Recipes for a Happy New Year

After my last (long ago) post, I promised you the two most requested recipes...and so, at last, here they are!
Firstly, my own favourites, Cheese Scones...I have adapted the quantities for US measures as well as metric, so as long as you use only 1 or the other ( not a mixture of both! ) they should work fine!




To make 12 x 2" / 5 cm scones

Preheat the oven to 220c / 425f and line a baking sheet with parchment

225g / 2 cups self raising flour
1tsp baking powder
220g / 1& 3/4 cups grated extra mature cheddar cheese
60g / 1/2 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1egg cracked into a measuring jug, beaten and made up to 150ml / 2/3 cup with whole milk

Put the flour & baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and, using the tips of your fingers, rub it into the flour until the mixture resembles large breadcrumbs...



Add the cheddar...



And mix through, using a fork or round bladed knife...



Pour over all but a tbsp of the egg & milk mixture and lightly mix, again using the fork or knife, until everything begins to 'clump' together...



Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. *TIP* Because I can't bear scraping dough off my glass work top, I cover it first with several sheets of cling film/ plastic wrap. Then I simply roll it up & throw it away afterwards with barely any mess!
Knead very lightly to form a soft dough. I don't roll my scone dough, as it knocks out too much air...so I simply pat it into a round approx 1"/ 2.5cm thick...



Cut out as many rounds as you can, re-patting the dough as necessary and place them about an inch apart on the prepared baking tray.



Glaze with the reserved tbsp of egg/ milk mixture...



And bake in the hot oven for about 12 mins, rotating the tray halfway through to ensure even cooking. The scones should be golden brown, well-risen, and slightly oozing cheese when done! The bases should be a lovely colour too...



Cool on a wire rack...but cheese scones are really best eaten warm! They will keep for a couple of days in an airtight container. I recommend warming them through before eating...this brings out their extreme cheesiness! Fabulous accompanying a bowl of soup, but I love them on their own for breakfast, too.

The second recipe is for Sticky Parkin. This keeps extremely well...in fact, it really should be made about a week before you eat it, then kept in an airtight tin or box to mature and become really sticky! This makes it brilliant for camping trips or hikes too.

When I was taking the pictures, I was making double the following recipe, so don't worry if you think your mixture looks less!




Preheat oven to 160c/ 325f
Line a 23cm / 9" square tray or brownie pan with non- stick baking parchment



250g/ 2 sticks butter
110g / 1 cup (packed) light brown soft sugar
55g / 2 tbsp black treacle
200g / 3/4 cup golden syrup
120g / 1 & 1/4 cups porridge oats
200g / 1 & 3/4 cups self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
4 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground allspice
2 eggs, beaten
2 tbsp whole milk

In a large saucepan, gently melt together the butter, sugar, treacle & syrup...



Don't allow to boil, and when melted and smooth remove from heat.
To make oat flour, put the porridge oats in a food processor...



And whizz until finely ground...



Put this, together with the self- raising flour, the baking powder and all the spices into a large bowl..



And stir with a wooden spoon to mix. Next, pour over the melted ingredients...



And mix well...I use a balloon whisk for this, as it eliminates any large lumps of flour...beat in the eggs, followed by the milk and scrape into the prepared pan...



Bake for approximately 1 hour, again rotating the pan halfway through the cooking time. The parkin should be slightly risen, dark brown and glossy when baked, and it should spring back when lightly pressed with a finger in the middle...



Cool in the tin. You can store it as a whole, or cut into pieces before doing so...



If you eat it too early, it will still taste delicious but may have a slightly dry texture.
Parkin is also delicious served warm ( you can microwave for about 45 secs on high) and eaten with cream or ice cream as a pudding.

So there we are!! Sorry that it has taken me so long to post these...I hope it's worth it and that you give them a try and enjoy them!

A very happy 2013...hoping your year has started deliciously!

Xo

Thanksgiving UK-Style!

So here it is...and a hearty HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all of you celebrating today! Here, of course it's just a regular...grey & blustery...Thursday in November. But I've always thought that it's the sunniest & cheeriest of holidays so we decided to have a Thanksgiving-themed Sunday lunch for friends recently...

I used my Stars & Stripes salt and pepper shakers...

 

 

and the napkins that we picked up on our trip to Martha's Vineyard last year...

 

I made a centrepiece from pomegranates, persimmons & used apples as candle holders, together with glossy green ivy & some rosehips that I picked on our walk that day...

I made cranberry relish, with red wine & port...we roasted two chickens instead of a turkey, but I made Susan Branch's Grandma's famous stuffing, plus nutmeg-scented bread sauce and brussels sprouts tossed with garlic butter, rosemary roasted potatoes....and to finish off, another Sue Branch spectacular...

Pumpkin Cheesecake with a Gingersnap Crust...which I served with home-made caramel sauce & toasted pecan nuts...

Gosh, it was good!! To go with coffee, we had a selection of US chocolate bars...

It was a wonderful meal!

 

The results of the last post mean that next time I shall give you the recipes for Cheese Scones & Parkin....but until then, have a wonderful time wherever you are....eat, drink, relax, be VERY merry and whatever you do...

make very sure that you get some help with the washing up!

Sending love and very many thanks for reading! xoxo

Cold weather cooking...& which one?

The last full moon had that late Autumn feeling...a harder, brighter look that comes with the onset of the colder seasons...time for some cosy dinners!

But first I wanted to show you the beautiful cake that my youngest sister baked for my birthday...and my youngest nephew (4 year old Will) decorated! Gorgeous marbled spongecake...buttercream icing...and you may be able to spot at the centre back amongst all the candles (ahem!) a plastic tyrannosaurus rex!! A must for any cake. The peanut M&Ms were, apparently, his eggs! So not only delicious, but a useful dinosaur incubator too....

The last Farmer's Market was cold & damp...perfect weather for this sticky oat & syrup parkin (the Yorkshire version of gingerbread) It's becoming a bestseller...and it keeps so incredibly well (in fact, you really need to make it at least 6 days before eating, so that it has a chance to mature and really get sticky!) Yum!

New to the stall were these Butterscotch Blondies...perfect for those who don't like too much chocolate (those poor, mad people.....!) and they sold out quickly too...but not as fast as...

my cheese scones. This time I added the last of the chives from our garden to the mixture. Each month I bake more...but it's never enough!

We've been eating more warming, comforting suppers too...making the most of the vegetable bounty around right now...

This baked mushroom rice was fabulous...I added some dried porcini to the rice for extra shroom-i-ness...really a baked risotto, but much easier & so good!

Butternut squash is another favourite...this one was scored and roasted with roquefort cheese & pine nuts...

the leftovers went into a lasagne later in the week....too good to waste!

Sometimes I cheat & buy ready-rolled puff pastry...if I've been baking all day, it can be hard to summon up the enthusiasm to put lots of hard rolling into dinner! But puff pastry has the magical ability to give the illusion of effort, without actually using much at all!

This open tart was full of tomatoes, fennel, courgettes, red onions, feta cheese...all those wonderful mediterranean ingredients that taste so good together!

Indian food is something we love...vegetable curries are infinite in their variety, but I wanted to make one containing okra, which can be gluey in texture...

thankfully,  this one wasn't! Fresh, green, hot enough to squeeze the tongue but not to paralyse it...beautiful!

And the last of this treasury of vegetarian dinners was the aubergine, tomato & black-eyed bean stew that still makes my mouth water to think of it! I cooked the beans from scratch...not always necessary (tinned are so much easier!) but I think that black-eyes especially benefit from soaking & cooking at home as the tinned ones can be too mushy for my taste...

Served over brown basmati rice, this was just delightful and so hearty and warming!

 

I am currently cooking for a special lunch, which I'll tell you more about soon...but I have a question for you before I go!

I can't write them all here, but is there a recipe for one of the dishes in this post that you'd particularly like to have? If so, please leave me a comment and tell me which and I'll post the two most popular very soon!

I hope that you are enjoying some delicious food too, this November....there's so much that's good around this month!

Happy weekend xoxo

Beautiful bakewell & some things we've been eating...

So long since my last foodie post! I think that since I stopped supplying The Coffee Tree with daily treats, I seem to have been struggling to find a focus for this blog. But I think I've found the answer! It will now be subtitled: What we're eating now...and feature more of the food I cook everyday, as well as the baked treats I create for customers. I hope you approve!

First is one of the top favourites on my monthly Farmer's market stall...Bakewell Shortbread. Bakewell Tart (or pudding, depending on your origins) is a wonderful traditional dessert originating from Derbyshire. I've adapted it to make a slice that can be sold by the piece...it keeps beautifully and can be gluten-free as well, if required (I just substitute polenta/cornmeal or gluten-free flour for wheatflour in the shortbread and frangipane layers) First I make an all-butter shortbread base and bake for around 10 minutes until lightly coloured...then spread with plenty of jam. In this case it was raspberry - but any flavour will do....next is a frangipane layer, made from butter, sugar, ground almonds, eggs and a little self-raising flour together with some pure almond extract....

this is spread over the jam layer.....

and sprinkled with flaked almonds before returning to the oven for around 30 minutes until risen, set & golden brown...

it's important not to overbake, though....it needs to be lovely and squidgy! Serve warm (best, I think!) or cold with plenty of hot tea...

Delicious, absolutely. Recipe will be in my book...(aren't I a tease?!) It's coming, it's coming!

Yesterday was dark, blustery and rainy...I had a spare 20 minutes so I thought I'd make a quick batch of...

Double Chocolate Chip & Pecan Cookies. My Dad is currently in hospital, so a little box of these will find their way to him this weekend! Nothing like some good home baked treats to lift the spirits, I always think...and tell someone how much you love them.

Talking of love....there are two new cook books that I absolutely adore! There has been much publicity about them already...but in my view it is all deserved! The first is the second volume of the adorable Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries...

Nigel isn't a chef...he's a self-confessed "home cook who writes about food"...and how beautifully he writes! His books are the kind that people who love food and eating take to bed with them! I rarely use recipes any more...but his, I do. I have cooked so many meals already from this gorgeous book but a stand-out was...

this broad bean, feta and spinach pie. The original recipe used filo pastry...always having to tweak something, I used puff! But it was absolutely gorgeous...incredibly comforting, with big and generous flavours. Just as good cold for breakfast the next morning (a habit of mine!) as was...

this fabulous Parsley & Barley Salad with marinated feta from my other new acquisition...

I am very lucky to count Yotam as a dear friend, so this book is doubly special to me...but it is a truly wonderful addition to anyone's cookery library, I promise! Sami is Palestinian & Yotam Jewish, but both grew up in Jerusalem and this book is a joyous celebration of the differences and (many) similarities that result from the diverse cultural mix of the city. It contains many beautiful stories and memories, in addition to the inspirational recipes. As well as the salad, I made...

Chicken with caramelized onion and cardamom rice...it looks fairly similar in this picture (I blame the herbs!!) but I'm assured that the flavours were quite different!

The beauty and sunshine in these two books is lending much inspiration to my cooking, now that the nights are drawing in and it's such a pleasure to be in the warmth and light of the kitchen again! Highly recommended.

Have a brilliant weekend xo

A special austeri-tea....

On Sunday I hosted a small celebration tea for 2 close girlfriends....

We had originally been going to a local country house hotel...but they called me during the week to say that they had accidentally overbooked. I thought about it, and decided that at such short notice the best thing would be to serve it here at home...much better value & it meant we could take as long as we wanted too without being chivvied out to make way for the next sitting!

The keyword was miniature. I  started the day before with these tiny, sparkly vanilla meringues...

and then on Sunday morning I baked a batch of little Buttermilk Scones...

which I warmed up before we ate them with creme fraiche and a choice of...

lemon curd, raspberry jam or fresh blueberry compote (or all three!)

I made heart-shaped sandwiches...smoked salmon pate, cream cheese & cucumber....

and baked some crisp strawberry tarts, filled with vanilla pastry cream

I did succumb and bought these beautiful burnished gold, bronze & silver macarons from Marks & Spencer to go with the fingers of brownie & caramel shortbread on the pressed glass cakestand...

So pretty! I tied the cutlery with grosgrain ribbon & used my spring flower napkins from Emma Bridgewater

The prosecco was chilling in the fridge & it was time to put the kettle on! The girls arrived at 3...and we started with a glass of sparkly bubbles before being sensible & moving on to Lapsang Souchong or English Breakfast tea!

Outside the rain & wind battered against the windows...but inside, we were warm and cosy...Alice lay under the table as we talked & laughed & ate for a glorious few hours. Friends are the best, aren't they?

A perfect way to spend the last Sunday afternoon in April. And today, suddenly it's May! Where is the year going?

I hope you have a fabulous week...make sure you indulge yourself in some small way...it doesn't have to be too extravagant but it makes all the difference!

xoxo