Traditional Shortbread

I love to bake and most of the time it works out ok. But there has been one thing I have not been able to get the hang of.....until now.
Last night my friend Judith sent me an old family recipe for traditional shortbread and of course I had to try it out. The below measures are imperial, but I think it will work with any quantities as long as the 1, 2, 3 method is used: 1 measure of sugar, 2 measures of butter, 3 measures of plain flour.

Ingredients:

4oz caster sugar (+ a bit extra for sprinkling on the top)
8 oz butter
12 oz flour

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170C (fan oven 160C)/325F
Cream together sugar and butter.
Put this in the fridge for about half an hour so the butter is nice and cold before rubbing in the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs.
Add about a tablespoon of liquid to help it combine together and spread out onto a baking tray.
Prick all over with a fork and sprinkle with the sugar.
Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes until cooked but hardly coloured.
Cut into squares or fingers and enjoy with a nice cup of tea

Treacle Tart

After finally getting through all the goodies baked before Christmas I could at last indulge in a spot of baking again. This treacle tart is fantastic. If you are on a New Years diet, look away now. If not, enjoy!!

For the sweet shortcrust pastry (from the at home magazine - Christmas with James Martin)

115 gr cold unsalted butter, cubed
225 gr plain white flour
a pinch of salt
2 tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp ground almonds
1 free- range egg, lightly beaten

Place butter, flour, salt, sugar and ground almonds in a food processor until you have a fine breadcrumb texture. Don't overwork it. Add the egg and half ann eggshell full of cold water. Mix well, using the pulse mode until the pastry balls. Again, don't overwork it.

Take the pastry out of the processor and knead very gently , just to bring it together.
Wrap in clingfilm and leave to rest in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.

For the treacle tart (from James Martin - The collection)

Batch of sweet shortcrust pastry
butter, for greasing
plain flour, for rolling

Filling:

400 gr golden syrup
125 gr fresh breadcrumbs
2 free-range eggs, lightly beaten
finely grated zest & juice of 1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and butter a loose bottomed tart tin.
Roll out the pastry thinly and roll it up over the rolling pin and then gently placing it in the tin leaving it to go over the sides . Prick the base wit a fork, line with a disc of greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans.
Bake in the oven for 10 -12 minutes, until lightly golden. Remove from the oven and lower the oven temperature to 140C/275F/Gas 1. Remove the paper & the beans.

In a bowl, mix together the golden syrup, breadcrumbs, eggs, lemon zest & juice. Once combined, spoon into the pastry case and baked at the reduced temperature for 50 - 60 minutes.

Trim off the edges of the pastry and allow the tart to cool slightly before serving with a spoonful of whipped cream.

Winter on the Farm - Matthew Evans

At the beginning of the month I was very lucky to win a competition by Murdoch Books and I was delighted when I received a beautiful selection of cookery books by famous TV chefs Bill Granger, Stephane Reynauld, Luke Nguyen and last but by no means least Matthew Evans, known from the TV series “The Gourmet Farmer”.  With a title of “Winter on the Farm” this stood straightaway out to me at this time of the year and looking through this book I was not disappointed.





It is packed full with heart warming recipes for the cold winter months. And with mouth watering titles like “French toast stuffed with poached pears” for breakfast,

through to exotic sounding “vodka-cured blue eye potato fish cakes” & more familiar “stout, beef shin and mushroom pie” for dinner topped by lovely cakes & bakes like “macadamia and golden syrup butternut biscuits” & “ date, honey & ginger cake” to go with a nice cup of tea it has something for everyone.

All recipes have a clear ingredient list and very easy to follow instructions.

With the festive season coming up I decided to make some party food: “cheese puffs”

The book is full with stunning photography by Alan Benson and it is a great addition to the collection of any cook who loves bold & beautiful recipes that warm the cockles of the heart.

The book is available in good book stores and on-line.

I have not been paid or requested to do a review of this book and the views expressed are mine alone.

Gevuld Speculaas (Filled spiced cake)

This is my first bake for the South Lancashire Clandestine Cake Club. The theme this time was "Secret Santa" and all the bakes were kept secret from the other club members.
For my bake I decided to go for a Dutch speciality, traditionally eaten on St Nicolas Day, the 5th December.
The recipe requires "speculaaskruiden" a special mix of spices typical for the "speculaas". It is a bit like mixed spice and you can easily make your own.

Ingredients:

For the "speculaaskruiden":

20 gr cinnamon
5 gr cloves
5 gr mace
2 gr ginger
1 gr white pepper
1 gr cardamon
1 gr star anise
1 gr nutmeg

Use a spice grinder or pestel & mortar to grind all the spices together.
Every family probably has their own version of this, so you can adjust the quantities of the spices to suit your own taste.

For the marzipan (recipe from James Martin's "The Collection")

225 gr icing sugar
500 gr ground almonds
1 large free range egg (weighing about 75 gr)
3 to 4 teaspoons lemon juice

Sift the sugar into a bowl and mix in the almonds. Beat the egg well, then add it and the lemon juice to the dry ingredients. Using a wooden spoon beat to a firm paste, then knead on a work surface that has been sprinkled with icing sugar.

This quantity will be too much for this cake, but the marzipan will keep well in the fridge for a week or so or several months in the freezer. Note of warning for anyone in the vunerable groups, marzipan contains raw egg!!

For the cake

250 gr self-raising flour
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons "speculaaskruiden"
150 gr soft dark brown sugar
150 gr butter, in smallish cubes
300 gr marzipan
2 tablespoons milk
50 gr blanched almonds
1 egg yolk

Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas 3
Mix the self-raising flour with the salt, speculaaskruiden and the sugar in a bowl. Add the butter and rub in. Then add the milk and knead to a soft dough.
Grease a 20 cm (8 inch) tin and push half the dough in the bottom, top it with the marzipan, making sure this approx 1 cm (1/2 inch) away from the sides.
Top with the remainder of the dough and decorate with the almonds.
Beat the egg yolk (you can a bit of milk to lighten it, if you like) and brush the cake all over.
Bake in the oven for 30 - 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave for 5 to 10 minutes before removing it from the tin.
Enjoy!!

ginger nut biscuits

With my recent attempts of making shortbread biscuits not being quite as successful as I hoped they would be I decided to try a different kind of biscuit: the ginger nut
And I promise you once you have made these you will never want to buy them again - they are so simple and absolutely delicious

Ingredients:
250 gr (8oz) self- raising flour
1 tbsp ground ginger, or to taste
75 gr (3 oz) butter
125 gr (4 oz) golden syrup
125 gr (4oz) demerera sugar
2 tbsp milk

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4

Sift the flour and ginger together in a large bowl. Add the butter and rub in to a fine breadcrumb.

Mix together the syrup, sugar and milk, add to the flour mixture and mix to a smooth dough.

Shape in to a roll and chill for at least half an hour, longer if you have time.

Cut into 5mm slices and placed on a greased baking sheet about 1 cm apart. Press down with a fork to get the stripey pattern,

Bake in the middle of the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes. Leave for a couple of minutes before transferring onto a wire rack to cool

Food Bloggers Unplugged

Food Bloggers Unplugged

I have been tagged by Linzi @LancashireFood to take part in the fun of #foodbloggersunplugged , the idea being to tag another 5 foodie bloggers to keep the initative on a roll. Sounds like great fun to me and enables us all to understand more about our fellow foodies, so I am happy to take part.

The questions we have to answer are as follows

1. What, or who inspired you to start a blog?

2. Who is your foodie inspiration?

3. Your greasiest, batter - splattered food/drink book is?

4. Tell us all about the best thing you have ever eaten in another country, where was it, what was it?

5. Another food bloggers table you'd like to eat at is?

6. What is the one kitchen gadget you would ask Santa for this year (money no object of course)?

7. Who taught you how to cook?

8. I'm coming to you for dinner what's your signature dish?

9. What is your guilty food pleasure? 

10. Reveal something about yourself that others would be surprised to learn?

Finally...tag 5 other food bloggers with these questions...like a hot baked potato...pass it on!

 

Use this home made expensive Food Bloggers Unplugged  logo (below) on your blog and link up with the hashtag #foodbloggersunplugged on Twitter.

So here goes 

1.What, or who inspired you to start a blog ?

My yoga friend Lindsey. I'd been following her blog for a while when we found out that we attend the same yoga class. She told me how the blogging worked and gave me real inspiration to try to write my own.

2.Who is your foodie inspiration ?

James Martin. I have followed his career right from the beginning. He has always put the emphasis on local & British produce, long before this became fashionable. I like his straightforward approach to food & easy to follow recipes.

3.Your greasiest, batter-splattered food /drink book is ?

James Martin - Collection. As a non-native to this country I viewed British food like it is perceived in many places in the world: have breakfast & afternoon tea, the rest is not worth talking about. This book has many great British classics in it and it has made me appreciate all the wonderful dishes Britain has.

4. Tell us about the best thing you have ever eaten in another country, where was it, what was it ?

So many food memories spring to mind. I had some fantastic food in France & Canada, but I think I will have to go with 't Veerhuis on the shores of the Oosterschelde in my home country Holland. Being as close to the water as you can get without actually being in it, the sea food at this restaurant is out of this world. I had the freshest oysters you can ever imagine, cooked kirkpatrick....my mouth is watering just thinking back at it.

5. Another food bloggers table you'd like to eat at is ?

@Janemorecakepls....her cakes look a picture. I wish I could bake like that

6. What would be the one kitchen gadget you would ask santa for this year ?

Woodburning pizza oven

7. Who taught you have to cook ?

I am mainly self taught, with my mum covering the basics.

8. I'm coming to you for dinner whats your signature dish ?

I don't really have one. I like to try new things, but it would be made with seasonal & local ingredients

9. What is your guilty food pleasure ?

Not sure what to put here! I don't think I have one. Food is always a pleasure to me and I never feel guilty about having a bit of what I fancy.

10. Reveal something about yourself that others would be surprised to learn ?

My food hell is carrots.

 

My bloggers I am tagging are (you must say this in a tension building manner)

1. Elizabeth Auerbach - http://www.elizabethonfood.com/
2. Jules - thebutcherthebaker.wordpress.com
3. Rupert Parsons - http://www.womersleyfoods.co.uk/
4. Judith Byrne - musingsofjude.blogspot.com
5. Jane Huntley - http://www.morecakeplease.co.uk/

salmon en croute

Being bored with always making the same thing with fish, this week I decided to try something a bit different. I had been reading about a venison wellington in a foodie magazine and thought maybe I could do something with puff pastry & salmon

Ingredients for 2 people:

2 salmon steaks or fillets, skins removed
100 gr spinach
100 gr of cream cheese
all butter puff pastry
salt, pepper & freshly grated nutmeg
1 egg beaten for glazing

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas 6
Wilt the spinach in a pan with a little bit of water and a small knob of butter. This will only take a couple of minutes. Drain the spinach off and pat dry with some kitchen paper before chopping finely.
Mix with the cream cheese & season with some salt, pepper and a little freshly grated nutmeg.
Roll out the puff pastry and cut rectangulars out of this. Fold the pastry in half, and one of the halfs in half again, before cutting slits in the pastry about 1 cm/ 1/2 inch apart to create the jalousie effect.



Unfold the pastry and place the cream cheese mixture on the opposite half of the pastry. Sit the salmon on top of this and brush the edges with the egg wash.

Fold the jalousied pastry over the top, making sure that all the edges are well sealed. Brush withh the egg wash and place in the oven for about 25 minutes until the pastry is golden brown.

Serve with vegetables of your choice.