A little bit of heaven on a plate...

Tea brack - a random recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 19:41:00 +0000

Tea brack is a dense fruit cake that is traditionally served sliced thinly and spread with butter. This recipe doesn't really need any additional butter to be fair, as it was a very moist cake. The recipe for this tea brack came form Rory O'Connell's book called 'Master It - how to cook today'. Its one of the latest additions to my ever growing cook or recipe book collection and the theme of Belleau Kitchens 'random recipe' challenge for this month is to make something from a recent addition. By chance I opened the book towards the end and came across this recipe, was a chance opening as there are not many cake recipes in this book...and this book is over 500 pages long!

I have been quite interested in this particular book recently as my friend Charlotte is studying under Rory O'Connell, Darina Allen and Rachel Allen's tuition over in Ireland for 3 months. You can follow Charlottes adventures on her blog, its a fascinating read of what she is getting up to at the Ballymaloe Cookery School. Some of the dishes she has been making look so fabulous and her journey to improve her cookery skills is really interesting. Rory O'Connell founded the school with his sister Darina Allen, he has been cooking and teaching for over 30 years.

This tea brack is a huge heavy brick of a cake laiden with fruits that have been soaked in tea overnight; this recipe is a great way to use up left over dried fruits after you have made your Christmas cakes. I always seem to have half a packet of this and a quarter of a tub of that left over, all those bits and bobs can go into this cake. The soaking of dried fruits in tea plumps up the fruits and makes them so delicious, especially if you use a flavoured tea as I did. I used Betty's Christmas loose leaf tea, which added an extra spicy flavour to my brack.

Rory O'Connell's book is a hefty volume packed full of recipes and advice and guidance on how to cook just about everything well. This book isn't big on the visual (so if you like heavily staged photos of recipes shown throughout a recipe book it won't be for you) but it's clear that the author knows his subject matter very well indeed and therefore nothing fancy is really needed. This book is not about the visual its all about good cooking.

This would make a great addition to any serious cooks collection, especially where improving their skills in the kitchen is high on their agenda. Each chapter of this book helps teach the reader a new skill from stock/soup making to braising to coking vegetables to pastry (and just a few cakes) so its ideal for less experienced or novice cooks too. I think this is a great reference book; and its the nearest I will get to being taught how to master anything by Rory O'Connell, and when you read Charlottes blog you will understand why. 'Master It' is published by Fourth Estate.

Ingredients:
200g dried fruit (my selection was from what I had in and was made up of sultanas, dried cranberries, dried sliced apricots, and dried chopped dates to make up 200g)
55g glace cherries
55g dried mixed peel
55g whole almonds chopped
1 large free range egg
400g plain flour
1tsp baking powder
450ml tea (I made my tea strong with loose leaf tea for best flavour)
110g soft brown sugar
110g golden caster sugar

Method:
1. The day before get your dried fruits weighed out ready and make your tea. Strain the tea over the dried fruits ( you don't want tea leaves in your brack) and combine with a spoon. Cover and leave over night. The next day the fruits will have plumped up and absorbed most of the tea.
2. Line a loaf tin with baking paper. Add the glace cherries and the mixed peel to the soaked fruits and mix together.
3. Add the egg and the sugars and mix well. Finally add the flour and baking powder. The mixture will be quite stiff at this stage.
4. Put the mixture into a lined loaf tin and bake for an hour and a half at 180C fan. Test with a skewer, if the skewer is not clean you will need to bake for longer depending on your oven.
5. Once the cake is cold serve thinly sliced, with or without butter. Kept in a tin and wrapped in greaseproof paper this cake will keep for several days. It won't last too long, trust me!

The tastiest fish pie ever! - recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Sat, 25 Jan 2014 08:59:00 +0000

Fish pie is one of those traditional comfort food recipes that just ticks all the boxes all the time. It's a dish I never get tired of and when I make this and serve it for supper, or even for big family gatherings, everyone seems to enjoy and love a good fish pie. Even those people who say they don't like fish seem to like it.

If like me one of the household has a sea food allergy you can make this without the addition of prawns or scallops or whatever...if you don't have that issue to tackle the worlds your oyster. I like to use a smoked haddock in all my fish pies as it really adds to the flavour, use an undyed smoked haddock if you can.

I give my fish pies an added flavour by adding mustard to the mashed potato topping, and this along with a sprinkle of grated parmesan really gives it something extra. On this occasion I used a Maille (french) grain mustard.

Ingredients:
1 fillet cod
1 fillet smoked haddock (undyed)
1 fillet salmon
1 fillet coley
A pint of cheese sauce
Mashed potatoes seasoned with salt pepper
2 tsp Maille grain mustard
Grated parmesan cheese
Method:
1. Make a pan of creamy mashed potatoes to start, I love the Nigel Slater quote from one of his books when he is talking about mashed potato and says to 'add butter until it can take no more'. Once the mash is done add a couple of teaspoons of Maille grain mustard. You can add more to suit your taste if you like more of a mustard flavour.
2. I always cook my fish beforehand in the microwave, by putting the washed fish fillets on a plate and covering with cling film. I cook two fillets at once and they need about 1.30 minutes, depending on the size of the fillets and how powerful your microwave oven is. While the fillets are cooling on some kitchen paper get on with the cheese sauce.
3. Flake the fillets of fish into the bottom of an over proof dish, keep the pieces of fish big. Cover with the cheese sauce and fold the fish and sauce together with a spoon, be careful not to break up the fish any more.
4. Add the mashed potato and top with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.
5. Bake in a pre heated oven 180C fan for about 20 minutes.
6. Serve with seasonal vegetables; this fish pie will serve 4 hungry adults.

January 2014 - an update

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 13:04:00 +0000

Unbelievably its been a whole month since I wrote anything on my blog...here is a bit of an update...

Christmas was both a relaxed and a busy time that seemed like an endless round of cooking and clearing away them more cooking and clearing away...and in between work, as I didn't take much time off this year.

The time goes so quickly and it really feels like a lifetime ago now, but we had a relaxing Christmas morning and a very quiet low key (just the two of us) lunch. The rest of the day was spent preparing for Boxing Day where we had an American themed lunch of pulled pork, roast ham, mac and cheese, homemade slaw, sweet potatoes and marshmallows etc. To ensure we had a British twist we had the obligatory family trifle, or spiced apple pie for dessert...or both if you were brave enough (some were!)I thought the American theme it would make a change from the usual Christmas fayre and true to form it went down really well with all the guests...we were all too busy eating and drinking to take any pictures of the food.

We didn't go so mad with food this Christmas at home, as in previous years, as we are trying to moderate our intake...however, there was a bit of baking of course!...Santa brought is a new bread maker (thanks mum) which has been put to great to use, as we haven't bought bread since, and there were the obligatory homemade mince pies and Christmas cakes to bake and decorate.

Every year I try and find 'the best mince pie recipe ever' and this year I made these frangipan ones, the recipe is from Paul Hollywood on the BBC food website. I decided to dip some of them in Galaxy chocolate...they were to die for...made all the better with homemade mincemeat made at Vivien Lloyd's house before Christmas when we had a lovely day making edible gifts.

The recipe is here on Viv's site...

I don't like or eat Christmas cake myself but I this year made two, one for my mum and the other for my sister and brother in law...by request, my mums had glace fruits and nuts on the top and my sisters was a different affair altogether, with one person wanting icing and one not. I did make a cake decorated of two halves, with one side topped with marzipan and then marzipan fruits and the other with icing. It turned out great and a brilliant idea for those who are not fond of icing...the marzipan fruits came from M&S...

We don't celebrate new year as a rule here, but this year our neighbours invited us for dinner and I made one of the puddings, a layered fresh fruit and cream pavlova...we had a great night with great company...and a great pudding!

Since then life has been pretty full on, with work and other family stuff, as a result I have lots and lots of blog posts to catch up on. I have deliberately been putting home life first...my husband has been an inpatient in hospital this week and the build up to that admission and stay (although planned) has brought some upheaval and stresses to our lives.

Sadly 2014 hasn't started off too well health wise for a number of those near and dear to us. Lets hope it gets better for everyone as the year goes on...we have a new little grandson coming in April...and are very much looking forward to his safe arrival...although January is nearly at an end we hope 2014 is a great year for you all...just eleven months to go until we get to do it all again!

Spiced orange bundt cake - recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 13:44:00 +0000

This recipe is adapted from one by Paul Hollywood on the BBC food website...I tried this orange, almond marmalade cake at Vivien Lloyd's house recently and that along with making edible crystallised orange peel on the 'making edible gifts day' we had recently, gave me an idea for an adaptation...I have been also sent a gorgeous chocolate wreath by Hotel Chocolat for Christmas and wanted to try and recreate something akin to a wreath shape for Christmas in a cake...

This cake is decadent and inviting, spicy and warm and has lovely Christmassy fragrances from the orange and ginger and spices...just remember to move the bundt cake over to a plate or stand or board BEFORE you decorate it...as it makes life much easier that way.

Ingredients:
300g soft margarine
300g golden caster sugar
3 free range eggs beaten
225g semolina
110g ground almonds
1tsp baking powder
3-4 tbsp marmalade
3tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 large orange - zest and juice of
to decorate
150g dark chocolate - melted
2 balls stem ginger - chopped
pieces of crystallised orange recipe here
chopped chocolate flavoured with orange
Method:
1. Cream the margarine and sugar in a stand mixer then add the beaten eggs, keep beating to incorporate. Add the marmalade and mix.
2. Weigh out the dry ingredients and spices. Fold this into the batter and add the grated zest of one orange and the juice of the orange too. Mix again.
3. Put the batter into a well greased bundt tin. Bake in a pre heated over of 160C fan for about 40 minutes.
4. Once the bundt is cooled, move it to a board or a plate then decorate with melted dark chocolate, stem ginger slivers, crystallised orange peel and more chocolate orange chunks.

While you drool over this gorgeous cake, I'm off to tuck into my pretty chocolate wreath...hope your Christmas baking plans are going well...if its anything like this household the pressure is on!!!

Silent Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Sun, 15 Dec 2013 20:50:00 +0000

Boozy Chocolate mousse - recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Fri, 13 Dec 2013 13:10:00 +0000

Thornton's (the chocolate/toffee people) recently sent me some of their Chocolate liquer to try and just in time for Christmas.

Its quite a creamy and rather delicious Chocolate liquer that you could put in all sorts of things including hot chocolate, and poured over ice cream if you fancy an easy way to jazz up a few things, but I thought I would try it in a dessert, as well as sampling a glass over ice (its called chefs perks...and it was GOOD!).

Chocolate mousse is not a new recipe and has been around for years in various guises, you can jazz up a chocolate mouse with all kinds of things, vanilla, chilli, ginger, coffee, spices and of course booze. This mousse was dead easy to make and would be ideal to make in advance and wow your grown up guests with. The richness of the dark chocolate offset by the creamy liquer was a really great double act.

The chocolate liquer on its own was really good too...the liquer laced mousse alongside a glass of the liquer on its own would make a great finish to any Christmas meal.

Just remember as this is an alcoholic drink this would not suit children and any designated drivers would need to take care too.

Ingredients:
150g dark chocolate (I used Green and Blacks 70%)
2 large free range eggs separated
1tbsp golden caster sugar
125ml double cream, whipped
1 or 2 tbsp Thornton's chocolate liquer
Method:
1. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of water that has boiled and is simmering, make sure the bowl does not come into contact with the water.
2. Once the eggs are separated beat the yolks with the sugar until pale. Add the melted chocolate and mix quickly to combine.
3. In a stand mixer beat the eggs whites until they form peaks.
4. Beat the double cream in another bowl until stiff then add the Thornton/s chocolate liquer (between 1 and 2 tablespoons) and mix.
5. Fold 2 tablespoons of the beaten egg whites into the chocolate, then add the rest of the egg whites and fold again, once incorporated fold in the whipped cream/liquer mixture, gently does it as you want this to be light and fluffy.
6. Serve in glasses with an edible festive gold star or two. Grab a spoon and dive in!

N.B. This post was not sponsored by Thornton's, but they did provide the liquer and the ingredients I used to make this recipe; all opinions on this item are are mine and Thornton's have not tried to influence my views.

Dish of the month December - Nigel Slaters' Sweet potato soup

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Tue, 10 Dec 2013 20:17:00 +0000

This sweet potato soup recipe from Kitchen Diaries II (December) is so easy and straightforward to make...take peeled and chopped sweet potatoes season and roast in the oven in some groundnut oil, once roasted, blitz/blend and add coconut milk and re heat...check seasoning and hey presto! This soup is so thick and sweet you don't need anything with it...just a spoon! Just the job for winter and would be a great hit with children due to its sweet flavour.

Sadly this is my last post for 'dish of the month' for the last year myself and Janice at Farmersgirl Kitchen have worked our way through Kitchen Diaries II by Nigel Slater. We have had our highs and our lows and our comfy little tweets with Nigel himself along the way. But mostly we really have enjoyed not just what we have made, but reading the book from cover to cover and seeing what other food bloggers make of Nigel Slaters recipes. It's been great fun and we have really enjoyed each and every entry. Thanks to everyone who has joined us so far.

December is the last month and by the 28th if you haven't entered you've missed the boat. At the end of the month we will do a round up not just of December but a look back at the whole years entires...and we will be choosing our favourites, if you can't wait that long our Pinterest board has everything in one place...here.

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:

Silent Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Sun, 08 Dec 2013 16:59:00 +0000

Dish of the month - November round up

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 20:29:00 +0000

Dish of the month ends in December, by then Janice and I will have cooked our way though Kitchen Diaries II by Nigel Slater...its been a journey that's taken us a year and through a myriad of recipes from both Kitchen Diaries II and other sources. But the golden rule has been it must be a Nigel Slater recipe and you must blog about it.

November saw a good few entries from some lovely people who love to create Nigel Slaters recipes at home and enjoy the inspiration he shares with us through his books and articles online. This round up features a few recipes from 'Eat', which seems to be quite popular, along with several one pot or dish meals, which I just love...after hard day at work you can't beat a one pot meal...so easy and so tasty...and not as much clearing up!

Janice and I would like to thank everyone for joining us in November...here is the round up...don't forget to join in the last month of this challenge by 28th December 2013, where we will pick our favourite...

Until then, grab a cuppa and have a mincer ready and read on for Novembers goodies...and don't forget our Pinterest page that has every recipe made this year so far.

Galina from Chez Maximka was first off the blocks in November with a recipe for roast quinces with vanilla syrup. I am ashamed to admit that I have never cooked with quinces, but if anything could tempt me to try them this would. Galina was given a box by a neighbour and then given more by a friend, she was in quince heaven there for a while!

Next came Claire from Foodie Quine with smoked haddock and lentils dish, this tasty recipe came from 'Eat' (Nigel Slaters latest book), which Claire had received for her *coughs* 21st birthday this year (she's 41 really is Claire but she hides her light under a bushel) and Claire, if you are reading this you don't look a day over 32. Here is the lovely dish in all its glory...whats not to love, whatever your age?

Another Claire and another smoked haddock dish next, from Clairey Fairy's cooking. This recipe from Kitchen Diairies II involves butter beans, cream, mustard and smoked haddock, its baked in the oven and looks divine. I love butter beans, we always had them when I was growing up and its something that is much underrated in the foodie world IMHO. Thanks to Claire for a reminder of how much I love them.

Jane form Onions and Paper gave us another recipe from 'Eat' and a critique of what she thought of Eat as a recipe book, worth a read if you are considering buying this book. This dish Jane made for us was pinto beans, chorizio and tortilla...it looks very tasty Jane...

Charlene made a soup of bacon and celeriac from Kitchen Diaries II in a bit of a deviation from her usual recipe...follow Charlene at No love sincerer if you want to know more...AND...how to make a soup that matches your kitchen worktops...not an easy task but Charlene pulled it off.

We are moving into pudding zone now, and this would be a really great recipe to keep in your repertoire for Christmas as a way of using up leftover panetonne. Stuart from Cakeyboi has taken from Kitchen Diaries II this (Dundee) marmalade and panetonne pudding recipe. Its only missing a vat of custard, don't they have a wee drop of custard with puddings in Scotland Stuart? *tuts*

Next we have a bit of a roasted recipe from Deon at Foodjam. Roasted squash, chorizio and spices baked in the oven for added flavour with double fried egg on the side, its only missing some gorgeous bread for dipping and away you go...finished indeed! This recipe for spicy squash with eggs is from 'Eat' again...

Linzi from Lancashire Food made a really lovely looking baked chicken with tomatoes and olives dish from Kitchen Diaries II (from the August chapter). The original recipe is made with green tomatoes, but Linzi improvised with red ones. This is the type of recipe I think Nigel does best; simple, easy, achievable and tasty and Linzi really has done it justice I am sure you will agree.

From Jo's Kitchen, Jo made a one pan Sunday dinner...this is another recipe from 'Eat' with a few tweeks form Jo and a little advice from Nigel himself on Twitter. Looking at the finished dish it seems that Jo's efforts were worthy of the praise bestowed by Nigel himself...well done Nigel and Jo, a team effort that paid off.

Last is myself and Janice at Farmersgirl Kitchen, who this month and for the first time ever, happened to create the exact same dishes and recipes...from Kitchen Diairies II we have slow cooked or baked sausages...I'll leave it up to you to decide who did the recipe the most justice...*ahem*

I thank you... ;-)

Silent Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Sun, 01 Dec 2013 06:00:00 +0000

Mushroom and cheese pasty - recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Wed, 27 Nov 2013 19:57:00 +0000

This is a lovely versatile recipe that you could serve hot with veggies as a main dish, its great cold and would be just the thing for picnics, small min versions could be made as a starter or for buffets, or even make a large version for a whole family feast.

You might remember I was recently asked, along with some other food writers/bloggers to try to come up with some recipes using Applewood spreadable. Applewood is a range of British cheddar cheese famed for its smoky flavour and added paprika. You can see my chunky vegetable soup recipe with Applewood spreadable cheese here. The 'spreadable' has a distinctive smoky flavour to it, perfect for autumn recipes, and you don't need too much to get that smoky background flavour.

Applewood spreadable is perfect for this pasty recipe as its melts into the pasty mushroom filling, alongside the mushrooms, the brandy cream and mustard the cheese adds to a lovely flavour combination. I used those big breakfast type mushrooms but any mushroom combination would work well.

Ingredients:

this made 3 big pasties
1 packet puff pastry
3 or 4 large mushrooms sliced (or you can use small ones)
30g of butter
1 shallot copped finely
1 clove garlic chopped finely
dash of brandy
2 or 3 tbsp single cream
half tub Applewood spreadable (a smoked cheese spread)
1 tsp grain mustard
sea salt
black pepper
water
beaten egg to glaze
Method:
1. Prepare the filling by melting the butter in a frying pan and adding the shallot and garlic, sweat these over a low heat until they are cooked through but are still pale in colour.
2. Add the mushrooms and cook these through still on a low heat. Gently does it.
3. When the mushrooms are cooked add the brandy, burn off the alcohol then add the single cream, you want the mix to be loose but not too runny. Mix together, take the pan off the heat then add half a tub of Applewood spreadable, fold in gently add the mustard and season to taste. Leave to cool.

4. Pre heat the oven to 170C fan.
5. Make the pasty cases by rolling out the pastry, I used a small saucer to cut rounds (2 for each pasty). Place a round of pastry onto a greased or lined baking sheet.
6. Once the filling has cooled. Place a generous amount in the centre of each round of pastry then brush the edges with water. Top with another round of pastry and seal and crimp the edges. Decorate the top if you like, and make a hole in the top of the pasty. Brush with beaten egg.
7. Bake in the oven for about 35 minutes.
Serve hot, warm or cold with fresh greens or a lovely crisp salad...

N.B. I (along with other food bloggers) was sent a hamper of lovely things to come up with recipes with Applewood spreadable. The views expressed on this product are entirely mine.

Joanne Wheatley's (white and dark) chocolate cookies - recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Mon, 25 Nov 2013 21:24:00 +0000

Looking for the ideal Christmas gift for a baker or lover of good food? Then I have found the answer...just imagine unwrapping a lovely parcel and contained within is...

a gorgeous tin full of gorgeous homemade biscuits/cookies along with the recipe book that goes with them...and the recipe book is cleverly marked on the cookie recipe page with a little book mark ribbon...taaa...daaa...dear readers I give you Joanne Wheatley's chocolate cookies recipe, from her latest book 'Home Baking'. Yes I am a Christmas present thinking up genius...I thank you!

These scrummy chocolate cookies are simply delightful and the recipe from Joanne Wheatley's second book 'Home Baking'...published earlier this year is easy as pie...Jo won the GBBO a couple of seasons back...and has written two books to date, 'A Passion for Baking' was her first. I have had both of these books to review for some time now, and fair to say have given them quite a good going over...there was the apple and sultana cake, you can see the unbaked cake behind that white loaf below (never made it to proper photograph as was demolished in minutes by colleagues).

Then there was the raspberry torte...and then my variation of this the blackberry torte...then the cookies, then bread...all were easy recipes and all delicious.

'A Passion for Baking' is more about the baked side of things while 'Home Baking' covers main meal recipes, alongside baked goodies, like biscuits, cakes, Granola, pancakes, bars and tarts.

I think the key to Joanne's successful recipes is that she bakes the type of recipes that are straightforward, easy and that would feed a family, tried and tested things made in her own kitchen that taste great, proper homely stuff.

The recipe for the cookies you can see above is on the next page...you can often find Joanne's books on offer at a well known supermarket...keep your eyes peeled they are a great addition to any bakers collection. Joanne Wheatley has her own blog with some great ideas and recipes and details of what she is up to now, you can follow Jo here.

Ingredients:

200g soft unsalted butter

200g light brown sugar

125g demerara sugar

2 free range eggs

1 tsp vanilla paste

1tsp baking powder

1tsp bicarbonate of soda

pinch sea salt

400g sieved plain flour

100g white chocolate chopped in chunks

100g dark chocolate chopped in chunks

Method:

1. Pre heat the oven to 170C fan and get about 3 baking sheets ready (I use bacoglide sheets for this).

2. Cream the butter and sugars and vanilla in a stand mix then beat the eggs and add these gradually. 3. Mix in the flour, sea salt, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda, then fold in the chocolate.4. Use a small ice cream scoop as a measure for the cookies, leave some space between them to expand when they bake in the oven.5. Bake the cookies for about 5 minutes them remove from the oven and bang the tray...this gives the cookies a lovely open texture (see below). Put them back for another 5-7 minutes.6. Once baked leave to cool an a wire rack but not for too long these are really gorgeous when still warm.

I am entering these cookies for We Should Cocoa, the blog challenge run by Choclette of Chocolate Log Blog and this month this challenge is hosted by Rebecca over on her blog called BakeNQuilt.

Silent Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 16:52:00 +0000

Sticky gingerbread cake with frosting - recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Sat, 23 Nov 2013 19:14:00 +0000

This is a lovely cake for autumn it's moist, sticky and will wrap you in a warming, ginger, spicy hug when you bake it Your house will smell of warming sugary, gingery, golden syrup baking and I guarantee this will give you a winter warming lift.

My husband loves sticky ginger cakes and when I suggested I make him one he was more than keen to sample the wares. Being a bit of a traditionalist myself (aka middle aged) I had a bit of a brain wave and decided to try out a really old recipe book I have in my collection. It's a Good Housekeeping book from the 1950's, the same one my mum used for years. This is not my mums original recipe book that my sister and I remember from our childhood, but it is the same copy of a book she bought as a young mum some years ago from a travelling salesman. At the time she paid for the book weekly, in shillings until it was all paid for. It's a great book and many of the pages are still familiar to me many years later.

Anyway...I made the traditional Parkin cake recipe from this book...what a cake it turned out to be! A complete disaster, containing no eggs whatsoever, and a lot of oats, this was brick like in texture and hard as a rock, even leaving it in a tin for several days did not help. It looked just like the picture in the recipe book after I had baked it, and all I can think is that as the recipe must have been written in the 50's frugality was still the order of the day and eggs would have been of far more value than to put in a Parkin cake. You live and learn!

However, when the Parkin gets tough the tough turn to Nigella and that's where this gingerbread recipe comes from. I embellished it by adding frosting and slivers of stem ginger, which made it even more delicious. You can find Nigella's recipe on this website, I would recommend the recipe as a great family bake and a cake with longevity, even after few days a container it was still very moist and delicious.

Here is how I made the frosting...which comes much more highly recommended than an eggless Parkin cake!

Ingredients:

120g cream cheese

80g soft unsalted butter

About 300g sifted icing sugar

3 balls stem ginger

1 tbsp stem ginger syrup from the jar

Sprinkle of ground ginger

Sprinkle of ground nutmeg

Method:

1. Cream he butter and cream cheese in a stand mixer or use a hand mix. Add the icing sugar 2 tablespoons at a time and beat again until incorporated.

2. Once the frosting is white and stiff add a tbsp of the syrup from the stem ginger jar.

3. Once the cake is cool, spread the frosting on the top of the cake, decorate with slices of stem ginger and a sprinkle of the nutmeg and ginger powders.

Grab a fork and tuck in!

Silent Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Sun, 17 Nov 2013 18:07:00 +0000

Silent Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Sun, 10 Nov 2013 11:11:00 +0000

Chunky vegetable soup - recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 10:45:00 +0000

A perfect autumnal family dish is home made soup, and when its got a cheesy hit in its heart its heavenly.

I was recently asked, along with some other food writers/bloggers to try to come up with some recipes using Applewood spreadable. Applewood is a range of British cheddar cheese famed for its smoky flavour and added paprika, I have used the cheese before but not Applewood spreadable, which is a soft cheese spread which is new to the market. The 'spreadable' has a distinctive smoky flavour to it, perfect for autumn recipes and this time of year.

I adore cheese in soup but I like it best when the cheese is added to the soup at the point of serving, this means you get the full creamy, cheesy, unctuous hit right there in the middle of your soup and I just love that.

Applewood spreadable is perfect for this as its melts into the soup, no need to add cream or creme fraiche this does all the work for you. You could make this soup with any veggies you have to hand, and use vegetable stock if you prefer. Don't forget to make some cheese toasts to go with the soup, its a perfect combination.
Ingredients:
knob of butter
2 rashers smoked bacon chopped
1 onion chopped
1 stick celery chopped
1 carrot chopped
1 small piece of swede chopped
2 small potatoes chopped
half a celeriac chopped
the inside of a small pumpkin
1 leek sliced
1 red chilli de seeded and finely chopped
sea salt and black pepper
one and a half pints chicken stock
2 slices wholemeal bread
half tub Applewood spreadable (a smoked cheese spread)
Method:
If you want to serve this in a pumpkin (looks very impressive if you have guests) then start by hollowing out the pumpkin. Once this is done dry it with some kitchen roll and rub some olive oil round the inside and outside of the top and pumpkin itself. Place on a baking tray and bake for about 45 minutes in 160C oven. Allow the pumpkin to cool.
1. Melt the butter in a pan and fry the chopped smoked bacon until golden, add the onion, celery, most of the chilli (save some for a final flourish) and carrot. Sweat the veggies for about 5 minutes and then add the remainder of the chopped veg.
2. Cover with the chicken stock and season. Bring to a boil then turn down the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes (until the veg is cooked but not soft).
3. Using a hand blender give the soup a bit of a blend but leave it chunky and with some texture. Taste the soup and add more seasoning if needed.

4. Take the two small slices of bread and grill on one side to toast, smoother the uncooked side with Applewood spreadable and place under the grill until the cheese bubbles.
5. To serve, ladle the soup into the pumpkin then add a dessert spoon of Applewood spreadable into the soup, add another ladle of the hot soup on top, this will melt the cheese and make the soup creamy, smoky, cheesy and gorgeous. Sprinkle a few bits of chilli on top.
6. Add the toasted cheese toasts on the side to give an extra cheesy hit. Grab a spoon and tuck in!

N.B. I (along with other food bloggers) was sent a hamper of lovely things to come up with recipes with Applewood spreadable. The views expressed on this product are entirely mine.

Silent Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Sun, 03 Nov 2013 11:30:00 +0000

'Dish of the month' November - Nigel Slaters slow cooked sausages

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Sat, 02 Nov 2013 20:28:00 +0000

This is such a simple recipe but something I would never had thought of myself without looking in Kitchen Diaries II for inspiration for Novembers Dish of the Month. Its a recipe for slow cooked sausages by Nigel Slater...November as a month just seems to scream out for sausages.

The ingredients for this recipe are simple and consist of onions, flour, beef stock, some good quality sausages (ours were Linconshires' - brought back from the county by my sister) and...dark ale and brown sugar...I cooked my sausages in Guinness, for the ale part of the recipe...and it turned out to be fabulous.

So perfect for a wet and windy bonfire weekend...served with buttery mash and greens, the flavour of the gravy surrounding the sausages is amazing as the touch of brown sugar sweetens the onions and the ale.

What are you waiting for? Grab a a fork and get tucking in!

Keep reading on to find out how you can join us in Dish of the Month...next month December will be our last month after a full year of cooking, baking, eating, tasting and writing al about recipes by Nigel Slater...what an achievement...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:

Lemon and blackcurrant steamed sponge - recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Fri, 01 Nov 2013 21:52:00 +0000

The clocks have gone back and its well and truly autumn with a touch of winter thrown in...ggggrrrrrr...I'm not a fan of the darker nights and mornings, to be honest I find it all quite bleak. If I had my way we wouldn't bother putting the clocks back at all, I've never got the point. My calendar is already set for the clocks going forward in Spring...bring it on.

The only positives to all this dreary winter malarky is the gorgeous autumn colours of the trees and fauna, a cosy home (if you can afford the fuel bills) and heart warming COMFORT FOODS which, lets face it, is the biggest plus...all those soups and stews and makes and bakes...AND...gorgeous homemade puddings! To be honest I can take or leave cold puddings (cake not included of course) but give me a steamed sponge and I'm there...here is my recipe for a lemon and blackcurrant steamed sponge pudding...

Ingredients:
2 small unwaxed lemons - (you will need the zest of two and the juice of one lemon)
3 free range eggs
150g soft margarine
150g caster sugar
150g SR flour
1/3 jar blackcurrant jam
Method:

1. Start by greasing a pudding basin.
2. Cream the margarine and caster sugar with a mixer until pale and fluffy then add the beaten eggs. Once mixed in, sieve in the flour, and fold in carefully with a spoon. As you mix add the lemon zest, and the juice of one of the lemons.
3. Put the blackcurrant jam in the bottom of the pudding basin. My jam was homemade. Carefully spoon over the sponge batter mix and level the top.
4. Cover the pudding basin with pleated greaseproof paper (that you have greased) and then top with pleated foil, tie this round the neck of the basin with string and make a handle to lift the basin with.
5. Put the basin into a saucepan and fill the pan with water to about 2/3rds up the outside of the pudding bowl. Bring to the boil and then turn down to a simmer and steam for about 2 hours.
6. Once the pudding is cooked, run a knife around the inside of the pudding in the basin and invert onto a plate. Serve with whatever you choose, cream, ice cream or custard.

Beetroot risotto - a recipe for Vampires!

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Tue, 29 Oct 2013 18:32:00 +0000

If there's one recipe to make from the grown ups bringing their little ghouls and witches and wizard to your halloween party this year its this beetroot risotto...the colour alone is shouting Dracula's name across the mist ridden moors...

I saw this dish mentioned on Celebrity Masterchef recently as Janet Street Porter made it one week, I wasn't particularly paying attention at the time but made a mental note to have a go at making it myself. Beetroot is one of my favourite veggies and risotto is a firm favourite dish here,

comfort food at its best. The result was good, I just made an ordinary risotto and added fresh local Lancashire beetroot that I had roasted and blended beforehand. The colour will blow your socks of...or entice vampires from miles around...its a risk you take!

Have a great halloweeeeeeeeeennnn!
Ingredients:
a bunch of fresh beetroot - washed and tops removed

olive oil
sea salt
large knob of butter
2 shallots
1 clove garlic
400g aborio rice
a dash of white wine
1 pint (min) chicken stock

grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
Method:

1. Start by roasting the beetroot; after washing and removing the tops sprinkle with sea salt and drizzle with olive oil, wrap in foil and roast in the oven for at least an hour and a half at 180C fan (maybe more if your beetroots are big)

2. When the beetroots are tender, peel them (you might want to wear gloves for this unless you want pink hands!). Put them into a deep dish or jug and use a hand blender to puree the cooked beets.
3. Make the risotto by melting the knob of butter in a heavy based pan over a moderate heat add the chopped shallots and lower the heat and sweat the shallots in the butter.
4. Add the risotto rice, and glaze it so it is coated in the buttery shallot mixture.
5. Add a glug of white wine to the rice. Start to add ladles of the golden chicken stock, one ladle at a time until the rice absorbs it all and then add another. Keep adding the stock until the rice is cooked. You will need to stay with the risotto to keep an eye on it and to keep stirring it.
5. Once the rice is cooked, add the beetroot puree and mix together, add a big handful of the grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Stir this through the risotto. DON'T ADD TOO MUCH CHEESE OR YOUR RISOTTO WILL TURN PINK!
6. To serve, add ladles of the cooked risotto to a warm plate. Finish with chopped parsley, adorn yourself with a long black cape and a pair of fangs!

Tuck in vampires!

Time to get back in the (blogging) zone

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 18:51:00 +0000

Good evening from wet and windy Lancashire...the summer we had this year has been great hasn't it? The chance to sit outside and eat outside regularly has really made a difference and its partly because of the good summer that I have been blogging less and enjoying my 'free time' more. Blogging and writing about food is a great hobby but it can take over somewhat, and I need a life as well as not wanting all the fame to go to my head!

Now the autumn is really here and making its presence felt, its time to get back in the blogging zone and start to write up all those recipes I have made and photographed over the last few months but have been too busy emersed in summer sun to be concerned about anything else. We have also managed to eat out quite a bit in some lovely local places too, and meet up with friends so I have lots of snippets to share on that front too.

And I have been putting a few recipe books through their paces too...more about those very soon...

As well as enjoying avery British summer and even and Indian summer, we also had the good fortune to travel abroad to Turkey again...not the whole country granted but the Turkish Riviera. For two weeks in September and in temperatures exceeding 40C, we communed with the locals up in a Turkish mountain village and ate fresh bread and fresh foods as if it was going out of fashion. I love Turkey for its abundance of fresh foods at relatively low prices and I love to make my own meals while I stay there from whatever is seasonal and the markets have to offer.

This summer has also been great for preserving addicts like myself and I have been busy behind the scenes preserving all sorts from blackcurrant jam (that has knocked everyone's socks off) to gooseberry and elderflower jam, all the way through to plum chutney and tomato chutney too.

In addition we are 'trying' to sell out house and move, to realise our plans for the future, in order to do this we need to downsize...so the house is in a constant state of tidiness and organisation that would impress any domestic goddess...wish us luck with selling, in this economic climate we really need it!

And I've been busy with the family (new grandchild is on his or her way in April 2014) and my other new found hobbies...I have taken up crochet again and I am really hooked...so pleased to see so many other food bloggers sharing the same interest too.

Silent Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Sun, 27 Oct 2013 09:19:00 +0000

Golden sultana and apple cakes - recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 18:37:00 +0000

These little cakes are the easiest thing ever, you can whip them up in minutes and they taste so lovely, light and fruity. Just the thing with a cuppa, and they are kind of small and dainty little morsels and would adorn any afternoon tea cake stand.

These came about when I was looking in the fruit bowl at 3 sad looking apples that were just about edible, I hate food waste, after all food is expensive enough in this country (don't get me started on that subject!). Any excuse to use up things lying around..but what can I do with these apples I thought? Easy, bake cakes using 2 and eat the third one...they call this 'cooks perks' but it got me thinking as I was peeling my 3 sad apples...

While you ponder that one...here's the recipe for golden sultana and apple cakes...

Ingredients:
2 (sad bottom of the fruit bowl) apples peeled and finely chopped
25g golden sultanas (any dried fruit would work)
120g soft margarine or butter
120g caster sugar
2 free range eggs beaten
120g self raising flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
Icing sugar to dust
You will also need a baking tray - suitable for making fairy (bun) cakes - grease the little sections

Method:
1. Beat the margarine and caster sugar until they are pale and fluffy. Pre heat the oven to 170C fan.
2. Add the beaten eggs a little at a time along with the vanilla extract and keep beating, then add the flour and fold it in. Add the apples and sultanas and mix gently.
3. Put a generous teaspoon on the mix into each section of the tin.
4. Bake in the oven for about 12 minutes - until golden. Once cooled dust with icing sugar and remove gently with a knife from the tin.

Unusually for me I am dedicating this recipe to someone, one of my followers on Facebook in fact, who asked me for the recipe...so Patricia Dugdale (a Lancastrian)...these are for you...I hope you make them and hope you enjoy them?

Silent Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Susan) — Sun, 20 Oct 2013 09:04:00 +0000