sesame oil to give an Asian inspired dip. I think that flageolet beans work best here, but any bean would do depending what you have in the store cupboard.

Asian Bean Dip

1 can flageolet beans (rinsed well and drained)
2tbs tamari (I use Clearspring) or soy sauce
2tbs sweet chilli sauce (I use Healthy Boy brand as it has a good kick to it)
1tbs sesame oil
Salt & pepper to taste

Add all the ingredients to the food processor and whizz until well pureed. Serve with crudities and sliced pitta bread.

Pepper and Caper Salad

2008-06-10T12:27:00.007Z

My friend Veronica had a supplement from a cookery magazine that featured lots of meals that had 5 or fewer ingredients (excluding store cupboard essentials such as oil, basic spices and salt & pepper), she loved the recipes as at the time she was looking after a new born baby and wanted something that was quick, delicious and would make planning her shopping easy. I loved the recipes as they emphasised the main ingredients and their flavour rather than the skill of the cook and recipe writer and after all “fuss free flavours” is what this blog is meant to be about.

I have been thinking about Veronica lots recently as her second baby is now several days past due date, and I remembered her 5 ingredients or fewer recipe booklet when I was making this salad. I hope she still has the recipes - life will be even busier for her with 2 children!

In this salad peppers are slowly fried until tender and sweet, then dressed with capers and balsamic vinegar and olive oil. It is best made the day before serving to allow the flavours to infuse, I ate it with warm homemade sourdough bread – perfect for soaking up the juices. I used red and green peppers as that was in the vegetable bowl, but any combination would work, the salad would look prettier with orange and yellow peppers too. There is no need for onion, garlic or any other flavours, the peppers, capers, oil and balsamic all mingle and their flavours grow together. Use cheap supermarket balsamic vinegar – you will boil it to concentrate it by using it to deglaze the pan after charring the capers, it would be a waste of an expensive one.

Pepper and Caper Salad (Serves 2 as a side dish or light meal with bread)

1 red pepper – cut into strips
1 green pepper – cut into strips
1 tsp light olive oil – for frying
1 tbs capers
Extra virgin olive oil
2 tbs balsamic vinegar

Fry the pepper strips in the olive oil over a low heat until soft and tender and starting to brown (season with salt whilst cooking as this will draw liquid out and help to concentrate the flavours), when cooked place in a bowl. Add the capers to the frying pan cook on a high heat until charred, add to the serving bowl. Add the vinegar to the pan to deglaze, boil to reduce by half until syrupy. Pour over the capers and peppers. Add a good glug of extra virgin olive oil and season with pepper and salt to taste. Cover and chill overnight to allow the flavours to infuse.

Remove from the fridge an hour before serving to allow the salad to return to room temperature.

Other recipes with capers include
Anchovy, Chilli and Caper Pasta
Asparagus & Tofu Salad with Charred Caper & Mustard Dressing

Rehabilitated Dishware

2008-06-06T14:47:00.024Z

I usually only blog about recipes that I have cooked but I came across New York artist Sarah Cihat’s work via an environmental blog yesterday and am amazed at her work. Sarah buys old crockery from charity shops such the Goodwill or Salvation Army and redesigns them with bold silhouettes and coloured glaze over the original design, the crocks are then refired and sold.

Sarah started rehabilating dishware as part of her thesis project to make a statement about the importance of recycling and the value of unwanted possessions. I am a huge fan of reusing items before recycling and love this project.

Sadly Sarah’s work does not seem to be available yet in the UK when it is I will be first in the queue to buy a few pieces.

Coconut & Lime Oaty Biscuits

2008-06-03T11:47:00.006Z

Rachel at Coconut & Lime is celebrating her 4 year blogiversary and 700 posts! To help her celebrate I have reworked my crunchy oat sailing biscuits to feature coconut and lime, I think that I prefer these to the original!

I have to confess that I have a love hate relationship with coconut; I love coconut milk, cream and fresh coconut but really dislike desiccated coconut and all manner of coconut sweets. In these biscuits I used a powdered coconut cream that I had bought in a Chinese supermarket for use in Thai curries. It gives a subtle, but definite coconut taste without the desiccated coconut texture that kicks in after the initial zesty kick of the lime has faded.

In this recipe reworking I have followed a suggestion by Elle from Feeding my Enthusiasms and have used spelt flour. I have only just started to use spelt and so far am delighted with the taste and texture.

Coconut & Lime Oaty Biscuits (makes about 24)

4oz soft margarine
3oz sugar
4oz porridge oats
3oz spelt flour (or plain flour)
1oz coconut cream powder (any form of dried coconut should work)
1tsp baking powder
Finely grated zest of 2 limes
Pinch salt

Weigh the margarine and sugar into a saucepan and place on a low heat, stirring to until the margarine. Meanwhile place the remaining ingredients into a bowl and mix well. When the margarine is melted pour it and the sugar to the bowl and mix thoroughly. If necessary add more oats until you have a firm and not sticky dough.

Place teaspoon sized balls of the dough on a greaseproof paper covered baking tray and flatten slightly using a fork; allow room to spread – the baked biscuits will be around 2 ½” (6cm) across. Bake at GM4/350F/180C for 15mins or until golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly and firm up before peeling from the paper and leaving to cool on a wire rack.

Butternut Squash, Tahini & Lemon Soup

2008-06-03T10:46:00.008Z

The weather in London is awful; grey, murky and damp. So my first post in June is going to be about soup - a lovely wonderful pastel golden yellow coloured soup packed with summery flavours with a velvet texture!

I love butternut squash and usually have one in the vegetable bowl whenever they are available in the shops. BNS are fat free, high in fibre, low GI, low in calories and are packed with beta catotene, vitamin C and the minerals selenium, zinc, manganese, magnesium and potassium. Of these selenium and zinc are important nutrients for fertility (not that I am at the stage of my life yet where I wish to be fertile!). BNS are versatile; they can be baked, roasted, boiled, puréed or fried, gently toasted the seeds are delicious. I often use BNS in place of potatoes, in doing so having an extra portion of vegetables towards my 5 a day.

For the soup I baked the butternut to concentrate the flavour, the tahini adds a depth and a velvet smoothness and the lemon lifts the soup and reminded me that it is supposed to be summer. If you like spices I think that some cumin, allspice or chilli would work well, but the simple flavours all combine to make a rounded whole, packed with layers of taste that really need no extra flavouring.

Butternut Squash, Tahini & Lemon Soup (serves 4)

½ Medium butternut squash
Glug olive oil
1 Medium onion
2 Cloves of garlic
1½ pints vegetable stock (I use Marigold)
1 heaped tablespoon tahini
Zest and juice of one lemon*

Cut the BNS in half lengthways, scoop out the seeds, and bake at GM4/180C/350F for about 30 mins until soft. (Put the squash cut side uppermost directly onto the oven shelf)

Meanwhile peel and roughly chop the onion and garlic and sweat in the olive oil in a deep pan until translucent and starting to turn golden brown. Add all the other ingredients, discarding the BNS skin.

Simmer for 5 mins, allow to cool for 10 mins** and blend either with a food processor or with a stick blender.

Serve piping hot, garnished with some green herbs.

This soup freezes well.

* When zesting and juicing a lemon always zest first and then juice. It is nigh on impossible to do the other way round

** I have melted the ends of 2 stick blenders by using them in liquids that are too hot, the blender still works but having changed in shape it can (and will) unpredictably splurt soup everywhere!

Other BNS recipes include
Tomato, BNS, Butterbean and Chorizo Bake
Squash Ribbon Pasta

Spinach Tofu

2008-05-28T15:01:00.012Z

I have a new purchase which I am very excited about… A tofu press!

I first made homemade tofu a few weeks back and am now addicted to it. I cannot believe how simple it is to make and how delicious freshly made tofu is when it is still warm; and how different it is to the bland slimy tofu that is sold in shops. Now I have made a few batches of plain tofu I have adapted and simplified the technique, using slightly fewer soy beans and pressing the tofu less. Even with less pressing homemade tofu is still firmer than most shop bought tofu. You do not need a tofu press to make tofu, an empty plastic box, piece of cheese cloth or muslin and a weight will suffice, it is much easier with a press and if you are going to regularly make tofu I do recommend getting one.

As an experiment I added a handful of spinach leaves to my soymilk at the same time as the coagulant and I was delighted with the result. Pretty and delicious fresh tofu with a twist. I am sure that the possibilities here are endless I am already thinking about herb tofu, mushroom tofu, chilli tofu…

I am delighted to have just read on The Daily Green that tofu features in their 30 days to a greener diet!

Spinach Tofu (to make one block)

3½oz (100g) soy beans
3 pints water
1tbs vinegar (or juice of half a lemon)
Handful baby spinach leaves

Wash the soy beans well and soak in cold water for at least 8 hours (if leaving for more than 12 put bowl in the fridge). Rinse beans well again, picking out any loose skins.

Put beans in the food processor and add ½ pint water, blitz well until beans are finely ground and you have a thick white paste.

Place ground beans mixture in a large pot, add the remaining 2½ pints of water and bring to the boil. Gently simmer the soy milk for 10 mins stirring from time to time.

Strain through a muslin cloth into a large bowl. Reserve the soy bean pulp (okara) for other dishes.

Add the vinegar or lemon juice to the hot soy milk, stir once and then leave for10 minutes (I added a large handful of spinach leaves at this point). After this time the mixture should have coagulated into curds and whey.

Line the tofu press (or sieve) with cheesecloth or muslin and pour the curds and whey in, when nearly drained fold the cloth over the unpressed tofu, put the lid on the press and lightly press. (I find a single can of beans is the perfect weight).

After 20 minutes the tofu should be firm and ready. Home made tofu will be firmer than shop tofu and springier. Pressing weights and times will vary according to the beans and the coagulant used so you will need to experiment.

Gently remove from the mould and slice and serve warm with soy sauce and olive oil.

Delicious!

Chocolated Coated Candied Orange Peel

2008-05-25T17:03:00.015Z

We often have orange juice for breakfast and it seems such a shame to throw the peels away, as living in a flat in central London we cannot even compost them.

Candied orange peel coated in chocolate is delicious, very easy to make - although labour intensive - and very very expensive to buy.

Chocolate Coated Candied Orange Peel (makes around 80 pieces)

Peel of 3 oranges
12oz Sugar
Water
3 oz Plain Chocolate

Using a sharp knife or vegetable peeler remove the zest and a thin later of pith from the orange, before completely peeling or juicing.

Cut peel into ribbons about 1/4" thick and 2" long.

Blanch (cover with water and bring to the boil for a minute then drain) 4 times, this removes any bitterness from the pith and softens the peel.

Make a sugar syrup - 3 parts of sugar to 1 of water (I used a ramekin dish that held 4oz of sugar as a measure) and bring to the boil, reduce the heat add the peel and bring to a very gentle simmer. Keep a very careful eye on the syrup as it is easy to either boil over or burn.

After about 35 mins the syrup will have thickened and the peel will be slightly translucent.

Drain peel from the syrup - the easiest way to do this is to set a seive in a jam funnel over a jam jar, pour the peel and syrup into the seive.

Working quickly (otherwise all the peel with stick together in a large sticky lump!)arrange the candied peels in rows on a cooling rack above a baking tray (to catch the sugar drips)

When cool melt the chocolate and coat the peel and arrange on a silicone mat for the chocolate to set. The quickest way to do this is to add about 1/3 of the peel to the chocolate and stir it in and then pick them out one by one with your fingers, I tried with tongs the first time I made them, but it took forever.

When the chocolate is set, lightly roll the mat up to unstick the coated peel and store them in an airtight box in a cool place.

Enjoy!

Save the syrup for your next batch of orange peel (store in the fridge) or use in place of syrup in any recipes (such as the Crunchy Oat Sailing Biscuits )

Index

2008-05-24T15:57:00.038Z

(v) - vegan (adp v) - easily veganised
(veg) - vegetarian (adp veg) - easily vegetarianised

Breakfast
Dairy Free Breakfast Smoothie (v)
Fried Oatmeal (v)
Muffins - Breakfast - Cheese & Pancetta
Muffins - Muesli (v)
Tofu Scramble (v)

Dips & Dressings
Asian Bean Dip (v)
Avocado & Sunflower Seed Dip (v)
Roast Carrot Dip (v)
Easy Guacamole (v)
Pinto Bean Dip (v)
Tahini Dressing (v)

Soups
3p Soup (Pea, Split Pea and Paprika) (v)
Butternut Squash, Tahini & Lemon Soup (v)
Celery and Stilton Soup (veg)
Red Lentil & Sweetcorn (v)
Reviviscent Skinny Miso Soup (v)
Roasted Sweet Red Pepper, Tomato & Red Lentil Soup (v)

Starters, Snacks, Salads & Light Meals
Asparagus & Tofu Salad with Charred Caper & Mustard Dressing (v)
Baked Onions with Somerset Brie and English Bacon (adp veg)
Broccoli and Smoked Salmon Tortilla
Camembert - Baked (veg)
Crispy Chilli Soy Tofu (v)
Fennel & Cannellini Bean Gratin (veg)
Halloumi - Fried & Marinated (veg)
Mixed Bean & Roasted Butternut Squash Salad (v)
Pepper & Caper Salad (v)
Roasted Chickpeas (v)
Sardine & Cape Pate
Sesame Crusted Baked Tofu (v)
Special Fried Bulgar Wheat (adp veg)
Frugal Spinach Risotto (v)

Main Courses
Anchovy, Chilli and Caper Pasta
Aubergine "Lasagne" (veg)
Butternut Squash, Tomato, Butterbean & Chorizo Bake (adp v)
Chicken - Beer Can Roasted
Chickpea Chilli Chorizo Pretend “Pasta” (adp v)
Chilli - Five Bean (v)
Chole (v)
Duck Tagine with Clementines
Hunanese Beef with Cumin
Lamb Rogan Josh
Lamb Shoulder with Preserved Lemons and Dates
Lemon Chickpeas (v)
Risotto: Baked Tomato, Mackerel & Chickpea with Pea Puree
Sausage, Butternut Squash, Pepper & Tomato “One Tray” Roast
Sesame, Tamarind and Lime Marinated Salmon Steaks
Smoked Cod & Cannellini Beans
Smoked Mackerel and Horseradish Chickpea Fishcakes
Spanish Pork with Peppers & Orange
Squash Ribbon Pasta (v)
Spinach Tofu (v)

Side Dishes
Fennel & Cannellini Bean Gratin (veg)
Labneh (Middle Eastern Curd Cheese) (veg)
Roasted Chickpeas (v)
Roasted Sprouts (v)

Puddings
(Almost) Healthy Sticky Toffee Pudding (veg)
Date & Fig Microwaved Steamed Pudding (v)
Fruit Gyoza (v)
Lemon Posset (veg)
Pavlova (veg)
Pavlova - Chocolate (veg)
Peaches in Butterscotch Sauce (veg)
Sussex Pond Pudding (veg)

Sweet Sauces
Butterscotch Sauce (veg)
Fudge Sauce - Hot (veg)
Peanut Butter Sauce - Hot (v)
Toffee Sauce (veg)

Breads, Biscuits, Cakes and Muffins
Almond Gateau with Praline Buttercream
Black Bean Brownies - Fudgy Wudgey (v) (Gluten Free)
Black Bean Brownies II (Gluten Free)
Bread - Sesame & Honey Oatmeal (veg)
Chocolate Amaretti Cake (veg)
Chocolate Valentino (veg)
Coconut & Lime Oaty Biscuits (v)
Cornbread (veg)
Crunchy Oat Sailing Biscuits (v)
Ginger Cake (v)
Lavash Crackers (v)
Lavender Melt Biscuits (veg)
Madelines - Basic (Genoise Batter Method) (veg)
Muffins - Basic Technique
Muffins - Breakfast - Cheese & Pancetta
Muffins - Berry (veg)
Muffins - Muesli (v)
Muffins - Okara, Lemon & Blueberry (v)
Muffins - Spiced Triple Orange (v)
Muffins - Peanut Butter (v)
Muffins - Prune & Walnut (v)
Muffins - Zingy Maple Mango (v)

Sweets
Chocolated Coated Candied Orange Peel (v)

Chutney, Jams & Jellies
Banana Chutney (v)
Crab Apple Jelly (v)
Fig Jam (v)
Preserved Lemons (v)
Pickling Vinegar (v)
Roasted Sweet Pepper and Tomato Chutney (v)

Techniques & How To
Fuss Free Tips
Muffins - Basic Technique
Perfect Chicken Stock
Tofu Making (v)

Cookery Chat
2008 To Cook List
Chicken Out Campaign
Foodblogging Groups
Fuss Free Flavours featured on the Guardian Food Blog
Frusi Pots - Why?
Good Mood Food
Market Glut
Meeting Gary Rhodes
Plethora of Peppers!
Recycling Brita Filters
Rehabilitated Dishware
Turnham Green Hampers
The Wholegrains Challenge

Crispy Chilli Soy Tofu

2008-05-20T14:05:00.003Z

I am a bit of a tofu addict, in fact I am a lot of a tofu addict and regularly make it from scratch. I have written before that tofu needs careful handling and with a bit of TLC it goes from beany boredom to heavenly bean curd!

A favourite quick snack is crispy fried chilli tofu, made with fresh homemade curd. Coating the tofu in corn or gram flour before frying helps it to crisp up and as it fries it will puff up slightly. As ever the essentials for successful tofu are pressing and marinating. In fact it is so essential I shall repeat “press and marinate” - taking an extra 10 mins to quickly press and marinate will go a huge way towards more tasty tofu. I like this dish as a pre supper nibble with a beer after work, or serve with vegetables or salad as a main course.

Crispy Chilli Tofu (serves 2 as a snack)

4oz (100g) firm tofu
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs chilli oil
1 tbs corn flour
1 tsp sunflower oil
Sea Salt & Pepper
1 spring onion – shredded

Slice the tofu into ½” (1.5cm slices), place between 2 tea towels and press under a chopping board and a couple of tin cans (or a cook book or the fruit bowl) for at least 10 mins. Mix the soy sauce and chilli oil together in a bowl to make a marinade, cube the pressed tofu and add to the marinade - leave for at least 10 mins.

Drain the tofu, reserving the marinade and coat in the corn flour; fry in the sunflower oil in a hot pan until golden and crispy – it should start to puff up. Add the spring onions and the remains of the marinade and cook until the marinade has thickened and reduced.

Serve immediately with lots of sea salt and pepper.

Variations

Use olive oil in place of the chilli oil in the marinade, add a finely chopped red chilli when cooking, add finely grated ginger and or lemon to the marinade. Use gram flour in place of the corn flour.

Asparagus with Fried Tofu and Charred Caper Dressing

2008-05-19T16:26:00.007Z

Once again its National Vegetarian Week and once again Abby from Eat the Right Stuff is hosting her Vegetables, Beautiful Vegetables 2008 event.

We have just had an unusually warm snap and having been to the market where there was an abundance of asparagus I used it in this warm salad for an easy weekend lunch. The charred capers were a happy accident caused by me being distracted when cooking the tofu.

I love tofu and eat if every few days, but it took me a while to master tofu, it is worth persevering with and there are a few techniques & tricks for tasty tofu.

Tasty Tofu Tips and Tricks

Tofu by itself is bland and really not that good. It needs marinating and careful cooking. The good news is that it is very very easy to enjoy good tofu. I could write entire posts about tofu, and indeed have made my own, but here is a quick run down.

Tofu, is soy bean curd, basically soy milk cheese.

There are two types of tofu – pressed / regular and silken (unless silken is specified use the regular)

Fresh tofu from a Chinese or Asian shop will taste far far better than longer life packaged tofu from the supermarket. I buy a 800g block for £1.40 in Chinatown.

Tofu needs pressing (to squeeze the water out) and marinating before cooking. To press tofu cut into slices, place between 2 clean tea towels, put a chopping board on top and weigh down with a few cans of beans, cook book, fruit bowl or whatever is to hand. You will soon get an idea of the weight and amount of time needed to press your tofu. Even a 5 minute press will make a dramatic difference.

Freezing and defrosting dramatically changes the texture and character of the tofu, I always freeze supermarket tofu – its gains a spongy and chewier texture making it meatier and generally more liked by tofu phobes. Frozen tofu is generally easier to handle and to cook as it is far firmer.

Tofu is highly nutritious: Weight for weight it contains more protein, less calories & fat than meat or cheese, being a plant food it is also cholesterol free.

Fresh tofu will keep in the fridge for around a week – store it under water changing the water every day.

Asparagus with Fried Tofu and Charred Caper Dressing (Serves 4)

8 slices firm tofu about 1cm thick (pressed for 30 mins)

1 lemon - juiced

Extra virgin olive oil
3 tsp grain dijon mustard (to taste)
Salt and Pepper
2 tbs capers
1 tsp sunflower oil.

2 bunches of baby asparagus.

Green salad – I used baby spinach leaves

Slice and press the tofu as described above and place in a shallow bowl.

Squeeze the lemons and add an equal volume of olive oil, the mustard and salt and pepper, whisk well and pour over the pressed tofu. Marinate for as long as possible (at least 30 mins or overnight)

Meanwhile trim the asparagus and boil for 3 mins until tender, plunge into cold water and drain.

Remover the tofu slices from the marinade (reserving the marinade) fry the tofu over a medium heat in the sunflower oil, for 4 mins each side or until golden, turn the tofu gently, it can soften and be very fragile. . After turning the tofu add the capers to the pan.

Arrange the asparagus on the plates and place the tofu on top, meanwhile turn the heat right up and fry the capers until they start to char. As the tofu sits it will firm up. Scatter the hot charred capers over the warm tofu and asparagus.

The remains of the marinade will make a dressing, either use it cold or pour it over the capers to deglaze the pan if you prefer a warm dressing – both are equally good.

Variations

This recipe would work equally well with halloumi (which fries without melting) in place of the tofu or with lime instead of the lemon. Or add some chilli flakes to the marinade.

Other recipes with capers include
Anchovy, Chilli and Caper Pasta
Pepper & Caper Salad

Roasted Sprouts

2008-05-19T14:50:00.005Z

I cooked these a few weeks ago with the last of the season’s sprouts and was stunned at how good they were, and how simple they are to prepare. Roasting the sprouts removes all trace of bitterness and gives them an almost nutty like flavour and a crispness to the outer leaves (think Chinese crispy seaweed). I pull a good number of the leaves off and add them loose to the pan for extra crispness. I do encourage the sprout haters to try this one as they really do taste nothing like sprouts.

Roasted Sprouts (Serves 4 as a side dish)

1lb (0.5kg) Sprouts – trimmed with the outer leaves discarded
2 tbs olive oil
2 Cloves finely chopped garlic - to taste
Salt and Pepper - to taste

Pour the olive oil into a baking tray, add the sprouts and salt and pepper and give the pan a good shake to coat the sprouts. Put into a preheated oven at GM6/400F/200C for 20 mins, adding the garlic and shaking again after 10mins. The sprouts are done when the outer leaves are golden brown.

Fuss Free Flavours Featured on the Guardian Food Blog

2008-05-15T16:32:00.005Z

I was recently delighted to be told by the lovely Abby from Eat the Right Stuff that there was a link to my (Almost) Healthy Sticky Toffee Pudding on the Guardian food blog.

Its been updated now, but I did take a quick screen shot to preserve the Fuss Free moment of fame!

Crunchy Oat Sailing Biscuits

2008-05-15T16:20:00.006Z

I first made these biscuits to take sailing; as well as being delicious the sugar gives an immediate energy boost and the oats which are high in complex carbohydrates and soluble fibre release energy slowly. I have been making these biscuits for years, coming back to the recipe again and again, but until last night had never thought of adding seeds to them. A mix of sunflower and pumpkin seeds adds more crunch and omega3s and other vitamins to these oat packed biscuits. Not just for sailing; the tin of these I bought to work this morning rapidly vanished to great approval. Although one of my favourites I want to work on the recipe to bring down the fat content and to add some fruit or vegetables.

This recipe is very forgiving and the quantities are not exact, vary the flour and oat ratio according to taste – this time I used a flour and okara mix to use up my leftover okara from the tofu making. Like my muffin recipe you make the mix by mixing wet ingredients into dry.

Crunchy Oat Sailing Biscuits (makes about 24 biscuits)

Wet Ingredients
4oz soft margarine
3oz sugar (I used half white and half Demerara)
1 tbs golden syrup (Fuss Free tip – run hot water over the spoon you use for the syrup – it will then easily slide off)

Dry Ingredients
4oz porridge oats
4oz plain flour (I used 3oz of flour and 1 oz of okara)
1oz sunflower seeds
1oz pumpkin seeds
1tsp baking powder
Pinch salt

Weigh the wet ingredients into a saucepan and melt on a low heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Meanwhile mix all the dry ingredients well into a bowl. When the margarine is melted stir the wet ingredients into the dry and mix thoroughly. If necessary add more oats until you have a firm and not sticky dough.

Place teaspoon sized balls of the dough on a greaseproof paper covered baking tray and flatten slightly; allow room to spread – the baked biscuits will be around 2 ½” (6cm) across. Bake at GM4/350F/180C for 15mins or until golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly and firm up before peeling from the paper before leaving to cool on a wire rack.

These should keep a week in an airtight tin, but I usually never have any left after a few days.

Fuss Free Tips

2008-05-02T12:41:00.006Z

As most of my recipes have a fuss free tip hidden somewhere within them I thought that it would be a good idea to collate them all into one post of handy fuss free ideas.

This page is a work in progress and will be updated.

To clean a spice/coffee ginder: Wipe it out with a dry piece of kitchen paper and then grind a spoon of rice, discard and wipe again. This dilutes and gets rid most of the lingering flavours. Why no one has ever made an electric grinder which has removable and dishwasherable working parts I do not know. Having cleaned it like this you should be able to use it for different spices or coffee again.

Left over ginger root can be peeled and frozen and quickly grated with a microplane from frozen then the remainder popped back into the freezer.

Freeze leftover cheese rinds for adding to soups for easy extra flavour.

When cooking with golden syrup run boiling water over the spoon you will use to measure it, the syrup will then slide easily from the spoon.

To zest and juice a lemon always zest first and then juice. It is nigh on impossible to do the other way round.

Cook brown rice in a steamer in the microwave as it is ready and perfectly cooked in 14 minutes.

Keep a pot of mixed free frozen beans in the freezer for quick and easy base for a packed salad.

Homemade Tofu

2008-05-02T12:33:00.004Z

Having recently developed a taste for tofu I decide to have a go at making my own. From scratch. From soy beans. There are pages and pages of information on the internet on making soy milk and then making the tofu from the soy milk, most with complex instructions. I was slightly filled with trepidation but determined, and was pleasantly surprised. Making the tofu was actually very easy. It got a large number of utensils and pots and pans dirty, but was not difficult, it does require a little organisation and planning but the actual hands on cooking time was only about 30 mins, if that. Maybe I was very lucky and next time it will go wrong.

Tofu is basically soy milk cheese, making it is a two stage process, make the soy milk, then make tofu from the milk. Having made paneer before I was fairly confident the second stage of the process would not be too hard.

So here is the Fuss Free Flavours Fuss Free 6 stage guide to homemade tofu.
1) Soak soy beans
2) Grind soy beans in food processor
3) Boil bean pulp to make the soy milk
4) Strain milk
5) Add a coagulant to cause soy milk to separate to curds and whey
6) Strain and press curds to make tofu

Your yield of tofu will be roughly equal to the initial weight of soy beans used.

Easy Homemade Tofu - Ingredients

Soy beans
Lemon
Water (1 pint per 2oz of beans)

Equipment

Two large pans
Food Processor
Sieve
Cheese cloth
Ladle
Wooden Spoons
Sugar thermometer – optional
Small plate
Weights (Use can of beans, bottles of water)

Stage 1 – Soak the Beans
Rinse the soy beans well and soak in cold water for between 8 and 24 hours. If you do not like a beany tofu roll beans between the palms of your hands to remove skins, these will float to the surface of the soaking water and can be skimmed off. Rinse well.

Stage 2 – Grind the Beans
Add beans to the food processor, cover with water and whizz until they form a creamy white pulp. Transfer to a large pan or stock pot.

Stage 3 - Boil bean pulp to make the soy milk
Add the reminder of the water to the bean pulp and bring to the boil, reduce the heat and gently simmer for 10 minutes. The mix will really foam up, but providing the pot is large enough should not boil over.

Stage 4 - Strain Soy Milk
Strain the milk through a cheese cloth lined sieve into another large pot, keep the soy bean pulp or okara, it is highly nutritious and can be used in many ways.

Stage 5 - Add a coagulant to cause soy milk to separate to curds and whey
The Japanese traditionally use Nigari (a seasalt derivative) coagulate the tofu, Epsom salts will work; I used lemon juice, the juice of half a lemon to 3 pints of soy milk seemed to work well for me (having experimented white wine vinegar also works, initally add 1 tablespoon to the milk - then add more if needed) . Add to the milk when it is at around 75C. If you add the coagulant immediately after straining the simmered milk it will probably be around the right temperature. Sprinkle the lemon juice in and gently stir once, put the lid on the pan and leave the soy milk to separate for 10 mins. It will suddenly start to separate with clumps of curds sitting in a clear whey.

Stage 6 - Strain and press curds to make tofu
Once you have a pan of curds and whey gently ladle the curds into a cheesecloth lined mould – I used a nylon sieve - let all the whey drain out and cover the block of curds with the cloth place a saucer on top and weigh down with a couple of cans of beans or a bottle of water to squeeze more of the whey out. For a firmer tofu press for longer with a heavier weight.

When the tofu has stopped dripping and is solid you are done! Peel off the cloth and admire your fresh tofu. Either use straight away or store in the fridge in water for a few days before using. Store your fresh tofu as you would a diary product – it will spoil if you store it too long, but mine did not last too long before I ate it.

Update
I have now bought a tofu press that makes the whole process far easier, and have been experimenting with different techniques here where I made a fresh homemade spinach tofu.

Recipes to use your tofu in include:
Asparagus with Fried Tofu and Charred Caper Dressing
Crispy Chilli Soy Tofu
Or cube it and add to Reviviscent Skinny Miso Soup

Okara, Lemon & Blueberry Muffins

2008-04-28T20:30:00.005Z

As regular visitors will know muffins are a regular feature for my weekend breakfasts. I am always looking for new muffin ideas and having recently made a decision to cut down on my consumption of animal products for environmental reasons I have been experimenting with different vegan muffins. Okara (more of below) blueberry and lemon combine to make a light zingy breakfast muffin full of fibre, protein and antioxidants.

The tricky part of vegan baking is what to use in place of an egg. Happily for making muffins I seem to just be able to use my regular muffin batter, leave the egg out and use slightly less of the dry ingredients and use soy milk in the place of milk. I use soy milk as a milk replacer, frozen and defrosted soy milk is ideal for baking (I freeze it in 1oz portions in my mini muffin tray) - it does separate but it also thickens and it makes it an excellent milk and egg mix substitute. I am completely enthralled by vegan baking and far prefer it to traditional cakes where I can now clearly taste the egg.

I also had a quantity of okara from my homemade tofu experiments to use. Okara is the ground soy bean pulp that is left over when you make your own soy milk (I partially dry it in a low oven and then freeze it). It is packed with protein and fibre and can be used in a number of ways. Here I used it in place of some of the flour in the recipe. It has a texture half way between cornmeal and desiccated coconut, and lightens the texture and colour of the finished muffins (and counts towards your daily fruit and vegetable intake). If you do not have any, just leave it out and use extra flour.

Detailed muffin instructions are here.

Okara, Lemon & Blueberry Muffins (makes 8 large muffins)

Wet ingredients
8oz soy milk (I used frozen and defrosted)
4oz sunflower oil

Dry Ingredients
8oz self raising flour
2oz semi dried oakra
2oz sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
Pinch salt
1tsp bicarb of soda

Handful of blueberries* (I used frozen)
Oats

Whisk the wet ingredients, and stir the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredents into the dry and fold in. The batter should need no more than 15 folds and should be lumpy still, half way through folding add the blueberries.

Dollop into muffin tins and sprinkle with oats. Bake at GM5 for 20 to 25 minutes until risen and golden.

*If using frozen blueberries just add them to the batter directly from the freezer and bake for another minute or two.

Zingy Maple Mango Muffins

2008-04-07T11:00:00.005Z

I woke up unusually early and starving hungry on Saturday morning. My usual weekend breakfast is muffins, but I am currently diary free and had no eggs in the house, I also had a mango that needed to be eaten several days previously, that I was determined to use for Abby’s fruit event.

Happily I have been doing some experimentation with vegan baking recently and I know that eggs are not really needed (add a little extra baking powder in their place), and I also had some soy milk so the muffins were back on the menu. I know that Abby’s event is asking for seasonal fruit, but as far as I can work out mangos are always in season in the North Road Market – and at 4 for £1 they must be in season?

The absolute joy of vegan baking is that you do not need eggs so you do not have to be that prepared to bake. A you are not confined to egg units it is easy to scale the recipe up and down, you can; if you wish (and have a pair of good electronic scales) bake just one muffin. Naturally I am too greedy to make just one muffin so I made 3, which was perfect for breakfast. I have doubled my recipe to make 6 small muffins, perfect for 2 and far more sociable.

As these are breakfast muffins I have added both ginger and chilli to the mango to give a little more zing and kick to get you going in the morning, maple syrup provides sweetness and some more depth of flavour.

Zingy Maple Mango Muffins (makes 6)

Dry Ingredients
6oz self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1oz golden granulated sugar
Pinch salt

Wet Ingredients
4oz soy milk (or regular milk)
2oz sunflower or rape seed oil
1 ½ oz maple syrup

1 peeled and finely chopped mango
1/8” ginger root finely grated*
4 slices chopped jalapeños (to taste)

Stir the mango, ginger and chilli into the dry ingredients until the mango pieces have separated and are coated with flour. Whisk the wet ingredients together and pour into the dry ingredients. Mix in (no more than 15 folds – the batter should be lumpy) pour into an oiled silicone pan or muffins cases. Bake at GM5/375/190 for around 20 – 25 mins until risen and golden. More muffins tips are here.

Eggless muffins will appear lumpier than normal muffins, but are just as delicious.

* I freeze my ginger root and then grate when frozen with a microplane

Cheat’s Guacamole

2008-03-25T12:57:00.004Z

I adore guacamole – what is not to love about it? Avocado, tomato and chilli goodness! Simple to make and versatile, all sorts of substitutions will work, as long as you have an avocado! I scattered sun blush tomatoes over the finished guacamole rather than use the insipid flavourless offerings currently masquerading as tomatoes that are for sale in the shops.

Easy Guacamole (Serves 2 with bread and crudités)

1 avocado – stoned and peeled
2 spring onions – chopped
Juice of ½ lemon (or lime)
1 tsp chilli sauce (to taste)
1 tsp olive oil
S&P
Chopped sun blush tomatoes

Chuck everything into the food processor apart from a spoon of the green parts of the spring onions and the tomatoes, and blitz. Stir in the remainder of the spring onions and serve with the sun blush tomatoes scattered over.

I had an avocado that needed using and had no lemons, so I used a good lug of salad dressing in place of the juice and OO; it was delicious and I shall be doing this again deliberately.

5 Bean Chilli

2008-03-10T20:35:00.004Z

January and February were use it all up months, it is now March and I am still using it all up! I wanted to make chilli and I decided to make a mixed bean version rather than a meat one and use some tins up. This dish contains several portions of vegetables all counting towards your 5-a-day. The recipe is substitution friendly, just use whatever beans and vegetables you have; kidney beans are traditional for chilli and the pureed black beans beans give it a meaty texture and appearance. I made it in my slow cooker as I think that slow cooking gives the flavours more time to develop and mingle, but a casserole in a low oven will work just as well.

Beans are packed with flavour, protein and count towards your 5 a day, they have the additional benefit of being low GI. In short they are wonder foods, and coming in cans are convenient. Cooking your own beans from dried is certainly better for the environment but does require a little more effort and care and is something that I shall be returning to later this year.

Chilli is best served the next day reheated as the flavours will develop further. Be warned that it will also get more fiery whilst cooking so do not do as I once did and get the heat just right and then cook!

5 Bean Chilli (Serves 8 hungry people)

2 tsp cumin
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 large dried chillies

2 onions chopped
2 sticks of celery chopped
2 cloves of garlic
2 tsp sunflower oil

2 tins plum tomatoes (or use fresh)
1 tin haricot beans
1 tin black eyed beans
1 tin aduki beans
1 tin kidney beans
1 tin black beans (I used soaked and coked dried beans)

1tbs cocoa powder
1tbs paprika
1 tbs sweet chill sauce (or tomato ketchup)
2 tbs tomato puree
S&P to taste

Dry fry the cumin, coriander and whole chillies and when aromatic grind, add to the slow cooker pot. Add the tinned tomatoes and rinsed and drained beans (I reserved half the black beans and their liquid and blitzed them with a stick blender before adding - this will add colour and thicken the sauce).

Fry the onion, celery and garlic and add to the chilli. Add the cocoa, paprika, sweet chilli sauce and tomato puree, stir and allow to gentle bubble for a few hours.

Serve with any of rice, grated cheese, guacamole, salsa.

This freezes well, I eat it for work lunches.

Black Bean Brownies II

2008-02-28T21:35:00.006Z

Following the success of my Fudgey Wudgey Vegan Black Bean Brownies I thought that I would try another more conventional (insofar as black bean brownies are conventional) recipe, using eggs as the raising agent instead of bananas. The FWVBBBs were lovely, but quite dense, and almost malty and not suitable for banana haters. This version is also gluten free.

This version is are not as healthy as the original as they have far less fruit and vegetable in them but they are still fairly low fat. They are lovely and moist, fudgey and squidgy, and; most importantly chocolately! I think that you could add a cooked apple or carrot/parsnip as they rise well and are fairly light. Next time I am also going to cut down on the sugar content. These are easy peasey to make, put everything into the food processor and whizz for 30 seconds. The time consuming part was chopping up the dates and very sticky glace cherries. Unlike conventional brownies these do not seem to go crisp on the top.

Black Bean Brownies Mark II (makes 16 Brownies and plenty of crumbs)

1x 15oz tin black beans - rinsed well
4 eggs
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar (I used half white and half Demerara - soft brown sugar would also work well - or replace with ½ cup of splenda)
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp rapeseed or sunflower oil
½ tsp vanilla essence (or replace some of the sugar with vanilla sugar)
2 tbsp strong coffee (optional)
Chopped dates, dried fruit and nuts (Optional - I used dates and glace cherries)

Put all the ingredients apart from the fruit and nuts into the food processor and whizz until a smooth batter has formed. Meanwhile line an 8" x 8" tray with grease proof paper. Add the fruit and nuts (if using) to the batter and stir. Pour batter into the lined tray and bake at 190C (GM5 for) 30 mins until springy.

Allow to cool for 5 mins before turning out.

Cut with a sharp knife into 2x2" squares.

Lamb Rogan Josh

2008-02-28T21:30:00.002Z

I love curry, but takeway, restaurant and ready Indian meals can be heavy on the oil and the calories. Here is an adapted Rogan Josh, with reduced fat. If you are missing one of the spices, substitute by adding a little more of the others. For an even healthier dish add more vegetables and lentils. I usually cook brown basmati rice mixed with bulgur wheat and quinoa and a handful of red lentils if not using elsewhere in the meal. I buy my poppadums from the local Middle Eastern Shop and "pop" them in the microwave rather than the deep fat fryer.

Lamb Rogan Josh (serves 2 hungry people)

1 dried chilli
1" cinnamon stick
6 cloves
10 cardamom pods
1tsp coriander seeds
1tsp cumin seeds

1tbs sunflower oil
1lb lamb any joint cubed (I used left over roast)

1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic
1tsp paprika
1tsp cayenne pepper (to taste)
100ml low fat yoghurt (I used crème fraiche)
½ tin tomatoes - chopped (or use fresh or a mix)
1" ginger finely grated (I use a microplane)
Vegetables - use whatever is to hand (I used peppers and spring onions)

Dry fry the whole spices until aromatic and then grind either in an electric coffee grinder* or in a pestle and mortar. (If any of your spices are already ground just add to the sauce later along with the cayenne and paprika.)

Add the oil to the pan, fry the lamb until browned and remove (if using uncooked meat). Fry the onion and garlic until browning, add the freshly ground spices, cayenne and paprika. Fry for another minute. Add the yoghurt one spoon at the time, then the chopped tomatoes and bay leaves, grate the ginger into the sauce. Add the lamb back to the curry along with any vegetables, stir, cover and cook for 30 for mins.

Serve with rice, poppadums and banana chutney.

Variations:
The curry is far better made the day before and left for 24 hours to allow flavours to develop and mingle. For a healthier dish add a handful of red lentils and equal volume of water along with the tomatoes. Leave the meat out or use chicken or beef. If using seafood or fish add to the curry 5 mins before serving as these need less cooking.

* Fuss Free Tip: To clean the grinder wipe it out with a dry piece of kitchen paper and then grind a spoon of rice, discard and wipe again. This dilutes and gets rid most of the lingering flavours. Why no one has ever made an electric grinder which has removable and dishwasherable working parts I do not know.

Reviviscent Skinny Miso Soup

2008-02-21T22:00:00.005Z

This is my favourite reviving food, something for when life has thrown too much at you, when need a reviving, but healthy comfort food that is easy to prepare. I call them Reviviscent (capable of causing Revival) Foods. I like the way the word sounds and rolls around the mouth, "revival" with a touch of fizz perhaps? I got home late last night, after a busy day at work, late finish and the usual horrors of the dreaded Jubilee line, I was crotchety, generally grumpy and in a thoroughly bad mood feeling generally out of sorts and believing the entire world to be at war with me. You know the general feeling when all you want to do is to cocoon and nurture yourself?

Miso soup is the ultimate adapt and substitute recipe, you can have it thin or thick, vegan, vegetarian or carnivorous. Serve skinny or as an entire meal in the bowl. Special or use everything up. It is delicious and makes you feel virtuous. The only essential ingredient is miso paste (and I think spring onions). I buy tubs of miso paste from the Japan Centre Supermarket, my current brand is Miyasaka white miso, I have not yet fathomed which brands I prefer. Clearspring and Marigold both do a powered miso soup base which Waitrose sells, I prefer the paste which makes a thicker flavoured soup and is far far cheaper. I also buy individual packets of dried seaweed for adding to the soup, individual packets are better as it rapidly absorbs water from the air and spoil once opened.

Reviviscent Skinny Miso Soup Serves 2

1 pint (½ litre) water
1 tbs miso paste
4 spring onions - shredded
1 small carrot - use a vegetable peeler to cut ribbons
¼ red pepper diced
¼ green pepper diced
2 leaves of spring greens - shredded

Soy & chilli and dried seaweed to serve

Bring one pt of water to the boil, add the miso paste and stir until dissolved. Add the chopped vegetables and stir for a minute, until warmed and cooked but still crunchy.

Ladle into bowls and then sprinkle with dried seaweed and serve with a selection of sauces.

Inhale the steam, slurp and feel revived.

Variations

Are limitless - add whatever is in the vegetable drawer or freezer - or make more substantial with tofu, lentils, sea food, noodles etc.

Fudgey Wudgey Vegan Gluten Free Black Bean Brownies

2008-02-21T21:52:00.004Z

With the success of the (Almost) Healthy Sticky Toffee Pudding I am convinced that grating the odd parsnip or carrot into a cake is not going to diminish the flavour and will possibly add texture, sweetness and depth; it certainly is not going to do any damage and will at worse just make the mix healthier. I was chatting about this the other day and lots of other odd things in cakes cropped up.

Mayonnaise cake? I made one years ago, but it does not really count as healthy.

Beetroot cake? Lovely with chocolate and would make a lovely deep rich colour.

The third was black bean brownies, which intrigued me, black beans in brownies? Having had a quick Google I found that there are many recipes out there (and for all sorts of beans in cakes), all slightly different and that maybe the idea is not quite so mad.

I did wonder if black bean brownies with the addition of banana in place of eggs and apple sauce in place of fat may be a substitution too far? The very handy Cook's Thesaurus substantiates these substitutions so I had a go - I was still suspecting that I would call them joyless vegan fat free brownies, but I was most pleasantly surprised, they are soft and squidgy and (considering all the healthy things that do go into them) are very delicious. They are very rich and treacly - almost like parkin but without the ginger. You can clearly taste the banana, so not one for the banana haters.

Fudgey Wudgey Vegan Gluten Free Black Bean Brownies (Makes 16 and a large pile of crumbles)

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla
¾ cup sugar
2 bananas
¼ cup apple sauce (I chopped an apple and microwaved it until mushy)

Put all ingredients into the food processor and whizz. Meanwhile line an 8" x 8" tin with baking paper. Pour the batter into the tin and bake at GM5 for 30 mins until a cocktail stick comes out clean. Leave to cool and then turn out onto a rack and peel the paper from the brownies.

Notes

They are very very soft and squidgy, they do firm up when cool but will crumble when cutting up. It can be quite easy to over cook them if you are thinking they should firm up.

Variations

Add chopped nuts and fruit to the batter after mixing and briefly pulse.

Smoked Cod (or Haddock) and Cannellini Beans

2008-02-19T20:47:00.005Z

My love for both beans and smoked fish continues unabated, so having seen this recipe of Nigella Lawson's I had to cook it. Fortunately my boyfriend is a also a smoked fish fiend and is rapidly learning to love beans. Quick and easy this dish really is Fuss Free and packed with Flavour! I have adapted the quantities slightly as much as I love beans, 2 tins for 2 people is a little too much! Smoked fish is perfect for emergency meals - it keeps for ages in the fridge and freezes well in a sealed packet.

This is my contribution to Foodie Chickie's I love Nigella Event.

Smoked Cod (or Haddock) and Cannellini Beans (Serves 2)

450g (1lb) Smoked cod (or haddock) fillets (I used one packet of fillets)
2 tbs chopped parsley (mine was from my mother's garden from the freezer)
2 bay leaves (again from the freezer)
Pinch black peppercorns
1 small stick of celery (I substituted carrot)
75ml (3 fl oz) white wine (I used a splash of white vermouth)
2 x 410g tins of cannellini beans drained and rinsed
2 tbs Olive Oil

Lay the fish in a pan with the bay laves, peppercorns and celery, just cover with water (I used milk) add the wine and simmer gently for 3 minutes. Remove the fish. Strain the poaching liquid and pout a few tablespoons full back to the pan. Add the cannellini beans and cook for a few mins. When the beans are hot, flake in the fish.

Serve drizzled with oil and sprinkled with parsley.

(Almost) Healthy Sticky Toffee Pudding

2008-02-13T21:36:00.005Z

I like stodgy winter puddings, but all too often they are calorie laden and full of hidden sugar and fats. Having watched Cook Yourself Thin on Channel 4 I was impressed by the imaginative use of healthy substitutions to make classic dishes healthier and lifting their calorie content. Clever use of carrots and parsnips in the cake with some added honey means that no extra sugar is required. Nuts are used instead of fat too, apart from the sauce this pudding is positively good for you!

It's a very forgiving recipe, I was missing many of the ingredients required, and substituted again and again and it did not seem to matter at all. It makes the perfect amount of cake mix for my 6 cup silicone tin. The ingredient list looks long, but substitution is key here.

Healthyish Sticky Toffee Pudding (Serves 4)

For the cake
100g chopped stoned dates
80ml boiling water
50g brazil nuts (I only had almonds so used 100g instead)
50g pecan nuts (As above)
1 tsp honey
1 medium egg
40g buckwheat flour (I used self raising)
1 tsp vanilla extract (I had run out so did not bother)
50g grated parsnip (I used one medium parsnip - about 80g)
75g grated carrot (I used one medium - about 100g)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp black treacle (I had run out and used syrup)
Pinch of salt

Sauce
40g unsalted butter
20g black treacle (I used syrup)
20g honey
40g soft brown sugar
½ mug black tea (I did not bother)
Pinch of salt

Stone and chop the dates and place in a bowl and cover with 80ml of boiling water, leave to soak. Meanwhile grind the nuts in the food processor, once they are a powder add all the other ingredients (apart from the dates) and blitz. Slowly add some of the water from the dates until the mix is a thick cake batter. Add the dates and pulse briefly or whizz depending of you want chunks of dates or not.

Cook at gas mark 5 in a well greased silicon muffin tin, or a lined 6" square tin, for 30 to 40 mins. (You may need to cover with foil towards the end of cooking to prevent the top of the cake burning). The batter is a rather alarming shade of orange at this point but do not worry.

Meanwhile put all the sauce ingredients into a pan, bring to a simmer stirring all the time until the sauce has thickened.
Serve and enjoy.

* Fuss Free Disclaimer - I added far more sauce and cream after taking the photo!

Hunanese Beef with Cumin

2008-02-13T21:29:00.004Z

Chinese New Year has just past, to (belatedly) celebrate I cooked this recipe by Fushia Dunlop which was published in Feb 2008 Waitrose Food Illustrated.

Serve with steamed greens and fried rice.

Hunanese Beef with Cumin (Serves 2)

350g sirloin steak finely sliced (use fillet if you are feeling rich)

Marinade
1 tbs Chinese cooking wine (I used white vermouth)
1 tsp light soy sauce (I used more)
1 tsp dark soy sauce (I used more)
1 ½ tsp corn flour

Other
1tbs sunflower oil
2cm ginger root peeled and finely chopped (I used microplaned frozen ginger root*)
3 garlic cloves finely chopped
2 red chillies - seeded and finely chopped (I used very lazy chilli)
2 tsp ground cumin (I used whole, dry fried it and ground fresh)
2 salad onions sliced (I used 3 times this amount)
1 tsp sesame oil

Finely slice the steak and put into a bowl. To make the marinade add the liquid ingredients to the cornflour (doing it in this order makes it far easier to mix without getting any lumps) and stir well. Pour the marinade over the beef and stir. Leave for at least an hour

Meanwhile prepare the other ingredients and put into a bowl apart from the oils.

Heat the sunflower oil in a wok until smoking, drain and reserve the marinade from the beef and quickly stir fry the meat for one minute (in the original recipe the meat is fried in far more oil and then drained). Add the ginger, garlic, chilli, cumin and spring onions, cook for another minute, pour over the reserved marinade and sesame oil, cook until reduced and serve.

Variations: I think that a sliced red pepper added with the beef would be a tasty, if not authentic addition.

* Fuss Free Tip: Left over ginger can be peeled and frozen and quickly grated with a microplane from frozen then the remainder popped back into the freezer.

Duck Tagine with Clementines

2008-01-13T21:17:00.002Z

I love Moroccan spices and meltingly soft slowly cooked meat, and when I saw this recipe I know that I would have had to cook it. The original recipe calls for fresh duck, I used tinned confit from one of my French supermarket forays. This dish can be prepared ahead and then chilled or frozen for speedy finishing in 30mins before you eat it. Speedy slow food sounds like my ideal fuss free way of cooking. If you are anti savoury and fruit just leave the clementines out.

Save any extra duck fat - pop in the freezer and use for wonderful roast potatoes.

Duck Tagine with Clementines (Serves 2)

2 duck legs
1 small onion (or several shallots)
1 tsp each of ground coriander, cumin, ginger and paprika
½ pt vegetable stock
1 tsp clear honey
Juice of ½ lemon
2 small clementines peeled
1 tbsp chopped coriander leaf
½ tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Place duck legs in a roasting tin, sprinkle with salt and roast for 45mins at 190C/GM5. Place 1 tbsp of the fat and the legs in a casserole dish with a tightly fitting lid. Save the rest of the fat.

Add the onions and fry until they start to change colour, sprinkle in the spices and stir (I dry fry the whole spices and freshly grind them). Add honey, stock & lemon juice and season to taste. Cook at GM1 for 1 - 1/1/4 hours until the meat is tender and falling apart.

Shortly before the end of cooking fry the clementines in the duck fat until glistening and brown. Add to the duck cook for a further 15 mins. Garnish with the sesame and the chopped coriander. Serve with cous cous.

Variations

If using confit of duck legs skip the roasting stage and fry them until they are browning instead.

You can cook this dish ahead - until just before adding the clementines and chill or freeze for finishing at a later date.

Pinto Bean Dip

2008-01-07T22:19:00.003Z

My love for tinned beans continues unabated into 2008. They are full of flavour, protein and are cheap, low carb and are a store cupboard staple, there are also enough different varieties for me not to get bored of them. I also have a dip addiction so recently made this bean dip - the mixture is thinned with a mixture of lemon juice and water rather than olive oil which dramatically cuts the calorie content. I do a large internet shop and have all my non perishable food delivered every 10 weeks or so and I do wonder what the delivery driver makes of the huge quantity of tins, or how much he curses at having to carry it up the stairs.

Pinto Bean Dip (Serves 4 with drinks)

1 tin rinsed and drained pinto beans
1 clove garlic
1 tsp olive oil
Juice of half a lemon
3 Sprigs of fresh coriander
Salt & pepper to taste
Water to thin

Simply add all the ingredients to the food processor and blitz adding water until the desired consistency is reached. Put into a pretty bowl and serve with crisps, crudities and pitta bread.

Variations

Try different flavourings - cumin and chilli flakes - or use different beans - a pinto and flageolet bean mix is delicious.

Special Fried Bulgar Wheat

2008-01-07T22:10:00.001Z

For me January is Use It All Up Month, I have pledged not to buy any non perishable foods until mid February, and all those packets of half full grains, pastas, beans and pulses must be used up. It is going to take a certain amount of self restraint and imagination, but hopefully I will empty the cupboards and discover some new recipes.

Egg fried rice is one of my favourite dishes, simple to make and one can use all the "fridge bottom" vegetables and leftovers up in it, but the rice for it requires cooking first. I am always looking for ways to make cooking easier and taste better and using nutty bulgar wheat instead of rice is a logical substitution, it adds more flavour and gives the dish a lower GI (good for the South Beachers!). I think of bulgar wheat as an interestingly flavoured and textured instant rice, that it only needs soaking not boiling (despite what it says on the packet). Simple pour into a bowl, add a teaspoon of Marigold stock or spices and pour over twice the volume of the wheat in boiling water and leave to soak for 20 mins. Stir and strain off any excess water and you are done. This is a perfect lunch for 2 at the weekend for using up leftovers, use whatever vegetables that you have to hand.

Special Fried Bulgar Wheat (Serves 2)

3oz//75 grams dried bulgar wheat - soaked for 20 mins as above
Handful frozen peas and sweetcorn
Finely sliced chorizo (or ham, bacon, left over roast meat)
Half a courgette (or cucumber)
Grated Carrot
2 Eggs - beaten
Soy Sauce
Olive Oil

Simply fry any raw meat until cooked, add the vegetables and stir until cooked, throw in the soaked bulgar wheat and stir. When all is cooked make a well in the middle of the mix and pour in the eggs as they start to set stir them into the wheat and vegetables. Season with S&P and soy sauce.

I serve this with sliced gerkins and chilli flakes and chilli sauce.

Variations

Serve with a fried egg on top or stir some grated cheese in.

2008 To Cook List

2008-01-01T17:45:00.001Z

Happy New Year!

I cannot believe that it is now 2008, what happened to the last year? It only seems a few months ago that it was New Year 2007 (and I can remember what was on the menu that night)

I have only one resolution and that is to concentrate on looking after myself. This will cover healthy eating, early nights, exercise, cuttting down on what is not so good for me etc. It also covers cooking (and blogging) more as I enjoy both and it is relaxing and thus good for me.

Here is my 2008 To Cook List (in no particular order) - I expect it will grow and be editted as the days go by. I have a large stack of food magazines that I need to go through and cut out recipes from.

Mains
Baked Celery Gratin
Butter Bean Stew with Mustard and Tomatos
Smoked Cod and Cannellini Beans
Nigella's Cheddar Risotto
Pollo alla Cacciatora
Beef Casserole with Beetroot
Beef Casserole with Ginger Wine and Clementines - A disaster, never to be tried again!

Puds and Baking
Clementine Cake

To be Perfected

Crumbly Fudge
Chocolate Mousse
Chocolate Celebration Cake
Macaroons

Chocolate Amaretti Cake

2007-12-20T21:12:00.000Z

This is currently my favourite celebration cake - I have now made it 4 times in about 6 weeks, it seems to be totally failsafe and very easy to throw together, a quick blitz in the food processor, stir in some chocolate and its done. Best of all it never fails to impress and can be made a few days in advance as it keeps well for up to a week. It has been given the seal of approval by my chocoholic friend Sue and a friend's two children who enjoyed decorating it with Smarties as much as they did eating it! This cake is rich enough to be served as a pudding and I think it is more of a morning coffee than tea time cake.

I have adapted a recipe from Rachel Allen making some of the ingredients less specific. You will need a springfrom tin for this cake - if you do not already have one this recipe makes it a worthwhile spend.

Chocolate Amaretti Cake (serves 12 or 8 chocoholics)

150g dark chocolate (Using only 100g will make no real difference to the cake)

50g amaretti biscuits

100g almonds(with or without skins; whole, flakes or ground) I use whole from my local Middle Eastern shop

175g sugar (the original recipe said white caster - but any works)

150g dark chocolate (Using only 100g will make no difference to the cake)

Zest of 1 orange

100g butter

4 eggs

Put the biscuits, almonds and sugar into the food processor and blitz until all are finely ground, add the butter and eggs and blitz again.

Meanwhile break the chocolate up into a bowl and stand over a saucepan of just simmering water until melted.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4, grease the tin and line the base with greaseproof paper.

Add the melted chocolate and orange zest to the food processor and pulse briefly until mixed. Pour the batter into the cake tin.

Bake for about 35 minutes - when ready the cake would have risen and would have started to crack at the top and round the edges. Leave to cool for 5 mins then run a knife round to separate it from the tin, then release the clip. When cold you can transfer it to a plate.

Serve dusted with cocoa powder and lots of whipped cream.

Spanish Pork

2007-12-20T20:34:00.001Z

I have a busy life and work quite long hours and at this time of year always seem tired and grumpy from the lack of light, it's not properly light when I leave home and it's dark when I leave the office and going outside of a lunchtime is a rarity. When I get home I want my supper straight away and there is little time to cook the gutsy casseroles that I enjoy when it is dark and cold outside. Last winter I bought a slowcooker (the cheapest in Argos for £9.99) - and it is proving invaluable as I can leave it on all day when I am at work, the food will not burn or dry out if I am late back (the vagaries of London Underground) and it uses the same amount of electricity of a lightbulb, cheap tough cuts of meat are transformed to mouth melting tenderness. Its one pot cooking at its best. There are a few differences between slowcooker or crockpot cooking and the conventional method casseroling in the oven; mainly to do with adding the right amount of liquid as slow cooked food will only reduce a little. Like a casserole it is not as simple as just chucking all the raw ingredients in and hoping for the best, but with a little preparation the night before a delicious meal will be waiting for you after a day at work; or at this time of year, Christmas shopping.

This dish came about from vague memories of a spicy, porky dish flavoured with orange and Worcestershire sauce from years ago, triggered by seeing some pork reduced in the supermarket and knowing that I had some peppers sitting in the fridge that needed eating. I am sure that the original was called Spanish Pork - I am not sure why as there is not that much Spanish about Worcestershire sauce, maybe it specified Seville Oranges? It looks like there are lots of ingredients here - but just use what is available and what you like.

Spanish Pork - (serves 6)

2lb Stewing Pork - cut to 1" cubes

3 rashers bacon roughly chopped - or you could use chorizo

3 mixed peppers - sliced (I used 2 red and 1 green)

½ head celery - roughly chopped (including the base as it is packed with flavour)

2 onions - sliced

1 pt chicken stock (or marigold bouillon)

2 tsp paprika (to taste)

Chilli pepper to taste

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Zest of one large orange

Salt and Pepper

Olive Oil

Parsley to garnish.

Fry the pork and bacon until lightly browned and place in the slow cooker dish or casserole dish, fry off the vegetables in olive oil until they are soft and turning golden, add to the pork. Deglaze the pan with the stock and add to the casserole dish so the meat and vegetables are just covered.

Add the paprika, chilli pepper and Worcestershire sauce and stir.

If you are preparing ahead you put the casserole in the fridge for up to 24 hours before casseroling or slowcooking - I put it into the slow cooker from chilled on high for an hour and then turn down.

Cook in a slow oven for up to 3 hours or in the slow cooker all day. Half and hour before serving stir in the orange zest. If need be thicken the casserole with a little corn flour - to do this put 2 teaspoons of corn flour into a small bowl (I use an espresso cup), add the sauce from the casserole to the cornflour and stir to make a thin paste. Add this paste into the casserole and stir. By adding the sauce to the flour and mixing; rather than the other way round you will not get any lumps.

Serve the casserole with green vegetables, mashed potatoes or beans or crusty bread.

This freezes well, I freeze in plastic trays with bean mash for work lunches.

Fennel & Cannellini Bean Gratin

2007-12-13T16:45:00.003Z

I am always trying to cut down on my starchy carbs, and to vaguely follow the South Beach Diet – if I have too many sugars and starchy carbs I get very bad blood sugar crashes and end up craving more of the stuff that is bad for me. I have recently discovered tinned beans and I end up eating lots and lots of them, they have the advantages of being filling and non starchy, counting as one of my 5 a day and coming in tins are more or less instant to prepare and are always to hand as a store cupboard staple. They are low in starchy carbs and calories and contain lots of healthy protein and fibre.

This gratin is a true winter warmer, but is still light and not too calorific and quick to prepare after a day at work.

Fennel & Cannellini Bean Gratin (serves one as a main or 2 as a side dish / first course)

1 Small bulb of fennel
½ can Cannellini beans (rinsed well)
Butter
Splash Milk
1 oz Cheddar or other cheese
½ oz Parmesan or other hard cheese

Slice the fennel into ½ inch slices, place in a sieve and pour a kettle of boiling water over, arrange with the beans in a buttered gratin dish, top with a few knobs of butter and a splash of milk and grate the cheese over. Season to taste with S&P.

Bake in a medium oven (GM4/ 350F/180C) for 20mins until piping hot and the cheese is starting to turn golden.

Serve as a side dish or with crusty bread as a light lunch.

Hampers with a Difference

2007-12-04T20:23:00.000Z

Last night I met the two ladies responsible for Turnham Green Hampers. How often have you received a hamper and realised that you will only ever eat half the contents and lamented the waste of money in packing it in an; admittedly pretty, but useless wicker basket that will one gather dust until you eventually admit you will never use it and get rid of it?

Natalie and Camilla have completely revitalised and modernised the hamper concept - providing wonderfully indulgent hampers with an ethical conscience. Products are largely made by hand in their kitchen in West London, and are organic and their suppliers; even their accountant and bankers have strong Corporate Social Responsibility practices and are committed to making a difference! Natalie and Camilla met at Leith's School of Food & Wine when training to be chefs, both left their City careers behind them to start the business.

Natalie is in her final year studying at The Institute of Optimum Nutrition to be a Nutritional Therapist. Recipes are adapted to encourage health eating with no sacrifice to flavour, oat cakes and biscotti are wheat free, made with tastier buckwheat flour, honey is used in place of sugar where possible. Each product comes with a "birth certificate" highlighting its main attributes. Products that are not home made are all carefully sourced in accordance to the companies' guidelines for healthy food, ethically produced.

I tasted the pear chutney, mustard and chocolate walnuts, all were excellent, and all would certainly be used up in my kitchen.

Currently there are Winter Spices and Fine Herb Hampers available, next year Thank You, Valentines, Mother's Day and Easter Hampers will be available. I cannot wait to see them.

And in case you were wondering; in place of the box, or wicker basket is a smart reusable green jute bag, ideal for the beach, picnics, gym kit, shopping, work - the list is endless! Watch out for these coveted bags being used near you!

Basic Madeleines - Genoise Batter Method

2007-12-04T20:14:00.000Z

I was taken by a whim to make these scallop shaped cakes that other day, but there are some many different Madeleine recipes out there. Does one make the batter with or without ground almonds? Or egg whites or whole eggs? Or melted or clarified butter? Or Honey? And then which flavour?

Having bought a silicon mould from John Lewis my quest for a recipe began, not wanting to be disappointed at my first attempt I turned to JoyofBaking; a fantastic resource, written by Stephanie Jaworski, the site has every baking recipe that you will even need, the recipes are well written, easy to follow and have excellent photos. Even better, unusually for an American site all the cup measurements are converted for us Europeans.

Simple Madeleines (makes 18 - 20 mini madeleines) based on a recipe from JoyofBaking

75g Butter - melted and cool

100g Plain Flour

½ Tsp Baking Powder

2 Large Eggs

90g Granulated Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla Essence / Orange Flower Water - to taste

Pinch of salt (if using unsalted butter)

Whisk the eggs and sugar together until they have doubled in size and are light and fluffy. Slowly fold in the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the vanilla or orange flower water. Slowly add in the melted butter, gently folding all the time. When mixed cover the bowl and put in the fridge for at least 30 mins, the batter should be foamy and full of air. Put a dollop of the mixture into a well buttered Madeleine tray, each mould should be about 2/3 full. Place in an oven at 375F/ 190C/ GM 5 for around 7 minutes until risen, golden and shrinking away from the edges of the mould.

Leave for a few minutes and then turn out.

The Madeleines are best enjoyed when still warm and crisp on the outside. They can be stored for a day but will lose that just cooked crisp outside.

Chicken Out!

2007-10-28T12:05:00.001Z

Chicken Out is the campaign for a free range future launched by River Cottage's Hugh Fearnely-Whittingstall. The conditions that most chickens are raised in the UK are unacceptable. Farmers are pressurised by their buyers; the supermarket chains, to produce eggs and chickens cheaply and quickly for supermarkets. Cheap eggs and chickens come at a huge welfare cost, birds are intensively reared, living in unacceptable crowded conditions.

A standard ready for the oven bird has taken just 39 days - just over 5 weeks from hatching to slaughter (free range birds are about twice this age at slaughter), the average intensively reared chicken has living space of just under the size of an A4 piece of paper. Other shocking facts are here.

Please think before buying a non free range chicken or eggs, if you would like to do more, sign up for the campaign here, contact your supermarket and demand that they improve welfare standards.

Free range is makes sense, is kinder to the chickens and certainly tastes better.

Lemon Posset

2007-10-28T11:19:00.000Z

Lemon posset is one of my favourite dinner party puddings, it is great for cooking for a crowd, never fails to impress, can be made a few days in advance and is delicious. A ramekin or glass of this silky lemon pudding slips down easily after a big meal, and the acidity of the lemon cuts well through the cream. Best of all it only has 3 ingredients!

Lemon Posset - Serves 4

284ml (half pint) carton of double cream
75g (3oz) Sugar
1 lemon - juiced

Lemon slices and cream to serve.

Put the cream and sugar into a large saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer whilst stir for 3 minutes. Meanwhile (whilst keeping a close eye on the stove - it can turn into a cream volcano when it boils) juice the lemon.

Remove from the heat, add the lemon juice to the boiled cream and sugar mixture and stir in well, pour into individual dishes (ramekins, wine glasses, espresso cups - it is very rich so a smaller serving is better) and chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours before serving. I usually serve it with a slice of lemon and a little liquid cream.

Update: The possets freeze well, just pour a little liquid cream over to hide the cracks that will appear upon defrosting.

Pavlova

2007-10-25T12:49:00.003Z

Meringue is easy. I shall say it again MERINGUE IS EASY. I have no idea why there is a great mystique about meringue being hard, or people being in awe of those that can make meringue. I remember as a child at home there was one person in the village that was always asked to make meringues for fetes and coffee mornings; because they "could make good meringues". In my opinion the hardest thing for me about meringue is being able to spell it correctly - and that is easy a RING of Pavlova MeRINGue (although I still often type it merigune). So it is time to conquer those meringue fears and make a Pavlova and impress your guests and become a super chef in their eyes (after all there is no need to tell them just how easy it is). My method makes a Pavlova with a crisp outside and a soft marshmallowly inside which is my idea of perfection.

The most important thing to remember about meringue - a smudge of grease or fat will make you fail, so make sure that your mixing bowl and mixer are scrupulously clean, and separate your eggs one by one into a cup before adding them to the rest of the egg whites; along with fat a speck of egg yolk will lead to an unsuccessful Pavlova.

Many recipes call for the addition of vinegar and cornflour, having tried either, neither or both I have seen no difference to the finished meringue. There is also no need to bother with caster/superfine sugar either - if you have some great - but do not bother to buy it (or grind granulated to caster as my mother used to). Just use what is to hand. Easy.

Ingredients

Meringue
Egg whites (2 per 3 people)
2oz (50g) White sugar per egg white

Filling
Whipped double cream
Fruit

Place the egg whites into a bowl or your food processor; having separated them one by one in case you break a yolk. Whisk either with a hand beater or in the processor (this takea about 10 mins with my Magimix) until white and fluffy and holding a peak. Continue whisking adding the sugar in about 4 goes. When done the mixture will be white and glossy and standing in peaks when you stop whisking. This should take no more than 10 minutes with a hand held blender for a 6 egg Pavlova. If you use caster sugar it will take less time as it will dissolve quicker, a dab of the mixture will feel smooth between your fingers when the sugar has dissolved, if there is any grittiness continue whisk for another few minutes.

Place a sheet of greaseproof paper onto a flat metal baking sheet and heat the oven to GM2/150C/300F. There is no need for expensive baking parchment - standard supermarket greaseproof paper will do.

"Plop" the meringue mix onto the paper covered baking tray, and using a spoon ease it out to form a circle (about 8" diameter for a 4 egg mix, 12-14" for a 6 egg mix), gently push it into a nest shape raising the sides, if it has been whisked enough it will keep its shape.

Put into the preheated oven, immediately turning the temperature down to GM1/140C/275F. Bake for 40 - 60 mins until the cake is a very light golden, and sound hollow when lightly tapped. Close the oven door, turn off and leave to cool completely (I leave mine overnight - just remember to remove the Pavlova before you turn the oven on again).

Carefully peel the pavlova from the greaseproof paper and place on a flat serving dish - it will keep like this for several days in a non humid place covered in cling film or in an ait tight box. Don’t worry if the pavlova cracks, you can cover them with the whipped cream.

To serve fill with whipped cream and your choice of fruit shortly before serving.

Now impress your friends - I can never bear to make the first cut as I hate that the entire thing collapses when cut so I always get everyone to serve themselves!

Options
Use golden sugar to make a more toffee flavoured Pavlova which is lovely with a chestnut cream, toasted nuts and apricots. Or make Chocolate Pavlova.

If you need to store the Pavlova for longer, pop it into a plastic bag and suck all air out - apparently it will keep for several months like this - but I have not tried this yet - not that it would last this long in my flat before I ate it!

Egg whites freeze very well, so if you have left overs from using yolks pop then in a pot in the freezer until you next make Pavlova, defrost in the fridge and bring to room temperature.

Use left over egg yolks in Broccoli and Smoked Salmon Tortilla .

Sussex Pond Pudding

2007-10-22T04:37:00.000Z

A classic British pudding for British Food fortnight. It is a steamed suet lemon pudding, which when you cut it open a buttery syrup sauce flows out making the pond. Making this British classic I was reminded of the time that I made Toad in the Hole for two Australian friends, both new to the UK - "Is it like Frog in the Pond*" they asked, having never heard of Toad or even Yorkshire Pudding, both were surprised to be served a savoury dish!

However I digress, back to the Sussex Pond Pudding. I have to confess that I was slightly very underwhelmed by the pudding, although the sauce was lovely, the suet was a bit tough. I asked one of the chefs at work about it and he suggested some liquid in the sauce or making the dough slightly stickier, or sprinkling it with water.

Ingredients (for 4)
250g / 6oz self-raising flour
100g / 4oz suet
Pinch salt
50ml water
75ml Milk
100g / 4oz unsalted butter
100g / 4oz soft brown sugar
1 large lemon

Make the suet pastry by mixing the suet, flour and salt nin a bowl and slowly work in the milk and water until you have a soft dough, cover the dough with cling film and allow to rest in the fridge for 30 mins.

Roll out 3/4 of the dough to a circle about 5mm thick and use to line a well buttered 1litre (2 pint) pudding basin. I find it easier to put my hand under the dough and lift it up into the upturned pudding basin, rather than lowering the dough into the basin. Push the dough against the sides of the basin.

Add half the cubed butter and sugar, prick the lemon all over and place on top of the butter/sugar mix, add the remainder of the sugar and butter.

Roll the remainder of the dough to make a lid, lay it on top of the butter and sugar and pinch the two layers of dough together to seal. Cover with a sheet of pleated foil secured with two elastic bands (they can perish and snap so its safer to have two).

Stand the pudding on a trivet (I use a jam pot lid) at the bottom of a large saucepan or stockpot, fill to half way up with boiling water, cover and gently simmer for 3 and a half hours, topping up the water as necessary.

Take the pudding out of the pan using oven gloves, allow to rest for a few minutes, remove the foil and place a deep dish over and flip upside down to turn out. Do not worry if lots of sauce has pooled on top of the pudding it will be fine when it is served the other way up.

The butter and sugar would have mixed with the lemon juice to make a lovely caramelised sauce that smells divine and will flow out when the pudding is cut. Serve with lots and lots of whipped cream and worry about the calories another day!

Finally - British Food Fortnight The Round Up

2007-10-15T12:06:00.001Z

Many apologies for the delay - a change of jobs, broken broadband and umpteen other things have delayed me in getting this published.

A huge thank you to everyone that took part - I hope that despite the huge delay you will talke part again next year.

Annemarie at Ambrosia and Nectar cooked roasted venison with a cherry and red wine gravy, with venison from the local farmers' market in Walthamstow. I can see that I am going to have to visit this new corner of London and investigate.

Mansi at Fun and Food, made a fantastic Apple and Pecan Cobbler with a twist with the addition of that most English of flowers - Lavender!

The wonderful Abby (the only Foodblogger I have met) from Eat the Right Stuff has made a Plum Bakewell Tart this looks delicious and is a far cry from supermarket bought, plastic wrapped cakes that pretend to be Bakewell Tarts. There really is a town in England called Bakewell, I can see that I am going to have to cook way around England ... Kendal Mintcake, Eccles Cake, Pontefract Cakes ... I am sure that there are many many more.

Maryann; a New Yorker, who writes Finding La Dolce Vita, a blog that looks fabulous, has made a perfect Autumn/Winter dish of Apple Crumble and Custard. I love English Winter puddings and have yet to make my first crumble of the season.

Margot; a fellow London blogger, at Coffee & Vanilla, has made a lovely warming Leek and Potato Soup - it looks lovely! Perfect now it has got far colder.

Katie from Other People's Food who lives in Herndon, VA, USA sent me a recipe for Cornish Pasties, not only has she written up an excellent recipe, but has also included a history and background to the pasty for those unfamilar with the pasty. These pasties take me back to my childhood holidays in Cornwall, where we sould sit on the beach and eat our pasties for lunch. The addition of sand was not always a good thing from what I can remember.

I cooked two British Dishes,

Sussex Pond Pudding

Baked Onions with Somerset Brie and English Bacon

Sesame, Tamarind and Lime Marinated Salmon Steaks

2007-10-13T09:52:00.000Z

Amongst the vouchers from my latest mailing from Tesco Healthy Living Club was a rather random one for a free lime. Never having been one to turn down a freebie I dutifully collected my free lime (and several lots of 20 points for buying other items). I had 2 salmon steaks defrosting in the freezer - to do "something" with and decided to whip up an oriental marinade and finish a bottle of sesame oil in the process.

Ingredients
1 tbs sesame oil
Juice and zest of one lime (roll the lime on the work top pressing firmly prior to zesting and juicing to get more juice from it)
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
A dab of tamarind paste - I just dipped the tip of the knife the pot
2 Salmon Steaks

Mix the oil, lime, garlic and tamarind together and pour over the salmon in an oven proof dish, leave to marinade for at least 12 hours. Bake the salmon for 15 to 20 min in the marinade at GM4 / 350F / 180C until cooked. The marinade will thicken and make a coating sauce. Serve on a bed of spinach with chilli flakes to taste.

The cooked salmon freezes well. If you plan your cooking ahead freezing the fish / meat in the marinade is a useful shortcut if you are pushed for time the evening before, simply take out of the freezer and the meat / fish will be perfectly marinaded.

Tomato, BNS, Butterbean and Chorizo Bake

2007-10-05T21:17:00.004Z

After a busy week at work, I was shattered this evening. I had all the ingredients for this easy dish at home, minimal preparation then left to cook while I sat down and had a well deserved damson gin.

I currently have a number of butternut squashes from my mother's garden so I added some as well. This gutsy dish full of flavour is belied by the simplicity of cooking and ease of adaptation to whatever is to hand in your kitchen.

Ingredients (Serves 2 - 3)

75g / 3 oz chorizo
2 onions - sliced
3 cloves garlic - chopped
1 tsp ground paprika
1 400g tin butterbeans (or other tinned white beans)
1 400g tin tomatoes
Small glass of white wine
1/4 medium butternut squash (optional)
Olive Oil
Salt and pepper

Finely slice and fry the chorizo in olive oil in a cast iron casserole dish*, add the onions and garlic, season with pepper and salt and paprika and saute until the onion is soft. Add the tinned tomatoes, rinsed butterbeans, wine and cubed butternut squash. Stir and gently simmer with the lid on; stirring from time to time, for about 30 mins until the squash is soft.

Serve with a green vegetable & crusty bread.

* I use a cast iron casserole dish as you can use them on the hob as well as in the oven and it saves on washing up! If you do not have one, after frying the chorizo and onion add all the ingredients to a lidded oven proof dish and cook at GM4/180C for 40 mins until bubbling and the squash is soft.

Options

As well as the squash, add fresh or roasted red peppers, more chilli or preserved lemons. Vary the beans used or mix different ones together.

It is also delicious without the chorizo for a healthy vegan supper dish, you will need to adjust the seasoning.

Next time I am going to bake it with a herby, cheesy breadcrumb crust.

This freezes well for a microwavable work lunch.

Other BNS recipes include:
Butternut Squash, Tahini & Lemon Soup
Squash Ribbon Pasta

Smoked Mackerel and Horseradish Chickpea Fishcakes

2007-10-04T16:27:00.002Z

There is a wonderful affinity between horseradish and smoked fish, I am always amazed how few people take advantage of this pairing, most seem to save the horseradish for their roast beef instead.

Having recently been on the South Beach diet I have been experimenting with alternatives to potatoes in fishcakes and came up with chick peas as a delicious alternative.

These fishcakes are packed with protein and healthy and mood lifting omega oils from the fish and oddles of flavour from the zing of horseradish and lemon.

To cook chickpeas from dried soak them for 24 hours with a teaspoon of baking powder in the water, it makes a massive difference to the final cooking time and tenderness and flavour of the chickpeas.

I have added this recipe to UKTV's The People's Cookbook.

Ingredients – Serves 4

450g / 1 lb Cooked Chickpeas
1 lemon – juice and zest
150g / 6oz Smoked Mackerel
3 tsp Horseradish Sauce
3 tsp Capers (optional to taste)
Salt & Pepper

Blitz the chickpeas in a food processor with the lemon juice and zest, the mix should start to clump but not be sticky. Add a little water is necessary.

Discard the mackerel’s skin and lightly break up into small pieces with a fork, removing any bones, fork into the chickpea and lemon mixture along with the horseradish, capers (if used) and salt and pepper.

Divide the mixture into 12 and shape into discs. Shallow fry for 3 to 5 minutes each side, turning gently.

I serve these on a bed of spinach with roasted tomatoes.

Options

Use finely diced preserved lemon in place of the fresh lemon, use water in place of the lemon juice when blitzing the chickpeas, add the lemon along with the fish and other ingredients.

These fishcakes freeze well – defrost before cooking, or bake.

Baked Onions with Somerset Brie and English Bacon

2007-10-04T15:15:00.001Z

An all British easy weekday supper, roasted onions spruced up with Bramley apples, English Brie and bacon. This is adapted from the latest Waitrose Seasons magazine.

This is one of my submissions for my British Food Fortnight food blogging event. The onions and bramleys were from my mother’s garden in Kent

Ingredients (serves 2)

2 red onions
2 white onions
1 medium Bramley apple
100ml / 4 fluid oz English cider
100g / 4 oz English Brie
100g / 4 oz English Bacon lardons – or chopped bacon – smoked or unsmoked to taste
25g / 1 oz butter
Olive Oil
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to GM5 / 190C / 375F

Core and slice the apple and arrange at the bottom of a roasting dish. Trim the roots from the onions, peel and slice vertically into quarters; but not quite down to the base so they remain whole, roll in the olive oil and season with salt and pepper, push some of the butter into each onion and stand upright on the bed of apples. Pour the cider over, cover with foil and roast for around 30 mins.

After 30 mins remove the foil, return the onions to the oven for another 30 mins, basting with the cider juices from time to time.

Divide the brie between each onion and return to the oven for 5 mins to melt. Meanwhile fry the bacon until golden and crispy and scatter over the onions before serving.

Serve with fresh bread and a glass of cider.

Omit the bacon for a vegetarian dish.

Foodblogging Groups

2007-10-01T12:22:00.001Z

As of the last few days I am now a member of the Foodie Blog Roll and the UK Food Bloggers Association.

The Foodie Blog Roll is run by Jenn the Left Over Queen and is a huge list of some of the many wonderful Food Blogs out there

The UK Foodbloggers Association is a site for a growing number of UK based Food Bloggers, set up and managed by Julia at A Slice of Cherry Pie.

So many thanks to both Jenn and Julia for letting me join your groups, I look forward to discovering many more wonderful blogs from these sites.

I have also just joined BritBlog the directory of all sorts of British Blogs - not just foodie ones!

About Me

2007-09-28T13:14:00.001Z

I love good food, cooking and entertaining my friends. I am not so keen on fussy fiddly cookery, the sort of cookery that keeps one in the kitchen for hours to produce something that admitedly looks fantastic but is still eaten quickly like anything else. I will cook like this occasionally, but I prefer to experiment, learn how I can make my life easier for myself, prepare ahead, freeze, preserve. I prefer all my food to be home cooked, sometimes life seems too short so I need shortcuts to get what I want and prefer. This is how I have always cooked, this is how my mother cooked, this probably is how I shall always cook for the vast majority of the time.

I can be contacted at

Banana Chutney

2007-09-28T10:39:00.001Z

As regular readers will know I am slighly obsessed with making jams and chutneys, this is a firm favourite of mine and I have made it many times, it’s popular with all my friends and they often request jars of banana chutney from me. Bananas do not seem an obvious thing to chutnify but it is delicious with poppadums and curries; both Thai and Indian, the resulting chutney; although tasting of bananas is not too strongly banana flavoured.

Promoted by this month’s Jihva for Ingredients being Bananas hosted by Mandria and Aswin at Ahaar Pleasure & Sustenance I have finally written up my banana chutney recipe.

I get my bananas from my local market, the scene of many a bargain, often I can pick up 50 or 60 bananas for only £1.

Banana Chutney

10lb bananas - peeled and sliced (this is around 40 bananas)
3lb sugar (white or demerara to taste)
2lb onions – finely chopped
2 pints pickling vinegar
Raisins / sultanas (optional)

Place all the ingredients in a large preserving pan and simmer, gently stirring from time to time to ensure they do not stick to the base. The chutney will take around 40 mins to an hour to cook. It is done when a reddish gold colour and when there is no free liquid when you drag a spoon across the top of it.

You could add some chillies to the chutney, but I like mine to be plain bananas and more cooling.

Pour into sterilised* jars and seal down.

This amount should make about 8 to 10 medium jars. The chutney is ready to eat immediately, but will improve upon keeping. It will keep for several years before opening.

* To sterilise jars simply pop in the oven on GM 1 (275F / 140 C) for 20 mins and put the lids into a bowl and pour boiling water over.

Simple Celery and Stilton Soup

2007-09-28T10:07:00.000Z

It was cold last weekend and it felt like soup weather, my vegetable drawer was sadly lacking, with only half a head of celery that I had bought for making braised puy lentils and bulb of garlic, that had sprouted. I found a piece of very ripe stilton in the freezer, I must have plonked it in there after Christmas, probably as it started to make the fridge smell too much! (Fuss Free Tip: Keep a box of cheese rinds in the freezer for easy extra flavour for soups)

Celery and Stilton Soup (serves 2)

Half a head of celery roughly chopped
(Onion / leeks optional)
3 cloves garlic
50g very ripe stilton
250ml chicken stock (or Marigold for vegetarians)

Fry the celery and garlic in olive oil with some pepper and salt until softened (slice up and add the base of head of celery as it is bursting with flavour. Add the stock and stilton (mine were still frozen when they went in). Cook until the cheese is melted. Blitz with a stick blender and add water or milk to thin if needed.

It was delicious and bursting with flavour. Because the stilton I had was over ripe it had loads of flavour with little fat. If you have onions, leeks etc add them too.

This soup also freezes well.

Recycling Brita Filters

2007-09-25T16:25:00.002Z

I am keen to recycle as much as I can but live in a small flat and have little space for storing what is basically rubbish, albeit recyclable rubbish. I am very lucky that my council has a mixed recycling collection once per week, where they will take a mixed bag containing paper, plastic bottles, glass, tins and cans. I can store a week of recycling in the corner of the kitchen.

I discovered the other day that Brita filters can be sent back to Brita for recycling. The filters are taken apart, the filling somehow reactivated and reused. Even better they can be sent FREEPOST; I can recycle and it will not cost me anything.

Wrap and send cartridges to:
BRITA RECYCLING,
FREEPOST NAT17876,
Bicester, OX26 4BR

Well done Brita, I will be using this service when my current filter needs changing.

Updated: Robert Dyas stores now have a Brita Filter drop off bin for used filters. Well done Brita and Robert Dyas!

Perfect Chicken Stock

2007-09-25T14:14:00.000Z

Never being one to waste anything I always make stock from my chicken carcasses. Even if I pop the skin and bones into a bag and freeze for a while before using it; on more than one occasion I shouted “Stop!” on seeing a friend about to put bones into the bin, have bagged them up and taken them home.

Homemade stock is a delight for soups, risottos and dahls adding a far better depth of flavour than any powder or tablet. (For ready made stock you cannot beat Marigold Bouillon )

There is loads of flavour in carcasses and bones and all too often people do not bother to make stock, think it is difficult to make, takes ages or feel that it will make their entire home smell. A boiling stock pot smells; there is no doubt about it and I for one do not want my flat stinking of boiled chicken. The answer is simple….

Make your stock in a casserole dish with a tightly fitting lid in the oven.

No steam, no smell and no risk of boiling dry. Simple and about as Fuss Free as you can get!

Chicken Stock

Chicken Carcass
Peppercorns
Celery (optional)
Vegetables (optional)

Pick all the meat off the carcass – a greasy job; but your hands will be beautifully moisturised and soft afterwards as if you have had a paraffin wax treatment – break up the bones and skin and tightly pack into a casserole dish.

Add some peppercorns, a stick of celery if you have one; it will add a huge depth of flavour to the stock without it tasting celery like, or half an onion and a clove of garlic. Cover with boiling water and put in a low oven (GM1) for 90mins, stirring half way through. When done the stock should be thick and golden.

Strain into a bowl for use in the next few days or into pots for the freezer.

Remove the solid fat from the chilled or frozen stock before use – this is far easier and you will remove more than removing the liquid fat from the warm stock.

Perfect, flavoursome and Fuss Free stock – please now never throw another chicken carcass away.

Chilli Chorizo Pretend “Pasta”

2007-09-21T10:05:00.001Z

I am currently South Beaching, and although I have got over the cravings, sometimes there is a spot that only pasta can fill. Last night was one of those moments, so presenting pretend pasta….. using the ubiquitous chickpea!

I adore chick peas, they are perfect for salads, they freeze well, smashed or blended they make all sorts of side dishes and dips – I buy dried chick peas in huge bags from my local Middle Eastern shops. The key to cooking them is to soak them (pour a kettle of boiling water over) with a spoon of bicarb for 24 hours before cooking. The bicarb makes them amazingly tender and reduces cooking time dramatically.

This is my second submission for Presto Pasta Nights hosted by Ruth at Once Upon A Feast.

Chilli Chorizo Pretend Pasta

Sliced Chorizo
Cherry Tomatoes - quartered (handful per person)
Pickled Chillis – roughly chopped (to taste)
Cooked chickpeas – handful per person
Finely grated hard cheese – Gruyere is perfect

Simply slice and fry the chorizo in a dry pan until browned, add all the other ingredients apart from the cheese. Continue frying until heated through and the tomatoes are squishy.

Serve immediately with the grated cheese.

This freezes well and can be microwaved for a satisfying work lunch.

British Food Fortnight

2007-09-12T18:27:00.001Z

The sixth British Food Fortnight will run from 22nd September to 7th October 2007. It is a huge celebration of the diverse and delicious range of food that Britain produces and of the wonderful culinary heritage of the UK.

I think that this is a perfect excuse for food bloggers the world over to share their favourite British dish, try a new one or to try some new ingredients and tell the story behind it.

To Participate:

UK Bloggers: Cook a British dish with British ingredients, the more local to you the better.

Non UK Bloggers: Cook a British dish with local ingredients, being imaginative on any substitutions that you may have to make!

Post your recipes on your blog during the fortnight, linking to here, and I will do a summary of all the wonderful British dishes out there, and their global variations.

Please do get involved this is my first food blogging event that I am hosting!

Once you have posted your dish please e-mail me bff07@fussfreeflavours.com.

your name
your location
the name of your blog and its url
a link to your post
a photo of your British dish

Thank you for getting involved and enjoy British Food Fortnight!

Broccoli and Smoked Salmon Tortilla

2007-09-11T16:20:00.001Z

Tortillas or frittatas are incredibly versatile; that can be served them warm or cold, freeze well, and are perfect for picnics or packed lunches and for eating on the move without cutlery. Without the traditional potatoes they are South Beach diet friendly and are currently my standard breakfast.

Broccoli and Smoked Salmon Tortilla (Serves 4)

6 Large Eggs
2 Spring Onions (optional)
Handful of Broccoli
8oz Smoked Salmon
Salt & Pepper
Olive Oil

Blanche the broccoli by plunging into boiling water for a minute, drain, refresh by dipping into cold water, drain again, chop the broccoli into 1" pieces, splitting the stems.

Roughly chop the spring onions and cut the salmon into short strips (fuss free tip - it is far easier to cut the salmon with scissors).

Break the eggs into a bowl of jug, add 3 half egg shells full of water and season lightly with salt and pepper, whisk lightly with a fork until mixed. Add the chopped broccoli to the eggs.

Pour a tablespoon of olive oil into a small non stick frying pan, fry the spring onions for a minute.
Pour over the egg and broccoli mixture, sprinkle the salmon into the pan and gently nudge so it is covered with egg. If you add the salmon to the egg mixture first it sinks and sticks to the bottom of the pan.

Leave on a medium heat for around 5 mins until almost set, preheat the grill to high. Put the pan under the grill and cook until solid and lightly browned. The tortilla will start to puff up when cooked.

Allow to cool for a few minutes before turning out of pan.

Cut into wedges and serve.

Fabulous Fresh Figs

2007-09-10T19:20:00.000Z

Any regular reader will know that on a typical Saturday morning, after several cups of coffee, I will wander down to my local market to buy fruit, cheese and vegetables and whatever is on offer that I can preserve or cook in bulk. I often manage to buy more that I can comfortably carry and frequently forget that my bags will feel heavier on the way home, the sweet chilli pepper incident is a good example.

However this Saturday I saw an entire tray of beautiful, perfect fresh figs for the tiny sum of £3.50! How could I leave them? There were over 40 in the tray, forgetting the fact that I am currently in phase 1 of the South Beach diet and am not allowed any fruit for the first two weeks, I bought a tray.

The only solution was to make fig jam, to be enjoyed at a later date when fresh figs are not available.

I firmly believe that jams, preserves, pickles and chutneys should be simple and the flavour of the fruit or vegetable should shine through - fresh figs taste simply divine, so why do some of the recipes for fig jam have additions such and vanilla or cinnamon? So here is a simple fig jam, and my submission for this month's Sugar High Friday - The Beautiful Fig, hosted this month by Ivonne at Cream Puffs in Venice, its probably not the most inventive submission, but hopefully the longest lasting!

Fig Jam

Ingredients

Fresh figs - cut into 1/4" pieces
Equal weight of sugar to figs
Juice of half a lemon per pound of figs - needed for pectin to help the jam set
1/8 to 1/4 pint of water per pound of figs depending how ripe figs are

Place all the ingredients in a stockpot or preserving pan, and gently simmer for 40 mins to an hour, stirring from time to time until the jam reaches setting point (put a blob on a chilled plate and pop into the fridge for a few minutes, a skin will form that will wrinkle when you prod it). Pour into warmed sterilised jars and seal. It will improve on keeping - if you can wait that long.

4lb of figs made 7 medium pots of jam.

So easy and so delicious, the fig jam is lovely on bread, in tarts, in steamed pudding it even goes well with blue cheese.

Roasted Sweet Red Pepper, Tomato & Red Lentil Soup

2007-09-08T18:38:00.000Z

A lovely deep rich red colour for this first comforting soup of autumn after the disappointing English summer. Perfect for a quick weekend lunch, this soup is quick and easy to make and is packed with flavour and antioxidents. The sweet red peppers had been bought at the start of the summer, roasted were in the freezer, the tomatoes were fresh from the market today.

This is my entry for Running With Tweezers' Second Annual Super Soup Challenge.

Roasted Sweet Red Pepper, Tomato & Red Lentil Soup

(Serves 2 hungry people)
2 Roasted Red Peppers
4 Medium Tomatos
1 Onion
2 Cloves of Garlic
2oz Red Lentils
1 Pint of stock (I use Marigold)
2 Bay Leaves
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

Halve the tomatoes, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast in a medium oven until the skins are starting to blacken.

Roughly chop the onions and garlic and sweat in a saucepan in a glug of olive oil, when soft add the lentil and fry for a few minutes, add the stock, roasted red peppers and bay leaves.

Gently simmer for 20 minutes or until the lentils are soft. Add the tomatoes and cook for a few more minutes.

Blend until smooth and season to taste.

Serve garnished with some cream cheese, chopped cherry tomatoes and rocket. Sit down and enjoy the first soup of the autumn!

The South Beach Diet - the first few days

2007-09-08T17:30:00.000Z

Phase 1 - Day 1 - Wed 5^th September

I decided to start mid week - as having read up on the internet I am likely have an energy slump a few days in, which I would like at the weekend so work is not effected too badly.

Breakfast: Continental Breakfast Box from the work restaurant contained a hard boiled egg, ham and salami, slices of smoked and soft cheese and some salad. Was SB compliant but probably had too much fat.
Snack: A tablespoon of mixed seeds
Lunch: A small portion of lemon chick peas, with a large salad and some chicken
Snack: Small sugar free jelly
Dinner: Sandwich fillings and a large quantity of salad garnish. Not ideal but I was out and had no choice. I am pleased I resisted all the bread, but because I had been exercising - ballroom dancing class - I could have probably had a little bread.

At 6pm I was still full from lunch; usually by the end of the day I am starving and having to resist the lure of the chocolate machine, there was probably too much fat today. I have drunk far far more liquid than usual, 2.5l of water, 2 coffees (I cannot start quite sugar and caffeine in the same week but I stuck to two cups only) and several fruit teas. I was tired today - but this is because work has been very busy.

I need to buy scales so I can weigh myself and monitor every few days

Phase 1 - Day 2 - Thurs 6^th September

I slept really well last night, woke up with my alarm and did not resent having to get out of bed.

B: Quiche Muffin, with cucumber sticks, pickled chillies and a few cherry tomatoes
S: A tablespoon of mixed seeds.
L: Smoked mackerel with a salad of rocket, cherry tomatoes, red pepper, sprouted seeds and a few olives.
S: Sugar free jelly pot, cashew nuts
D: Spring roll, beef and vegetables, chocolate tart and a glass of wine - a major cheat and not allowed.

Amazingly I arrived at work and was not starving hungry, usually I cannot make my coffee and eat breakfast soon enough. I had breakfast at about 9.20 very very late for me. Lunch was at 1 - again a good 30 to 45 mins later than I usually eat. I am very thirsty and have drunk more water than I usually do again.

There are a large number of sweets, cakes and mini rolls on a desk next to me as someone is leaving, although I think that I want some I am really not so sure that I actually do.

I felt dreadful in the late afternoon - really weak and wobbly - almost as if I was getting over a bad dose of flu.

I cheated so much at supper, I was out at a friend's house for supper and ate a spring roll, then braised beef and vegetables then the big cheat of a slice of chocolate tart and a black cherry compot, and a glass and a half of wine. I told myself that it is better to cheat in the evening as I will be asleep at the time when the carb cravings will come. And the whole idea of SB is that the diet is so easy that you just go back on to it straight away so a wibble does not count as a cheat.

Phase 1 - Day 3 - Fri 7^th September

I really did not sleep well last night, not sure if this is because of the carbs at supper or the fact I am very tired anyway and a little stressed about work.

However despite last night I am sure that my skirt is a little looser around my waist this morning.

B: Quiche Muffin, with cucumber sticks, pickled chillies and a few cherry tomatoes
S: A tablespoon of mixed seeds.
L: Smoked mackerel with a salad of rocket, cherry tomatoes, red pepper, sprouted seeds and a few olives.
S: Total fat free yogurt & a sugar free jelly
D: Lentil dalh with lots of spinach and a large salad.

I am still drinking lots and lots of water, slept well last night but was really tired all day. I was meant to be going out but opted out and came home and collasped on the sofa.

I bought some fat measuring bathroom scales on the way home. Weigh in and fat measurement is scheduled for the mornings, twice a week.

Frusi Pots - Why?

2007-09-06T12:58:00.000Z

I saw an advertisement for Wall’s Frusi pots the other day.

They are a frozen pot of cereal, yogurt and fruit which has been layered.

I have been eating a non frozen version of this for my breakfast for months and months now – oats and seeds, live natural yogurt and topped with either frozen berries or fruit from the frozen Tesco smoothie mixes. It is once of my favourite breakfasts – low GI, portable, can be made the night before ready to grab and take to work, the ultimate fuss free meal. And my version costs far less than the Wall’s one – and takes up less space in my freezer.

It makes one realise how many people out there simply cannot cook and the amount of money I save, and satisfaction I gain by doing things for myself.

Diet Time

2007-09-06T10:58:00.001Z

Diet Time

I can no longer ignore that I am putting on weight and that I have to do something about it and I am sure that my winter clothes will not fit me. I am sure the lack of a summer has not helped, when it is pouring with rain and less than warm, the traditional lighter summer foods simply do not appeal.

I am constantly tired, constantly starving, have sugar cravings and my skin is a mess.

Drastic action is called for!

I know that eating lots of carbs does not suit my metabolism; I very very rarely eat bread or potatoes at lunchtime as I am invariably sluggish and starving within a few hours and running to the vending machine for chocolate, and the bread makes my tummy painfully bloated.

Having talked to various friends I have decided to try the South Beach Diet. My dislike of bread and cereals for breakfast / lunch should be an advantage on this one, and low carb, high protein meals do seem to suit me.

I have read around the diet on the internet and understand the basic principles; I will go and buy the book later.

Crab Apple Jelly

2007-09-05T08:53:00.000Z

One of my abiding childhood memories is of my mother making jellies, specifically the jelly bag hanging from on an upturned stool on the kitchen worktop with the cooked fruit straining, running and then dripping through. I can well remember watching the drips getting slower and slower and eventually stopping as the mixture strained, and watching that last tantalising drop that resisted gravity and clung to the bottom of the jelly bag. My mother would tell me “NOT to poke the jelly bag” as that would lead to cloudy jelly, the cry of “Do NOT poke the jelly bag” has now been uttered from my lips to visitors to my kitchen who have looked as if they might be getting a little too close to it for my comfort. Jelly is so easy to make, minimal chopping and no time consuming peeling, coring or stoning, so it appeals to my fuss free cooking preferences.

Crab or wild apples are small tart fruit, trees literally dripping with crab apples are often found in gardens as they look attractive, all too often the fruit are left picked and fall and are left to rot under the tree.

Crab apple jelly is a beautiful salmon pink colour which I greatly enjoy having in the store cupboard; it goes well with pork in place of apple sauce and is equally delicious on toast or bread. Crab apples are also full of pectin (which makes the jelly set) and are thus ideal for the first time jelly maker.

Crab Apple Jelly

Crab Apples – (at least 4lb or it is not worth the effort of making)
Sugar

Jelly bag or muslin cloth
Jam jars

Simply slice the crab apples in half and place in a large pan, add water to cover ¾ of the fruit and gently simmer for about 40 mins until all the fruit has turned to a pulp.

Meanwhile, hang a jelly bag from an upturned chair or stool and place a large bowl underneath – if you do not have a jelly bag loosely attach a muslin cloth to the legs of the stool using elastic bands. Using a jug pour the pulp into the bag of cloth and leave to strain for 12 hours, do not poke, prod or push the pulp to speed the straining as it will make the finished jelly cloudy.

When strained measure the juice – add l lb sugar to every pint of juice (this is almost exactly an equal weight of sugar to juice – I put my preserving pan on the scales – weigh the juice and then add an equal weight of sugar.

Gently simmer the syrup until it starts to thicken. As it simmers, stir to dissolve the sugar. Foam and scum will rise to the surface, skim them off with a slotted spoon – I keep a large bowl of cold water next to the hob to rinse the spoon off in. This clarifies the jelly – the cloudy juice becomes a pretty clear jelly.

Meanwhile put your jam jars the oven on GM 1 to warm and sterilise and put the lids into a bowl and pour boiling water over.

As the jelly reduces it will reach setting point, from bitter experience it is very very easy to get this wrong – under cooked jelly can be boiled up again – over cooked jelly will set too firmly. Setting point is reached at 105C/220F on the sugar thermometer – if you do not have a sugar thermometer drop a little jelly onto a chilled plate and when ready after a minute it will start to set and the surface will wrinkle if you prod it. Once setting point is reached remove jelly from the heat and take jars from the oven and remove lids from the hot water. Give the jelly one last skim to remove the foam and scum.

After a few minutes pour the jelly into the jars, quickly skim each jar using a tea spoon and seal down with the dry lids whilst still hot.

Immediately make tea and toast and enjoy your first taste of home made jelly from that last jar that is only partially full – there is no real point in sealing and saving this one and after all you deserve to taste the results of your hard work straight away!

As the jars cool each lid will pop and be sucked in to make the seal – I always find this most satisfying to hear as I enjoy my tea and first taste.

Enjoy your jelly making!

Chocolate Pavlova

2007-09-03T10:50:00.002Z

I love love love Pavlova and any sort of meringue, this is something that I inherited from my mother who along with me is the number 1 fan of the dish.

Pavlova was created in either Australia or New Zealand (sources disagree) in honour of the Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova.

Pavlova is a meringue case, filled with whipped cream and topped with fruit. In my opinion the perfect Pavlova will have a crisp outside and a soft marshmallowly filling.
Chocolate Pavlova (Serves 4)

3 egg whites
6oz white sugar
2 tbs Cocoa Powder
1 tsp Balsamic Vinegar

Thick Double Cream

Fruit to decorate – Berries, Tropical, Nectarines - to taste

~~~000~~~

Preheat oven to GM2/150C/300F

Whisk the egg whites until stiff and in peaks, slowly spoon in the sugar and cocoa and vinegar whisking all the time. When mixture is glossy and standing in peaks – this will take about 5 to 10 minutes, turn out onto a sheet of parchment on a flat baking tray.

With the spoon shape into a circle about 6” across and build the sides up to hold the cream and fillings.

Place in the preheated oven and immediately turn down to GM1/140C/275F.

Depending on the oven, weather, size of egg the Pavlova will take between 40mins to an hour to cook – when done it will be crisp and hard when tapped, but still soft in the middle. Turn the oven off and leave the Pavlova in it to cool. I usually leave it overnight.

Up to an hour before serving, peel the Pavlova from the baking parchment, fill with whipped cream and top with your choice of fruit. A non filled Pavlova will keep for several days in an air-tight tin.

A mix of cream and chestnut puree topped with toasted nuts makes for an indulgent alternative filling.

~~~000~~~

Some recipes include a spoon of cornflower as well as the vinegar I have tried all combinations and personally do not think that it makes any difference to the finished pudding, the balsamic is included here for colour and flavour. For a non chocolate Pavlova I leave it out.

The left over egg yolks can be used for a Spanish omelette or tortilla; or freeze egg whites when you are using yolks in a recipe. They freeze well, but need to be at room temperature to whisk.

Read more about how easy making pavlova is here.

Pickling Vinegar

2007-09-03T09:05:00.000Z

I am a huge fan of homemade jams, jellies and chutneys and I love my weekend afternoons pottering in my kitchen stirring a huge vat of preserve, warming jars, bottling, sealing and making pretty labels. I find the rituals of preserving calming and satisfying, therapeutic and meditative, after a tough week at work I decide to “preserve” and look forward to my trip to the market to see what is on offer, in season and looks the perfect fruit of vegetable to jam, jelly or chutnify. As a result all my friends save jars for me and I have a cupboard with more jars of chutney, marmalade, jelly and jam than I can ever eat.

For the perfect chutney you need good vinegar. There are special pickling vinegars in the supermarket, but they are twice the price of normal malt vinegars and I prefer to make my own with spices that I like (or have been in the cupboard for sometime and need using up).

Pickling Vinegar – for one pint

1 tsp Coriander Seeds
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 tsp Peppercorns
3 dried red chillies (or more or less to taste)
4 Cloves

Place spices into a pint bottle of malt vinegar*. This quantity should fit into a full bottle without having to pour any of the vinegar away. Seal, give a good shake and leave to infuse for a month or more then use in chutney

* I use Supermarket own brand malt vinegar – Once the spices have been added I can tell no difference from a branded label. The economy / basics ranges are by and large a false economy as they are very very harsh.

Labneh (Middle Eastern Curd Cheese)

2007-07-16T13:03:00.001Z

Labneh (Curd Cheese)

Labneh or strained yoghurt, is a popular ingredient in the Middle East and Asia, is similar to a mix between crème fraiche and cream cheese. It is used in both savoury and sweet dishes; because it has a low fat content it can be used in cooking and will not curdle.

I use it instead of crème fraiche and in dips such as tzatziki.

Ingredients

Natural low fat yoghurt – I use live supermarket own brand.
Salt (optional)

Line a sieve with a muslin cloth, and place over a bowl. Pour yoghurt into the sieve and leave in the fridge for 24 hours. The whey will drip from the yoghurt leaving a semi solid curd cheese behind.

Peel the cloth from the labneh and store in a covered container.

Save the whey for adding to dahl. I usually freeze mine.

The yield will be around half the amount of yoghurt used.

Meeting Gary Rhodes

2007-07-16T11:09:00.001Z

I very briefly got to meet Gary Rhodes last week as he was at a meeting in my office.

Unfortunately I had little time to chat with him, but he kindly posed for a photo and signed my much used and food splattered copy of Sweet Dreams – the photo on the front makes me smile every time I see it and I have had the book for 9 years!

Gary the figurehead of UKTV Food’s Local Food Hero 2007, a national search for the producers, restaurants & shops that are as passionate about good food as Gary is.

Hot Peaches in Butterscotch Sauce

2007-07-12T20:58:00.000Z

Fresh fruit and a hot sauce are perfect for those dull and damp summer evenings, when you want a hot pudding but also want to pretend to be healthy. This quick and easy pudding can be cooked in just a few minutes is very good for using up odd bits of fruit that are starting to turn – nectarines, bananas and apples would all work.

I used “stone clinger” peaches – those peaches that are overripe on the outside and still hard in the middle.

Ingredients (serves 2)

1oz butter
1oz soft light brown sugar
1tbs honey
Peaches, apples, nectarines, bananas or other fruit. 2 pieces per person is perfect.

Put the butter, sugar and honey into a saucepan (to save time and washing up just use a wooden spoon to approximately measure the honey) and heat on a medium heat stirring from time to time. Meanwhile cut the fruit into segments ready to add to the sauce.

When the sauce has thickened and is golden and bubbling add the fruit, stir for a minute until heated through.

Serve straight away, either by itself or with cream or ice cream.

Roasted Sweet Pepper and Tomato Chutney

2007-07-12T14:29:00.000Z

After my trip to the market and excess of peppers the other day I made up this chutney recipe, the mix of red ingredients makes a vibrant coloured chutney, packed with flavour, roasting the peppers brings their flavour out and adds even more depth of colour.

See Chutney Basics

Ingredients (makes 4 medium jars)

2lb ripe tomatoes (I used baby plum)
2lb sweet chilli peppers
2 large onions
1 pint vinegar malt vinegar
1lb sugar
2 finely chopped red chillies

Roughly chop the tomatoes – if they are very ripe heat in the preserving pan until the juices have reduced. Meanwhile lightly roast the peppers in a medium oven until starting to blacken deseed and roughly chop, there is no need to peel unless you really want too – I find my life is too short to peel peppers for chutney.

Add all ingredients to the tomatoes and bring to a rolling simmer. Turn the heat down and let mix reduce, when ready – anything between 40 mins to several hours depending how much juice was in the vegetables pour into warmed sterilised jam jars and seal down.

This chutney goes well with hard strong cheeses.