Pear and Almond Traybake

Most of my latest posts have been recipes. I borrow cookery books from the library in the school holidays, cook up a storm in the kitchen and then return them during term time. This one comes from The Great British Bake Off Winter Kitchen by Lizzie Kamenetzky. I've also started a sourdough starter as I make bread every couple of days so I thought I'd give it another try. There was a failed attempt a few years ago, but this one is bubbling away happily in a sunny windowsill in the kitchen.

I've made one of these tray bakes to take down to Christopher and Toby this weekend.

Ingredients

175g unsalted butter

190g caster sugar

3 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

140ml milk

180g self raising flour

175g ground almonds

Finely grated zest of one lemon

A squeeze of lemon juice

2 large, ripe but firm pears, peeled, cored and cut into bite-sized chunks

50g flaked almonds

Heat the oven to 180 C or gas mark 4. Grease and line a 30 x 23cm traybake tin.

Beat the butter and sugar together really thoroughly until it is light and fluffy.

Gradually add the eggs, followed by the vanilla extract, milk and beat to incorporate them.

Fold in the flour and ground almonds before adding lemon zest and juice and the chunks of pear.

Tip the mixture into the tin and sprinkle flaked almonds over the surface.

Bake the cake in the centre of the oven for 45 minutes. It should be golden and risen. Do the skewer test.

Leave to cool for 20 minutes and serve warm as a pudding with crème fraîche or serve as a cake at teatime.
Nom.

Bara Brith

This is the tea bread I made and brought to France last summer. The only difference is that I used lemon juice and zest instead of orange, and I added crystallised ginger quite generously.

175 ml strong, warm tea
225g mixed dried fruit
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 unwaxed orange
150g light soft brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
225g self raising flour
Pinch of sea salt
1 tsp mixed spice

Start the day before you need this. Place dried fruit, orange zest and juice, sugar and tea in a mixing bowl large enough to hold everything. Cover and leave overnight for everything to plump up.

Preheat the oven to 180° C/gas mark 4. Add the egg to the fruit mix and stir it in. Then sift the flour and salt and spice together over the mixture. Mix carefully together to form a soft dough. Spoon it into a lightly greased and lined loaf tin.

Bake in the oven for about 1 hour until the top is golden brown and a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Leave in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out to cool on a wire rack.

It will keep for 2 or 3 weeks if you can wait and tastes better if you leave it a few days before getting started on it.

parsnip and red onion cakes

I made these tasty little cakes for Steve's birthday on Friday and they went down very well with good friends, a shoulder of lamb and a nut loaf. Parsnips need quite a hot oven to roast well so if your oven is small or already full of other roasting goodies then this way of cooking them might just tick all your veggie boxes. And they are really yummy and by far the best way I have found with parsnips.

Peel, roughly chop and cook around 500g of parsnips in a large saucepan of slightly salted boiling water for around 10 to 15 minutes, till tender. Drain them well and  mash with 25g butter.

While your parsnips are cooking, chop up around 3 smallish red onions and crush 2 cloves of garlic. Melt 25g butter in a frying pan and add the onions and garlic, cooking slowly till nice and soft.

Add the onions and garlic to the mash and mix well. Season with a good pinch of grated nutmeg and salt and pepper. Stir in enough flour to bind the mixture and leave to cool for a few minutes.

Flour your hands and form about a dozen patties. Coat them in flour and fry in butter for about 3 or 4 minutes each side until golden brown. Serve hot.

home made pizza

I came across a recipe for pizza by Gail Duff about ten years ago and have used it ever since. Some of the quantities have changed a little since then, and what goes into the topping depends on what I have in the fridge at the time. If you want a pizza in a hurry you might be better ordering a takeaway as this is not fast food but it is full of flavour and goodness. And who doesn't like flavour and goodness?

To make the dough mix 300g strong white flour, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt and 175 ml water together with ½ tsp dried yeast. Mix the ingredients together well by hand or in a bread machine and leave to rise for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile peel and slice 2 onions and peel and crush 2 cloves of garlic. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a wide-based pan over a low to medium heat and add the onions and garlic. Cook slowly for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. The onions should soften and change colour but should not brown. If in doubt turn the heat right down and cover the pan.

While the onions are cooking you can prepare the remaining toppings. I often add some mushrooms and thyme or basil to the onion mixture after 15 minutes with about 30ml white wine. If you use wine leave the lid off the pan at this stage to allow the mixture to thicken. This should take about 10 minutes. By now your kitchen will be filled with divine smells.

My pizzas usually have mozzarella on them these days but Edam cheese works really well too as it goes gooey and stringy when baked and tends to have a bit more bite than mozzarella. Cut up one piece of mozzarella into small bite-sized chunks. Halve about a dozen cherry tomatoes or slice 3 or 4 large tomatoes. A bit of grilled pepper is also a tasty treat to add to the top of the pizza.

When your onion mixture is cooked and you have prepared the cheese and tomato, the bread dough should be ready to roll or stretch out into a pizza shaped slab of dough. Use olive oil to grease a baking sheet and save a little to drizzle on top of the pizza dough. If you have the patience leave the dough to rise again, but if you are hungry you will not suffer any ill effects if you proceed immediately with adding the toppings and baking straightaway.

Tip the cooked onions onto the pizza dough and spread them out so the almost reach the edges. Then add the cheese (Edam sliced thinly or mozzarella) and a handful of olives. Finally arrange the tomato halves or slices on top of the cheese, and any other toppings you wish to use. Season well with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper before baking in a hot oven (Gas mark 7) for 30 minutes. You will probably find the dough has risen very well round the edges and formed a lovely crust, even if you skipped the second proving time.

This pizza is very filling and a hearty side salad will complement it very well.

I do not have any photos of this pizza. It always disappears too fast!

masterchef flapjacks

Flapjacks were a big part of my childhood and I have long looked for a recipe to equal the one we used in the seventies. Until recently I had been very satisfied with a recipe I found in an organic cookbook. And then John Torode and Gregg Wallace's Masterchef Kitchen Bible found its way from the library into my kitchen. The book is due back today, so the recipe is being bookmarked here for future reference, with thanks to Gregg and John.

You can add endless ingredients to these chewy bars, from a pinch of cinnamon to a handful of dried fruit, chopped nuts or chocolate chips. Or substitute honey or maple syrup for the golden syrup.

225g butter plus extra for greasing
225g light soft brown sugar
2 tbsp golden syrup
350g rolled oats

Preheat the oven to 150 C (300 F or Gas mark 2) . Lightly grease a 25 cm square cake tin. Put the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a large saucepan and heat over a medium low heat until the butter has melted. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the oats. Transfer the mixture to the prepared tin and press down firmly. Bake for 40 minutes, or until evenly golden and just beginning to brown at the edgres. Leave to cool for ten minutes, then cut into 16 squares, or 20 rectangles. Leave in the tin until completely cooled.

spicy chickpea pilaf with yoghurt and cucumber sauce

This is slightly adapted from Kate Percy's excellent recipe book Go Faster Food, a tastebud-tingling treasure trove of high energy recipes. I served it up with spicy grilled chicken and it was really tasty. Lots of flavours in the rice and the chicken marinade, and surprisingly simple tp make.

For the pilaf
2 tbsp groundnut or sunflower oil
1 tbsp garam masala ( or crush 6 pods cardamom, 8 cloves, 1 tsp coriander seeds, ½ tsp allspice and ½ tsp cumin seeds)
2 cinnamon sticks
2 onions, peeled and finely sliced
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
2 bay leaves
2 tomatoes
handful sultanas
½ tsp dried chillis
300g basmati rice
450 ml stock
400g canned chickpeas
squeeze of lemon juice
fresh mint or coriander, chopped, to garnish
handful lightly toasted cashew nuts
small piece ginger root, peeled and grated

Heat the 2 tbsps oil in a large pan with a tight fitting lid and gently fry the pilaf spices for a minute, stirring all the time to prevent burning. Add the onion, garlic and bay leaves and sauté gently for about 5 minutes until the onion starts to soften and become brown.
Add the tomatoes, sultanas and chilli and cook, stirring, for another two minutes.
Add the rice, gently turning it round in the onion mixture for a minute to coat it, and then pour in the stock. There should be enough liquid to just cover the rice. Bring the stock to the boil, then cover and simmer on a really low heat for 10 minutes.
Stir the chickpeas into the rice and heat for two or three minutes. Check for seasoning and add salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice to taste. Sprinkle with chopped coriander or mint and cashew nuts and grated ginger.

For the yoghurt sauce
½  tsp cumin
½  tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp chilli powder
½ small cucumber, chopped
handful fresh chopped mint or tsp mint sauce
250g natural yoghurt

Mix all these ingredients together in a bowl.

Serve with grilled chicken, pitta bread and mango chutney.

lemon drizzle cake

Mmm ... juicy, zesty lemons and cake. A fine combination. I had never made it until this morning - probably because I tend to bake without planning in advance so usually do not have the required number of lemons in the house. This cake was planned and it was so simple to make I wanted to post it on here.

Put 300g self-raising flour, 2 tsp baking powder and 150g caster sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add 125g melted butter and the grated rind of 2 lemons. Gradually mix in 3 beaten eggs and 150ml milk until you have a soft spoonable mixture. Spoon the mixture into a greased and lined baking tin. I used a 12 x 8 inch tray, but a loaf tin or a deeper tin would do just as well. Bake at 160 C (325 F), Gas Mark 3, for 45 - 55 minutes. It should be golden brown with a cracked top and a skewer inserted into the cake should come out clean.

Pare the rind of 1 lemon, then cut into fine strips. Put it into a small saucepan with the juice of 2 lemons, 100g caster sugar and 60 ml water. Simmer gently for  minutes until the lemon rind is clear and the liquid syrupy.

When the cake is cooked remove frm the tin and peel off the greaseproof paper. Prick the top of the cake with a skewer, then pour over the lemony syrup and rind. Some of the syrup will just drizzle straight off the cake and this part can be messy. I placed the cake and cooling rack over the baking tin and collected the syrup in the tin and poured it back over the cake. Leave to cool.

We are having friends tonight. Until then the cake is out of bounds!

butternut squash curry

I'm posting this recipe because it is so good. It needs to be shared and really although it looks a little complicated it doesn't take more than about 25 minutes to prepare and about the same again to cook.

And also if like me you've ever wondered what to DO with a butternut squash and you have one lurking in your kitchen somewhere then this is a very delicious way to use one up. It also comes in handy for those occasions when you can't seem to find anything but a squash and a couple of old potatoes.Which happened to me today. Off to Tescos later...

I have cooked this curry quite a few times now and I am impressed at its consistency; it always seems to come out the same.

Recipe

1 butternut squash/pumpkin (about 550g)
2 potatoes (about 200g)
3 tbspns sunflower oil/vegetable oil
2 x 2.5cm pieces cinnamon stick or cassia bark
4 green cardamom pods, split to the top of each pod
4 whole cloves
8 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 small onion (about 100g) finely chopped
1 tbspn ground cumin
1 tspn ground turmeric
1 scant tspn crushed dried red chillies
100g canned chopped tomatoes including juice
2.5cm cube root ginger, peeled and grated
1 tspn salt to taste
350 ml warm water
0.5 tspn garam masala
75 ml single cream
2 tbspns finely chopped coriander leaves

1. halve or quarter butternut squash/pumpkin and remove seeds. Peel and cut into 2.5cm cubes.
2. Peel potatoes and cut into 1cm cubes.
3. Preheat a large wide-bottomed pan over a low heat for 1-2 minutes, then add the oil. When hot add cassia/cinnamon, cloves and cardamom and leave to sizzle for 30 seconds.
4. Add the crushed garlic, stir-fry for 30 seconds, then add the onion. Increase heat to medium and stir-fry for 6-7 minutes until the onion begins to colour.
5. Add the cumin, turmeric and chillies and stir-fry for 30 seconds, then add the tomatoes. Stir-fry for 4-5 minutes until the oil separates from the spice paste and begins to float.
6. Add the ginger, stir-fry for 1 minute then add the pumpkin, potatoes, salt and water. Increase heat to high, bringto the boil and cook for 2-3 minutes. Reduce heat, cover the pan and leave to cook for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. Add the garam masala, cream and half the coriander leaves. Stir and cook for 1 minute, then remove from the heat. Serve garnished with the remaining coriander.



Almost done...

 This dish goes down well with basmati rice, home made cucumber raita and a glass of white wine.

pork sausage, fennel and haricot bean stew

I made this a couple of weeks ago after bringing home a pile of recipe books from the library. This one came from Wholefood Kitchen by Ross Dobson. I loved it, really loved it. The fennel just made this dish - its chewy, aromatic sweetness really balanced the garlicky notes and the Cumberland sausages I used have plenty of flavour. I didn't have a fennel bulb so I threw in a big spoonful of fennel seeds instead. So here it is for you.

2 tbsp olive oil
12 small pork sausages
1 onion
1 fennel bulb chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
410g tin haricot beans, drained and rinsed
400g tin chopped tomatoes
2 tsp brown sugar
salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat and cook the sausages in it for 4-5 minutes. Make sure you turn them often till they are well-browned all over. Remove them from the pan.

Add the onion, fennel, garlic and fennel seeds to the pan and stir-fry for 5 minutes until soft and golden. 

Then add the beans, tomato and sugar to the pan and stir well. Put the cooked sausages back in the pan too and then bring to the boil. Simmer over a low heat for 10-15 minutes and season well.

I served it with new potatoes and had it heated up for lunch the next day with a crust of bread.