Gingered Raspberry & Pear Cobbler

Did I ever tell you about the time I ate so many raspberries that I made myself sick? I was 11 years old and it was a hot August day. We were moving in to a new house. In the meantime we were staying at my Grandfather's house. My father had gone on to meet the furniture truck and was going to come back and get us when the furniture had been off loaded. To make a long story short . . . the truck was late arriving, my mother insisted on not feeding us because "My father was going to be back any minute," and my sister and I were so hungry we gorged ourselves in the next door neighbour's raspberry patch.



So not cool . . . and I so paid for it later on. I always got car sick anyways, but on that day I got really sick . . . I do believe my father was hoovering raspberry seeds out of the carpet in that car for years . . . and it was truly years and years before I could ever bring myself to eat a raspberry and enjoy it again . . .



Thankfully the brain eventually forgets things like this . . . unless you are feeling sick anyways. (For some odd reason when I'm not feeling well, I start to remember everything I've ever eaten when I've been sick in the past!) Anyways, I now love raspberries again and I adore raspberry season.



It's late raspberry season now and it also happens to be pear season . . . I reckon nature has it right and just as strawberries and rhubarb come in to season together and make a beautiful taste marriage . . . I have come to realize that late season raspberries and autumn pears make another beautiful taste marriage . . . especially when you combine them with ginger . . .
OOhh la la! C'est si bon! ♥♥♥



We went to Gordale Nurseries today and picked up two raspberry canes, a tayberry cane, two blueberry bushes and a new pear tree (to replace the one that got fire leaf blight). . . and of course I could not resist going through the gift section. I came across these adorable little cup and saucer sets which have heart shaped saucers! (Even the handle on the cup is heart shaped. They came in pink and red. I had to have the red!) So perfect for autumnal desserts such as this fabulous Gingered Raspberry & Pear Cobbler!!! They seem to set it off perfectly. (I am picturing a Valentines White Chocolate and Ginger mousse in them now, aren't you?)



Anyways, you just have to make this delicious cobbler. It is the perfect autumnal pudding . . . moreishly scrumptious and oh soooo fabulously tasty!! Sweet and sticky fruit topped with a buttery gingery biscuit topping. What's not to like???



Resistance is totally futile. Trust me on this.



*Gingered Raspberry & Pear Cobbler*
Serves 8
Printable Recipe

A delicious combination that will have them coming back for seconds!

1 TBS butter to butter the pan

For the filling:
3/5 ounces granulated sugar (1/2 cup)
2 TBs plus 1 tsp cornflour
pinch of fine seasalt
4 large pears, peeled, cored and sliced
1 TBS fresh lemon juice
9 ounces fresh or frozen raspberries (2 cups)
1 TBS cold butter, cut into small bits

For the topping:
8 3/4 ounces of plain flour (1 3/4 cup)
4 TBS granulated sugar, divided
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp fine seasalt
10 TBS cold butter, cut into small bits (5 ounces)
2 ounces candied ginger, chopped (1/3 cup)
5.5 fluid ounces, plus 1 TBS cold buttermilk

To serve:
Pouring Cream, Custard or Vanilla Bean Ice cream

First make the topping. Whisk the flour, 3 TBs of the sugar, the baking powder and salt together in a bowl. Add the butter, and toss to eavenly coat. Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until you get crumbs the size of peas. Stir in the candied ginger, then pour in the 5.5 fluid ounces of buttermilk, stirring just until the dry ingredients are moistened. The dough should be crumbly with visible pieces of butter. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Butter a 9 inch deep dish pie pan. Set aside.

Rub the sugar, cornflour and salt (for the filling) together in a large bowl. Add the pears and lemon juice. Toss until evenly coated. Gently fold in the raspberries. Transfer to the prepared pan. Dot with the 1 TBS of butter.

Turn the dough for the topping out onto a lightly floured surface. Gently press together into a 9 inch circle. Place carefully on top of the fruit. Brush with the 1 TBS of buttermilk and sprinkle with the remaining 1 TBS of sugar.

Bake in the bottom third of the oven for 30 minutes. Turn the oven down to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. and bake for an additional 20 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown and the juices are bubbly and thick. Allow to cool for half an hour before serving. Serve with pouring cream, custard or ice cream. Delicious!



I'm playing with Croissants, Chocolate and Preserves over in the Cottage today with Chocolate and Fruit Filled Croissants! There are also some lovely pictures of our trip the other day to Betws-y-coed in Wales.

Autumn Berry & Almond Cake

What a lovely week we have had weatherwise. I have so enjoyed all the sunshine and warmth. A true Indian Summer week, the likes of which I have never experienced over here before. It's been a real treat! We've been out and about most days, which is also a real treat!



Almost as much of a treat as this tasty cake that I baked up yesterday afternoon! I had some berries in the fridge that I had bought the other day and wanted to use up . . . and decided a tasty cake was the best way to do it!



We love almonds and we love berries . . . the two together are heavenly. Especially when combined in a cake which is blissfully moist and buttery . . . and yet light at the same time . . . and absolutely stogged full of sweet/tart berries.



I chose to use blackberries and raspberries this time, but either one is lovely on their own, as are blueberries, or even all three together. Currants are also very nice. I love the crunch of the flaked almonds on top . . . it adds a wonderful texture.



You could have this with cream of course! We had it plain . . . but I may have another piece later on with some cream . . . and why not! Life is for living! (And I did rather do a lot of walking today!)



*Autumn Berry & Almond Cake*
Makes one 9 inch cake
Printable Recipe

A real family favourite. You can use any berries you have in any combination you like, alone or a mixture. I love to use raspberries and blackberries.

140g ground almonds (1 2/3 cups)
140g butter (2/3 cup)
140g caster sugar (3/4 cup)
140g self raising flour (1 1/4 cups)
2 large free range eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
250g of berries, fresh or frozen and defrosted (about 2 1/2 cups)
2 TBS flaked almonds
Sifted icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a 9 inch deep. loose bottomed cake tin and line the bottom with paper.

Cream together the butter, ground almonds, sugar, flour, eggs and vanilla in a mixing bowl until evenly mixed together. Spread half of the mixture into the prepared tin. Top with the berries. Dollop the remaining half of the batter over top and roughly spread it out as best as you can. (I wet my fingers and use them. This seems to work best) Sprinkle with the flaked almonds.

Bake for 50 minutes, until golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin. Dust with icing sugar and cut into wedges to serve.



Over in The Cottage today you will find some tasty Chili Chocolate Strawberries. Tres, tres . . . scrummy!

Spatchcocked Spatchcock

“Spatchcock” refers to the method of cutting open a whole chicken, so that it sits flat in a pan, or on a grill. However, it wasn’t always the highly amusing verb it is today. 

Originally, it was a highly amusing noun used to describe a small, young chicken. Since these tender birds were usually butterflied to cook faster and more evenly over the coals, “spatchcock” became the culinary term for this technique. So, if you use a small, young chicken like I did, then you’re actually spatchcocking a spatchcock, which is about the most entertaining answer ever to the question, “What are you doing for dinner?”

Above and beyond how fun it is to use in casual conversation, the technique really does work beautifully for grilling a whole chicken. Once you remove the backbone, and set free the sternum from its covering of cartilage, you'll have a bird that will cook quicker and more evenly. It also looks pretty damn cool.

If you don’t own a sturdy pair of kitchen shears, then I hope this video inspires you to go out and get this must-have piece of equipment. They make this technique incredibly fast and easy, and you can also use them to completely section a whole chicken into serving pieces, as we showed in this video demo.

Anyway, I hope you pick up some spatchcock soon, and give this whole spatchcocking thing a try. I’ll be showing a recipe I did using this technique in a future video, so stay tuned for that, and as always, enjoy!

Stir Up Spicy Rice Supper

I'm sure I would get no argument if I was to say that the price of food has been going up incredibly over the last six months or so. The same groceries that used to cost me £70 are now costing me closer to £100 . . . and I am having to really pick and choose very carefully what I purchase and cook.



This also means that I am relying on my store cupboard a lot more often. Living on a fixed income as we do, there is not a lot of spare cash around and most weeks we barely squeak by.



It's been nice having the garden this summer with all the fruit and veg, which has helped a lot and next year we plan on growing more and making less mistakes than we did this year with certain things.



The other night I threw together this really tasty meal with a piece of smoked sausage that I had in the fridge, the remains of a jar of tomato chutney, a packet of rice and a few other odds and sods and it was really, really tasty! So tasty in fact that I decided to share it with you all.



Don't you love it when you can throw together this and that and come up with something moreishly scrumptious?? I do. And . . . the leftovers the next day for lunch were even tastier than they had been the night before! Nom! Nom! It won't get any awards for looks, but I give it 10 out of 10 for flavour!



*Stir Up Spicy Rice Supper*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

This is just something that I threw together one night and it ended up being really delicious!

1 (227g) packet of smoked sausage, chopped
(I used the low fat one, it works out to about 2 cups chopped sausage)
1 green pepper, trimmed and chopped
1 red onion, peeled and chopped
150g punnet of button mushrooms, sliced (about 2 cups)
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1 (250g) packet of Tilda plain basamati precooked rice (about 2 cups of cooked rice)
salt and black pepper to taste
3 dessert spoons of tomato chutney (in North America, can use Heinz Chili Sauce)
1 tsp mild chili powder
2 ounces of grated Parmesan Cheese, divided (1/2 cup)

Heat a non stick skillet over medium heat. Spray with nonstick cooking spray or brush with a bit of oil. Add the chopped sausage, peppers, celery, onions and mushrooms. Cook and stir until the sausage is beginning to brown a bit and the onion, peppers, celery and mushrooms are crispy tender. Stir in the rice, tomato chutney, chili powder and season to taste with salt and pepper. Keep stirring and heat through. Stir in half of the Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle the remainder over top and serve.

Note - If you wanted to be even more economical you could use leftover chicken or pork, and leftover cooked rice in this with equally as tasty results!



Over in The Cottage today, a delicious Applesauce Spice Cake!

Spatchcock Chicken Tease

Mackerel with Sorrel Sauce

After finding sorrel at Brockley Market, I then had to find something to do with it. The leaves are light green in colour and when eaten raw, they taste sharp and intensely sour. I'm told that this flavour is caused by oxalic acid which in large quantities is poisoning, so don't go munching kilos of the stuff.

A quick search revealed that it is best with oily fish, so off I went to the fishmonger to get some mackerel. Two plump fillets were so fresh I almost ate a sliver raw. Brandishing my eyebrow tweezers, the small sharp bones were removed and they were fried till the skins were crisp.

The sauce was made very simply by wilting the sorrel leaves, adding double cream and thickening with an egg yolk. Sorrel turns brown very quickly when cooked which makes for a rather unattractive sauce. Tasty though, with the creamy lemon-like flavour working well with the oily fish. Just a handful of steamed new potatoes and a tomato salad was all it needed.

Mackerel with Sorrel Sauce

Serves 2

1 large mackerel, filleted
200gr sorrel chopped roughly
4 tbsp double cream
1 egg yolk
A handful of cherry tomatoes, dressed in balsamic vinegar & oil
Boiled new potatoes, to serve.

In a large non-stick pan, heat up a thin film of oil. Season the fillets with salt and pepper and fry them skin side down until the flesh is almost all completely white. Try not to move them too much as you want a nice crisp skin. Turn over and cook for another 30 seconds and remove to a warmed plate.

Add the leaves to the pan and the double cream and just as they wilt, take off the heat and beat in the egg yolk until you get a thick, creamy sauce. Season if needed and serve the mackerel fillets on top with the potatoes and tomato salad.

DIY Pumpkin Decor

With Canadian Thanksgiving days away and the beautiful Fall season upon us, what better than to infuse our homes with a little seasonal decor? I've put together a few easy DIY ideas using mini pumpkins. To get all the tips to make these centerpieces at home, take a look at my DIY piece on Style at Home.

Smashed Roasted New Potatoes and a Giveaway Winner!

We have a lot of potatoes in our cold room now . . . all homegrown, three different varieties, and all of them small. The Toddster learned an important lesson this year on how to plant and care for potatoes. Unfortunately it is a lesson he learned the hard way, as we are now stuck with tons of baby potatoes to use up. Not so good for mashing I'm afraid . . . but great for salads, boiled and roasted like this!



These get all crispy on the outsides . . . and stay moreishly fluffy on the insides.



That final breaking open, cracks the skin so that some of that tasty fluff pours out and crunches up a bit in the final baking . . . with the help of a bit of Olive Oil.



A few flakes of sea salt . . . a good grinding of black pepper . . . and some fresh rosemary leaves . . . and you have tasty little bits fit for a king.



These even make good appetizers especially when you use the really tiny ones and serve them with a moreish dip . . . adjust the times accordingly as smaller ones won't need to bake as long.



We love 'em just as they are. It's a good thing too . . . as I forsee a lot of these tasty little babies in our future. ☺




*Smashed Roasted New Potatoes*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

This is a great way to cook baby new potatoes. Crisp on the outsides and soft and fluffy inside.

16 small new potatoes, unpeeled
2 TBS light olive oil
a few sprigs fresh rosemary
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 230*C/450*F/ gas mark 8. Place a baking tray into the oven to heat.

Toss the potatoes together with 1 TBS of the oil to coat. Spread them out onto the hot baking tray. Roast in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven. Flip the potatoes over and then gently squash them down with the back of a large metal spoon. Strip the leaves from the rosemary sprigs and sprinkle over top along with some sea salt and black pepper. Drizzle with the remainder of the oil.

Return to the oven and bake for a further 10 minutes, until the potatoes are crispy and golden brown.



I hope you all remember this little Giveaway I posted before I went away on Holidays, and I hope you'll all forgive me for having taken overly long in picking a winner! I've been spending lots of time coddling the Toddster, and thankfully he is now starting to feel a lot better. Your patience in waiting has been rewarded however, as I am adding a Bero Baking Book to the Prize!



It's a tasty little book, chock full of good basic home type of baking recipes. I am sure it will go great with the Cook's Measure.

I don't know how to post it here, but I used one of those online number pickers and it picked the number 22. Suze, you are the winner. Please send me your postal details at mariealicejoan at aol dot com and I'll pop it off to you asap!

(Post Script) Alas I counted wrong, Janet is indeed number 22, so Janet you will also be getting a Cook's Measure. Two lucky winners!)

Thanks so much to all of you good sports who played along, and take heart . . . knowing me I'll be giving something else away sometime soon!!



In The Cottage today, Beans and Weiners Under Cornbread.

Fig Brulee with Burrata Cheese – Let’s Burn the Top of Some Fruit!

I love a crème brulee as much as the next portly chef, but when you consider the custard base is egg yolk-thickened, sweetened heavy cream, it’s not something you should be eating more than occasionally. But, why waste such a great technique when it can be applied to other things, like fresh fruit?

In the spirit of full disclosure, I chose figs here because I received a generous sampling from the California Fig Advisory Board, and decided this would be a wonderful way to enjoy them. As I mention in the video, this technique also works on fresh banana, a roasted peach or apple, and basically any tender fruit you can slice and sprinkle with sugar.

While this will work with white sugar, the Demerara sugar you see in the video seems to work best. It’s a type of raw brown sugar, and pretty much the same thing as you get in those little, brown “Sugar in the Raw” packages at the coffee shop. Let me be clear – I’m not suggesting you borrow a few of those to use for this recipe. That would be as illegal, as it would be free and convenient.

These were amazing with the fresh, creamy burrata, but any style cheese plate would benefit mightily from the shiny, sexy fruit. If cheese isn’t your thing, go grab a pint of vanilla ice cream, forget all about that sweet-savory thing, and just go full dessert.

Anyway, thanks to California Fig Advisory Board for inspiring the recipe, and if you want more info on how awesome figs are, you can check out their homepage here. I hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

A Delicious Gratin of Chard

We recently signed up to Abel & Cole again for a small veg and fruit box delivery each week and our first one arrived this morning. I was so thrilled to see a big bunch of rainbow Chard in it! We tried to grow chard this year, but the slugs never gave it a chance.



I know we could use slug pellets, but we just don't like to use them (bad for the birds) and the other stuff is largely in-effective. One night Todd went out into the garden and picked up no less than 40 slugs. We are going to have to do something about that before next year for sure.



Anyways there was this lovely big bunch of beautiful rainbow coloured Bright Lights Chard in it and of course I just had to cook it tonight for our supper. It was so very pretty with it's deep emerald green leaves riddled with beautiful veins and stems of raspberry pink, blood red, orange and yellow . . .



I just love chard . . . or silverbeet as it is also called. It has an almost earthy flavour . . . and is beautiful to eat when properly cooked. You don't to over cook either the leaves or the stems . . . it goes without saying that the slimmer stems are a bit more tender than the thicker ones, but no less tasty. They just need to be cooked that little bit longer.



I always separate the stems from the leaves and cook them separately, which seems to work very well for me. It's delicious simply steamed and then sprinkled with a dressing of lemon juice and olive oil, or vinegar as my mother used to use . . . but if you really want it to shine . . . prepare it as a gratin!



Oh so unctuously rich and creamy . . . with earthy undertones, and just a hint of sharpness from some grainy mustard, this is a real winner all round.



Me . . . I could eat just a plate of this and nothing else, but . . . we had it with some steamed and crushed pink firs from the garden and some lightly grilled Barnsley Chops (double lamb chops, English of course!)that I had simply sprinkled with a mixture of chopped rosemary, lemon zest and minced fresh garlic before grilling.



A most scrummy supper indeed! (The quantities given are for 4 as a side dish, but would make a very delicious light supper for two, served on it's own with some crusty bread for mopping up all those lucious juices.)



*A Delicious Gratin of Chard*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Earthy and moreishly delicious! This is quite simply the best.

450g of swiss chard (a scant pound)
400ml of double cream (about 1 2/3 cup)
2 TBS grainy mustard
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 ounce freshly grated Parmesan Cheese (1/4 cup)

Preheat your oven to 190*C/375*F/gas mark 5. Butter a shallow baking dish and set aside. Bring a pot of lightly salted water to the boil.

Wash your chard really well. Cut the stalks from the leaves. Cut the stalks into short to medium sized pieces. Plunge the stems into the boiling water and cook for 2 minutes, then scoop out with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the leaves and leave in the boiling water only until they are wilted. Toss the stems and leaves together (shake offy excess water) and then place them into the buttered dish. Whisk together the cream, mustard and salt and black pepper to taste. Pour this mixture over top of the chard. Sprinkle with the grated cheese.

Bake in the heated oven for about 15 to 20 minutes, until bubbling and the top has lightly browned. Remove from the oven and serve.



And in The Cottage today, a delicous Blueberry Gingerbread.