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Weekend brunch with feta scrambled eggs

It started a sunny beautiful Saturday and how nice to spend it having brunch chez nous with old friends.  The majority of today’s spread was very traditional British breakfast fare….bacon, sausages from our excellent Ngaio butcher, some croissants and jam for a sweet, and a 

Edmonds Apple Bread

You may be a bit tired of my Winter and Autumn range of stodgy, warming things that include root crops and apples, and trust me, I’m just tired of Winter, but this is quite a pleasing little loaf and really easy to make.  Don’t be 

Duck fat roast potatoes

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Well, we are winding through the bitter bones of Winter and it seems like Spring is trying to be sprung.  It may even have managed it in some corners of the hemisphere.

In my little neck of the woods, there is an undeniable lightening of the evenings and some lovely little blossoms bravely raising their heads to see if we’re there yet.  But the wind is, as ever, persistent and rather cold, and that’s excuse enough for me to keep making roast potatoes to see us through.

You may know a few years the lovely Nigella Lawson nearly caused a mass sell-out of goose fat across the UK with her promise that goose fat makes for the best roast.  She’s not far wrong I should think; I make my roast potatoes with duck fat, not goose, but trusted authorities on such matters treat the two interchangeably which makes me feel safe in this decision.

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I’ve had these on a number of occasions recently and they go very well with roast lamb, beef and pork but frankly, I could eat an entire plate of just duck fat roast potatoes and not feel shortchanged.

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Start with the potatoes: I really like the lovely Agrias for their yellow flesh and agreeableness with roasting.  As you know, they need washing, peeling and cutting in to chunks.

Put them in a large pot of water and get them boiling on the hob.

You’ll want to make sure your oven is nice and hot now.  This can be a bit of a juggle if you are also roasting other things, but works well if you get any meat out to rest and then crank your oven up to at least 220 degrees.

Let the potatoes boil for about five minutes, and definitely no more than ten, until they are starting to soften a little on the outside.  Drain them, put them back into the pot and, with the lid on, give them a shake around, roughing up their edges.

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Prepare your roasting pan by placing a couple of spoonfuls of duck fat along the bottom of your roasting tray.  This may sound odd, but I find it a good way to ensure the fat is distributed evenly over all parts of the spuds.

Tip the potatoes into the roasting tray.  Dot more duck fat over the tops and sprinkle heartily with salt.  Use a spatula and / or some tongs to coat the potatoes in the duck fat and salt.

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Roast these in the oven for about 45 minutes, until they have crisped up and turned golden.  I find the only need to be turned once, if at all.

Enjoy them with other goodies but don’t feel guilty if you just want a big plate of these all by themselves!  My only warning is take care not to burn your tongue.

Lemon yoghurt cake

You know something’s a winner, don’t you, when you’ve adapted from our national treasure, Dame Alison Holst.  As you’ll all know, I have a bit of a thing for old-school cook books and recipes.  So you can imagine I could not leave Alison Holst’s Simply 

Spiced bean and tomato soup

Who doesn’t welcome a splash of colour for lunch at this grey and freezing time of year?  I know I do.  This spiced bean and tomato soup is on high rotation in my kitchen at the moment.  When it gets to Sunday night and I need to think 

Tamarillo pudding

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I am so happy it is tamarilo season once more.  I love tamarillos.  Not just for their cheek-sucking tartness, but also because I think they are one of the most beautiful fruits, with their plump, ruby skins and yellow flesh.

Tamarillos, which were once known as the very cute name ‘tree tomatoes’ in New Zealand, are considered by some to be the lost fruit of the incas.  How exotic!  These gorgeous little fruits spring from the Andes, and are now found in countries including India, USA, China, Malaysia and of course New Zealand.

And it’s not only me who loves them…one half of our recent two-cat addition to the family spent the best part of the afternoon pestering the tamarillos too.

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My inspiration for this recipe comes from the New York Times plum torte.  I was introduced to this delight by my good friend Sondra who, as it happens, also introduced me to our new cats the same night.  I love the story behind this plum torte. It was published every Autumn for seven years until the editors decided that was plenty long enough.  However, this was met with outrage and a slew of angry letters, and so now it is published every year, just in time for Autumn.

So, with many thanks to the New York Times and its plum torte-loving readers, here is my take on their classic, with my beloved tamarillos.

Ingredients:

  • 10-12 ripe tamarillosIMG_3099
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla essence
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup softened butter
  • 1 cup four
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • Pinch salt
  • 2 eggs

Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees celsius.

Halve the tamarillos and scoop out the flesh into a bowl.  Add the vanilla essence, sugar and cinnamon.  Combine and set aside.

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In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the flour, baking powder, salt and eggs, and beat well.

Spoon the batter into a springform cake tin, between 20 – 25cm diameter.  Place the tamarillos over the top of the batter and drizzle with the remaining liquid.

Bake until the torte is cooked through and springs back to the touch, approximately one hour.

This is quite lovely served warm with some yoghurt, or even better, cream.

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Bliss Balls

So, bliss balls are a thing right now.  Anyone who reads my blog will know that I take great joy in the retro tried-and-true; the less sexy the better (although I’m sure we all agree that Delia looks a total fox on the cover of this 1982 

Eight-minute chocolate orange cake

What’s not to love about a cake that you can make entirely in one cake tin? Hardly any dishes and quick to boot.  Because, although I love to cook and bake, there are times when I am too greedy or impatient to fuss around.  If it’s 

Edmonds Cookbook ANZAC biscuits

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It is indeed a happy accident, that my arrival at ANZAC biscuits in the Edmonds Cook Book as I head forth in my self-imposed Edmonds Challenge has coincided so closely with ANZAC Day.

ANZAC Day always puts me in mind of Aud and Reg, my Granma and Grandad on my Dad’s side.  Along with many others, my grandparents were part of World War II. Grandad went away with the Royal Air Force, and Granma was a WAF.  The milk bottle in the picture above was once theirs, and I used it in a little homage to them.

Here’s a photo of Aud and Reg below; I think from my Grandad’s cryptic title (“four years ‘ard labour”) and the pile of paper in front of them, they are sitting in front of all of the letters they exchanged while Grandad was abroad.  He looks rather Don Draper, although that’s where the comparison ends…he was a most morally upstanding man and a teetotaller to boot.

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ANZAC biscuits enjoy a historical pedigree dating back to World War I, where their ancestor-biscuits of oats, golden syrup, sugar and four were sold at fetes and galas at home to raise money for the troops.  After Gallipoli the term ANZAC was born, and the ANZAC biscuit followed, first appearing in a cook book in 1921.

It is of course unthinkable that Edmonds, holding its bible-like status in the New Zealand baking canon, would not have a recipe for ANZAC biscuits, and indeed I, personally, would not use any other.  So without further ado, see below for Edmonds’ ANZAC biscuit recipe

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Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup plain flour
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 2/3 cup desiccated coconut
  • 3/4 rolled oats
  • 50g butter
  • 1 T golden syrup
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 T boiling water

Heat the oven to180 degrees Celsius. Mix together the flour, sugar, coconut in a large-ish bowl.  Melt together the golden syrup and butter (I did this in a little dish in the microwave).  Dissolve the baking soda into the water and add it to the butter and syrup.  It will bubble and fizz in an awesome kind of way.

Mix the butter mixture with the dry ingredients and place tablespoonfuls on a cold, greased tray.  I must confess I used a cookie cutter to shape them; I’m sure this is not authentic, but I had some new cutters and I was looking for a chance to use them. Bake for 15 minutes or until they are golden and crispy.

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Spiced apple and ginger loaf

Spiced apple and ginger loaf

Every Autumn when I start spying lovely plump pears, plums and apples, thoughts of warming fruity goodies are not far behind.  This particular little loaf I’m bringing you today has been a long time in the making.  It first starting flitting about the corners of my mind a few