Foodie Finds and Fails in Stockbridge

So the SNOW has been replaced by the RAIN, but Saturday last weekend was glorious, and after a wholesome, 'stacking the log pile' type morning (don't tell me it's not going to snow again, I have logs - I will burn them), we headed off to Stockbridge, a very pretty (if slightly gentrified) town about 10 miles away from where we live).

First stop, Stockbridge Down to run the children and the dog into quiet submission before a mooch round the town. It's a beautiful area of downland, one of the highest points in the area and on a clear day like Saturday you can see other high points. Being Nazi National Trust (although actually we didn't have to pay for the carpark), the whole are seemed very well fenced so I risked letting the dog off the lead - something I don't normally do in a place I'm not familiar with, and even he behaved himself.

Stockbridge itself then. As I said, a pretty, if gentrified town west-ish of Winchester. One of those towns you can imagine Jane Austen passing through in her horse-drawn coach on her way somewhere. A wide high street with many beautiful and clearly old buildings on either side, and history seeping out of every brick. Ignore the fact that those who know say that people living on one side of the high street don't talk to people on the other side, and enjoy the typical Englishness of it all. Clearly, the rumours (as above) cannot be true. This is a genteel and well bred place. The kind of place where perhaps it's not the done thing to take your clearly very muddy spaniel with you when you are mooching round the shops (a clean one would be OK). Nor, perhaps the kind of place where parents shout at their children in the street for playing lightsabres (without actual lightsabres) resulting in one child punching the other one in the nose and an enormous nosebleed...

No, it's a good job we don't LIVE in Stockbridge, but it's lovely to visit.

We did have business there. A couple of years ago, I was lucky enough to be given for my birthday a pair of those leather wellies that adorn 'country folk'. I don't pretend to aspire to the country folk look, but the boots are very, very warm and very, very comfortable, and when your daily routine involves walking many rural miles in hot pursuit of a well bred but wayward dog, warm and comfie is good. Anyway, the soles had started to come off the warm and comfie leather boots - and for the price that I know was paid for them, this just should not have happened - so, nosebleed dealt with, back to the shop we went.
  

I was also keen to visit Thyme and Tides, which is a bistro/deli/fishmongers which opened in 2010, and although we've had a couple of trips to Stockbridge since then, I've never managed to actually get in (probably because of the children/dog combo causing havoc). Anyway, enough of my bad parenting, and defective boots, on Saturday I actually got inside - not to the cafe which was absolutely heaving even if I'd been in the market for a table - to have a lovely browse of the deli and a good chat with the very friendly fishmonger. It's crammed full of loads of lovely things: bottles and packages promising deliciousness at every turn. 

Fortunately, I had some money given to me at Christmas with the strict instruction to spend it on myself. Is it deeply sad that I spent it on a bottle of lemon olive oil...

... a tin of stuffed vine leaves...

  and some Spanish cooking chorizo?

So judge me. I don't care

Purchases completed, I rejoined the Husband who had kindly taken the children and the dog off my hands, but had failed to complete any shopping he might have wished to do (a birthday present for his dad) because he couldn't work out how to lock the retractable lead in the retracted position and thus tie the dog up outside a shop. I took the dog and Pink back to the car, deposited the dog and went to visit my second favourite shop in Stockbridge - the Kitchenware Store (I'm so predictable). 


There was a sale on. I had some of my Christmas money left. There were lots of things I wanted to buy. I was pondering a Leon cookbook and some rather fancy cupcake cases when I heard the sound every parent dreads to hear - the sound of object hitting floor and a quiet 'ooohhhhhh, sorry Mummy'.

So yes, there were loads of things I wanted to buy, and lots I could have bought, but I ended up with a plastic flower tea strainer, with a broken petal.

You can't win 'em all, I suppose.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

My afternoon - with apologies to Edward Lear #sendgin

There once was a mother called Sally,
Whose children would drive her doolally.
She stifled her screams
as she cooked them baked beans,
and then urged them to bed, not to dally.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

You shall have a fishy...Smoked Mackerel Salad with Yoghurt, Horseradish & Dill Dressing

I'm not a great charity shop shopper. I do go in and buy things - I've found our local Hospice shop to be a great source of hardly worn Boden clothes, for one thing, but I'm not one of those passionate thrift shoppers. The Husband loves nothing more than spending hours mooching round second hand shops and antique markets, but it's not my thing. 

However, recently, I have been pleased to discover a few lovely things for the kitchen (or rather, the table) in the same hospice shop I mentioned just before. Don't panic, this is not suddenly going to morph into a blog about 'old tat' shops, but isn't this serving plate lovely?

So far, I've used it for cheese and also for a cake (I mean once the cake was on the plate, you couldn't see the fish), but the other evening, I made a smoked mackerel salad and for once, I felt like not only was the food lovely, but I had absolutely the right thing to serve it on. 

Doesn't happen to me often.

This started off life as a Good Food lunchbox idea but as the Husband mused when he read the recipe after we'd eaten "You changed it?". But of course.

 
Smoked Mackerel Salad with yoghurt, horseradish & dill dressing

8 spears of long 'tender stem' brocoli
200g sugar snap peas (cringe, they had been imported from a long way) 
3/4 bag of watercress, rocket and spinach salad
2 smoked mackerel fillets, skinned

150ml low fat natural yoghurt
2 tsps horseradish sauce
juice of half a lemon
about a tablespoon of finely chopped dill

Quickly steam the brocoli and peas till they are cooked but still have bite. It really won't take long. Run them under the cold tap quickly to refresh.

Spread your salad leaves over a beautiful, thriftily sourced, serving dish (or on individual plates), then artfully arrange the cooked brocoli and peas around ad through the leaves, Flake over the smoked mackerel.

Make up the dressing by mixing together the yoghurt, horseradish and lemon juice, and stir through most of the dill. Drizzle this over your plateful of salad, and scatter the remaining dill over the top. 

   

The dill gave the dressing a lovely flavour so I am also entering this into Karen's lovely Herbs on Saturday challenge, hosted this month on Bangers & Mash

 

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Forever Nigella 22 - Norwegian Cinammon Buns

Well, I couldn't host Forever Nigella, and not enter myself, could I? 

The subject of challenge (which I chose) is food to cherish your loved ones with and really, the reason I chose this was for these cinammon buns.

Warm, fragrant, oozing cinammony sweet butter. What better way to cherish your loved ones (foodwise, that is) than to knock up a batch of these beauties for that most important of meals, breakfast. I'm not saying I make this sort of thing every morning, but every now and again, well, I think you know what I'm saying.

I have a Swedish friend who I don't see nearly enough. She and I 'raspberry leaf tea'd and long brisk walked' our way through the final weeks of our first pregnancies. We were due 10 days  apart and ended up giving birth to our sons within 12 hours of each other, albeit in different hospitals. She coped with it all much better than I, birth, breastfeeding, the whole babyness of babies, and within weeks she was my Scandi saviour, bringing down to earth common sense to my hormonal, slightly post-natal slump, and Swedish cinammon buns.

It was she who was our saviour a couple of years' later, the chaotic day, 3 months in to Blue's treatment for leukaemia, that Pink arrived and Blue was very poorly following some chemo. When, later on in Blue's illness I turned to How to be a Domestic Goddess in an attempt to cook my way out of the frustration and anger that had built up inside me, I saw this recipe and immediately thought of her. This was one of the first things I made from that tome, and it has stayed firmly in my repertoire ever since. 

I do not know anyone who would not happily eat 2 or 3 (or, ahem, more, she said, red-faced) of these beauties. They have become the birthday breakfast of choice here and they are well worth it. The first few times I made them, I got terribly het up about the wetness of the dough, and also with the timings - because I never quite read the recipe through properly and they ended up taking me longer than anticipated. However, with my new found bread-making confidence, when I served them up this morning I was feeling calm and serene - very Domestic Goddess (although without the knowing pout or the slinky dressing gown).

When I made the dough up, I was careful with the addition of the liquid, and I stopped short of using it all, reserving what was left (a milky buttery eggy mixture) to glaze the buns on the final prove. I also made the dough up the night before and gave it the first rise in the fridge, so that in the morning, I just had to get it out of the fridge and let it come to temperature before forming the buns, giving it a second prove, and baking.

Norwegian Cinammon Buns

(makes 10-12)

Dough:

300g strong white flour
50g sugar
pinch of salt
11/2 sachets (about 10g) dried yeast
50g unsalted butter
200ml milk
1 large egg

Filling:

75g soft unsalted butter
75g soft brown sugar
1 tsp cinammon

(possibly an extra egg to glaze) 

You will need a lined baking/roasting tin - the one I use is 20 x 25cm.

Make the dough. Melt the butter and set aside to cool a little. Combine the flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a large bowl, then whisk together the melted butter, milk and the egg.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients gradually, stirring to combine. You want a reasonably wet dough, but not so wet that it becomes unreasonable to manage, so if you don't use all the liquid don't worry - I had around 30ml left over. When you have a rough dough, turn out and knead to a smooth, springy ball of dough. You can do this in a mixer with a dough hook just as well as by hand - it won't take as long. If you don't use all the liquid, reserve the left over for glazing

At this stage put the dough back in the bowl and cover with clingfilm. You can leave the dough to rise for 25 minutes or so on the work top, or overnight in the fridge (which is what I did - if you do this, just get it out and let it come to room temperature before continuing with the next stage).

Preheat the oven to 230C. Make the filling by mashing and mixing together the butter, sugar and cinammon.

Take 1/3 of the dough and on a lightly floured surface, roll and stretch it out to fit the bottom of the tin. You then need to roll out the rest of the dough to make a rectangle. I completely failed to measure how big, but probably about 30-40 cm long by 15-20 wide. Certainly longer and wider than your tin, Not very helpful is it? Nigella herself makes a double quantity and rolls her dough to 50x25 cm.

Spread the filling all over the rectangle of dough 

and then roll up along the long side. When you have a big old roll of dough in front of you. slice it up into 2 cm slices, placing the little rounds into the tin swirl side up. They won't fit together snugly at this stage, but wait till they have puffed up and risen during the second rise and in the oven...

Glaze the buns with either the left over liquid from the dough, or with a beaten egg, and leave to prove under a tea towel for 15-20 minutes, then bung in the oven for 20-25 minutes, turning half way through.

It's going to be hard but try and wait for them to cool down a little before tearing apart and devouring with a cup of coffee and the satisfied sighs of delight from your loved ones. "Mummy, this is such a TREAT!". May be I'll make them more often...

Forever Nigella is the monthly blogging event organised by Sarah at Maison Cupcake, I'm hosting it this month and the announcement post where you will find all the rules and the linky is here.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Sunday Special - Slow roast merguez shoulder of lamb - and a comedy potato

Just before Christmas, we were in receipt of a lamb. Melvin's lamb.

I think I have written before about Melvin's pork (although I can't find the post). Melvin is our friendly, local, slightly erratic small holder. A couple of weeks before Christmas, the Husband rang Melvin to inquire about the availability of logs for the woodburner. During the course of the conversation, Melvin let slip that the lamb that he and the Husband had discussed some months previously was about to be butchered. We had all but given up on getting a lamb this year. A week before Christmas, realistically, we had neither budget nor freezer space for a butchered lamb, but these opportunities do not come along everyday, and before I knew it, Melvin was on my doorstep with the lamb, and the freezer is now creaking.

Fast forward to last Sunday and we have friends for lunch and a shoulder of said lamb out of the freezer. What to do, what to do? Faced with the meat, I had a crisis. Slow roast or conventional cook? English traditional or something more adventurous?

Much as I love the traditional English pairing of lamb with garlic and rosemary, my time in the South of France, on the Mediterranean coast near the Spanish border, has made me a huge fan of the 'merguez' flavours from North Africa. I have fond memories of barbecued merguez sausage - spicy and piquant: chilli, harissa, garlic, perhaps fennel, cumin and coriander...

Lamb as good as Melvin's already has a fantastic flavour, but it was too much of an opportunity, and 'adventurous' (if Sunday lunch could ever really be called adventurous? I don't know. Humour me) won out, although I kept the chilli down as a nod to the the less mature palates at the table. 

The only thing you really need to know about this is that it does need about 4 hours in total to cook, so get in the kitchen early, but then you have the luxury of just leaving it to do its thing while you get on with other stuff.

Slow roast merguez shoulder of lamb

1 shoulder of lamb (bone in) - 2 kg will feed 4 adults and 4 kids, possibly with leftovers
1 tsp each cumin seed, coriander seed, fennel seed & black peppercorns
1 cinammon stick, broken into pieces 
1 tsp smoked paprika
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 large sprigs of rosemary, leaves only, finely chopped
zest of a lemon, finely grated
2 tbsp olive oil
1 glass of red wine
1/2 glass water

First, pre-heat your oven to 220C and score the skin of your shoulder of lamb. While the oven is heating, make your paste: toast the seeds (cumin, coriander, fennel and peppercorns) and cinammon stick in a dry frying pan over a medium heat for a minute or so. Bash up the toasted spices with the paprika, rosemary, garlic, lemon zest 

and mix with the olive oil, then smear half of the resulting paste over the scored lamb (which you have, of course, put in an appropriately sized roasting tin. (If you were more organised than me, you could of course make the paste and smear the lamb the night before).

Put the meat in the hot oven for 30 mins, after which, remove from the oven, and smear the remaining spice paste over the meat - use a wooden spoon or somesuch to do this. Pour the wine and water into the tin around the meat (but NOT over the meat - you don't want to wash that paste off), then cover the joint with tin foil, seal it round the tin and put it back in the oven. Reduce the heat to 130C, and cook for about 3 hours, when it will be easy to pull apart, and taste delicious.

In my usual haphazard fashion, I made a gravy from the juices, some sherry and the water that I'd parboiled the parsnips in. We had whole roasted new potatoes (from last summer's crop - still going strong in a thick (and large) paper bag), parsnips (also homegrown) roasted with honey, rosemary and ground cumin, and steamed carrots and leeks. The great thing about home grown veg is the opportunity for amusingly-shaped specimens, and I'm sorry, but I can 't resist showing you this potato (snigger)

Haphazard gravy and comedy potatoes aside, this is a really fantastic way of roasting lamb. Hugh suggests roasting at a slightly lower temperature for longer (6 hours) but by the time I was contemplating what to do, a 6 hour roast would have meant eating at around 3 in the afternoon - no good when small children are involved. Also, I have done a longer roast and for me it hasn't turned out quite so well, although I added more liquid to the roasting tin this time than I have previously, so may be that helped. It's a method of cooking that lends itself to fiddling around, and because it's at a low temperature, there's less chance of ruining the meat by overcooking.

We had a fabulous afternoon, a lazy lunch then we sent the kids outside to build an igloo while the grown ups stayed firmly ensconced around the table with the wine. As we got our snow on Friday, and had already had plenty of opportunities for sledging and snowballing, what better way to spend a snowy Sunday afternoon?

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Oven Baked Broad Bean & Bacon Risotto - and a good dose of humility

Excuse me for a moment while I state the obvious, but isn't feeding children just sometimes the most frustrating thing?

Just when you think you've got it sussed, that you're congratulating yourself that they've obviously grown out of all that toddler faddishness and realised you're not trying to poison them, they chuck in a curve ball. 

Just when you're feeling slightly pleased with your "Must-taste-without-retching-noises" rule and your "Eat-as-many-mouthfuls-as-your-age-if-you-want-pudding" rule, and the diverse range of foods that your kids will actually eat, and just, dare I say it, when you might be sounding a teeny bit smug about it all (strike me down, for I know I am that woman), they bring you straight back down to the bottom line and refuse something that is completely inoffensive, nay something that others would consider a bit of a treat.

So there we have it - oven baked bacon and broad bean risotto. Creamy, comforting on a cold evening. It's got bacon in it, for goodness sake. To be fair, I suppose Blue isn't a fan of rice , and generally, Pink has been fairly ambivalent about broad beans recently despite our attempts to jolly her out of it (mainly because we had a good crop of them in the garden and we are lucky enough to have some left in the freezer that need eating). But really? What's not to like? Everything, apparently.

"Mummy, let me tell you that broad beans and bacon do NOT go together" Er excuse me? Are you my child? I believe you may have been swapped at birth. (I didn't actually say that to him).

Ho hum.

Onwards and upwards.

The Husband and I loved it though, so for that reason alone, I'm going to share it with you all - and what could be easier. I know that really, for risotto, there should be loads of stirring love going on, and the purists will strike me down, but when the chips (or perhaps that should be the rice) are down, if there's an easy option, I'd like to know about it, and this certainly ticks that box.

Oven baked Bacon and Broad Bean risotto

1 tbsp olive oil & a knob of butter (what does a 'knob' of butter mean? I just chopped a smallish corner off my block - probably no more than 10 grams, because I'm trying to lose a little weight, but you could add more if you wanted)
1 onion finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
200g smoked bacon, chopped
200g frozen broad beans (you could also use frozen peas, or fresh of either in season, but they will take less time to cook - remember that. Nothing worse than an overcooked broad bean...)
300g risotto rice
700ml chicken or veg stock
100g or so of grated cheese - parmesan, or whatever you have

Pre-heat the oven to 180C.

Heat the oil and butter in an oven proof dish with a lid, and add the bacon. Cook for a few minutes till the bacon starts to colour, then add the onion and garlic and sweat gently till softened. 

Stir in the rice and keep stirring for a minute or so to coat the rice in the pan juice/oil. 

Tip in the stock, bring to a simmer, put the lid on and pop in the oven. Cook for about 20 minutes, then remove the pan from the oven, stir in the broad beans, put the lid back on and cook for another 5 minutes or so till the beans are cooked (if you are using fresh broad beans, it will need less time. 

Take the dish out of the oven, stir in most of the cheese and leave to stand, with the lid back on, for 5 minutes. Apply salt and pepper as required, then serve with the rest of the cheese to sprinkle on top.

 Stand back and wait for the "oooos" of delight or, alternatively, the retching. If the latter, I share your pain. If the former, feel free to be smug in the comments below.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Feeding the Ravenous Hordes - Chickpea Ketchup 'Chilli'

Sometimes I get a little annoyed with even my favourite food writers. The thing that gets on my nerves is when their idea of something doesn't accord with mine. What might constitute the contents of a 'store cupboard' for example.

Apparently, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall thinks fresh ginger is the sort of thing you might just have lying around in your fridge waiting to be used up. Hugh, let me tell you this. I buy fresh ginger, and freeze it in chunks ready for use. It goes very mushy on defrosting but that's fine because I'm usually mushing it up in pastes for curry. However, it's not just lying around ready to be used in emergency suppers. The days when you really haven't given any thought to what you might eat until it's actually tea time and the ravenous hordes are, well, ravenous. 

On the day in question, then, while I didn't have the ginger available to make the Ketchup Curry which appears in Veg Everyday in the Storecupboard Suppers section. I was inspired by the suggested alternative of ketchup chilli and knocked up my own version with chickpeas - and no ginger.

This, for me, really is 'store cupboard'. The fresh ingredients are an onion, a couple of cloves of garlic and a red pepper, which I nearly always have in (onion and garlic I use pretty much every day, and if nothing else, I chop up the pepper in lunchboxes). You wouldn't need to have the red pepper - and if you are proper swanky, you might have a jar of them knocking around actually in your store cupboard (I aspire to this but in reality, there never is a jar of beautiful red peppers in my store cupboard). I'll admit to having far too comprehensive a selection of spices, but cumin and paprika are ones that I use regularly and always have in. You could use hot smoked paprika or chilli powder depending on the palate of your ravenous hordes. It does use quite a lot of ketchup, but again, it's always in the cupboard and I'm sure you could use tomato puree or a can of tomatoes, depending on what you had to hand.

I served it as a topping for baked potatoes, with grated cheese and some left over soured cream. There was also some watercress. In a surprise verdict from my own ravenous hordes (and my fiercest critics), Blue loved it, while Pink wasn't so keen (I was anticipating the reverse). I liked it a lot.

Chickpea Ketchup Chilli

Serves 4

1 small-ish onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, also finely chopped
1 red pepper, finely chopped
olive oil
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp cumin
2 x 400g tins of chickpeas, drained
10 tbsp tomato ketchup

Put a good splash of olive oil in a pan, and gently fry the onion and garlic for 5 minutes or so and add in the pepper, the paprika and cumin. Stir together then cook on a gentle heat for another 5 minutes or so, stirring every now and again, till softened. Tip in the drained chick peas and add the ketchup, plus a little water, stirring as you go, to make a sauce. Make sure everything is heated through, then serve as your store cupboard or fridge permits - on baked potatoes, with rice, on its own, even...

 

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Homemade Stracciatella Mascarpone Gelato

Ingredients:

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup half and half 

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 tbs. amaretto liqueur

5 large egg yolks

1 cup mascarpone 

pinch of salt 

splash of vanilla extract (optional) 

about 3 ounces of coarsely chopped good quality chocolate

crushed amaretti cookies for serving 

Directions:

Prepare a bowl with a strainer over the top and place it in an ice bath (a larger bowl with ice and cold water).

Separate 5 eggs. You will not be using the whites for this recipe; however, you can save them for future use. Whisk together the yolks in a separate bowl and set aside.

Next combine the milk, half and half, salt and amaretto in a saucepan and warm over medium heat. Make sure that the milk does not boil. Take this mixture off the heat. Slowly temper the warm milk mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. You can do this by slowly dribbling in the warm mixture bit by bit so that you do not scramble the yolks. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan. Add the vanilla extract.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat. Make sure to scrape the bottom as you stir. Once the mixture has thickened enough to coat the back of a spatula (and you can run your finger down the middle of the spatula and the mixture stays intact) then take off the heat. Pour this through the prepared mesh strainer. Stir to cool over the ice bath. Chill the gelato base thoroughly in the refrigerator.

After the gelato base is cool, whisk in the mascarpone until completely smooth. Make the gelato in your  ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. While the mixture is being made you can add in all of the chocolate shards and a small handful of crushed amaretti cookies.

I served the gelato with my espresso hot fudge and crushed amaretti cookies. Enjoy!

Happy Eatings! 

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

NOUGATINE AT JEAN-GEORGES

This weekend I got to go to NYC for my birthday! I had such a great time and went to some great restaurants. This blog post is of Jean George's restaurant Nougatine. We went here for lunch and ordered the pre-fix menu. I suggest ordering pre-fix menus because it is a really great deal for the amount of food you receive. Pre-fix menus are awesome when you go with friends and can sample many different apps, entrees and desserts! 

Nougatine's atmosphere is sleek and modern. This is a picture of the immaculate open kitchen. I loved how you could watch the chef's working their magic. The fact that this kitchen is incredibly clean made the experience even better!

Homemade black cherry-yuzu soda. I hardly drink soda; however, this herbal soda was out of this world delicious!  You cannot forget to order any of the house sodas. 

Beautiful flowers on the table called the "change flower. " The change flower happens to be in the same family as asparagus; therefore, they gave the table a earthy feel while still managing to be original and modern. 

My appetizer- an artichoke with a mustard mayonnaise and chervil. 

Shrimp salad with avocado. 

Tuna tartare with avocado, radish and ginger sauce 

Slow baked salmon with bok choy 

I highly recommend getting this dish composed of black bass with leeks and rabe. An unexpected pairing that was way beyond the flavor context I could have imagined. The rabe managed to be subtle enough to not over power the black bass. All I am saying is that you must order this! 

This is my entree- flounder with brussels sprouts. The habanero sauce was divine and added a perfect salty accompanied to the perfectly cooked flounder.

Pecan rolls with espresso ice cream.

Jean-Georges signature warm chocolate cake. The vanilla bean ice cream was a vibrant accompaniment to the warm cake.   

Happy Eatings! 

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Of Parallel Universes, snow and Chocolate Hazelnut & Black Cherry Zebra Cake

There's a film called Sliding Doors which (though I probably should be ashamed to say it) is one of my favourites. It's no blockbusting epic, no quirky indie pic, but I love it. If you haven't seen it, the premise is this: pretty, slightly scatty PR girl is living with vaguely handsome but no good (in an affable kind of way) boyfriend 'writer'. On the day she is fired (for drinking some company vodka), she just manages to catch a tube train home, has a passing conversation with enigmatic stranger, discovers affable-but-no-good boyfriend in bed with slightly psycho-ex girlfriend, and after soul searching and much Grolsch, she pulls herself up by her kitten heels, opens marvelously successful PR agency, gets it on with enigmatic stranger, gets pregnant, and is hit by a car at the height of blissful happiness. Or not. Because the film also offers the alternative reality where she misses the train and as the result of a combination of circumstances, doesn't find the boyfriend in bed with psycho-ex. Her immediate post-fired life is much less glitzy, and involves making and delivering sandwiches around London including to psycho-ex. However, at the end of it all, she still meets enigmatic stranger, and at the conclusion of the film looks like it's going to be a much more satisfactory life all round, with significant opportunities for unashamed blubbing. You should see it.

Nothing so dramatic has happened to me over the last few days - you'll be pleased to know that I haven't found the Husband in bed with anything other than his Christmas pyjamas, and there have been no other life changing events - apart from the snow.

Snow does this to us, the English, doesn't it. Life can be trundling along quite happily, and then there's the whisper of the white stuff and we whip ourselves up into a frenzy. The prospect of snow makes us all excited because we can do that most English of things and spend HOURS talking about the weather - "They say it's going to snow. A foot at least" "More like 3, I heard - it's that wind coming from Siberia" "School will be closed" "Better get some more milk in". Snow gives us the opportunity to raise eyebrows and exchange words with complete strangers, and to panic buy. Whatever anyone says, it is my firm belief that the siege mentality that understandably developed here during the first and second World Wars is still ingrained in our national psyche - witness the madness of over-food shopping before Christmas for one - and the prospect of snow gives an opportunity to indulge this. The mere whisper, the sight of a steely cloud, and our local Co-Op might as well have had a plague of locusts land, such is the speed with which the shelves are emptied - because you never know... Normal life is suspended. Nothing works. Committed office dwellers skive off and go sledging with their kids work from home.

Anyway, back to our parallel universe theme. Before the snow happened, the Husband and I were due to go out on Friday night for a good friend's 40th to a very smart restaurant. It involved driving quite a long way, but we were very keen to go. It was to be a surprise too - I love being part of a surprise. I had a new top, and had even booked in with my friendly hairdresser to get a 'blow dry' for the occasion which is something I would never normally do. The kids (and dog) were going for sleepovers - Pink and Fred one way, Blue another, and in our parallel life, the Husband and I would be off for our glitzy night, living the high life. And then, in the real world, the snow came. School was closed, and a hospital appointment was cancelled, so the Husband and I juggled work with sledging and constant vigilance. We exchanged words like "Well, if we can get to the M3, we should be fine" "Hmm yes. But is it going to freeze?". We watched as the snow fell all day. We couldn't go.

So in the non-glitzy snow bound universe, I made a cake. A 'zebra' cake. 

Apparently these are one of this year's cake trends, so if you haven't heard it before, let me tell you that now. I know, because Good Food told me it was. I'm not particularly one for trends but I have been intrigued by how this might work. Essentially, you make up two cake batters and then fill the tin alternately blobbing one spoonful of one batter in on top of the other. 

This way you can make a cake with contrasting flavours and a fun, stripy interior. Hmmm.

Chocolate Hazelnut and Black Cherry Zebra Cake

For the Chocolate Hazelnut sponge

200g self raising flour
140g caster sugar
3 tbsp cocoa powder (sifted, or sift it in to your bowl when you add it)
pinch of salt
2 large eggs
150ml pot low fat hazelnut yoghurt
150ml vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For the Black Cherry Sponge

200g plus 3 tbsp self raising flour
140g caster sugar
 pinch of salt
2 large eggs
150ml pot low fat black cherry yoghurt
150ml vegetable oil
1/2 tsp pink food colouring

to decorate

200ml double cream
50g Nutella (other hazelnut spreads are available!)
50g dark chocolate

You'll also need a 23 cm loose bottomed (if possible) cake tin, greased and with the bottom lined; Pre-heat your oven to 180C/160 fan/gas 4

Make the 2 cakes simultaneously - in 2 bowls (one for the chocolate sponge, one for the black cherry), first mix together the dry ingredients for each cake, then crack in the eggs and add the oil and yoghurt. Add the vanilla extract to the chocolate sponge and the pink food colouring to the black cherry sponge. Use an electric whisk or other to whisk the sponge mixtures together - remember to wash the whisk between bowls (I nearly forgot).

Check that the batters are of pretty similar consistency - if one is noticeably thicker (it shouldn't be) you could thin it a little with some milk.

You need to work quickly now, and with a large spoon/cup measure for each batter, spoon a measure of one batter into your prepared tin, then immediately dollop a spoon of the other batter on top, and repeat. Once all the batter is used up, bake the cake for around an hour till a skewer (or whatever you use to test cakes) comes out clean. Check it after 45 mins though and cover with foil if you think it is going too dark on top.

Leave to cool in the tin, then turn it out and ice. Put the cream, Nutella and chocolate (broken into pieces) in a small pan, and stir over a gentle heat until everything is melted. Remove from the heat and keep on stirring till you get a smooth thickened icing. If you lose faith and think it's never going to thicken, you may find that it helps to pop it in the fridge for a few minutes - or just put your coat and wellies on and stir it outside.  

When the icing is ready, spread it on to the cake, and add any other decorations you consider appropriate. I left mine unadorned on the basis that the stripy interior would be 'wow factor' enough.

Well, I was pleased with the stripes, but the black cherry layer was no where near pink enough. The problem is clearly keeping the batters the same consistency, but you don't want them too thin, I don't think, otherwise they will run too quickly as you're blobbing the batter in. I think gel colouring may be the answer if you want to really make a good pink (or other) colour.

As for the cake, well, it was moist and held together well, and pretty tasty too. The icing was definitely a hit - I'll be making it with Nutella more often, I think.

And parallel universes? Well, while I'd have loved to have gone to the dinner, the Husband and I dispatched the kids as planned and went for a curry instead. And there's cake too - so not all bad.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Pear & Custard Crumble Cake (or “Goodbye to D.I.Y”)

Now that the dust of Christmas has settled, and we are all getting on (or not) with January, I bring you a cake requires a certain amount of time and faffing in the kitchen. Don’t let this put you off. This time of year, it’s crucial to have some strategies in place to avoid those tedious ‘New Year Projects’, and I guarantee that the strategic wafting of cake before those around you is one such strategy that will absolve you entirely of participation in such projects – for an afternoon at least.  

The Husband's current project is "The Moving of The Greenhouse". Do you see what I mean? This doesn't just involve the physical act of relocating a structure from one area of the garden to another. In order to move the greenhouse, the new site requires to be prepared. Concrete is involved. And straight lines. This is not an area where I am at all qualified, or otherwise competent, nor am I a particularly enthusiastic participant, although I am more than happy to consume the eventual rewards of this endeavour - by moving the greenhouse to the new position, it will benefit from more sun for longer in the year thus extending its usefulness for growing things. Things which I can eventually cook with.

Cake on the other hand? Well that's different. This cake delivers on many levels, being both cake and crumble, and is equally good warm or cold. It contains custard. The ‘faffing’ involves nothing more arduous than making said custard, caramelising some fruit, and knocking up some crumble topping. These tasks, straightforward in themselves, provide the perfect opportunity for hanging out and flicking through the magazine section of the paper of a Saturday afternoon, while rolling out a practiced “No I can’t possibly help you, darling, I just have to keep my eye on these pears”...


Pear & Custard Crumble Cake

Ingredients:

2 tbsp custard powder, 2 tbsp golden caster sugar, 200ml milk, 400-450g whole pears, peeled, cored and cut into chunks, 75ml brandy, 190g light muscovado sugar, 60g oats,       140g unsalted butter, 60g plain flour, 40g ground almonds,1½ tsp baking powder, 2 large eggs

You’ll also need greaseproof paper and a deep 20cm round cake tin – it’ll be easier if it’s loose bottomed – which you’ve greased and lined. You might want to think about some cream or crème fraiche to serve with it, too. Better to think about it now rather than later, I always say.

Combine the custard powder and caster sugar a bowl and mix to a smooth paste with about 50ml of the milk. 

Heat the rest of the milk in a medium sized pan and when it’s getting close to boiling, pour it onto the custard powder paste and stir together, then pour it all back in to the pan on a medium heat and stir constantly (or whisk) till the custard thickens.


Pour the thickened custard back into the bowl, and press in a piece of greaseproof paper to cover the top of the custard and stop a skin forming. Leave to cool until very firm.


Put the pears, brandy, 50g of the light muscovado sugar and 75ml water into a pan, bring to the boil and cook over a high heat till all the liquid has evaporated. Keep an eye on it, and stir occasionally. Once the liquid has evaporated, set the pan aside.


Make the crumble topping by rubbing together the oats with 40g of the unsalted butter and the muscovado sugar till they form oaty crumbs.


Once the custard is thick and chilled and the pears are cooled, pre-heat the oven to about 180⁰C /160⁰C for fan ovens.


Beat together the remaining butter and sugar, then add the eggs in one at a time, beating well after each. The mixture may look a little curdled but bear with it – or add a little of the flour after each egg.

Add in the flour, ground almonds and baking powder and beat again. Chop up the custard into rough pieces and stir into the mixture, then scrape it all into the lined tin and gently spread it level.


Scatter the pears on top and stir through the cake mixture, then sprinkle the crumble topping on top of that till everything is covered.


Bake for 45 – 50 minutes, and leave to cool in the tin. It will be cooked when the crumble is golden brown and a skewer comes out reasonably clean, but it is quite a damp cake.


Leave to cool in the tin.

Serve the cake with cream and a cup of tea. Alternatively, increase your chances of never being asked to mix concrete or measure straight lines again by bearing a tray with a generous slice of cake and a glass of the brandy (assuming you didn’t drink it all in the kitchen while flicking through your paper) to your New Year Project Monkey and exclaim, adoringly “Oh darling, you are clever – it looks marvellous – I could never have done it as well. Would you like some cake?”

Disclaimer (!): I wrote this post as an application for a cake column (without reference to the greenhouse moving, which is a genuine project). I didn't get the cake gig, but hey ho, we had some good cake, and I thought you'd all like it too. And if you think anyone's moving any greenhouses in this weather, think again...

reade more... Résuméabuiyad