Don't worry this is not going to turn into a gardening blog, but I just had to share my excitement. Last Monday I found myself in a garden centre. It was not a plannned trip, just one of those things that happened. My friend Lucy had to take Dolores to a welder to see about fixing a leak in the roof. When you are trying to turn a van into a living space and mobile artist's book library it is not such a great thing to be able to see the sky through the roof. Especially if you find yourself in Manchester where it rains often.
Anyways, I digress, back to the rainy afternoon in the garden centre. Well, we were a little early so it seemed the perfect place to stop. I have always liked garden centres, I can't tell you exactly why, but it feels good to be there and I have been meaning to turn some of our communal garden into a vegetable patch ever since I moved here four summers ago, but then usually lost my can-do-attitude. Well, not this time! The garden centre had its usual effect on me and got me all excited about getting my fingers dirty and growing my own food. So, I got a large trolley and filled it with soil and compost, but much more importantly peas, pumpkins, courgettes, seed potatoes, beetroot, lettuces and an assortment of herbs.
Luckily I have some fabulous friends who are not shy to lend a helping hand, who have their own can-do-attitudes and who came round yesterday to help me build some beds and plant my veg, in exchange for the promise of dinner, pancake breakfast and a van valet. There is still some work to do as I ran out of top soil and will need to make another trip to the shops for it (not so easy when you only have a bicycle), but the beds are built and half planted.
So this summer, there will hopefully be plenty of fresh stuff, straight from the veg patch to the kitchen, worthy blogging about. We finished the day with a well deserved late lunch of Creamy Tomato Soup. I changed the recipe a bit, as I had run out of tomato puree, so used 2 1/2tbsp of red pesto instead and I think it was still better. The reason it seemed to taste extra good could simply be that we'd been working hard and were really hungry though.
A huge thanks to H, G and B for your elbow grease, to J for trusting me with your tools and to J for dropping by with encouragement and flapjacks!
Sunday, 10 April 2011
I'm excited
Sunday, 27 March 2011
Banana Bread
When I'm not blogging, which is most of the time these days, I'm an artist (and lecturer, for my sins) and one of the things I do is make artist's books. So, to refresh and improve some of my skills and knowledge and just to carve out some time to think about new ideas and talk to other people I signed up to an evening class, run by Lucy May Schofield at Hot Bed Press.
Unfortunately the course has come to an end and I now have to think of something else to do with my Wednesday nights again, but to celebrate the fun we had and work everyone made I took along a Banana Bread to the last class, which was shared nicely between books, bodkins and bone folders.
Banana Bread
250g plain flour
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
pinch of salt
115g butter, softened
115g dark brown soft sugar
2 eggs, beaten
3 large over-ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup of your favourite nuts, optional
| | | Preheat the oven to 180 C / Gas mark 4. Lightly grease a 23x13cm loaf tin. | |
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| | | In a large bowl, combine flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt. | |
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| | | In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour mixture into prepared loaf tin. | |
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| | | Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a knife inserted into centre of the loaf comes out clean. Leave to cool in tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire cooling rack. Enjoy! (I once again forgot to take my camera, so the phone had to do. This seems to become a common theme!) | |
Monday, 21 February 2011
A whole lotta pancake love
Every few months there seems to be a request from friends for a big pancake breakfast at mine. It has turned into one of my favourite ways to spend a Sunday morning or in yesterday's case lunchtime.
Ingredients:
good friends
a whole lotta love
stacks of pancakes
golden syrup
pancake syrup
real maple syrup
blueberries
raspeberries
strawberries
bananas
crushed nuts
butter
Greek yoghurt
black coffee
pots of tea
fresh orange juice
sunday papers
and good music
You can find the pancake recipe here.
Sunday, 30 January 2011
Lemon Meringue Pie
It's the last weekend in January, which means tax returns for many of my self-employed friends. I tried to do something to cheer L and H up a little and make sorting through mountains of receipts a little more bearable. I went round to their house and baked my first ever Lemon Meringue Pie. I also wanted it to be a little thank you, as they have been feeding me far too many nights in the last few weeks without me contributing much to any of it. So, girls, thank you! I hope you enjoyed the pie!
I got the recipe from the BBC Good Food website, but have copied it below for ease.
Lemon Meringue Pie
For the pastry:
175g plain flour
100g cold butter , cut in small pieces
1 tbsp icing sugar
1 egg yolk
For the filling:
2 level tbsp cornflour
100g golden caster sugar
finely grated zest 2 large lemon
125ml fresh lemon juice (from 2-3 lemons)
juice of 1 small orange
85g butter , cut into pieces
3 egg yolks
1 whole egg
For the meringue:
4 egg whites , room temperature
200g golden caster sugar
2 level tsp cornflour
For the pastry:
Put the flour, butter, icing sugar, egg yolk (save the white for the meringue) and 1 tbsp cold water into a food processor. Using the pulse button so the mix is not overworked, process until the mix starts to bind.
Tip the pastry onto a lightly floured surface, gather together until smooth, then roll out and line a 23 x 2.5cm loose-bottom fluted flan tin. Trim and neaten the edges. Press pastry into flutes. The pastry is quite rich, so don't worry if it cracks, just press it back together. Prick the base with a fork, line with foil, shiny side down, and chill for 1⁄2-1 hour (or overnight).
Put a baking sheet in the oven and heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6.
Bake the pastry case 'blind' (filled with dry beans) for 15 mins, then remove the foil and bake a further 5-8 mins until the pastry is pale golden and cooked. Set aside. (Can be done a day ahead if you want to get ahead.)
Lower the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4.
Mix the cornflour, sugar and lemon zest in a medium saucepan. Strain and stir in the lemon juice gradually. Make orange juice up to 200ml/7fl oz with water and strain into the pan. Cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and smooth.
Once the mixture bubbles, remove from the heat and beat in the butter until melted. Beat the egg yolks (save white for meringue) and whole egg together, stir into the pan and return to a medium heat. Keep stirring vigorously for a few minutes, until the mixture thickens and plops from the spoon.
Take off the heat and set aside while you make the meringue:
Put the egg whites in a large bowl. Whisk to soft peaks, then add half the sugar a spoonful at a time, whisking between each addition without overbeating. Whisk in the cornflour, then add the rest of the sugar as before until smooth and thick.
Quickly reheat the filling and pour it into the pastry case.
Immediately put spoonfuls of meringue around the edge of the filling, then spread so it just touches the pastry (this will anchor it and help stop it sliding). Pile the rest into the centre, spreading so it touches the surface of the hot filling, then give it all a swirl with a fork so you have nice peaks.
Return to the oven for 18-20 mins until the meringue is crisp and slightly coloured. Let the pie sit in the tin for 30 mins, then remove and leave for at least another 1⁄2-1 hr before slicing. I like to chill it in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving.
Enjoy.
Tuesday, 25 January 2011
Nigella's Chocolate Orange Loaf Cake
Well, it's Burns Night, but if you've come looking for haggis I have to disappoint you. I volunteered to bring the pudding to my friend H's Burns Night dinner and I know this isn't even Scottish, but nobody seemed to mind that it wasn't quite in keeping. There was not much left by the end, even though we had all had plenty of haggis, neeps and tatties.
I didn't have any unwaxed oranges, so left out the orange zest called for in the recipe, but I'm sure it is even better with it in, if that is possible. The cake is really moist and not too heavy. It will sink in the middle after coming out of the oven, but even Nigella's cake in the cookbook looks like that, and if it's good enough for her, it's good enough for me.
Now the only thing I can't wait for is longer days, so that I can take decent pictures in daylight again.
Chocolate Orange Loaf Cake
150gr soft unsalted butter, plus some extra for greasing the pan
2 tbsp golden syrup
175gr dark muscovado sugar
150gr plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
25gr best-quality cocoa powder, sifted
2 eggs
zest of 2 oranges and juice of 1 orange
Preheat your oven to 170C/Gas 3 and grease and line a 2lb loaf tin with baking paper.
In a large bowl beat the soft butter with the sugar and golden syrup until you have a smooth mixture.
Sift together the flour, bicarb of soda and cocoa powder in a separate bowl.
Beat one tablespoon of the dry ingredients into the creamed butter.
Add one egg and continue to beat before adding another couple of tablespoons of the dry ingredients and the other egg.
Continue to add the dry ingredients, before finally beating in the orange zest and lastly the orange juice. It says in the book that at that stage the batter might look as if it could be curdling a little but not to worry. That didn't happen with mine though, but as I said I left out the zest and that could have something to do with it.
Spoon the batter into your prepared tin and bake for 40-50 minutes. If you test the cake with a wooden skewer for doneness it will not come out completely clean as there should still be some moisture at the very centre, hence the sinking of the middle.
Leave to cool for a short while in its tine, before carefully turning it out and allowing it to cool completely on a wire rack.
Enjoy!
Monday, 17 January 2011
Roast Haunch of Venison
If I want to not default on my New Year's resolutions straight away, I better get posting.
This year I decided not to do the quintessential turkey for our Christmas Dinner and after some deliberating on what to do instead, it was the butcher that decided for me, by having venison haunches on offer. Perfect!
I apologise for the bad photo, but Christmas Dinner in our house is all about the sitting down together and having a good chat and a laugh, so there was no time for faffing about with my camera and I just got a quick shot of my brother carving in the kitchen. It really doesn't do it justice, but I guess you all know what a roast joint looks like anyways.
I chose a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe, as when it comes to meat (or most other foods) the man knows what he's doing. I did marinate the venison in buttermilk for 24 hours before preparing it. That removes some of the gamyness and also helps to keep it moist and tender.
Roast Haunch of Venison (serves 8-10)
1 haunch of venison, tunnel-boned
Salt and black pepper
6 fresh bay leaves
3 large sprigs thyme or rosemary (I used rosemary)
10-12 rashers streaky bacon
For the gravy
½ glass red wine
250ml game stock
Redcurrant jelly
Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/gas mark 7.
Season the haunch, and lay the bay leaves and thyme or rosemary over the meat. Place bacon over the herbs, covering the meat, and secure the package with butcher's string - you might find it helpful to use skewers to hold the fat in place while you work.
Weigh the joint. Place the joint in a large roasting tray and, if it's under 2kg, roast for 20 minutes, or 30 minutes if it's over 2kg. This 'sizzle' browns the joint beautifully. Turn down the oven to 170C/325F/gas mark 3 and roast for a further 12 minutes per 500g of meat. This should give you medium-rare meat: just pink in the middle.
While the meat is resting, make the gravy.
Skim off any fat from the juices in the roasting tin, then put the tin over a low heat, add the wine to deglaze, stirring well and scraping up all the bits of caramelised meat stuck to the bottom of the tin.
Add the stock and boil to reduce and concentrate the sauce. When the gravy has reached your required level of intensity, season and stir in a little redcurrant jelly. That hint of sweetness and sharpness is a perfect foil to the richness of the venison.
Carve the rested meat and serve with the strained gravy.
Enjoy!
Saturday, 1 January 2011
Happy New Year
Last year I began the year with a look back at my favourite recipes from the year passed, but I'm ashamed to say that there is not much point in doing that on this first day of 2011, as I was a terribly lazy blogger over the last twelve months and there is not much to choose from.
So, as I am sat here in a studio overlooking the hills in the Scottish Borders, thinking about and making resolutions and plans for this brand new year, one of the things that comes to mind straight away is to get this show on the road properly again. Well, now I've said it. You can all tell me off if I won't stick to it!
All the best for 2011 to you all. May some of your dreams come true, may you stay healthy and happy cooking!
Sylvie x
Thursday, 2 December 2010
Leon Book 2
I received a copy of Leon Book 2 to review in the post the other week and am only just getting round to sharing it now. Shame on me, because it definitely something to shout about.
If you have ever been to one of the Leon restaurants in London you will know that their slogan is 'naturally fast food' and you will also know that their food is pretty good. Well, with their second cookbook published there is no excuse not to try some of it at home should you not find yourself anywhere near London.
I love the look of the book. It's full of not only great recipes, but also handy tips, great quirky images and graphics and some lovely anecdotes. In short, it's my kind of cookbook.
The first half of the book is full of 'fast food', with recipes that take no more then 20 minutes to make. The second half is all about 'slow fast food' with recipes that can be made ahead and finished quickly when you need them. And even though it's all about 'fast' food, at the same time it's about quality, freshness, sustainability and seasonal produce.
I have earmarked plenty of recipes to try and can't wait to get cooking! So look out for some of those to follow shortly.
The book is published by Octopus Publishing and is £20 RRP.
