Afternoon Tea!

We did an afternoon tea party for our daughter’s birthday last week and it got me thinking about the in between meals of morning coffee and afternoon tea. They seem to have all but disappeared from peoples socialising.

    

    My Mother regularly met up with friends for coffee or tea and something to eat.

Coffee mornings quite often happened as fund raising ‘Bring & Buy Sales’, every one was required to bring some items of baking, brick-a-brack, flowers, plants or garden produce, pay a small entrance fee to cover coffee and a piece of cake or scone. And then buy some items to bring home. They were on in the mornings when children were in school and the mothers could get together for a good chat and a catch up on the latest gossip.

    The funds raised went to support everything from the local school or parish to the latest humanitarian disaster on another continent. Few men seemed to attend these gatherings and those that did were retired husbands of women involved or elderly fathers of others.

They quite often happened in people’s houses and if the weather was good the tables and chairs were put out side and the garden became the children’s playground. There was a feeling of being let in on something grownup when they happened in the holidays and we children got to go along.

    It was at a sale like this that I first came across globe artichokes. I bought two and my Mum gallantly cooked them and we ate them hot with butter. I think she thought them too much hard work to ever want to grow them, but we do now.

The food at coffee mornings always seemed to be sweet fruit scones with jam and cream, biscuits, jam tarts, tray bakes and sponge cakes. Chocolate sponge with chocolate icing and topped with half walnuts and half glacé cherries around the edge. Coffee cake with coffee butter icing and walnuts on top too. Sponge flans with whipped cream and fresh fruit. Fruit cakes were there too some with split almonds in a pattern over the top of the cake.

As for the coffee let’s not go there, this was in the days when no one had a coffee machine at home and cafétieres were still on the continent. The coffee was mostly percolated or sometimes it was made from Irel coffee concentrate. It was only when I was living away from home that I discovered how good real coffee could be.

    Afternoon tea parties were different there was always a savoury element that had to partaken of before we moved on to the sweet stuff. Sometimes

It was plain bread and butter, but more often it was sandwiches without their crusts cut into dainty triangles or squares. Sometimes brown scones were split and topped with tinned salmon and hardboiled egg or if money was no object some smoked salmon and black pepper and a squeeze of lemon.

The cakes were pretty much the same as at the coffee mornings though meringues and chocolate éclairs sometimes appeared.

The tea was always served in cups with saucers quite often china ones.

    For out tea party we had three sorts of sandwiches ham, cheese and cucumber. Crusts removed and cut small.

Plain scones were served with plum cheese made by the birthday girl and whipped cream.

As the first blackberries were ripe an apple and blackberry pie was a must. The left over pastry was used to make a few jam tarts, which are delicious with a blob of whipped cream on top.

No birthday is complete without a cake and the birthday girl’s sister did her proud with a simple chocolate cake covered in chocolate butter icing and chocolate shavings.

Summer Eating

Globe Artichoke

         There is nothing nicer than a globe artichoke as a start to a summer meal. Boiled till tender and served with melted butter and freshly ground black pepper. So simple, but what to follow it with? Well pasta is quick and easy and we have spinach and basil growing in the poly tunnel and garden.
         The courgettes are also getting into their stride and are so fresh from the garden that they need very lithe done to them. As we have out own plants we also get the flowers, which add colour to the salad too.

         So, what better than a pesto with pasta and a salad. To follow a tiramisu made with super strength coffee, the remains of which make an excellent breakfast.  

Pasta with Walnut Pesto

30 g walnuts

2 cloves of garlic

½ tsp salt

50 g fresh spinach washed & dried

large sprig of basil

5tbs olive oil

80g Parmesan cheese

pepper

1tbs lemon juice

150-200 g pasta

Put a large pot of water on to boil and add 2 teaspoons of salt to the water.

Heat a frying pan on a medium heat.

Break the walnuts into pieces and toast them on the frying pan for 3-4 minutes until they start to colour. Watch them carefully so that they don’t burn.

When the nuts are browned take them out of the pan and let them cool.

Peel and chop the garlic.

Finely grate the cheese.

Put the cooled nuts, garlic, ½ teaspoon of salt, spinach, basil leaves and 2 tablespoons of olive oil in to a mini chopper or small bowl of a food processor and blend.

Stop and push anything down that isn’t getting blended. Blend again until you have a smooth paste.

Stir in the grated cheese, lemon juice and 2 more spoonfuls of olive oil. Taste and add some pepper and more salt if necessary.

When the pot of water comes to the boil add the pasta and cook until ‘al dente’. Use the cooking time on the packet as a guide.

Scoop out a cup of the pasta’s cooking water.

Drain the pasta and return it to the warm cooking pot. Add 3-4 tablespoons of the pesto and stir well to mix it through. Add some of the reserved cooking water a tablespoon at a time and mixing again until you have the pasta coated with pesto. Serve with extra grated Parmesan.

Courgette Salad

1 clove of garlic

2tbs extra virgin olive oil

1 large or 2 small courgettes

6 black olives

2tsp capers

1 small red onion

100g ripe cherry tomatoes

Courgette flowers (if you have any)

Parsley

Lemon juice

Salt & pepper

Crush the garlic and mix it with the olive oil. Slice the courgettes into 0.5cm thick slices length ways and brush them with the garlic oil.

Finely chop the capers and olives. Peel and thinly slice the onion and quarter the tomatoes. Strip the leaves from the parsley.

Put a ridged grill pan on to heat.

In a large salad bowl mix together the capers, olives, onion slices, the tomatoes, any courgette flowers torn into strips and the leaves from the parsley and mix well.

Grill the courgette strips on the hot grill pan in batches till nicely marked and just starting to soften. As they are done add them to the salad bowl.

When all the courgettes are cooked add any remaining oil and garlic from the courgettes to the salad and toss everything together. Taste and add a squeeze or two of lemon juice to taste and season with salt and pepper.

Serve at room temperature.

Tiramisu

Serves 4-6

3 eggs

250g mascarpone

3tbs sugar  

1 cup very strong black coffee

250g sponge fingers

Separate the eggs.

Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until pale and creamy.

Add the mascarpone and whisk again.

Put the egg whites into a clean bowl and with a clean whisk beat them until stiff.

Fold the egg whites into the cream.

Make a cup of very strong coffee and put it into a shallow dish. This is for the sponge fingers. Dip half of the sponge fingers into the coffee quickly and then put them into a shallow serving dish, in a single layer.

Spread half of the cream mix on top of the sponge fingers.

Cover this with another layer of coffee soaked sponge fingers and the rest of the cream mix.

Then sprinkle the top with cocoa powder or grated black chocolate.

Put into the fridge overnight. Remove from the fridge 15 minutes before it is needed, to warm up.

Coffee for Breakfast

Spanish Sunshine!

Liquid Salad

The E-coli outbreak in Germany last week had even rational people like me looking warily at the organic Spanish cucumber in my kitchen. I did eat it, though I washed and peeled it. Very tasty it was too.

I was surprised to find someone at a school fete refusing any sandwiches that contained salad. This was on last Friday when most salad had been given the all clear. Some times we can be too cautious, or maybe she doesn’t like salad. I do not know, but I do hope this will make us all more aware of hygiene and food preparation.

In celebration of those gallant Spanish farmers I think we all should all go out of our way to help them along by eating Gazpacho at least once a week for the summer. So here is my take on this Spanish Classic. It may not be authentic but it is an original ‘vegetable’ smoothie and a great way to get some of your five a day.

Interestingly only the garlic and scallions are vegetables in this mix, all the other ‘vegetables’ are the fruits of their plants.

Gazpacho                                    

3 cloves of garlic

600g vine ripened tomatoes

1 a green pepper

½ a red pepper

1 a cucumber

4 scallions

1 thick slice of white bread no crusts

1tbs of sherry vinegar

4tbs olive oil

salt & pepper

½ -1 chilli

Some extra virgin olive oil for serving.

1 hard boiled egg

Peel the garlic and put into a blender with a good pinch of salt.

Halve the tomatoes, remove the green cores.

Remove the seeds and membrane from the peppers and cut into 3cm pieces.

Wash and peel the cucumber, cut it in half lengthways and remove the seeds from the centre.

Chop the scallions and finely chop the chilli if you are using it.

Add half the chopped vegetables to the blender with half the bread.

Put the lid on and blend to a smooth puree.

Pour the contents of the blender into a large jug.

Put the rest of the vegetables and breadcrumbs into the blender and blend to a smooth puree.

Pour into the jug with the first batch and mix well.

Stir in the vinegar and olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

If the tomatoes are not ripe enough add a little sugar.

Leave for a couple of hours in the fridge to allow the flavours to develop before serving.

Just before serving stir the contents of the jug really well and thin with some iced water if it is very thick.

Very finely dice some red and green pepper.

Peel the hard boiled egg and grate it

Pour the Gazpacho into soup bowls, sprinkle on some of the red and green pepper dice, grated egg and trickle over a little of the best extra virgin olive oil you can get.

Serves about 6

Sweet Treat

I made these spicy flapjacks to bring to the same school fete and promised the recipe to some friends. I had a great time using up some half finished packets of muesli and topping them up with rolled oats. 

One of the muesli's was a spicy granola from http://www.greensaffron.com/ , but it needed a little help.

These are more of a chewy muesli bar than a tooth shattering crisp flapjack. They provide great energy on a long walk or bike ride and are fine with a cuppa and a friend to chat to.

Spicy Flapjacks

4 cardamom pods

1tsp coriander seed

½ tsp grated nutmeg

6tbs sunflower oil

3tbs honey

160 g soft brown sugar

330 g Muesli or a combination of rolled oats, nuts seeds and dried fruit

Set the oven to GM 3/330˚F/170˚C.

Line a Swiss roll tin with baking parchment.

Put the cardamom pods into a mortar and pestle and lightly crush to release the seeds, remove the green husks and add the coriander seed. Crush all the seeds with the pestle.

Put the crushed spices and grated nutmeg into a saucepan and add the oil, honey and the sugar.

Warm the saucepan on a low heat. Mix with a wooden spoon and when the sugar has melted and is beginning to bubble add the muesli.

Mix in the muesli well and pour the contents of the saucepan on to the Swiss roll tin. Spread the mixture out well and smooth down with a spatula or the back of a spoon.

Bake in the oven for about 12-15 minutes. When they are done the edges will have darkened a bit, take the tin out of the oven and put on a wire rack to cool. 

While they are still hot mark into bars and leave to cool in the tin. When they are cold take them out of the tin.

Just a quick supper

       The first two of our courgettes were ready on Sunday and we needed a light supper. Here is what I came up with.

I diced a two inch piece of spicy chorizo in to small dice and cooked them in a spoonful of olive oil on the omelette pan, then I sliced an onion and a clove of garlic and softened them in the oil from the chorizo. I emptied all of this into a bowl and added a good handful of mint chopped.

        I sliced the two courgettes in to thin slices and cooked them in the pan with a little more oil till just starting to colour.

        I added the courgette slices to the bowl and grated on some Parmesan and seasoned it with some salt and pepper.

        I cracked in four eggs and mixed it all well together and poured the whole lot back onto the omelette pan and cooked till golden underneath. To finish the top I put the pan into the top oven of the Aga for about three minutes to set the middle.

         I served it with a salad and it was perfect. Just real food fast.

Summer time

    Summer is coming fast and I’ll be back teaching eight year olds plus to cook every afternoon for the summer. I enjoy the challenge and I hope the young people have a good time too. We’ll do lots of different recipes over the five days and if each person takes away one recipe that they try again I’ll be very happy.

   Working every afternoon leaves little time for preparing an evening meal so quick one pot or frying pan meals, served with a salad are great.

I did a stir-fry demonstration for a wok promotion recently and two people asked to take me home with them! I was very flattered.

    I did some very simple stir-fries. Vegetables and Noodles, Egg Fried Rice and a version of Sweet & Sour Chicken. I also used the wok to pop popcorn and seasoned it with soy sauce, an old family favourite.

    Here are two recipes I’ll be feeding the family with over the summer. I may even teach my children to make them. Bring on the Summer! And I’ve added the popcorn recipe too.

Open Spinach and Tomato Omelette

250g fresh spinach

1 clove of garlic

1 small onion

30g butter

200g feta cheese

6 eggs or 4 duck eggs

salt and pepper

2tbs oil

2-3 tomatoes

2tbs grated parmesan

Wash the spinach and dry it well.

Peel and chop the garlic and onion. Melt the butter in a large frying pan and cook the garlic and onion until soft, but not coloured. Add the spinach and stir well. Cover the pan and turn the heat to low.

   Cook for about 4 minutes and stir again. When the spinach has wilted increase the heat to boil off the excess moisture.

Turn the cooked spinach into a bowl and let cool for a few minutes.

   Crumble the feta cheese into the spinach and crack the eggs into the mixture. Season with salt and pepper and stir gently to break up the eggs and mix the spinach and feta through them.

   Heat the frying pan and add the two spoons of oil to it, pour in the spinach, cheese and egg mix and leave to brown on a medium heat.

   Pre-heat the grill to medium high and slice the tomatoes thinly. When the omelette is golden underneath and is almost set on top, cover the top with tomatoes, season and sprinkle over the grated Parmesan.

Place under the grill and grill until golden and the tomatoes soften.
Serves 4

Vegetable and Noodle Stir-fry        

125g egg noodles

1 large onion sliced

2 cloves of garlic sliced

1 small piece of ginger peeled & cut in thin strips

1 chilli sliced

200g cashew nuts

1 red pepper cut in narrow strips

1 pac choy sliced long ways

8 button mushrooms sliced

125g baby sweet corn sliced

2tbs sunflower oil

2tbs soy sauce

50ml water

pepper

3 scallions sliced

2tbs chopped coriander

Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet and drain well.

Heat the oil in a wok over a medium to high heat. When the oil shimmers add the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli. Stir-fry for 2-3 minutes until the onion softens. Push them to one side.

Add the cashew nuts to the empty side of the wok and let them toast for a minute or two.

     Then add the sliced pepper, pac choy, mushrooms and baby sweet corn. Mix everything well together and stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the soy sauce and water.

    Cover the wok with a lid and turn the heat down to low. Leave to cook for about 3 more minutes. The broccoli and baby sweet corn should be just tender.

    Add the drained noodles to the wok and mix everything well together and cover again.

Finely slice the scallions and coriander.

Take the lid off the wok taste and season with pepper and more soy sauce if necessary and pepper. Sprinkle on coriander and scallions and serve.

Serves 4 as a side dish.

Popcorn

      Popcorn is also excellent made in a wok just put 1 tablespoon of oil into the heated wok and add 1-2 tablespoons of popping corn and put the lid on, shake occasionally over the heat until the popping stops. Season the popcorn with light soy sauce for a different flavour.

     Toss half teaspoon of chilli flakes or some smoked paprika through the popcorn to add a grownup flavour.

Hot Cross Buns!

I made these today and the seem to be going down rather well! I went out for an hour and when I came back only seven of the twelve remained. They are quite delicious!

Hot Crossless Bun

I made half the dough with fruit and half with chocolate chips. I left the dried fruit / chocolate chips out and after the first rising divided the dough in half and added fruit to one half and chocolate to the other, gave each a good knead. Then I divided each half in six and laid them on a buttered Swiss roll tin to prove. When they had all joined up and were well risen I baked them, but I forgot to cut the crosses in them before baking. Happy Easter!

1 sachet fast action yeast                           300 ml hand hot milk

500 g strong white flour                           1 tsp salt

1 tsp mixed spice                                    50 g sugar

100 g mixed dried fruit or milk & dark chocolate chips                          

 50 g soft butter                                        1dsp oil

Glaze

2 tbs sugar                                             2 tbs milk

The temperature of the milk is correct when you can hold your little finger in it and count to 10 and it feels the same as your finger, neither to hot or to cold.

Sift the flour into a bowl and sprinkle in the sugar, the salt, the spice, dried fruit, the sachet of fast action yeast and the butter cut up. Mix the contents of the bowl round gently and make a well in the centre.

Pour in the warm milk and mix them in well to make a soft dough.

Knead the dough with a dough hook in a mixer or by hand on a floured surface until it is smooth and springy.

Shape the dough into a ball and smear it with the oil and put into a bowl to rise covered with a plastic bag or a damp cloth.

When the dough has doubled in size, about one hour depending on temperature. Turn the dough out on to a floured surface and divide it in to 12 pieces. Shape these into round balls and place them on a buttered baking tray. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave somewhere warm to rise for 20-30 minutes.                                            

Buttered Hot Cross Bun

When they have been rising for about 10-15 minutes set the oven to GM 6/400˚F/200˚C and uncover the buns mark a cross on each bun with a knife and cover them up again until the oven has reached its temperature.

Bake the buns for 15-20 minutes until golden and they sound hollow when tapped underneath.

Boil the sugar and the milk until syrupy and brush over the buns while they are still hot, giving them two coats. This gives them a nice shine. Cool the buns on a wire rack and eat the same day.                                        

A Bunch of Flowers For Mothers Day!

Amaryllis

As the winter has passed and spring is here I thought a new photo at the top of the blog was a good idea. So last Friday I went out and took a bunch of photos of flowers for Mothers day yesterday and here are a few of them.

Wood Anemones!

Plum Blossom

Some Primroses!

Ash Buds

And the new picture at the top of the blog is of a quince flower. Enjoy the spring.