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 …
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 …
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 …
My parents are amazing gardeners and I couldn’t resist this little scallopini left over from their crop. Mainly because, what a cute vegetable, everyone! How could you not want to take it home? Little and frilly and kind of like a flying saucer. I’ve eaten …
Butternut is such a sweet little name that, even if I didn’t much fancy the taste, I would still have to create a recipe or two in its honour. So, luckily I find it delicious as well as cutely named. Butternut is lighter, softer and sweeter than other pumpkin and squash varieties with a gentle thin skin that doesn’t require peeling. Pumpkins, squashes and gourds are all part of the same family, cucurbitaceae, and what an impressive family they are. They’ve fed us since around 3500BC and we enjoy every bit of them – there are recipes for their leaves, seeds, flowers, as well as their flesh. They provide excuses for carnivals and competitive gardening; gourds have assisted us both practically as storage containers and water-carriers and as decoration, and let us not forget the many pumpkins sacrificed every year for Halloween. Curcubitales are indigenous to the American continent, so combining pumpkin with tahini is mixing up cuisines somewhat, however given the hardy pumpkin is now grown in all continents bar Antartica, I feel this is is justified. That, and the fact that they pair together very nicely.
Ingredients:
Method
Set the oven to 210 degrees celsius.
Slice the entire butternut in half width-ways, then slice each piece in half long-ways. Scrape out the seeds. Slice each piece width-ways to create crescent-shaped pieces of butternut (pictured). Drizzle with olive oil and place in oven for 45 minutes. Check to ensure they are not sticking one or two times.
Make the tahini dressing by placing tahini, lemon juice, honey and flaky sea-salt in a jar and shake to combine. You may need to add warm water depending on the thickness of the tahini – I recommend starting with one T of warm water and adding gradually until you have a dressing the consistency of runny yoghurt.
When the butternut pieces are cooked through and browned, place on plate or serving platter. Drizzle the tahini dressing over the butternut pieces. Scatter over the parsley and toasted pumpkin seeds and serve.
It was a pretty crappy Summer season in my garden overall, with the grand total of 12 manky-looking tomatoes and two cucumbers (there were three cucumbers, but something ate one of them). The outlier here has been my herb collection. These little guys have gone …
For the second recipe in my ground-breaking series on the humble carrot I bring you…honey and balsamic roasted carrots. This recipe is especially useful if you have a number of the little orange critters languishing in your vegetable drawer and they’re getting on the soft …
Happy New Year! Munching on carrot sticks, brimming with enthusiasm for a year of healthful habits? Nope, me neither. And I need to tell you right now that if that’s what you’re after, you’re probably reading the wrong blog. But, I am enjoying some carrot recipes these days and I would like to share them with you.
I’ve not always been the biggest fan of carrots (hence the ‘meh carrots part 1’ of the title). I was distinctly neutral about them as a child. When included as a member of the traditional meat-and-three-veg line-up, carrots always felt pretty bland – just peeled, chopped and boiled, and plonked alongside the potatoes. I would usually try to cover them with some tomato sauce or mash them into my potato to make them go down a little easier.
I’m pleased to report I have since realised the error of my ways. Over the past couple of years I have developed a number of ways to spruce up the old carrot into something quite tasty. And well I should – carrots are sweet, colourful and cheap, and brimming with all kinds of goodness including beta carotene, potassium and Vitamin K1. They’re also pretty fascinating – would you believe they have only been orange since the 16th century? So says this post, which also provides advice that selection of one’s carrots should include the criteria that the carrots are firm and well-formed, snarf.
Today’s carrot recipe does require you to grate them but I promise it’s worth it. This carrot salad is very versatile. It’s a welcome addition to a BBQ as the freshness of the carrots and cider vinegar cuts through richer flavours nicely. Equally it makes a meat-free meal for one in its own right, especially if you add a little more protein and a crusty bread roll. I hope you give it a chance!
Serves 4 as a side
Ingredients:
3 x large carrots, peeled
2 T apple cider vinegar
3 T mild oil (I like rapeseed)
1 t brown sugar
1 t dry mustard powder
1 t wholegrain mustard
3 T toasted walnuts, chopped
Method:
Prepare your carrots first – grate them (coarsely is fine if you hate grating carrots as much as I do) and roll gently in a clean towel to remove excess moisture. Don’t overdo this as you still want a bit of the juiciness. No wringing!
Combine the vinegar, oil, sugar and mustard powder by whisking until blended in a small bowl or shaking all ingredients in a jar.
Place the carrots in a serving bowl, sprinkle over the walnuts and pour in the dressing. Toss the salad and serve immediately.
I invented these bad guys because I really dislike making traditional pancakes. Delicate thin batter getting stuck to the pan, wedging itself into odd shapes, lumps, burnt bits. The whole experience makes me hot, sweaty and angry. Especially as I am usually over-caffeinated, flapping around …