"If you only do what you know you can do - you never do very much" Tom Krause, inspirational speaker (b.1939).
My craze for jelly and all manner of set puddings continues! When we have a glut of fruit juice in the fridge, I'll make some jelly using gelatine and pop in some fruit. Some tinned fruits are good for this too and you can add the juice to the jelly.
Needless to say, the kids go love it. They also love making it, although of course it involves the slightly tricky ingredient of boiling hot water. We sometimes make a rainbow jelly over the course of a few days, this requires that the jelly is cooled, but not set, before you add each layer, rendering it safe for little helpers. The pouring of the jelly in the mould is a much coveted kitchen task. It also teaches kids some patience as they can't eat it until it's set. Then there is the wobble and the will it/ won't it collapse spectacle on serving.
If you want to see some amazing jellies visit Bompas and Parr website. They are famous for their architectural and neon, glow in the dark jellies. They also make custom jelly moulds, (starting at eight hundred pounds). I haven't progressed past my two pound fifty plastic Partridges white rabbit mould but it's nice to dream. Us jellymongers clearly inhabit a broad church.
My daughter (aged 4) wants to know what will happen if you drink jelly before it sets!
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
Thursday, 5 May 2011
Lentil Bake with Walnut Crumble
"As is the mother, so is her daughter". Ezekiel Chapter 14, v 44.
When I was heavily pregnant with my first child, my Mother stayed with me Monday to Friday as my husband was working in Bordeaux. Baby (a daughter) came late and so she was a regular commuter between north London and her west country home for quite a few weeks. There is nothing quite like a mother's love.
One evening she showed me a store cupboard standby that apparently she has been serving for years. Strangely, but I have no prior recollection of it. She says it came from a Slimming World recipe from the early 1980's. Both my parent's are slim and the family joke is that this is because my father has been unknowingly on the Weight-Watchers core programme for thirty years.
You chop and onion and some garlic and saute them in water (!), yes really, it works perfectly well, although I do tend to use olive oil. Then add some diced carrots and some of the following; diced courgettes, red pepper, celery. After about 5 minutes, add some tinned tomato's, some vegetable stock and perhaps a sprig of rosemary. Simmer for 20 minutes. Then add a tin of lentils and simmer for 5 mins. In effect you have a lentil sauce that you can do one of the following things with;
- pour over spaghetti and cover with grated cheese
- layer with lasagna sheets adding a white or cheese sauce or just a layer of natural yogurt and grated cheese on top, pop in the oven for 20 mins.
- layer with sliced boiled potatoes with a layer of natural yogurt and grated cheddar cheese on top before bunging in the oven to brown the top.
- blend it up into a soup
- Serve it with rice and vegetables
-My favourite; top with a savoury crumble. Rub some soft butter into some wholemeal flour, add a handful of oats, maybe some breadcrumbs, some grated cheese and ground nuts - walnuts work particularly well with this), sprinkle on the top and bake in the oven.
-or finally, freeze it.
Sometimes I also substitute the lentils for chickpeas and add a squeeze of lemon juice - makes nice soup or a stew to have with wilted spinach and couscous.
When I was heavily pregnant with my first child, my Mother stayed with me Monday to Friday as my husband was working in Bordeaux. Baby (a daughter) came late and so she was a regular commuter between north London and her west country home for quite a few weeks. There is nothing quite like a mother's love.
One evening she showed me a store cupboard standby that apparently she has been serving for years. Strangely, but I have no prior recollection of it. She says it came from a Slimming World recipe from the early 1980's. Both my parent's are slim and the family joke is that this is because my father has been unknowingly on the Weight-Watchers core programme for thirty years.
You chop and onion and some garlic and saute them in water (!), yes really, it works perfectly well, although I do tend to use olive oil. Then add some diced carrots and some of the following; diced courgettes, red pepper, celery. After about 5 minutes, add some tinned tomato's, some vegetable stock and perhaps a sprig of rosemary. Simmer for 20 minutes. Then add a tin of lentils and simmer for 5 mins. In effect you have a lentil sauce that you can do one of the following things with;
- pour over spaghetti and cover with grated cheese
- layer with lasagna sheets adding a white or cheese sauce or just a layer of natural yogurt and grated cheese on top, pop in the oven for 20 mins.
- layer with sliced boiled potatoes with a layer of natural yogurt and grated cheddar cheese on top before bunging in the oven to brown the top.
- blend it up into a soup
- Serve it with rice and vegetables
-My favourite; top with a savoury crumble. Rub some soft butter into some wholemeal flour, add a handful of oats, maybe some breadcrumbs, some grated cheese and ground nuts - walnuts work particularly well with this), sprinkle on the top and bake in the oven.
-or finally, freeze it.
Sometimes I also substitute the lentils for chickpeas and add a squeeze of lemon juice - makes nice soup or a stew to have with wilted spinach and couscous.
Cranks Flapjack with Molasses
"Three o'clock is always too late or too early for anything you want to do". John-Paul Sartre (1905-1980). La Nausee, Vendredi.
My son went crazy a while back over some flapjack squares from an M&S bucket that were on offer at the music group we go to. They were incredibly sweet. It had me thinking that I could make this at home and adjust the sweet content It can't be that difficult. After consulting a few recipe books, I was shocked at the amount of butter and sugar that goes into these things. But of course! How else would you make oats so delicious?
First, I tried a Prue Leith recipe produces some nice bars, but they set so hard that they'd risk breaking a tooth. My Mum makes several 'healthy' flapjack variations with dates and oranges which I will try next but I wanted something that just used oats at this stage. Co-incidentally it was at her house I was thumbing through a copy of the Cranks Recipe Book (Canter, Canter & Swann, 1982). I remember a beautiful Armemian soup from here many years ago at a friends house. I also used to meet my brother for lunch at their Covent Garden restaurant in the early 1990's when we were students. Sensing Mum was a little reluctant to loan me her paperback (knowing how many of her other cookery books are on loan to my shelves), I decided to buy a copy online. However, I didn't want a modern reprint, only an original dogeared paperback would do. I found one for 99p (minus postage and packaging) and it arrived home before me.
The Cranks flapjack is a triumph. It contains raw brown sugar and molasses. The molasses gives it a depth and second flavour. But most of all, it stays perfectly moist out the tin, three days after I made it. Son and husband love it and it was perfect to make at 3pm in the afternoon and then bung in the oven later with supper (apologies to Sartre).
Also, I have finally found an outlet for the jar of molasses. It hasn't so far proved popular on any previous outings in my household, even in tiny amounts, on breakfast porridge. It may contain health-giving minerals, but it looks like tar.
I see Cranks now have a restaurant at the Dartington Cider Press - I've lunched here twice in recent years, why has this completely passed me by? I'll make sure I find them on our Devon trip, this summer.
My son went crazy a while back over some flapjack squares from an M&S bucket that were on offer at the music group we go to. They were incredibly sweet. It had me thinking that I could make this at home and adjust the sweet content It can't be that difficult. After consulting a few recipe books, I was shocked at the amount of butter and sugar that goes into these things. But of course! How else would you make oats so delicious?
First, I tried a Prue Leith recipe produces some nice bars, but they set so hard that they'd risk breaking a tooth. My Mum makes several 'healthy' flapjack variations with dates and oranges which I will try next but I wanted something that just used oats at this stage. Co-incidentally it was at her house I was thumbing through a copy of the Cranks Recipe Book (Canter, Canter & Swann, 1982). I remember a beautiful Armemian soup from here many years ago at a friends house. I also used to meet my brother for lunch at their Covent Garden restaurant in the early 1990's when we were students. Sensing Mum was a little reluctant to loan me her paperback (knowing how many of her other cookery books are on loan to my shelves), I decided to buy a copy online. However, I didn't want a modern reprint, only an original dogeared paperback would do. I found one for 99p (minus postage and packaging) and it arrived home before me.
The Cranks flapjack is a triumph. It contains raw brown sugar and molasses. The molasses gives it a depth and second flavour. But most of all, it stays perfectly moist out the tin, three days after I made it. Son and husband love it and it was perfect to make at 3pm in the afternoon and then bung in the oven later with supper (apologies to Sartre).
Also, I have finally found an outlet for the jar of molasses. It hasn't so far proved popular on any previous outings in my household, even in tiny amounts, on breakfast porridge. It may contain health-giving minerals, but it looks like tar.
I see Cranks now have a restaurant at the Dartington Cider Press - I've lunched here twice in recent years, why has this completely passed me by? I'll make sure I find them on our Devon trip, this summer.
Wednesday, 4 May 2011
Camping
"Better by far far you should forget and smile than that you should remember and be sad". Christina Rossetti (1830-1984) Remember.
So the planned Easter camping trip took place and was a great success. We went to Dorset and stayed at Norden Farm . It was fantastic; the kids loved it and the weather held. Lots of animals running around, passing tractors, a steam rail to Swanage across the road. I diligently packed and measured out an evening meal (pasta, anchoives in olive oil, fresh asparagus, lemons and garlic along with a packet of instant custard and a tin of peaches for dessert). The flaw in this plan was that while darling husband had brought the camping cook box, he assumed that the actual camping stove was underneath all the other implements. It wasn't. Stoveless, husband suggested we just get fish and chips - I retorted that there was no way we'd find that on a bank holiday. So imagine my surprise when we found a surf n' turf van open on the camping site. By now the kids were starving and my expectations were low. However, we all enjoyed fantastic pan-fried haddock with chips and salad. Chatting to the vendor, he assurred me that it was a local catch in that day and it was too good to put in batter. It was most certainly was. We also had buttered bread rolls with the meal which the kids found very funny, made into chip butties. The next morning the lady in the farm shop took pity on me and filled up our tea mugs with boiling water.
So the planned Easter camping trip took place and was a great success. We went to Dorset and stayed at Norden Farm . It was fantastic; the kids loved it and the weather held. Lots of animals running around, passing tractors, a steam rail to Swanage across the road. I diligently packed and measured out an evening meal (pasta, anchoives in olive oil, fresh asparagus, lemons and garlic along with a packet of instant custard and a tin of peaches for dessert). The flaw in this plan was that while darling husband had brought the camping cook box, he assumed that the actual camping stove was underneath all the other implements. It wasn't. Stoveless, husband suggested we just get fish and chips - I retorted that there was no way we'd find that on a bank holiday. So imagine my surprise when we found a surf n' turf van open on the camping site. By now the kids were starving and my expectations were low. However, we all enjoyed fantastic pan-fried haddock with chips and salad. Chatting to the vendor, he assurred me that it was a local catch in that day and it was too good to put in batter. It was most certainly was. We also had buttered bread rolls with the meal which the kids found very funny, made into chip butties. The next morning the lady in the farm shop took pity on me and filled up our tea mugs with boiling water.
Thursday, 21 April 2011
Hot Cross Buns
"The flesh, alas, is wearied; and I have read all the books there are". Stephane Mallarme (1842-1898), Brise Marin
Every Good Friday since 2007, I've made a batch of Hot Cross Buns. I've used three difference recipes - hand baked buns from Jane Grigson's English Food, a recipe from Leith's Cookery Bible and I've also dug out my old breadmaker (long retired after heavy service) to prove a dough that then can be shaped into the buns. I have to say, all of these come out pretty well. The thing I struggle with is the cross!
I've taken to adding the cross after the final proving so that it's the same size as the bun (adding it before the final rise was my first mistake in 2007) but I still can't seem to get it quite right. I think that people assume that a cross is shortcut pastry but there seem to be plenty of alternatives including; a knife slash, almond paste (marzipan) or a paste of water and flour that can be piped. I tried the water/ flour last year and it was very bland and a bit of a faff. This year I tried home made almond marzipan paste. I'd made this before at Christmas and again, it is completely different to the shop bought yellow marzipan. I grinded whole almonds in a blender, added icing sugar, a whisked egg and lemon juice and then kneaded. I sliced thin stips off and rolled them out with my hand to create crude crosses. I had been hoping that they would blend into the dough, but they didn't and were a little crumbly and crude looking when the buns came out the oven. They tasted delicious though. I might make some more tomorrow and this time flattened the almond paste into strips (akin to shortcrust pasty) to go for a neater look. I also did the daft mistake today (in my keenness to get the crosses on) of not glazing the buns in egg and milk until after the crosses were on. This interfered with the crosses and made it unnecessarily fiddly.
Bread making is perfect for kids; short bursts of activity and dough is very forgiving to little fingers. My two year old loves putting the dough down for a nap and carefully covering it with a tea towel. I've told him that it grows in it's sleep, like him, and he says "shush" as we put it for a 'nap'. I used bread maker dough today as I wanted to concentrate today on the crosses. At least this has given me the energy to do another batch tomorrow of which our neighbours will be the recipients.
Every Good Friday since 2007, I've made a batch of Hot Cross Buns. I've used three difference recipes - hand baked buns from Jane Grigson's English Food, a recipe from Leith's Cookery Bible and I've also dug out my old breadmaker (long retired after heavy service) to prove a dough that then can be shaped into the buns. I have to say, all of these come out pretty well. The thing I struggle with is the cross!
I've taken to adding the cross after the final proving so that it's the same size as the bun (adding it before the final rise was my first mistake in 2007) but I still can't seem to get it quite right. I think that people assume that a cross is shortcut pastry but there seem to be plenty of alternatives including; a knife slash, almond paste (marzipan) or a paste of water and flour that can be piped. I tried the water/ flour last year and it was very bland and a bit of a faff. This year I tried home made almond marzipan paste. I'd made this before at Christmas and again, it is completely different to the shop bought yellow marzipan. I grinded whole almonds in a blender, added icing sugar, a whisked egg and lemon juice and then kneaded. I sliced thin stips off and rolled them out with my hand to create crude crosses. I had been hoping that they would blend into the dough, but they didn't and were a little crumbly and crude looking when the buns came out the oven. They tasted delicious though. I might make some more tomorrow and this time flattened the almond paste into strips (akin to shortcrust pasty) to go for a neater look. I also did the daft mistake today (in my keenness to get the crosses on) of not glazing the buns in egg and milk until after the crosses were on. This interfered with the crosses and made it unnecessarily fiddly.
Bread making is perfect for kids; short bursts of activity and dough is very forgiving to little fingers. My two year old loves putting the dough down for a nap and carefully covering it with a tea towel. I've told him that it grows in it's sleep, like him, and he says "shush" as we put it for a 'nap'. I used bread maker dough today as I wanted to concentrate today on the crosses. At least this has given me the energy to do another batch tomorrow of which our neighbours will be the recipients.
Thunder & Lightning
"And snatched from Jove the lightning shaft and power to thunder". Manilus, 1st Century AD, Astonomica.
Thunder & Lightning is the name given to a pasta/ chickpea dish I read about in Elizabeth David's Italian Food. The pasta is the lightning and the chickpeas, the thunder. They are mixed together and lightly dressed with olive oil, melted butter and Parmesan cheese. The pasta is traditionally mixed broken pasta , often leftovers. The simplicity appealed to me and I've served it to the kids before. However, I decided to embelish it a little for a family supper. I used only spaghetti and finished up a jar of basil pesto. I'd been flicking through ED's Italian food and there is little mention of pesto which is surprising considering it's ubiquity today in British/ Italian cookery. However, I recalled that ED said pesto could also be made with parsley and Walnut and our friends at Simply Italian do a lovely Walnut pesto. I mixed the remaining basil pesto into the spaghetti and warmed chickpeas and added olive oil, Parmesan and then a couple of tablespoons of ground walnuts I'd just whizzed up in a blender. The side was mushrooms, garlic and courgette sauteed in wok.
Just as I was about to start serving up, my husband invited the children into the garden to put up the tent. We're going camping next week and so this is to check the tent out. I knew I couldn't compete with this excitement, so instead I cleared up, prepared a soft fruit salad for dessert and put the Thunder & Lightning into bowls on a tray and took it into the garden for an al-fresco supper. By now, my husband was finishing off the guy ropes and the kids had lost interest and were playing. My entry was well timed and everyone enjoyed the meal, although the kids were a little picky about the courgette. I consoled myself with the thought of their eating walnuts. Dessert was the soft fruit salad (kiwi, mango, satsuma, banana and white grapes with ice-cream.
I haven't worked out what we're going to be eating on the real camping trip yet.
Thunder & Lightning is the name given to a pasta/ chickpea dish I read about in Elizabeth David's Italian Food. The pasta is the lightning and the chickpeas, the thunder. They are mixed together and lightly dressed with olive oil, melted butter and Parmesan cheese. The pasta is traditionally mixed broken pasta , often leftovers. The simplicity appealed to me and I've served it to the kids before. However, I decided to embelish it a little for a family supper. I used only spaghetti and finished up a jar of basil pesto. I'd been flicking through ED's Italian food and there is little mention of pesto which is surprising considering it's ubiquity today in British/ Italian cookery. However, I recalled that ED said pesto could also be made with parsley and Walnut and our friends at Simply Italian do a lovely Walnut pesto. I mixed the remaining basil pesto into the spaghetti and warmed chickpeas and added olive oil, Parmesan and then a couple of tablespoons of ground walnuts I'd just whizzed up in a blender. The side was mushrooms, garlic and courgette sauteed in wok.
Just as I was about to start serving up, my husband invited the children into the garden to put up the tent. We're going camping next week and so this is to check the tent out. I knew I couldn't compete with this excitement, so instead I cleared up, prepared a soft fruit salad for dessert and put the Thunder & Lightning into bowls on a tray and took it into the garden for an al-fresco supper. By now, my husband was finishing off the guy ropes and the kids had lost interest and were playing. My entry was well timed and everyone enjoyed the meal, although the kids were a little picky about the courgette. I consoled myself with the thought of their eating walnuts. Dessert was the soft fruit salad (kiwi, mango, satsuma, banana and white grapes with ice-cream.
I haven't worked out what we're going to be eating on the real camping trip yet.
Friday, 1 April 2011
Pork & Fennel with Vegetable Rice
"Procrastination is the thief of time" Edward Young, English Poet
This was one of those occasions when I start cooking before I've decided what I'm actually going to make. I'm chopping an onion and boiling some hot water, still with no idea what we're having to eat (so much for menu plans eh?). However, I did have some organic minced pork out of the fridge which I mashed in a bowl before adding some brown bread crumbs, a couple of eggs, some chopped parsley, onion and a wedge of raw fennel which I'd blitzed in the food processor. I'd usually shape something like this into small balls, but I was worried they'd dry out in the oven and I didn't fancy frying them. So instead I pressed the mixture into a buttered loaf tin and baked in the oven for just over an hour. We ate it with vegetable rice and corn on the cob. Very nice it was too - I cautiously put some soy sauce on the table, but no-one added any.
The kids struggle to eat meat and in it's softer forms, they are often happier, so a meat loaf has been on the back of my mind for a while and was worth a spin.
This was one of those occasions when I start cooking before I've decided what I'm actually going to make. I'm chopping an onion and boiling some hot water, still with no idea what we're having to eat (so much for menu plans eh?). However, I did have some organic minced pork out of the fridge which I mashed in a bowl before adding some brown bread crumbs, a couple of eggs, some chopped parsley, onion and a wedge of raw fennel which I'd blitzed in the food processor. I'd usually shape something like this into small balls, but I was worried they'd dry out in the oven and I didn't fancy frying them. So instead I pressed the mixture into a buttered loaf tin and baked in the oven for just over an hour. We ate it with vegetable rice and corn on the cob. Very nice it was too - I cautiously put some soy sauce on the table, but no-one added any.
The kids struggle to eat meat and in it's softer forms, they are often happier, so a meat loaf has been on the back of my mind for a while and was worth a spin.
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