Ingredients: Plum and apple mixture: Crumble topping: Method: Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius. Place the apples, plums, cinnamon vanilla and 2 tablespoons of water into a pot – the water should be covering the base of the pan. Depending on how juicy the …
Ingredients Method Place all ingredients into a food processor or a blender. Process on high speed until it forms a wet, loose texture. If it is dry and clumpy, add a little more olive oil and process again. Taste and add a little more salt …
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About
I had such a great weekend visiting Whanganui a couple of weeks ago. The highlight was of course seeing our dear friends who have made their home there. One of the many bonuses of staying with them was discovering the Feijoabulous recipe book. Did you know Whanganui has an annual ‘Feijoabluous’ feijoa festival? Well, I do now, and frankly, what a great idea. Sustainable Whanganui not only hosts the festival but also produces a recipe book with plenty of ideas for the glut many lucky feijoa growers experience in a season.
I’m going to have to try a number of these, especially the feijoa vodka. With some leftover, empty jars just hanging around after my recent apple jelly-making, however, the kasundi was a natural first choice. Kasundi is a mustard-rich condiment originally from Bengal. Fragrant, sweet feijoas are a delightful base for the pungent mustard and vinegar in this adaptation. I have found it is particularly delicious eaten rather non-traditionally with some sharp cheddar on crackers; give this a try for a new twist on your platter!
*if you don’t have a food processor, I think you could dice the feijoas into quite small pieces and let sit with the vinegar, garlic and ginger – it would make a slightly chunkier kasundi, but this is not a bad thing!
Ingredients: Method: We’re really in Autumn here now and I’m enjoying the mellow days and slight cooling in the air. I enjoy Autumnal eating – warming soups and stews, sauces and pickles made from the last of the summer tomatoes, feijoas. I was lucky to …
Ingredients: Method: In a large pot, heat the oil. Add the ginger, garlic and all the spices. Keep stirring to prevent anything burning. Once the coriander and mustard seeds start to pop (2-3 minutes), add the lentils, rice and carrots. Stir to coat in the …
This is truly a store cupboard staple as it requires things I bet you already have to hand. Even better, it’s a delight for chilly Winter days – it’s warming and filling with a healthy dose of things that will keep you well, including vitamin C and lycopene.
Shashuka is a popular Mediterranean dish of eggs cooked in tomato and the reason I haven’t called this recipe for eggs baked in tomato “shashuka” as I don’t really feel it has enough sophistication to deserve that title! Some shashuka recipes have all kinds of loveliness including preserved lemon and fresh herbs – my recipe here is just a simple little throw-together. Nonetheless, I do find it very tasty and satisfying and I hope you do too. Stay safe and warm out there x
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I come from a reasonably large family of four kids and I believe this is why I always cook too many potatoes. Potato-duty for family meals was a large scale operation and the mission was successful upon delivery of a large pot or roasting pan …
You can happily enjoy Easter without being carnivorous, what with some of the best things about Easter being non-meaty (chocolate and hot cross buns, loaded with butter obviously). But if you fancy Easter roast lamb, then let me convince you that making your own mint …
I think we all need a little sweetness at the moment. Summer holidays, and the little dash of optimism and refreshment they deliver, feel like a long time ago indeed. Luckily, I have this spiced plum shortcake recipe stored up from my own summer holiday, which was pleasantly full of fresh summer fruit, including a bounty of plums rescued from a fallen branch.
As you may have gathered, I like to know a little history behind the things I cook. Googling for “shortcake” was a pleasant treat as it lead me to this delightful little excerpt on the website for an American bakery with a name that warms my heart. Zig’s Bakery and Café not only looks like a real treat to visit but also (nearly) shares a name with my darling little ginger cat Ziggy. But I’m diverting here….as Zig’s has informed me, shortcake has an admirable history, first appearing in a recipe in 1588, and being the namesake for a character in Shakespeare’s Merry Wives of Windsor. There is even a National Strawberry Shortcake Day on 14 June in some US states to celebrate the strawberry harvest.
This plum shortcake is a little more tart than a strawberry version but is nicely sweetened up with a dusting of icing sugar…and a dollop of ice cream wouldn’t go amiss either. I hope you enjoy it if you decide to do some baking to warm your heart a little – the plums create a delightful and lifting aroma as they bubble away, and any leftovers are delicious with oats and yoghurt for breakfast. Take care out there everyone x
Ingredients:
For the spiced plums:
For the shortcake:
Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Grease a 25cm x 18cm baking tray and lightly dust with flour.
Place the plums, spices and sugar into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for 20 minutes. If the plums are not releasing a great deal of juice, add up to 2 tablespoons of water so a thin layer of liquid just coats the bottom of the pan.
Meanwhile, make the shortcake by mixing the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl. Cut in the butter and rub it in with your fingers until the mixture is fine and crumbly. Add the whisked egg and combine. Then slowly mix in the milk until the mixture forms a stiff dough.
Roll the dough into a ball and turn out onto a floured surface. Divide into thirds. Press two thirds into the bottom of the prepared baking tin.
After 20 minutes or until the plums have softened but are holding their shape, remove from the heat and allow to cool for five minutes. Remove the vanilla and cardamon pods and cinnamon stick and spoon the plums over the shortcake in the baking tin. Use the remaining shortcake dough to dot over the top of the plums.
Bake for 25 minutes until the shortcake is golden. Remove from the oven and dust with icing sugar after five minutes.
Happy New Year! I was lucky to have a pretty decent 2021, and I know I am in the minority here. It was a shocker for many of my favourite people. Wherever January 2022 finds you (ideally somewhere relaxing and on holiday with many tasty …