recipe and cooking video: 2012

Monday, March 19, 2012

Matcha Spelt Castella

Castella, (or Kasutera) soft, delicate with sweet aroma, is a highly popular Japanese sponge cake, raised only by the air incorporated into the eggs and oil-free. The origin of castella is believed to have come from Portuguese merchants who introduced European sweets to Nagasaki Japan in the 16th century.

Castella cake is traditionally baked in a wood box, which helps to bake the cake evenly, but a standard baking tin would work just great. Unlike most cakes, castella cake is baked with bread flour (I used spelt bread flour), not cake or all purpose flour.

There are now many varieties of this sponge cake made with chocolate, honey, green tea, and brown sugar. If you have baked other foam cakes before, the process of creating castella is quite similar. Please do drop by Biren of Roti & Rice to read all the detailed instructions with beautiful photos. And if you are interested in learning more background of castella, please refer to Wise Geek.

You can also find castella on

Anncoo Journal

Nasi Lemak Lover

No Frills Recipes

120 g Spelt bread flour
13 g Matcha tea powder
Pinch of salt
5 Large egg whites, at room temperature
5 Large egg yolks, at room temperature
130 g White fine sugar
20 ml Medium sweet sherry
20 g Honey

Line an 8-inch / 20x20-cm rectangular baking dish with aluminum foil. Whisk and sieve spelt bread flour, matcha powder and salt together 2-3 times into a mixing bowl. Warm sherry and honey in a bowl over a pot of hot water, stirring until honey completely dissolves. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 160C/320F.
Beat the egg whites in the bowl of your stand mixer at high speed until foamy, about 30 seconds. Beat in sugar in 3 additions until firm peaks form, about 3-4 minutes. Add in egg yolks, one at a time, at medium-low speed until well combined, about 1 minute.
Now add in prepared flour mixture, still at medium-low speed, and stir until just combined. Pour in the sherry-honey mixture and continue to stir for another minute until well-combined and smooth.
Pour the cake batter from a 30-cm / 1-foot height directly into the prepared baking dish. Tap the baking dish on the counter to remove bubbles. Using a spatula, smooth the surface to remove any remaining bubbles.
Bake in the center of the hot oven for 50 minutes until evenly brown. Remove and drop it from a 30-cm / 1-foot height onto the counter to prevent shrinkage. Cool the cake on the counter for 5 minutes. Lift the cake from the pan and invert it onto a piece of parchment paper. Peel the aluminum foil. Wrap the cake with a plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator overnight to preserve moisture.
To serve, trim off the sides of the cake with a sharp serrated knife, then cut up into the even slices.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Pineapple Apple Salsa

A delicious blend of fresh pineapple, apples, tomatoes, onions and rock leaves makes up this sweet, spicy and tangy fruit salsa. Enjoy them as a snack with some taco chips or serve with an array of seafood.

300 g Fresh pineapple, chopped
2 Apples, diced
1-2 Tomatoes, diced
1 Small purple onion, finely chopped
1/2 Yellow onion, finely chopped
1/4 Red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 handful Rocket leaves, chopped
1 clove Garlic, minced
2 tbsp Fresh lime juice
1 tsp Honey
1/2 tsp Chilli flakes

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour to allow the flavours to blend together.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Haddock chowder

We have moved out of our house and are living with my parents, in order to allow our builders to build a kitchen extension in peace, without Giles tearing down the stairs every few minutes telling them they're doing it all wrong.

I sort of hate myself for having the extension done. It's so predictable. But we did such an awful, half-arsed job of dragging the house into the 21st Century during the last round of building works that this is sort of essential. Didn't Simone de Beauvoir say something about those being confined to the domestic sphere contrive to make it complicated or something...? Well I am confined to the domestic sphere and I contrive to make it flipping complicated.

So we're living in my parents' giant house in Hampstead Garden Suburb, back in my old room, Kitty banged up downstairs in a room that has only ever, I think, been a spare room.

My overwhelming emotion being here is one of penance. I wasn't a particularly horrible child or teenager, I don't think, but I was very untidy. My room, really one of the nicest in the house, was always strewn with clothes and general crap and I would leave dirty mugs and plates lying around everywhere.

Now I'm back, I am hellbent on being fastidiously tidy. I want to let my mother know, without actually saying anything, that I am sorry for not understanding when I was a teenager what a fucking pain in the arse keeping a house tidy is and how depressing it is walking into someone else's incredibly disgustingly messy room is.

Over the last few weeks, in my new mania for trying to keep my own house tidy, I have learnt this: if you tidy something away, or fold something up, or wipe down a surface, you instantly forget about it. And when you return, it is AS NICE as if SOMEONE ELSE has done it for you.

Of course a major benefit of living with one's parents is 1) free evening babysitting and 2) someone else making dinner.

Last night we had haddock chowder and it was just sublime. This is technically cullen skink, but I didn't want to call it that because every time I have come across a recipe for cullen skink I have skipped past it, assuming that it is some monstrously fishy yukky horror using a mackerel-like thing called a skink - and I can only assume that you are as thick as me.

My quantities here are not exact, but it's not an exact thing.
Haddock chowder (or cullen skink)
1/2 fillet haddock per person
bunch parsely
medium onion, chopped
two sticks celery, chopped
2 rashers bacon, CHOPPED
butter
salt and pepper
1 potato per person, diced
1 litre fish stock, made with any old fish stock cube
300ml single or whipping cream

1 Sweat the onions and celery with a generous knob of butter - about 50g - for at least 15 mins. If you want to be really classy, lay a sheet of greaseproof paper between your pan and your lid. It is very important to cook the onions through because otherwise the cream will curdle later - I don't know why.

2 Add the bacon and turn in the pan for a few minutes, then add the potato. Add the fish and then pour over the fish stock until everything is covered. Simmer all this for about 10 minutes, or until the potato is tender. Finish with the cream and some chopped parsley. Season. We ate this with sheets of cheddar laid across the top, which was terrific. Kitty ate the leftovers the next day.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Spelt Blood Orange Crostata

A crostata is an Italian tart with fruit or cream filling that is baked flat on a pastry crust rather than in a tart pan. Crostata can be prepared with seasonal fruit, as well as any range of canned preserves and even with canned fruits. It’s easy to make and great for a family dessert or a sweet treat at a party.

Spelt Blood Orange Crostata

adapted from Food and Wine

Short Crust Pastry	Filling
140 g Spelt pastry flour 20 g Superfine sugar 1/4 tsp Salt 110 g Unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes 30 ml Ice water Flour for dusting	8 Blood oranges (about 5 ounces each) 40 g Light brown sugar 15 g Butter 1 Egg yolk 2 tbsp Water

To make the pastry, freeze the butter cubes on a baking sheet for 10 minutes. Place the spelt flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter cubes, and toss with your fingers to coat each cube with the flour. Pulse quickly on and off until the mixture is the size of small peas. Add the ice water and pulse several times until until moistened crumbs form. Turn the crumbs out onto a work surface and shape into a rough ball. Wrap the dough in plastic and chill for 30 minutes or until firm.
Roll the dough into an 11-inch circle on a lightly floured surface and transfer it to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate for 15 minutes until chilled.
Meanwhile, peel the blood oranges, removing all of the bitter white pith. Thinly slice 2 of the oranges crosswise. Remove the pits and place the orange slices to a plate. Working over a sieve set over a bowl, cut in between the membranes of the remaining oranges, releasing the sections into the sieve. Remove the pits and gently shake out as much juice as possible without mashing the sections. You will need 1 cup of sections. Reserve the orange juice for another use.
Arrange the orange sections on the pastry, leaving a 2-inch border all around. Sprinkle half of the light brown sugar over the oranges. Using a paring knife, thinly slice the butter over the oranges. Fold the dough border toward the center of the tart, , leaving most of the oranges uncovered.
Beat the egg yolk and water in a small bowl. Brush the pastry with the egg wash and sprinkle with half of the remaining brown sugar. Arrange the orange slices on top, leaving a 1-inch border of pastry all around. Sprinkle the rest of brown sugar on top. Freeze the tart until solid, at least 4 hours or preferably overnight.
Preheat the oven to 190C/375F and position a rack in the center. Bake the tart directly from the freezer for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the fruit is bubbling and the pastry is deeply browned. Remove and cool the tart on a rack for 10 minutes and serve warm, with whipped cream or caramel sauce if desired.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Chinese Red Dates and Seeds Power Bars

These homemade power bars are absolutely delicious, filling, and they're packed with protein, healthy unsaturated fats, fiber and antioxidant. They take little time to make and you can vary the ingredients to satisfy the personal taste, be creative and enjoy!

Chinese Red Dates and Seeds Power Bars

Inspired by Robyn Cooks

10 g Flaxseed, ground
45 ml Warm water
100 g Old-fashioned rolled oats
30 g Dried Chinese red dates, chopped
150 g Roasted pepitas, or sunflower seeds
30 g Raisins
120 g Sesame paste
3 tbsp Maple syrup
1 tsp Vanilla extract
2 Ripe banana, mashed

Preheat oven to 175C/350F. Stir together the ground flaxseed and the water in a small bowl and let soak for 10 minutes until it forms a gel.
Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, combine the oats, dried Chinese red dates, and roasted pepitas.
In a separate medium microwave-safe bowl, microwave the sesame paste, inverted sugar syrup, and vanilla for 30 seconds. Stir together until well mixed. Add the banana and mash with a fork to combine. Stir in the gelatinized flax mixture.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Press the mixture firmly into a lightly greased 20x22-cm baking dish and bake for 15 minutes.
Remove and cool in the pan on the counter for 15-20 minutes, then chill in the fridge for about 45 minutes before slicing. Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 5 days, or individually wrap and freeze for up to 2 months.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Spring green noodles

This is a really marvellous thing to do if you feel like you ought to be eating leafy greens, but you'd rather have a plate of pasta instead. Particularly relevant to me because my diet is so awful at the moment. What I ate today:

- half a bagel with jam
- chocolate croissant
- 1/4 of a large pork pie
- I am about to eat some chocolate cake

Anyway, we had this the other night with baked gurnard (don't ask) and it was absolutely terrific and made me feel better about the straight white carbs and e-numbers of the day.

Spring green noodles
for 2

2 nests medium egg noodles (I like Blue Dragon but any old thing will do)
about 4 shakes of light soy sauce
3 splats of oyster sauce
two big handfuls of spring greens

1 Boil and drain the noodles. Drizzle over a bit of olive oil to stop them sticking

2 Roughly cop or scissor your spring greens. And I mean roughly - they will wilt down a lot on cooking

3 Cook down your spring greens in a frying pan with a sprinkling of water and some veg oil. When they look quite collapsed toss in the noodles, soy and oyster sauce. If you wanted to add anything else like chilli or spring onion, I'm sure that would be delicious.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Dutch Crunchy Whole Wheat Bread

Dutch crunch is one of many names (tiger bread, giraffe bread, or mottled bread) given to the bread made with a distinct mottled topping, which is made with rice flour, yeast, oil, salt, sugar and water. Mine actually has more resemblance to a tortoise. The crust tastes slightly sweet and crunchy. It’s best beaten the day they were baked or the crust will lose its crunchiness and become soft. These bread rolls go great with soup or salad.

If you brush the paste on the dough before the final proofing stage, the mottling is greater and brushing it on just right before baking results in a more even coating. The paste is fermented by the yeast, and it grows while the dough grows. But because the rice flour has very little gluten to hold it together, it spreads apart and then gelatinizes and caramelizes when the bread is baked. Besides rice flour, other low-gluten flours, like semolina flour, potato starch could be the ideal alternatives.

Dutch Crunchy Whole Wheat Bread

inspired by

Baking Bites

Baking with Passion by Dan Lepard, Richard Whittington

©Baking with Passion Page 61

The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart

©The Bread Baker's Apprentice Page 264

Bread	Dutch Crunchy
20 g Rye flour 100 g Water 185 g Milk 1 Egg 50 g Olive oil 50 g Sugar 7 g Salt 285 g Bread flour 280 g Whole wheat, ground 7 g Instant dried yeast	100 ml Water, lukewarm 3 g Instant dried yeast 100 g Rice flour 15 ml Corn oil 30 g Caster sugar 1/4 tsp Salt

Combine together rye flour and water in a small pot until the mixture is well blended and lump free. Cook the mixture over the medium heat, frequently stirring, until it has turned into a thick paste and the thermometer reads about 65C/150F. It takes about 2-3 minutes. Cool the mixture to the room temperature and cover with a plastic wrap while you prepare other ingredients.
In the pan of your bread machine, pour in prepared rye paste, milk, egg, olive oil, sugar, salt, bread flour, ground whole wheat, and the yeast. Program the bread machine to dough cycle.
Mix up the ingredients of topping until well-combined and smooth about 35 minutes before the end of the dough cycle. Cover and let rise in a warm place until bubbly and doubled in volume.
After the machine has beeped to indicate the dough cycle is done, scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and press it down to flatten. Divide the dough into 4 portions of 70 grams and 3 portions of 240 grams.
Shape each portion of dough into a round. Place 3 portions of 240 grams dough balls in a standard loaf pan and 4 portions of 70 grams dough balls on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
Stir the coating and spread the mixture evenly over the top of each bread. Let rise, uncovered, 45 minutes, until loaf rises level with the top of the pan and the rolls are doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 190C/375F. Place the bread in the oven and bake 20 minutes for the bread rolls, 35 minutes for the loaf, until they are beautifully golden brown and crisp.

Friday, March 2, 2012

Cinnamon buns for the weekend

Another absolutely terrific recipe from my editor-at-large, Emfrid... take it away you hot crazy Scandi mutha:

A warm cinnamon bun is my favourite sweet thing to eat, and it’s an EXCELLENT choice for comfort food. Trust me. They’re pretty much a staple throughout Sweden – you’ll find them in every bakery, café and shop across the land. Subsequently there are approximately 3745 different recipe versions for these bad boys. The one I use is a bastardisation of the recipe my mum always made and my own modifications. I do use a lot of cinnamon –if you think it might be a bit too strong for you reduce the quantity. But it is MEANTto taste strongly of cinnamon is all I’m saying.

It may seem a little faffy to make these but it’s really not that hard and anyway, the end result is well worth it. I like to swing the dough together in the morning, leave it to rise for a good while and then put Goblin down for a nap, pour a glass of wine, plug the iPod in (I’d recommend the soundtrack to ‘Drive’ for this) at a tinnitus-inducing volume and proceed to knead the SHIT out of that dough. It’s therapeutic. Yes.

I prefer to use fresh yeast if possible, because that’s what my mum – and the rest of Sweden - use. You can get fresh yeast from certain supermarkets (Morrisons in Letchworth stocks it, which is the only positive thing I have to say about THAT place), health shops, or, if you’re in London, Scandi shops such as Scandi Kitchen or Totally Swedish. If there’s no fresh yeast readily available fret not – you can use dry yeast instead, added to the dry ingredients rather than the wet.

This will yield about 40-45 buns which may seem a lot, butit’s not really. They will go. Fast. I once ate 11 of these suckers in one sitting, and I DIDN’T EVEN FEEL SICK. However, if you do possess willpower they will freeze very well.

For the dough you’ll need:
50g fresh yeast (or 2 x 7g sachets dry yeast)
150g butter
500ml whole milk
1000g strong bread flour
100g caster sugar
1 egg
½ tsp salt
1tsp ground cardamom – optional, but as far as I’m concerned it really makes the bun. I’ve never been able to find ready ground cardamom inthe UK, and if you can’t either it’s time to get cosy with your mortar and pestle. You’ll need the seeds from about 20 cardamom pods.

For the filling:
150-200 g softened butter, cubed (yes, this might seem likea mighty shitload, but remember it’s divided up between 40 or so buns. At least that's what I tell myself)
3-4 tbsp ground cinnamon
100g sugar - I like to use brown, but white will work just aswell.

Plus:

1 egg for brushing
Pearl sugar – very optional indeed, because it’s a bitch toget hold of. If you can’t find, leave it. I often do.

1. Crumble the fresh yeast into a big bowl. Melt the butter then add the milk and warm the mixture until it is finger warm (bodytemperature - about 37c). Pour the milk and butter mixture over the yeast and stir until all the yeast dissolves.

2. Add the sugar, salt, cardamom, egg and, gradually, most of the flour (you’ll want to hold some flour back for kneading). If you use dry yeast, add it with the flour here. Work the dough together until it’s shiny and no longer sticks to the bowl. Sprinkle over a little flour, cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise in a dry, warm place for at least 30 minutes, by which time it will have roughly doubled in size.
3. While the dough is rising mix together the softened butter, sugar and cinnamon. Cover with cling film and leave in room temperature until you need it. You want it so soft as to be spreadable, so chilling it inthe fridge might leave it too hard and cold.
4. When the dough is done rising tip it out onto a floured surface and knead, working through the rest of the flour if needed. You want it pliable and airy, not too dry.

5. Divide the dough up in four equal parts. Roll out each part into a vaguely rectangular shape (mine normally look more amoeba than rectangle, so don’t worry too much about it), approx 3-5mm thick. Using abutter knife or similar, spread on a generous amount of the filling. Roll it up lengthways, into a kinda Swiss roll looking thing. Then cut it into pieces of equal size, approx 2-3 centimetres thick.

6. Place your buns cut side up onto greased baking plates,or into big muffin forms. Leave plenty of space between your buns – they will double in size. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rise again for 30 mins.

7. While the buns are rising preheat the oven to 220C for a fan oven – adjust the temp according to what type of oven you own. I like to place my buns on the stove top so the heat helps them rise even more.

8. When doubled in size, beat up an egg and brush the bunswith the egg wash. Sprinkle over the pearl sugar if using – I tend to do halfwith the sugar, half without. Then bake in the oven for about 5-10 minutes. Do keep an eye on them – ovens, as we know, are notoriously fickle bastards. Then let cool for bit under a tea towel, before gleefully stuffing your face.

These are best eaten warm and oven fresh, but as I said, they freeze well. Just defrost them and heat through in the oven at about 150C for about five minutes. You could also nuke them in the microwave for about 30 seconds or so but they won’t be quite as nice.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Belgian Endive, Radicchio, and Blood Orange Salad

A simple, fresh tossed salad with Belgian endive, radicchio, and blood oranges dressed with avocado oil and Balsamic cream. Gorgonzola can be added to the salad to balance bitter radicchio and give contrast to the sweetness of blood oranges.

1 head Belgian endive
1/2 head Radicchio
2 Blood oranges or valencia
Butter lettuce (optional)
50 g Gorgonzola (optional)
1 small handful Parsley leaves
Balsamic cream
Avocado oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut the Belgian endives into bite-size pieces, or cut lengthwise into 8 wedges, discarding the hard inner core. Tear the radicchio, butter lettuce if used, into bite-size pieces too. Cut all peel and white pith from oranges. Cut between membranes of oranges to release the segments into a bowl.
Toss all the prepared vegetables with diced Gorgonzola, if used, in a large serving dish. Arrange orange segments over. Garnish with the chopped parsley leaves. Drizzle the salad with balsamic cream and avocado oil. Season to taste with sea salt and pepper.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Courgette polpette

My sisters and I grew up on a diet of fish fingers, beans, sausages, spaghetti bolognese, toast, scrambled egg, chips and boil in the bag cod with rice. My mother occasionally made a concession to our general education, by giving us Alphabites, with which we would construct rude words on our plates. We never had to eat vegetables or salad or anything we didn't want to, although it was always available.

Eventually we started eating that stuff of our own accord ,when we reached an age when we thought eating vegetables might make us thin and get rid of our spots. (Misguided of course. In order to be thin it doesn't matter what you eat, as long as you eat almost none of it, and in order to get rid of your spots you need some sort of pharmaceutical assistance.)

So I do not labour under a thing where I think Kitty ought to be eating a lot of fruit and vegetables. Do you even really NEED fruit and vegetables up until the age of about 12? I thought all babies and toddlers and small children need is carbohydrate and a bit of protein. That's all they want anyway. That and the food group known as CAKE.

Anyway it's a good thing I am very relaxed about all this, because Kitty doesn't want to eat any of that vegetable shit, thanks very much. She used to make a good fist of eating broccoli but now doesn't care for it much. From 8 months old onwards she has survived on about seven different kinds of spoonable stew that we make and freeze, mostly bean and animal fat-based.

And she has never, ever been interested in fruit. I must have placed a hundred different pieces of banana, apple, grape and clementine segment on her tray table only for her to discard them with various different disgusted faces. She did once put a piece of banana in her mouth, while mesmerised by one of her cousins - but I think she thought it was cheese.

Now she has reached a stage where she won't eat anything she hasn't eaten before. She will put it in her mouth but then hook it out with her forefinger with the word "Mmlair". Or simply open her little beak and let the food roll out.

The fact that you cannot bribe, cajole or otherwise force a pre-verbal toddler to eat something it doesn't want to is both frightening and liberating. She doesn't want it. There's nothing I can do except try again another time.

But even though I privately think that she can eat whatever the hell she wants, I must maintain a pretence in front of my husband and other middle-class people that I think she needs to eat vegetables.

So I purchased the River Cottage Babies and Toddlers Cookbook and set about making what I thought looked like a very tasty fingerfood, called Courgette Polpette.

They are really, really yummy and easy and I heartily recommend them as a delicious canape for your next soiree. Kitty hated them, obviously. But, thankfully, I don't give a fuck.

Courgette polpette

500g courgettes, finely diced
Grated zest of 1/2 a lemon
1 beaten egg
2 tbsp grated parmesan or pecorino
1/2 ball mozarella
50g breadcrumbs
1 tbsp chopped parsely
1 garlic clove, finely sliced or grated
salt and pepper

1 Heat some oil in a frying pan and fry the courgette over a medium flame for 10 minutes (time it) until they have taken a bit of colour and have collapsed just slightly

2 Allow to cool for as long as you can be bothered and then combine with all the other ingredients. The mixture will be quite wet and sticky

3 Form walnut-sized blobs and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes and serve ~~to your baby~~ with prosecco.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Green Peas Spelt Cookies

These crunchy, melt-in-mouth green pea cookies, mainly prepared with spelt flour, ground green peas, peanut oil, and icing sugar, are commonly baked for the Spring Festival celebration, but they are an outright winner any time of year.

Green Peas Spelt Cookies

adapted from No-Frills Recipes

330 g Spelt pastry flour
3/4 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Baking powder
260 g Shelled green peas, finely ground
150 g Powdered sugar
200 ml Peanut or corn oil
1 Egg yolk
1/2 tsp Water
1 tbsp Sesame seeds

Sift the spelt pastry flour, salt, baking powder, finely ground shelled green peas, and powdered sugar into a large bowl. Set aside.
Slowly pour in oil and mix until the mixture forms a soft and pliable dough. Cover with a plastic wrap and allow it to rest for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll the dough into inch balls and arrange them on the prepared baking sheets.
Stir the egg yolk and water in a small bowl. Brush the top of each cookie with egg glaze and sprinkle some sesame seeds over. Bake for 15 minutes until the tops are golden brown.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Banana bread for Dory

I often, as you might guess, struggle to feel positive about stuff. Any small knock can send me spiralling into an unwashed, disconsolate, uninspired, make-up free bundle of nerves. In recent times, Kitty being ill has been a sure-fire way of me plummeting into despair. A tiny cough, a bout of teething, a sticky eye and I'm moping round the house with eye bags and dirty hair, snapping at my husband and refusing to do any washing up or laundry.

But recently, I've been fighting back. Kitty's been ill for about a week now. Started with a hacking cough, graduated to full-on fever, dull eyes, sporadic weeping (mainly at 3am) etc. It's been pretty tough. Our new plan of action is to have dinner eaten by 8pm and be in bed asleep by 9pm so that when 2/3am comes around and with it an hour or so of analgesic administration, cooing and soothing, we are prepared for it and not utterly fucked by 7am the next morning because we stayed up until 11pm watching Borgen.

My other plan of action is to get up the next morning, have a shower, wash my hair, put on fresh clothes and put my old ones in the wash. I make an effort to keep the house tidy, I try to make dinner every night, rather than barking "Let's just get a takeaway" at my husband.

It helps, it works. This illness, although with its persistent blubbery hacking cough, feverishness, sleeplessness and general horror, has been the longest and worst illness Kitty has had to date, hasn't sent me quite into the depths of despair that it would have done 6 months ago.

And so when the sun came out yesterday and I had a rush of blood to the head having smelled spring on the breeze, (like a demented Carwash in Will o' the Wisp), I decided to bake something.

I have been meaning for a long time to make a lot of things out of the Leon 2 cookbook, which is about baking and puddings. Recipe Rifle's very own pork pie is in there - with a picture and everything - on pages 284/5. And Henry, a friend of my husband's, who runs Leon, remarked the other day that I hadn't mentioned the cookbook once here. That's because I can't see what good it would do them and I'm staggered that he noticed, but still I took the hint.

And then Henry and his wife Jemima, who as coincidence would have it was my first ever boss, went and had a(nother) baby! Little Dorothy "Dory" Dilys Dimbleby. What a little peach she is. And my husband Giles is her godfather, which really means that I get to go absolutely bonkers with his credit card twice a year.

Let me tell you a story about my godfather. His name is Sir Douglass Wass and he was, I think, my dad's boss when dad ~~was a spy~~ worked at the Treasury. The story goes that dad said to Sir Douglas when I was born "Will you be her godfather?" and Sir Douglas said "Oh I am very bad at that sort of thing but yes sure." And by then it was too late for dad to say "Oh forget it then you useless bastard." And as a result I heard absolutely hide nor hair from Sir Douglas. Ever. Never. Like, NEVER. But then I didn't actually have a christening so he may have been within his rights.

But it didn't stop me from thinking that it was something about me, something I'd done, that made him not especially interested in fulfilling his godfatherly duties. It left me feeling really quite shit about myself, seeing as my other sisters had perfectly normally functioning godparents. And next-eldest didn't have a wretched christening either.

So I can now, at last, lay a bad godparenting ghost to rest by being, via Giles, the world's best, most extravagant and mad godparent ever to Dory. I have started by purchasing a new hat for the christening.

And I am following this up with a banana bread baked in her honour. Yes I know it's more bananas, but I need the potassium, okay? And this banana bread is absolutely outstanding - much better than the other banana bread recipe on here. It is very banana-y, it's basically a lot of bananas held together with eggs and flour.

One of my favourite readers, Oraleek, just made the other banana bread, I note via my comments, and I feel very bad that she's been diddled out of making this one because I didn't post in time. But what can I say - life stinks.

Banana bread from the Leon 2 cookbook

50g pecan nuts
150 veg oil
200g dark brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
350g ripe skinned bananas
75g natural yoghurt
1 tsp bicarb of soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
225g wholemeal spelt flour (yes they sell this in Waitrose)
1 extra banana, peeled
2 tbs caster sugar

1 Pre-heat your oven to 170C and butter a 2lb loaf tin and line it (YES you must do this, don't be lazy) and line a baking sheet, too.

2 Spread the pecans out over the baking sheet and toast in the oven for about 5 mins until golden and smelling yummy. you could probably also do this in a dry frying pan

3 In a bowl whisk together the oil, sugar, vanilla and eggs

4 In another bowl, roughly mash the bananas. I do mean roughly - you are going to stir them a lot later, so don't worry if there are very big lumps at this stage. Add the youghurt and mix together. Sprinkle over the bicarb of soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt and stir again.

5 Mix the banana mixture and the sugar/egg mixture together. Chop the pecans and chuck those in too. Then sprinkle over the flour and stir until things are only just combined. Over-mixing is disastrous here so I actually left about 15% of dried flour still visible, which resulted in some seams of flour left running through the cake. So be brave, but not too brave. Spoon the batter into your smugly lined tin.

6 Slice your spare banana down the middle and place one half on top of the batter, then sprinkle over the caster sugar. The banana half will sink into the mixture during cooking and look terrific. I advise you to eat the other half to get in the mood.

7 Bake for 45-50 mins.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Black-eyed Pea Salad with Prosciutto

A black-eyed pea salad with Prosciutto, sundried tomatoes, pepperrocini, red onion, tossed with a simple fresh herb vinaigrette and served on a bed of Belgian endive leaves. You can serve it either as an appetizer or a side dish.

Black-eyed peas are an excellent source of calcium (an important nutrient for the health of our bones and teeth), folate (support red blood cell production and Allow nerves to function properly), and vitamin A (essential for maintaining healthy skin and vision ), among other nutrients. They are thought to bring you luck and prosperity if eaten on New Years, but they are healthy and delicious any time of the year.

Dried black-eyed peas, also known as the cow peas, are easy to use as they requires no soaking and cook quickly. If you are in a hurry, canned variety can be an option.

2 cup Dried black-eyed peas
60 g Prosciutto, diced
5-6 Sundried tomatoes, drained and chopped
3-4 Pepperocini, chopped
1 Small red onion, finely chopped
90 ml Olive oil
120 ml Red wine vinegar
2 tbsp Flat parsley leaves (or thyme), finely chopped
1 clove Garlic, minced
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1-2 head Belgian endives
3 Grape tomatoes, cut into wedges (optional)

Place black-eyed peas in large saucepan of water. Bring it to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 40 minutes or until peas are tender but not mushy.
Meanwhile, in large bowl, whisk together olive oil, red wine vinegar, parsley or thyme, minced garlic, salt, and black pepper.
Drain black-eyed peas. Add to bowl with dressing along with prosciutto, sundried tomatoes, pepperocini, and red onion. Toss well to combine. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours.
Remove root end from endive and separate the leaves, rinse and pat dry. Arrange the endive leaves on a serving dish. Spoon the peas onto the leaves and arrange the tomato wedges, if used, on top. Serve at room temperature or chilled with a garnish of fresh thyme or parsley, if desired.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Rye Bread with Chinese Red Dates and Sultanas

This dark, slightly chewy, raisin and Chinese date-studded bread has a subtle earthy flavours of dark rye, and mild sweetness of Chinese red dates and sultanas. It's a great combination with butter and tea in the morning or for the afternoon snack with a glass of milk.

20 g Wholegrain rye flour
120 ml Water
150 g Bread flour
50 g Wholewheat flour
120 g Dark rye flour
20 g Brown sugar
4 g Salt
190 ml Water, lukewarm
25 g Walnut oil
10 g Fresh yeast, crumbled
50 g Chinese red dates, chopped
120 g Sultanas

Combine together wholegrain rye flour and 120 ml water in a small pot until the mixture is well blended and lump free. Cook the mixture over the medium heat, frequently stirring, until it has turned into a thick paste and the thermometer reads about 65C/150F. It takes about 2-3 minutes. Cool the mixture to the room temperature and cover with a plastic wrap while you prepare other ingredients.
In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, place in the bread flour, wholewheat flour, rye flour, brown sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center, add in water, 20 grams walnut oil and crumbled fresh yeast. Mix on slow speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium and knead until the dough is smooth.
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Sprinkle with chopped red dates and sultanas and knead with your hands until they are just incorporated. Grease the mixing bowl lightly with the rest of walnut oil. Place the dough in the bowl, cover the bowl, and allow it to rise until doubled in size.
Dust an 8-inch round proofing basket with rye flour and set aside. Turn the dough out onto work surface, kneading briefly, and shape into a round. Place the dough, seam side up, into the floured basket. Cover with a towel and let dough rise again until it reaches the top of the basket.
Preheat the oven to 190C/375F. Turn the proofed bread onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Use a very sharp knife to cut a decorative pattern on the top of the boule. Bake the bread in the center of hot oven for 35 minutes until nicely golden brown.