Cyder with Eloise

April 18, 2010

Kohlslaw

Filed under: Recipies — Tags: — tamara @ 6:19 pm

If you have not tried kohlrabi before then I would describe the texture like the heart of a cabbage but the taste is milder, slightly like an under ripe Galia melon. I prefer it raw and chopped into a salad, but it can be cooked just like cabbage too.

This is my recipe for coleslaw made with kohlrabi in place of cabbage.
(Image from: Lawrence Farmers’ Market’s photostream)

Kohlslaw
1 small onion, grated
1 carrot, grated
1/2 kohlrabi, grated
3 tbsp mayonnaise – see below.
Juice of 1 lemon
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Just mix up all ingredients together in a bowl.

Mayonnaise – makes approximately 10 oz
1 large egg
3 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp caster sugar
2 tsp capers, chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
3 tbsp ciger vinegar
1/2 tsp salt & black pepper
200ml extra virgin olive oil
200ml sunflower oil

In a food mixer blend the egg, mustard, sugar, capers, garlic, vinegar, salt & pepper.
Slowly pour the oil into the mixer, blending all the time. If you keep the oil pouring in a very slow steady stream the mayonnaise will take about 5 minutes to thicken.
The mayonnaise should keep for a fortnight in the fridge.

March 9, 2010

Broccoli & Bacon Flan

Filed under: Recipies — Tags: , , , , — tamara @ 7:00 pm

There was an argument in the office the other day over the differences between a Flan and Quiche. I’m not sure who won, but I’m calling this a Flan as it can be served hot or cold and it’s not quite as eggy as a Quiche. If you have a definitive answer the this debate then please let me know.

This is also a great way to use up some otherwise forgotten greens. I thought my broccoli had given all it could the other week and was ready to pull her up but she is still producing some very small buds but along side the buds some very tasty fresh leaves. You can use other greens in place of the broccoli such as spring greens, kale or even beetroot tops.

Short Crust Pastry
225g Plain Flour – Sifted
Pinch of SaltBroccoli Flan
50g Lard – Cubed
50g Butter – Cubed
1 cup Cold Water

Flan Filling
1 Onion, finely chopped
1 Celery stalk, finely chopped
50g Butter
1 Garlic clove, crushed
50g Bacon, diced
150g Sprouting broccoli leaves, finely sliced
150g Cheese, such as gruyere, grated with extra for the topping.
2 Eggs, beaten
Salt & black pepper

Method
To make the pastry, rub the lard & butter into the flour and salt to until the mixture is like fine breadcrumbs.
Sprinkle enough water over the crumbs to bring the pastry together, but not too wet.
Knead lightly on a floured surface until smooth.
Wrap the pastry in cling film and refrigerate until required.
Preheat the oven to gas mark 5 (190c/375f). Roll out the pastry to fit your pie dish. Cover with greaseproof paper and blind bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Keep any off cuts of pastry as you can cut them into 1cm strips to line the top of the flan.
Fry the bacon in a pan until crispy and set aside on some kitchen paper, to remove some of the fat.
Cook the onion and celery in the butter until soft, be careful not to brown the onion as this will taint the flavour of the egg later. Add the garlic, broccoli leaves and bacon and cook until the leaves start to soften, then remove from the heat and stir in the egg and cheese and add some salt & pepper for seasoning. Empty the filling into the pie casing. Use any left over pastry to line the top of the flan, brush over the exposed pastry with egg white or milk and sprinkle on the remaining cheese.
Bake for 25 minutes.

February 9, 2010

Bringing in the Seasons

Filed under: Almanac — Tags: — tamara @ 7:20 pm

We have all been noticing the days getting longer, today it was still light when I got home from work. It’s making me think about what we are going to be growing in our mini veg patch this year. We only pulled up the last of our leeks at the weekend and have a small sprouting broccoli plant still on the go, but soon he will have to come out too so that we can turn the soil over. I actually still have some lettuces in pots that have survived the winter, next year I’ll take more care of them knowing that they grow that well, these have become a little old and tough.

seasons

Photo Credits:
Spring
Summer
Autum
Winter

December 13, 2009

When in the face of adversity – Cook.

Filed under: Blog,Recipies — Tags: , , , , , , , — tamara @ 2:11 pm

Our fridge freezer has broken down. I’ve not started to panic yet, luckily my mother has some room in her freezer for storage but there is still a lot of food that I need to save. I’m just praying when they come to fix it next week I will not hear the words “we’ll not be able to get the part before Christmas”.

When we lived in Canada I remember at this time of year we could open the back door and use the wall of snow as a deep freeze.

All the beautiful fruit I had stored to see me through to next summer I’m going to have to find a new way to eat up or preserve for the next few weeks.

Fruit leathers are essentially dried fruit puree’s. Cut into strips and rolled up, these thin, pliable sheets of fruit make tasty and relatively healthy sweets, they will keep in the fridge for up to a month or can be frozen – if you have a freezer!

This recipe is taken directly from the book preserves by Pam Corbin
. She calls it a fruit leather but we have been making beef jerky this week so I’m following a theme.

Apple & Blackberry Jerky

Ingredients
500g blackberries
500g apples, peel cored & chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
150g wild flower honey

Method
Preheat the oven to a very low setting – I use 60C. Line two baking sheets, measuring about 24 x 30cm, with baking parchment.
Put the blackberries, apples and lemon juice into a pan. Cook gently until soft and pulpy, about 20 minutes. Rub the mixture through a sieve or mouli into a bowl; you should have about 700g smooth fruit puree. Add the honey and mix well.
Divide the puree between the two baking sheets. Spread it out lightly with the back of a spoon until the puree covers the sheets in a thin, even layer.
Put the baking sheets in the oven and leave for 12-18 hours, until the fruit puree is completely dry and peels off the parchment easily. Roll up the leather in greaseproof paper and store in an airtight tin. Use within 5 months.

Variations
There is no end to the possible variations here – you can turn any fruit into a leather. All you need do is create a smooth thick puree with your chosen fruit before drying it out. Try plums, spicing the puree with a little cinnamon; or peaches, infusing them with a few honeysuckle blossoms as they cook. For a savory leather use half and half apples and tomatoes seasoned with celery salt.

November 27, 2009

Brussel Sprouts with Bacon

Filed under: Recipies — Tags: , — tamara @ 11:16 am

My general policy is that I will not post a recipie unless I have recently tried it, however my brother has asked for this and if I wait until after I have cooked it on Christmas day then his guests will be sorely dissapointed.

For 4 people:

Ingredients:
100g pine nuts
1 tbsp oil
4 rashers of ‘streaky’ bacon – chopped
As many sprouts as you can eat
25g butter
Black pepper
75g pre cooked chestnuts

Method:
Cook the sprouts in boiling water to you liking – I prefer them still with some crunch.
Heat up the frying pan and put in the pine nuts; dry-fry shaking the pan until they start to colour, remove from the pan and put to one side.
Heat the oil in the frying pan and fry bacon until crispy, set to one side on some kitchen towel.
Boil the sprouts for about 10 mins (keep checking them if they are soft then stop), and drain.
Drain the sprouts and return to the empty pan, add butter, black pepper and then the bacon & pine nuts, mix well together. Serve with the crumbled chestnuts on top.

November 1, 2009

Mint Sauce with Lemonbalm

Filed under: Recipies,bramptondeli — Tags: , , — tamara @ 7:16 pm

This makes a change from the old classic, with the lemon balm adding an extra dimension.

Ingredients:
75g Mint
25g Lemon balm
400ml Cider Vinegar
140g Caster Sugar

Method:
Wash and dry the leaves then finely chop. Put the leaves into 3 x 8oz (or 5 x 4oz) sterilized jam jars, to fill about 3/4 of the jar.
Dissolve the sugar in a pan with the cider vinegar, and pour over the leaves to fill the jars.
Store in a dark cupboard for at least 1 month before using.

Visit the Brampton Deli store.

October 30, 2009

Toffee Apple Pie

Filed under: Recipies — Tags: , , , , — tamara @ 4:00 pm

In a nod to Halloween this week, here is a recipe for toffee apple pie.

Serves 4

Ingredients:
4 Large Cooking Apples – Peeled and Sliced
75g Butter
75g Light Brown Muscovado Sugar
100ml Cider
1/4 tsp Mixed Spice
1 tbsp Golden Syrup
Sweet Short Crust Pastry

Method:
Pre heat oven to gas mark 6.
Use 1/2 the pastry to line a pie dish.
Melt the butter in a pan and add the rest of the ingredients (except the syrup), simmer until the apples start to soften.
Remove the apples with a slotted spoon from the pan and layer in the pie dish.
Add the syrup to the remaining sauce in the pan and bring to the boil till the sauce starts to reduce into a thick toffee mixture.
Spoon the mixture over the apples.
Roll out the remaining pastry to cover the pie dish. Brush with egg white and make a small hole in the middle of the pastry to let the air escape.
Bake for 25 minutes. Serve with vanilla ice cream or custard.

October 29, 2009

Pumpkin Soup

Filed under: Recipies — Tags: , , , , , — tamara @ 5:07 pm

This recipe was inspired by “Zuppa di zucca” – from the The River Cafe Cook Book.
However after many years of cooking this now, I look back at the original recipe and I think I have finally achieved what I can call my own version.

Keep the seeds from the pumpkin, as if you can get it right they taste delicious roasted. I’m still trying to perfect this myself but have a look at Molly Irwin’s blog for a simple method.

Serves 8

Ingredients:
1.5kg Pumpkin or Squash – Peeled and Thickly Sliced
2 tsp Oregano
2 tsp Basil
1 tsp Sage
6 tbsp Olive Oil
50g Butter
2 Red Onions – Finely Chopped
150g New Potatoes – Halved
2 Garlic Cloves – Sliced
2 Chilli’s
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Coriander
1/2 tsp Turmeric
50ml Tomato Purée
Sea Salt and Black Pepper to taste
1 litre Vegetable Stock

Method:
Layer the pumpkin on a baking tray and sprinkle with oregano, basil, sage, salt & pepper, then drizzle with 1/2 the olive oil.
Roast the pumpkin on Gas Mark 5 for 30 minutes turning once.
Remove the pumpkin from the oven and cool slightly before chopping into cubes.
Heat the oil and butter in a large saucepan and gently fry the onion until soft.
Stir in the garlic, pumpkin and potatoes and continue to cook for a minute.
Add the spices, salt and pepper.
Add enough stock to just cover the pumpkin. Turn down the heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender ~about 25 minutes.
Purée the mixture and then return to the saucepan and add more stock as required.
Check for seasoning.

October 27, 2009

Beetroot Brownies

Filed under: Recipies — Tags: , — tamara @ 9:19 am

I have tried a few beetroot brownie recipes since HFW did them on River Cottage last year, however this is a recipe that is gluten free for my grandmother as she can not eat wheat flour. The hazelnuts I add for an extra taste of autumn (and they are Lenny’s favourite), but you can substitute ground almonds for a more subtle flavour.

Ingredients:
100g Hazelnuts
250g 75% Dark Chocolate
200g Butter
250g Cooked and Puréed Beetroot
3 Medium Eggs
1/2 tsp Vanilla Essence
200g Caster Sugar
75g Rice Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder

Method:
Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4.
Roast the hazelnuts on a baking tray for 10 minutes, turning occasionally and checking they are not browning too much.
Once roasted, grind as finely as possible in a pestle & mortar, coffee grinder or food processor.
Melt the chocolate and butter in a bain-marie, or glass dish over simmering water.
Mix together the beetroot, eggs, vanilla essence, sugar and melted chocolate mix.
Fold in the rice flour, baking powder and hazelnuts.
Line a baking tin with greaseproof paper and pour in the mixture.
Bake for 35 mins. Test to see if the brownies are cooked using a skewer, however unlike a cake it should be slightly soft and sticky in the middle.
Leave to cool before cutting into squares.

October 25, 2009

Green Tomato Chutney

Filed under: Recipies,bramptondeli — Tags: , , , , — tamara @ 5:10 pm

The clocks have turned back and it’s time to pull up the last of the tomatoes. We have had a superb run this year and I have become addicted to my slow roasted tomato recipe, however, today I have to find a use for all the lovely green ones left behind. We don’t have a greenhouse so they will not ripen on the plants now.

Last Tomatoes01This chutney has been modified from a recipe by Floyd On Britain & Ireland. As with any pickles and chutneys it should really be about what you have to hand and want to preserve, adding your own touch to the recipes is all part of the fun.

Ingredients:
15g Root Ginger
5 Green Chillies
1kg Green Tomatoes – Chopped
250g Apples – Peeled & Chopped
100g Currents
250g Onions – Chopped
1tsp salt
250g Dark Brown Sugar
250ml Malt Vinegar
100ml Cider Vinegar

Method:
Bruise the ginger keeping the skin on, this will release the heat. Tie in a muslin bag along with the chillies.
Place all the ingredients in a preserving pan.
Bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Remove any scum from the top.
Simmer until the desired consistency is reached ~ 1 hour.
Remove the muslin bag and pour into sterilised jars, seal immediately.

NB: This recipe will fill 6 x 8oz jam jars.

Visit the Brampton Deli store.

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