Baking with my nephew and a couple of lovely awards

There seems to be a lot going on at Food, Glorious Food! I've got lots to tell you about and lots to catch up on. Firstly, I'm pleased to say that my blogging by mail parcel arrived in San Francisco. The parcel went to Bonnie at Kumquat Connection. What a great blog this is - Bonnie and her friend Leigh live miles apart yet connect each week over a common ingredient. What a terrific way to keep in touch!

Next to tell you is about the fun I had with my two littlest nephews when my mother and I went to look after them a couple of weekends ago. Aged two and one, they really are adorable! The older one took quite an interest in the goings on it the kitchen. Not only did he climb onto his chair to 'help' my mother making Shepherds' Pie, but he also enjoyed baking some cupcakes with his Auntie.



He is nearly three, but I was really amazed how focused he remained throughout the process and how much he enjoyed getting involved. He helped to pour ingredients into the scales and then loved pressing the button to cream the butter and sugar in the food processor. He laid all the paper cases into the muffin tray and kept a close eye whilst they were cooking in the oven. Perhaps we overdid the baking powder - they looked like mini volcanoes when they came out....






He was very enthusiastic with making the icing and refused to let me help. This was not ideal but at least he was determined!



His favourite part though, was decorating the cakes with little sugar decorations that I'd bought. And then deciding who would get which one. His favourites were the frogs. I rather preferred the elephants. It was such fun and just shows that you are never too young to get involved in the kitchen. He was so proud when we'd finished and couldn't wait to show them off to his parents when they returned from their weekend away.




Next thing to tell you is that I've been lucky enough to be given not one, but two lovely blogging awards. I am really so touched and only so sorry that its taken so long to get round to passing them on. Thank you, thank you!



Firstly, Sam over at Antics of a cycling chef thought fit to pass on the 'E for Excellent' award. Sam hasn't been blogging all that long but already his blog is a favourite of mine.

I'd like to pass this on to...

Bonnie to Kumquat Connection


Secondly, the lovely Lucy at Teen Baker gave me the very lovely 'I love your blog' award. Lucy's blog is packed full of gorgeously tempting cakes and treats - I'd love a slice of any one of them.

I'm passing this on to...

Katie at Apple and Spice
Just so many tempting bakes and cakes.

Sylvie at A Pot of Tea and a Biscuit
Such a stylish blog with gorgeous photos and tempting recipes.

Margaret at Kitchen Delights
I've been enjoying the delights from Margaret's kitchen across the web since I started blogging - her blog has long been a favourite!

Rosie at Rosie bakes a Peace of Cake
A prolific and superb baker who is a wonderfully encouraging member of the food blogging community.

A London cheesecake and some wonderful awards...

Ugghh. It appears to be September.

I've nothing against September per se. It is just that after a quiet August work-wise and a summer of rather lovely holidays, I now have the 'back to school blues'. Three days back and work and already I'm wondering when I can next find some time to take off...


No doubt it is a temporary blip and I'll soon be back to my usual self but at the moment I'm facing a horribly hectic September and I'm far from relishing the challenge. Luckily though, I love autumn produce so there is lots to look forward to!

In the meantime, let me tell you about this delicious cheesecake that I baked whilst up in Wales.

My first ever experience of cheesecake-making didn't turn out so well. In fact, it was rather a disaster. I was at school and required to produce one of those somewhat old-fashioned gelatine-set cheesecakes that you see rather rarely these days. Somewhere along the line I must have had a little slippage with the gelatine as the whole thing set like rubber. I could literally peel it off the biscuit base and flap it about the room without it breaking. Not a good sign. On the plus side, it looked the part and as the teachers didn't taste it, I was awarded top marks for what was a totally inedible creation.

Scarred by the experience, I have never since made a cheesecake. Until the other day. With the weather rather wild, wet and windy, I was glad that I had thought to take Nigella's 'How to be a Domestic Goddess' with me to Wales.

Nigella dubs this cheesecake 'London Cheesecake'. Being terribly patriotic she felt that if she had to include a 'New York Cheesecake', then she simply must have a London one too.

The cheesecake had the most perfect, silky texture and a lovely soured-cream topping. The secret, so suggests Nigella, is cooking it in a water bath. I thoroughly recommend it and shall be making it again and again, I am sure. I served it with some summer berries but it would be lovely with any kind of fruit. Next time, I might cook the fruit down a little and make it syrupy.

I'm not going to repeat the recipe here as I have nothing to add to Nigella's excellent and clear instructions. You can find them on her website here.

The only tricky part is wrapping the cake tin in a double layer of foil to ensure that no water seeps in.



Before heading to bed, I simply must apologise to Margaret at Kitchen Delights and Julia at A Slice of Cherry Pie. Both of them were kind enough to award me with some lovely blogging prizes a while back and amongst the holiday season I've only just got around to mentioning them. Thank you so much ladies for these lovely awards, they mean a huge amount and really made my day! In fact, just thinking about them again has lifted me out of my September gloom and made me feel able to face the week ahead at work!

With so many blogs out there, it is hard to pick just a few to award these prizes to. I've been discovering a few more favourites recently and plan to pass these awards on over the next week or so.

Parmesan chicken with swiss chard (...and an award)

I'm always on the search for speedy things to do with chicken. I know that legs and thighs and every other bit of the chicken has more flavour, but sometimes, I do just fancy a simple bit of of chicken breast. In the same way that whilst I adore the melting richness of foie gras (no apologies made), sometimes, I prefer the idea of a simple rustic paté. Sometimes a lean and healthy chicken breast is exactly what I hanker after.

Of course, this particular chicken breast started out as a lean and healthy bit of chicken, but then I coated the thing in lovely, less healthy Parmesan. But I served it with salad leaves fresh from the garden, so I can pretend that that makes up for it. Let's not mention the dressing.


Before I tell you more about this rather tasty supper, I'd like to share my great delight in being given an award by the lovely Rosie from Rosie bakes a 'peace' of cake. For those who haven't yet discovered, Rosie produces a constant stream of gorgeously tempting cakes and bakes; her passion for baking is a great source of inspiration. I really am thrilled that she chose me for the 'Arte e Pico' award which is awarded for creativity, design, interesting material and contribution to the food blogging community. Thank you Rosie, I really am touched.

Of course, I must pass the award on. The rules are as follows...

1. You pick five blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contribute to the blogging community, no matter what language.
2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and the link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.
4. Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of Arte y Pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

The five blogs I have chosen are as follows:

Indigo from Happy Love Strawberry
Jules from Domestic Goddess in Training
Joy from Almanzo's Belly
Peter from Kalfogas
Amanda and Tyler from What we're Eating









Back onto the chicken. I've been growing lovely Swiss chard in my garden. I love the way the red stalk contrasts with the deep glossy green of the leaves themselves. Oh - and they taste pretty good too. You can treat them like spinach; either eat them raw or wilt down and enjoy cooked. I ruthlessly stole the idea for this dish from my much loved BBC Good Food website. The original recipe is here. The succulent chicken had a lovely crispy cheesy coating and sat on a salad of baby Jersey Royals, peas, spring onions and avocado. I think that dressing the salad whilst the peas and potatoes are still warm really makes a difference.

Parmesan chicken with Swiss chard and Jersey Royals
Serves 2



Ingredients

2 skinless chicken breasts
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
1 egg white
2 small handfuls of baby potatoes, Jersey Royals if you can find them
1 tumblerful of frozen peas
1 ripe avocado, cubed
4 spring onions, finely sliced
2 handfuls of Swiss chard or other fresh, peppery leaves
1 tablespoon Sherry vinegar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1. Heat the grill to medium and get the grill pan ready. Chop the potatoes into cubes.

2. Whisk the egg white with a little salt and pepper. Coat each chicken breast in egg white and then in the grated Parmesan so that each breast is covered all over. Grill for 15 minutes, turning once, by which point the Parmesan should be nicely crisp and brown and the chicken piping hot in the middle.

3. Meanwhile, boil the potatoes for 10 minutes, until tender. Add the peas for the final 3 minutes and then drain. Place in salad bowl with leaves, onions and avocado.

4. Whisk together the oil and vinegar and pour over the salad. Toss together lightly so everything is coated and nicely mixed together. Place on plates and top with chicken.

Happy Valentine's Day - Nice Matters

Well, I'd like to start by wishing everyone a very Happy Valentine's Day. This is big of me, I think, as I'm not a fan of Valentine's Day. This is because I am single, you see. I feel like the whole day is designed to torture us singletons who have to journey home on the tube sandwiched between lucky ladies smugly holding their oversized bouquets of flowers. Not that I'm bitter, you understand (!!) Of course, on the occasions that I have been in a relationship on the 14th February, I have thought totally differently and throughly enjoyed the journey home with my bunch of flowers (although I still maintain that spontaneous romance is much more... romantic). To show you that I don't really bear a grudge, I've even made a heart-shaped chocolate mousse to mark the occasion. I'll be posting about the chocolate mousse at a later date so watch this space.

So far Valentine's Day has gone according to the usual plan - the post has arrived and I have received my usual three cards. One from my Mother who has cunningly tried to disguise her hand writing. The Isle of Wight postmark slightly gives it away though. The next is from a dear friend whose name I won't mention, but whose dog has featured on the pages of this blog. Again there is the cunningly disguised writing (that is all too easy to spot) and the card is homemade. It is so sweet and lovely and homemade that it could only be from her. Finally, another elaborate disguise with swirly writing from another friend that could have been a mystery had she not posted the card at the same moment as a thank you letter - same post mark, same time. Still, I feel touched and lucky to have such sweet and caring friends and family. You know who you are and I thank you! Who need men, huh?! I have no doubt that my own elaborate attempts and handwriting disguising will also have failed miserably!

Anyway, in the spirit of Valentine's Day, I wanted to tell you how thrilled I was to be awarded the 'Nice Matters' blog award by one of my very favourite bloggers - Rosie from 'Rosie bakes a 'peace' of cake'. Rosie spends her days baking the most mouthwatering creations - if you haven't visited her blog yet, you are definately missing out. You really are in for a freshly-baked treat. Thank you Rosie for this award - I feel very honoured to receive it.

I get to pass this award onto a few fellow bloggers. There are so many I could nominate for different reasons and Rosie has already passed it on to many of my favourites. I've managed to narrow it down though and have chosen bloggers who really take the time and effort to engage and interact with their readers...

Wendy of A Wee Bit of Cooking. Her posts always make me laugh and she cooks food that I really want to eat. She also has a very gorgeous-looking dog featured in her latest post which is almost as droolworthy as her food.

Julia from A Slice of Cherry Pie because she has set up and maintains a great food forum on her blog and also the UK Food Bloggers Association . Two great initiatives uniting the UK food blogging community.

David Hall from Book the Cook. I'm guessing that the floral logo may not quite be his thing, but I am full of admiration of his dedication to British produce and teaching children about eating well.

Fred and Ginger of Dinner Diary. Great pictures and delicious-looking food that I actually want to cook.

To thank Rosie for bestowing this award, I thought I should bake something to 'share' with her. I chose some simple plain biscuits that can be whizzed up at a moment's notice with ingredients you probably already have in the cupboard. You can either eat them warm, straight from the oven when they are soft a slighly squidgy, or keep them in an airtight container for a few days. They will harden up but are just perfect for dunking in a cup of tea for 'elevenses' because homemade cookies are better every time.

Storecupboard cookies

Makes approx 24

Ingredients -

Basic dough mixture...

5oz butter

4oz caster sugar (I used golden caster sugar)

8oz self-raising flour

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla essence

Flavourings...

chopped up dark, milk or white chocolate

raisins or sultanas

cherries

crystillised ginger

Anything else you can think of, really...!

1. Pre-heat oven to 180C and grease a baking sheet. Cream butter and sugar together until light in colour. Mix in the egg.

2. Sift the flour with the salt and baking powder and fold into the mixture (you can do all of this in a food processor).

3. Add vanilla essence and your chosen flavourings (I added chopped up chocolate to one half and raisins to the other half)

4. Take heaped teaspoons of mixture, roll into balls and flatten on baking sheet, leaving space for cookies to expand.

5. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.