Farmersgirl Kitchen

Beef Bourguignon Pie and a book review

2013-05-24T13:00:00.000+01:00

Beef Bourguignon Pie

This recipe comes from 'A Suitcase and a Spatula' by Tori Haschka, a Sydney-born food and travel writer, blogger at eatori.com and intrepid gourmet.

A Suitcase and a Spatula

A Suitcase and a Spatula is a quirky little book, a kind of hybrid travelogue cookbook. At first glance, it seems a bit wordy, but the words are well written, amusing and informative and the recipes are very good.

The Introduction tells you about Tori, her travel companion or 'co-pilot' and some of the places they visited.

Off to a good start - Food for a sociable start to the day and when you crave breakfast for dinner
Here are a few of the Breakfast treat, starting in London with Mushrooms, Brown Butter and Parmesan on Toast, New York gives us Corn Popovers with Tomato Bacon Relish, in Paris a Raspberry Croissant Pudding is the delightful offering. In Agadir, warm and spicy Baked Moroccan Eggs brighten up the breakfast table and we finish up in Sydney with Latte Banana Bread, nuff said! My favourite part of this chapter was the double pager called "How to get the best out of a breakfast buffet" what a brilliant idea and so many good tips to avoid gluttony but have your fill of the good stuff.

Summer - Feasts best eaten with sand between your toes
Living in Scotland, we don't often have the kind of weather that makes you want to eat light summer dishes, but on those days when the sun shines and the temperature gets above 16C (yes, really 20C is a heat wave!) I'm going to be trying out some of the following summery recipes: Griddled Bread with Ricotta, Mint, Chilli and Lemon from Bondi, Sydney's iconic beach, Pork Burritos with Spicy Pineapple Salsa from Avoca Beach (that's in Australia, not Ireland) Sardines with Campari Peach and Fennel from Venice, Fava with Lamb Meatballs from Athens. There is a lovely section on The South of France featuring Mussels, Fennel and Chickpeas in Pink Wine and Rose Jelly with Vanilla Cream - mmm how delicious.

Another fun section is the Minibar Cocktail Party - create a Citrus Gin Fizz, a Coffee martini or a Lazy Sangria, amongst others! The chapter ends with Avocado Milkshake Popsicles displayed in stunning coloured glasses.

Winter - Feasts best eaten when hunkering down in front of a fire.
I would certainly eat Roast Apple and Pumpkin Soup with Maple Nut Crumble while hunkering down in front of a fire in the Blue Mountains and Tori has some sound advice for would be frontier-braving campers!

Another great section provides a Formula for Carpet Picnics, for those days when the weather doesn't allow you to eat outside, some simple combinations of local ingredients make for a great picnic no matter where you are.

More winter dishes include Slow Cooked Pork Ribs with Rhubarb Pickle from Brooklyn, Icelandic Hot Dogs and Pecorino, Pepper and Pig Cheek Pasta from Rome. I will definitely be making Koshary a spicy rice, pasta and chickpea dish from Cairo. Full details of the French Beef Bourguignon Pie below, another pie from San Francisco: Tomato Soup Pie!

The Sweet Stuff - Desserts for sharing, treats for snaking and things to call on when a grey day needs a lift
There are some nice recipes in this chapter, but I don't think it is as strong as the other chapters, I was drawn to the following recipes: Elderflower Almond Cake with Summer Berries from London Fields, Apricot Frangipane Puddings from Val D'Isere a perfect 'chalet girl' pud!

In 'A Tale of Two Christmases' we are given menus for a hot Christmas in Sydney and a cold Christmas in London. I liked the look of the Christmas Pudding Semifreddo with Boozy Chocolate Sauce which I think would go down just as well in London as Sydney.

Pros
The presentation of some of the recipes as pages stuck in with tape appealed to me, and the photographs of the completed recipes were beautifully styled. There was also a theme of airmail and postcards which was effective. Each recipe comes with a few paragraphs to tell you about the author's travels and the dish featured. The narrative pieces, some of which I have already mentioned but there are more e.g. 'Plane Food', are a real treat. Great ideas for travellers written with gentle humour.

Cons
It is a rather eclectic mixture of recipes, which is inevitable given the travel theme. There are still quite a lot of Australian themed recipes, but all the recipes use ingredients which should be fairly easily available.

Ease of use
Both imperial and metric measures are shown. The instructions are clear and well laid out. There is a photograph for all the main dishes, some simple recipes mentioned in the narrative pieces don't have photographs.

I chose to make the Beef Bourguignon Pie because it is the dish in the book which features Beaune, the delightful French town in the Burgundy area that I visited in March.


Hotel de Dieu - Beaune

Charcuterie - Beaune

Fromagerie - Beaune

Wine Tasting - Beaune

Janice in Beaune!

Tori tells us "one option is to serve the silken hunks of meat over mashed potato or white bean purée. Or you could do what every homesick Australian does when stranded in the middle of France, and ponder how it would taste under a cap of pastry."

Beef Bourguignon Pie (serves 4)
1kg/2 1/4lb beef shin or chuck steak, cubed
1 1/4 tbsp plain/all purpose flour
1tsp salt
1tsp black pepper
3tbsp olive oil
2 carrots, diced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 onions, diced
2 bay leaves
675ml/2 3/4 cups red wine (burgundy is classic)
2tbsp tomato purée/paste
1tsp sugar
2tbsp cassis or sherry (optional)
150g/5oz lardons/streaky bacon, cut into strips
200g/6 1/2oz button mushrooms, halved
375g/12 1/2 oz puff pastry
1 egg, beaten
4 ovenproof bowls or pudding containers

Preheat the oven to 230C/450F/Gas 8. Dust the beef in the flour, salt and pepper.
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a casserole dish over a high heat, and brown half the meat. Remove and add another tbsp of oil before browning the other half (try not to crowd the pan - you don't want the meat to stew.
Remove the meat and add 1tbsp olive oil to the pan. Sauté the carrots, garlic and onions until the onion is translucent.
Return the meat to the pan. Add the bay leaves and red wine. Scrape up the sediment on the bottom of the pan with a spoon to encourage it to join the stew. This is where the flavour is.
Simmer over low heat with the lid off for 2 hours or longer if you have it. An hour before serving add the tomato purée/paste and sugar. (If you feel inclined, add the cassis or sherry).
Just before serving, brown the lardons or streaky bacon in a frying pan. Add both to the beef stew, season with salt and pepper.

Divide the stew among 4 pie dishes. Divide the pastry into four, roll out on a floured surface and place on top of the pies. Seal around the edges of the dishes. Brush with beaten egg, make a cut in the centre and bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden.

I don't have any little pie dishes so decided to bake the pastry separately and serve with the meat stew.

Stunning dish, worthy of a restaurant (even though I say it myself) the Beef Bourguignon was rich and full of flavour and deconstructing the pie worked really well as the pastry was crisp, airy and light.

A Suitcase and a Spatula
Recipes and stories from around the world
AUTHOR Tori Haschka
PHOTOGRAPHER Isobel Wield
RRP £18.99
POPULAR ONLINE RETAILER £12.15
PUBLISHER Ryland Peters and Small
SPECIFICATIONS 144pp
c. 100 colour photographs
ISBN 978-1-84975-349-4

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Chocolate Drops for Tea Time Treats

2013-05-23T12:00:00.000+01:00

These odd little biscuits (cookies) are called 'Chocolate Drops', they come from The Dairy Book of Home Cookery, a rather retro cookbook I used for my April Random Recipe: Treacle Bites

As the Treacle Bites were such a success, I thought I'd try one of the other recipes on the same page. The Chocolate Drops were not in the same league as the Treacle Bites but they are also very good and incredibly easy to make. They taste a bit like a chocolate Viennese finger or shortbread, very short in texture. I'm not sure they were supposed to come out quite so lumpy as mine did, perhaps if I were more delicate in blobbing them onto the tray they might have looked better! My answer to that was to melt about 100g of white chocolate and dip the dark Chocolate Drops into it so they were half coated, that certainly improved the look of them and, I have to say, added to the general pleasure of eating them.

Chocolate Drops (makes 18 -20)
100g.4oz softened butter
50g/2oz caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
90g/3 1/2 oz plain flour
15g/1/2oz cocoa powder

1. Cream butter with sugar and essence until light and fluffy.
2. Stir in flour sifted with cocoa
3. Drop 18 to 20 teaspoons of mixture, well apart, on to butter baking tray.
4. Bake just above centre of moderately hot oven (1190C/375F or Gas 5) for 17 minutes.
5. Leave on tray 1 or 2 minutes before transferring to wire cooling rack.
6. Once the Chocolate Drops are completely cold, melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of hot water and dip each biscuit into the melted chocolate to half coat it. Place on rack until the chocolate has set.
6. Store in airtight tin.

Printable Recipe

The theme for Tea Time Treats this month is 'Biscuits and Cookies' so I am entering these Chocolate Drops. Tea Time Treats is organised and hosted alternately by Karen at Lavender and Lovage and Kate at What Kate Baked.

The Royal Highland Show - A festival of food from Scotland

2013-05-21T20:49:00.000+01:00

Foodie fans to feast at this year’s Royal Highland Show
Food and drink producers are busy preparing for what many regard as the most important four days of the foodie calendar – The Royal Highland Show. My first visit to the Highland Show was with my Mum and the ladies of the Scottish Women's Rural Institute better known as 'The Rural'. I would have been about 10 years old and can remember my friend and I went off on our own and got slightly lost, however we found our way back to the 'Rural' tent and were reunited with our Mums. My second visit was after I had become a member of the farming community and my son was in his buggy, the ground was wet and muddy and it was quite a trial getting around with the buggy, let's hope the weather is kinder this year! The food aspect of the Royal Highland Show has grown phenomenally since I last attended so I am really looking forward to seeing the demonstrations and tasting so much excellent Scottish produce.

Over 100 exhibitors will be joined by a host of the country’s best chefs and restaurateurs in an annual celebration of Scotland’s finest food and drink.

The event, with main show partner The Royal Bank of Scotland, welcomes an average of 170,000 visitors every year with the majority expected to visit the Food Hall over the four day event this June (20-23).
Reaching consumers and leading industry players, exhibitors will be hoping that their produce will benefit from the significant exposure the show platform presents. Last year, The Island Smokery on Orkney caught the eye of the Tesco buyer and the company is now ramping up its production after securing a deal to supply 45 Tesco stores across Scotland.
Innovation is key to the show, which has been successful in attracting new audiences while maintaining interest from those who return every year.
New for this year will be a showcase for The Highlands and Islands food and drink producers under the title ‘Land of Opportunity’.
Presenting a engaging stage for the region, ‘on the go’ street food will become a focus as four top chefs take to the Countryside Area to showcase the culinary delights from northern Scotland. Although relatively new in the UK, street food is eaten by an estimated 2.5 billion people a day across the world.

Taking on the theatre are famous chefs from the area including Bruno Birkbeck, Head Chef of the 3 AA Rosette Restaurant at the Torridon Hotel, Muji Rahman from the Michelin recognised Cafe India in Dingwall, David Coubrough, Head Chef at Cafe 1 in Inverness and Steven Devlin of the highly acclaimed Rocpool Restaurant in Inverness.Each chef has been tasked with creating a menu for the day using only Highlands and Islands sourced produce.
In the Food Hall, top attraction 120-seat Cookery Theatre, will return with a rolling programme of more than 30 all-action demonstrations over the four-day event. This year, the Cookery Theatre will be renamed the Natural Larder to pay homage to the Year of Natural Scotland celebrations.
Organised by acclaimed food critic Wendy Barrie with the support of theatre sponsors Event Scotland and The North Highland Initiative (NHI), this year’s President’s Initiative region, the Highlands and Islands, will take the fore.
Mike Cantlay, Chairman of VisitScotland, said, “Scotland’s many glens and munros, deep lochs, dramatic seas and coastlines are home to a rich natural larder that entices visitors from all over the world. Scotland is an unspoilt environment and has a climate without extremes - the ideal conditions to produce superb, high quality Scottish food. The Year of Natural Scotland aims to celebrate the wealth of Scotland’s natural larder.”

NHI Chief Executive, Tom Campbell added: “In sponsoring the Cookery Theatre at this year’s Royal Highland Show, the North Highland Initiative will aim to communicate with retailers, the hospitality industry and consumers the quality of produce for shelves, menus and plates.”
In addition to top chefs from the Highlands and Islands the theatre programme will also feature; Carina Contini and Suzanne O'Connor from The Scottish Cafe & Restaurant; Neil Forbes from Café St Honoré; Henderson’s of Edinburgh celebrating 50 years in the business; Paul Wedgwood from his eponymous restaurant and Craig Wilson, Eat On The Green’s one and only ‘Kilted Chef’.
Wendy Barrie commented on the star-studded line up. She said: “Passionate as we all are about our national food culture it is great to have such a positive message to broadcast – low food miles, unquestionable provenance and great tastes! We are all looking forward to cooking the produce, meeting the visitors and contributing to making the Royal Highland Show the ‘greatest show on earth’.

“Chefs descend from Peebles to Torridon; East Lothian to Aberdeenshire, so magnetic is the pull of the Show. Over the four days the Theatre is a living community: sponsors and chefs; students and commis chefs, set builders and sound engineers, all working collaboratively together to pull off one of the most impressive showcases of Scotland’s world class larder.”
Sampling Scotland’s larder at Show will be The Royal Highland Show’s new show manager, Becky Elvin. She said: “The show provides a unique opportunity for food and drink suppliers to reach new audiences. We are committed to supporting new businesses as well as established players as food and drink production is an important economic driver for Scotland.

“The Royal Highland Show is an invaluable source for highlighting the whole chain from farm production to retail counter. That, coupled with some hand-picked exhibitors from other areas, makes the Food Hall and the Cookery Theatre a priority on any show visitor’s itinerary.”
Joining Highlands and Islands producers will be a who’s who of Scottish food and drink names from big hitters such as Mackies of Scotland, Macsween and the Spencerfield Spirit Company who were all named as winners at last year’s Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards.
East Lothian Food and Drink will also return to the show for the fourth year to highlight the breadth of local production from the region. Six exhibitors including Thistly Cross Cider, Glenkinchie Distillery, Scots’ Cheer, Yester Dairies, Hood’s Scottish Honey and the famous S Luca Ice Cream, will allure foodies to sample the best from the East.

The Royal Highland Show takes place between 20^th and 23^th June at Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh. Visit www.royalhighlandshow.org for more information.

I am posting this press release in return for a ticket to the Royal Highland Show, I have received no other payment.

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K is for Kugelhopf

2013-05-19T21:13:00.003+01:00

The letter K is a rather challenging one to bake. However, one of the main reasons I like to take part in blog challenges and events is to push myself to try recipes I wouldn't otherwise have made. I searched around for bakes starting in K and there were not very many at all, I toyed with making some Kiwi Fruit Muffins but in the end decided to attempt a Kugelhopf. Kugelhopf is a yeasted sweet bread usually baked in a fancy tube tin.

Alphabakes is a blogger baking challenge run by Ros at The more than occasional baker and Caroline at Caroline Makes who is hosting this month.

It was particularly fortuitous that I was contacted by The Craft Company to review some items from their website. The Craft Company specialises in cake decorations and cake decorating supplies including cake boards, cake boxes, cake decorating equipment, baking tins, ingredients and cake toppers, everything you might need for decorating cakes. When I browsed around their site I found this 'large tube ring silicone mould' which is perfect for a Kugelhopf. I also asked to review a bottle of PME Release-a-Cake which I felt might just be required for such an intricate mould. Delivery from the Craft Company was prompt and the items were well packaged, I couldn't fault them. Prices were also keen with the silicone mould costing £7.00 and the PME Release-a-Cake £2.85 for 236g. A range of delivery options are available.

Dough risen in the mould

The Kugelhopf recipe that I used is one with an excellent provenence. It is a recipe by Dorie Greenspan, a well known US author, and comes from her book "Baking from my home to yours". I found the recipe on line at Leite's Culinaria I did make a slight change (regular readers will not be surprised by this!) I soaked the sultanas in a miniature of Poire William, a pear flavoured eau de vie (40% alcohol), that we brought back from holiday in France.

Poire William

Baked and ready to unmould

The dough is very similar to a brioche dough and is best made in a stand mixer, although it is possible to make it by hand. I don't have a dough hook for my vintage Kenwood Chef (something I'm planning on remedying very soon) so mixed the dough with the K beater which worked perfectly well - how very appropriate for this challenge! The process is not so much difficult and, while it takes a long time from start to finish, most of that doesn't involve you doing anything. I started making the dough on Saturday morning and the Kugelhopf was baked and complete by Sunday lunchtime.

Kugelhopf just before being brushed with melted butter

The Kugelhopf slid easily out of the mould which had been brushed generously with the PME Release-a-cake. The silicone mould was very well behaved, I supported it in an 20cm cake tin on a baking tray, mainly for ease of putting in and out of the oven, but it is quite a sturdy mould even without that.

The verdict? The Kugelhopf was a huge success, it was light, sweet and rich, the alcoholic sultanas don't overpower the soft bread. Everyone loved it and my mother-in-law said she preferred it to cake.

I was very impressed by this recipe and by the silicone mould and PME Release-a-cake from The Craft Company.

I chose products up to £10 from The Craft Company to review. I was not paid for this review and my opinions are my own.

Rhubarb with butterscotch sauce - Dish of the Month

2013-05-18T19:29:00.002+01:00

This dish is simple but devastatingly good. Stew some rhubarb with sugar and water until tender, then remove the rhubarb to a dish, reduce the syrup and add muscovado sugar, cream and vanilla.

Nigel describes it as a 'sweet sour sauce for rhubarb' in the kitchen diaries II, a sauce for rhubarb that has the same comforting vanilla flavours as custard without making custard, I served my rhubarb with Madagascar Vanilla Ice-cream. Being a bit of a rhubarb obsessive at the moment, this certainly hit the spot.

If you would like to take part, then please:

Make a Dish of the Month from ANY recipe by Nigel Slater
Link to Farmersgirl Kitchen or A Little Bit of Heaven on a Plate
Use the Dish of the Month logo in your post
If you use twitter, tweet your post with @serialcrafter or @Heavenona_plate and #DishoftheMonth and we will re-tweet it to our followers.

Rules:

If you own The kitchen diaries II please do not publish the recipes on your blog without permission, they are copyright.
If you are using recipes from the BBC Food website, please link to the recipe on BBC Food rather than publishing the recipe. Likewise recipes on the Guardian Lifestyle website.
One entry per blog.
Recipes must be added to the linky by the 28th of each month.

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The Truckle Cheese Co - A Review

2013-05-17T22:46:00.002+01:00

I love cheese, I have to restrict my intake otherwise I would pile on the pounds, so when I do eat cheese I like it to be good quality and packed with flavour. I was delighted to be approached by the Truckle Cheese Company to review some of their cheeses. The Truckle Cheese Co is one of the UK’s leading producers of carefully crafted cheeses, marmalades and terrines. From its base in Cambridge, the company has created recipes for an assortment of stunning cheeses including the mature, vintage cheddar cheese truckle, an award winning Blue Stilton and the innovative Revelation Cheddar, which carefully blends delicious mature cheddar with the indulgence of dark chocolate curls.

I chose to review The Truckle Cheese Co. English Mature, Vintage Cheddar, and the Blue Shopshire Cheese and Pear and Vanilla Chutney.

The Mature Vintage Cheddar is very smooth, cuts well and has a very pleasant tangy flavour without being harsh. This is definitely a 'cheeseboard' cheese, I felt it would be wrong to cook with it as it was simply too good. But I think it would be perfect in a cheese sauce for haddock mornay, mac n cheese or cauliflower cheese, it has the depth of flavour to really enhance those dishes.

While I really enjoyed the Cheddar it was the Blue Shopshire Cheese Truckle that was the real star for me. A softer texture than the cheddar, with the slightly musty and acidic edge that only a blue cheese can deliver, it doesn't take much of this cheese to provide a huge flavour hit. An oatcake was all that was required as a foil to the full flavour of the cheese. A glass of malt whisky would be good too ;-)

I had asked to review the Pear and Vanilla Chutney as I was intrigued at the thought of vanilla in chutney. The texture of this relish is soft, almost like a pear puree although there are pieces of fruit through it too. The flavour is very soft and delicate, I tried it with the cheddar, but found it became a little lost against the strong flavoured cheese. It is, however, perfect with cold meats like ham or cooked chicken where the sweeetness and low acidity works very well.

These products and more are available mail order from The Truckle Cheese Co.
English Mature, Vintage Cheddar 400g - £7.95
Blue Shopshire Cheese 300g - £8.95
Pear and Vanilla Chutney 0.31kg - £3.95

I was supplied with the cheeses and chutney by The Truckle Cheese Co. I was not paid for this post and all opinions are my own. Prices are correct at time of publication.

Spiced Rhubarb and Lemon Muffins

2013-05-15T21:41:00.000+01:00

It's still Rhubarb Central here! This time I'm bringing you some Spiced Rhubarb and Lemon Muffins. This is a classic combination with the spices including cinnamon and little pieces of crystallised ginger. I decided to make these when I saw the Recipes for Life Challenge at Vanesther's Bangers and Mash blog. The rules of the Recipes for Life call for a trio of ingredients, and this month they are rhubarb with lemon and spice. A monthly winner will be picked and the best of the recipes will be included in a new charity cookbook to be published by SWALLOW later this year.

Spice Rhubarb and Lemon Muffins
150g light brown sugar
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 egg
1 tsp cinnamon extract (or 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon)
100ml milk
100g finely diced rhubarb
175g wholemeal flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarb soda
1/2 tsp ground ginger
pinch salt
50g chopped ccrystallised ginger
grated zest of half a lemon

1. Preheat the oven to 200C.
2. Line you muffin tin with paper cases.
3. Place 125g of the sugar, oil, egg cinnamon extract and milk. Mix together and add the rhubarb.

Wet ingredients

4. Sift your dry ingredients into the bowl, add the wet ingredients and stir until combined but don't over mix or your muffins will be heavy.

Dry ingredients

5. Spoon the mixture into the cases, filling about 3/4 full.
6. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the remaining sugar (I forgot to do this!)
7. Bake for 18-20 minutes.
8. Leave in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Cakey, fruity gingeryness!

What I really liked about these muffins was that they were really moist, the acidity of the rhubarb and the lemon took the edge off the sweetness and the combination of ginger and cinnamon worked really well with the fruit. Best of all were the little nuggets of intense crystallised ginger.

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Rhubarb, Mango and White Chocolate Almond Cake

2013-05-12T19:04:00.000+01:00

Are you fed up with rhubarb recipes yet? When I asked Twitter for suggestions of recipes using rhubarb, Vicky Saunders of Yum Yum Bubblegum replied to tell me about the Rhubarb and Orange Cake, the recipe for which she had snipped from Good Food Magazine some years ago.

It sounded like just what I was looking for to create a cake which meets the requirements of this month's We Should Cocoa, the blog event created by Choclette at Chocolate Log Blog and Chele at Chocolate Teapot. As always, the recipe must contain chocolate and this month it is guest hosted by Shaheen at Alottment to Kitchen (A2K) who has chosen the star ingredient as 'Mango'.

Rhubarb, Mango and White Chocolate Almond Cake

Cake:

350g rhubarb, cut into chunks

100g dried mango pieces

200g golden caster sugar

grated zest and juice of half an orange

140g butter, softened

2 eggs, beaten

½ teaspoon baking powder

85g self-raising flour

100g ground almonds

50g chopped white chocolate

Topping:

25g butter

25g light muscovado sugar

grated zest of half an orange

50g slivered almonds

1. Mix the rhubarb with 50g of the caster sugar and the orange zest, then set it aside for an hour, giving it a stir or two.

2. Cut the mango pieces into small bite sized chunks and cover with orange juice, leave to soak for at least an hour.

3. Pre-heat the oven to 190/gas 5 and grease and line a 23cm loose-bottomed cake tin.

4. Cream the butter and remaining 150g sugar until light and fluffy. Drain any remaining orange juice from the mango pieces and add to the butter and sugar with the eggs, baking powder, flour and ground almonds and beat gently until smooth. Stir in the chopped white chocolate.

5. Turn into the tin and level with a spoon. Spoon over the drained mango pieces, drain the rhubarb and spoon the chunks over the cake.

6. Bake for 25 minutes.

7. Meanwhile, make the topping by melting the butter and stirring in the sugar, zest and almonds.

8. Take the cake out of the oven, reduce the temperature to 180/gas 4, sprinkle the topping over it and quickly replace it in the oven for another 15-20 minutes until firm in the centre.

9. Cool in the tin for 20 minutes or so before transferring to a rack. Dust with icing sugar and serve warm or cool with thick cream.

Printable Recipe

I was a little concerned that adding the mango as well as the rhubarb might make the mixture too wet, but it baked perfectly and, I have to say, the topping is genius! The almonds caramelise with the sugar and butter and provide a sweet and crunchy contrast to the moist almond sponge and sharp/sweet taste of the fruits.

I served the cake slightly warm with Greek Yogurt, but it would be equally good with cream or icecream or served cold with a cup of tea or coffee. Many thanks to Vicky for passing on this fantastic cake recipe and to Shaheen for hosting this month.

As I bookmarked this from Yum Yum Bubblegum, I'm also entering it in Bookmarked Recipes run by Jacqueline at Tinned Tomatoes

Dill Onion Yogurt Bread - for Random Recipes

2013-05-12T06:00:00.000+01:00

I am so pleased that I found the time to take part in Random Recipes this month. I love homemade bread and although I don't have a problem making it, somehow I don't get round to doing it very often, but as Dom at Belleau Kitchen has challenged us to a Random bread making challenge, it was the perfect opporutunity to try something different.

First take your Bread books, there were eight, then choose one at Random. It's the 5th of May (might not be by the time this is posted but that is the day of the 'Random choosing') so pick number 5.

The chosen book is the New Bread Machine Book by Marjie Lambert, bought in the early days of owning a bread machine. Now to choose which recipe, I glance at the clock, it's 25 minutes past one o'clock, so I will turn to page 25...

...and the recipe is chosen: Dill Onion Yogurt Bread

Dill Onion Yogurt Bread
For a 1 1/2 lb (675g) loaf
120ml (4fl oz) water
185ml (6fl oz) natural yogurt
3 tbsp butter
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp dried dill weed
1 tbsp dried onion flakes (I sauted a finely chopped onion in butter instead)
1 tsp salt
425g (15oz) strong white flour
2 1/4 tsp fast action yeast

Put all the ingredients into the bread pan of your machine in the order suggested by your machine I structions. Set for white bread, medium crust. Press start.

Note: as long as you keep the salt and yeast separate when you add them to the pan I find the order doesn't matter.

No bread machine? Just use any handmade white bread recipe, BBC Food have an easy white bread recipe by Paul Hollywood which explains the techniques.

Printable Recipe

I was really impressed with the even texture of this bread, the dill and onion had spread through the dough beautifully and it had baked to a golden crust. The recipes suggests that the loaf is good for sandwiches and I can see why. It is lovely and soft and the savoury taste of herb and onion would add to the flavour of the filling. When I had tea at The Dorchester (highly recommended) one of the sandwiches was chicken served on basil bread and it was divine. I may try making some of that myself using this recipe.

The loaf is very tasty indeed and the herb and onion is not overpowering. I'm looking forward to having some tomorrow with the leek and potato soup I made.

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Special K: How you've changed and how I haven't!

2013-05-11T15:55:00.002+01:00

For the first time since 1983, Kellogg’s is changing Special K with a new, more delicious and wholesome recipe. The new recipe contains three grains — rice, wheat and barley (previously there were two) — and is made with wholegrain, for a source of fibre as well as 8 vitamins and minerals. It gives health-conscious, weight-watching women a tastier breakfast.

I enjoyed a bowl of new Special K this morning, the flakes were crisp and seemed more substantial than they used to be, they were certainly tasty and kept me going until lunch time.

So what was I doing in 1983? Well, I had been married for two years, and was working and living in the west end of Glasgow. In the summer of 1983 we went on holiday to Malaysia where my sister-in-law was teaching English, so most of the photographs we have from that year were from that holiday.

Malaysia - 1983

Lyon - 2013

I tried, but failed, to find some photographs of me in '80's style clothes. I'm afraid this is where very little has changed. I joke with my friends that if I didn't have to go to work I would live in jeans and a fleece and when I went to look at photos from the 80s I realised that very little had changed, expect we didn't have fleeces, just jumpers!


1980's

Same haircut, jeans, trainers and a jumper! I have to say that my holiday style has changed and, while I enjoyed camping at the time, I much prefer a little more comfort and luxury on my hols now.

This is an entry for the #SpecialK30 Linky for BritMums/SpecialK "How I've changed Linky challenge."

I received a box of new Special K to review, I was not paid for this post and my opinions are my own.

Credit Crunch Munch Omelette

2013-05-11T09:00:00.000+01:00

Here's another Credit Crunch Munch recipe. It's a simple 'Spanish Omelette' or Frittata.

At this time of year, potatoes don't keep very well, they start sprouting. You can still eat them as long as they haven't gone green, but I seemed to have rather a lot and they needed to be used up before they did turn green or grow leaves!

I blanched the potatoes before frying them in a little oil.

Slice three shallots or 1 small onion, add to the pan with the potatoes and saute until soft. Beat four eggs, add about a tablespoon of water and mix it in, season with salt and pepper. Add to the pan and sprinkle with grated cheese.

Heat the grill and once the omelette has started to set, add a few sliced cherry tomatoes, pop it under the grill until the cheese has melted and starting to bubble.

This served two for lunch. We also had half a toasted bagel each, I'd taken the bagel to work for lunch the day before and then decided to have something else instead, so it needed to be eaten too!

Credit Crunch Munch is a monthly blog event run by Fuss Free Flavours and Fab Food 4 All
Details of how to join in HERE
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Jam, Marmalade and Curd - what do the proposed jam regulations mean?

2013-05-10T09:00:00.000+01:00

Mixed Berry Jam

Homemade jam, marmalade and lemon curd are something that I have been brought up on. My childhood home was in the heart of the Scottish berry fields so there were raspberries and strawberries a plenty in the jam season. I have vivid memories of my gran and my mum making jam.

Rhubarb and Ginger Jam

You may recall I visited the Marmalade Awards recently with Sue from Heaven on a Plate. Sue introduced me to Vivien Lloyd who was one of the judges and it's through Vivien that I heard about the proposed changes to the regulations around preserves.

Vivien has written this excelent article which I am sharing with you.
If you would like to sign the e-petition you can do so here.

The Jam and Similar Products (England) Regulations 2013

DEFRA are considering two main changes:

Option 1

Reduce the permitted sugar level for jams, jellies and marmalades from 60% to 50%

Option 2

Reduce the permitted sugar level for jams, jellies and marmalades from 60% to 55% with an ingredient specific exemption to a level of 50% for Bramley apples.

Additional de-regulatory measures under both options:

Remove the UK national limit for ‘reduced sugar jam’

Remove the national provisions for curds and mincemeat

The focus of my opposition to these proposed regulations is firstly, regarding the options to reduce the permitted sugar levels for jams, jellies and marmalades, and secondly, the proposed removal of the national provisions for curds and mincemeat, which as I explain later would in effect sound the death knell for curds and mincemeat as we know them.

Options 1 or 2, if adopted would, over time, destroy the characteristic quality of British jams, jellies and marmalades and could potentially mislead consumers. The quality of these preserves is determined by the proportions of sugar, fruit, pectin and acid in the product. All fruits contain varying percentages of pectin, acid and fruit sugar. By reducing the percentages of total sugar content, the characteristic gel in the consistency of jams, jellies and marmalades will be lost. The result will be a homogenized, spreadable substance bearing no resemblance to the products we in England enjoy as routine.

British scientists who worked at Long Ashton Agricultural Research Station at Bristol University during the 1920’s examined the shelf-life of jams and similar products. Up until then, recipes listed ingredients but not the yields. Without an expectation of specific quantities of yields, sweet preserves had an unpredictable shelf-life and frequently spoiled in storage. Knowing the expected yield allows the producer to calculate the expected final sugar content. In jams, jellies and marmalades, sugar is the principle, natural preservative.

Following further research, a recommendation was made for a minimum sugar content of 60% for jams, jellies and marmalades, regardless of the type of fruit used in the recipe. This ensured a good shelf-life of at least a year. This percentage has its origins not in Brussels but in Bristol.

These new regulations have been brought forward as part of the Government’s “Red Tape Challenge”- to reduce the burden of regulations on industry, particularly small and medium sized businesses. They are intending to revise the Jam and Similar Products Regulations 2003. These currently state that the percentage of soluble solids content for jams, jellies and marmalades must be 60%, unless the product is one with reduced sugar, with a permitted percentage of between 25% and 50%.

The Government’s preferred option is option 1, to reduce the upper limit for jams, jellies and marmalades to 50%. This would encourage more reduced sugar products to be made, as they might be perceived as more healthy. Some jam manufacturers have urged caution with this percentage. In the Impact Assessment document for the new regulations it is cited as potentially increasing the risk of spoilage. Currently, reduced sugar products with a percentage of 25% to 50% may contain chemical additives to ensure a good shelf-life, for example Potassium sorbate, E202. At a time when public attention is being directed to the content of food, it seems inadvisable to encourage the unnecessary production of products with additives and artificial flavours.

With a 60% sugar content, the colours of sweet preserves are bright and characteristic of the fruits used to make the product. A lower percentage produces products with darker, muddier colours which may affect consumer confidence in the product. In addition, if the consistency lacks the characteristic gel and is instead more like a fruit spread or a fruit butter, consumer confidence in the properties of jam and similar products may also be lost.

If option 2 is adopted the regulations will harmonise with the enforcement of the percentage of soluble solids content adopted by France and Germany at 55%.The jams produced by these countries have always been different to ours. Historically, their jams and similar products are made using different methods and these do not produce products with the characteristic gel in the consistency. In these countries, to make jams, fruit and sugar are cooked together or soaked and then cooked together. They are referred to as soft set products, with a loose, almost pouring consistency. British jams are traditionally made in two stages. The fruit is cooked either with or without water to extract any acid and pectin. Sugar is added to the cooked mixture, dissolved and then boiled to a setting point. Marmalades are made by first cooking the citrus fruit in water and then dissolving sugar into the cooked mixture and boiling it to a set. Jellies are made by cooking fruit in water and the cooked mixture is strained through a jelly bag. The residual juice is boiled with sugar to a setting point. We in Britain like our jams and marmalades traditionally made.

The consumer is clearly protected by the current regulations. A product labelled as Jam must have 60% sugar and consequently should have the traditional characteristic quality of British jams. Reduced Sugar jams have to be labelled as such which should alert the consumer to the fact that it is a different product.

The proposal to deregulate the provisions for curds and mincemeats, as listed in Jam and Similar Products Regulations 2003. would stimulate the creation of other products labelled as curds or mincemeat. In 2003 DEFRA asked the industry if they wanted to retain the national rules for curds and mincemeat and the overwhelming response was positive. At the time industry felt there was a need to set minimum rules to ensure the quality of these products and prevent poor quality or inferior substitutes. The 2003 Regulations include a minimum sugar content of 65% for curds and mincemeat. The rules on curds and mincemeat were notified to the European Commission as required, and there were no objections to the UK setting rules in this area. Curds and mincemeats have continued to be UK specific products.

Despite this, the Impact Analysis for the new regulations suggests that deregulation of curds and mincemeat would cut red tape and industry would be free to innovate and/or reformulate providing they are not misleading the consumer. Curds and Mincemeats are uniquely British with their origins established firmly for centuries. They are not part of other European member states’ culinary culture. They are made using a small list of specific ingredients.

Mincemeat has a history traceable back to the late 17th Century following Cromwell’s two year ban on Christmas festivities. After his death and once Christmas had been re-instated as a festival, the mincemeat we know today was introduced – a product with a quantity of vine fruits, sugar, citrus peel, suet or equivalent fat and optional alcohol. Fruit Curds, particularly Lemon Curd became well known in England during the late 1800’s. Recipes with eggs, butter, sugar and fruit were called “transparent puddings”. The method for storing them in jars became popular during the 19th century.

Fruit Curds are an emulsion of edible fat, sugar, whole egg or egg yolks (or both) and fruit. The 2003 regulations specifies percentages of ingredients for the quantity of fat and eggs for every 1000 grams of the finished product. The quantity of fruit is sufficient to characterise the finished product. For mincemeat, the 2003 regulations specify the quantity of vine fruits, suet and citrus peel used for every 1000 grams. Curds and mincemeat must have a soluble dry matter of 65% unless they are reduced sugar products. Any product lower than 65% should be labelled “low sugar substitute”.

Interest has been expressed by a group of artisan producers to apply for Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TGI) for Lemon Curd and Mincemeat. Deregulation would stimulate the introduction of products materially different from current definitions of curds and mincemeat. There is no case to deregulate curds and mincemeat.

Vivien Lloyd April 2013

You can keep up to date with the campaign through Viv's Blog and also at Rosie Jamieson's Blog 'Rosie Makes Jam'
You can take part in the consultation until 22nd May, 2013.

Rhubarb, Rose and Elderflower Jellies and a Giveaway

2013-05-09T20:25:00.001+01:00

I did warn you that rhubarb was going to feature quite frequently on the blog as 'tis the season! These jellies were inspired by the fabulous natural cordials and presses produced by Belvoir Fruit Farms a family run company based in Lincolnshire.

Most of us have had a little glimpse of summer, at the weekend, when I took this photograph, although there was a cool breeze blowing, the sky was blue and it wasn't raining! I know that further south it has been much warmer and summer drinks are definitely on the menu. I've tried all four of these drinks and must declare them totally delicious. They are not too sweet, very fruity and the presse is not too fizzy and very refreshing. The Cranberry and Raspberry (lurking at the back) was probably my favourite, but they are all very good.

I was inspired by the Elderflower and Rose Presse to make the jellies as I know that elderflower goes well with rhubarb and the pale pink rose colour complements the colour of the young poached rhubarb.

Rhubarb, Elderflower and Rose Jellies (makes 6)

6 stems of young rhubarb cut into even pieces
2 tbsp granulated sugar
500ml Belvoir Fruit Farms Elderflower and Rose Presse
4 sheets Gelatine (Supercook)

1. Heat the oven to 170C
2. Place the rhubarb into an ovenproof dish, add 50ml Elderflower and Rose Presse and 2 tbsp sugar.
3. Cook in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the rhubarb is just tender (check regularly)
4. Soak the sheets of gelatine in cold water as per the packet instructions.
5. Remove the rhubarb from the oven and drain the juices into a measuring jug, squeeze the water from the gelatine sheets and add to the hot liquid, the gelatine should melt into the liquid immediately.
6. Top up the liquid to 500ml with the Elderflower and Rose Presse.
7. Place a few pieces of rhubarb in each of the glasses and fill with the jelly mixture.
8. Chill in the fridge until set, this quantity of gelatine gives a fairly soft set, you can use more if you like a firmer jelly.

Printable Recipe

Belvoir have recently launched a range of five new products all with an English garden theme and I have five gift sets to give away comprising a Sophie Conran gardener’s journal and matching enamel mug plus 4 bottles of Belvoir products.

Gardeners Journal

Sophie Conran

Enamel Mug

To enter the giveaway, follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter Widget below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Walkers Hoops and Crosses - a sponsored post

2013-05-07T21:38:00.000+01:00

There's a new snack on the block! Walkers have brought out their new Wholegrain Hoops and Crosses for your 'cheeky monkeys'.

Now, I'm not really a snack-eater, the occasional kettle chip may pass my lips but I don't keep them in the house or the whole bag is scarfed down before you know it. However, I was quite intrigued by the wholegrain and lower fat nature of the Walkers Hoops and Crosses.

Each bag has 85 calories
Hoops and Crosses are made from wholegrains, have no artificial colours or preservatives
They come in three flavours – all suitable for vegetarians (prawn cocktail, roast beef, salt and vinegar) that's quite a trick making meat flavours for vegetarians!

I decided that as this product was aimed at children, I would enlist the help of my two year old grandson to test the Walkers Hoops and Crosses, he loved the monkey and ate up and enjoyed the Hoops and Crosses. His mum and dad managed to try a few too and declared that they tasted just like Monster Munch, a less healthy snack but one they enjoyed as children. It was a big thumbs up from my family.

I was paid by Walkers for this post, but was not required to give a positive review and my opinions are my own.

The Foragers Kitchen - A Review

2013-05-06T10:58:00.001+01:00

Wild Garlic growing locally

I suppose that I have been foraging most of my life, although until recently I probably wouldn't have called it that! As a child we collected rose hips which were sent off to make rose hip syrup, I think the school got paid for them. We always picked brambles (blackberries) and wild strawberries and raspberries and I remember one bumper 'field mushroom' year when my father-in-law would come back from the field every morning with his pockets full of mushrooms. Another time there were so many sloes we made sloe wine which was sweet and delicious.

In the Forager's Kitchen by Fiona Bird you will find over 100 easy recipes both savoury and sweet featuring all kinds of foods you can find for free in the countryside, in town and at the seaside.

The introduction is beautifully written, full of lively description and useful advice. There is a section of helpful Ground Rules and a serious piece about misidentification, there is even a list of 'Useful Kit for Foragers'

The Chapters

Flowers and Blossom

Honeysuckle

Fiona starts by introducing us to some common edible flowers with instructions on how and when to harvest them, store them and crystallised. The chapter includes recipes for Wild Elderflower and Gooseberry Curd, Honeysuckle Jelly, Violet Macarons with Primrose Cream, Gorse Water, Wild Cherry Blossom Panna Cotta and Couscous and Chicken infused with Linden.

Woodland and Hedgerow

Nettles in my back garden!

I am very tempted by the recipe for Douglas Fir Chocolate Pots however,I need to find a Douglas Fir first! I will be foraging for nettles, we have no shortage of them, to make Salmon and Nettle Fish Cakes. I have a Hazel tree but it has never provided me with any nuts, if you are lucky enough to find some Wild Hazelnuts you could make the delicious sounding Salted Caramel Wild Hazelnut Shortbread.There are some useful tips about foraging for fungi and recipes for Griddled Field Mushrooms as well as Pan-Fried Puffball with Carrot and Cardamom Purée which includes chickweed! I can't wait to be able to eat chickweed as we have it growing everywhere in summer. Recipes for wild watercress and Sorrel are also included.

Fruits and Berries

Brambles

More familiar territory here with a basket full of wild fruits and berries, starting with a classic Wild Venison with Blackberry Sauce. Bilberry (Blaeberry in Scotland) lurk among heather moors but if you find some you can combine them with Hazelnuts in a Crumble Cake which can be served warm for dessert or cold at tea time. I was once lucky enough to find undamaged windfall Quince and wish I had had this recipe for Quince and Wild Thyme Sorbet at the time. Mini Damson Tartes Tatin look stunning in the photograph and I am fascinated to find out what Crab Apple and Wild Honeysuckle Jelly tastes like.

Sloes

Hedgerow jam, Sloe Gin and Wild and Wicked After Dinner Treats complete this chapter.

Herbs

Wild Garlic or Ramps

There are five recipes using Sweet Cicely including Sweet Cicely and Rhubarb Sorbet and Sweet Cicely Cookies. The Wild Blossom Tempura looks fun too must try and track down some Sweet Cicely. I've also never seen 'Jack-in-the-Hedge' or Garlic Mustard but will be looking out for it now as the Garlic Mustard and chickweed Buschettas look really tasty. There are also recipes using Wild Thyme, Scots Lovage and Borage.

I have access to plenty of Wild Garlic or Ramps and there are six recipes for this delicious spring leaf, including the New Potatoes in Ramps and Lemon which I made.

New Potatoes in Ramps and Lemon (serves 4)
800g new potatoes
8 ramps (wild garlic) leaves, ashed and dried
25g butter
Zest of 1/2 lemon
Freshly ground black pepper
2-3 ramps (wild garlic) flowers, washed, dried and segmented

1. Scrub the potatoes (to remove loose dirt). Cut any larger potatoes in half. Cook in a minimum quantity of boiling water for 15-20 minutes until the potatoes are just soft.
2. Meanwhile chiffonade the ramps leaves (roll the leaves up tihgtly and cut into thin shreds)
3. Drain and reserve the potatoes, and add the butter and lemon zest to the pan. Return to the heat briefly to melt the butter, then add the shredded ramps leaves. Cook for a minute to wilt the leaves, then return the potatoes to the pan.
4. Toss the potatoes in the butter lemon, and ramps and season with freshly ground pepper.
5. Turn into a warm serving bowl and scatter the tiny ramps flowers over the top before serving.

Printable Recipe

Sea And Shore
Foraging at the seashore is not something I'm so familiar with, so this is a really useful chapter with clear descriptions and photographs of the different seaweeds, shellfish and molluscs. Apparently Hebridean children once ate sugar kelp as candy (sweeties) and Chocolate Sugar Kelpmores are Fiona's answer to the craze for salted caramel! Sea Lettuce also gets the sweet treatment as Sea Lettuce Madeleines, Lemon and Sea Lettuce Ice Cream or Sea Lettuce and Caramel Sauce. It seems to be a very versatile sea vegetable as there are also recipes for Sea Lettuce fish parcels, Scotch Quail Eggs with Sea Lettuce and Sea Lettuce and Prawn Panna Cotta. Other dishes include Seaweed and Butternut Squash Cakes, Beach Popcorn, Simply Razor Clams, Samphire with Place in Sweet Pepper Sauce and Wild Mussels in Dandelion and Burdock Beer.

The chapters end with some notes about Foraging and the Law including UK, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, US and Canada.

Who is it for?

Anyone who is interested in finding out more about what food can be gathered from the countryside and the seaside. You don't have to live in the countryside, there are many plants available everywhere.

Pros

As well as providing recipes there is a wealth of information given about the plants and other foraged ingredients. Safety is paramount and if you follow the advice in this book you will be able to enjoy collecting free food safely. I also liked the 'Wild Notes' that accompany some of the recipes giving additional information.

Cons

I would have liked a list that showed what you should forage for each month or season although I realise that this might be different in different parts of the country.

Ease of use

Fiona has a very informal style of writing, just like she is speaking to you, such a pleasure to read. The recipes are clearly laid out with an 'About' section for each wild ingredient. Quantities are provided in US and Metric measures. The recipes range from very simple, like the potato recipe I made to more advanced recipes, there is something for everyone.

So what's stopping you? Get out there and forage!

The Forager's Kitchen is published by CICO Books
RRP £16.99
Popular online book store £10.87

I was supplied with a copy of The Forager's Kitchen by CICO Books, I was not paid for this review and my opinions are my own.

I'm entering this recipe for Herbs on Saturday, the monthly blog event run by Karen at Lavender and Lovage and guest hosted for May at Anneli at Delicieux

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Carrot and Tomato Soup - Credit Crunch Munch

2013-05-05T21:11:00.001+01:00

This is one of my favourite soups, it's really easy to make and very economical. You can use up all the dodgy carrots at the bottom of your fridge drawer and with a couple of cheap cans of tomatoes, an onion some stock and a little milk, you can have enough soup for 8 people.

Carrot and Tomato Soup (serves 8)

1 tbsp sunflower oil (2p)
1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped (19p)
Approx 600g carrots, peeled and roughly chopped (40p)
2 cans plum tomatoes chopped or unchopped doesn't matter (31p)
1 litre vegetable stock (2p)
salt and freshly ground pepper
200ml milk optional (15p)

1. Heat the oil in a large pan (I make this in my pressure cooker but it's not essential) add the onion and the carrots and stir them around for a few minutes.
2. Add the two tins of tomatoes and the stock.
3. Season with a tsp salt and a few grinds of pepper, you can adjust later if required.
4. Cook until the carrots are soft, 10 minutes in the pressure cooker, about 20 minutes without.
5. Puree the soup either with a stick blender straight into the pot or using a blender or food processor.
6. Add the milk if using, but the soup is also very good without it.

Total Cost: £1.09

Printable Recipe

Vistaprint Photobook - Review

2013-05-03T11:00:00.000+01:00

Have you have looked at photobooks in online advertising and thought, what a great idea they are? I have, but have never quite got round to uploading my photos and purchasing a photobook.

We were recently on a river cruise in the south of France so I was delighted when Vistaprint contacted me and asked me to review one of their photobooks, and even more delighted when I received the photobook, what a superb memento of our holiday. Vistaprint is Europe's largest printing specialist with a wide range of products.

There are two ways you can work with Vistaprint, you can either upload the photos directly the online photo editor, or download the special software. I decided to download the software which turned out to be really easy to use and I liked being able to work offline.There are various different sizes of photobook with different options for the cover and paper. You can have your photos automatically placed in your book or choose where to place them yourself. I chose to place my own photos in the book. Sometimes I used the provided templates but it's easy to move them around or delete them from the page and add a full page photo. I was also delighted with the way you could place a photo in the background and it would show faded.

Of course, I had far too many photos of food! Which is why I created this double page packed with photos from a huge food hall in Lyon.

I also used a photo of a plate of food as a background for this photograph in the dining room of the river boat.

I chose the option of a photo cover and, as well as a photo on the front cover, there is space for a a photo on the back cover. The photobook I chose was the 'Large Landscape' which is 28cm x 21cm and currently costs £10.49.

People use photo books for a variety of things, such as capturing pictures of their holidays, creating wedding albums, as well as people using them as a creative way to keep hold of their precious recipes. Because you can insert images and text, it's a nice way to compile all your favourite recipes into a nice presentable book. You can then give them to friends as gifts, VistaPrint have even heard of one mum sending her daughter off to university with a basic recipe book!

Not only can you make photo books with Vistaprint there are lots of other ideas like calendars mugs, photo magnets and even a photo iPhone cover. If you are a blogger you might also want to have a look at their business cards to help promote your blog at foodie events.

I reviewed the process of making a photo book with Vistaprint and received the finished book in return. I was not paid for this review and all opinons are my own.

Cod poached in Merrydown Cider

2013-05-02T19:30:00.000+01:00

Enjoy a Great Summer Celebration with Fresh Recipe Ideas from Merrydown

Merrydown cider, the premium cider made from juicy eating apples, has just launched its new Great Summer Celebrations recipes featuring nine delicious seasonal dishes.

The easy-to-make recipes are designed to help us all make the most of summer entertaining as the dishes combine classic British recipes with the quintessential English drink, cider.

Each recipe uses Merrydown as a key ingredient to add zesty flavour and make the dishes unforgettable.

Suggestions include pork, apple & cheddar burgers with spiced cider and apple salsa or cider-glazed kebabs, which would be perfect on the barbeque.

A delicious al fresco lunch idea is the spinach roulade with creamy cheese, apple and cider filling, best served with a glass of chilled Merrydown cider.

When the sun doesn’t shine, the toad in the hole with cider red onion gravy is a great choice, whilst the delicious crispy cod with cider batter recipe is sure to impress any discerning diner.

I received a couple of bottles of Merrydown Cider as part of the Great Summer Celebration and decided to combine the cider with some of the lovely cod I received as part of the Fish is the Dish, Healthy Happy Hearts challenge to eat fish twice a week to increase Omega 3. There are lots of recipes for poaching fish in cider online and in the Great Summer Celebration there is a recipe for "Devonshire Cod with mushrooms". The new recipes and many more favourites are available to download online now at www.greatsummercelebrations.co.uk in a handy recipe book.

Although there are many delicious recipes on the Merrydown website, I made a simple recipe of my own, using the ingredients I had in the house. I simply sauted a sliced onion in some olive oil and a little butter, added two sliced green peppers and cooked until they started to soften, then added 250ml of Merrydown Medium Cider seasoned and cooked for 5 minutes. I then added the cod fillets and cooked it gently until opaque, it only took another five minutes even though the the fillets were quite thick. A few stalks of roughly chopped parsley topped off the dish.

I served it with some sauted potatoes mde with left over boiled potatoes roasted in the oven with some Herbes de Provence.

The cider added a delicate sweet flavour to the fish dish and didn't overwhelm it. The Merrydown brand is one that I'm very familiar with as it has been around for as long as I can remember, but when buying cider recently I have tended towards the newer single variety 'designer' ciders. However, having tasted Merrydown Cider again, I would say that it is just as good, with as many complex flavours. It really was a very pleasant surprise for me.

Merrydown Cider’s unique flavour is down to over 60 years of cider making and with all this knowledge there isn’t much that the makers of Merrydown don’t know about cider. The combination of juice from lovely crunchy eating apples rather than bitter cider apples and the deliciously light sparkle have made Merrydown a much-loved cider since 1946. Merrydown can be found in all major supermarkets and is available in 750ml bottles or handy 440ml cans. See: www.merrydown.co.uk for more information.

I received two bottles of cider from Merrydown, I was not paid for my review and all opnions are my own.

Credit Crunch Munch - May 2013

2013-05-01T09:00:00.000+01:00

I am guest hosting the May Credit Crunch Munch, from Fuss Free Flavours & Fab Food 4 All

Credit Crunch Munch is all about saving some money, whilst still enjoying great food.Money saving topics could be:-

Dishes using cheaper ingredients – cheap cuts of meat or vegetarian

Meals using leftovers

Meals using up the ends of packets

Substitutions of cheaper ingredients

Packed lunches

Meals that use less energy to cook

Pressure cooking

Slow cooking

Faster cooking – less oven time for example

Batch cooking for the freezer

Sustainable foods

Food you have grown yourself

Meals from reduced food in the supermarket

The list is endless!

To take part!

To take part, simply blog about any money saving idea that is vaguely food related, I am especially keen to hear about substitutions for when you run out of something this monthThere are a few rules

Please link to this page and the Credit Crunch Munch pages on Fuss Free Flavours and Fab Food for All

Please link to the current host (ME!) Farmersgirl Kitchen

Please use the Credit Crunch Munch Badge

Tweet using #creditcrunchmunch

Closing date – last day of the month

By entering you are agreeing to this site using your image in the round up, and us pinning entry to Pinterest.

Remember to respect others’ copyright.

Prize
I have one copy of the DVD 'Two Greedy Italians- Still Hungry', which I reviewed last month, as a prize for one lucky entrant who will be chosen at random once the Linky closes. In Episode 3 ' The Alps and Arrangiarsi, Antonio and Gennaro go foraging for ingredients and live off their wits and the land so I felt it was really quite appropriate for Credit Crunch Munch!

As hosts and guest host, Fuss Free Flavours, Fab Food 4 All and Farmersgirl Kitchen entries will be excluded from the prize draw.

Feel free to

Send to as many other events as you like, let’s help everyone save money!

Tell me about your money saving ideas on the linky below! I am also making this a blog hop, so feel free to grab the code and add to your post too. Let’s spread the money saving meme!We’ll be looking for guest hosts later in the year, so please mail helen at fussfreeflavours dot com if you are interested.

THERE SEEM TO BE A FEW ISSUES WITH THE LINKY. IF YOU CAN'T GET IT TO LINK, PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT WITH A LINK TO YOUR RECIPE. THANK YOU.

Posted with Blogsy

Dish of the Month - April Round Up

2013-04-30T10:00:00.000+01:00

April has been rather a mixed month, starting very cold and, while I know it has been warm in the south of England, here in Scotland we have only had couple of dry sunny days with a high of 14C!
However, in April's Dish of the Month kitchens, there has been much activity and many delicious dishes.

In Elizabeth's Kitchen Aubergine Tarts were on the menu and here is what Elizabeth says about them "The aubergine puree has a gorgeous flavour and texture and when combined with the anchovies, capers and cheese pastry - oh yes, mouth-wateringly nice indeed."

My own entry is Chicken with olives and lemon from the April chapter of the Kitchen Diaries II a very simple and delicious supper dish.

My friend and co-host of Dish of the Month, Sue at A little bit of Heaven on a Plate made a stunning Parfait of Lemon and Orange. Sue made her own meringues and, because they were homemade, they were nice and mallowy in the centre and crunchy on the outside, adding to the overall loveliness of the finished parfait.

Maggie at Kitchen Delights made 'a Soup of Cauliflower and Cheese', which is apparently a soup version of Welsh Rarebit, and it certainly does look good.

The New Mrs P made Nigel's Savoury Apple Crumble which she felt didn't turn out quite as well as she had hoped, but thought that it had potential with a little more care!

Dom, from Belleau Kitchen, baked a Red Wine Roasted Rhubarb Frangipane tart which inspired me to make a similar tart but I roasted my rhubarb with orange.

Foodie Quine had an unexpected Twitter interaction with our inspiration, Nigel Slater, who apparently doesn't like his eggs 'au naturel'. However, he seemed to have forgiven her as she did such a sterling job of making his recipe for Chorizo Potatoes!

Our final dish is a Mackerel, Bacon and New Potato Salad from Nigel's Simple Cooking TV series which is shared with us by Jacqueline at How to be a Gourmand.

Many thanks to all who took part this month. The May Dish of the Month will be hosted over at A Little Bit of Heaven on a Plate, although I will also be featuring the linky.

Chilli Pasta, Fennel and Walnut Salad

2013-04-29T19:37:00.001+01:00

This month Pasta Please is being hosted by Shaheen at Allotment to Kitchen and the theme is chilli!

Pasta Please is a blog event whose home is with Jacqueline at Tinned Tomatoes, but it is often out and about with guest hosts which gives it a new lease of life.

The Chilli theme gave me another opportunity to use my Galloway Chilli Original jam. This is a very hot chilli jam so you only need a very little to boost up your dishes.

Chilli Pasta, Fennel and Walnut Salad
Serves 4 for a light lunch

225g good quality pasta, cooked in boiling salted water, drained and cooled in cold water, then drained again.
1 large tomato chopped
2 spring onions, chopped
1/4 cucumber, diced
1/2 fennel bulb, chopped
50g walnut pieces

Dressing
1 tbsp mayonnaise
3 tbsp natural yogurt
1 tsp chilli jam (or to taste)
1 tsp honey
salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Mix the salad ingredients together in a bowl.
2. Mix the dressing ingredients together and season to taste.
3. Mix the dressing into the pasta and vegetables, cover the bowl and leave for flavours to mingle for about 20 minutes.

I served the salad on lettuce leaves but you can just eat it as it is or serve it with other salads.

Rhubarb Frangipane Tart from Belleau Kitchen to Farmersgirl Kitchen

2013-04-25T21:00:00.000+01:00

As soon as I saw the Rhubarb Frangipane Tart that Dom had made at Belleau Kitchen as his entry for Dish of the Month (Cooking Nigel Slater recipes) I knew I had to make it.

These are the first stalks of rhubarb I have pulled in my garden. It was slow to start this year as it's been really cold, but as soon as it started to rain and warmed up slightly, the rhubarb just burst through and now it's gone slightly mad!

Dom poached his rhubarb in red wine, but I decide to do mine in orange juice with the zest of the orange too.

Here is the rhubarb after it had been poached, I slightly under poached it as it has to go back into the oven on top of the frangipane.

I served the tart with Madagasgar Vanilla Icecream and the juices from the poached rhubarb reduced and poured over the tart.

As I bookmarked this recipe from Belleau Kitchen I am entering it for Bookmarked Recipes hosted by Jac at Tinned Tomatoes.

Apricot Tea Bread

2013-04-24T19:39:00.000+01:00

I haven't made a tea bread for some time and always find them to be really good value, as they get better after several days wrapped in foil. Dried apricots are once of my favourite things and as I was looking for an 'A' bake for AlphaBakes AND a bake suitable for a Village Fair, Fete or Show for the Calendar Cakes challenge, it was just the excuse I needed to make this loaf. It certainly turned out well, it's fruity, moisty and chewy, it really doesn't need any butter but you could spread some on if that's your thing. There wasn't any strong taste from the Whittards WhiteTea with Pomegranate that I used for soaking just an overall fruity flavour.

Apricot Tea Bread

350g/12oz mixture of apricots and mixed dried fruit (you can use all apricots but I wanted to use up some ends of bags of raisins and sultanas)225g/8oz mix of light and dark muscovado sugar
300ml/1/2 pt hot Whittards White Tea with Pomegranate (any tea will do, but I used this as I had just reviewed it.)
275g/10oz self-raising flour
zest of an orange
1 large egg, beaten

1. Put the dried fruit and sugar in a bowl and pour over the hot tea.
2. Leave it overnight to soak up the tea, but I didn't have time, so mine got 2 hours and was still pretty wet.
3. Heat the oven to 150C/130C fan/gas 2
4. Line a 900g/2lb loaf tin with baking parchment or one of those clever loaf tin liners.
5. Add the flour, lemon zest and beaten egg and stir iwth a spoon till mixed through.
6. Bake for 11/4 to 11/2 hrs or until it is well risen, firm to the touch and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean
7. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
Peel of the baking paper or liner and serve sliced with or without butter.

Alphabakes is run by Ros at The more than occasional baker and Caroline at Caroline Makes and Calendar Cakes is hosted by Rachel at Dolly Bakes and Laura at Laura Loves Cakes.

The Vegetarian Pantry - a cookbook review

2013-04-22T20:29:00.000+01:00

Although I'm not a vegetarian, far from it, I have always enjoyed meatless meals. The Vegetarian Pantry by Chloe Coker and Jane Montgomery aims to teach you how to create stunning dishes using the best of fresh produce and a well stocked kitchen pantry. I have a number recipes bookmarked already.

Chloe Coker grew up in a vegetarian household and is passionate about encouraging people to cook with and enjoy local, seasonal food. Previously a lawyer in the city, she turned her passion into a profession and retrained as a chef at Leiths School of Food and Wine.
Jane Montgomery had a previous career in advertising but turned her creative flair to her love of food and trained with Chloe at Leiths School of Food and Wine. Since then she has spent time cheffing and cooking for private clients as well as teaching classes. In 2010 Chloe and Jane launched Citycook, www.citycook.co.uk a boutique teaching and catering company specialising in bespoke events.

Introduction
The introduction tells you a bit about Chloe and Jane and their inspiration for writing the book. This is followed by some sound advice on staying healthy as a vegetarian with details of key nutrients required and how to get them in a vegetarian diet. The authors also, helpfully, describe the requirements for a well-stocked vegetarian pantry and how to store your ingredients.

Breakfast and Brunch includes Quick Cornbread, Saffron and Pepper Frittata with roasted garlic aioli, which would make a great lunch or even main meal, as would Herby Chickpea Pancakes with Halloumi and roasted corn and red pepper salsa. For the sweeter toothed breakfaster how about French Toast stuffed with bananas or Honey and Apricot breakfast muffins?

Small Bites is a chapter of snack, starters, tapas or mezze ideal if you like to entertain. Choose from Lemon and Mushroom risotto balls, Vegetable Dumplings with dipping sauce or indulge in Samosas with lemon and garlic dip. There are some great buschetta toppings and one recipe I've particularly bookmarked: Breadcrumbed Halloumi goujons!

Dips, Salsas and Sauces provides some recipes to help your vegetarian dishes along. I liked the look of Sweet Potato hummus with breadsticks, there are four punchy pesos: roasted beetroot pesto, watercress pesto, mushroom and walnut pesto and a ricotta and herb pesto. The three fresh salsas look great too: apple, celery and mint salsa, Carrot, orange and mint salsa and Asian cucumber salsa. The chapter is rounded off with a Spicy Tomato Ketchup and a Sweet Chilli Jam recipe.

Soups and Salads promises us light refreshing summer dishes and warming winter comfort food. There are both hot and cold soups and some interesting salads including Beetroot Quinoa and green bean salad with spicy ginger dressing and shallot crisps, I bookmarked the Winter salad of pearl barley, mushrooms and walnuts as I love the nutty taste of pearl barley. There is also an Italian tear and share bread and a Soda Bread recipe to accompany your soup or salad.

And so we move on to Main Dishes, possibly the most visually appealing is the Carrot and Leek Tarte Tatin with the caramelised vegetables atop a layer of light puff pastry. The Beetroot Risotto is a glorious deep pink and the Individual Baked Cheesecakes with salted honey walnuts are worthy of a special dinner party. I have to say I found this chapter the weakest in the book, there are a number of one-pot dishes which look rather uninspired alongside the delicious ones I have mentioned.

We all love Sweet Treats and there are some real crackers in this chapter. Always on the lookout for rhubarb recipes, I will be trying the Rhubarb, Orange and Vanilla Fool with shortbread cookies. Plum Frangipane Tart with ginger cream also sounds good and, as a sucker for all things almondy, Poached Amaretto Peaches with Amaretti cookie creme fraiche is on my list for the summer. There are few baked sweet treats too including Orange, almond drizzle cake, Chocolate Orange Brownies and Pistachio, white chocolate and Cranberry Biscotti.

Who is it for?
This is a book for an established vegetarian who is looking for some inspiration and new ideas particularly for entertaining. It would also appeal to adventurous non-vegetarians with good cooking skills who would like to try something different.

Pros
The book is well laid out with large clear photographs to tempt you to try the recipes. The recipes themselves are well written and easy to follow with symbols indicating where they are suitable for vegans and those recipes which are gluten-free which I thought was an excellent idea.

Cons
I felt that the recipes were aimed at summer eating and most of the recipes that are "comfort food" were a little predictable and would already be in the repertoire of most vegetarians. Nor do I think this is the best book for new vegetarians as it features a lot of bits and pieces rather than main meals.

As my featured recipe, I chose to make these Honey and Apricot Breakfast Muffins which are easy to make and incredibly soft, moist and delicious. They also kept very well in an airtight cake tin which is a bonus.

Honey and Apricot Breakfast Muffins
200g plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
21/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tsp mixed spice
50g chopped dried apricots
50g pecan nuts chopped
100g porridge oats
50g sultanas
2 bananas (preferably soft)
2 unpeeled apples, grated
2 eggs
5 tbsp veg oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp honey
6 tablespoons milk
100g light brown sugar

12 hole muffin tin filled with muffin cases (my mix made about 17-18, but I think it depends on your paper cases and how full you fill them!)

Pre-heat the oven to 180C.
Sift the flour into a mixing bowl. Add the bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and mixed spice and stir to combine. Add the dried apricots, pecans and oats to the flour mixture together with the sultanas and set aside.

In a separate bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Add the apples, eggs, oil, vanilla extract, honey and milk and stir to combine. Add the sugar and stir gain.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Pour int he wet ingredients and gently stir from the centre, gradually drawing in the dry ingredients to make a smooth batter.

Fill the muffin cases two thirds full and top with chopped pecans for added texture. Bake in the top half of the preheated oven for approximately 30-40 minutes until the muffins are well risen, golden and springy to touch. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack then serve with cups of hot coffee. These muffins are best eaten fresh but will keep in an airtight container for 3 or 4 days.

I'm entering these moist, fruity and delicious muffins for Tea Time Treats. The Tea Time challenge hosted by Karen at Lavender and Lovage and Kate at What Kate Baked. Kate is hosting this month and the theme is "Fairy Cakes, Cup Cakes and Muffins".

THE VEGETARIAN PANTRY
Fresh and modern recipes for meals without meat
AUTHORS Chloe Coker and Jane Montgomery
PHOTOGRAPHER William Reavell
PRICE £16.99 (hardback)
PUBLICATION 14th February 2013

PUBLISHER Ryland Peters and Small
SPECIFICATIONS 144 pages c. 120 colour photographs
ISBN 978 1 84975 3449

I received The Vegetarian Pantry to review, I was not paid for my review and all opinions are my own.

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Baking flatbreads for National Bread Week

2013-04-20T20:48:00.000+01:00

It's National Bread Week 16 - 22 April, 2013. Bread has been a part of our staple diet for over 5000 years. It all started in the stone age and has continued to evolve from unleavened breads through natural 'sourdough' yeasts, brewers yeast breads and now the sourdoughs are coming back into favour again! And I'm sure you will agree there is nothing more inviting than the smell of freshly baked bread. In honour of this celebration of baking bread, I have a couple of flatbreads to share with you.

I received this Mermaid Baking Sheet to help me with my bread baking. Mermaid is a range of hard anodised aluminium cookware that offers a solution for every culinary need.

Chorizo and Pepper Pizza

250g strong white bread flour
5g salt
5g fast-action dried yeast
2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for oiling
180ml cool water

I used the bread maker and just put all the ingredients in the machine and set it for dough. However, if you don't have one you can make it by hand.

Put all the ingredients in a large bowl and add the salt and the yeast keeping them away from each other. Add the olive oil and 150ml of the water and mix. Add the remaining water a little at a time until you have a smooth, soft dough.

Tip the dough onto an oiled surface and knead for 5-10 minutes until smooth. Leave to rise until doubled in size.

Meanwhile make your topping:

2 red peppers, cored and sliced
1 yellow pepper, cored and sliced
1 large tomato thickly sliced
1 onion, peeled and sliced
1 chorizo sausage sliced
100g grated cheese
2 tbsp olive oil

Heat the oven to 200C, pour the oil into the Mermaid Deep Sided Handled Roaster and add the onions, peppers and tomato and coat in the oil, roast for 20 minutes, then add the sliced chorizo and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool slightly.

Once risen, roll the pizza dough out and place on the tray add the topping and scatter with a mixture of grated cheddar and parmesan cheese.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until the bread is golden and, risen and the cheese is bubbling.

Serve immediately.

50-50 Spelt Naan Bread

2 tsp fast action dried yeast
300ml milk
200g spelt flour
300g strong white flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
3 tbsp plain yogurt
30g butter, melted

The technique for making the Naan Bread is pretty much the same as making the pizza dough. If you don't have spelt flour or prefer not to use it, then you can make all white flour Naans, but reduce the milk to 250ml.

The Naan bread rising.

Bake at 220C for 10 to 15 minutes, then remove from the oven and stack the breads on top of each other and voer with a clean, dry cloth to keep the cursts soft and preven them drying out.

Naan bread is brilliant for soaking up all the delicious sauce in a curry or other stews and gravies.

I was a little disappointed that the Naan bread stuck to the baking tray even though I had oiled it. I will have to try the semolina trick that Paul Hollywood uses to keep the dough from sticking.