A little bit of heaven on a plate...

'Dish of the month' June - Nigel Slaters Chicken and apricots

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 19:20:00 +0000

You might be reading this after eating a salad or enjoying a barbecue...lovely stuff...but a few days ago it was cold and one of those evenings where something warm and spicy and comforting was needed to keep the cockles warm. Nigel Slater does great recipes of this nature and last month I made a spicy lentil dish that was fabulous for all the same reasons.

When I was reading the June chapter of Kitchen Diaries II earlier this week I kept thinking I was reading about July, or August as the recipes in the chapter just did not reflect the current weather, all that writing about cherries and soft fruits just didn't seem to ring true. This just shows what poor weather we have had this year...however we are having some sunshine this weekend so I'm not complaining.

This dish is based around a sauce, which is an aromatic spicy mix of fresh chilli's, lemongrass, garlic, tomatoes, limes, fish sauce, soy sauce, coconut milk and CORIANDER. You will see that mine hasn't one flake of the horrid green stuff (coriander) anywhere near it because I detest coriander with a passion. To me it tastes like washing up liquid...for years I ate indian food and thought they hadn't rinsed the dishes well enough and had left soap suds on the pans and dishes and that was were the taste came from, until I realised what it was. And...I am not alone there are lots of other folks that cannot bear the stuff either, and its all down to genetics if you have the coriander tastes like soap gene you are stuck with it. Thanks to Alicia over at FoodyCat who explained this to me on Twitter last week.

Anyway coriander dislike aside, leaving it out of this recipe didn't do it one bit of harm, in my view. The sauce makes a lovely comforting, spicy, tasty, blanket to wrap the chicken and the apricots in (I used dried apricots as I had them to hand, and when they plumped up during cooking in the juices they were heavenly).

You can eat this with rice or couscous or fresh bread dunked in the sauce...its delicious!

Last month was another quiet month in the challenge but we still had some delightful entries, you can refresh your memory over at Janice's blog here, or you can see a pictorial version of where we are since we started in January on Pinterest here, and there have been some brilliant interpretations of Nigel's recipes since we began.

If you'd like to join us in 'Dish of the Month' you'd be very welcome, this is how to get involved...

Make a 'Dish of the Month' from ANY recipe by Nigel Slater
Link back to THIS blog OR to 'Farmersgirl Kitchen'
Use the Dish of the Month logo (below) in your post
If you use twitter, tweet your post with @Heavenona_Plate OR @Farmersgirlcook and #DishoftheMonth hashtag and we will re-tweet it to our followers AND post your pictures on our special Pinterest board.

Rules:

If you own a copy of The Kitchen Diaries II please do not publish the recipes on your blog without permission, they are copyright.
If you are using any Nigel Slater recipes from the BBC Food website, please link to the recipe on BBC Food rather than publishing the recipe. Likewise with any of Nigel's recipes on the Guardian website.
Only one entry per blog please.
Recipes must be added to the linky by the 28th of each month.

And remember to add your Dish of the Month to the linky below this post:

Fresh Bruschetta with parsley pesto - recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Wed, 29 May 2013 15:32:00 +0000

If you have ever ordered bruschetta in an Italian restaurant and haven't made your own at home you must. The combination of fresh flavours is amazing...these are so easy to make and will impress everyone. Just the thing when the weather is getting warmer (at last!).

I used a parsley pesto for my bruschetta, handy when fresh basil is not so accessible and I used walnuts instead of pine nuts (helps with the cost as pine nuts are so expensive). This parsley pesto is great tossed in freshly cooked pasta, 'if' you have any left over put it in a jar with olive oil and pop it in the fridge to keep for a few days.

I haven't really included much in the way of quantities for this as I just go with the flow to suit how many I am feeding or what I have in.
Ingredients:
slices fresh sourdough bread (see last post)
chopped vine tomatoes
olive oil
sea salt - black pepper
small tin stoned olives (black or green) - chopped
grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
Modena Balsamic vinegar
torn fresh basil leaves
for the parsley pesto
bunch fresh parsley (stalks included)
1 clove garlic
olive oil
sea salt
handful broken walnuts

Method:
1. Start with the parsley pesto. In a food processor add the parsley, a generous pinch of sea salt, the walnuts, clove of garlic (grated). Blitz until smooth then add olive oil until you get a spreadable paste.
2. Take the slices of sourdough bread, lay on a board then spread one side with the fresh pesto.
3. On top of this add the chopped tomatoes, chopped olives, torn basil.
4. Season with salt and pepper and finish with a drizzle of olive oil, a drizzle of Modena Balsamic vinegar and top with a generous grating of fresh Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

The freshest/tastiest snack or starter or nibbles for drinks...ever!

'Levain de campagne' bread - a random recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Mon, 27 May 2013 15:37:00 +0000

This months random recipe challenge from Dom at Belleau Kitchen is all about bread and I just had to join in as I have been trying very hard to improve my bread making and if you follow this blog you will have seen some of my recent efforts.

The challenge this month is to choose a recipe from a book with breads in it...I only have two books and so it was in a bit of a 'dip dish dash...my blue sash...' fashion that I chose 'How to make bread' by Emmanuel Hadjiandreou. I bought this book fairly recently as it was recommended to me by Vivien Lloyd, not only an expert in preserves but a keen and skilled bread maker...I know I have eaten her amazing home made breads!

A quick flick through the book and I opened a page at this recipe for 'Levain de campagne', this is described as a French country sourdough loaf. There are several sourdough recipes in this book as one of the chapters is completely given over to sourdough breads; this covers white sourdough, wholegrain sourdough, grissini, polenta sourdough, tomato, beetroot, spiced cheese and herb, potato, fig, walnut and anise sourdoughs, hazelnut and currant, chocolate and currant, caraway rye sourdoughs. Every loaf looks outstanding!

Luckily I had some sourdough starter on the go, I have been nurturing the thing for weeks now and have attempted a couple of recipes using it but with varying success. My sourdough starter was made using rye flour this recipe called for a white starter but I took the risk.

This was definitely the best sourdough loaf I have made so far. The flavour was amazing and it had a lovely sweetened taste from the addition of the rye flour in the recipe. I am not sure the texture of my loaf is as light and airy as it should be, though it did look just like the finished loaf in the book.

I would certainly make this loaf again and I would recommend this book, not only for the lovely recipes and great bread making instructions but for inspiration alone it ticks all the boxes. The kneading techniques for this recipe are really easy as long as you are staying in the vicinity of your dough. I haven't described what these are as I think you should buy the book for that, trust me you won't regret it if you love good bread.

Ingredients:
250g strong white flour
100g wholemeal flour
50g dark rye flour
1 tsp salt
150g white sourdough starter (I used rye)
300g warm water
Method:
1. You make this bread by mixing all the dry ingredients in one bowl and the starter and warm water in another.
2. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix together - this mix will be very wet and sticky. Leave the mix to rest for 10 minutes.
3. After 10 minutes follow the kneading instructions in the book (p 95 for this recipe). After this kneading let the dough rise for an hour, shape the loaf and put in a flour dusted proving basket to rise.
4. This is a loaf that needs a bit of time to make and proving can take up to 6 hours, depending on how lively your starter is. (you can be getting on with other things while this is going on)
5. When the dough is proven bake in a pre-heated oven at 220C fan for 30 minutes.

Don't forget to check out the round up on Dom's blog its always a cracking and inspirational read...

Stand by your jam - 22nd May 2013 is the jammie deadline

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Mon, 20 May 2013 11:33:00 +0000

Say goodbye to jam as we know it...its about to happen.

You might have missed the latest about the change in jam regulations in England, that are about to be decided upon in the coming days and weeks.

DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs ) have launched what can only be described as a non publicised ‘public’ consultation about suggested changes to the ratios of sugar to fruit in the making of jam.

These are known and the Jam and similar products (England)Regulations 2013. This consultation is not restricted just to jams as it also affects marmalade and curds (similar products).

The Regulations will incorporate four main changes:

· Option 1: Reduce the permitted sugar level for jams from 60% to 50%

· Option 2: Reduce the permitted sugar level for jams from 60% to 55% with an ingredient specific exemption for Bramley apples to a level of 50%

Additional deregulatory measures under both options:

· Remove the UK national limit for ‘reduced sugar jam’

· Removing national provisions for curds and mincemeat

It is worth noting at this point that the government favours the 50% option.

You might think that lessening the ratio of sugar to fruit in jams, marmalades and curds is a good thing…but let me assure you its not! The impact of such a proposal will change jam as we know it, no longer will you have the lovely sweet jewel-like fruit laden goodness you spread so lavishly on your cake sponges and breads, but instead you will have something more akin to a sweet spread. Don’t get me wrong I like a spoonful of jelly-like spread on my bagel when I’m in the USA but this is not the USA and I love and want to keep my British jams. They are part of our heritage in this country and I want to keep that heritage and British jam tradition alive.

Marmalade is affected by these new proposals and mincemeat too, its not just jam.

You can read more about this issue on Vivien Lloyd's blog here. And also at Rosie’s blog here. These two are proper jam and preserves experts and know their stuff so I’m taking my lead from them and I am supporting the 60% sugar in my jam and making my views known to DEFRA.

The consultation closes on a few days on 22^nd May 2013. This means you still have time to make your opinion heard and noted.

Please take a few minutes to support our heritage and preserve traditional English jam etc.

You can do this by e-mailing DEFRA at this address foodpolicyunit@defra.gsi.gov.uk

All you have to do is say something like this…

Dear DEFRA,

RE: THE JAM AND SIMILAR PRODUCTS REGS 2013 – PROPOSED CHANGES

I know you want to change the sugar content of jam in this country to decrease the permitted sugar levels, but actually I quite like English jam it as it is.

I want to keep English jam at a permitted sugar level of 60%. I do not agree with either proposal to reduce the permitted sugar levels to either 50% or 55%.

Thank you for taking my views into account.

Regards

(Your name goes here)

THANK YOU!

Changes will affect curds too if they come into force.

A taste of Italy (in Lancashire) - Pumpkin risotto recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Sun, 19 May 2013 20:13:00 +0000

There are many staples in my store cupboard/fridge and these include some products of Italian origin. My often run to emergency meal is very often made from a lump of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, risotto rice, decent stock and other bits and pieces, in this you have the makings of a delicious supper in the form of a comforting risotto. Takes a bit of patience but worth the result and the ingredients peak for themselves, without the cheese its nothing.

I also have olive oil and balsamic vinegar in my store cupboard (always) and use them frequently in my cooking (see my lovely fresh Brushetta as one example, below). I was recently asked to try out a recipe using Italian foods from a region within Italy covering the provinces of Bologna, Ferrara, Mantova, Modena, Reggio Emilia, Rovigo and the Park of Po Delta, all known as Quadrilatero deli'UNESCO. What a feast for the palate it turned out to be!

The items originating from these provinces are so versatile, as well as the Bruschetta above, the olive oil and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese was used on a homemade sweet chilli and salmon pizza I made last weekend to make both the dough and to add flavour to the finished dish.

The Quadrilatero deli'UNESCO region is being promoted by Rediscover Italy on Facebook who sent me some of the towns produce to try at home in my kitchen. The suitcase of items I received came with a lovely recipe for a pumpkin risotto and although not usually a fan of trying the recipes sent with such items, this one seemed too good to miss.

I made the risotto above, and it was fabulous...you can find the recipe after the page break...the Brushetta and pizza recipes are for another day...worth the wait though.

Pumpkin Risotto:
Ingredients:
400g Risotto rice (I used Ca Veechia and it was the best I have ever cooked with)
Large knob butter
1 small pumpkin
1 shallot
Glug of white wine
salt and black pepper
Grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
Modena Balsamic vinegar (to finish)
Method:
1. Begin by peeling and chopping the pumpkin. Cut it into cubes and put in a pan, cover with boiling water from the kettle, add half a teaspoon of salt and some black pepper. Cook on a moderate heat until tender. Use a stick hand blender to blend the pumpkin into a puree.
2. While the pumpkin is cooking start the risotto. Melt the knob of butter in a heavy based pan over a moderate heat add the chopped shallot and lower the heat and sweat the shallot in the butter.

3. Add the risotto rice, and glaze it so it is coated in the buttery shallot mixture.
4. Add a glug of white wine to the rice. Start to add ladles of the golden pumpkin puree, one ladle at a time until the rice absorbs it all and then add another. Keep adding the pumpkin puree until the rice is cooked. You will need to stay with the risotto to keep an eye on it.
5. Once the rice is cooked and the pumpkin puree all absorbed add a big handful of the grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Stir this through the risotto.
6. To serve, add ladles of the cooked risotto to a warm plate. Finish with the Modena Balsamic vinegar. (you can turn it into a sticky syrup by warming it on the stove in a pan, I used it straight form the bottle in Zorro style!)

Cinnamon and brown sugar bagels - recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Sat, 11 May 2013 22:22:00 +0000

After my recent bread making day I have been making all sorts of different breads and just generally having a stab at whatever I fancy...all gung ho like! We made bagels on the bread making day and when I brought them home they were eaten in a flash, so a few days alter I made another batch.

Bagels are a bit unusual as they are boiled in water prior to the final bake and after proving/rising. This gives them the unusual texture. With home made bagels you don't tend to get that shiny, smooth perfectly round exterior or the dense/tough chewy texture you get from shop bought. The home made variety may be a bit lumpy on the outside (this is where the dough has proved and then been placed into boiling water), they won't be a uniform shape and they will be much lighter...and they do taste miles and miles better.

Here is how I made mine...I made 3 variations, all with a white dough - plain poppy seed topping, plain with a cinnamon/brown sugar topping and raisin and cinnamon. Bagels will keep quite well for a few days in a container, they freeze well and are amazing toasted if they start to loose their freshness.
Ingredients:
500g strong white flour
10g salt
1 sachet fast action yeast
1tbsp honey
1tbsp olive oil
250ml warm milk
Flour for kneading
2tsp poppy seeds
2tsp cinnamon
3tsp brown sugar
1 beaten egg
2tsp semolina
Method:
1. Begin by putting all the dry ingredients into a bowl and mix together with a spoon to combine. Add the oil and warm milk slowly and mix as you go to form a dough. Once the mixture is holding together, cover with a damp tea towel and leave for an hour to settle and to rise.
2. After an hour take the dough and put onto a floured worktop and knead until smooth, between 5 and 10 minutes.
3. Roll the dough into a fat sausage and cut into 6 or 8, depending how large you like your bagels.
4. Take each piece of dough and make into a small bun then roll this into a ball. Poke a finger or the end of a wooden spoon through the middle of each ball of dough. Whizz this around your index finger to stretch the middle of the bagel.
5. Place the formed bagels on a greased baking tray to rise...leave plenty of space between each bagel. Cover with a damp tea towel and leave in a warm place for about 45 minutes.
6. After the bagels have proved, just make sure the centre hole is still there and if it has shrunk with proving use your finger to make the hole a bit bigger.
7. Put a pan of water on to boil and then once it reaches boiling point lower the heat to a gentle simmer.
8. Use a large spoon or slotted spoon to lower the bagels into the water - you might need to do them in batches of 2 or 3 at a time. They should float on the water. After a minute simmering on one side turn them over carefully to boil the underside for another minute.
9. Pre- heat the oven to 220C fan.
10. Use a slotted spoon to remove each bagel, drain them as much as you can and place on the baking tray ready to be baked.

N.B. Bagels stick like glue to baking sheets so I used bacoglide on my baking tray and sprinkled fine semolina over the bacoglide in readiness for the bagels.

11. Once on the tray use beaten egg and a pastry brush to glaze the top and sides of each bagel, sprinkle the tops with cinnamon and brown sugar, poppy seeds or raisins and cinnamon and brown sugar. Or top with sesame seeds, dried onions, garlic flakes, chill flakes, nuts, dries fruit or any seeds are good.
12. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Turn the bagels over and bake for a further 3 or 4 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

If you want to see another version of gorgeous bagels op over to Choclette's blog to see the ones she made recently...

Learning a new skill - Bread making with 'Cracking Good Food'

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Sat, 04 May 2013 08:48:00 +0000

Bread! Its the new black in baking isn't it really, with Paul Hollywood's recent series on BBC 2 getting us all a bit keen and interested? My bread making hasn't been up to much to be honest, I made bread years ago and it was pretty OK but of late my attempts haven't been too good. I have thought my problem was the kneading (I can't knead for toffee) but even with a stand mixer and a dough hook I couldn't hack it. So I did no more than took myself off to a bread making course a few weeks ago on the outskirts of Manchester to try and improve my ~~limited~~ bread making skills.

Granary breads.

I spent the day at a school kitchen in Manchester with a number of other keen potential bread makers and in the company of Rob our very knowledgeable tutor, and not just up to speed about bread making either.
My knowledge of nutrition and some aspects of digestion improved too thanks to Rob's tuition/advice. On the day we made a loaf (with our choice of flours), a rye cob, sourdough starter, soda bread and bagels. We had a delicious lunch of freshly baked pizza with a nutritious salad.

My bread making day was run by Cracking Good Food, a non for profit organisation, they put on various courses connected to food and foraging, well worth a look if you live in the north west. I paid £75 for a full day's course and I thought that was an excellent price, a lot of other courses locally are much more expensive. One of the aims of Cracking Good Food is that the courses they run should be as accessible as possible so everyone has the opportunity to learn how to cook.

Milk loaf.

I didn't take any pictures of the day as I just wanted to enjoy it and learn as much as I could. You can see photos of the type of things that go on at these courses on Cracking Good Foods Facebook Page.

Since the course I've been making bread like a good 'un and we haven't bought bread since. I have made sourdough and I have my sourdough starter which began life on the course, I have made white breads (tin loaves and cobs), malt loaves and bagels. Of everything I was most pleased with the bagels as they always seemed a bit tricky to make and not worth the effort but trust me they are! Apart form those you can buy fresh in the USA these are THE BEST I have tasted in this country. My confidence in bread making has improved a great deal and I understand so much more now about yeasts and flours and kneading and proving and how to make a pretty decent loaf and a bagel!

Watch this space for my bagel recipe and tips, which will be coming up in a future post.

A selection of home made bagels.

Testing Paul Hollywood's malt loaf recipe.

NB. I am writing this review because I enjoyed my day baking breads with Rob at Cracking Good Food. I paid for the day myself and was not asked to write a review and Cracking Good Food did not know I was a food blogger when I went on this course. All opinions are my own.

'Dish of the month' May - Nigel Slaters' Spiced lentils and mint labne

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Fri, 03 May 2013 19:58:00 +0000

This month its over to me to launch May's 'dish of the month'...our challenge to cook our way through The Kitchen Diaries II by Nigel Slater. I'm a few days late as its the 3rd May already...last month was a quiet month in the challenge but we still had some delightful entries, you can refresh your memory over at Janice's blog here, or you can see a pictorial version of where we are since we started in January on Pinterest here, and there have been some brilliant interpretations of Nigel's recipes since we began.

This month I decided to make spiced lentils and mint labne (May 27 and p221 in the book) its not something I have made before but it suited my tastes as unintentionally we have started to eat less meat in our diet, and I find I am more drawn to meals that are more vegetable or pulse based. So this just fitted the bill, I love lentils as it is and use them a lot in cooking, such a great source of protein, brown lentils were used to make this tasty dish.

Its very easy to make, just boil lentils until part cooked then make an aromatic paste with asian spices, fresh ginger and garlic and rapeseed oil. Add this to fried sliced onions and finish with chopped tomatoes and seasoning. The finished dish is dressed with (strained) yoghurt and I used fresh chopped mint as I bought the biggest most fresh fragrant bunch ever from my greengrocers. I used (Cotswold) rapeseed oil to blend my spices - this came in a box of food goodies I was sent to try.

I loved this recipe, it was delicious and spicy it made lots (it was a cheap meal) and I intend to freeze some and take it to work as lunch. I had mine with flat bread for supper. I can only describe as as another stunner from Nigel...but his recipes always are!

If you'd like to join us in 'Dish of the Month' you'd be very welcome, this is how to get involved...

Make a 'Dish of the Month' from ANY recipe by Nigel Slater
Link back to this blog or to 'Farmersgirl Kitchen'
Use the Dish of the Month logo (below) in your post
If you use twitter, tweet your post with @Heavenona_Plate OR @serialcrafter and #DishoftheMonth hashtag and we will re-tweet it to our followers AND post your pictures on our special Pinterest board.

Rules:

If you own a copy of The Kitchen Diaries II please do not publish the recipes on your blog without permission, they are copyright.
If you are using any Nigel Slater recipes from the BBC Food website, please link to the recipe on BBC Food rather than publishing the recipe. Likewise with any of Nigel's recipes on the Guardian website.
Only one entry per blog please.
Recipes must be added to the linky by the 28th of each month.

And remember to add your Dish of the Month to the linky below this post:

Retro baking - Sponge Drops recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 22:59:00 +0000

Back in time for this recipe...way back to the future.

My favourite shop bought cake of all time (and they are few) is a 'sponge drop'. When I was a teen, a mere handful of years ago, my mother used to send me off to the local bakery for the seeking out of freshly made, would be called artisan now, ~~meat and potato/steak pies, bread and cakes~~ baked goods. Duly I would set off with list and monies and return with produce and for my own pleasure a 'sponge drop'.

It would be light and fluffy and filled with fresh cream, jam and dusted with icing sugar...though the best sponge drops had a crusty sugar top to them. I'd get home, devour an ~~a steak pie~~ artisan home baked item of choice and tuck into a fresh yummy sponge drop with a cuppa. Have never ever made them until very recently, as the thought one sprung to mind when driving past the said bakery...now gone and replaced with a sunbed shop, of all things!

I am very grateful to Nonna's Kitchen for helping me make sponge drops from her recipe.

In the words of Cher "if I could turn back time..."

..."I'd have another sponge drop"...me.

Ingredients:
3 free range eggs - separated
90g plain flour (sifted 3 times)
90g white caster sugar
150ml carton double cream
1 tbsp icing sugar plus more to dust
homemade jam/lemon curd
1 ripe passion fruit
Baking trays and greaseproof paper
Piping bag/nozzle
Method:
1. Pre- heat the oven to 200C fan.
2. Start by separating the eggs. Put the egg whites into a bowl and whisk until very fluffy. Then add the egg yolks and caster sugar and whisk again.
3. Sift the flour over the top of the mix very gently then, with a large spoon fold in the flour, be gentle as you want to keep as much air in as possible. Beware of pockets of flour, just fold gently until mixed in.
4. You can either pipe rounds of the cake batter onto greaseproof paper on a baking sheet. OR, just use a dessert spoon to drop the batter into rounds, use the spoon in a circular motion. try to get the size bigger than a macaron and smaller than a scone.
5. Bake in the oven for just 5 minutes. Leave to cool for a few minutes before taking off the baking sheet (use a plastic spatula to slide it underneath and gently lift them off.
6. While the drops are cooling whip the cream and a tbsp of sieved icing sugar into soft peaks.

7. Pair up the sponge drops prior to filling, this helps if you they are not a uniform size.
8. Fill a piping bag with the cream and pipe onto one of the flat sides of a sponge drop (the risen dome goes on the top upwards), add a teaspoon of jam, curd or fresh passionfruit on top of the cream. Repeat for all drops.
9. Add another sponge drop (flat side down) onto the top. Dust with icing sugar.
This will make about 12 sponge drops.

These are great as an afternoon tea dainty little sponge cake thing, you could fill them with lots of different things and add other flavours to the sponge such as lemon or orange zest.

'Dish of the month' April - Nigel Slaters parfait of orange and lemon

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 18:57:00 +0000

Its not exactly cold dessert weather I know, but my 'Dish of the Month' this month is born form two dishes and two recipes from 'The Kitchen Diaries II' by Nigel Slater.

Firstly, we had half a hot cross bun loaf left over from Easter, so following Kitchen Delights example last month I made a hot cross bread and butter pudding from The March chapter of 'The Kitchen Diaries II'. It was quite good actually, and a particular favourite with chief taster who polished it off with custard.

Anyway, making that lovely spicy pudding left me with 3 egg whites, and with a pot of double cream in the fridge, a jar of lemon curd in the cupboard and oranges in the fruit bowl, I made this 'Heavenly parfait of orange and lemon' (p 162) again from 'The Kitchen Diaries II'. With one 'small' exception! In Nigel's recipe his picture of this parfait looked a bit *ahem* 'pale' so I thought I'd liven mine up a bit, and I added some apricot gel food colouring to my homemade meringues. I 'might' have made it a bit too lively...but it tastes fab so what the heck!

This parfait is very easy to make, I just made meringues with the whisked egg whites and caster sugar and once these were baked and cooled, I folded them into the whipped cream and other citrus goodies from Nigel's recipe. Because my meringues were homemade, they were nice and mallowy in the centre and crunchy on the outside, this added to the overall loveliness of the finished parfait.

If you'd like to join us in 'Dish of the Month' you'd be very welcome, this is how to get involved...

Make a 'Dish of the Month' from ANY recipe by Nigel Slater
Link back to this blog or to 'Farmersgirl Kitchen'
Use the Dish of the Month logo (above) in your post
If you use twitter, tweet your post with @Heavenona_Plate OR @serialcrafter and #DishoftheMonth hashtag and we will re-tweet it to our followers.

Rules:

If you own a copy of The Kitchen Diaries II please do not publish the recipes on your blog without permission, they are copyright.
If you are using any Nigel Slater recipes from the BBC Food website, please link to the recipe on BBC Food rather than publishing the recipe. Likewise with any of Nigel's recipes on the Guardian website.
Only one entry per blog please.
Recipes must be added to the linky by the 28th of each month.

And remember to add your Dish of the Month to the linky below this post:

I'm also going to add this post to 'Credit Crunch Munch' as these recipes were born from using leftovers from Easter; frugal and tasty, its a win win all round. Credit Crunch Munch is run by Helen at Fuss Free Flavours and Camilla at Fab food for All.

This challenge is a great way to see how other bloggers get creative and save money with their cooking, so do look out for the round up of recipes below.

A visit to Dewlay - Lancashire cheese makers

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 21:53:00 +0000

Dewlay shop and museum at Garstang in Lancashire.

Last Monday we had a great morning out at Dewlay Cheese makers in Lancashire, and here lies a bit of a tale. After submitting a photograph to the Visit Lancashire facebook page for a 'say cheese for Lancashire day' my photograph was picked out by Jodie Prenger as the winning snap and my prize was £100 to spend in the Dewlay shop in Garstang. If I tell you this was one of the very few things I have ever won I am not kidding readers, I never win a sausage. I was so delighted to win anything at all, but really pleased with this particular food related prize, and the opportunity to go up to Garstang, to that great rural Lancashire cheese triangle (I made that up, its not really a 'cheese triangle' but there are several Lancashire cheese makers in that area) and to learn more about Dewlay and how they make Lancashire cheeses.

The first thing that strikes you when you visit Dewlay, after the huge wind turbine outside, is the smell of fresh cheese being made. We had a tour of the viewing gallery, and on the day we visited they were making crumbly Lancashire, Red Leicester and Garstang blue cheeses. The gallery overlooks the cheese production area and Conor Daunt from Dewlay gave us a verbal account of how the cheeses are made, the history to the family business, the awards won by Dewlay and how they are moving forward in terms of sustainable energy, and even recycling the water they use. This might be an old Lancashire traditional cheese product (the starter culture used began over 40 years ago) but the technology is current.

Still winning awards for cheese after a number of years, and proud of it too.

Just some of the interesting facts I learned last week...I'm a cheese expert now...ask me anything about Lancashire cheese...anything!

The milk comes from cows nearby (5miles radius) and the local land is renowned for being good grazing land for cattle, the soil (damp), the climate (damp), the grass (green and damp), did I mention damp there? (at least there are some benefits to the Lancashire climate after all!) all help make for contented grazing cattle and good milk production too.
Dewlay supply cheese to Lancashire schools, if your kids are at school in Lancashire they are likely to be eating this cheese made from local milk etc.
Dewlay has PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) standard for their cheese. This means its regional, local and made in a traditional way.
This is third generation of Dewlay cheese makers, the business was started by the current brothers grandfather George Kenyon in 1957. It *might* just a bit older than me but "age is not important unless you are a cheese".
Lancashire cheese is a 2 day curd cheese recipe and its made this way for years. The curds are cut by machine and turned by hand, bruised curds does not maketh good Lancashire cheese!
Which Lancashire cheese you prefer depends on taste, but some are more mature and therefore more creamy, younger cheeses more crumbly and stronger flavour.
Dewlay cheese is sold in supermarkets nationwide, lots of local Lancashire markets, a Kosher range is made under strict standards, the cheeses are suitable for coeliacs and vegetarians and the cheese is shipped worldwide.

As well as the viewing gallery the site houses a small modern 'cheese making museum' with cheese artefacts and information about the history of Lancashire cheese making (there is a nominal admission charge for the museum and gallery AND if you want to see cheese being made you need to go between 09.30 and 11.30am weekdays only). Guided tours are extra, if you are thinking of taking your local WI group along.

Artefacts from cheese making days gone by.

The shop was our last stop after our tour and here you can buy all the Dewlay products and everything to go with cheese you can think of, from cheese slates and boards, chutneys and pickles to fruit cheeses, biscuits, wine and local Lancashire ciders. A lot of the products sold in the shop are local to Lancashire too. I loved the fact you buy a huge wedge of cheese cut from a round, the traditional way and still see the imprint of the cheesecloth on the outside.

The Dewlay cheese shop, Lancashire and British cheese a speciality.

More than just the cheese to tempt you if you like home baking.

Garstang blue Lancashire cheese waiting to be sliced and paired wines in the shop.

Then it was home for lunch with a selection of cheeses and other goodies bought in the shop...and a debate about which Lancashire cheese we like the most. My favourite is Lancashire creamy and I like the mature one best, then Garstang Blue (which I made some soup with last week) my husband is a big crumbly Lancashire fan.

I would recommend a visit to the shop and viewing gallery, great for kids to see how cheese is made for real and learn more about it and lots on offer in the shop too. Bear in mind the cheese making times before you set off.

Cream of cauliflower and Garstang blue cheese soup - recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 18:58:00 +0000

I didn't start out planning to write about the soup that I made for a lunch last week, but it was so good and it is so easy and simple to make I just couldn't resist sharing it with you.

Cream of cauliflower soup with cheese added isn't a new recipe but its new to my kitchen as I have never made it before. I had a terrible yearning for it and with two fresh cauliflowers in the fridge and some amazing local creamy Garstang blue cheese to use it was a great excuse.

Garstang is a place in Lancashire, this blue cheese is a local cheese made in the county but sold countrywide; its fundamentally a Creamy Lancashire cheese made with pasturised (Lancashire) cows milk. It has a lovely creamy texture and a mild blue cheese flavour that goes perfectly with this soup.

Ingredients:
1 onion finely diced
2 small leeks finely sliced
2 sticks celery finely diced
1 cauliflower blitzed in the food processor
25 g butter
celery sea salt
black pepper
about 750 ml vegetable or chicken stock
2 or 3 tbsp fresh cream
A wedge of Dewlay Garstang Blue cheese
Method:
1. If you have a food processor please use it for this recipe as it will help you make this soup in no time at all. Start by putting into the processor the onion, celery and leeks and blitz on pulse until finely chopped.
2. Melt the butter in a pan and add the chopped onion, leeks and celery. Cook over a low heat for about 10 minutes until the vegetables are cooked but not browned.
3. Break up the cauliflower and add this to the processor and blitz until it resembles grains in size. Add the finely chopped cauliflower to the cooked vegetables and mix together Season with the celery sea salt and black pepper then cover with the stock.
4. Cook for about 15 minutes then use a stick blender to blend the soup. Check the seasoning again and add more salt and pepper if needed. Add the cream and swirl this through the soup prior to serving.
5. To serve, take a warm bowl and crumble into the bowl some of the Garstang blue cheese, ladle the soup on top of the cheese. Serve with fresh bread.

I think its preferable to add the Garstang blue cheese to the bowl rather than the soup, this way the cheese melts into the soup and you get lovely pockets of delicious warm melting cheese goodness on your spoon.

Dish of the Month - March Round up

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 21:08:00 +0000

Well folks that was March...blink and you'll have missed it...was it Spring like? No. Were we neck deep in snow in parts of South Lancashire? Yes! Was it another month that went in a flash? Yes! While we've been busy making and cooking lovely recipes from Nigel Slater, Nigel has been in Japan and if you don't follow him on Twitter I would because his pictures have been really interesting, a great insight into the culture and the food too.

For this March 'Dish of the Month' challenge we had a lovely little giveaway/gift form the folks at OXO Good Grips in the shape of a 2.8L Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl and a Medium Silicone Spatula.

And now Janice of Farmersgirl Kitchen is back from cruising round the South of France she has picked a winner at random...and the winner is...Dom from Belleau Kitchen and star of ITV's Food Glorious Food!!!

Well done Dom, enjoy the gift, its on its way :-).

Here's the fabulous March round up...

Janice started the ball rolling for March with her take on Nigel's Pork shoulder with ginger and anise, taken from Kitchen Diaries II. She didn't use pork shoulder, but improvised with 'two huge and delicious Saddleback Pork Chops', and very nice they were too Janice.

Pork was a favourite this month with Foodie Quine too, who made this Pork Belly and Beans dish for Sunday lunch, if you love crackling you'll love this...even Nigel himself passed comment on the gloriousness of it all...

"@realnigelslater @foodiequine Proper winter dinner. I sometimes crush some of the beans and leave the rest whole. Just for a change."

Riverside Baking made a lovely poached salmon recipe from the book 'Real Fast Food' for her entry.

True to Nigel's cooking style the 'pantry' was raided to find the sides to go with the main dish...which looked a bit of a stunner, if you ask me. Loved the whole look of the poached salmon and the sauce with the fresh veggies.

The next entry was another bean dish and one I had my eye on and plan to make (I have all the beans ready and waiting) as the description in Kitchen Diaries II really grabbed my attention. Its Beans on Toast (again!) This beans recipe from Nigel combined with fresh home made bread (toasted of course) made by Mrs P, looks just the business. The new Mrs P has delivered again, please take a bow.

Drum roll...here come the baking cake lovers...

First of all is a really stunning looking cake from Marmaduke Scarlet and its a Sticky Demerara, orange and almond loaf cake. Rachel who writes this blog is a citrus lover like me and uses minneola's in her adaptation of what is Nigel's 'Demerara lemon cake'. Pass me a cake fork while I dive in! (pictured below)

My own entry was next and this was a Chocolate Muscavado and Banana cake, but I made it in mini loaf fashion (gave them all to the family on Mothers day actually). This is a great recipe to use up bananas going too ripe in the fruit bowl and that's just what Nigel describes in Kitchen Diaries II, in the March chapter. Great recipe, that produces a sweet moist cake, good cake keeper too.

Kate from Turquoise Lemons made a delicious looking chocolate pudding (with Nutella too!), the recipe came from Nigel's website as well as being in Kitchen Diaries II. Its comes highly recommended by Kate; and a lovely warm chocolaty pud in the month we have had weather-wise was just what was needed.

Linzi from Lancashire Food made this very original Goosnargh loaf cake with orange buttercream with a touch of Lancashire added with the Goosnargh link. Linzi used one of Nigel's seed cake recipes and adapted this to suit a Clandestine Cake Club 'Lancashire afternoon tea theme' and with the addition of a lovely fresh and fruity buttercream to make it even more tempting.

Camilla made a gorgeous pudding in the form of a pear chocolate and ginger crumble, she is a firm fan of Nigel Slaters' and has written about his recipes on her blog Fab Food for All. Camilla has made this recipe a few times for her family as its been so popular, not surprising it look so inviting.

The walking foodie Wikipedia that is Karen Burns Booth from Lavender and Lovage made a Black Banana Cake. Using walnuts from her own trees in France as an alternative to the suggested hazelnuts. this was a lovely afternoon tea cake recipe. The recipe is from the BBC website. I imagined a slice of this slathered in butter, though I'm sure it didn't need it as its such a moist cake.

A recipe using up leftover hot cross buns was next, from Kitchen Delights. As if hot cross buns aren't scrummy enough on their own, imagine turning them into a bread and butter pudding! With a little fluffy Easter chick on too!!! Too delicious, too cute, too heavenly...I love it.

I also do love Butternut Squash and I do eat a lot if it, but have never thought to stuff it when baking it in the oven. So thanks to Elizabeth's Kitchen for suggesting this recipe, it looks great with its filling of fried onions, ginger, cumin, cinnamon, paprika and sultanas. Looks sooooooo good!

Finally, our winner the lovely Dom of ITV's Food Glorious Food (have I mentioned that already?). A glorious coffee cake is Dom's offering, and Dom being a fantastic baker and bread maker and chicken thigh recipe creator, actor and TV personality, well he just could not fail with this very lovely cake. Dom is a great food lover and he's pretty good at a lot of things over at Belleau Kitchen.

Our thanks to everyone who entered this month...you can see all the entries for this challenge since we started in January 2013 on our Dish of the Month Pinterest board.

Keep watching for the April event thats about to be launched in the next few days.

I'm off for a glass of wine, have a great Easter everyone!

Easter nest cupcakes - recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 18:41:00 +0000

These yummy scrummy Easter nest cupcakes are just the thing to amuse the kids and to get them busy in the kitchen now they have broken up from school. A combination of a light moist chocolate sponge cake yummy chocolate crispie's, chocolate eggs and more chocolate to keep it all together...its choccie heaven.

These aren't hard to make but its a recipe in two halves, part one, the tops which are crispie cereal chocolate nests with eggs, and part two the lovely light moist little chocolate cakes that support the nest. Top tip; when making these is to make sure you grease the tins for the crispie nests VERY thoroughly (or use cake release spray) as the nests are tricky to get out, thats not a part of this recipe to let the kids do.

This recipe will make between 18 and 24 depending on how generous you are, and if any nests break...there may be nest casualties, no problem just eat those as you go along. If its snowing in your neck of the woods over the holidays add a dusting of icing sugar for authenticity!

PS. If you don't fancy these for Easter and post Easter are overwhelmed with chocolates and sweets, there is always a chocolate pizza to make.

Happy Easter everyone!

Ingredients:
for the nests
Half of 1 very large (390g) bar chocolate
2/3 bags small chocolate eggs
Crispy cereal (plain or chocolate will do)
for the cakes
3 free range eggs
200g caster sugar
200g soft margarine
150g self raising flour
50g cocoa powder
1 heaped tsp baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Icing sugar to dust (if you've still got snow)

Method:
Start by making the nests.
1. Grease two small (12 hole) cake tins within an inch of their lives...or use cake release spray.
2. Take about 250g of the bar of chocolate and break into squares and put into a large bowl. I microwave mine to melt it but this doesn't take long and I'd do it in bursts of 1 minute at first, then additional 30 seconds. Stir in between to melt the chocolate squares.
3. When your chocolate has melted its time to add the crispy cereal. I haven't stated an amount in the recipe as I just keep adding until the chocolate has vanished into the cereal. It must be very well coated in chocolate though.
4. Make the nests by putting a spoonful of the chocolate crispie mix into each well of the cake tray. Use a teaspoon to make a small well in the centre of each one. Add 3 chocolate eggs to each nest while the chocolate is still wet. Now leave these to one side to go cold and to set.
Make the cakes next.
6. Take 2 (12 hole) muffin tins and place paper cases in each hole. Pre heat the oven to 180C fan.
7. Put ALL the cake ingredients (except the icing sugar) into a stand food mixer or food processor or use a hand mixer to beat everything until well mixed.
8. Add a generous spoonful of cake batter into each of the paper cases.
9. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Once baked remove and allow to cool.
10. Take the crispie nests from the cake tins. This is a tricky job, I used a palette knife to carefully release the nests by running the knife around the outside.
11. Melt the remaining chocolate in a bowl in the microwave.
12. To assemble use a palette knife to smooth melted chocolate on top of each cake, with the chocolate still wet place a nest on top. If your cakes are very risen level the top by using a sharp knife to remove the top as these nests sit best on flat topped cakes.
13. Dust with icing sugar for an authentic Easter look.

Sweet fresh mussel soup - recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 23:11:00 +0000

I have been trying to think of a really 'catchy' name for this dish using mussels but I've failed...miserably.

I made this dish a couple of weeks ago its the easiest thing ever but with such amazing flavours, I made Moules Mariniere using a recipe from the Fish is the Dish website (I didn't add the cream, I kept that for my soup). Then I made a delicious home made soup with a butternut squash and other tasty bits and bobs. It was the most sweetest and tastiest meal ever, the sweet spicy creamy soup topped with the sweet plump meaty mussels was just amazing!

The key to this, as with any memorable dish you can make at them is use the freshest ingredients you can. The mussels I used were really fresh and this made all the difference. I think some people are afraid to cook mussels at home but don't be, they are quick easy and safe if you stick to a few simple rules.

Before cooking, if they are fully open and don't close when tapped on a worktop, bin these.
Once they are cooked if any don't open these also go in the bin.
I always use mine as soon after I have bought them as possible, but they will keep in a fridge for a couple of days and
I give them a good soak in fresh water and remove any 'beards' before I cook them.

If you think kids won't love these, then think again, when mussels are really fresh they taste very sweet, a real winner with kids. We are currently taking part in the 'Happy Healthy Hearts' initiative with Fish is the Dish, they are setting out to prove the health benefits of eating more fresh fish in our diets...there are lots of useful meal plans on the website (put together by a dietician) to inspire you at home, and brilliant bloggers just like me are doing our bit by being creative in our kitchens with fish.

"Fish is the Dish's Healthy Happy Hearts Challenge has been designed with the aim of getting families in the UK to make a commitment to eating fish at least twice a week. Research has shown that eating fish just twice a week can help raise levels of omega-3 in the body, a 'good' fat that is essential to our diets. Omega-3 has been associated with brain development, joint function, healthy skin and eyes as well as better mental health. It is even believed to significantly reduce the chances of developing conditions such as cancer and heart disease. From healthy hearts to healthy minds, everyone can benefit from increasing their omega-3 intake".

Ingredients:
1 clove of garlic
1 small onion chopped
2 sticks of celery chopped
25g butter
1 butternut squash peeled and cubed
1 level tsp turmeric
I red chilli (de-seeded)
One and half pints of vegetable stock
sea salt
black pepper
2 tbsp fresh cream
a handful of fresh chopped parsley

for the mussels
1 quantity of this Moules Mariniere recipe (minus the cream)
Method:
1. Start by making the soup as the mussels cook really quickly.
2. Melt the butter in a pan and add the garlic, chopped red chilli, chopped onion and chopped celery. Stir to coat in the butter and cook through on a low heat, don't allow this to brown keep it glossy.
3. After about 10 minutes add the butternut squash and mix this with the cooked vegetables. Cover with stock (vegetable), season with salt and pepper, bring to the boil and reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the pan with a lid and cook for about 10 minutes until the butternut squash is tender.
At this point make the Moules Mariniere recipe in readiness.
4. Add a level teaspoon of ground turmeric to the pan of cooked soup vegetables.
5. Take a stick blender or use a liquidiser to blend the soup mixture until smooth.
6. Check the seasoning and add more if required.
7. Finish the soup with the fresh cream.
8. To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and top with cooked mussels, sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley and a wedge of fresh bread for dunking.

Mussels are a great source of selenium, vitamin B12, zinc and folate.

Fish is the Dish have lots of inspiration on their website, its well worth a look and they have a fabulous competition at the moment to win a fish hamper worth £250!

Fish is the Dish supplied the mussels for this recipe...the rest is down to me.

'Delia's Cakes' - book review

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 17:53:00 +0000

Delia Smiths new book called simply 'Delia's Cakes' is out and riding high in the food and drink books charts at the moment. I have a few books in my collection by Delia, I quite like her work and the recipes I have tried from other books seem to work well, she's a bit of an 'all rounder' in the kitchen, but I think it was in 1988 that she last brought out a book just about cakes.

This book has such notoriety it has its own facebook page, worth a look for ideas, recipes and giveaways etc.

The book is divided by chapters into sponge cakes, loaf cakes, family cakes, little cakes (includes scones and the like), muffins, biscuits (since when has a biscuit been a cake though?), chocolate cakes, celebration cakes and dessert cakes. I liked the celebration cake chapter, some good ideas there for adults cakes. There is a section at the front about tools to use in baking and several pages on ingredients and a nod to the gluten free and egg free recipes in the book. (Dear readers please note: always good to have an egg free cake recipe to hand when out of fresh eggs at home)

The appearance of the book is very minimal and almost clinical with its mostly plain washed pastel backdrops to style the cakes; but this way the cakes do all the talking on the pages. Every recipe has a photograph alongside it, great if you are a novice or not that confident at following a recipe without one.

This carnage below isn't from Delias' book, that my kitchen in full baking cake mode.

From this book and last weekend I tried one of the most simple cakes ever (but its my favourite) a Victoria sponge and in 'Delia's Cakes' this one has a cream cheese and passion fruit filling (see above). The recipe went really well, and without a hitch, the recipe for the cake suggested a 2 egg sponge mix but being the 'gung ho' ~~greedy~~ baker that I am, I doubled the mix. This gave me a very deep cake! It was a great flavour and texture and the filling was really delicious too.

'Delia's Cakes' is linked in to the Delia online cookery school. In the interests of research I had a mosey on over there, to see what the deal was. This site is quite a good resource for home bakers, it has recipes like this 'sticky prune and date cake' and simple and clear tutorials on baking (Delia provides the commentary) and its FREE!

Good things about this book are:

the recipes are easy to follow
the recipes cover both basic and traditional bakes
there is a good and wide range of cakes
according to the book cover, over 90% of the recipes can be made as gluten free
the photography is good
some of the newer and less traditional recipes look very good

All in all I liked the book, it would be a pleasing addition to anyone's recipe book shelf but for someone relatively new to baking it would tick a lot of boxes, and I think that's the market this new 'Delia's Cake' book is aimed at.

The only thing I didn't like was the biscuit chapter, nothing wrong with the recipes there from what I have seen, but in what is claimed to be a 'Cake' book it seemed a bit strange?

Some extracts from the book below...

'Delia's Cakes' is published by Hodder and Stoughton, who kindly sent me a copy to review (my thanks to them).

'Dish of the month' March - Nigel Slaters' Chocolate muscavado and banana cake

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 18:00:00 +0000

Its March already! Its only 9 months to Christmas (I know!!) and we are a quarter of the way through cooking our way through Nigel Slaters Kitchen Diaries II and getting you to join Janice at Farmersgirl Kitchen and I along the way.

When I read the forward to this recipe by Nigel Slater I was so in line with his thinking I just had to make this recipe. Nigel discusses fresh bananas and how he likes to eat them, he does not like a banana too ripe does the lovely Nigel, and I don't either. So in this household some bananas never make it as they have just gone past their best for eating, at these times they are either binned or made into something that transforms them from a skanky over ripe banana into a lovely piece of heaven. Thats what Nigel's recipe for chocolate, muscavdo and banana cake does. Nigel makes a full size loaf cake with this recipe but I decided to make mini cake loaves with the same recipe and just cooked them at a lower temperature (170C fan) and for less time (25 mins).

The recipe turned out really well, and the flavour of the cakes was great, and making them like this meant there were lots to giveaway.

If you take part in 'Dish of the Month' for March you have the chance to win a giveaway that has kindly been supplied by OXO GoodGrips...one entrant will win a 2.8L stainless steel mixing bowl and medium silicone spatula. The winner will be chosen by random number generator when the Linky closes on 28th March 2013. This draw is open to UK residents only but you can join in with 'Dish of the Month' wherever you live.

If you want to join Janice from Farmersgirl Kitchen and myself baking our way through Kitchen Diaires II in 2013 we would love to have you join us.

You can link up with either this blog or Janice's blog below this post.

You can also see all the entires as they happen by following this challenge on Pinterest here.

Make a 'Dish of the Month' from ANY recipe by Nigel Slater
Link back to this blog or to 'Farmersgirl Kitchen'
Use the Dish of the Month logo (above) in your post
If you use twitter, tweet your post with @Heavenona_Plate OR @serialcrafter and #DishoftheMonth hashtag and we will re-tweet it to our followers.

Rules:

If you own a copy of The Kitchen Diaries II please do not publish the recipes on your blog without permission, they are copyright.
If you are using any Nigel Slater recipes from the BBC Food website, please link to the recipe on BBC Food rather than publishing the recipe. Likewise with any of Nigel's recipes on the Guardian website.
Only one entry per blog please.
Recipes must be added to the linky by the 28th of each month.

And remember to add your Dish of the Month to the linky below this post:

Making marmalade to competition standard - tips & labels

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 12:50:00 +0000

Making marmalade takes skill, time, judgement and patience, you will need to practice if you want your marmalade to be good enough to enter a competition with. Some of the people entering these competitions have been making marmalade for years and are very skilled, you will be up against a tough and an experienced bunch. Be warned once you start practicing it can become very addictive, very quickly...in this house its been woman versus marmalade for weeks and woman was going to win! (and I am not a competitive person, trust me)

So here are my top tips from what I have learned so far...along with some photos taken from the day I spent with like minded preserving fiends Vivien Lloyd, Karen Burns Booth and Charlotte Pike in February this year. Making preserves with like minded people is a great way to spend a day and you learn so much too.

1. If you are entering a competition, check the rules with the organisers and if you are not clear then do ask them for more information. Check out who is judging, if its the WI (Women's Institute) they will follow WI rules, join or make friends with someone who is a WI member and look at the rule book they have for entering preserves in shows. This will guide you. Be clear what categories you are entering, only experiment with flavours once you have mastered the basics.

2. Choose a recipe you can trust, the best ones will have the right ratio of sugar to fruit to water. Read the recipe several times and follow it to the letter. There are hundreds of recipes on the internet and in books, but remember not all of them are good ones or follow the right ratio. This is the method I followed.

3. Buy the best produce you can find, organic Seville oranges produce the best results, for Seville orange marmalade, same with other citrus fruits such as lemons (don't use waxed fruit or if you do scrub it first), limes etc. When its Seville orange season in the UK its worth making friends with your local greengrocer and sourcing the best fruit.

4. Use cane sugar for marmalade, DO NOT use jam or preserving sugar.

5. Getting marmalade to setting point is tricky, this requires practice and skill and confidence, but once you crack this its a great achievement!

6. Make small batches, that you can control better. If you are making several batches (because you are entering a competition) keep some notes after each batch on what went well and worked and what didn't this will help you to improve.

7. When making batches make up a small jar you can try yourself, then you will be able to test the seal, the aroma, the flavour, and the set yourself and be able judge how good it is.

8. Don't worry about batches that might not have set well or where they haven't settled in the jars properly, these might not be good enough for a competition but are still edible, will usually taste fine and can be used in lots of delicious recipes (like these muffins below). Family and friends will still be happy to take jars of homemade marmalade off your hands.

9. Always use PLAIN UNBRANDED clean sterilised jars and ALWAYS use NEW lids, these are available quite cheaply on websites and E Bay. If you are entering a competition I would only ever use new plain round jars and new plain lids. You don't want this to happen in a competition! (not my entry by the way...I won GOLD and two SILVER for mine)10. Make sure your jars are sterilised, warm (not red hot) and filled to the top, take off any scum or air bubbles with a teaspoon before sealing tightly. Make sure your filled jars are clean and not sticky, you can wipe them with a damp clean cloth and with a clean cloth with a little methylated spirit to make them shine.

11. DO NOT turn your filled jars upside down in an attempt to distribute the fruit, if your marmalade has been made properly you should not need to.

12. Label your jars with the name of the marmalade, when it was made and what is inside it. Be creative and give some thought to your labelling. Here's some I made earlier!

There are lots of websites with ideas and free labels you can download. I created mine after looking around other blogs and sites.

Here is a link to a blog that has some lovely vintage style labels you can print off yourself at home to label jars (and anything else you might want to label). There are some very simple labels here suitable for a range of preserves. Here are some pretty heart shaped labels that are very appealing. Finally, this graphics fairy site has great old prints you can incorporate into labels as a background.

This is my last 'making marmalade' post for now...I hope these posts will encourage you to carry on or to even try making marmalade at home for the first time...and to make you think about entering either a local, national or international competition with your marmalade...thanks for reading all my posts.

Cake International Manchester - 8-10 March 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 17:39:00 +0000

Cakes by Tracey Mann who specialises in chocolate fondant creations

Cake International hits Manchester this weekend and I was invited to go along and have a look at what's going on there...I was really pleased to be invited as this is the first time cake international has been to Manchester. In the past it has been an NEC Birmingham based event, I have travelled to see it in Birmingham, but I liked Manchester today better, it was less crowded, easier to park (parking is free), easier to get drinks/food, easier to shop (there are over 100 stands to buy from) and the workshops seemed more accessible too.

Cake international is on all weekend, it costs £12 to get in for adults. Its at Event City in Manchester (near the Trafford Centre) If you want to enter any of the cake competitions you are too late now, but this is a great place to go for inspiration, to learn and to stand in awe of the creativity of cake decorators and sugarcrafters from the UK and all over the world.

Here are some highlights...a mere snippet of whats on offer!

Guest appearances by Mary Berry, Mitch Turner and Lindy Smith (to name but some)

You can try your hand at lots of different techniques for decorating cakes and learn from the British Guild of Sugar Craft tutors and specialist suppliers too. Stallholders generally demonstrate some of their products, and will give you ideas on how to use them, as well as selling everything you need to make your cakes spectacular.

Making chocolate rose petals, fondant roses, icing techniques and tips, and sugarcraft flowers

If you can't find what you are looking for here you won't find it anywhere from cake tins to tools to books, magazines, adornments for cakes or chocolate and even ready made cakes for you to take home and decorate yourself.

Cake ribbon heaven

Cake international is also about cake competitions at a very high standard, there are different classes you can enter and each class has a winner and then there is an overall winner too. The classes are judged to a very strict criteria and entries can come from all over the world.

Butch the bulldog was a fabulous cake

These are all actual cakes by the way, and if the judges have any doubt then they cut into the cake, just to be sure!

The tiered wedding cakes are really breath taking.

As well as the larger and character cakes there is a children's category and a gâteaux category and an Easter themed one, and of course...cupcakes too.

The little girl on the right is Elisha Lee Latham and she is 6 yrs old and thats her cake bottom right.

I am so pleased Cake International has come to Manchester, if you like cake decorating like me you will love it just as much as I do...I was very pleased to be invited to this event as a guest of One Voice Media.

If entering the cake competitions and all that cake envy gets too much, have a massage and grab a brownie.

Chocolate, marmalade and ginger cake - recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 19:28:00 +0000

Its national marmalade week and here is a recipe to suit the occasion, not that we need an excuse to use up marmalade in this house!

This cake is packed with a chocolate punch as it contains cocoa powder and chopped dark chocolate too. Its a rich chocolate almond batter base with added marmalade, orange zest and chopped cristalized ginger. Its a great way of using up homemade marmalade in a cake, but the marmalade doesn't 'have' to be homemade.

In this recipe I have used marmalade from a jar of Mackays orange marmalade with champagne. Even though I love homemade preserves best of all, I could quite happily eat this marmalade, its a lovely colour and packed with fruit and flavour. These preserves are still made using traditional copper pan methods in Dundee, Scotland and Mackays are the only company to still do this.

Here is how you make this cake...
Ingredients:
150g soft butter
150g caster sugar
3 free range eggs
100g ground almonds
100g self raising flour
35g cocoa powder
100g plain chocolate roughly chopped
25g crystalized ginger chopped
2 tbsp Mackays orange marmalade with champagne
grated zest of one orange
icing sugar to dust
Method:
1. Pre heat the oven to 170C fan. Grease a fluted flan tin (mine was a 9 inch tin).
2. Cream together the butter and caster sugar. Add the eggs one at a time and beat to incorporate.
3. Fold in the flour, ground almonds and cocoa powder.
4. Fold in the marmalade, orange zest and chopped plain chocolate.
5. Spoon the mixture into a fluted tin and level out the top. Bake in the oven for about 35-40 minutes. Dust with icing sugar once the cake has cooled.

This cake is best served warm with a huge dollop of fresh cream, trust me!

This post is not sponsored but I was given some marmalade by Mackays to take home and try a recipe with after the Worlds Marmalade Awards at the weekend. Hubby prefers the Vintage Dundee, which is a dark marmalade, but I'm an orange and champagne girl all the way!

The Worlds Marmalade Awards 2013 - the results are in!

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 20:44:00 +0000

I had a lovely day out at the Worlds Marmalade Awards at Dalemain in Penrith, Cumbria this weekend. The awards last over two days and this is the eight year of the awards; entries to the various categories come from all over the world and this year there were over 1,900 entries in total. The most ever!

Dalemain Mansion and gardens are near Ullswater, Penrith in Cumbria. This historic house and gardens contains a wealth of Tudor and Medieval rooms and buildings. There is a tea room and a small shop; the main mansion house has a courtyard and during the weekend of the awards stallholders have a small marketplace selling a fabulous selection of quality goods. Here you will find everything from jam jars to pottery to preserves to peruvian rigs. There is also a lot of marmalade on sale from various producers, including the Dalemain Mansion brand.

Jane Hasell-McCosh is the founder of the awards, she lives in Dalemain Mansion and had the brain child of running the awards to keep the marmalade preserving tradition alive and to support local charities too. During the awards weekend the mansion is adorned and bedecked with oranges and a citrus theme runs throughout the house, outbuildings and courtyard too.

The awards in the homemade categories are judged by two ladies who are WI (Women's Institute) judges, the artisan categories are judged by others with a very keen food and/or preserve related interest. The 'marmalashes' are judged by representatives with an interest in food or those with preserving knowledge like Vivien Lloyd, Dan Lepard, Mackays the sponsors from Dundee are represented too.

I'm not sure how many entries there are in the homemade categories but there are clearly hundreds and hundreds, each room in the ground floor at Dalemain mansion is full with table after table of entries from all over the UK and some come from all over the world. The jars are in all shapes and sizes and the range of entries and some of the flavours is really interesting. I doubt I will ever see so much marmalade in one place again and how the two judges do such a difficult task is beyond me.

The artisan entires are set out in a barn, and you can taste these if you like, Janice and I both tried a few, some we liked and others we did not.

Of course I had another motive rather than just spending a very lovely day in Cumbria looking around a mansion house and meeting lovely fellow bloggers like Janice from Farmersgirl Kitchen (pictured right) as well as looking at lots and lots and lots of jars of marmalade...and buying the most delicious fresh bread.

I had entered the awards myself, for the first time ever I had entered three jars of my homemade marmalade into this competition, and after much searching on Saturday and with Janice's eagle eyes I found my jars and my marks from the judges. It was time to get excited!

I had entered 3 categories...in the Novice category I entered a Seville orange...I entered a jar in the Seville orange category itself, and last of all I entered a jar of marmalade into the 'Merry' category (contains alcohol). Scores are given out of 20 in total in the homemade awards as follows...

Appearance, jar, label etc 2 points max

Colour 5 points max
Consistency 6 points max

Flavour 7 points max

Depending on the score entries are then awarded a gold (19.5-20pts) a silver (18-19.5pts), bronze (17-18pts) or a merit.

Here is how my marmalade scored...and yes I was delighted!

Seville 19pts - SILVER Novice 20pts - GOLD Merry 19pts - SILVER

Its National Marmalade week from 2nd to 9th March and this week on this blog there will be more about marmalade...including my top tips, (get me!) and recipes too, so keep watching.

This post is dedicated to Vivien Lloyd who has taught me so much, through her books, her website, her videos and by sharing her knowledge about preserving with me and others; all this together enabled me to make marmalade to a good enough standard to enter a competition with...and win GOLD!

Elvis Presley's peanut butter and banana sandwich - Nigella Lawson recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 12:41:00 +0000

This might not look like much, and its a very simple recipe that requires not skill whatsoever...but it tastes like heaven and if you have never made this please have a go. Just the once!

Its a recipe from Nigella Bites (by Nigella Lawson of course!) where she makes (in the trashy food chapter) Elvis Presley's peanut butter and banana sandwich... reknowned for being one of Elvis's favourite dishes this comes with a big health warning. As delicious as this sandwich is, it is (fried) cooked in butter which adds calories by the bucketful...correction... barrel full.

Not a recipe you want to indulge in all the time but for highdays and holidays its the one!

Nigella Bites is one of my favourite recipe books of all time, and I am always somehow drawn to the trashy section, the other fabulous tried and trusted trashy recipe in this book is for the fried chicken.

Making recipes from this book takes me back some years (over 14 years now in fact) to when I use to make this for a friend of mine (pictured), she would come and stay over at my house and we would eat it for breakfast, as a treat!

Happy memories of the laughs we had together and boy did we have some laughs!

To make this simply spread one slice of the white bread with peanut butter and add the banana either mashed or finely sliced. Melt the butter in a frying pan over a low heat. Put the second slice of bread on top of the first and press down. Add to the pan of melted butter and cook gently for about 3 minutes on each side until golden brown. Serve!

Once you have made this and enjoyed it by relishing every mouthful, and wiping the runny salty molten peanut butter/banana combo from your lips, and your digestive system has fully recovered, you will need to get your trainers and gym kit on and get yourself down to the gym...or go for a run...a good 3 hour work out or jog should do the trick. If you need a nudge to get moving, just remember what happened to Elvis!

I am entering this indulgence into Sarah at Maison Cupcake's Forever Nigella challenge, which for this months (February 2013) challenge #23 is all about NOSTALGIA and is hosted by Urvashi on her Botanical Baker Blog. Urvashi has written a lovely post about the chocolate cake she makes for her daughters birthday.

Lamb shanks braised in red wine - recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 23:14:00 +0000

This week the hint of Spring we had recently has disappeared without a trace and a cold akin to Siberia has hit. Shame really as I was beginning to enjoy the sunshine in Lancashire and the Spring sights of daffodils pushing their green storks into the air.

Anyway, all this botanical talk is leading towards one thing and that is...a comfort food recipe. This is the type of dish you want to let braise for half a day, fill the house with lovely smells and to devour when the weather is as cold as it has been this weekend.

The key to this dish being a huge success is to use meat from a good local source, only use wine you would be happy to drink yourself and very sloooooow braising/cooking.
Ingredients:
for four adults
1 tbsp olive oil
4 lamb shanks
3 carrots peeled and sliced
1 large onion chopped
1 stick celery washed and chopped
1/4 bottle of drinkable red wine
3 sprigs fresh thyme
sea salt and black pepper
1 tbsp apple mint or redcurrant jelly
1 tbsp cornflour - mixed with 2 tbsp water
fresh chopped parsley
Method:

1. Put an oven proof casserole on top of the stove, over a moderate heat add and heat 1 tbsp olive oil. Add the lamb shanks to the pan and brown all over. Once they are brown remove from the pan, put on a plate and leave to one side.
2. Add the vegetables to the pan and stir and season with salt, pepper and thyme sprigs. Pre heat the oven to 160C fan.
3. Put the lamb shanks on top of the vegetables and cover with about 1/4 bottle of red wine. Bring to the boil on top of the stove and then cover with a lid.
4. Cook in a moderate oven 160C fan for 2.5 to 3 hours. You will need to judge the cooking time by the size of the lamb shanks.
5. Once the lamb is cooked through remove from the gravy and vegetables. Add either the mint jelly or redcurrant jelly and adjust the seasoning season to taste.
6. Add the casserole back on the stove top and on a moderate heat add the cornflour/water mix to thicken the gravy. Let this bubble for a few minutes, add the lamb back in.
7. Serve with a sprinkle of fresh parsley, more seasonal vegetables and creamy mashed potatoes.

Cake International is coming to Manchester - Ticket giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 16:29:00 +0000

The start of March is really exciting, the results of the National Marmalade awards are coming up *quivers* and Cake International comes to Manchester for 3 days from 8th to 10th March 2013! It's the first cake show to come to Manchester and its held at the Event City near the Trafford Centre. Each individual ticket is £12 to buy on the day (£10 in advance).

I have been to Cake International before in 2011, it has been held annually in Birmingham (and in London too), you can read about that visit here and here.

I enjoyed Cake International in Birmingham and its a very busy event, but it was a bit of a trek by car, Manchester is just 25 minutes away for me so...happy days!

The event itself has a mixture of fantastic cake events entered into by both professional and novice cake makers plus a range of providers (from all over the world) with everything from cake lustres to cake boxes, from cake wrappers to every kind of fondant icing, tools to tips, its all here.

In addition to the competitions, judging and over 80 stalls to buy things from there are the usual guest appearances by celebrities and this year the Great British Bake Off is well represented by Mary Berry and John Whaite (this years winner...a local lad you know). In addition there are other guest appearances from other well known bakers and sugarcrafters, such as Lindy Smith and Tracey Mann who makes stunning chocolate and choclate fondant designs.

The judging of the competitions is undertaken by the British Guild of Sugarcraft's own judges, its is absolutely amazing to see the entries for the competitions, the standard is very high here and the judges are all experts in their fields.

The cakes stretch anyones imagination and the floral sugar craft is out of this world. I was just in awe of the detail. You just cannot believe these flowers are made of sugar the detail is so unbelievably life like, its like an optical illusion.

There are also a number of events that go on in the three days in the events theatres (you must book for these in advance and a charge is made in addition to the ticket admission price).

Anyway on the 8th March I shall be there...with my camera, gazing in awe and pondering...could I ever make something like that!

If you would like to go the Cake International Event this year at its first appearance in Manchester at the Event City Manchester, you have the chance to win some tickets as I am delighted that I have FIVE PAIRS of tickets to give away for the show and on ANY days, thats on either the 8th, 9th or 10th March, Friday through Sunday.

RULES:

The tickets will get you into the show for one day and do not include admission to any of the events you have to pay extra to see at the event theatre.
Tickets are issued in pairs for the purpose of this giveaway, only one pair will be issued to each winner.
The giveaway does not include transport to and from cake International in Manchester.
Any tickets won may not be redeemed for cash or other goods.
This giveaway is open to UK entrants only.
You have until midnight on 26th February 2013 to enter.
You can have several chances to enter, just follow the Rafflecopter instructions below or you may be disqualified.
You must leave a comment below on this blog to say who you would take with you to the event if you won, otherwise your entry is invalid.
Winning entires will be chosen by Rafflecopter and me and my decision will be final.
You must state what day you want to go once you have been notified by me of your win, so please make sure your e-mail address is correct.
Tickets will be sent out to you directly to your home address from One Voice Media after 1st March 2013.

BEST OF LUCK...if you win I might just see you there!

Please note: This is not a sponsored post other than ICHF who organise the event have offered the 5 prs of tickets. The photographs used in this post are mine from my visit to Cake International in Birmingham.

Clandestine Cake Club Cookery Book - review

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 20:42:00 +0000

The Clandestine Cake Club founder Lynn Hill published her first book last week on Valentine's Day. The book is a combination of Lynn Hill's and cake club members recipes, a wide range of cakes are covered in the book, from Battenburg through to Bundts, from tea loaves to layer cakes.

The joy of this book for me is the fact that these recipes have been made by home cooks in their own kitchens; and that they are cakes that have stood up to being tested in ordinary homes and by people with a genuine love of baking.

A typical cake club can be quite varied with the range of cakes baked by the members and this book reflects the same. Its diverse and interesting, colourful and engaging, the recipes are clear and well laid out and there are hints and tips.

The photography and depiction of the cakes is a credit to the food stylists who worked on this book. The cakes really leap off the page!

If you follow this blog you will know that I founded and still run the South Lancashire Clandestine Cake Club along with Linzi at Lancashire Food.

Two of South Lancs Clandestine Cake Clubs members, Linzi and Carla both have recipes in the book, in fact Carla has two recipes! I have tried their cakes at our cake club events and know they both know a thing or two about baking, recipes and cakes. It was lovely to see their pride last week after the book was published (see picture bottom right above).

There are other cakes in this book that I have made myself and enjoyed in the past. Vanessa Kimbells' victoria sponge with cardomom, rose cream and rhubarb is a fabulous cake and I was so pleased to see Lynn Hill's own spiced pear cake recipe in the book as I adore that recipe (and haven't been able to find it anywhere).

If you buy this book do try these two recipes they do come highly recommended and were very quickly devoured when I made them. There are not many cake slices that come back from a cake club and last long here.

This is just the book you want to reach for when you feel like baking a 'proper' cake. If you cannot find inspiration in this book - I do not know where would you look next?

The Clandestine Cake Club Cookery Book is a great recipe book for anyone that likes to bake, it would make a great gift and with Easter coming up most bakers I know would rather have a copy of this than an Easter Egg, no matter how much they say they love chocolate!

Thanks to Lynn Hill and Quercus Books (the publishers) who sent me a copy but with no expectations for a positive review.

If you fancy joining a cake club and meeting like minded bakers in different locations, over drinks and lots of cakes, then hop along to the Clandestine Cake Club's site.
Our next event in South Lancashire is on 16th March 2013.

Here are some pictures (top and bottom of this post) from our last event when we went to meet a local WI group...just to give you more of insight and to whet your appetite it was a great night with some amazing bakes...just a typical cake club really. Enjoy!