Lockdown Cooking

How are you all? Still staying safe I hope. Despite the endless confusing information and bending of rules here in the UK (which makes me very angry but I'm not going there) we are pretty much living our lives much the same as the past ten weeks. We're staying at home, going out for walks but keeping our distance and supermarket shopping when necessary but that's about it. We have had one or two meetings with family members over the past couple of weeks which has been wonderful seeing them after so long, but still outside and at a distance. I needed some sandpaper during the week so actually ventured out to the DIY store but on seeing the queue outside I decided I didn't need it that urgently so turned around and came back home. I have no desire to rush back to pubs and restaurants or anywhere that people are gathering. It all feels so unnecessary. The jury is still out about getting my hair cut... Stewart did seem rather alarmed when I suggested I could shave my head!

So now that the demand for scrubs has pretty much stopped and I have used up my supply of mask making elastic I'm looking at other ways to stay busy besides painting all day. I've had a couple of moderately successful sough dough loaves from my starter, which I named Vincent Van Dough, which isn't looking very lively in this photo... but it has only just been fed and returned to the fridge. But then in the heat of last week I decided I couldn't endure another summer living with the Aga turned on. I was literally wilting in the heat and seemed to have a constant headache. So we bought a portable two ring hob and the Aga went off. The kitchen is so much more comfortable and our electricity bill has dropped by 75%. I think this could be the decider for it going for good!

So what to do with poor old Vincent with no oven in which to bake bread? I do have a bread maker so decided it was worth experimenting . I mixed the dough, kneaded it and let it prove before adding it to the bread maker for the longest cycle. I cooked a brick! I was all for throwing it out but the men of the house who will eat anything decided it was worth investigating. And surprisingly it was actually okay with a good sourdough flavour and suitably chewy texture, so probably worth doing again.

But I did also discover sough dough starter makes incredible pancakes so it would appear that Vincent will live on!

I then received a wonderful surprise gift in the post from our friends in the Netherlands, who know I like cooking as much as I appreciate art... Modern Art Desserts. On seeing the wonderful Mondrian cake on the cover my heart sank a little as I thought I wouldn't be able to make any of the desserts without an oven. But on reading there were several that do not require baking.

So On Friday I made these elegant little Panne Cotta based on an artwork by Spanish artist Rosana Castrillo Diaz. A layer of coffee flavoured panne cotta set at an angle, with a layer of liqueur jelly separating it from a layer of maple syrup flavoured panne cotta. An awful lot of work and several dirty saucepans over a period of about six hours but so worth it! Only in lockdown would I spend the time making such a special occasion dessert destined for our Saturday lunch but the Mondrian cake will have to wait until the autumn when the Aga goes back on.

I even managed to find some edible lustre dust to make the jelly layers sparkle.

As well as cooking there has been a fair bit of reading and I have just finished Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, which I loved. I was so engrossed in the characters that I didn't want it to end so I have immediately picked up a God in Ruins, despite having read it only a few years ago with our reading group. Not a sequel exactly but the continuing story of one of the central characters from Life After Life. It's not often I read a contemporary novel more than once but I'm enjoying it just as much second time around and it's made me think of other books I might want to reread.

Our reading group has continued to meet via zoom calls although it's not quite so easy to have a discussion. As it happens our book for June is another Kate Atkinson - Big Sky, the latest in the Jackson Brodie series. Have you read anything good lately? Or cooked anything exciting either for that matter?

I've not been great at keeping up with blogs or replying to comments etc lately so do forgive me and pop by and say hello! I miss you!

Meat Free Friday

One of the major changes we can make as individuals to reduce our carbon footprint is to reduce our meat intake and change to a more plant based diet. There is plenty of information available  as to why this is  not only essential for reducing greenhouse gases but also if we are to continue to feed the ever growing world population. 

You can read articles here and here if you want to find out more.

In particular the biggest culprits are beef and lamb, because of the way they graze and the additional methane they produce. Obviously it follows that if we are reducing our beef consumption then we should also reduce our dairy intake, although dairy farming is not quite so intensive as raising cattle for beef.

I am aware that drastically changing your diet if you have always eaten meat is not easy so as someone who has eaten a largely vegetarian and pescatarian diet for the past 25 years I thought I would share some of my favourite veggie meals in regular "Meat Free Friday" posts.

One of my favourite books for simple, easy to make but really tasty vegetarian dishes is The River Cottage Veg everyday book. I think I especially like it as it is not intended as a vegetarian cookbook but as a book to encourage us all to eat more vegetables. It's not in the least bit preachy but just full of amazing food that you really want to eat

For anyone who grows their own veg getting a glut of courgettes at this time of year is a bit of a given and over the years I have become somewhat of an expert at creating courgette based meals. I could feed you for a week on courgettes without ever repeating a single dish! So one of my favourite recipes from the book is a Greek inspired Courgette and Rice filo pie. You can tell it's a favourite by the amount of splatters on the page!

Admittedly it does involve using filo pastry which can be a bit of a faff but it's really not that difficult and putting the filling together takes just a couple of minutes.  If using filo is a step too far you could always replace it with a couple of sheets of ready rolled puff pastry. My Greek daughter-in-law makes a fabulous Tyropita (cheese pie) using puff pastry

You can find the recipe by clicking on the link here: Courgette and Rice Filo Pie.

I made it this week but didn't have fresh dill. Well, I thought I had fresh dill but when I took it out to use it had gone slimy in the packet (well before it's sell by date)... all the more reason to ditch the plastic and find sources other than the supermarket. I think my new garden needs a herb patch. But I did have some chives so used those instead and it tasted just as good as ever.

It makes a delicious pie that feeds four generously. It is excellent hot as the centre of a main meal and I particularly like it with some steamed carrots on the side. But it is equally good cold with a salad or part of a picnic. Because the rice magically cooks by absorbing all the  liquid from the courgettes it stays lovely and crisp too... No soggy bottom!

Let me know if you give it a try or you have any tips of your own for reducing your meat consumption. Even if everyone started by replacing just one meal a week or maybe had one meat free day per week it could begin to make a difference. And the added benefit is that a plant based diet is better for your health too. Meat Free Friday anyone?

Cookery Calendar Challenge - August

It was all a bit last minute, as in the last couple  of days of the month, but I joined in with Penny's Cookery Calendar Challange for August. There is a bit of a story to my copy of "Simply Nigella". A friend from my branch of the Embroiderers' Guild, Annie, brought along some chocolate at the beginning of the year as she could no longer eat it due to health issues and we just got chatting about chocolate cakes, in particular a chocolate and liquorice cake I'd seen Nigella baking on television. She said she had made it tand it was indeed good. Then next time I saw her she not only loaned me her copy of the book with the recipe but also gave me some liquorice powder and a jar of rather good blackcurrant jam with which to sandwich the cake together.

It did indeed make an excellent cake and it was the cake I opted to make for my Noel Fielding cake a couple of weeks ago, but I digress. Because then Annie said I could keep her copy of the book as she didn't really use it, which was really kind of her. I have a few Nigella Lawson cookbooks and really like her approach to cooking (even if she herself can be a bit too finger licking sickly on TV at times) and several of her recipes are family favourites. But this particular book has sat on the shelf all year and I've not used it once except for the liquorice cake... so I thought it was about time!

The first meal I opted for was a macaroni cheese which Nigella claims is the best ever. Now this was going to be a tall order as I already love Jamie Oliver's tomato macaroni cheese, but it really was excellent and something I will definitely make again.

The secret ingredient is mashed sweet potato, which makes it creamy and smooth and it also has crumbled feta cheese, giving it a lovely salty bite. As you can see I opted to make one large dish rather than individual portions which worked just fine. It made a delicious and satisfying supper along with some green beans which we are having with everything at the moment. It is quite possible that eight plants were too many!

The second recipe I chose from the book was an Indian inspired cod fillet which was incredibly easy and very tasty. The fish was coated in a spicy yoghurt mixture which took less than five minutes to put together and it was then baked in the oven.

I served it with a simple coconut dhal, the recipe for which is also in the book... and of course the ubiquitous green beans, because it did all look a rather uninspiring beige! This is another meal I would happily make again if only because it was so quick and simple.

I also made some rather delicious sticky, spicy aubergine to go with it too because I have also grown aubergines this year and had a couple lurking in the fridge that need using up. The recipe was from Sabrina Ghayour's new book but I found it in the Sunday Times magazine... it was also delicious!

I hope to join in the Cookery Calendar Challenge again this month and this time will be cooking from Nadiya Hussain's new book, British Food Adventure, which seemed to drop into my trolley when I was in Sainsbury's. There are some really tasty sounding meals that I want to try... not to mention a cake or two!!

Cookery Calendar Challenge - May

You may remember it was my intention to join in with this month's Cookery Calendar Challenge hosted by Penny by cooking from Yotam Ottolenghi's book Plenty. Of course, it is more likely you don't remember at all because why would you when even I forgot for most of the month... Too busy spinning plates!

So rather than try two new recipes from the book I've only actually tried one - a smoky frittata. However it was so good I made it twice in one week and we had again for lunch today. Usually I put potato in a frittata but this one has cauliflower and scamorsa, a type of smoked mozzerella (no, I'd never heard of it either) and although it sounds unusual, it was fabulous... a sort of smoky cauliflower cheese encased in eggs.

Wonderful with a salad for lunch. I did think I would make this Moroccan carrot salad to go with our frittata today but ran out of time this morning but there is always tomorrow.* I need to do something with the backlog of carrots that keep arriving in the veg box each week!

Given how short of time I seem to be at the moment I'm not publicly committing to choosing a new book to cook from in May but I've got one in mind if I get around to it... after all we've got to eat something!

Have a lovely weekend x

* I did indeed make the carrot salad for our lunch on Saturday, which like everything else I have made from this book was wonderful and went perfectly with the left over frittata. The only critisism of Ottolenghi's recipes is the very long list of ingredients which can be off putting... but always worth the effort.

 

Since I was last here...

It was never my intention to be away from here all week but you know how life gets in the way...

I've been walking...

After four days of not being able to wear ordinary shoes, lying around on the sofa and icing and elevating, the swelling and bruising have reduced and it seems as though my toe may not be broken after all. Just badly bruised. It is still a little uncomfortable but at least I've been out walking again this week. I've just discovered the Map My Walk App with which I confess I'm a little obsessed!

I've been baking...

The first week back baking for the farm shop has gone quite well but I've also done some baking for us and I made a lemon cheesecake last weekend... which also meant making lemon curd. We didn't eat it all ourselves - the cheesecake was shared with friends. Both were good!

I've been teaching...

It might seem that all I do is bake but once a week I still go off to teach machine embroidery to a lovely group of ladies in Letchworth. The beautiful bangles were some some of a selection made using water soluble fabrics.

And the pebble fabrics were the result of our latest project based on a tutorial by Alex Waylett. The little purse was made by Sue who was completely new to machine embroidery at the beginning of September

As too were Carol and Michelle who made these beautiful fabrics.

Ann turned hers into a beautiful beaded bag.

My own mojo for creating machine embroidered projects seems to have totally disappeared though! I need to get back to my sketchbooks I think!

I've been eating well...

It's not just been cheesecake and other sweet treats this week, but we are still sticking to our healthy eating regime of fabulous home cooked meals with loads of fresh vegetables, keeping sugar and processed foods to a minimum. These Corn and Chickpea burgers were surprisingly good... especially with the sweet potato chips.

I'm constantly on the look out for new recipes to expand my repetoire so thought that I might join in with Penny's Cookery Calendar Challenge this month.

I've had this book, Sirocco by Sabrina Ghayour for about a year now and except for some rather wonderful date and cinnamon scones I've never used it. You'll need to come back at the beginning of April to see what I've cooked.

So that's my week really... how has your week been?

Five on Friday - From my kitchen

Five on Friday? More like Five every fortnight! I had all good intentions of a post last Friday, then before I knew it, it was the weekend... Six on Saturday anyone? But one thing led to another and a whole week passed. My teaching has started again this week so there has been sewing of samples and preparation done, my Italian classes have started again and I'm painfully aware of how much I have forgotten over the summer despite a holiday in Italy,  plus I'm in the thick of rehearsals for a play to take place next month... So as you can see lots going on, some of which I may tell you about in due course. But all the time I continue to bake and cook with a passion, no matter how busy I am. So today a taste of a few of the things to come out of my kitchen recently.

1. A fig and pear frangipane tart

Inspired by the frangipane tarts on the Great British Bake Off and by some good figs from the market, I made this tart, combining various recipes and tweaking here and there. It was good... But with only two of us here it meant dessert all week which was not so good. Well, it was but you get my drift!

2. Chocolate and salted caramel torte

Gill, who doesn't really enjoy cooking, often sends me recipes. And of course, I can't resist trying them. Do you think she has an ulterior motive as one of my chief testers?  This was meant to be one big torte but I made twelve little ones. Again, they were good, but to be fair, I did manage to give half of these away although it still meant several more days of dessert. At least we had finished the frangipane tart!

3. Biscotti

More apricot and fig biscotti, most of which were given away as gifts. There is a limit to how much cake or biscuits I can eat. Recipe here if you missed it.

4. An Ottolenghi inspired lunch

After our visit to Ottolenghi's in Spitlefields last week, I was inspired to get out my copy of Plenty and cook a broccoli and Gorgonzola pie plus various salads when my eldest came for lunch. See I can do savoury too! Fortunately it is the type of food that tastes just as good the next day... and the next... and even the next. Delicious though it all was, it was good to have macaroni cheese yesterday!

5. Bouquet cookies.

Yesterday, a piece of fiddly baking, recipe from The Pink Whisk... Cookies for the village show tomorrow. I decided to up my game for my entries for the home crafts section in the show. So if you will excuse me I'm off to perfect my Victoria sponge, bake a batch of six rolls and see if I can improve on my scones! I'll let you know how I get on!

Linking up with Amy for Five on Friday

The Year in Books - August... Plus a recipe!

I can hardly believe we are a week into August already. I don't teach or do any other work in August with the intention of catching up on all the other stuff that I never seem to get done around the house. But since I got home from Summer school last Friday all I seem to have done is catch up with family and friends every single day... which has been absolutely lovely! All the other stuff can wait. I've not even had time to start a new book this month but I did read quite a few in July.

 

 

My July choice for The Year in Books was How to Catch a Frog by Heather Ross. It was an easy, gentle and delightful account of Heather's rather unconventional childhood growing up in Vermont, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

 

 

Earlier in the month Stewart had been to a talk by Nigel Risner and was so inspired he came home with this book The Impact Code. As it seemed to tie in with the Do What You Love course I was taking I also read it. It was a quick read which I'm sure had as much to do with the wide margins and sparse text on many of the pages but mostly it seemed a bit cliched, repetitive and stating the obvious. I was left feeling this was obviously a really inspirational speaker who was cashing in by selling the transcript of his talk!

 

Our village book club choice was Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith. It is a bleak, horrific thriller set in communist Russia... and utterly compelling, although as often with thrillers, by the end it all seemed a little far fetched.

 

 

The final novel I read in July was The Children Act by Ian McEwan which I thought was brilliant. Very powerful, very sad and with totally believable characters. A High court judge, Fiona Maye, is required to decide whether a 17 year old boy should receive a life saving blood transfusion , although he and his parents are refusing on religious grounds. Set against problems in Fiona's own life, the novel intellegently weighs up all the arguments and is utterly compelling.

 

As yet, I've not started a new novel this month as I've been absorbed in this fabulous baking book... Popina Book of Baking by Isidora Popovic... and trying to perfect my own biscotti recipe based on the apricot, fig and nut biscotti in the book. And this is the result:

 

Date and Pistachio Biscotti

 

1. Preheat the oven to 180 deg C. (160 fan)

2. Sift together 250g plain flour, 125g caster sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder.

3. Beat two large eggs together in a jug and gradually work into the dry ingredients until you have a very soft dough. You may not need all the egg or you may need to add a few drops of milk to get the right consistency. It should be soft but not sticky.

4. Add 70g pistachios and 100g chopped dates*, working them into the dough. 

5. Divide the dough into two and roll each half into a sausage shape about 25 cm long and place onto a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Flatten each sausage slightly and bake for 25 - 30 minutes until golden brown.

6. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Meanwhile turn the oven temperature down to 150 deg C. (130 fan)

7. Once cooled, move the biscotti dough to a cutting board and using a sharp serrated knife slice the biscotti into diagonal 1cm slices and lay them onto the baking tray.

8. Return to the oven and cook for 8 minutes. Turn the slices over and then cook for another 10 - 15 minutes until golden brown.

9. Remove from the oven and cool on wire racks.

10. Served dunked in coffee, dipped in vanilla ice cream or best of all... dipped in Vin Santo!

 

* You can used any combination of fruit and nuts if you stick to approximately 60-70 g nuts and 100 - 110 g dried fruit. Isidora uses 30g each of pistachios and hazelnuts plus 40g each of chopped dried figs and apricots and 30g of raisins.

 

And so to a novel for August... I have a pile to choose from, mostly aquired from charity shops over the past couple of weeks, which I'm hoping to get through when we go away at the end of the month. But I shall start with The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell.

 

Joining in with Laura of A Circle of Pine Trees for The Year in Books

Sweet Tooth

After my brief foray into stitch yesterday I'm back with the baking!
 



A few months ago, Cathy posted about a rather splendid looking book by Lily Vanilli called "Sweet Tooth". Not only did she give an excellent review, she also very generously had a copy to give away. I didn't win the giveaway but I knew I had to have a copy... if only for the fabulous colour on the edge of the pages!
 





 

But the book is not just an aesthetically pleasing object but packed full of the most amazing looking recipes...

 

Fabulous photography... (I so want to make those little cherry bakewells)

 

and plenty of really useful baking advice, including some of the science behind baking.

 

I tend to agree with Cathy that many of the recipes seem to be "special occasion" baking rather than everyday pies and cakes, but it is certainly a must have book for any keen baker.

 

And there are dozens of things I want to bake. I thought I would start with something simple and opted for these Biscuit Brownies.

 

Mine didn't come out as shiny as Lily's, nor did they crack... in fact they didn't look anything like the picture in the book at all. But to be fair, my oven tends to be a bit unpredictable and I had added white chocolate chips which weren't in the original recipe because I always mess about with recipes (such a rebel!)...but they still tasted pretty good. (Although I think it is time to follow Lily's advice and invest in an oven thermometer)

 

Given the choice I would probably just bake Brownies  rather than Biscuit Brownies as we are big Brownie fans in our family...

 

But they were declared a success and they are being gobbled up pretty quickly. I'm looking forward to trying an awful lot more a lot more from this book... Lemon and pistachio shortbread is next on my list. I would also like to thank the lovely Lily Jones (aka Lily Vanilli) who replied very promptly to my request to feature pictures from her book on my blog. A beautiful book full of wonderful recipes... and I really wasn't paid to say that!