Moose Milk, an Endangered Cake and a Moving Quote from Guy Fawkes.

I’d like to start this with a moving quote from Mr. Fawkes himself ...

I'm not sure if this is historically accurate and don’t know where I first read it. I have tried to find out because it is so very, very lovely. If anyone know the origin can you please let me know.

And now a few ideas for Bonfire Night which I am posting a day and a half early so really a little late, if you know what I mean!

Moose Milk

A lovely quick easy warm drink, mainly for adults but you could leave out the good bit and add some vanilla or a little coffee or something.

I have read all sorts of recipes for this from just condensed milk in hot water to ice cream mixed with rum and Kahlua to a liquid that comes out of a mummy moose’s nipples, would you believe!  My version is really easy; just 50:50 condensed milk and dark rum (although I’m pretty sure Kahlua would also be good) topped up with hot water.  Absolutely perfect to keep your hands warm whilst watching the fireworks and good to drink too!

Mulled Ale

This is taken from my grandmother’s copy of Mrs. Beeton’s Cookery Book which now lives with me.

'Nuff said!

Bloody Mary Soup

Basically add some vodka and Worcestershire sauce to tomato soup!  Here is a great recipe for Roasted Tomato Soup but you may have a favourite which you’d rather adapt. 

Incidentally ...

Here, however, is some useful information for American chaps – in the UK we usually just say Wooster Sauce which makes life much easier.

Baked aka Jacket Potatoes

These are traditional and a good idea but I have to say that cooking them in the microwave really doesn’t do them justice so cook them in the oven if you can.  And another thing, if you wrap them in foil they will end up with soft skins but if you do them this way they will be crisp and salty.

large, clean dry and evenly sized potatoes
(floury potatoes such as Maris Piper, King Edward or Desiree are best)

~   Preheat oven to 220ºC/425ºF/200ºC fan/gas 7.
~   Put a little olive oil and a little sea salt in a bowl and rub each potato thoroughly with this mixture.
~   Prick the potatoes several times with a fork.
~   When the oven is hot either lay the potatoes directly on the oven rack or put them on a baking tray, this second way results in an extra crispy bottom.
~   Bake till soft in the middle and crisp on the outside – timing depends on the size of the potato but say 45-60 minutes.

Serve with a selection of fillings – butter, sour cream, grated cheese, chilli, bacon beans, crispy bacon pieces; whatever you and your guests fancy really.

If you cook too many rejoice - lots of ideas for leftover baked  potatoes here.

Sweet potatoes are also lovely cooked this way, good toppings for them include all the above plus sweeter things such as apple sauce, toasted nuts and caramelised onions. Leftover sweet potatoes make great Fartes de Batatas!

Turf Cakes

These were traditionally baked in a covered pan in the ashes of the fire and, cooked this way, are now considered to be an endangered species! An example of a turf cake is Fat Rascals from Yorkshire

225g self-raising flour
a pinch of salt
60g cold butter or margarine
25g caster sugar
1 egg beaten with 2 tbsp milk
the finely grated zest of half an orange
the finely grated zest of half an lemon
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
75g mixed dried fruit
1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tsp water and a pinch of salt – to glaze
a few slivered almonds and glacé cherries to decorate

~   If you are using the oven (which I wholeheartedly recommend) preheat it to 200°C/400°F/180C fan/gas 6.
~   Prepare the dough adding the zests, spices and fruits together with the sugar.
~   Mix to a soft dough with the egg and milk.
~   Divide into 6-8 portions, roll into balls and place on a lightly greased baking tray.
~   Brush with the egg and water mixture.
~   Decorate with almonds and cherries.
~   Bake for about 15 minutes till risen and golden with hollow sounding bottoms!

This recipe appears in “The Secret Life of Scones” which gives all sorts of delicious tihngs to make from the one key recipe, such as ...

And here’s a quick, easy idea which you could conceivably cook in the embers if you are careful.

A Banana Gently Opened and Stuffed to Within an Inch of its Life 

Don’t peel the bananas but open up lengthways, fill with coarsely chopped chocolate, wrap the whole thing in foil and bake in a hot oven or hot embers for ten minutes or so. Unwrap carefully and spoon the melting chocolatey flesh directly from the skin into your mouth. (I've sold a fair few of these!)

So have fun, keep warm and take care.

Picnic Recipes for a Change

“If ants are such busy workers, how come they find time to go to all the picnics?”
Marie Dressler.

Having just got over National Cucumber Week we now find ourselves in the throes of National Picnic Week.  Will it never end?

So here are a few suggestions if you are headed out to dine al fresco, en plein air, sur l'herbe or simply outdoors.

Pan Bagnat Aka Soggy on Purpose Sandwich!

This is traditionally made using a round flat country loaf but is also good using a chunk of baguette.

Here’s a sort of recipe!

5 lovely ripe tomatoes
60ml olive oil
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp minced garlic
2 baguettes cut into 3 pieces
a selection of ingredients you fancy such as ...
more tomatoes, marinated artichoke hearts, olives, anchovies, celery, onion, tuna, rocket, tapenade, goats’ cheese, roasted vegetables etc.

~   Purée the five ripe tomatoes with oil, vinegar, garlic and a little seasoning.  
~   Cut the baguette pieces in half lengthways and scoop out some of the crumb to make room for goodies. (Obviously you will keep the scooped out bread for some other delicious purpose such as these ideas for leftover bread).
~   Brush the cut sides of the bread with the tomato mixture.
~   Layer your chosen fillings in one half of each piece of baguette, drizzling with any tomato mix you have left.
~   Press the tops on firmly, wrap tightly in cling film and chill for several hours, preferably with a weight on top.
~   Unwrap and slice thickly to serve.

Mrs. Beeton's Potted Beans

Mrs. B’s recipe is very odd calling as it does for ½ a pint of haricot beans baked in a slow oven with no liquid whatsoever, which must surely be an oversight, till tender. Here’s my variation ...

400g can of haricot beans – drained
60g (possibly leftover) wholemeal breadcrumbs
60g grated mature Cheddar cheese eg. Cornish Crackler
60g soft butter
seasonings of choice
60g or so more butter – melted

~   Basically pound everything together till you have a coarse pâté like thing!
~   Taste and season – Mrs. B favoured cayenne, nutmeg, salt and pepper and I have not argument with that.
~   Decant into a pot or pots and top with a little melted butter to seal.
~   Chill till needed.

If you feel like being more orthodox with your beans please see here for Hummus and other bean dips and purées. 

Pasties of some sort –I would say that!  How about these ...

Cornish Gouda and Leek Pasties

This recipe makes 2 large, 3 medium or 6 small pasties.

15g butter
90g leeks, halved, sliced, washed and drained – how to clean leeks
45g coarsely chopped crumbly mature Cornish Gouda or similar tasty mature cheese
200g pastry
1 egg – beaten
sea salt – the crunchy kind

~   Gently melt the butter in a small pan over medium heat.
~   Stir in the prepared leeks.
~   Turn down the heat to low and press a piece of foil, baking parchment or a butter wrapper directly onto the leeks covering completely. Try not to burn yourself.
~   Cover the pan and cook gently for about 20 minutes till utterly tender and just starting to brown.
~   Set aside to cool a little.
~   Preheat the oven to 400ºF/200ºC/180C fan/gas 6.
~   Grease and line a baking tray.
~  Roll the pastry out fairly thinly and cut into 6 x 75mm or thereabouts circles, or whatever size you choose.
~   Stir the cheese into the leeks. I normally say “season to taste” at this point but the mixture was so delicious I’m not going to say it here.
~   Divide the filling between the pastry circles, fold in half and crimp the edges to seal.
~   Put onto the prepared baking tray.
~   Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with a little crunchy Cornish Sea Salt.
~   Bake for 20-30 minutes till golden and smelling gorgeous.

If you have any pastry over – how about some cheese straws? 

Salad of some sort – nothing too fragile, perhaps coleslaw and potato salad ...

Easy Impressive Potato Salad

~   Put a bunch of spring onions, coarsely chopped, in the food processor together with a couple of dollops of mayonnaise.
~   Use to dress warm, freshly cooked potatoes. If you can get ones with red skins these look fantastic!

More potato salad ideas here.

Strawberry Scones 

To make 6 normal scones or 4 embarrassingly large ones!

This is a good way to make a few strawberries go a long way.

225 g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch or two of salt
50 g cold butter or margarine
200g coarsely chopped strawberries
80 ml milk

~   Preheat the oven to 400ºF/200ºC/180C fan/gas 6.
~   Stir together the flour, baking powder and salt.
~   Add the butter or margarine and “rub in” with your fingers until a breadcrumb texture is achieved
~   Stir in the sugar and the strawberries.
~   Add the milk and mix in, by hand is easiest, till you have a soft dough.
~   Add a little more milk if too dry or a little more flour if too wet – you need a soft but not sticky dough.
~   Lightly knead just a few times to bring the dough together.
~   On a floured surface press or roll the dough out to about 2 cm thick and using a cookie cutter cut into rounds or other attractive shape.
~   Transfer the scones to a greased baking sheet, brush their tops with a little milk and bake in the oven till risen and golden – about 20 minutes.
~   Transfer to a cooling rack till cold.
~   Take some clotted cream with you.

Great Preview Here!

Incidentally this is based on my genius scone recipe from which no end of wonderful things can be made! Not only can it be varied to create any sweet or savoury scone, American biscuit, griddle cake or rock bun you can think of, not only is it the base recipe for many traditional and ancient dishes but it also makes lovely fluffy dumplings, crisp doughnuts, cobblers, turnovers, pie crusts and more.

Naturally, I've written a book on the matter ~ The Secret Life of Scones.





Other good things to take on your picnic include crisps, nuts, biccies, chocolate, cheese and good bread.

Remember ...

~   A picnic blanket or similar.
~   Kitchen roll and maybe some wet wipes.
~   A bag for rubbish.
~   Plates, knives, forks and, very important, wine glasses.
~   Salt and pepper and any pickles, sauces or relishes you fancy.
~   Something delicious and refreshing to drink – kept cold in a cooler.
~   Choose somewhere beautiful!

PS.  Hold yourself in readiness its Wrong Trousers Day on June 27^th!

Please Click here to Tweet this post ~ thank  you!

Leftover Dal? Leftover Porridge? No worries!

~  Menu  ~

Dal Roti with Cashew Nut Salad

White Wine Spritzer

 Honey Oatmeal Scones and Coffee

Having run the gamut of things to do with leftover Pease Pudding (soup, fritters and dal) I had a little of the spiced pudding, aka dal, left and was going to make myself a dal vada/ fritter of sorts when inspiration struck.  

Pin for later, perhaps?

What would happen if I mixed flour into the dal to make a dough?  

This is what happened ...

Dal Roti – Instructions

~    Mix enough flour (I used plain flour but rolled the dough out on wholewheat – probably chapatti flour would be best) into the dal to make a workable dough.

~   Roll into walnut sized balls and then roll out into thin rounds.

~   Fry in a lightly oiled pan till the first side is speckled with brown turn and do the second side.

What a nice surprise these were!  I quickly whipped up a salad, added some cashews and a simple balsamic dressing and dolloped a spoonful of Greek yogurt (fusion!) on the top.

This was all very spur of the moment – I am sure these little breads would be great used to scoop up curry or similar.

After lunch I messed around in the fridge, as one does, and came across a cup of cold porridge.  Obviously I was delighted, who wouldn’t be?  

As I was fresh from munging flour into cold dal my mind ran along similar lines and I decided to make …

Honey Oatmeal Scones

Based on an Original Idea by Mrs. Beeton!

Quite a while ago now I wrote an article for Vegetarian Living on Mrs. Beeton’s Vegetarian Cooking and this was one of her good ideas.  In my grandmother’s edition Mrs. B says to knead into cold porridge “as much flour as will enable it to be rolled out ¼” thick but that was a bit too basic and heavy for me so here is my version

300g cold porridge
30g soft butter
1 tbsp honey
self-raising flour
(or plain flour and baking powder in the rations 100g flour:1 tsp baking powder

~   Preheat oven to 375ºF/190ºC/170ºC fan/gas 5.
~   Mix together the first three ingredients and then work in the flour to make a soft, sticky but manageable dough.
~   Knead lightly then roll out on a floured board to a thickness of about 20mm.
~   Cut into rounds or other shapes and lay on a greased baking tray.
~   Brush with milk and bake for 20-25 minutes till risen and golden.

Other ideas for cold porridge can be found here .

Creative Ways to Use Up Leftovers

I have so many ideas for leftovers of all sorts that I wrote a book. Originally it was called The Leftovers Handbook but the second edition has a new cover, a new name and, best of all, a new and cheaper price. In it I give ideas, recipes, handy hints, cook's treats, storage instructions and food pairing for over 450 possible scraps and remains.

Never waste a good eating opportunity again! - read more here.

Black Garlic, an Invitation and a Show Off!

~  Menu  ~

Black Garlic Risotto with Chestnut Mushrooms

Secret Red Wine

A few Strawberries from the Garden

Recently I have been seeing black garlic mentioned all over the place so when I spotted some in Tesco I bought it, obviously.

At first it seemed a bit scary – garlic that has been kept/aged/fermented for a year and, consequently has gone black, see here for details and when they say “black garlic” they mean seriously black, not blackish.

The garlic is soft and squidgy and a bit daunting but a tentative nibble revealed that there is nothing to be scared of, it is utterly delicious!!  The garlic flavour is mellowed, sweet and caramelised and I am sure it would go really well with blue cheese and black pepper.  However, curses, no blue cheese – so I made a bit of risotto and it was fab.

Black Garlic Risotto – one serving

1 tbsp olive oil

2 shallots finely chopped

2 (or 3 or 4) black garlic cloves, peeled and sliced

small knob (excuse me!) of butter

100g risotto rice

40 ml red wine

about 300 ml simmering vegetable stock

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Parmesan cheese

Why not pin this for
future reference?

~   Cook the shallots gently in the olive oil till they are translucent.

~   Stir in the garlic and the butter.

~   When the butter has melted add the rice and stir till thoroughly coated with buttery goo.

~   Add the wine and cook, stirring, over medium heat till it has all disappeared (not really – it’s in the rice!).

~   Gradually add the hot stock a little at a time and cook, stirring continuously, till there is very little left then add some more.  Continue doing this till the rice is tender but with a little bite and is coated with an unctuous sauce. 

~   Grate in plenty of parmesan then taste and season.  I added my lovely smoked black pepper from Nature Kitchen but just freshly ground black pepper would be good too.

~  For even more luxuriousness stir in a little more butter.

Having some leftover chestnut mushrooms languishing in the fridge I sautéed a few and added them to the finished dish.

The risotto was gently infused with a sweet garlickiness, I only used 2 cloves of the black stuff but next time I think I shall use more and in bigger lumps so as to occasionally I get a solid hit of it. 

I'm sure you are going to read a lot more about this fantastic ingredient if you follow my blog!

In Other News ...

Here's the show off - lovely Vegetarian Living magazine have published another one of my articles.  This is about Mrs. Beeton – I have an old copy of my grandmother’s and got reading the vegetarian section - lots of weird stuff but also some surprisingly good ideas.         

You’ll have to read the magazine for details, I made some really gorgeous “porridge scones” based on an original idea by Mrs. B.