Blueberry Bliss

I've been collecting the Waitrose Recipe Cards for years now. Every month they used to put new ones out and I would dutifully collect the ones that looked delicious to me. Sadly, since I moved up to Chester I've not been able to collect any more, but every once in a while I go through the ones I have and make one of them.



I am never disappointed. Never. They always live up to their promise and we are always delighted with the results.



Today I had some blueberries I wanted to use. I had picked this card out of my Waitrose File a week or so ago, and put it in my to make soon file. It's from May 2004, but is just the perfect dessert for August!!



Back home the wild blueberries would be ripening in August and August is when I get to craving those little blue beauties. This recipe is a glorious blue variation along the traditions of Eaton Mess . . . except it used blueberries, and lemon curd yoghurt.



♥ S-C-R-U-M-M-Y ♥ doesn't even begin to describe how wonderful this is!! You truly MUST make it and soon! You won't be sorry you did. It's light and lemony and blueberry-ee and just wonderful!



Oh, and did I forget to mention it's easy peasy lemon squeasy??? Well, it is! Welcome to August!!



*Blueberry Bliss*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

A blueberry version of a traditional Eaton Mess, using blueberries, lemon curd yoghurt, whipped cream and meringues. Oh yes . . . some good!

250g of blueberries, washed (2 cups)
1 TBS sugar
4 TBS cold water
142ml of double cream (1/3 cup whipping cream)
2 X 150g pots of Lemon Curd Yoghurt dessert (about 1 1/4 cups)
1 TBS icing sugar, sifted
2 meringue nests roughly broken into chunks

Place half of the blueberries into a saucepan with the sugar and cold water. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes until the berries begin to break down. Remove from the heat and press through a sieve into a bowl to make a glossy blueberry coulis. Set aside to cool.

Whip the cream in a bowl until it JUST begins to thicken. (Don't overwhip please.) Carefully fold in the lemon yoghurts, icing sugar and meringues along with the whole blueberries that are left., reserving a couple for a garnish.

Spoon a third of the cream mixture into a large serving dish, or 4 individual serving dishes. Drizzle with a TBS of the coulis. Repeat this twice, finishing with a final layer of the cream Decorate with the reserved berries and some more coulis. Serve immediately.

Coming Soon: Almost a Swordfish Recipe

Tomorrow we'll be doing a little experiment involving this incredibly delicious swordfish preparation. I didn't film the making of the dish, but when I went to serve it, I decided it was too good not to share, so the plating was captured in all it's brief, but beautiful glory. Will I still be able to "teach" you the recipe? Stay tuned!

Crab, Prawn & Samphire Sambal

I've made prawn sambal before; it was so long ago that I got a desperate craving for it again this weekend. Leftover white and brown crabmeat as well as samphire sat in the fridge, glaring at me unused so in a fit of experimentation it all got lobbed in and I was richly rewarded. Spicy, coconutty with deep undertones of the sea, eaten with plenty of rice it brought a sheen of sweat to the brow. Though samphire isn't a typical Asian ingredient, its' salty crunch worked beautifully, complementing the velvet strands of the white crab meat.


Open all your windows when frying your spice paste, unless you like the feeling of your lungs burning with every breath.

Crab, Prawn & Samphire Sambal

Serves 2

10 raw prawns
A small handful of samphire
1 small onion sliced into half moons
2 tbsp brown crabmeat
1 heaped tbsp white crabmeat
1 spring onion
2 tomatoes
10 tbsp coconut milk

For the spice paste:

1 small onion
2 stalks of lemongrass
2 cloves of garlic
2 red chillis
4 dried red chillis
1 inch piece of galangal
1 tbsp tamarind paste
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp shrimp paste

Wash thoroughly and steam the samphire for a couple of minutes. In a small blender add the onion, garlic, galangal, the inner part of the lemongrass roughly chopped with the tamarind and shrimp paste. Soak the chillis in hot water, then add these. Deseed them if you're not a hardcore chilli head. Add 2 tbsp cooking oil and blend into a paste.

In a wok, heat a little oil and add the curry leaves taken off the branch till they sizzle. Add the spice paste and the brown crabmeat, add the half moon onions, then stir-fry until fragrant. Add the coconut milk and the sugar and simmer for a couple of minutes. Add the tomatoes sliced into quarters, the samphire and the prawns, stirring until they turn pink. Take off the heat and garnish with the spring onion, sliced on the diagonal. Serve with rice, topping with the white crabmeat.

Days out and Bread Pudding

We took advantage of the warm sunny weather on Saturday morning and decided to take a trip with our Mitzie in tow to Llangollen in Wales. Llangollen (pronounced Clang-gock-lyn) is one of my very favourite places on earth to visit. It has a rough rustic beauty that is quite breathtaking to say the least. With more sun than Cornwall and less rain than the Lake District, it is no wonder that this beautiful little gateway to Wales is one of the most popular Welsh destinations in the North West.



It hosts the the famous International Music Eisteddfod where singers and dancers congregate from every corner of the earth each year amongst a multitude of other activites . . . but we go just to walk around and take in it's beauty.

As we are going up to Cumbria for a week in September and bringing Mitzie with us, we thought it would be a good experience for her to come along with us today, and she didn't mind a bit. It is probably less than an hour's drive from us here in Chester and is always very busy and we thought it would get her used to being around crowds and to travelling in the car for more than just to the dog groomers and the vets!



We always like to take a nice walk along the river in Llangollen. It is so pretty and filled with mini white water rapids, flat rocks you can walk on and lots of birds and other wildlife. Our friend Colin swears he saw a Kingfisher there last summer when we took him and Jo (his wife) there, but . . . he was the only one.



Mitzie enjoyed it very much, even if her nose was to the ground for most of the time. (she is such a sniffer!) She didn't even bother to chase the ducks, which I was happy about. I have come to realize that she is a bit timid of other animals, especially cats and large birds and of course dogs that are larger than herself. I don't think the sheep in Cumbria will be a problem.



WE always like to visit the old railway platform. There is an old Steam Engine there and you can take a trip on the old Steam Railway if you want.



Today there was a 1960's event going on with lots of old cars and vehicles, people dressed up in pschcadelic clothing and all sorts.



The classic cars were beautiful.



And there were quite a few of them. I was particularly fond of this old Mini. One of my first cars ever was an old green Austin Mini Station Wagon, that I never really did learn to drive properly . . . but I had a lot of good laughs in it anyways, with it slipping out of gear, etc.



Of course we must stop for refreshments when we are there. This is our favourite tearoom. It's very quaint inside, and of course you can also choose to sit outside on a nice day, as we did today. It's so pretty. We feasted on



Cheese on Toast on Brown Bread



And Todd enjoyed some Bara Brith, which is a traditional Welsh Teabread, and really scrummy.



Mitzie just enjoyed laying next to our table and watching all the people having fun. She did also get to enjoy the odd crumb which fell her way. I think she charmed a lot of people today, which was nice. I would hate to have an obnoxious dog.



When we got home I surprised Todd with another treat that I picked up for him while we were there. A good old fashioned Bread Pudding, which would differ quite about from some people's ideas of bread pudding. This is a very old recipe which was originally devised to help to use up the stale bread way back in the day. Todd's mum apparently made wonderful bread puddings . . . all stodgy and spicy and chock full of fruit and spices. Todd has very fond memories of his mum's puddings, so he was well pleased when I set this little gem down in front of him today. (The recipe is from the National Trust Complete Traditional Recipe Book, by Sarah Edington, another gem!)



*Bread Pudding*
Serves 6

A thrifty recipe devised by old bakeries to use up yesterday's bread. You can create your own mix of dried fruit. (candied peel, crystallized ginger, chopped prunes and dates, candied cherries, chopped dried apricots, sultanas, currants etc.)

425ml of milk (1 1/2 cups)
150ml of cold strong tea (1/2 cup)
4 ounces butter, melted (1/2 cup)
1 TBS mixed spice**
3 large free range eggs, beaten
350g of mixed dried fruit (3/4 pound)
450g of fresh bread crumbs (1 pound)


Combine the milk, tea, melted butter, beaten eggs, mixed spice and dried fruit. Combine together well. Stir in the breadcrumbs and leave to soak for an your or overnight if you wish.

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter an 8 by 11 (2 inch deep) pan and line with baking paper. Butter the baking paper. Spread the soaked mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for 1 1/2 hours. Cool and serve cut into squares.

And if you so fancy it, here's a look of a short film I took of some fit kayakers that came down the river whilst I was standing there enjoying . . .



And another short film of Todd and Mitzie down on the rocks. If yoy listen very carefully you can hear the water, so nice to listen to.

Double Crusted Plum Crisp

It may or may not come as a surprise to you but Anchor Butter is celebrating it's 125th Anniversary this year! Originating in New Zealand, Anchor butter has been around since 1886 – longer, I believe, than most of its major rivals. Arla, who make Anchor in the UK, also make Lurpak and all the other associated variants – the spreadables.



In spite of their New Zealand origins, Anchor also supply butter for one of the greatest of British institutions, by the way: Wimbledon. We often use Anchor butter in this house, I do confess . . . we love it!



Not only does it taste really good, but they do such cute commercials.


To commemorate their anniversary, they are unveiling a stunning range of collectible memorabilia ranging from a really lovely double oven mitt, to a really cute little Corgi toy butter van. There's also cake tins, tea towels, egg cups, butter dishes and cake stands, all featuring the Anchor Queen and Princess cow's along with the commemorative Anchor Crest. I was sent several items and I can attest first hand to the fact that they are adorable and very collectible. I love them all.



For more details you can check out their FACEBOOK PAGE. They are offeringa variety of prizes there and all sorts! You can also check out more information re their products etc. on the Arla Foods Homepage.



I especially love using it in my baked goods, and you know how much I bake. Yesterday we were having the missionaries over for supper again and I wanted to make them a really special dessert.



I had picked up some really tasty looking plums at our local shops the other day and had in mind to do something for the lads with them. Don't they look fabulous, all juicy and red!



I just love a crumble . . . or what we called a "Crisp" back where I was born. Over here they don't often add oats to the crumble topping, but we always had oats in it when I was growing up. I love the moreish wholesome texture and flavour that they add to this lovely dessert!



Just look at all that buttery and crunchy goodness!!! And this particular recipe gives you double the pleasure, because that delicious fruit filling is sandwiched between not one, but two layers of the oaty crumble! I couldn't think of a better way to use some of that delicious Anchor Butter, can you???



Just look at that delicious fruit filling . . . that crunchy buttery oaty crustiness . . . and that rich gilding of pouring cream . . . ahhh . . . mama mia!!!

I'll have you know it is Elder approved!! Elder D'Oppido from Italy really enjoyed tucking in to his, and even hammed it up for the camera . . . he's such an Italian! Very charming to say the least, but a good lad doing a good job. I am sure he's his mama's pride and joy!



*Double Crusted Plum Crisp*
Serves 8 to 10
Printable Recipe

Double the oaty buttery pleasure!

For the crumble:
7 ounces plain flour (1 1/3 cups)
3 1/2 ounces rolled oats (old fashioned not quick) (1 cup)
5 3/4 ounces soft light brown sugar (3/4 cup packed)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
10 TBS unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:
3 1/2 ounces granulated sugar (1/2 cup)
1 TBS cornflour (cornstarch)
pinch of fine sea salt
6 cups sliced fresh plums (about 16)
the juice of one lemon
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.

Mix together the flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt for the crumble. Stir in the melted butter, combining all together well. Press a little more than half of this into a 9 inch square baking dish. Set aside and reserve the rest for a bit later on.

Rub the granulated sugar, cornflour and salt together for the filling. Toss together with the fruit, lemon juice and vanilla to combine. Spread this mixture evenly over the bottom layer of the crisp in the baking dish. Crumble the remaining crumble mixture on top evenly.

Bake in the middle of the oven for about 60 minutes, or until the crisp is golden brown and the filling is bubbling away through the crumble topping. Cool for 20 minutes before serving.

Delicious served with pouring cream or warm custard.

Note: Any leftovers will store well at room temperature for up to three days, tightly wrapped in cling film. Reheat in a warm (not hot) oven until heated through to serve.

Figgy Friday! Burrata Bruschetta with Grilled Figs

My friends at Goodbite featured this lovely grilled figs and burrata cheese video today, and since I've been seeing lots of fresh figs at the market I thought I'd re-post it. If you haven't seen it before, I hope you enjoy. If you've seen it, but didn't get around to trying it, then consider this a friendly reminder that you really, really should!


The original post from last August follows:

If you watch as much food television as I do, you hear the adjective "sexy" thrown around quite a bit, and more often than not, it just doesn't fit. No matter how nice a bowl of chili looks, or how beautifully a game hen glistens, they're not really "sexy."

This burrata bruschetta with grilled figs on the other hand? Totally "sexy!" If there were such a thing as word association flash cards of food, the most common result for this one would be "sexy." Okay, I'm going to stop using those quotation marks now.

Above and beyond how awesome this recipe tastes, it's so nice to be able to post such an aesthetically pleasing dish after the recent string of homely food. I appreciate all the nice comments about the sausage and zucchini stew, but if that thing was a blind date, it would have been described as, "having a nice personality."

Depending on the location, I can't guarantee you'll be able to find burrata and fresh black mission figs, but if you can, you really need to give this a try. I know someone will ask, so I'll tell you right now, there really isn't a great substitute for this heavenly cheese.

A very fresh mozzarella would be the closest, but it would still be like substituting for Beyonce with Wanda Sykes. That's no insult to Wanda Sykes (she has a great personality), but in the sexy department, Mrs. Jay-Z is in a whole other league, and so is this burrata and grilled fig bruschetta. Enjoy!




Ingredients:
burrata cheese
fresh figs
Italian bread
balsamic vinaigrette (1 part vinegar to 1 part extra virgin olive oil - shaken vigorously)
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Everything But The Kitchen Sink Cookies and The Cookiepedia!

I was recently contacted by the people representing Quirk Publishers and asked if I would like to review a new cookbook, The Cookiepedia, by Stacy Adimando. I didn't have to be asked twice! I love cookbooks and I love cookbooks that are about baking even more . . . and I love cookie cookbooks MOST of all!!



True to their word it was pushed through my mailbox just a day later. I was surprised! It arrived very quickly. I couldn't wait to get stuck in.



At first glance it's a very attractive little book, with a delightfully whimsical cover. It almost reminded me of the paper bags I used to bring my lunches to school in, except much prettier! I love the colours and the way it feels in my hands. Plus it has a lovely sturdy wire lie flat binding, which I really liked. I hate it when I am using a cookery book and it keeps closing on me.
It's also chockerblock full of beautiful hand-drawn illustrations which spoke to the artist in me, lovely photographs which spoke to the glutton in me, and most important of all . . . very scrummy looking recipes! They've even made provisions for you to add your own notes to the various recipes, enabling you to make them your very own.



It's deliciously divided into sections:

• The ABC's of Cookie Baking
• Buttery Cookies
• Chocolaty Cookies
• Fancy Cookies
• Fruity Cookies
• Spicy Cookies
• Nutty and Seedy Cookies

The only problem I had was in choosing what to bake first! Featuring over 50 classic recipes, which the Author has put her own twist on . . . recipes which include such tasty favourites as Snickerdoodles, Gingersnaps, Rugelach and dozens of others I had a really difficult time making up my mind which one I wanted to feature.



I finally chose Everything But the Kitchen Sink Cookies. These were humongous and included . . . well . . . everything but the kitchen sink!! It looked like a fabulously tasty way to use up some little bits and bobs that I had in my larder, that were not enough, in measure, to make anything on their own with, but were just perfect for this recipe! After reading the list of the author's add ins, I was sorely tempted to go out and buy a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos because they sounded, oddly enough, like an incredible addition . . . but I resisted temptation and stuck with what I already had on hand.



I was so very pleased with the results. You can see what I used as my sweet and savoury add ins at the bottom of this post. I ended up with more than one and a half dozen moreishly scrummy cookies that are almost too dangerous to have around.



The author is Stacy Adimando, who is the current deputy lifestyle editor or Everyday with Rachael Ray, and is also a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education and a weekly contributor to Serious Eats. All in all I think she should be very proud of this first book of hers. I, for one, love it and I am sure it will be very popular with anyone who loves baking cookies and is looking for something that is at once familiar and yet at the same time quirkily different. This book has immediately been placed in the section of favourites in my vast cookbook collection.



In short I highly recommend! Many thanks to Mat at PGUK and Quirk Publishers for affording me this wonderful opportunity, and also to Stacy Adimando for having written a beautifully tasty book, full stop!

Available for purchase at most booksellers, both online and off.



*Everything but the Kitchen Sink Cookies*
Makes a dozen and a half very large cookies
Printable Recipe

What can I say . . . very moreish!!

8 ounces of unsalted butter at room temperature (1 cup)
7 ounces caster sugar (1 cup)
3 3/4 ounces soft light brown sugar (1/2 cup packed)
1 large free range egg, plus 1 egg white
2 tsp vanilla extract
8 1/2 ounces plain flour (2 cups)
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp fine sea salt (1 tsp kosher)
1 cup of your favourite sweet add ins (peanut butter chips, chocolate chips, dried cranberries, sultanas, coconut flakes etc.)
1 1/2 cups of your favourite salty snacks (corn chips, tortilla chips, potato chips, pretzels, peanuts, etc.)

Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 6. Line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

Cream together the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and the eggs and continue to beat until well combined on low speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl as need be.

Whisk together the soda, baking powder, salt and flour. Add to the wet ingredients in two batches, mixing well each time to fully incorporate.

Pour your sweet mix ins into the bowl. Break up the salty snacks as necessary and dump those in as well. Use a spatula to mix all together. (It should like quite full of bits, but that is a good thing!)

Drop by 2 heaping tablespoonsful onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving at least 2 inches between each one. Bake, rotating the baking sheets halfway through the baking time, for about 16 to 19 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.



Other tasty add ins:
Honey roasted nuts
whole espresso beans
cupcake sprinkles
white chocolate chips
tortilla chips
cheese puffs
toffee bits
yoghurt raisins
asian snack mix
wasabi peas
chocolate shavings
breakfast cereal
cool ranch doritos
granola
salted corn nuts
chocolate covered peanuts



What I used:
Cinnamon chips
white chocolate chips
dried cranberries
salted potato chips
salted macadamia and cashew nut mix

Please Nominate Chef John for a 2012 Tasty Award!

Yes, it's that time again! The Tasty Awards are an annual awards show celebrating the best in food and fashion programs on TV, in film, and online. Last year, we won the award for "Best Home Chef in a Series," and would love to defend the title this year.

If you'd like to help with the nomination, please follow this link and cast your vote. The two categories we qualify in are "Best Food Program - Web" and "Home Chef in a Series." Thank you for the support!

Courgette and Dolcelatte Picnic Tortilla

This week we are finally having beautiful summery weather . . . hot and sunny . . perfect picnic weather. Not the kind of weather that you really want to heat up the kitchen by cooking a roast dinner or some such.



The quicker and cooler the better. It's also portable food weather . . . you know the kind I mean . . . the kind that can be easily wrapped and transported in to the great outdoors where you can enjoy it surrounded by all that is good about nature and summer!



Tortillas are the perfect summer food. Easy and quick to make, they are equally as delicious served warm or cold. They are very easily cut into wedges and wrapped and fit perfectly into a picnic basket. They're also fairy sturdy and can't be too awfully damaged by a lot of jostling around!




They also very versatile. Basically they are not much more than a baked omelette, filled with your favourite scrummy ingredients . . . tasty things like herbs, olives, tomatoes, peppers, onions, mushrooms, chorizo, etc. Even leftover spaghetti and macaroni and cheese make great tortilla fillings.



Beaten eggs with your favourite savoury weaknesses folded in . . . browned in a well oiled skillet until set on the bottom . . . then popped under the grill to brown the top and set the whole thing together.



Cheese is nice. Cheddar, mozzarella, parmesan . . . tuck in your own chosen poison. Today I have chosen simple courgettes and new potatoes from the garden . . . and rich soft lucious dolcelatte cheese. Oh so delicious!



*Courgette and Dolcelatte Picnic Tortilla*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe


Delicious served warm from the pan, or wrapped up and served at room temperature at a picnic. Easy to transport. Goes very well with crusty bread, sliced ripe tomatoes and olives.

9 ounces of new potatoes (You want a waxy potato, a generous half pound), ends trimmed off
and cut into thick slices
2 medium courgettes, ends trimmed and cut into thick slices (zucchini)
5 large free range eggs
1 clove of garlic, peeled and minced
2 TBS snipped fresh chives
1 TBS olive oil
3 ounces dolcelatte cheese, broken into pieces
Sliced tomatoes, crusty bread and black olives to serve
salt and black pepper

Bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Add the potato slices. When the water comes back to the boil, cook the potatoes for 2 minutes. Add the courgettes and cook for two minutes longer and then drain everything well.

Turn the grill on to high. Beat together the eggs, garlic, chives and season very well with salt and black pepper. Stir in the vegetables.

Heat the olive oil in a nonstick skillet, with an oven proof handle. Pour in the egg mixture. Smooth it all out. Tuck in the dolcelatte cheese here and there. Cook, undisturbed for about 5 minutes, until nicely browned on the bottom. Place under the grill for an additional 5 to 8 minutes, until the top is set and golden brown. (If you pan doesn't have an oven proof handle, cover it with foil.)

Serve warm or cold, cut into wedges along with sliced crusty bread, sliced ripe tomatoes and ripe olives. Delicious!