FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD!

Foolproof fudge

2011-10-31T19:44:00.000Z

Happy Halloween!

Whilst I understand some people's reservations about Halloween (I must admit I've been fairly aghast by the inches of shelf space devoted to this somewhat dubious occasion), I do like to see kids having fun. As such, I enter into the spirit of things and carve pumpkins and stock up on goodies to offer the trick or treaters that make their way to our door. It is just seven 'o clock and already the supplies are looking a little depleated - we've had a steady stream of witches, ghosts, gouls, grim reapers and skelletons since dark descended.

First to go were the little bags of homemade fudge I made at the weekend. I've never had a great deal of success with fudge-making for some reason, but this time I've cracked it. It is a slightly cheaty recipe using condensed milk but I don't care as it tastes just as fudge should - sweet and creamy with that wonderful slightly granular texture. I'm particularly pleased that I finally decided to part with some cash and invest in a sugar thermometer (grand total £4.99). This meant I could relax and judge the moment to take my fudge of the heat by watching the thermometer rather than dropping bits into ice-cold water (...though works well too).

I'm a bit boring in that I like my fudge fairly plain - vanilla is best for me. But this recipe is easily spruced up with various additions - crystalised ginger is a winner, rum-soaked raisins another or walnuts and a dash or two of maple syrup go down well too. Chocolate chips, dried fruits or coffee are other ideas which may appeal.

Foolproof fudge

Adapted from this recipe on the Carnation Condensed Milk website

Makes approx. 60 squares

Ingredients:

1 397g tin of condensed milk

150ml semi-skimmed milk

450g light muscovado sugar (or any pale brown sugar)

115g unsalted butter

1.5 tsp vanilla extract

1. Grease and line an 8 or 9 inch square tin.

2. Tip all ingredients into a large heavy-based non-stick saucepan and heat over a low heat, stirring constantly until the sugar has disolved.

3. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring all the time, until the mixture has reached 'soft-ball' stage. This is when the mixture reaches 116C or when the mixture forms a soft ball when dropped into a bowl of ice-cold water.

4. At this stage, remove the pan from the heat and beat for around ten minutes until the mixture has become thick (but pourable/scrapable) and grainy.

5. Pour and scrape into the prepared tin and leave for an hour or so to set before cutting into squares.

Bengali yoghurt fish - Anjum Anand

2011-10-20T10:35:00.000Z

Just back from a fabulous fortnight holiday in Madeira - perfect weather, lots of relaxing and far too much food. Madeira is perhaps not the greatest of foodie destinations but we ate very well whilst there and enjoyed the wonderfully fresh produce available to us.

More on Madeira at a later date, but for now I want to talk curries. My husband is a huge curry fan and, I have to say, that I'm pretty keen too. This was not always so. As a youngster I shunned anything with the remotest kick and steered well clear of all spicy food. It wasn't something we ate at home and it took some time before I changed my ways and started to experiment. It was some years before I began to understand that curry does not necessarily equal hot! The curries we enjoy eating at home are never 'hot'. They have outstanding flavour from the many different spices involved and sometimes a little heat from chilli, but rarely do we break a sweat.

I have a personal love of Thai curries and I can never resist a really good Thai green curry, ubiquitous though it may be. It was a staple of my university days and a dish I suspect I will always cook. I also tend to lean towards mild, creamy curries enriched with coconut milk or yoghurt. But this isn't to say that they are always unhealthy. When cooking curries, we try to choose lighter, less-fattening ingredients and add lots of vegetables.

Last Christmas, in order to be a little more 'authentic' in our curry-making, I bought my husband a lovely book by Anjum Anand. 'I love curry' is a modern mouthwatering collection of curries and accompaniments. Every dish is photographed and Anjum includes a nice introduction for each recipe explaining how each recipe evolved. Best of all, her recipes tend to the lighter side. They are not swimming in oil or ghee and are the majority of recipes are fragrant and delicately spiced though she had some more punchy powerful curries too. She also explains the different stages involved in creating an authentic curry and how to balance the final dish (how to add heat, 'tame the flame', add sweetness or acidity etc...).

We tend to cook mainly meat or vegetable-based curries but recently we tried our hand at one of the many fish-based curries. I used to live with someone with Indian roots who made the most fabulous fish curry (a family recipe handed down over the years) - somewhere she gave me the recipe and I must find it to re-create it. In the meantime though, this did very nicely. The flavours were delicate and aromatic and it made a lovely mid-week dish.

Here is the recipe, with a few tweaks (mainly using slightly less oil and our preferred amounts of chilli - Anjum always gives a choice so you can alter a recipe to taste.

Bengali yoghurt fish

Recipe adapted from 'I love curry' by Anjum Anand (p83)

Serves 4 but easily halved

Ingredients:

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 small onion

10g peeled weight of fresh ginger

2 plump garlic cloves

1/4 tsp chilli powder

2 tsp ground coriander

2 green whole green chillis, stalks removed

2 small tomatoes

2 heaped tbsp Greek yoghurt (we used low-fat variety)

600g firm white fish fillets (we used cod)

Handful fresh coriander

1. Finely chop the onion, grate the ginger and garlic to a paste. Blend the tomatoes to a puree in a blender and set aside.

2. First, make the sauce. Heat the oil in a saucepan or casserole. Add the onion and cook until soft and golden. Add garlic and ginger pastes and cook for a few minutes, stirring often. Stir in the spices and whole green chillis and season with a little salt. Pour in the pureed tomatoes and 150ml water and cook until liquid has evaporated and sauce starts to take on a rich, dark red colour, stirring all the time. Stir in the yoghurt until well blended.

3. Pour in a further 200ml of water and bring to a gentle boil - simmer and stir for around 5 minutes until the sauce has the consistency of single cream. Taste and adjust seasoning with more salt or chilli powder.

4. Chop the fish into fairly large chunks and add to the sauce - shake until the fish is coated. Cover the pan and cook gently for around 3-5 minutes (depending on thickness of fish) until the fillets are cooked through. Sprinkle with chopped coriander and serve with rice.

I thoroughly recommend other recipes in this book and can't wait to try others. Next on the list are a tamarind duck curry, a hearty meatball and pea curry and aubergine in a creamy peanut sauce. The tarka dhal is one of the best I've tasted and there are great ideas for accompaniments, chutneys and starters

Chinese plum sauce

2011-09-17T09:56:00.000Z

More plums courtesy of my colleague. This time I made a gloriously glossy Chinese plum sauce. Flavoured with ginger, garlic and star anise, this sauce will have add oriental flavour to many dishes over the coming months. It is brilliant as a dipping sauce or to serve with crispy duck pancakes, but there are more imaginative ideas too. No doubt I'll be using it as a base for many a stir-fry, but I'll also try using it as a baste for a pork joint and a glaze for roasted ham.

So far I've used it twice to make a delicious sauce to serve with duck breasts. Just heat in the pan you've seared the duck breasts in (minus the fat), add a little water to thin and bubble for a bit before pouring over the duck. It is so handy to have homemade sauces in the cupboard for nights when time is short - the duck dish makes a great dinner party main course with minimal effort. Roasted baby potatoes and carrots pureed with a little ginger and cumin went really well alongside.

I researched various different recipes, but eventually chose one from my favourite preserving book which is written by Thane Prince. It is called 'Jams and Chutneys - Preserving the Harvest'. As well as jams and chutneys, it also has great recipes for drinks, sauces, pickles and jellies. The recipe makes around 1 litre of sauce and keeps for up to a year. Decanted into pretty bottles and tied with a lovely ribbon, this sauce would make a lovely Christmas present for a foodie friend or a nice alternative to a box of chocolates when visiting friends for dinner.

Chinese Plum Sauce
From 'Jams and Chutneys - Preserving the Harvest by Thane Prince'

Ingredients:

2kg ripe plums (any colour but I used red)
750g white onions
Cloves from 1.5 heads of garlic
20cm piece of ginger
250ml light soy sauce
1 litre rice wine vinegar (not to be confused with rice wine)
1kg light muscovado sugar
6 star anise

1. Firstly, prepare all the ingredients. Roughly chop the onions and garlic. Peel and chop or grate the ginger. Grind the star anise in a pestle and mortar.

2. Halve the plums and remove the stones.

3. Put all ingredients except for star anise and sugar into a preserving pan. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes until the ingredients are very soft.

4. Push the mixture through a fine metal sieve - hard work!! If you have a mouli, you'll be grateful as it will make much shorter work of this somewhat tedious and surprisingly strenuous task. Push through as much as you possibly can.

5. Return the sieved mixture back to the cleaned pan, add the sugar and ground star anise and bring to the boil, stirring all the time as the sugar dissolves. Simmer for 30-60 minutes until you have a thick, glossy sauce. Pour into sterilised bottles and label when cool

Blackberry and almond tart

2011-09-07T09:29:00.000Z

The end of summer has brought with it a host of new cook books to browse and devour and I've been lucky enough to receive several new titles to drool over. I'm thrilled in my new house to have all my cook books in one place and easily accessible. I have a fairly obscene number and should, no doubt, have some kind of amnesty, but I can't bring myself to part with a single tome. Browsing through the new titles (thank you Octopus Publishing and Innocent) led me to consider what it is that I really like in a cook book. And the things that I don't like.

What I do like?

1. Pictures, pictures and more pictures. I like to see a picture of the 'finished dish'. As much as I am an imaginative sort, it is usually the pictures that seduce me and lead me from reading to cooking. My one key caveat here is Nigel Slater with his Kitchen Diaries. His writing is so evocative that I'm prepared to forgo the pics and head for the kitchen regardless. But usually, I need pictures. And this, as I mentioned, means pictures of the food. Not pictures of the cook, her glamorous home or even the ingredients. But pictures of the food being cooked. Pictures of the finished dish. I want to see onions sweating in a pan. Fluffy meringue. Wobbly jellies. Crispy-skinned duck. Steaming bowls of stew.

2. Recipes I can actually imagine cooking. For me this means recipes easily-achievable for the home cook. Things I might actually cook for supper rather than things I'd go to a fancy restaurant to eat. Much as I might enjoy foams, froths and liquid nitrogen in my local gastro-destination, I'm happy to stick with somewhat simpler techniques at home.

3. Options. I love recipes with options and ideas. When it says 'if you don't fancy chicken, why not try this with rabbit'. 'If you've forgotten to buy the cider, you can use apple juice/white wine/stock'. If you've some leftover, add some cream and make a pasta sauce/chop it up and use as a base for trifle/add potato and fry to make a rustic hash'.

4. Tips. Along with options come tips. Particularly ones about which bits to make in advance. So useful. Freezing tips also welcome. Tips for peeling butternut squash also invaluable.

What do I dislike?

1. Recipes which haven't been properly tested in a home kitchen. Celebrity chefs are the main culprits here. I find all too often that their recipes simply don't work well. I find recipes created, developed or tested by home economists or home cooks do work well.

2. Poor proof reading. Don't get me started. This is one of little 'things'. Totally excusable in a speedy blog post but in a book that has taken months to prepare? No excuse at all. I'm sorry. As I say, it is one of my 'things'!

3. Too many photos of the chef and/or his/her home/children/friends/pets/lifestyle. Just show me the food please!

4. Faddy books that are too specialist and fly-by-night. I prefer my cook books to be more of the timeless sort that I'll return to again and again over the years.

So. I must admit that it was with a touch of cynicism that I picked up Tana Ramsay's new book 'I love to bake'. The front features a combination of admittedly tempting shots of the sort of food I like to eat and slightly nauseating photos of Tana herself posing in the kitchen looking serene and domestic-goddess-like. I must confess that I've not taken much interest in Tana's other books and have perhaps dismissed them assuming that she is simply cashing in on her husband's fame.

I was very pleasantly surprised. As I flicked through the book I found recipe after recipe that I really fancied trying and plenty of food photos to inspire me (albeit interspersed with a few too many of the author herself and her photogenic family!). The book is about baking in the widest sense. Yes there are cakes, pies and breads. But Tana's baking also extends to lamb hotpot, baked tomatoes, mackerel fishcakes and a stunning-looking salmon en croute with minted pea and bean puree. Lots of great family dishes and recipes that kids can get involved in creating.

For those with a sweeter tooth (me included), there is plenty to tempt. From classic favourites (custard creams and baked apples) to more original offerings (hot apricot and pistachio souffles and mulled wine, plum and blackberry pie), there are dozens of appealing recipes. Despite her fondness for dessicated coconut (something I cannot abide) I'm taken in by Tana's relaxed, simple, wholesome style of cooking.

The day after receiving the book, I had my sister and her two boys for lunch. Perfect excuse to cook up a blackberry and almond tart. This tart combines a crisp dessert pastry shell with squidgy frangipane and autumnal blackberries. A winning combination but oddly one that I've not tried before. I must confess that for speed I used a good quality ready-made pastry but otherwise followed the recipe to the letter. It worked brilliantly - I was particularly impressed with the idea of brushing the pastry shell with beaten egg after blind baking and returning to the oven for 5 minutes to crisp up the pastry. Worked a treat! I would add that the tart is very versatile and would be great with raspberries, plums or other reasonably tart fruit.

This recipe is truly delicious and I urge you to try it. Tana's book has surprised me and I can see myself trialling quite a few of the recipes of the next few months.

Almond and Blackberry Tart

In my own words. For exact recipe, please see Tana Ramsey's 'I love to bake' published by Octopus Books.

Ingredients

350g dessert pastry (recipe can be found in the book)

200g blackberries

175g unsalted butter

150g caster sugar

200g ground almonds

2 large free range eggs, lightly beaten

1 unwaxed lemon

1. Lightly grease an 8.5 inch loose-bottomed tart tin and line the base.

2. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface until the thickness of a £1 coin. . Line the tart tin, pushing into the corners. Prick all over with a fork and pop in the fridge to chill for at least 45 minutes.

3. Pre-heat the oven to 180C. When chilled, line with baking paper and fill with baking beans. Bake blind for 15 minutes and then take out of oven and remove the beans and baking paper. Brush the case with a little of the beaten egg and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes, until slightly golden.

4. Whilst the case if cooking away, get started on the frangipane. Pop the butter and sugar in a food processor or mixer and beat until pale and fluffy (use a paddle attachment if you have one). Mix in ground almonds and then add the beaten eggs and lemon zest, a little at a time.

5. Pour the frangipane into the tart case and then arrange the blackberries in the mixture - pushing down into the the gloop. Make a pretty pattern, if you can!

6. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes until the frangipane is firm to the touch and springs back slightly. Remove and cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes or so. Serve warm with vanilla ice-cream or cream.

Plumbrillo

2011-08-26T14:54:00.000Z

After a chaotic couple of months, we are installed in our new house and settling into our new village. Now that I'm feeling a bit better (thank you for all the good wishes) and have unearthed the kitchen equipment, I'm back to the stove and cooking away.

I was a little sad to leave the fabulous garden at our rental property complete with its many fruit trees. The plums were just ripening as the time came to leave and I hated to leave them on the tree for the next tenants. No need to worry though. As fortune would have it, I share an office with someone currently faced with a serious glut of plums. Last week I came home laden with four bags full of the little beauties and with a head full of ideas for transforming them into delicious treats. Four kilos of plums is quite a few to deal with. Especially considering that I'm not especially fond of stone fruit (odd, I know - it is a textural thing). I do love the flavour of plum though so I was keen to preserve the flavour whilst losing the fleshy texture I'm less fond of.

First up was this superb accompaniment to cheese. Plumbrillo is a fruity take on the superb membrillo which is often served alongside Manchego cheese. It is essentially a fruit 'cheese'. A thick, almost jelly-like confection which slices neatly and goes well with lots of cheeses.

It is easy to make and looks very impressive with its gleaming plum-red colour. The only hard part is pushing the cooked plums through a metal sieve. Next time I think I'll invest in a mouli which would make this job much less time-consuming! Whilst this looks best set into small moulds and turned out onto the cheese board, I actually poured most of mine into sterilised jam jars. This way it will keep for up to 6 months and will make nice presents at Christmas time. If you can find small, ramekin-shaped jars, these would be perfect.

I found the recipe on the BBC Good Food website, a great favourite recipe source.

Plumbrillo

Enough to fill approx. 7 small jam jars

Ingredients:

2kg ripe black or red plums

1kg jam/preserving sugar

1. Wash the plums. Quarter and stone all fruit and place in a large preserving pan along with 500ml water.

2. Bring to boil and simmer for around 45 mins until the plums have completely cooked down and are pulpy and dark.

3. Now for the hard bit! Pour the plums into a large bowl. Rinse out the preserving pan and then push the plum mixture through a nylon sieve (or use a mouli) into the cleaned pan. Try to extract as much of the pulpy flesh as you possibly can.

4. Stir in the sugar and heat, stirring all the time until the sugar dissolves. Turn up the heat and bring to the boil. Bubble for approx 25 minutes until you have a thick puree. The mixture is ready when a wooden spoon leaves a trail along the bottom of the pan for a second before the puree floods the gap.

5. Pot into sterilised pots or jars and seal. Leave to set and cool before labelling. Keep in a cool dark place for up to 6 months.

A pause

2011-07-06T17:15:00.000Z

I've had a pause and I'm going to continue pausing for a little while.

I've had some health problems over the past few months and I'm still trying to get to the bottom of them. Nothing serious hopefully but it all centres around my stomach meaning that food-related reading and writing have been a little... off the menu. I'm fed up of feeling permenantly queasy and uncomfortable and, worst of all, the whole thing has put me off one of my very favourite pleasures in life... food! It is hard to enthuse about the cooking when you don't feel much like eating.

On the better days, I have been busy in the kitchen and there is actually much to report. I hope to get back to it very soon. But first, we have the small matter of a house move. We have finally found a permanant home (after a ten month stop-gap) so I'm currently surrounded by packing boxes for the second time in twelve months. It will take a while to get back online but I expect to be back to blogging in a few weeks time!

In the meantime, I hope you like these pictures I took the day my pup, Sinbad, was momentarily reunited with his sister, Bramble, who has spent the past year living in Germany.

Two peas in a pod!

Baked Sea Bream with Potatoes and Thyme

2011-05-30T09:25:00.000Z

What a busy month. I can't belive that we are almost in June - what happened to May? I've been busy with a new job, recovering husband (from a slipped disc), weekend guests, our wedding anniversary and buying a new house. I've been busy cooking and have lots to share but time to do so has been scarce. Here's hoping for a more relaxed June!

We've been enjoying lots of fish recently. Inspired by a favourite recipe book (Mitch Tonks - 'Fish'), we tried out an interesting dish with two beautiful gilt-head bream which my husband picked out at our local fishmonger. Sea bream is becoming a real favourite of ours - flavoursome without being too 'meaty' in texture. We find that a whole fish is just right for my husband but a little too much for me - it all depends on appetite. Bream can take some pretty punchy flavours and this recipe is full throttle with red peppers, roasted garlic, thyme, olives, tomatoes and chilli. It had a distinctly Mediterranean feel to it and was superb with a full-flavoured southern French rose.

This is an all-in-one dish with potatoes cooked under the fish, a garlicy tomato sauce with roased red peppers all topped with crispy chilli-flecked breadcrumbs. We like a bit of greenery and served some green veg on the side too, but it wasn't really necessary. Mitch Tonks' recipe used a rather startling amount of oil in which to cook the potatoes. I couldn't bring myself to use as much as he suggested (200ml) and next time I would use even less. I've put the quantity I used here, but I did find the potatoes a little oily. We were also out of olives which was a shame, but it was delicious without too.

Baked Sea Bream with Potatoes and Thyme

Adapted from 'Fish' by Mitch Tonks

Serves 4 (although we ate the lot between 2, using smaller fish, half the quantity of garlic and fewer potatoes)

Ingredients:

4 waxy potatoes such as Charlotte

1 red pepper

1 head garlic, unpeeled

3tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves

2 sea bream, about 450g each (or smaller if only 2 of you). Ask the fishmonger to scale and gut!

6 whole canned tomatoes

1 pinch dried chilli flakes

50g black olives (optional)

50g fresh, coarse breadcrumbs drizzled with olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 240C.

2. Peel (or scrub) potatoes and blanch in boiling water for a few minutes. Drain and dry and set to one side.

3. Place the pepper (whole) into a roasting tin with the whole head of garlic. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast in the oven for approx 15 minutes. Remove the garlic from the tray (checking first that the cloves are soft and squidgy). Return pepper to oven and roast for 5 minutes more or until soft and blackened. Place pepper in a plastic bag, seal the top and leave to cool.

4. Divide the garlic into individual cloves, but do not peel. When the pepper is cool enough to handle, remove skin and seeds, reserving any juices.

5. Pour the olive oil into an ovenproof dish (large enough to hold both fish). You need enough oil to coat the bottom of the dish. Arrange the potato slices over the bottom and sprinkle with sea salt and the thyme leaves.

6. Rub the fish with a little olive oil and salt and arrange on top of the fish. Bake in oven for around 12 minutes.

7. Remove fish from oven and arrange the garlic cloves and olives around the fish. Slice pepper into strips and arrange in the dish too. Squeeze tomatoes over the fish and potatoes to release the juice and add these to the dish too. Pour any juices from the pepper over the fish and sprinkle the chilli flakes over the top. Sprinkle breadcrumbs over the top of everything and bake for a futher 8 minutes, until the breadcrumbs are golden brown.

8. Place the dish in the centre of the table and dig in!

Royal Wedding Red Velvet Cupcakes

2011-04-29T17:46:00.000Z

What a wonderful British celebration!

Here at Food, Glorious Food! HQ, we've thoroughly embraced Royal Wedding mania. It rather snuck up upon me. I wasn't feeling overly festive until a couple of days ago when suddenly I came over all patriotic and excitable. I was helped by our village who organised a fantastic Street Party to celebrate the 'big day'. Bunting and Union Jack flags started to appear and I found myself busy planning an appropriate street party menu.

How fortuitous it was that the theme for this month's Forever Nigella should be 'Street Party'. A few weeks ago whilst out shopping I found a set of 'British' cupcake cases and royal-themed toppers and decided that a tray of cupcakes would be a good thing to share with the neighbours. The cases themselves were blue and so, playing on the British theme, I thought that bright red velvet cupcakes with white cream-cheese icing would fit the bill. I'd recently made a red velvet cake for a hen party and had been quite pleased with the results so felt keen to attempt a smaller version. Conveniently, Nigella has the perfect recipe in her newest book 'Kitchen'.

You have to be fairly brave with the food colouring to make these cakes. It takes almost a whole pot of red food colouring paste to turn these cakes into this startling shade of rouge. As I scooped the batter into my waiting cupcake cases, I thought it looked rather as though I'd squirted tomato ketchup into them by mistake. My husband thought it looked as though I'd had a nasty run-in with a kitchen knife.

I found that the mixture made a few more than the stated 24 cupcakes but I don't make huge ones. Similarly, I seem to have a huge amount of icing left over, despite topping with a reasonably generous blobs. If you like your cakes to be more icing than cake, then the full amount may be just perfect.

The cakes worked perfectly and sprinkled with little hearts and topped with royal symbols, they went down a treat at the party. I also took along this leek, bacon and mustard quiche and an interesting broccoli salad.

Other treats included this fantastic Union Jack cake...

The street party was exactly what it should be. A terrific celebration, utterly British in character and a great oppotunity to get to know neighbours better. There was music, bunting galore, silly hats and a great sense of fun.

Forever Nigella is one of my favourite food blogging events, devised by Sarah at Maison Cupcake and hosted, this month, by Mardi at Eat, Travel, Live, Write.

Simnel Cake

2011-04-27T09:26:00.000Z

We spent Easter on the Isle of Wight at my parents' home. Lovely sunny days and catching up with family. My husband is still suffering with a slipped disc but we were able to manage a short dog walk together along the beach which was a small thing but so nice after five weeks of walking without him.

My Mum asked me if I'd bake the Simnel Cake. I was marginally disappointed as I absolutely LOVE my mother's Simnel cake and knew instantly that mine wouldn't match up. However, as I've never made one and it is possibly my favourite kind of fruit cake, I was up for the challenge.

Oddly, despite owning an entire library of cookery books, recipes for a traditional Simnel cake were few and far between. I found a few 'modern' versions including Simnel cupcakes and Delia's version which houses lumps of marzipan rather than the traditional disc in the centre. But I wanted a totally traditional version. This is what I've grown up with and this is what I wanted. I finally found a suitable recipe in Nigella's 'Feast'. I followed the recipe precisely and you can find it here.

Cake batter, then a disc of marzipan and then more cake batter

Originally the Simnel cake was baked to celebrate Mothering Sunday but, over the years, has become synonymous with the Easter celebrations. I like mine to be a good deal lighter than a Christmas cake and for it to have plenty of sweet spices. In an ideal world, I would make my own marzipan. It is so much better than the bought version. My mother usually makes her own and it makes all the difference to this cake. It sort of 'melts' into the cake whilst I found the middle layer of marzipan remained a little firm in this version. I also found the timings to be out - my cooker is usually pretty accurate but this cake needed a good 15 minutes longer. In fact, it needed longer than that. I took it out a little early and it sunk in the middle. If this happens, do as I did and simply turn the cake upside down before topping with marzipan. That way you have a nice flat surface to work with!

Take a little time witht the top of the cake. Roll out the disc of marzipan and glue onto the cake with some apricot jam. It looks nicest if you 'crimp' the edge by pinching all along the edge with your thumb and forefinger. Next, score a grid pattern on the top of the marzipan - the uneven texture on the top helps the marzipan brown when the blowtorch is applied. Arrange all the balls (apostles) on top of the cake before 'glueing' in position. It takes a little effort to get them all evenly spaces. Pick them up one at a time and glue into position. Sounds obvious but if you start glueing immediately, you may get to the end of your circle and still have two balls to fit in! Finally, brush the top of the marzipan (and the balls) with beaten egg and carefully brown with a blow-torch or under a hot grill. Go carefully as it is easy to burn the top!

However, despite these few niggles, the cake was delicious and well received. I'd make it again but next time would definitely go to the extra length of making my own marzipan.

The fluffy chickens are, in my mind, absolutely obligatory. I can't imagine Easter without them. You may feel different. In which case a little pile of chocolate eggs or perhaps some sugar flowers would look more.... tasteful!

I am entering my traditional Easter bake into Julia's 'Easter Cake Bake 2011' over at 'A Slice of Cherry Pie'. I hope that she likes it!

Hotel Chocolat Competition Winner

2011-04-14T13:34:00.001Z

It has been a funny few weeks. My husband has slipped a disc in his back and has been off work in agony. Somehow, him being at home has meant that I am behind with all sorts of things. I am spending far too much time sitting, chatting to him whilst he lies flat and far too little time tending to household tasks, cooking and blogging.

Hence my delay in posting the winner of my Hotel Chocolat competition. Apologies all round.

Anyway, today I remembered and dilligentlly wrote all the entries on small pieces of paper, folded them and popped them into a hat. I then enlisted the help of my two trusty companions (husband and dog) in randomly selecting a winner.

So. Who did they pick...?

Happyfox. Congratulations - a delicious Hotel Chocolat Easter Egg will be heading your way very soon.

For those who missed out, fear not! Hotel Chocolat are running their own very exciting competition. They are looking for a name for their latest chocolatey creation and you can be the person to invent it. The winning entry will receive a fabulous chocolate hamper worth £75. Hop over to their website to enter.

Dundee Cake: Baked and Delicious

2011-04-03T14:16:00.001Z

I'm a total sucker for a foodie magazine. My house is over-run with back copies of most of the major food magazines available and I refer to them constantly for inspiration. Despite having numerous handy recipe files, I am hopeless at sorting through the magazines and cutting out the recipes that interest me.

I was excited to hear of a new magazine which has recently hit the shelves of our newsagents. Baked and Delicious is a part-series collection-type magazine dedicated to the art of delicious baking. Each issue is packed with inspiring recipes for traditional cakes, savoury bakes and tarts, breads, celebration cakes, scrumptious desserts, biscuits and patisserie. Each recipe is clearly illustrated and certain more complex techniques are covered in details with step-by-step guides. But most excitingly, each issue comes with an item of silicone bakeware. Collect each issue and soon you'll have a set of cupcake cases, a loaf pan, tart tin, heart-shaped mould and handy accessories such as a silicone spatula and pastry brush.

I was fortunate enough to receive a copy of the first issue for review. I liked the layout of the magazine and the variety of recipes. I also appreciated the tips for variations on certain recipes and the detail about the origin of some of the bakes. This issue comes with a set of silicone cupcake cases but rather than try the cupcake recipe, I thought I'd try something I hadn't made before. My husband loves fruit cakes and so the Dundee cake was the ideal choice. The recipe was easy to follow and the cake turned out beautifully. I particularly appreciated the tip of making a slight dip in the cake mixture to prevent the cake rising to a point in the middle. Why haven't I thought of that before?! I was initially a little disappointed by the number of recipes in the magazine but, on reflection, I think there are enough. Importantly, the recipes are all very different (Mediterranean tarts, fougasse, macarons, chocolate fondant puddings, lebkuchen, choux pastry) and I am sure I will try a few of the others in the weeks to come.

This would be a great magazine for novice bakers who are keen to collect a great set of bakeware whilst learning a variety of techniques. But it is also suitable for keen cooks, looking to expand their repertoire and try some new bakes.

You can find all the details about this magazine collection on the Baked and Delicious website.

Seriously fresh fish - cod in parsley and caper sauce

2011-03-31T10:06:00.000Z

Sorry for the radio silence over the past couple of weeks... The husband has done something fairly nasty to his back and, after a quick visit to casualty, has been convalescing at home for the past week-or-so. I've been busy making cups of tea and doing other useful wifely things.

I haven't even managed to blog anything about our fantastic holiday on the Suffolk coast a few weeks ago. We spent five days bathed in glorious Spring sunshine enjoying the delights of Aldeburgh, Thorpeness and Southwold. What a wonderful part of the country - extremely pretty with lovely little towns. Quite foodie too which is no surprise considering the coastal location and the vast swathes of agricultural land. We saw a great many pigs (and ate plenty of excellent sausages) but most of all we enjoyed some wonderfully fresh fish.

All along the beach in Aldeburgh, sit little fishermen's huts. Here they sell their daily catch and it really is as fresh as it could be.

We had rented a little cottage in Aldeburgh so cooked for ourselves most nights. We love to do this on holiday. Whilst we love eating out too, it is such fun to seek out local produce on holiday and take a little time to prepare something tasty. It also saves money of course - we spent much less on food which allowed us to splash out a little on some really super wines to enjoy with our food.

The dog ready for his holiday long before us!

When going on a self-catering holiday, I have to be prevented from taking the entire contents of my kitchen. One can never be too sure what kitchen equipment one will find in a rented holiday cottage. I also am unable to live without certain condiments (mustard, ketchup) and feel irked by the idea of having to buy new pots of herbs and spices when I have them already at home. This time, I tried to limit myself to one box of basic 'staples'. Plus a couple of tea-towels and my potato peeler (I can't be doing with a bad potato peeler). I also took my pancake pan as Shrove Tuesday fell in the middle of our holiday and we were not going to do without pancakes! As we were going to a seaside town, I also took my favourite fish cook book and a jar of capers (!) Is there anything you can't leave home without?

Holiday essentials

Anyway, back to the fish. The huts had a variety of fish and we asked for advice as to what was freshest and best. The first evening we were recommended some line-caught cod - it was new season cod, according to the fishermen, and came highly recommended. We bought a large piece at a fraction of the cost of supermarket fish and took it home wrapped up in newspaper.

We decided to cook it very simply as we didn't want to mask the flavour of the fresh fish. Having consulted my fish cook book we decided upon a simple parsley sauce studded with capers. New potatoes and a few green vegetables completed the dish along with a stunning bottle of Californian Chardonnay from Au Bon Climat, a winery we visited on our honeymoon. It was a comforting dish that reminded me of my childhood but the capers added a slightly more adult kick to the sauce. Delicious!

This simple yet super fish supper would work well with other varieties of white fish, including sustainable catches such as pollack.

The recipe is a pared down, simplified version of Mitch Tonks' 'Cod in Parsley Sauce' from his excellent 'Fish' book.

The Freshest Cod in Parsley Sauce

Serves 2

300ml milk

1oz butter plus a small knob extra to 'finish' the sauce

1 heaped tbsp plain flour

Generous handful of parsley, chopped

1 tbsp capers, drained, rinsed and finely chopped

2 portions of cod, skin on, about 180g each

1. Pre-heat the oven to 230C.

2. Make the parsley sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a low head. Stir in the flower and combine with a wooden spoon until you have a paste. Gradually add the milk, little by little, stiring well in between each addition so that you have a smooth consistency. Keep adding until you have a smooth sauce about the consistency of double cream.

3. Add the parsley and capers, season with salt and pepper and set to one side in a warm place whilst you cook the fish.

4. Heat a little oil in a frying pan (use one that can also go in the oven, if you have one). When hot, season the fish and lay flesh side down in the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes (depending on thickness) until the fish is golden. Transfer pan to the oven, or place fish in a small roasting tin, and roast for a further 5-6 minutes until cooked through.

5. To serve, add a small knob of butter to the sauce and heat through, stirring. Serve the fish with a generous pool of sauce.

Egg-citing Hotel Chocolat Competition

2011-03-21T09:40:00.000Z

It has to be said that I am partial to a bit of chocolate.

I'm a bit funny about chocolate though. Quite particular. Until very recently, I have to confess that I was a 'cheap chocolate' sort of a girl. I was unimpressed by rich truffles. I eshewed Equador's best dark chocolate. All I was really interested in was overly-sweet milk chocolate. At Christmas, the rest of the family would indulge in sophisticated Bittermints and luxurious Belgian truffles. I would bring my own box of Milk Tray and happily scoff the lot (...with the exception of the Turkish Delight - one has one's limits).

I'm still more than happy with a bar of something cheap and cheerful but, in recent years, I've been persuaded to branch out. I've been seduced by pralines, salted caramels, guianduja and velvety ganaches. I attribute this change of heart entirely to the arrival of Hotel Chocolat on some of the more upmaket high-streets of our nation. Whilst their mail-order and internet service is absolutely first-class, there is nothing to beat actually visiting a store 'in the flesh'. It is a true chocolate emporium with treats to please everyone. There are wonderful slabs of chocolate studded with caramel and cookie pieces, little bags of truffles in every flavour under the sun, gorgeous gift boxes and intriguing cocoa-based ingredients (including chocolate pasta). It really is heaven for chocoholics and I defy you to come out without clutching a little something.

What I particularly love about Hotel Chocolat is that their products are fun. Many have a touch of whimsy about them and this really sets them apart from their competitors. I've been lucky to receive a host of Hotel Chocolat presents recently from visiting friends and also from my lovely husband on Valentine's Day. We've really enjoyed sampling the imaginative offerings in the Sleekster boxes which make a great gift as they will fit through a letterbox!

Anyway, just as we were fighting over the last Caramel Sweetheart, what should arrive but a lovely Easter Egg sent from Hotel Chocolat for me to review. Hurrah! As you would expect, Hotel Chocolat have the most fantastic selection of Easter Gifts at all prices and to suit all ages and tastes. I was sent the Milk Chocolate Easter Egg Eggsposé - a deliciously extra thick milk chocolate half-egg shell filled with delicious mini praline-filled eggies. I was already a fan of the variety of filled mini eggs having given my husband a selection box last year for Easter. I them promptly insisting on sampling at least one of each flavour and particularly liked the pralines. Not only are these mini eggs far prettier than your average, they really deliver on deliciousness too. So I certainly enjoyed the lovely mini eggs. But the actual egg? Now that was very exciting. It was much thicker than a 'normal' Easter Egg and, as such, much more satisfying for the die-hard chocoholic that I am. A delicious thick and creamy 40% milk chocolate - not too sweet, I'd say this is definitely a grown-up Easter Egg.

Wonderfully thick Easter Egg shell

Would you like to win a Hotel Chocolat Eater Egg?

It didn't take us long to polish off this delicious egg (which also comes in a dark chocolate and white chocolate version). The great news is that Hotel Chocolat have kindly provided me with another egg to give away to one of my lucky readers. You could give this egg away to a loved one this Easter, but I suggest you sit back one afternoon with a nice cup of tea and devour the lot yourself (....but you probably shouldn't listen to me!).

To enter the competition:

All you have to do to win this competition is take a look at the Hotel Chocolat website and leave a comment to let me know what Easter gift you would most like to receive this Easter.

For a 'bonus' entry, please follow Hotel Chocolat and Foodglorifood on Twitter and then comment below to let me know you have done so.

Anyone in the UK can enter, bloggers and non-bloggers alike. If you are a non-blogger, please leave details of how I can contact you should you win!

Deadline for entries is midnight on Sunday, 3rd April.

The nitty gritty (dull, but important):

-Regretfully, this competition is only open to those with a UK address.

-Winner will be selected at random.

-Prize cannot be substituted.

-Deadline for entries is Midnight, Sunday 3rd April.

Nigella's Slutty Spaghetti

2011-03-15T16:15:00.000Z

Pasta puttanesca is probably my favourite pasta dish. Loosely translated as 'prostitute's pasta', it is a punchy concoction of tomatoes, chilli, olives, anchovies, garlic and capers. Reasons for the intriguing name are various with many suggesting that it is the sort of dish made by slovenly people who can't be bothered to go to the market to buy fresh ingredients and rely on a storecupboard full of jars and tins instead. I prefer to think that the brazen, salty, firey flavours of the dish are akin to the character of the ladies of the night who used to frequent the backstreets of Naples (from where this recipe originates). Whatever the reason, I love it. Furthermore, I generally have all the ingredients required just ready and waiting in the storecupboard.

I've blogged about this dish before, having used Delia's recipe, but haven't actually cooked it for ages. I was reminded of it recently when flicking through the new Nigella book; Kitchen. True to form, the recipe is accompanied by an image of the Domestic Goddess herself wrapped in a silky crimson gown and comes with a suggestion that it should be eaten with an 'untipped cigarette clamped between crimson lips'. I'm not quite sure about the logistics of this (and didn't try), but the image brought a smile to my face.

As if by chance, the theme for this month's 'Forever Nigella' food blogging event is 'Ciao Italia'. Hosted by Sarah from Maison Cupcake, bloggers are challenged to celebrate Nigella's greatness by cooking a recipe from one of her books which falls in line with the monthly theme. Last month's chocolate-themed round-up was truly spectacular!

The assembled ingredients - storecupboard staples

So, last night I cooked up Nigella's version and can heartily recommend that you do the same. I was cooking for one so I adjusted a few things but rather greedily used a whole tin of tomatoes and almost finished the lot. I made a couple of very minor additions - a finely chopped shallot added at the start (simply because I found it, looking lonely, in the bottom of the veg box) and a little fresh basil stirred into the sauce at the end. Unnecessary but tasty. I'd probably just stick with the suggested parsley next time though - it is traditional and marries very well with the gutsy flavours of the sauce.

The recipe can be found on Nigella's site. Just click here for all the details.

Harissa Turkey Burgers

2011-03-13T12:24:00.000Z

We're just back from a fantastic holiday on the Suffolk coast. The weather was unseasonally wonderful - we ate lunch outside, picnicked on the beach and have even come home with slight suntans. Incredible! We took advantage of the row of fishermen's huts on the beach at Aldeburgh to feast on deliciously fresh fish each night and enjoyed every minute. I'll be sharing one or two of our fishy feasts later in the week, but today I want to tell you about the turkey burgers we enjoyed with our Greek Salad a few nights before we headed off.

We love burgers in all their forms but, in an attempt to be healthy-ish, we try not to indulge ourselves too often. We are always on the lookout for healthier alternatives to some of our favourite dishes and this prompted me to make some burgers from turkey breast mince. To spice these up somewhat, I added a generous dollop of harissa which gave these burgers a fantastic, exotic flavour. Paired with crisp little gem lettuce leaves and a smear or coriander-flecked yoghurt, these were extremely tasty. My only criticism would be that they were perhaps a little on the dry side - the downside of opting for a leaner meat.

This is what I did....

Harissa Turkey Burgers
Makes 4 burgers

Ingredients:

450g turkey breast mince

1 red onion

1 generous tbsp harissa

Burger buns, rolls or small ciabatta
Iceburg lettuce
4 tbsp plain low-fat yoghurt, creme fraiche or mayonnaise (or more, if you like)
Generous handful coriander

1. Place mince in a large bowl. Grate the onion into the bowl, add the harissa (use more or less to taste) and stir together thoroughly. This is easiest done with the hands, if a little messy.

2. Shape the mixture into burgers, brush with a touch of oil and grill, griddle or BBQ for around 15-20 minutes until cooked through.

3. Meanwhile, chop the coriander and mix into the yoghurt (or creme fraiche or mayo). Make more if you feel like it - there were just two of us. Toast/warm the buns and split in half.

4. Assemble the burgers! Layer them up with the lettuce, burger and coriander yoghurt mix. A big slice of tomato wouldn't go amiss either.

Greek-ish salad

2011-03-03T12:29:00.000Z

I call this vibrant salad a Greek-ish salad as I have zero Greek credentials and everywhere I look there is debate and criticism on what a Greek salad really is. It seems that a number of Greeks get quite hot under the collar about this, perhaps their most famous national dish. Some insist that the salad should be onion-free whilst others say that finely sliced red onion is a vital component (and that this is the way their mother/grandmother/great-grandmother made it). Controversy also surround the use of cucumber which, to me, has featured in all 'Greek' salads I've ever tasted. There is also disagreement about herbs - fresh or dried? Dressing - plain olive oil, olive oil and lemon juice or something more elaborate?

My take on all of this is that there is no such thing as a truly 'authentic' recipe. There are recipes. There are variants. All are valid. There is no such thing as a 'wrong' recipe. There are many ways of creating a good 'Greek' salad. This version is mine and it contains the things that I love and the combination of flavours that work for me.

I served this alongside some harissa turkey burgers (recipe to follow) and it was a real hit. Wonderfully fresh, vibrant and crunchy and beautifully colourful too. If you can get those knobbly, hard-skinned cucumbers for this salad, so much the better. You'll definitely need to peel them and cut out the seeds but they are crunchier and (in my opinion) much more flavoursome. Obviously this salad is all about the quality of the ingredients - it would be miles better when tomatoes are actually in season. I was lucky enough to find some on-the-vine tomatoes with plenty of flavour in my local supermarket but I know this would have tasted much more wonderful with fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes, still warm from the sun! Go for the best feta you can afford too - there is quite a difference in flavour.

My Greek-ish Salad

Serves 2 as a side dish

Ingredients:

Half a red onion

1small lemon

4 good-sized tomatoes

Half a long cucumber or a whole knobbly, crunchy one

100g good quality feta cheese

small handful Kalamata olives

4tbsp good quality extra-virgin olive oil (Greek, if possible!)

1 tsp dried oregano

salt and pepper

1. Half an hour before you want to eat the salad, slice the onion very finely and place in a bowl with the juice from the lemon. This will soften the onion and take away some of the harsh flavour of raw onion.

2. In a small bowl, measure out the olive oil and sprinkle in the oregano with a good sprinkling of salt and pepper. Set to one side.

3. Chop the tomatoes into bite-sized pieces and remove the seeds and mushy middle bit (unless you love seeds and mush, in which case feel free to leave them in!). Peel the cucumber and remove the seeds/fleshy core. Chop the crunchy flesh into small pieces. Cut feta into small cubes and olives into rough quarters.

4. Assemble the salad just before serving. Throw tomatoes, cucumbers, feta and olives into a bowl and mix gently to combine, season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle softened onions over the top and pour over most of the lemony juices over the salad. Use your judgement here - I found I used just under the juice of a whole lemon! Finally pour over the oregano oil which will mingle nicely with the lemony juices.

5. Devour and mop up the gorgeous juices with crusty bread!

This salad would be great with so many things - a side dish at a barbecue, alongside some simply-grilled fish or chicken, a summery lunch time dish, with grilled and marinated lamb chops....

And here is my lovely Sinbad enjoying the Spring-like sunshine in the garden. Absolutely irrelevant to this recipe, but equally lovely...

Sinbad, the husband and I are off on holiday next week. We're heading to Aldeburgh on the Suffolk coast. we plan to eat lots of fish and plenty of picnics (probably in the rain, knowing our luck!). Look forward to sharing it all on our return!

Pea and watercress purée for fish

2011-03-02T11:21:00.000Z

Last Friday I asked the husband what he fancied for supper. His response? 'Chips'.

Hmmm. Anything in particular he wanted with his chips? 'Anything'.

Not brilliantly helpful, I have to admit, but I aim to please and so chips were on the menu. As it was Friday, it seemed somehow appropriate to have fish and, as we try to be healthy-ish, I bought two trout which we steamed to serve with our chips. To accompany this fishy feast, I made a vibrant pea and watercress purée which really was the star-turn of the meal. I often make a plain pea purée to accompany fish but I actually like this version better - the peppery watercress adds a bit more interest and somehow tempers the sweetness of the peas. On making it the second time, I was didn't have quite enough watercress and so I added little rocket which also worked well.

The recipe can be found here so I won't repost it as I followed it to the letter. But you hardly need a recipe - simply boil some peas, add watercress (minus woody stems) at the last minute until it wilts, drain (reserving a couple of tbsp of liquid) and whizz with a finely sliced spring onion or two. Warm back in the pan and season to perfection!

Mincemeat and marzipan cake

2011-02-25T11:08:00.000Z

I was going to call this cake 'leftovers' cake seeing as it is made with Christmas leftovers but it struck me that, as a title, it didn't sound too appetising. But appetising it is in a 'slice with a cup of tea' sort of way. Loaf cakes are my favourite kind of cakes to bake, largely because there is minimal margin for error and no need for artistic decoartion. It is in the nature of a loaf cake to look pleasingly plain. This doesn't mean that it need taste plain however. This little loaf is packed with fruity, almondy flavour - all the more welcome now that we're somewhat distanced from the onslaught of such things in December.

Like many of my favourite recipes, this one is from BBC Good Food. It doesn't seem to be on the website - I found it in a little book that I have called '101 Cakes and Bakes'. It is a handy little book with sections on 'fresh fruit cakes', 'tray bakes' and 'muffins and cookies' amongst others. This, from the 'loaf cake' section, is an easy cake to make and you don't need any special equipment - two bowls, a whisk, wooden spoon and loaf tin. The smell as it bakes is particularly tempting and once it was out of the oven, I have to confess that I didn't manage to wait until it was cool to try a slice. I should have waited though as the marzipan was a little chewy whilst still hot - it had a better texture when cool. My only criticism would be that the chunks of marzipan sunk to the bottom of the cake. Next time I will cut them slightly smaller perhaps. Otherwise, this is a definite 'bake again' cake. It would be good spread with a little butter too, like a tea-bread. I made one minor alteration - the recipe suggest sprinkling with flaked almonds prior to baking and then dusting with icing sugar whilst still warm. I didn't have any flaked almonds (and, truth be known, don't really like them) so I simply sprinkled the top with demarara sugar which gave a nice crunchy crust to the loaf. My version is here...

Mincemeat and marzipan cake

From '101 Cakes and Bakes' by BBC Good Food

Ingredients:

200g self-raising flour

100g cold, diced butter

85g soft brown sugar

85g marzipan

2 large eggs

300g mincemeat

2 tbsp demarara sugar

1. Pre-heat oven to 170C. Butter and line a 1kg/2lb loaf tin or use a handy loaf tin liner such as these ones from Lakeland. Love them!

2. Tip flour and butter into a large bowl and rub together until you have the consistency of fine crumbs.

3. Cut the marzipan into small cubes, approx 1cm square (no bigger). Stir these into the crumbs, along with the soft brown sugar.

4. In another bowl, lightly whisk the eggs and then stir in the mincemeat. Pour this mixture into the flour mix and stir gently until combined. The batter will be quite thick.

5. Scrape the mixture into the prepared tin. Level the top as best you can and sprinkle with the demarara sugar. Bake for 1 hour, or until the loaf is golden brown and a skewer comes out clean.

6. Place tin on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes and then tip out onto the rack until completely cool.

Notes: this teabread keeps well (4-5 days) as long as it is tightly wrapped.

Green soup

2011-02-22T10:37:00.000Z

One of the best things about hosting Christmas ourselves this year was that we were able to make turkey stock from the carcass. This is not something we are very good at remembering to do with our regular roasts, I'm not really sure why. We're probably just too lazy. But it is, of course, simplicity itself. Especially in the Aga - just bring it all to the boil on the top and then pop it into the simmering oven until you remember to get it out several hours later!

Our freezer is packed full of pots of stock and it is so flavoursome - it adds so much flavour to soups and risottos in particular. I have a few favourite 'go to' soup recipes that I make regularly but really, with stock so flavoursome, it doesn't matter what you put in your soup. The end result will probably be delicious. Last Friday I took a look in the fridge and didn't seem to have enough of anything to make a particular soup. Instead, I decided to make a mixed green vegetable soup using up little bits of all kinds of veg. I wasn't expecting a particularly great result, but it was absolutely delicious as well as being extremely healthy (...don't tell anyone about the cheese toastie I had alongside). It's lovely green-ness made me feel all Spring-like and uplifted!

Here is what I did...

Green Soup

Serves 4

Ingredients:

A selection of green vegetables. Here is what I used...

2 leeks, sliced

2 spring onions, sliced

1 stick celery, sliced

1 large potato, cubed

1 courgette, roughly chopped

1 cup frozen peas

small handful chopped cabbage

1 pint good quality turkey, chicken or vegetable stock

Dash of sherry vinegar (optional)

1. Heat a little olive oil in a heavy-based saucepan. Add the leeks, celery and potato and sweat for a few minutes until just starting to soften.

2. Add all the other vegetables and then the stock. Stir and bring to the boil. Simmer over a gently heat (or in the simmering oven of an Aga) until vegetables are tender. I left mine in the simmering oven for around 25 minutes.

3. Whizz to a smooth consistency with a stick blender. Taste and season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in a small dash of sherry vinegar to taste.

4. Pour into warmed bowls and garnish with chives, if you have any to hand!

Chipotle chilli beef

2011-02-18T14:56:00.000Z

Both my husband and I love a good chilli con carne. It was, I think, the first thing he ever cooked me. Those were in the early days when I thought that he could only cook items made with mince (chilli, spag bol and shepherds pie were the first three meals he made - much as I loved them, I was relieved when a beef and ale stew made an appearance).

The only problem with our love of chilli is the eternal debate as to what makes a really good chilli. We have quite different opinions on this matter. For him, chilli must be made with minced beef. Whilst I will concede that minced beef is the more traditional option, I actually prefer mine to be made with actual chunks of meat. Slow-cooked casserole-style.

We also disagree about what else should go into a chilli. My husband is keen to add whatever may be in the fridge/cupboards. This often involves sweetcorn. Much as I like sweetcorn, I do not like it in my chilli. Nor do I want carrots. Or mushrooms. Or courgettes. For me, onions, garlic, kidney beans and bell peppers are all I require.

Our final chilli dispute erupted one evening when I dared to served jacket potatoes alongside my chunky meat chilli. This was a step too far for my beloved. For him only rice will do. We do agree on the toppings though - guacamole, soured cream and a little grated cheese.

Last week, whilst taking stock of the surfeit of jars occupying 2 full shelves of my fridge, I spotted a half-used jar of chipotle chilli paste. This was last used to great success in my chipotle chicken stew. I decided to adapt my regular chilli recipe and use the paste to add a smoky richness to the dish. The result was something of a triumph - the flavour was fantastic and it was, I think, one of the best chillis I've ever made. A couple of squares of good dark chocolate added at the end also added an extra dimension as did the long, slow cooking. I couldn't help feeling that it would be rather good made with diced venison too. Another time, perhaps?

I can only apologise about the terrible photos - there must have been a smear on the camera lens...

Chipote chilli beef

Serves 4

Based on this BBC Good Food recipe

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

2 bell peppers (one red, one green)

2 heaped tbsp chipotle chilli paste

1 tsp ground cumin

500g diced stewing beef

1 400g tin tomatoes

1/2 pint beef stock

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp dried marjoram

410g tin of red kidney beans (or feel free to use other beans - black beans are good too)

2 squares good quality dark chocolate

To serve: your choice of soured cream, guacamole, fresh coriander, grated cheese, rice, tortillas etc...

1. Pre-heat oven to 170C*. Roughly chop onions and slice the peppers.

2. Heat a little oil in a casserole and then gently fry onions until they are transluscent and soft. Add the peppers and crushed or finely chopped garlic. Set to one side.

3. Add a little more oil to the pan if necessary and brown the meat on all sides. You may need to do this in batches so as not to overcrowd the pan. Set meat to one side and put vegetables back into the pan.

4. Sprinkle over the cumin and marjoram and spoon in the chipotle paste. Give a good stir to combine and cook for a minute or two before re-adding the meat and stirring to combine.

5. Pour in the tomatoes and stock. Add sugar and plenty of salt and pepper and give it all a good stir. Bring up to simmering point.

6. Place lid on casserole and pop in the oven. Cook for at least forty-five minutes, but preferably longer at a lower temperature* if you have the time. Check on it every now and again and add a little more water/stock if it is drying out. After this time, add the kidney beans and cook for a further 15-20 minutes with the lid off if the sauce needs reducing somewhat.

7. Before serving, check the seasoning and add salt and pepper as required. Stir in the dark chocolate and sprinkle with fresh coriander before serving.

*As with many beef casseroles, this is better the longer and slower it is cooked. I brought mine to the boil on the boiling plate of the Aga and then tranferred to the simmering oven for 2 1/2 hours.

Banoffee cupcakes

2011-02-15T10:18:00.000Z

I have a confession.

I am not a huge fan of the cupcake.

I'm not quite sure how to explain myself. I like the look of them. I like the cute-ness factor. But I just can't help feeling a little... cheated... by a cupcake. I'm more of a big cake sort of girl. I prefer a slice. Also, much as I love buttercream, I just can't quite cope with the amount that is smeared atop a hummingbird bakery-style cupcake. It looks promising, but I usually end up feeling rather sick.

However, these completely divine banoffee cupcakes have stolen their way into my heart. They are very seriously good. The combination of banana and fudge chunks within and caramel-flavoured buttercream and dulche de leche on top is simply too good to resist (though I do find myself wondering how good this would be in large cake format). In my quest to conquer my cupcake antipathy I've tried a lot of cupcakes but these really do take the number one spot for my 'best-ever-cupcake'.

I was drawn to these beauties via the nice lady from the Baking Mad website. For those who haven't discovered this excellent site, I suggest you go take a look. The site belongs to Allinson flour, it would seem but in a rather subtle sort of way. Silver Spoon and Billingtons sugar are also affiliated and the products are loosely promoted here. But mainly it is a superb archive of recipes, baking tips, competitions as well as being home to a baking blog.

I was asked to try out the banoffee cupcake recipe and sent a box of baking goodies to help me along: Allinson flour, Billingtons sugars and Silver Spoon cake decorating goodies. Having waited all week for my bananas to reach sufficient ripeness, I attempted the cakes on Saturday evening with a couple of visiting friends. Glasses of fizz in hands, we got busy following the detailed instructions on the site. A nice feature of the recipes is the ability to click each stage as you go along so that you can easily find your place. Handy.

Mixing the cake batter was very straightforward and we all got rather over-excited about the fudge chunks. Upon tasting the Silver Spoon fudge chunks, Claire and Joni (of lamb tagine fame) decided to carry out a taste test and declared the fudge chunks 'a little soapy'. We were a tad worried about this but were reassured upon tasting the cakes - they seemed to have semi-melted into fudgy deliciousness. I look forward to using the remaining chunks in cookies or blondies in the near future.

The recipe states that it makes 12 cupcakes. I suspect this is 12 super-sized ones as I managed to make 24 reasonable sized cakes from the batter (slight problem as the husband is away and 24 cupcakes is a lot for one girl to get through!). The buttercream icing is made with natural icing sugar so has a lovely caramel flavour and colour - I'd not used this before but it is a good discovery. We were momentarily flummoxed with the icing as there was no direction about adding milk and we couldn't get it to mix - hopefully this will be changed on the website. One other slight problem we had was that the icing started to 'melt' somewhat and didn't hold its shape too well. This could be because our kitchen is quite warm due to the Aga. However, we persevered - one of us piped the icing whilst the others added the chocolate decorations and pieces of dried banana. I got quite excited by the heart-shaped decorations, it being Valentine's Day and all.

Anyway, the recipe can be found here. I suggest you try it. Totally delicious. I might even have one now. For breakfast...

Tuna and caper pâté

2011-02-07T19:25:00.000Z

The husband and I are fond of a pre-dinner drink (or two). The trouble is that with that pre-dinner drink, we usually feel the urge to indulge in a pre-dinner nibble. This, I have no doubt, is one of the key reasons for our overly expansive waistlines. (This, and our fondness for cheese, proper puddings and cake). Whilst we know that eating earlier would help ease this habit, we're not actually willing to forgo this favourite part of our day. It is the time we relax post-work, talk through the day's events and generally unwind whilst one of us potters round the kitchen creating dinner.

We try to keep our snacking under control and stick to reasonably 'healthy' nibbles. Low-fat hummous with carrot sticks, olives or tomato salsa spread on melba toasts are staples in this house. We love them, but we get tired of them too. When friends are here, or at weekends, we are more adventurous and make more fancy canapes but mid-week, it is all about low effort. Whilst browsing through some of my favourite food blogs the other day, I stumbled accross a tuna and caper pâté on the Kitchen Diaries Challenge blog which rather caught my fancy. I find the salty tang of foods like capers, olives or anchovies just perfect for awakening the taste buds prior to the main event. I had most of the ingredients to hand in the cupboard and simply improvised for the rest. It took mere moments to make - a 'bung it all in and whizz it all up' recipe. The best sort for mid-week really.

Served moments later with a crisp glass of white and some melba toasts, it was a very delicious 'snackette' (as we like to refer to such things). It would make a nice starter too and, as it uses low-fat mayo, is pretty healthy too.

Do you like a pre-dinner 'snackette'? If so, what do you tend to choose?

Tuna and caper pâté

Adapted from this recipe at Kichen Diaries Challenge

Ingredients:

1 tin of tuna, drained

half a small red onion or a shallot, finely chopped

2 heaped tablespoons low-fat mayonnaise

juice half a small lemon (to taste)

2 heaped teaspoons capers, well-rinsed

1/2 tsp paprika

handful flat-leaved parsley

1. Place all ingredients except lemon juice and capers into food processor and whizz to combine.

2. Add lemon juice a little at a time, tasting after each addition until the balance seems right.

3. Add the capers and pulse briefly so they are combined but not completely broken up. You want a little texture here.

4. Scrape into a serving dish and (ideally) leave for an hour or so in the fridge for the flavours to combine. If greedy and rushed like us, serve immediately with melba toasts or crudités. Or spread on crostini, as suggested by Maggie at Kitchen Diaries Challenge.

5. Serve with a crisp glass of white wine.

Nigella's Chocolate Orange Loaf Cake

2011-01-31T13:41:00.000Z

Like her or not, almost everyone has something to say about Nigella. Men I know who are usually uninterested by cookery are almost all enthusiastically appreciative of her talents! Women tend to me more divided. Some find her sultry ways in the kitchen irritating and demeaning. Some wish they were like her. Some wish they actually were her.

I think she is just a tiny bit marvellous. And I'm prepared to tell you why....

1. She is a cook, not a chef. She understands the home kitchen and the home cook.

2. Her books are so much more than a collection of recipes - they are a good read and often have the ability to make me laugh out loud.

3. A sense of fun pervades her food - she doesn't take herself too seriously.

4. If you've got it, flaunt it. Nigella has. And she does.

Approving of my admiration for Nigella, my husband kindly bought be her latest tome for Christmas. For various reasons, I wasn't able to follow 'Kitchen' on the television so was particularly pleased to discover the new recipes.

I'm a sucker for cake and so it was no surprise that it was a cake which first caught me eye. A chocolate orange loaf cake, to be precise. After the excess of Christmas, I couldn't really find a good excuse to bake such a thing, especially as we are trying to healthy ourselves up a bit after a few months of totally over-doing it on the food front. But then I spotted an announcement on Maison Cupcake about a new event celebrating the wonders of Nigella; Foreve Nigella. The theme for this month is 'seduced by chocolate'. It was clearly meant to be.

Donning the frilliest, kitschest apron I own, I set to work. (I had glanced briefly at the silk negligee but the thermometer showed minus two, so the thought was shortlived). The cake is a simple one to make, using mainly storecupboard ingredients and cocoa rather than chocolate. I love a simple cake now and again, don't you? This is not to say that I don't love icing and buttercream and layers and chocolate scrolls and decorations. I do. I assure you that I do. But sometimes, something a little plainer hits the spot. And makes me feel a little less naughty. After all, cake without icing is practically a health food, is it not? And this one contains oranges so it really must be good for me, no?

Anyway, having read the instructions, I set to work. If I were Nigella, I would have reached for my shiny Kitchenaid mixer. But I'm not. So I didn't. Instead I used my Kenwood. Not quite so beautiful perhaps, but equally effective. I whizzed and mixed, and then poured and scraped the contents into a loaf tin lined with my new loaf-tin-liners. I'm particularly pleased with these and I'm sure that Nigella would approve - she likes a shortcut as much as the next man.

Having seductively licked a bit of the mixture off my finger, I popped the cake-to-be in the oven and waited. The waiting was quite difficult, I must admit as this cakes smells WONDERFUL as it bakes. Upon removal, the cake looked and smelt divine but I managed to wait until it was cool before greedily gobbling down two slices before bed. Not good as I was planning to take the cake as a present for my mother the next day. Nevermind. She understood and between us, we enjoyed the remainder.

What can I tell you? Nigella triumphs again. This is a very delicious bake - the orange is a subtle and welcome addition to this otherwise plain cake. It is also lovely and light. I'll definitely be making this again. The theme for this month's challenge suggests that I should be making a chocolatey something to seduce my sweetheart for Valentine's Day. Instead I have seduced myself. I shall definitely be making this again.

Do you know your onions?

2011-01-31T11:39:00.000Z

Recently I was contacted by the folk responsible for promoting British onions. To be honest, I was a little surprised that such a product should be in need of any form of promotion and was interested to discover an entire website devoted to this most humble of vegetables.

Humble, maybe. Indispensible, certainly. Barely a day goes by in which I don't chop and onion to begin the base of a soup, stew, pie or roast. If I run out, I panic. Without onions, I am somewhat lost in the kitchen. To me, they are a vital flavour-adding essential which forms the bases of so many dishes I prepare.

Onions grow extremely happily here in the UK and buying British is something I try to do whenever possible. The British Onion people were kind enough to send me a box full of onions and challenged me to produce my perfect recipe for onion gravy. Along with a plentiful supply of onions, they included some storecupboard staples which I might like to use in my gravy. I was also encouraged to include my own 'secret' ingredients if it pleased me.

The challenge made me smile as it made me think of my husband who, given the choice, would have gravy with everything. Whilst I couldn't contemplate a Sunday roast without gravy and I do love a rich onion gravy with my sausages, I don't feel the need to have gravy with every piece of meat or pie that comes out of the kitchen. My other half does. Even shepherd's pie which to me seems most peculiar as it is essentially meat simmered in 'gravy' with potato on top.

So. I knew this challenge would make him happy. A very unscientific straw-poll amongst friends revealed that everyone has their own idea of the perfect gravy. Some like it thick, some like it thin. Some like it pale and some like it dark and glossy. Some like 'bits' in it. Some prefer it smooth. Which sort should I make?

I decided to please myself and make gravy in the way I most enjoy it. But then again I was stumped. The type of gravy I like with a roast chicken (pale, quite thin and made mainly with roasting juices, a splash of white wine and a touch of redcurrant jelly) is totally different to the gravy I like to pour over my sausages (thick, dark and glossy with lots of onions). How to decide what to make?

In the end, I present you with two gravies. One is the kind of gravy I make when I'm roasting meat - in this case, beef. The other is a rich onion gravy I made to serve with venison sausages and mash. Both were delicious. Both involved British onions. One used the onions as in a 'supporting role'. The other is entirely about the onions.

Firstly though, you might be interested to see inside that box...

There were familar ingredients I turn to regularly for gravy-making: Worcestershire sauce, Marmite and tomato sauce. There was also a pot of English mustard and an intriguing jar of mushroom ketchup. Sadly, I'm no longer able to eat mushrooms so this is something my husband will be experimenting with at a later date. I bet it would add an excellent savoury quality to the gravy though.

So first up, we have a plate of sausage and mash....

All that is missing is the onion gravy. Let's make some shall we?

Red Onion Gravy

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 red onions

1 tbsp olive oil

2 small knobs of butter

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp Marmite

1 scant tbsp plain flour

350ml boiling water

1 tsp redcurrant jelly

1. Cut onions in half and slice. Heat oil and small knob of butter in a heavy-duty casserole dish. Add onions and sugar and sweat for a few minutes until just starting to soften.

2. Place lid on the casserole and continue to cook onions on a fairly low heat for around 15 minutes until really soft and sticky. Aga-users might like to do this in the roasting oven, rather than on the top.

3. Boil the kettle and pour approx 350ml boiling water over the Marmite and mix together to create 'stock'. Sprinkle flour over the sticky onions and stir well to incorporate. Gradually add the Marmite stock a little at a time, stirring well to combine after each addition and bubbling on quite a high heat. You may not need to add it all, you may need to add a little more, depending on how thick you like your gravy.

4. Add the redcurrant jelly and season well with salt and pepper. Bubble away for a 5 minutes and adjust seasoning to taste. If it seems too sweet for your liking, add a little Worcestershire sauce. If not sweet enough, add more redcurrant jelly.

5. Just before serving, add a little knob of butter and stir in. This is not essential but does make for a lovely, glossy gravy.

6. Pour into a jug and pour liberally over sausages and mash!

Gravy to accompany a roast:

This is the method I use most often. In this instance I was making gravy to accompany roast beef, but I've included alternatives for other roast meats...

Gravy-making starts before the roast even enters the oven! Chop an onion or two into quarters and, if you have one, a carrot into large chunks. Place these in the roasting tin and sit the joint on top. These vegetables will provide extra flavour to your gravy.

Once the meat is cooked, set aside to rest on a carving board, covered in foil.

Pour excess fat out of roasting tin (leave around 1 tbsp along with the juices) and set on top of the hob on a medium-high heat. Sprinkle over a tablespoon or so of flour and mix into the fat and juices, taking care to scrape up all the sticky bits from the bottom of the tin.

Add a good splash of wine. White for chicken, turkey, pheasant or pork. Red for red meats and other game. Bubble away, stirring and scraping all the while.

Next add stock. Often I will use water from the vegetables mixed with the relevant stock cube for this. If a poultry joint came with giblets, I boil these up whilst the bird is cooking to create a flavoursome stock.

Add stock slowly, stirring well between each addition. Quantity will depend on how much juice came from the roast and how many people you are serving. For this beef joint, I used about 400ml stock for four of us.

Once stock is added, add the 'extras'. For interest, this is a very rough guide to what I add depending on the joint:

Beef - 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce or 1tsp dark soy sauce, 1 tsp tomato ketchup and a 1/2 tsp of English mustard.

Lamb - 1 tsp Marmite and 1 heaped tsp redcurrant jelly

Chicken and feathered game, including duck - 1 tsp redcurrant jelly and 1 splash Worcestershire sauce

Vension - 2 tsp redcurrant jelly and splash Worcestershire sauce

Pork - 1 tsp Marmite, pinch dried sage

These additions are all dependent on taste. I always taste as I go and add a little of this or a little of that depending on what I feel it needs. If the gravy tastes bland, I add a little more of something! Remember to season with plenty of salt and pepper.

Strain the gravy into a jug so that you have a smooth gravy (though the onions and carrot to taste quite delicious as a cook's perk!).

Serve with roast meat and all the trimmings....

Banana ice cream with Dulce de Leche

2011-01-24T13:51:00.000Z

With a chill wind whipping outside, ice cream may not be at the forefront of your mind currently. It certainly wasn't on my 'must make some soon' list. But last weekend, we had friends to stay and they kindly gave me a wonderful new cookery book dedicated to the art of creating iced desserts. This is surely the Bible of ice cream books.

It seems to me that the authors of this hefty tome, Caroline and Robin Weir, have dedicated their life to ice cream. Not only does the book contain a quite staggering number of enticing recipes (over 400), it also indulges the reader in a history of ice cream and includes sections on equipment, accompaniments and the science behind ices. It is quite fascinating. Who could fail to be tempted by recipes such as 'Terry's Chocolate Orange Ice Cream', 'Grapefruit and Campari Sorbet', 'Pea and Mint Savoury Ice Cream' or 'Prune and Earl Grey Tea Granita'. Beautifully-illustrated not only with stunning ices but also with retro prints and ice cream adverts, this book really is a must for any ice cream lover.

At first I decided I'd pop it in the shelf to delve into at length once the weather started to improve. But then I noticed the browning bananas in the fruit bowl, destined for banana bread or muffins. Instead, I thought I would try a banana ice cream. There were several recipes to choose from, including a very tempting-sounding 'Roasted Banana Gelato' but I decided to start simple with a basic 'uncooked' recipe. This means that the ice cream does not have a custard base; rather, the ingredients are simply whizzed together in a food processor, chilled and then frozen. You don't have to have an ice-cream maker but I'm lucky enough to own one and I have to admit, it does make the process somewhat less labour-intensive.

The trick with this recipe is to be brave with your bananas. Be patient and wait until they are really brown and spotted on the outside. The riper the bananas, the better the flavour of the resulting ice cream! I made a couple of very minor adjustments to the recipe (due to the ingredients I happened to have to hand) and my version is below. The ice cream is a total triumph - so delicious. To make it a little more suitable for the chilly weather, I served it with hot dulce de leche (Argentinian soft toffee made from boiled milk and sugar). I simply spooned a good dollop from a jar, heated it in a saucepan and poured it over the top. Delicious (though possibly not so good for the January diet!).

Banana Ice Cream with Hot Dulce de Leche

Adapted from 'Ice Creams, Sorbets and Gelati - The Definitive Guide' by Caroline and Robin Weir

Makes approx 1 litre

Ingredients:

4 very ripe bananas

1 tbsp lemon juice

200g golden caster sugar

1 tsp good quality vanilla extract

250ml semi-skimmed milk

250ml whipping cream, chilled

A good dollop of dulce de leche per person!

1. Peel the bananas and cut into rough chunks. Put into a food processor or blender and whizz together with the lemon juice, sugar and vanilla. Blend until smooth.

2. Pour in the milk and whizz briefly to combine.

3. Pour the mixture into a large jug or bowl and cover with cling film - place the cling film directly on top of the mixture and up the sides of the jug or bowl to prevent the mixture from browning. Transfer to the fridge and chill for an hour.

4. Once chilled, combine with the chilled cream. If you have an ice-cream maker, transfer to machine and churn according to machine's instructions. If not, transfer mixture to freezerproof container and freeze for 1-1.5 hours. Remove from freezer and beat with electric beater/food processor before returning to freezer for another 1-1.5 hours. Repeat the beating process (this is to minimise ice crystals and make for a smooth ice) and return to freezer again. Repeat at least once more - after the final beating, the ice cream should be returned to the freezer for another hour to become firm enough to serve.

5. Serve with warmed dulce de leche.

Notes: this would also be good with hot bananas roasted with rum and brown sugar!

Tempted?

Digestive biscuits for cheese

2011-01-21T16:06:00.000Z

Whilst I would always choose pudding over cheese, I am quite partial to a good cheeseboard. A new cheese shop has just opened in our local town and we decided it would be rude not to investigate. We came home with a bag bulging with cheeses we hadn't tried before and were eager to test them out.

To accompany our cheeses, I decided to bake some cheese biscuits. Only I struggled to find a suitable recipe. None of my recipe books seemed to have one (and I have a LOT of recipe books) and the web was limited too. Or rather, it was hard to search for them as 'cheese biscuits' tends to produce lots of recipes for cheese-flavoured biscuits. I found lots of recipes for oatcakes but I have to confess that I loathe oatcakes. They taste, as my Grandfather apparantly used to say, 'like hanging your tongue out of the car window'.

Although I know it is far from sophisticated, I do enjoy a digestive biscuit with my cheese. Particularly with hard cheeses. I know it is frowned upon by cheese afficionados, but I like them. So there. I found a recipe and away I went...

The recipe can be found here. It worked pretty well although the dough was a little sticky and, at the same time, crumbly which made it hard to work with. Trying to cut shapes (I couldn't resist trying out my new labrador cutter), was challenging and I should have just stuck to circles. They smelt fantastic as they baked though and I was optimistic.

The taste? Well, I was a little disappointed if I'm honest. The flavour was really good but they were very heavy. I used a medium oatmeal and think pinhead or fine oatmeal would have given a better result. They worked well with the cheeses though - particularly with the blue which was a Colton Basset Stilton.

I would make these again, but next time I'll add a touch more flour (or less liquid) to prevent such sticky dough. I'll roll the dough thinner to make slightly more manageable biscuits.

Chipotle chicken wraps

2011-01-19T18:38:00.000Z

I've got a bit of a thing for Mexican flavours at the moment and, in particular, an ingredient that is new to me: chipotle paste. For years I've been making Mexican-style dishes which, while good, lacked a really authentic Mexican flavour. Chipotle paste has changed all this. Made from smoke-dried jalapeno chilli peppers, it adds a fantastic smoky heat to dishes.

Over the past fortnight, I've made this tasty dish twice which shows how successful it has been! It is a fairly basic tomato-based chicken stew, enhanced by the addition of chipotle paste and lots of coriander. A very low-fat recipe which you could simply serve with rice. I preferred to serve it with tortillas, allowing people to help themselves to plain rice, guacamole and soured cream. The resulting wraps were rather messy, if I'm honest, but with lots of paper napkins on standby, noone seemed to mind.

Shredding the chicken is, I would suggest, crucial in the success of this dish. It somehow soaks up the sauce, making it more tortilla-friendly. It would work well with leftover roast chicken too, I suspect.

The original recipe is here on the BBC Good Food website, but I added regular bell peppers and doubled the quantity if sauce. The chipotle paste is fairly vital to the flavour of this dish - I found mine in Waitrose and it is made by Discovery. I'm looking forward to using it in other dishes - any suggestions?

Chipotle Chicken Wraps

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts

1 medium red onion

1 large yellow bell pepper (or green, or red, or a mix!)

3 cloves garlic

1 tsp dark brown sugar

2 heaped teaspoons of chipotle paste (or more, if you like it spicy)

800g tinned chopped tomatoes

Fresh coriander
Small bunch spring onions

To serve:

Corn or flour tortillas (2 per person would be a 'sensible' suggestion, but you may find that hungry people want more! We managed 3 each.)

Guacamole

Soured cream

1. Chop onions into small pieces and fry in a little oil until soft and starting to turn golden. Slice the peppers and add to the pan, frying until starting to soften. Finely chop or crush the garlic and add this for the final minute or two.

2. Add the sugar and chipotle paste to the pan and stir well to coat. Pour in the tomatoes and then add the chicken breasts (whole and unbrowned). Cover with the tomatoey sauce as best you can and simmer gently for 20 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Note: you can do this in the oven too. Stir occasionally and add a little water or stock if the sauce is drying out.

3. When the chicken is cooked, remove from the sauce to a plate and shred with two forks. Stir the shredded chicken back into the sauce and heat through.

4. Serve, scattered with plenty of coriander and chopped spring onions, either with rice or with rice, tortillas, guacamole and soured cream (and anything else that takes your fancy!).

Wine jellies

2011-01-07T10:51:00.000Z

I have become a jam-jar obsessive. The pile of empty (as yet unwashed) jars that sits on the windowsill beside the kitchen sink threatens to take over the kitchen. My obsession with keeping empty jars 'just in case' started last year when preparing for our wedding in May. Wanting to put a foodie stamp on the day I decided that it would be quite brilliant to make jars of chutneys and jams to put in each place for guests to take home as a reminder of our special day.

Sounds good in theory, doesn't it? I had visions of dozens of jars topped with dear little brightly coloured fabric covers. My vision didn't actually extend to just how long it would take to make 200-odd jars of chutney. Especially as I had never before made a chutney.

My first challenge was collecting enough jars. Much as I am obsessed with condiments (ask my husband - half our fridge is dedicated to jars and it drives him quite mad), collecting 200 in a short space of time was always going to be a chore. So I asked friends and colleagues to help. Before long, our small London flat was overflowing with used jam-jars. In bags. In boxes. Loose on kitchen surfaces. I began to hate them. But then I made my first batch of chutney and I enjoyed myself. The chopping was a chore but I felt super satisfied with the results of my labours. Eight gleaming jars full of 'autumn fruit chutney'. Result.

The next batch was an apple and onion chutney and then I moved on to a more exciting-sounding 'rhubarb and date'. Before long I'd made around 50 jars and was feeling quite the domestic goddess. Whilst my husband liked the idea and even helped with some of the concoctions, he began to get somewhat irked by the way every cupboard in our kitchen was filling up with chutneys, leaving no space for 'real' food. I'd also had enough of all that chopping and begun to feel that I'd never hit my target. Urgent action was required...

Rhubarb and date chutney in the making!

The finished product

I consulted my trusty recipe book, 'Jams and Chutneys' by Thane Prince in the hope of finding something less time-consuming. This is where I discovered the joy of wine jellies. Simplicity itself to make, shiraz jelly was where I started. This gleaming jewel-coloured jelly looked stunning and proved to be delicious with cold meats and cheeses. Thane also suggests serving with scones - this would be great I'm sure as the jelly is very sweet.

From here I moved onto a Monbazillac jelly having adapted her recipe for Sage and sauternes jelly (which I'll try another time when I'm making smaller quantities!). This was an absolute triumph and quite stunning with blue cheese and, in a decadent moment, foie gras served on toasted brioche. It would also make a great partner to rich meats such as goose or duck but we didn't have enough left for that.

The final jelly we made was a Port jelly for which I followed the same 'template' as the Shiraz jelly. In fact, you could use the same method for any full-bodied wine. The Port jelly was a natural partner for Stilton and other blue cheese but also works well in place of redcurrant jelly when stirred into sauces and gravies.

The best thing about these recipes is that they take no more than half an hour from start to finish. They make super gifts too if you can bear to part with them!

Incidentally, this recipe book is quite brilliant. Packed with seasonal ideas for jams, chutneys, jellies, relishes and cordials, it is beautifully photographed and the instructions are very clear.

Remember to place some plates in the fridge or freezer in good time before you attempt these jellies so that you can test for a set.

Shiraz Wine Jelly (or Port Jelly or Chardonnay Jelly....)

Recipe from Jams and Chutneys by Thane Prince

Makes 1kg (approx 4 medium jars), recipe easily doubled

Shiraz Jelly in the making

Ingredients

750ml (1 bottle) full-bodied wine of choice

juice of 2 lemons

250g liquid pectin (available from most good supermarkets)

900g white granulated sugar

1.Place a couple of plates in the fridge to chill in plenty of time before you want to make the jelly. Also gather some jars and sterlize either by running them on the hottest setting in the dishwasher or washing in hot, soapy water and drying in a warm oven.

2. Take a preserving pan or very large saucepan. Add wine, lemon juice and pectin and stir to combine. Bring to the boil, whisking occasionally to combine ingredients.

3. Add the sugar and continue to stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved.

4. Once sugar has completely dissolved, bring to a full rolling boil and, using a slotted spoon, skim off any scum that rises to the surface.

4. Boil for 2 minutes, remove from heat and then test for a set by dropping a little mixture onto a cold plate, allowing it to cool and pushing with finger to see if it wrinkles. When it does, it is ready. If not, Return to the heat for another minute or so and test again. You may need to do this several times until it is set. For more information on testing for setting point do see here for the various methods.

5. When jelly has reached setting point, pot into hot sterilized jars.

Monbazillac Jelly - very similar recipe to above

Ingredients:

750ml Monbazillac

800g white granulated sugar

250g liquid pectin

1. Combine wine and sugar in preserving pan and stir over low heat until sugar has dissolved. Increase heat and bring to rolling boil for 2 mins.

2. Turn off heat and stir in pectin then bring back to boil for a minute and start testing for a set as above.

Cornish Pasties

2011-01-05T17:13:00.000Z

It is the New Year. I've spent the past few weeks over-indulging on a pretty serious scale. The time has come to reign it in, eshew the slab of Christmas cake for a health-giving platter of fresh fruit, abandon the crisps and dips for a carrot baton and leave the rich, hefty dishes of the festive season behind in favour of fresh and dainty salads. Sound familiar?

In theory, the idea of starting the New Year afresh with healthy options aplenty is a good one. But I've just never been much good at it. I mean, does a salad really appeal when the temperature is sub-zero?

January, for me, is perhaps the most depressing month of the year. The bright lights and glitz of Christmas have vanished without trace, everyone plods back to work and there seems to be little to look forward to. Unless you have some exciting holiday booked. Which I don't... So, I think January is a time to go easy on yourself. Save the dieting for the Spring when all seems more hopeful and cheery. The days are warmer and those lighter meals are just what the body craves. For now though, hunker down with some comfort food. Warming soups, stews and pies don't need to be swimming in fat but they deliver the satisfaction that we crave on these dreary, wintery days.

So, if you are looking for health food, I'm sorry to disappoint. Instead I bring you... The Cornish Pasty.

A few years ago, I wouldn't have imagined myself ever making such a thing. I like a Cornish Pasty as much as the next man (or woman) but it isn't really something I get particularly excited about. Enter my husband. If you asked him to describe his 'last supper', it might well include a pasty (along with roast beef, yorkshire puddings, all the trimmings, cheese galore and a syrup sponge pudding). When holidaying in Cornwall, he felt positively hard-done-by if a pasty-less day went by. He also taught me that there are pasties and pasties. Once I'd tasted a few, I bugun to take his point. There is a world of difference between a good pasty and an indifferent one. The quest for pasty perfection peaked my interest and I vowed to try and make one at home for him upon return.

Upon return from said holiday, it appeared that we'd eaten a few too many pasties and it seemed rather an indulgent treat to make at home (we were on a pre-wedding diet). I forgot all about it. Fast-forward 18 months and I was flicking through an old copy of Aga Living Magazine and came accross a very simple-sounding recipe for Cornish Pasties. The time had come to give them a whirl...

A little further research led me to another recipe in my Aga Bible book. I was then befuddled. The recipes were quite different and I was at a loss to know which to follow. One suggested skirt beef, the other rib-eye. Quite a difference, I thought. Rump would surely be more tender in the pasty but I'd always understood the pasty to be an... economical... treat for tin and copper miners. Skirt would fit better with this and certainly seems the traditional choice according to the interweb. We only discovered this after a trip to the supermarket though, so rib-eye it was!

Recipes differed on vegetable ingredients too. Potato, swede and onion are what we both feel 'should' be in a pasty so we stuck with this. Seasoning is key too - plenty of pepper in particular, and then add some more. Ours could have had more even though I felt like I'd overdone it.

As for the pastry, I went for the a simple recipe but the magazine suggested a pastry using half butter and half lard. I suspect this would have been better but was pretty pleased with mine. This recipe made vast pasties. A true feast. Next time, I'd make smaller ones. Otherwise, these were absolutely delicious. Not the best or most authentic perhaps, but pretty good for a first attempt!

Cornish Pasties

Adapted from Aga Living and Aga Bible

Makes 6 (or more smaller ones)

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

342g plain flour

226g butter, cold and cubed

1 free range egg

salt and pepper

For the filling:

250g skirt steak or rib-eye steak if you are feeling fancy (we were!)

300g potato, peeled and diced

150g swede, peeled and diced

2 medium onions, finely chopped

1-2 tbsp beef stock

salt and pepper

1 egg, beaten, to glaze

1. Make the pastry. Simply put ingredients in a food processor and pulse until it comes together in a ball. Only add a touch of water if it is very crumbly. You can also do this by hand, rubbing the butter into the flour and adding the egg to bind. Wrap in cling film and rest in the fridge for at least an hour. Bring to room temperature again before rolling out.

2. If cooking on a regular oven, pre-heat to 200C. If you are using the Aga, take a moment to revel in the lack of pre-heating required!

3. Chop meat into small cubes and brown in a little oil. Set to one side and add onions to the pan to soften for a few minutes. Add to beef. Add the stock to the pan and scrape up all the little bits - pour over the meat and onions. Add potatoes and swede and mix to combine. Season very well with plenty of salt and pepper.

4. Roll out the pastry and, using a 20cm plate, cut out 6 circles. Put some of the filling in the centre of each circle, brush the edge with beaten egg and bring the two sides of pastry together to form a semi-circle. 'Crimp' the edges of the pasty with your fingers to make a wavy edge* and transfer to a non-stick baking tray (ideally lined with Bake-o-Glide if using the Aga).

5. Brush pasties with remaining egg-wash so that the bronze nicely.

6. Bake...

Aga users: bake on floor of roasting oven for 20 minutes and then move to bottom set of runners with cold shelf on 2nd set to avoid over-browning for about 30 mins.

Conventional cooking: bake at 200C (fan) for 20 minutes and then turn down to 160C (fan) for a further 30 minutes.

*Traditionally, the crimped edge is not eaten. Miners didn't have the opportunity to wash their hands before eating their lunch and their hands were often ingrained with poisonous arsenic - the chunky edge was held during eating and then disgarded.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-05T10:18:00.000Z

Boxing Day

I hope that everyone enjoyed the Christmas break. Despite my reservations about Christmas without 'my' family, we had a wonderful time and I'm pleased to report that it all went without a hitch. For the turkey, I used Nigella's brining method. I'm a total convert - I really think it results in a juicier bird, even if you cook it for longer than she suggests. We also pushed the boat out and went for a bronze turkey as we were a small gathering and the flavour was superb. It was equally good cold and sliced like a dream and the various dishes we made afterwards were superb, the slightly stronger flavour of the bronze turkey shining through. As well as a delicious turkey hash (Nigella again), an indulgent turkey and ham pie and a reviving thai green curry we also boiled up the carcass to make stock which is now all sitting happily in the freezer. I'm looking forward to the soup that will follow in the weeks ahead. Truth be told, I've never enjoyed a turkey so much and, whilst the initial outlay was eye-wateringly high, the number of meals it has provided makes it a very economical bird.

Enough about the turkey. We've all moved on, right? I was a little lax about taking photos of food over Christmas (mainly due to the fact that I was busy getting it ready for and serving it to guests who thought my camera habit a little odd). I was particularly pleased with our New Year feast though. We were just a small group of four which meant we could really enjoy cooking a special meal. My husband has suddenly got into making canapes and made an impressive trio on the night. We then served up oriental steamed seabass, followed by Persian slow-roasted shoulder of lamb and a very moreish chocolate and chestnut roulade.

Oriental Steamed Seabass

Chocolate Chestnut Roulade

Of all the nibbles that I've been offered this Christmas, the platter that enticed me the most contained these very simple cucumber canapes (please excuse the lack of accents - I can't seem to work out how to do them on blogger). Nothing fancy, but they really are very visually appealing (the less romantic could choose a star design instead) and surprisingly tasty, especially if you use on of those wonderfully nobbly, crunchy organic cucumbers whose skin you have to peel.

Cucumber Cream Canapes

Recipe from 'Canapes' by Eric Treuille and Victoria Blashford-Snell

Makes 20

Ingredients

1/2 cucumber (or a whole small nobbly, organic one)

200g cream cheese

10 thin white bread slices

3 tbsp finely chopped parsley (either type will do, we used flat-leaf as we had it to hand)

salt and pepper (recipe specifies white, we used regular black)

You will also need two cookie cutters of the same shape, one slightly larger than the other.

1. Cut the cucumber into slices - around 0.5cm thick, 1/4 inch.

2. Stamp out 20 hearts (or stars etc...) with the small cutter.

3. Spread cream cheese on the bread and then stamp out 20 hearts/stars with the larger cutter.

4. Place parsley in a small dish and dip the edges of the bread hearts in parsley. Top with cucumber hearts and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Notes - we thought these were best served chilled. They can be made 3 hours in advance. Simply cover in cling film and pop in the fridge.

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2010-12-24T10:35:00.000Z

Finally beginning to feel a little Christmassy. All the last-minute preparations are well underway and we are awaiting the safe arrival of my in-laws. I've mentioned before that it will be strange having my first Christmas away from 'my' family but I've really enjoyed planning our own festivities and deciding what we'll eat over the next few days. On the other hand, we've be fairly shocked at how the shopping bills have added up and I now look at my mother's Christmasses with a whole new level of appreciation!

I iced my Christmas cake last night and, have to say, am quite pleased with the results. I've probably only iced one or two other cakes in my life so I don't think this is too bad for an amateur! It is a very simple yet bold design. I can't find any subtle pins, so you'll have to excuse the safety pin that is currently holding the bow in place in these photos.

Here's how I did it...

I turned my mature cake upside down onto a cake board to give me a flat surface on the top. I then filled in the gap at the bottom with 'sausages' of marzipan. Using warm apricot jam as the glue I then filled in any major 'holes' in the surface with little balls of marzipan which I then smoothed to give and even-ish surface. Next I rolled out a large piece of marzipan and covered the whole cake, trimming the edges to fit.

I left the marzipan overnight to dry out a little and then covered with fondant icing, glued on with warm apricot jam. I used my handy 'smoothing' tool to smooth over any cracks in the surface (thought there are still a few on the corners!). Next I rolled out red fondant icing and cut out the snowflake shapes which I stuck in position with a little water. A piece of red ribbon completed the cake!

I'm looking forward to reading about everyone's Christmas feasts over the next few days and wish you all a very Happy Christmas!

And just because I can't resist, here is a snowy picture of my rather handsome little furry friend. He's wishes you a Happy Christmas too (he told me so!).

Heston's Christmas Pudding

2010-12-21T12:47:00.000Z

What a month! There has been vitrtually no time for blogging (or cooking for that matter). I've been hard at work assisting with the organisation of the Cirencester Christmas Market, a spectuacular German-style Christmas market which took place in my home town. Hours have been long and I have been completely exhausted upon returning home each day having spent nine hours each day outside in the freezing conditions.

I'm so pleased to finally be 'on holiday' and am looking forward to sharing all the festive treats that I'll be cooking over the next few days. Like many, we have vast amounts of snow preventing us from getting out and about - the perfect excuse to spend time in the kitchen.

Before I get onto the things that I've been cooking recently, I must post a very overdue review of the spectacular Christmas pudding sent to me by the kind people at Waitrose. I'm a huge fan of Waitrose in general and, as it is my local supermarket, am seen there fairly regularly. The partnership with Heston Blumenthal is one I've been following with interest. To be honest, Heston's style of cooking isn't one that I'm naturally drawn in. I adored a meal at his pub the Hinds Head in Bray I have to admit, but The Fat Duck wizardry just doesn't appeal to me. I do enjoy watching his culinary experiments on television too but I prefer to view cooking as art rather than science.

However, I was intrigued by the sound of the Christmas pudding he has developed for Waitrose. Being Heston, this is no ordinary pudding. It looks like one from the outside, but it hides a little secret! In the centre of the pud is a whole, candied orange. The notion reminds me somewhat of a Sussex Pond pudding which houses a whole lemon and wonder if perhaps this is where he got his inspiration.

Anyway, I did consider buying one of these myself out of curiosity. But, as always, I have made my own pudding so there was really no need. Imagine my delight to be sent one to review. The pudding is smartly packaged and cooking instructions suggest steaming the pud for best results or microwaving if time is short. At first I was unsure with whom to share this treat - my husband does not like orange and the pudding is large enough for at least eight hungry people. In the end I served it for dinner when my parents came to visit - a pre-Christmas celebration seeing as I won't see them over the next few weeks.

We all looked at the pud with a critical eye - it certainly looked and smelt fantastic. We couldn't wait to dive in and sample Heston's work. We were not disappointed. The pudding was absolutely divine. It was fantastically moist and juicy - I imagine juices from the orange seep out into the pud whilst it is cooking. The candied orange looked very festive in the centre and tasted good too. Even my husband enjoyed the pud although he wasn't a fan of the actual orange, unsurprisingly. The flavour was excellent - a nice balance between fruit and booze with the orange flavour more subtle than you might expect. It is quite a nutty pudding, something that I wasn't so keen on (I prefer nuts chopped very small rather than in big chunks) but others enjoyed. Heston suggests serving with Cointreau butter but I stuck to traditional brandy butter which worked very well too. Leftovers heated up well in the microwave over the next few days and were very much enjoyed too.

All in all, a thoroughly glorious pudding. My mother found it so good that she raced out and bought one for Christmas Day, despite having already made her own! I might well have considered doing the same but our Waitrose (along with many others) has sold out. I was amused to see that they have managed to secure 5 further puddings and have decided to raffle these off to customers, such is the popularity of Heston's twist on the traditional favourite. This pudding worked for me as it remained true to its roots whilst also being innovative and different. It won't dissappoint the traditionalists but will please those looking for something new. If only I could get hold of another!

Chocolate and pear crumble

2010-11-22T19:12:00.000Z

We have been rather overloaded with pears this year - the tree in the garden was positively groaning in them and they seemed to ripen all at exactly the same time. We picked the lot and left them in the cool shed whilst we pondered their fate. We ate a few here and there and used them in various puddings but the greatest thing we did with our pears was this fantastically warming chocolatey crumble.

Chocolate and pear is a fairly classic combination. I've never been entirely convinced by the pairing myself. I'm a bit funny about chocolate with fruit in general. My only true exception is chocolate and orange which I adore but sadly my husband hates orange so it is a combination I don't get to enjoy all that often. He loves chocolate and pear though. His favourite pudding is something he calls 'chocolate pear upside down pudding'. I've tried to recreate this fondly-remembered childhood pud but sadly I find myself lacking. He always declares it 'very good', but 'not quite what my mother used to make'.

I'd decided to leave this well alone and move on but then I spotted an interesting sounding recipe in a newly acquired Aga cook book. The 'Aga Bible' by Amy Wilcock is an excellent tome for anyone new to Aga cooking (or for new ideas for those who've had one for years). It has plenty of advice and a good mix of classic and more imaginative recipes. This crumble is much like a regular crumble only the 'crumble' has the very welcome addition of cocoa powder and grated dark chocolate. The result was spectacularly good. I'd love to say that 'this is terribly rich so you'll only manage a small helping' but I'll tell you now that even though it was rather sweet and rich, I greedily devoured two helpings. Best served with vanilla ice cream or regular cream.

Chocolate and Pear Crumble

Serves 6

taken from The Aga Bible by Amy Wilcock

Ingredients:

100g chilled butter, plus a little extra for greasing

6 ripe pears (I used Conference)

1 tsp ground ginger

80g plain flour

60g ground almonds

100g golden caster sugar

3tbsp cocoa powder

75g chilled dark chocolate

1. Lightly grease a deep medium-sized ovenproof dish with butter. Pre-heat oven to 180C.

2. Peel, quarter and core the pears before chopping into chunks, popping in the prepared dish and sprinkling with ginger.

3. Using a food processor, whizz together flour, almonds, sugar and cocoa until blended. Cut chilled butter into small pieces and add to processor. Pulse until you have crumbly breadcrumb consistency.

4. Coarsely grate the chocolate into the processor and give another whizz. Pour/spread crumble mix over the pears.

Conventional cooking:

Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown.

2-door Aga:

Put dish into Aga roasting tin and hand on 4th set of runners in roasting oven. Cook for 20-25 minutes and then transfer to simmering oven and cook for a further 20-25 mins or until the fruit is tender.

4-door Aga:

Cook on 3rd set of runners in baking oven for 35-40 minutes.

My favourite Christmas cake

2010-11-16T18:43:00.000Z

Christmas Cake in disguise!

It is with a mixture of apprehension and excitement that I await Christmas this year. It will be my first Christmas as a married woman and the first that I will be the one hosting the festivities. It will be the first Christmas I will spend with my in-laws. It will also be the first Christmas I have spent away from my parents and family.

My mother has always played the most integral part in my Christmas. She is the sort of woman who does Christmas properly. She is the sort of woman who has five sets of Christmas placemats. The sort of woman who, over the years, has amassed a collection of 'special' dishes which come out only once a year. There is a special platter for the turkey, bowls featuring a Holly design for holding the brandy butter, a festive plate for the Christmas pudding and glasses etched with reindeer to delight her grandchildren (...and children for that matter). This may all sound rather kitsch, but I can assure you it is not - my mother's Christmas manages to be both artistic and tasteful whilst also being great fun.

My mother has been 'doing' Christmas for around fifty years so it is hardly surprising that she has perfected the art. Her tree is always beautifully decorated (red, silver and green only), there will be a lovely wreath on the door, a festive swag running up the staircase and a stunning flower arrangement in the centre of the dining table. Each year is the same and this is what I love. The familiarity of annual traditions, our Christmas Day routine (stockings, church, Champagne and smoked salmon, present opening, lunch...) and the joy of being with the people who know you the best.

The idea of a Christmas without all of this is quite alarming . Even more alarming is the fact that I want 'my' Christmas to be equally glorious yet I have none of the experience (or Christmas accessories) that my mother has accumulated over the years. Despite this level of alarm, I am actually looking forward to Christmas is my own home. I'm looking forward to staying put, not having to travel and just enjoying spending time with my husband in our new home. I'm looking forward to decorating the house 'our' way (though the red and silver theme is fairly ingrained) albeit on a very limited budget. And fortunately, my mother is willing to spare one of the sets of placemats!

I'm not entirely in the dark. I have cooked the Christmas lunch before and with some success. I have also been in charge of the Christmas pudding for the past few years - this has been made and is safely stored away maturing ahead of the big day. For my foolproof recipe, please see this link. I've also made a Christmas cake before - I followed Delia's recipe and enjoyed the results but (guess what) it didn't quite match up to my mother's cake. To be fair to Delia, I actually prefer a slightly lighter-coloured cake to the traditional very dark fruit cake. The recipe that my family swear by is actually taken from an old wedding cake book. My sister is a professional wedding cake maker and this is the cake she uses for her cakes. It really is the nicest fruit cake I know of - beautifully moist, sticky and reasonably boozy yet quite pale rather than treacley-black.

The cake is best made at least three weeks in advance and left to mature nicely until ready to ice. An important part of the maturation is the addition of a soaking mixture which is drizzled over the cake sporadically whilst it matures.

The recipe is for one quantity of cake mixture. Underneath the ingredients I have listed the number of quantities according to the size and shape of your cake tins. This is also useful if you are making several tiers of a wedding cake. I made a 9 inch square cake and used 6 quantities of mixture. Unless you have digital scales, you may find it easier to use pounds and ounces to measure the ingredients - I give both!

My favourite Christmas Cake

Ingredients for one quantity of cake mixture. See below for guide to cake sizes.

2oz/57g plain flour

2oz/57g brown sugar

2oz/57g butter

2.5oz/71g currants

2.5oz/71g sultanas

1oz/28g seedless raisins

1oz/28g glace cherries

1.5oz/42g mixed peel

3/4 oz/21g ground almonds

2 tsp brandy or rum

1 large egg

pinch nutmeg

pinch mixed spice

pinch salt

1/4 lemon zest and juice

For 8 inch round, use 4 quantities of mixture and cook for approx. 3.5-4 hours

For 8 inch square, use 5 quantities and cook for approx. 4 hours

For 9 inch round, use 5 quantities and cook for approx. 4-4.5 hours

For 9 inch square, use 6 quantities and cook for approx. 4.5 hours

Soaking Mixture:

Equal quantities of rum, sherry and glycerine (or spirits of choice!). Glycerine is available from the chemist or, in small bottles, in the baking section of larger supermarkets. Add 1 tablespoonful per 1lb of cake when cooked.

1. Pre-heat oven to 140C. Line cake tin with a double layer of buttered greaseproof paper.

2. Clean the dried fruit by tipping onto a clean tea-towel and sprinkling with flour. Roll up in towel and agitate to release any bits of stalk/grit.

3. Halve the cherries then mix all the fruit together with lemon zest. Sift flour, spices and salt and set to one side.

4. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually add eggs, beating after each addition. Stir in ground almonds and then fold in the flour and spices.

5. Add brandy or rum, fruit and lemon juice. Give everything a great big stir to combine ingredients thoroughly.

6. Transfer to prepared tin and place in center of oven. Below the cake place a roasting tin containing one pint of water. This will create sufficient humidity to keep the top of the cake moist and ensure level results in baking. Remove water after half the baking time (mind had evaporated by this stage!).

7. If the cake is browning too quickly, protect the top with a layer of foil or baking paper. Every oven differs and the timings are only a guide. My mother and sister tell me the cake usually takes much longer than the specified times in their ovens. In my oven, the timings seemed about right. Test the cake with a skewer to see if it is done.

8. When cake is ready, remove from oven and leave in the tin for 24 hours. After this time prick the top with a skewer, cocktail stick or knitting needle and sprinkle with appropriate quantity of soaking mixture (see above). Wrap cake in waxed paper for at least 3 weeks, topping up with soaking mixture if required.

As for decorating the cake... You'll just have to wait and see!

'Aga' drop scones

2010-11-15T21:11:00.000Z

My new job has been eating into blogging and cooking time which means that getting used to the Aga is taking longer than I'd hoped. There have been a fair few disasters which, I have to admit, have had me tearing my hair out in frustration. My biggest gripe is that we struggle to keep a constant heat and, as we have to fill up with solid fuel once or twice a day, the kitchen is permanantly covered in a layer of black soot. Not very appetising!

However, there are aspects of this cooker that I already love and know I will miss terribly when we move. I love the instant heat - no pre-heating required here. Water boils instantly. Meat is sealed in moments. And the kitchen has a lovely warm glow. Having acquired an old Aga kettle we no longer need to use the electric version and the toaster is looking dusty in the corner too - crumpets and toast cook perfectly using the heat that is already there. But my favourite thing about the Aga involves the simmering plate (top right hand side) and a piece of Bake-o-Glide. Actually, we don't have Bake-o-Glide. It is fearfully expensive. We have some kind of supermarket imitation that does the job just as well. It is basically a non-stick, re-usable sheet of silicone (I think?!) which can withstand fairly high heat. We place it over the simmering plate and cook directly on it. Fat-less 'fried' eggs are a favourite - just crack an egg onto the non-stick sheet and lower (yes, really) the lid. A few minutes later, lift the lid to a perfectly-cooked, super-healthy egg. Butterless toasted sandwiches are a real hit - we favour a mature Cheddar and some onion chutney. Make the sandwich, place on the silicone sheet and put the lid down again. A few minutes later, flip the sandwich and repeat. Moments later you'll have a scrumptious, perfectly cooked toastie without messing up a sandwich toaster and without an ounce of butter smeared on the outside. Lovely!

The 'baking sheet-simmering plate method' is also a winner for all kinds of pancakes. Drop-scones (or scotch pancakes) cooked directly on the top are an Aga classic. I have a few Aga cookbooks which feature various 'Aga' classics. In slightly arrogant tone they refer to 'Aga' shortbread, 'Aga' drop scones, 'Aga' breakfasts and 'Aga' flapjacks. This makes it sound as though 'Aga' shortbread is vastly superior to any other kind - I'm not convinced by this but at least it makes me laugh! Anyway, the drop scones are a hit with me. I've made them several times in various guises. For pudding with maple syrup and pears or bananas. For an indulgent weekend breakfast with honey and berries. For a dinner party starter with added herbs and served with smoked trout and horseradish cream.

Here is the recipe I have used. I believe it is a Mary Berry recipe. Feel free to vary the batter. Good additions include cinnamon, raisins, blueberries or fresh herbs. An Aga is not necessary - these will be equally delicious cooked on a griddle or in a good non-stick frying pan! Please excuse a selection of terrible photos - light was awful and I was in a hurry to eat them.

'Aga' Drop Scones

Ingredients

4oz self-raising flour

1oz caster sugar (omit if making savoury pancakes and season with salt and pepper)

1 large egg

1/4 pint milk

1. Mix flour and sugar together and create a well in the centre.

2. Crack egg into the well and mix with a wooden spoon to combine.

3. Add the milk a little at a time, stirring between additions, until you have a smooth batter.

4. Lightly grease a frying pan, griddle or the top of the simmering plate on an Aga. If you have a solid fuel Aga like us, place a piece of non-stick silicone liner over the simmering plate. Drop tablespoonfuls of batter onto the pan or liner and leave to cook until bubbles begin to form on the surface. Carefully flip the drop scones with a palette knife and cook the other side. This should only take a minute or two.

5. Remove cooked scones from heat and keep soft in a clean tea-towel until ready to serve.

Timbale of trout and dill

2010-11-02T17:18:00.000Z

I've just started a new job which is exciting but also rather tiring, particularly as we've had guests staying every weekend recently. I feel like I'm permanent sheet-washing duty! Anyway, I haven't had much time to blog but we are excited to have finally got our Aga working. We haven't quite got the hang of the re-fuelling as yet - my husband seems able to keep it going but as soon as he goes away with work it mysteriously goes out. I do my bit - riddling and emptying the ash pan, filling it up with anthracite and hoping for the best. But it seems not to like me much...!

When it has been working, we've been enjoying Aga classics such as the fatless 'fried' egg, fantastic butter-less toasted sandwiches (honestly) and wonderful drop scones cooked straight on the top of the simmering plate. I'll be reporting on these treats later in the week but firstly, I wanted to share this lovely little starter that I made the other night.

It emerged out of leftovers - as the best things often do. We don't often have a starter but I had some leftover trout which needed eating and wasn't enough for a main course. It took moments to throw together but looked impressive and tasted fantastic. An inpromptu starter for us but something I'll do again for a dinner party perhaps.

It was so simple that I hardly feel it requires a recipe. I used a 'cheaty' ingredient which was a jar of dill and mustard sauce I had in the fridge - the sort that you serve with gravadlax. I'm addicted to it and love it with all smoked fish too. You can make your own very easily too - there are plenty of recipes on the web, such as this one. To make your starter look attractive, use a big biscuit/cookie cutter or a timbale mould.

I use the word timbale in the loosest sense possible. I think it really refers to things that are baked in a circular mould. I find a regular round biscuit cutter can make all sorts of things look dinner party-ish. Rice, mashed potato, ratatouille, mousses all look strangely accomplished when served in a neat little shape like this!

This starter is the base for many. You could use leftover salmon, for example. Or try cooked chicken bound together with a little mayonnaise, curry powder and mango chutney. Smoked mackerel with creme fraiche and horseradish perhaps? The world is your oyster!

Here is the basic recipe...

Timbale of trout and dill

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 small fillet cooked trout

2 tbsp dill and mustard sauce

1 inch piece of cucumber

half and avocado

1. Halve cucumber across the middle and scrape out the watery seeds. Chop into smallish cubes.

2. Peel avocado and dice.

3. Combine trout, sauce, cucumber and avocado in a bowl with salt and pepper. Add a squeeze of lemon juice if you think it needs a little more acidity (depends on the sauce). You may need a little more or less sauce in order to bind the ingredients together.

4. Push the mixture into a circular mould or biscuit cutter on a serving plate and refrigerate for half an hour if you have time.

5. When ready to serve, remove the mould carefully. You should be left with a nicely shaped mixture. Arrange some salad leaves on the plate, if desired. Garnish with dill or chives.

A forage in the fields: sloe gin

2010-10-22T16:37:00.000Z

The husband and I are worried that we may be turning into a parody of ourselves. When making the transition from an urban existence in London to the much-longed-for country life, we were keen to fit in and avoid potential hostility from the neighbours who had lived in the area for a lifetime. In our eagerness to look the part, we may perhaps have gone a little far...

The black labrador was really a non-negotiable and, to be fair, he was part of our lives before we made the move. From black labrador, it was a very short step to the Barbour jacket. An essential for muddy walks, I would argue. Green wellies too are a necessity (in the city I'd favoured a more flamboyant floral wellie but when these sprang a leak, I felt that only green would do). Soon after, I invested in a Driza-Bone hat. This too seemed necessary for dog walking - my bright pink umbrella screamed 'townie' and is hardly practical when carrying dog lead, whistle, poo bags, dog treats and other canine-related paraphernalia. So far so good...

But then the husband decided the time had come to buy a flat-cap. This, he argued, was a necessity for keeping his head warm and dry on early-morning walks (...and trips across the fields to the local pub, no doubt). I was uncertain but came round to the idea once I'd seen it on. As yet, it remains unworn. He's put it on a few times and then removed it in a state of uncertainty - is it just one step too far? Are we taking country living a little bit too seriously? After all, he managed dog walks on cold mornings in London perfectly well without the need for such a garment.

Enjoying the countryside

It doesn't end here however. Our eating habits have changed too. Not only do we find ourselves in possession of the obligatory Aga (serviced today and firing up nicely as I type), but we also find ourselves living off the land in a way we haven't done since we were children. Aside from a few efforts at 'growing things in pots' in my London courtyard garden, eating food from the garden and hedgerows is something I've not done in any significant way since I was young. Our garden has three apple trees, a plum tree and a pear tree and we've been enjoying these enormously. Dog walks have become missions in picking as many blackberries as we can carry and Sunday afternoons have become sessions of chutney-making and cake-baking. What could be more enjoyable?

I suspect that our neighbours may be laughing at us as we stagger home with punnets of foraged fruits. Whilst this is still a novelty for us, I suspect they enjoy the fruits of the land in slightly less greedy quantities knowing full well that a person cannot physically eat sixty jars of chutney before next year's crop of apples. We are clearly a little more eager than most.

But, who really cares what the neighbours think? We are loving our new life and have no shame when it comes to helping ourselves to what nature offers up (...though we do leave a little for others to enjoy!).

Blackthorn bushes drowning in sloes

Our latest haul has been of sloes. Sloe gin is a real favourite of mine and this year seems to be particularly good for sloes. The hedgerows are positively drowning in these little black fruits so we didn't feel too bad helping ourselves to a good haul.

There is much debate surrounding when one should pick sloes and how to make the best sloe gin. I've read it all and come to the following conclusions...

1. When to pick?

It is best to pick sloes after the first frost of the year. They may look enticing in September, but it really is better to wait until late October or early November. I'm not sure why this is, but it does seem to improve flavour. I picked mine a few weeks ago. We'd had a frost and they looked good. But yesterday, I picked a whole lot more with my sister for her to take home. They were noticeably riper, bigger and juicier. I wish I'd been a little more patient and waited longer... One further tip - pick only the sloes which are showing a whitish 'bloom'. Leave the totally black sloes behind.

Sloes: pick those with whitish bloom
and wait until after the first frost

2. To freeze or not to freeze?

Some advise that sloes release more flavour if they are frozen prior to use. I suspect this may be true for those picked earlier - a stimulation of the frost perhaps. I'm not sure of the science here but, as I picked mine a touch early, I washed and dried my sloes carefully and then popped them in the freezer overnight. This does cause the some of the skins to split, helping to release the juices and flavour.

3. To prick or not to prick?

Traditionally, one is advised to prick each sloe by hand before adding to the gin to release juices. This could be described as tedious and time-consuming. It could also be described as satisfying and strangely therapeutic. Some argue that freezing the sloes overnight causes the skins to split and therefore does the same job but I found that most of my sloes remained intact despite freezing. I decided to prick mine. I used a needle which I sterilized by washing in very hot water and dipping in gin!

4. Any old gin or high-quality gin?

Tricky one here. Does it really matter what kind of gin you use? I'm of the view that a recipe is only as good as its ingredients so I therefore feel it does matter. Having said that, I wouldn't use an expensive brand. I think it is important to use a gin which is over 40% alcohol. I wouldn't choose to drink a gin under this - I once studied a course on spirits and was led to believe that higher alcohol brings out the flavour of the different botanicals which give gin its flavour. Below 40%, you don't get a 'full' experience. So, I looked for a special offer on a gin which had 40% min. alcohol. Tesco had an offer on litre bottles of Greenalls gin, so I went for that.

5. What to add to your gin?

The classic 'recipe' calls simply for sloes, sugar and gin and that works for me. But I've read that other flavours work well so this year I've added almond essence to one of my bottles. Over at Dinner Diary, Kerri has experimented with a delicious-sounding spicy sloe gin. I can't wait to hear how it turns out!

6. How long do I have to wait?

Oh dear. This is where I come unstuck. I'm not the most patient of people, it has to be admitted. I know that sloe gin gets better with age. I know that to enjoy it as its best I should wait a year. But I'm afraid that come Christmas Day, I may just have to have a teeny, tiny sip. Just to see how it is coming along, you understand! Basically, the gin is 'ready' after three months but really you should try to keep it longer!

7. When and how should I drink it?

Sloe gin is a wonderful pick-me-up at any time. Wait! That doesn't sound good. I'm not suggesting you start on it at breakfast time. But seriously, I love to enjoy a small glass after dinner in front of the fire. Or a little swig from a hip flask on a really cold day when out for a walk. But it can also be delicious incorporated in a cocktail. My favourite is a 'sloegasam' (apologies - I didn't invent the name). Half a shot of sloe gin, topped up with Champagne or sparkling wine. Yum. More cocktail ideas are here.

Here is how we made ours. You will need some empty bottles or kilner jars.

Sloe gin

1. Pick as many sloes as you can find. Wash and dry them, then prick each sloe with a sterilized needle or pin.

2. Take a litre bottle of gin and pour half the gin into a jug. Put to one side.

3. Using a funnel, pour in approx. 150g sugar.

4. Top up the bottle with the pricked sloes until the level of gin has risen almost to the top. Seal tightly. Pour remaining gin into another bottle or jar and repeat steps 3 and 4.

Topping up with sloes, one at a time...

5. Give the bottles a little shake to combine. Do not worry if, at this stage, the sugar all collects at the bottom. With time, it will dissolve.

6. Store in a cool, dark place away from greedy paws. For the first week, you should turn/shake the bottles a little each day. You should then continue to do this once a week for three months. Taste occasionally and add more sugar to taste if required.

7. After three months, decant the gin off the sloes into pretty bottles. It is ready to drink although it will improve in bottle over the coming months.

Notes: the 'used' sloes can be put to good use too. I've seen recipes for sloe gin jelly, sloe gin cake and sloe gin chutney. I'll report back once I decant the gin off the sloes later in the year!

Venison casserole

2010-10-18T09:06:00.000Z

Another gorgeous weekend basking in incredible autumnal weather. We had my two nephews staying and took them to the local trout farm where we tried our hand at a spot of fishing. Imagine the excitement when my five-year-old nephew caught his first fish! Once he'd met his maker courtesy of a sharp tap to the head, we took the fish home to cook for the boys tea. Anticipating some resistance and cries of 'Yuk - don't like it', I picked up some oven chips on the way home so that I could 'sell' the meal as an exciting treat of 'fish and chips'.

I needn't have worried. Those brave boys were fascinated as they watched my husband gut the fish, stuff the cavity with herbs and place it in the fish kettle to steam. Served with chips and peas they declared their catch to be 'delicious' and ate absolutely masses. A great result all round and so good for them to catch their own food. Sadly I forgot to take the camera with me but I thought you might enjoy the story!

A few weeks ago I helped organise a hen party for one of my closest friends. She loves good food and we based the evening around a special dinner cooked by all of her girl friends. Each 'hen' prepared a part of the meal whether it be a pre-dinner nibble, a vegetable side dish, starter or post-meal chocolate. I was in charge of a main course for fifteen people. I quickly decided that a one-pot dish would be easiest and hauled out my biggest casserole dish. I'd noticed that the first of the season's venison had appeared in the window of the local butcher. I adore venison and we eat quite a bit of it - it is such a lean meat and lends itself to all kinds of dishes. Often we enjoy venison steaks with redcurrant jus and bubble and squeak. We often choose venison sausages if we want a night of comfort food - just a little lower in fat than regular sausages. Venison is also great with oriental flavours and we sometimes serve strips of steak on top of stir-fried vegetables and noodles dressed with plenty of soy sauce. But my favourite way to enjoy this full-flavoured meat is braised slowly in red wine until it falls apart.

The recipe I'm sharing is a real favourite - it is a Nick Nairn recipe from BBC Good Food. I rarely tweak it although I vary the vegetables according to what I have to hand. The trick is to cook it on a low heat for a long time. The redcurrant jelly is really important here so don't leave it out although you could substitute a different fruit jelly - bramble, rowan or quince might work well. The sweetness works beautifully with the earthy, gamey flavour of the meat. The recipe is very easily doubled or halved and freezes well too. As with all casseroles, flavour improves if made a day in advance.

Apologies for the photos - it is so hard to make a stew look enticing in a photograph. I also forgot to take any photos of the 'finished' dish which was a much deeper colour with the tender meat falling apart.

Braised Venison

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

2 carrots

140g swede

2 onions

3 sticks celery

1 garlic clove

1kg cubed leg or shoulder of venison - ask your butcher for meat suitable for casseroling

5 tbsp flour seasoned with salt and pepper

2 heaped tbsp redcurrant jelly

450ml red wine

450ml beef stock

2 sprigs thyme

1 bay leaf

1. Pre-heat the oven to 160C (fan oven). Roughly chop all the vegetables in preparation.

2. Heat some oil and butter in a large casserole and add the onions, carrots, swede and celery. Fry for a few minutes until golden. Crush the garlic and add to the pan. Stir to combine and then set the vegetables to one side.

3. Sprinkle the meat with seasoned flour and mix to coat. Add a little more oil to the casserole and brown the meat in batches. Set aside with the vegetables.

4. Add the wine and jelly to the pan and bubble away, scraping up all the bits that have stuck to the bottom of the pan. Pour in the stock, thyme and bay leaf before adding the meat and vegetable back to the pan. Stir to combine and then bring to the boil. Cover and cook for minimum 2 hours (my preference would be to cook for longer at a slightly lower heat but it depends how much time I have!).

5. Remove the bayleaf and serve. Great with mashed potatoes and braised red cabbage or savoy cabbage flavoured with juniper.

Oriental steamed seabass

2010-10-12T08:33:00.000Z

I spent the weekend down on the Isle of Wight. It is where my parents live and where I lived from the age of ten. It really is a very special bit of England and this weekend was at its sunniest, sparkliest best. Our dog was extremely chuffed as he was finally allowed to tear along the beach - during the summer months dogs are not allowed on the beach near my parents' house. He had his first taste of swimming in the sea and absolutely loved it. I was momentarily nervous as he hasn't done much swimming as yet (he's just 8 months old) and the tide is so strong that I worried he might be swept out to sea. Fortunately he appears to be a strong swimmer and made it back to shore before indulging in an almighty shake-out...

But this has nothing to do with food. The sea surrounding the Island is home to a great deal of food however. Earlier in the week my mother was lucky enough to be given a large bass which she'd immediately frozen so that we could enjoy it at the weekend. Seabass is a favourite fish of mine and I often order it in a restaurant but I have to admit that I'm not sure I've ever cooked it before. My favourite way to enjoy it is with lovely fresh Oriental flavours and I've eaten it recently in a Chinese restaurant sprinkled with coriander and ginger with soy sauce and sesame. Inspired by this I took a look through my mother's books and found a recipe very similar to the one I'd tasted. The book was written by Sophie Grigson and William Black and has the very original title of (you guessed it) Fish. I don't have the exact recipe here but I can remember what we did. It was extremely tasty - the only fiddly bit was serving the fish but with practice I'm sure we'd improve!

Oriental steamed seabass

Serves 2-4 depending on size of fish

Ingredients

1 large seabass

1 inch piece of fresh ginger

3 spring onions

1 small red chilli (less or more to taste)

1 fat clove of garlic

2 tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil

2 tbsp sesame oil

soy sauce

large handful fresh coriander

1. Wash and clean your fish and trim the dorsal fins. Cut 3-4 slashes through the skin on both sides. Season the cavity generously and place a few stalks of coriander in the cavity too.

2. Steam the fish. We used a fish kettle for this but you could curl it up in a regular steamer over a pan of boiling water as an alternative. Depending on the size of the fish, this could take anything from 10-20 minutes. Ours was pretty large and took almost 20 minutes. You want the fish to be just cooked.

3. Whilst the fish is steaming, prepare the garnish. Peel the ginger and cut into small matchsticks. De-seed the chilli and cut into very fine matchsticks. Finely chop the garlic and the spring onions. Mix all together in a little bowl. Chop the coriander.

4. Once the fish is ready, transfer quickly to a warmed serving plate and sprinkle on the ginger, chilli, garlic and spring onion mixture. Sprinkle over the chopped fresh coriander too.

5. Heat the oils in a small pan until smoking. Once really hot, pour over the top of the fish and garnishes. Dress liberally with soy sauce and hurry the fish to the table!

6. To serve, gently ease the fillets from the backbone and spoon over the juices and garnishes. We served ours with plain boiled rice and stir-fried vegetables.

Caramelised apple cake

2010-10-05T13:54:00.000Z

I love the British climate. I sometimes suspect that I may be alone in this. Friends, family, strangers seem to take great joy in grumbling about the weather - it is a very British trait. Just this weekend a great friend was lamenting the end of summer and wishing that she lived in somewhere where it was warm and sunny all year round. I don't. I love the changing seasons - the bright golden-tinted days of autumn are amongst my favourite especially when the sun shines but there is a slight chill in the air.

I could never live somewhere where it was hot all the time. When would I get my fill of rich, hearty casseroles? Sticky, syrupy steamed puddings? I'd hardly feel like them if I were permanently sauntering round in shorts and t-shirts. I love the edible treats that come with each season too and eating with the seasons is something about which I feel quite passionate. That isn't to say that I don't occasionally buy a punnet of strawberries in the depths of winter or that I only eat root vegetables in the winter. But, broadly speaking, I do like to save seasonal treats for times when they are... in season. And therefore tasting at their very best.

Autumnal apple cake

On the flip-side, eating with the seasons can mean that come the end of May I never want to see another stalk of asparagus or that mid-winter I'm sick to death of parsnips and longing for the light fresh greens of spring. Currently we're experiencing something of an apple glut. We have three apple trees in the garden and more apples than we ever dreamed we'd need. No point in putting them in boxes outside the front gate for passers by to take - all the neighbours are in the same boat and doing the same. It is not a complaint but I just can't bear to see good food go to waste and we don't really have much space to store them.

Over the past few weeks we've enjoyed apple and blackberry sponge, apple crumble, apple meringue, apple sauce and apple cake. We've also made chutney. A lot of chutney.

But there are still more apples. In fact, I'm sure that each time I pick them, more grow in their place when I turn my back.

Eager to get through the apples before we need to move onto the pears (ripening nicely and almost ready for picking), I'm still on the lookout for imaginative apple recipes. When shopping recently in Tesco, I was drawn to one of their recipe cards which depicted a gleaming cake topped with sticky apple slices. Resistance was futile and I returned that afternoon and set straight to work.

Our apples are of mysterious type. We've three species in the garden - they all seem to be eaters but when cooked they do pulp down nicely as cooking apples would do. This cake calls for Bramleys but I think you could use any mixture of apples. I used two types from the garden and it worked perfectly. *Tesco even taught me a great little tip for coring apples - so simple really - use a melon baller to scoop the core from halved apples. Worked brilliantly and much easier than using a knife. Very handy trick!

Easy way to core apples - use a melon baller!

This is the sort of cake that you could serve as pudding - at its best eaten warm from the oven with a dollop of ice-cream or custard. We enjoyed it this way the first night and warmed up slices on following evenings but it was very good cold too. It reminds me rather of a tarte tatin in cake form. Sticky and delicious. One word of warning - as the apples are full of juice, it is a very moist, damp cake and becomes more so with time. A fork is definitely required!

Caramelised Apple Cake

(recipe from Tesco)

Ingredients:

4-5 Bramley apples (or 800g other apples, unprepared weight)

Juice of half a lemon

275g soft light brown sugar

5 medium eggs

100g butter, melted

pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp ground cinnamon (my addition - optional)

215g plain flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

100g ground almonds

1. Pre-heat oven to 180C. Grease a 9 inch loose-bottomed or spring form cake tin and line base and sides with baking paper.

2. Peel, halve and core the apples. See the tip above*. Slice the apples into 1/2 cm slices. Coat with lemon juice and 50g of the sugar - mix with hands to ensure thoroughly coated - set to one side.

3. Scatter a further 50g sugar over the base of the tin and cover with a layer of apple slices. This will be the top of the cake so try overlapping them slightly in concentric circles so they will look pretty.

4. Beat eggs, melted butter, remaining sugar, salt, cinnamon (if using) and vanilla until combined.

5. Sift flour and baking powder over the mixture and then sprinkle over the ground almonds. Add remaining apple slices with the juices and gently fold together until combined (though be careful not to overmix).

6. Pour into tin over the layer of apples and bake for 50 minutes until the cake is risen and golden brown.Check after 30 minutes and if the top is already quite brown, cover with a layer of foil for remaining cooking time.

7. Cool for 5 minutes in the tin before carefully turning out onto a serving plate so that the bottom is on top. Serve warm with ice-cream or custard.

Roasted sardines on toast (and other fishy tales...)

2010-09-28T14:13:00.000Z

Since we have moved, we have been eating rather a lot of fish. This comes as something of a surprise seeing as we are nowhere near the sea. It is usually when I am by the sea that I get an increased urge to cook fish. Up until recently, we've cooked and eaten fish on a regular basis but I have to confess that my repertoire of fish recipes is embarrassingly slim. I make a mean fish pie. My fishcakes are pretty good too and come in a variety of guises from the very tasty smoked mackerel fish cakes to the more traditional white fish and parsley variety. Cod and salmon fillets are bought and cooked regularly whether in an Italian-inspired sauce or with a more Oriental twist. However, I tend to stick to the basics. I'm not overly adventurous when it comes to the type of fish that I cook. I'm stuck on those old favourites even though I know they may not always be the most sustainable of species.

I have to confess to one of my culinary fears. Fear of the fish counter. I kid you not.

Indeed, it is with a mix of fear and excitement that I approach the fish counter in the local fishmonger or supermarket. I feel all brave and think I'll see what looks good and choose something a little... out of my comfort zone. But then, just as the red mullet looks me in the eye, I hear myself saying 'a couple of salmon fillets please'. Oh the shame...

But all this has changed. Well... slightly. Deciding that I needed to put an end to this fishy nonsense, I requested (and received) a fishy cookery book for my birthday. I wanted one not only with recipes, but also one that educated me on the creatures that lurk beneath the waves. The book I received is Mitch Tonks' book which is imaginatively entitled 'Fish'. It is exactly the sort of book I'd been looking for. A page is dedicated to each fish detailing the flavour profile of the fish, its habitat, what time of year it is at its best and other such interesting facts. Not too much information - just enough. Mitch then gives two or three recipes for each one. The recipes are really varied - a mix of the classics and some more daring suggestions like the fabulous-looking mackerel tagine. The photos are inspiring and I love all the extra information of the fishing industry, including mini interviews with various fishermen. Interesting as well as useful. The only criticism I have is that there are some potentially 'important' fish missing from the book: trout and plaice to name a couple.

Enough of a sales pitch though. This book certainly got me inspired and feeling brave enough to walk boldly into my new fishmonger and face his fish counter head on. And what a helpful fishmonger he was - plenty of advice and hand-holding later and I walked out clutching a parcel of gilthead bream. I cooked it up later that evening following ideas I'd gleaned from the new book and was extremely pleased with the result.

Feeling highly successful, I then decided that we needed to christen our new fish kettle which we received as a wedding present. Our area is well-known for the local trout - the rivers are teaming with them. I adore trout and purchased two of the shiny beauties. We stuffed their bellies with soft herbs and then let them steam away happily for around 20 minutes. They were cooked to perfection and we felt virtuous having prepared such a healthy supper. So successful that we repeated this meal at the weekend. This time though, my husband also picked up a couple of large sardines (pilchards??) at the same time, planning to serve them as a starter.

I 'fished' around on the internet (oh the wit!) trying to find a suitable recipe using ingredients we had to hand and knowing that these little fish could handle strong flavours. I've usually eaten them when they've been cooked on the barbecue and we were debating griddling them when I found this simple recipe from Gordon Ramsay. We adapted it slightly and were impressed with the extremely tasty results.

Roasted sardines on toast

Ingredients (per person):

1 large sardine (or a couple of smaller ones), as fresh as can be

handful of cherry tomatoes

sprig of rosemary

clove of garlic

bread - we used baguette, Gordon used ciabatta but any crusty bread would be nice

olive oil

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C. Scale the sardines by running them under a cold tap and rubbing slightly with your fingers. Gut sardines if desired (we did as they were rather large).

2. Put sardines and tomatoes in a roasting tin, season well with salt and pepper, drizzle over a good splodge of olive oil and then scatter rosemary on top.

3. Roast in oven for 10 minutes until sardines are cooked and skin is crisp.

4. Meanwhile, heat a griddle pan until smoking. Slice bread into thick slice/s. Cut garlic clove in half and rub over both sides of bread. Drizzle with olive oil and toast in the pan on both sides until ever-so-slightly charred.

5. Cut the heads of the sardines and lay sardine/s on top of the toast with the tomatoes. Drizzle with the juices from the roasting tin.

Chocolate fudge cake

2010-09-26T16:10:00.000Z

We've been enjoying a week's 'holiday' at home, exploring our new area. We can't quite believe that we actually live in such a beautiful part of the country and that we don't have to traipse back to London on a Sunday night. Our dog thinks he is in heaven and loves the walks round here - we love them too especially as it gives us an excuse to raid the hedgerows for blackberries, sloes and other goodies. I'll try not to bombard you with too many blackberry and apple recipes but do watch out for a few coming this way.

Last weekend we celebrated my husband's birthday and I thought it only fitting to bake a cake. I asked him to choose a flavour and he plumped for chocolate. Not very original admittedly, but you can't really ever go wrong with a good slice of chocolate cake. This recipe is one that I've baked numerous times and I love it. I may even have blogged it before... The cake itself isn't especially elaborate or sophisticated - a simple chocolatey sponge - but the chocolate fudge icing is quite a different matter. It is still very simple but it is totally delicious, particularly if you have a very sweet tooth like me.

This is the cake to bake when you want a sweet chocoately treat - not an elegant, dark chocolate sophisticated bake but the sort of cake that disappears far too quickly. Popular with children as well as adults, it is a winner!

I chose to decorate the top with some of my favourite chocolates but you could get far more creative here. Smarties are always bright and jolly and I have once piped a birthday message on top with melted white chocolate. Pink sugar roses are nice too if you feel like something more girly.

I took the recipe from one of my mother's cook books - I think a Prue Leith one - but I can't be sure.

Chocolate Fudge Cake

3 tbsp cocoa powder

3 tbsp warm water
225g soft margarine
225g golden caster sugar (or normal is fine)
4 eggs

1tsp vanilla essence

225g self-raising flour

For the icing:

175g butter

6tbsp water

225g golden caster sugar (or normal is fine)

100g drinking chocolate powder

350g icing sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 175C. Line and grease a 9 inch cake tin (mine was actually 8 3/4 inch and worked fine).

2. Blend together the cocoa and warm water.

3. Cream the margarine and sugar until light and fluffy.

4. Add eggs, cocoa mixture and vanilla and mix together until combined. Gradually fold in the flour a little at a time until combined. Pour into prepared cake tin.

5. Bake for 50-60 minutes until cake springs back when finger lightly pressed in the middle. Cool on a wire rack.

Boiling the butter, sugar and water for the chocolate fudge icing

6. Whilst the cake is cooling, prepare the scrumptious icing. Heat the butter and 6 tbsp water and caster sugar in a pan until it starts to boil. Boil for a minute or so before adding the drinking chocolate and icing sugar. Remove from heat and beat until smooth (this is easier if you have sieved the icing sugar but I didn't bother). Leave to cool.

7. Once cake it cool, carefully slice in half. Sandwich together with icing and then smother the top and sides with more icing. Decorate as you wish.

8. Devour!

A day in the life of an Aga

2010-09-23T10:34:00.000Z

As I've already mentioned, our new house has an Aga in the kitchen. The news has been met with a mixture of excitement and trepidation from my husband and I, wedded as we are to the happy combination of gas hob and electric oven. I've always loved the idea of an Aga but have, at the same time, been slightly wary of the reality. No set temperatures, a permanently hot kitchen, no cooking smells to warn you when your cake is starting to burn... On the other hand, I love to see dogs snuggling up to the Aga after a wet and wild walk on a chilly winter day. I love to see sheets carefully folded on the Aga knowing that they will require no ironing. And I love the concept of popping a casserole in the simmering oven and leaving it for hours, knowing it will come to no harm.

Keen to have a go at befriending our new appliance, we decided to visit our local Aga store in search of tips. We were interested to discover that the store held a varied programme of events, cooking demonstrations and classes. I was particularly drawn to a class entitled 'A Day in the Life of an Aga' and yet more delighted when I discovered that it only cost £7.50 to attend (prices seem to vary according to location).

Aga toast: crisp on the outside and soft in the middle

So, on Tuesday night, the two of us turned up at the Aga shop eager to learn whatever we could about Aga cookery. I am pleased to report that it may well prove to be the best £15 ever spent! The evening was ably hosted by Marcia Poole who started by asking each of us to describe our Aga situation. There was an audible gasp from the audience when we mentioned that we had a solid fuel fired Aga and we felt a little more nervous about what we are letting ourselves in for. Oil or gas-fired would definitely be simpler it seems...

Marcia then set to work showing us how to get the best from the Aga. What followed was quite miraculous and highlighted the versatility of Aga cooking. Although she was using a four-door Aga, she did most of the cooking in the roasting and simmering ovens so that those of us with a mere two doors didn't feel too left out. At the peak of her performance she managed to have the following items cooking simultaneously in the ovens: a full English breakfast, a roast chicken, a plum crumble, sweet potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, white sauce for the cauliflower, rice, shortbread, a vegetable curry, an apple sponge cake, two salmon steaks and a quiche. All these items were cooking along happily yet the Aga didn't look as though it was doing a thing. For good measure she also whipped up some Chelsea buns and cooked drop scones and a stir-fry on the hot plates.

The food, almost all of which was cooed in (rather than on) the Aga

This is the trick to successful Aga cookery. Using the ovens as much possible and keeping the lids down in order to keep the heat in. Root vegetables should be started on the hot boiling plate and then should be drained of their water and transferred in their saucepans to the simmering oven where they happily steam away slowly until you are ready for them. The beauty of the simmering oven is that it is very hard to overcook things - you can do the veg ahead of time and stow them out of sight in the oven until your roast is ready. No last minute stress getting hot and bothered over pans of boiling veg! The Aga ovens are deceptive too - they go back a long way and you can fit a surprising number of pans inside. Marcia had six saucepans in the simmering oven at one point.

The simmering oven containing six pans

Another favourite 'trick' she showed us was how to cook a fatless ' fried' egg on the cooler of the two hot plates. You take a sheet of bake-o-glide, crack an egg into the middle and then put the lid down over the egg. In a few minutes, lift the lid to find a perfectly cooked egg without the need for oil or butter. Toasted sandwiches can be made this way too.

'Fried' breakfast with no added fat

We watched in awe as she raced through the method for cooking perfect rice and pasta and listed carefully when she explained that Aga casseroles need less liquid than usual. I was particularly interested in the way she cooked her quiche - no need for blind baking as you can fill a raw pastry case and place it on the floor of the Aga ensuring a perfectly crisp pastry on the bottom.

After the whirlwind session we were allowed to sample the food - delicious, all of it - and had a chance to ask further questions. We'd learnt a huge amount in a short space of time and returned home totally sold on Aga cookery and ownership and dying to get our Aga up and running (we are currently waiting for a chimney sweep to come and clean the flue and check it over as it hasn't been used in an age).

Drop scones cooking directly on the simmering plate

We are slightly dismayed to find that our Aga does not come with the standard bits of Aga equipment and it looks as though we are going to have to start saving as the roasting tins, kettle and toast rack are fairly essential (and not exactly cheap). The Aga saucepans are cleverly designed to stack on top of each other in the ovens to make most use of the space and certainly a desirable extra but sadly a little expensive for us (and we do have very good new pans which can go in the ovens).

Overall, we are more excited than ever about the Aga and, with a little practice, firmly believe that cooking on it will be a great pleasure. If you own an Aga, or are thinking of intalling one, I would thoroughly reccomend the in-store classes. This was a basic class for 'beginners' really but could be a useful refresher for seasoned Aga cooks. However, there are many other sessions to choose from including classes on baking and cooking the Christmas lunch!