SM 2003-03 p.46 [02.064.12]
Serves 4
Preparation / Cooking time: about 1h 30m all told
Serves 4
Preparation / Cooking time: about 1h 30m all told
Showing posts with label Tried and Tested. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tried and Tested. Show all posts
Summer trifle
SM 2001-06 p.85 [02.004.01]
Serves 8
Preparation / Cooking time: about 6h 30m, including advance prep
Advance prep: 2h for fruit to sit; 4h for trifle to chill
Serves 8
Preparation / Cooking time: about 6h 30m, including advance prep
Advance prep: 2h for fruit to sit; 4h for trifle to chill
Cinnamon buns and marzipan buns
Makes 16–24 (or 8–12, if halving the amounts)
Preparation / Cooking time: allow 2h 30m (in case the dough is slow to rise)
Advance prep: needs 75g soft butter, so remember to take some out of fridge (also needs cold butter for dough, so don't take it all out!)
The mammal doesn't often bake cakes and buns – apart from small, light scones to pack in the lunchbox – unless it is entertaining guests (so many calories, so little self-control). But every so often it throws caution to the wind and gives it a go. And when you come down to it, buns with sweet fillings are really just bigger scones ... aren't they?
Anyway, the latest effort was actually sparked by noticing a link on the Guardian website to 'How to bake the perfect cinnamon buns': somehow, it seemed a bit more uplifting a topic than the evidence of skulduggery and disaster promised by most of the other articles. This then called to mind an existing recipe for enriched dough that we had made ages before and had worked reasonably well, so it seemed like a good idea to use the filling given in the Guardian recipe with this tried-and-tested dough.
It turned out that the dough recipe was accompanied by suggestions for fillings, including marzipan; this inevitably gave rise to mission creep and the grandiose notion of making one set of cinnamon whirls and one set of marzipan. The result, if less than professional in appearance, was wholly acceptable as far as taste was concerned.
Note 1: it is best to make the cinnamon and / or marzipan filling before the dough, so it is ready to be used once the dough has been kneaded.
Note 2: If you only want to make one set of buns, halve the quantities for the dough.
CINNAMON FILLING
Ingredients
75g butter, softened
50g dark brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
pinch salt
Method
Beat ingredients together until soft and easily spreadable
MARZIPAN
Ingredients
3oz ground almonds*
3oz caster sugar*
2oz icing sugar*
almond essence
1 egg
* As usual, the mammal decreased the sweetness slightly, using 4oz ground almonds and a total of 4oz of the sugars.
Method
Place ground almonds, caster and icing sugar, almond essence, and egg in a bowl and beat with wooden spoon.
ENRICHED BREAD DOUGH
Ingredients
1.5lb flour
1 tsp salt [actually used a heaped half tsp]
3oz butter (chilled)
2oz caster sugar
1 sachet quick (instant) yeast
8fl oz hand-hot milk
3 eggs, beaten
Method
Mix flour and salt together. Rub in butter, add sugar. Stir in yeast.
Gradually add milk.
Add eggs and mix to a soft dough. Turn onto a lightly floured board and knead until smooth.
[Note: this might be easier said than done – the dough is very soft indeed, so soft that the mammal chickened out of going straight to the kneading and first mixed it vigorously with a wooden spoon in the bowl until it had reached a manageable state of elasticity. Probably real bakers will faint on reading this.]
When the dough is kneaded, divide into two equal pieces if you have halved the quantities.
Roll the first (or only) piece out on a lightly floured board until it is about 14 by 8 inches (you can vary this a little depending on the size and shape of the rolls you want). Gently spread on the filling with a knife, leaving a margin of about half an inch on the long sides.
Roll up along the long edges, like a Swiss roll. Then cut into equal slices (8 gives fairly hefty buns, 10 or 12 for smaller ones) and set the pieces out on a greased and lightly floured baking sheet / tray on their sides, i.e. with the filling visible.
Repeat with second dough and filling if required.
Cover buns with lightly oiled clingfilm and leave in a warm part of the room to prove for an hour or until sufficiently risen (they won't double in size because of the filling, but they should be noticeably bigger). Brush lightly with egg before baking if you like.
Heat oven to 200°C / 400°F / Gas mark 6 and, when it has warmed sufficiently, bake the buns in the centre of the oven for 20 minutes (check after 15m if your oven is on the hot side).
Remove from oven and cool on a wire tray.
If you want to try the dough as per the Guardian recipe, you can find it here:
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2014/may/22/how-to-bake-perfect-cinnamon-buns (the article also discusses various opinions and alternative recipes for making the best cinnamon buns).
The source of the dough recipe given above is lost in the mists of time and transmission, so apologies for failing to credit it.
Preparation / Cooking time: allow 2h 30m (in case the dough is slow to rise)
Advance prep: needs 75g soft butter, so remember to take some out of fridge (also needs cold butter for dough, so don't take it all out!)
The mammal doesn't often bake cakes and buns – apart from small, light scones to pack in the lunchbox – unless it is entertaining guests (so many calories, so little self-control). But every so often it throws caution to the wind and gives it a go. And when you come down to it, buns with sweet fillings are really just bigger scones ... aren't they?
Anyway, the latest effort was actually sparked by noticing a link on the Guardian website to 'How to bake the perfect cinnamon buns': somehow, it seemed a bit more uplifting a topic than the evidence of skulduggery and disaster promised by most of the other articles. This then called to mind an existing recipe for enriched dough that we had made ages before and had worked reasonably well, so it seemed like a good idea to use the filling given in the Guardian recipe with this tried-and-tested dough.
It turned out that the dough recipe was accompanied by suggestions for fillings, including marzipan; this inevitably gave rise to mission creep and the grandiose notion of making one set of cinnamon whirls and one set of marzipan. The result, if less than professional in appearance, was wholly acceptable as far as taste was concerned.
Note 1: it is best to make the cinnamon and / or marzipan filling before the dough, so it is ready to be used once the dough has been kneaded.
Note 2: If you only want to make one set of buns, halve the quantities for the dough.
CINNAMON FILLING
Ingredients
75g butter, softened
50g dark brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
pinch salt
Method
Beat ingredients together until soft and easily spreadable
MARZIPAN
Ingredients
3oz ground almonds*
3oz caster sugar*
2oz icing sugar*
almond essence
1 egg
* As usual, the mammal decreased the sweetness slightly, using 4oz ground almonds and a total of 4oz of the sugars.
Method
Place ground almonds, caster and icing sugar, almond essence, and egg in a bowl and beat with wooden spoon.
ENRICHED BREAD DOUGH
Ingredients
1.5lb flour
1 tsp salt [actually used a heaped half tsp]
3oz butter (chilled)
2oz caster sugar
1 sachet quick (instant) yeast
8fl oz hand-hot milk
3 eggs, beaten
Method
Mix flour and salt together. Rub in butter, add sugar. Stir in yeast.
Gradually add milk.
Add eggs and mix to a soft dough. Turn onto a lightly floured board and knead until smooth.
[Note: this might be easier said than done – the dough is very soft indeed, so soft that the mammal chickened out of going straight to the kneading and first mixed it vigorously with a wooden spoon in the bowl until it had reached a manageable state of elasticity. Probably real bakers will faint on reading this.]
When the dough is kneaded, divide into two equal pieces if you have halved the quantities.
Roll the first (or only) piece out on a lightly floured board until it is about 14 by 8 inches (you can vary this a little depending on the size and shape of the rolls you want). Gently spread on the filling with a knife, leaving a margin of about half an inch on the long sides.
Roll up along the long edges, like a Swiss roll. Then cut into equal slices (8 gives fairly hefty buns, 10 or 12 for smaller ones) and set the pieces out on a greased and lightly floured baking sheet / tray on their sides, i.e. with the filling visible.
Repeat with second dough and filling if required.
Cover buns with lightly oiled clingfilm and leave in a warm part of the room to prove for an hour or until sufficiently risen (they won't double in size because of the filling, but they should be noticeably bigger). Brush lightly with egg before baking if you like.
Heat oven to 200°C / 400°F / Gas mark 6 and, when it has warmed sufficiently, bake the buns in the centre of the oven for 20 minutes (check after 15m if your oven is on the hot side).
Remove from oven and cool on a wire tray.
If you want to try the dough as per the Guardian recipe, you can find it here:
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2014/may/22/how-to-bake-perfect-cinnamon-buns (the article also discusses various opinions and alternative recipes for making the best cinnamon buns).
The source of the dough recipe given above is lost in the mists of time and transmission, so apologies for failing to credit it.
Celeriac schnitzel
The Mammal was away recently on two separate trips, visiting friends and family. This brought, of course, the inestimable advantage of having lovely meals served up by charming hosts. This particular dish is one of those ones that sound rather improbable until actually tried: the trick here is to make sure that the celeriac is cooked until nice and soft, so that it becomes beautifully tender and sweet. When trying to reconstruct it without the recipe, we found it difficult to get the right level of sweetness using the pan alone (our hostess clearly had magic powers), so experimented by adding an extra stage of baking beforehand. This worked a treat.
Serves 2–6, depending on the size of the celeriac and on whether it is the main ingredient or a side helping.
Cooking and prep time: about 1h all told
Ingredients
1 large-ish celeriac
2 eggs, beaten
flour
breadcrumbs, seasoned with salt and pepper
oil for frying
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
Peel the celeriac, and cut into rounds about half a centimeter thick. (It might actually be easier to cut he rounds first and then peel). Put the rounds on a tray and bake in the oven for 20–30 minutes.
Let the baked rounds cool slightly; dip in flour, then in beaten egg, and finally in breadcrumbs. Heat oil in a frying pan, and fry in batches until breadcrumbs are golden.
Serve with boiled veg, mash, salad or whatever takes your fancy.
Serves 2–6, depending on the size of the celeriac and on whether it is the main ingredient or a side helping.
Cooking and prep time: about 1h all told
Ingredients
1 large-ish celeriac
2 eggs, beaten
flour
breadcrumbs, seasoned with salt and pepper
oil for frying
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
Peel the celeriac, and cut into rounds about half a centimeter thick. (It might actually be easier to cut he rounds first and then peel). Put the rounds on a tray and bake in the oven for 20–30 minutes.
Let the baked rounds cool slightly; dip in flour, then in beaten egg, and finally in breadcrumbs. Heat oil in a frying pan, and fry in batches until breadcrumbs are golden.
Serve with boiled veg, mash, salad or whatever takes your fancy.
Spinach, tomato and chickpea curry
The Mammal picked up a leaflet for this recipe in Waitrose on its most recent visit to the fine city of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is very simple and straightforward, and very tasty indeed. It has since become a firm favourite: it features on the menu tonight, which reminded us to share it here. It works fine as a weekday supper or dinner with naan bread or rice, but also scrubs up well as the central element of a meal for more notable occasions.
Serves 4
Preparation / Cooking time: about 30m all told
Ingredients
1 tbsp veg oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
2cm piece fresh root ginger, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp Medium Curry Paste [or 1.5 tbsp mild]
400g can chopped tomatoes
410g can chick peas [in water, preferably, as the liquid is used as well]
250g bag Spinach, roughly shredded
4 tbsp natural yogurt
4 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
Method
As this is Waitrose's recipe, please go to their website for the rest: http://www.waitrose.com/content/waitrose/en/home/recipes/recipe_directory/s/spinach__tomato_and_chick_pea_curry.html
Serves 4
Preparation / Cooking time: about 30m all told
Ingredients
1 tbsp veg oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
2cm piece fresh root ginger, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp Medium Curry Paste [or 1.5 tbsp mild]
400g can chopped tomatoes
410g can chick peas [in water, preferably, as the liquid is used as well]
250g bag Spinach, roughly shredded
4 tbsp natural yogurt
4 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
Method
As this is Waitrose's recipe, please go to their website for the rest: http://www.waitrose.com/content/waitrose/en/home/recipes/recipe_directory/s/spinach__tomato_and_chick_pea_curry.html
Banana bread
[02.025.01]
Preparation / Cooking time: about 1h 50m all told
This recipe was provided years ago by one of the Mammal's mothers; in the fullness of time, she managed to lose her copy so here you are, Ma—banana bread once more! Despite the name, it's actually really a cake rather than a bread, and is the ideal way to deal with those squishy, black bananas that you meant to eat but never got around to. According to the recipe, it tastes better if left for a day or two but it usually doesn't last long enough to enable a comparison to be made.
As usual, we have reduced the amount of sugar used, showing the original amount in square brackets: you would need a pretty sweet tooth to use the full amount, given the sweetness of the ripe bananas. There are three optional ingredients—raisins, glacé cherries, and walnuts: from the Mammal's point of view, it really benefits only from the inclusion of the walnuts.
One word of warning: though very straightforward, this is one of those cakes where you have to keep an eagle eye on the time, as the outside burns very quickly after even five minutes too long in the oven. If your oven tends to be a bit on the enthusiastic side, have a quick check 15 minutes before it is due to come out and keep a close eye on it thereafter.
Ingredients
8oz flour
1 tsp baking powder
half level tsp salt
4oz cold butter
4[6]oz caster sugar
*4oz sultanas / raisins [optional]
* 1oz chopped walnuts [optional]
*4oz chopped glacé cherries [optional]
2 eggs
1 lb very ripe bananas
9.5" x 5.5" baking tin
Method
– Pre-heat oven to Gas 4, 180°C, 375°F
– Sieve flour, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl
– Rub in butter
– Add sugar (and sultanas/raisins, walnuts, and cherries if required)
– Mash bananas with a fork
– Add eggs to bananas
– Mix the banana–egg mush well into the other ingredients
– Pour / spoon mixture into lined and greased baking tin
– Put in the centre of the oven and bake for 1h 30m
Turn out onto a wire tray to cool.
Preparation / Cooking time: about 1h 50m all told
This recipe was provided years ago by one of the Mammal's mothers; in the fullness of time, she managed to lose her copy so here you are, Ma—banana bread once more! Despite the name, it's actually really a cake rather than a bread, and is the ideal way to deal with those squishy, black bananas that you meant to eat but never got around to. According to the recipe, it tastes better if left for a day or two but it usually doesn't last long enough to enable a comparison to be made.
As usual, we have reduced the amount of sugar used, showing the original amount in square brackets: you would need a pretty sweet tooth to use the full amount, given the sweetness of the ripe bananas. There are three optional ingredients—raisins, glacé cherries, and walnuts: from the Mammal's point of view, it really benefits only from the inclusion of the walnuts.
One word of warning: though very straightforward, this is one of those cakes where you have to keep an eagle eye on the time, as the outside burns very quickly after even five minutes too long in the oven. If your oven tends to be a bit on the enthusiastic side, have a quick check 15 minutes before it is due to come out and keep a close eye on it thereafter.
Ingredients
8oz flour
1 tsp baking powder
half level tsp salt
4oz cold butter
4[6]oz caster sugar
*4oz sultanas / raisins [optional]
* 1oz chopped walnuts [optional]
*4oz chopped glacé cherries [optional]
2 eggs
1 lb very ripe bananas
9.5" x 5.5" baking tin
Method
– Pre-heat oven to Gas 4, 180°C, 375°F
– Sieve flour, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl
– Rub in butter
– Add sugar (and sultanas/raisins, walnuts, and cherries if required)
– Mash bananas with a fork
– Add eggs to bananas
– Mix the banana–egg mush well into the other ingredients
– Pour / spoon mixture into lined and greased baking tin
– Put in the centre of the oven and bake for 1h 30m
Turn out onto a wire tray to cool.
Garlic soup
In Praise of the Potato p.115
Serves 6
Preparation / Cooking time: about 45m (a bit longer if you don't have a hand-held liquidizer)
This firm favourite is a very simple yet delicious and richly flavoured soup from Lindsey Bareham's In Praise of the Potato: she took the recipe from Colin Spencer. Since Google Books does not provide a preview, the Mammal will risk life and liberty to bring you this lovely recipe through what is probably technically a breach of copyright. Though if publicizing garlic soup doesn't constitute fair use, what does?!
Ingredients
700g floury-variety potatoes, peeled and chopped
3 heads of garlic, peeled
6 tablespoons olive oil [yes, tablespoons is correct]
generous pinch saffron [use turmeric if no saffron; purely cosmetic in any case]
2 pts water
275ml single cream
2 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
Salt and pepper
Method
Roughly chop the garlic and sauté it in the oil for 3 or 4 minutes until soft but not brown. Add the potatoes, saffron, seasoning and water. Simmer for 30 minutes, then cool and purée [cooling not necessary with hand-held liquidizer]. Reheat gently and add the cream and parsley.
© Lindsey Bareham / Grafton Books
Serves 6
Preparation / Cooking time: about 45m (a bit longer if you don't have a hand-held liquidizer)
This firm favourite is a very simple yet delicious and richly flavoured soup from Lindsey Bareham's In Praise of the Potato: she took the recipe from Colin Spencer. Since Google Books does not provide a preview, the Mammal will risk life and liberty to bring you this lovely recipe through what is probably technically a breach of copyright. Though if publicizing garlic soup doesn't constitute fair use, what does?!
Ingredients
700g floury-variety potatoes, peeled and chopped
3 heads of garlic, peeled
6 tablespoons olive oil [yes, tablespoons is correct]
generous pinch saffron [use turmeric if no saffron; purely cosmetic in any case]
2 pts water
275ml single cream
2 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
Salt and pepper
Method
Roughly chop the garlic and sauté it in the oil for 3 or 4 minutes until soft but not brown. Add the potatoes, saffron, seasoning and water. Simmer for 30 minutes, then cool and purée [cooling not necessary with hand-held liquidizer]. Reheat gently and add the cream and parsley.
© Lindsey Bareham / Grafton Books
Greek chicken pie
Book of Greek Cooking pp.88–89
Serves 6–8
Preparation / Cooking time: allow about 3h all told
(stages 1–3 could be done in advance, if preferred)
Advance preparation: You will need to have a batch of chicken stock to hand for this recipe; it really isn't one where a stock cube would do.
For Easter, the Mammal dined on an old favourite; this Greek dish does not feature on the everyday menu, but gets rolled out several weekends a year when there is chicken stock in the freezer and the time to devote to its rather leisurely cooking and preparation. It is an absolute corker of a pie, full of flavour. Kefalotiri cheese can be hard to come by, and the approved substitute is parmesan or similar, but we've frequently committed the sin of using cheddar and that tastes fine, too, as well as being easier on the pocket. It can be served with salad, steamed veg, anything that offers a 'clean' and simple taste to complement the richness of the pie.
The recipe is reproduced from Lesley Mackley's The Book of Greek Cooking, which is well worth a look; tantalizingly, the Google Books preview shows the first but not the second page of the recipe, so I'm afraid the Mammal has had to engage in a minor act of piracy here.
Ingredients
1.5 kg chicken
chicken stock
450g onions, sliced
150ml (2/3 cup) milk
115g (½ cup) melted butter
3 tsp of lemon juice
115g (1 cup) grated kefalotiri cheese [or substitute parmesan or romano]
Salt and pepper
¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
3 tsp chopped fresh parsley
2 eggs, beaten
12 sheets filo pastry
Salad leaves, to garnish
Method
1. Put chicken in a flameproof casserole into which it fits tightly. Pour in enough stock to almost cover legs. Cover chicken breast with a sheet of buttered greaseproof paper. Cover casserole and simmer for 1 hour or until chicken is just cooked. Remove chicken from casserole and leave to cool.
2. Add onions and milk to stock. Boil rapidly uncovered, until liquid is reduced to 300ml (1 ¼ cups) of thick pulpy onion sauce. Preheat oven to 180C (350F/Gas 4). [Inner Mammal's note—boil rapidly, my furry a***: this takes forever!]
3. Remove chicken skin. Cut meat into neat pieces and place in a large bowl. Add onion sauce, half the butter, the lemon juice, cheese, salt, pepper, nutmeg, parsley and eggs. Mix together well.
4. Lightly butter a 20 x 30 cm (8 x 12 in) roasting tin. Brush one sheet of pastry with butter and place in a tin, overlapping edges. Brush 5 more sheets of pastry and layer them on top.
5. Spread the filling over the pastry. Flap over-lapping pastry over the top. Cut remaining sheets of pastry to fit in. Brush with butter and layer on top. Score top into squares and sprinkle with water. Bake for 45 mins or until golden brown and crisp.
© Lesley Mackley / Salamander Books
Serves 6–8
Preparation / Cooking time: allow about 3h all told
(stages 1–3 could be done in advance, if preferred)
Advance preparation: You will need to have a batch of chicken stock to hand for this recipe; it really isn't one where a stock cube would do.
For Easter, the Mammal dined on an old favourite; this Greek dish does not feature on the everyday menu, but gets rolled out several weekends a year when there is chicken stock in the freezer and the time to devote to its rather leisurely cooking and preparation. It is an absolute corker of a pie, full of flavour. Kefalotiri cheese can be hard to come by, and the approved substitute is parmesan or similar, but we've frequently committed the sin of using cheddar and that tastes fine, too, as well as being easier on the pocket. It can be served with salad, steamed veg, anything that offers a 'clean' and simple taste to complement the richness of the pie.
The recipe is reproduced from Lesley Mackley's The Book of Greek Cooking, which is well worth a look; tantalizingly, the Google Books preview shows the first but not the second page of the recipe, so I'm afraid the Mammal has had to engage in a minor act of piracy here.
Ingredients
1.5 kg chicken
chicken stock
450g onions, sliced
150ml (2/3 cup) milk
115g (½ cup) melted butter
3 tsp of lemon juice
115g (1 cup) grated kefalotiri cheese [or substitute parmesan or romano]
Salt and pepper
¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
3 tsp chopped fresh parsley
2 eggs, beaten
12 sheets filo pastry
Salad leaves, to garnish
Method
1. Put chicken in a flameproof casserole into which it fits tightly. Pour in enough stock to almost cover legs. Cover chicken breast with a sheet of buttered greaseproof paper. Cover casserole and simmer for 1 hour or until chicken is just cooked. Remove chicken from casserole and leave to cool.
2. Add onions and milk to stock. Boil rapidly uncovered, until liquid is reduced to 300ml (1 ¼ cups) of thick pulpy onion sauce. Preheat oven to 180C (350F/Gas 4). [Inner Mammal's note—boil rapidly, my furry a***: this takes forever!]
3. Remove chicken skin. Cut meat into neat pieces and place in a large bowl. Add onion sauce, half the butter, the lemon juice, cheese, salt, pepper, nutmeg, parsley and eggs. Mix together well.
4. Lightly butter a 20 x 30 cm (8 x 12 in) roasting tin. Brush one sheet of pastry with butter and place in a tin, overlapping edges. Brush 5 more sheets of pastry and layer them on top.
5. Spread the filling over the pastry. Flap over-lapping pastry over the top. Cut remaining sheets of pastry to fit in. Brush with butter and layer on top. Score top into squares and sprinkle with water. Bake for 45 mins or until golden brown and crisp.
© Lesley Mackley / Salamander Books
Gevulde speculaas (Speculaas with rich almond stuffing)
A seasonal recipe, this, and typically Dutch. You can either go the whole hog and make the marzipan-filled version, or just make the speculaas dough to make rich, spicy biscuits.
"Speculaas or speculoos is one of the Dutch culinary specialties. It is a spiced biscuit, made with wooden forms or moulds. They are typically winterfood, and especially associated with the feast of 'Sint Nicolaas' or Saint Nicholas, the original Santa Claus. This feast is celebrated on 5 or 6 December. Speculaas is very old, the spices used date from medieval times."
The recipe comes from the Coquinaria website, which gives some background information as well and from which the above information was extracted.
Note: This is a cake / biscuit recipe, but it also works very well if you serve it hot with ice cream as a dessert. It makes a fair amount, so plenty to allow the best of both worlds!
Ingredients for speculaas dough
500 gram (4 1/4 cups) simple white flour
250 gram (1 cup) cold butter
250 gram (1 1/4 cup) sugar
2 eggs, stirred
1/2 decilitre (1/4 cup) cream
salt to taste (don't forget this, and be liberal, otherwise your speculaas will taste bland)
50 to 60 gram (1/4 cup) spices for speculaas*
grated skin of 2 untreated lemons
200 gram (2 cups) flaked almonds, broken in to little pieces (optional)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
*This is a standard mix readily available in the Netherlands, but the website gives instructions for mixing it from scratch using powdered cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, white pepper, ginger and cardamom.
Ingredients for almond paste** [you can use ready-made marzipan if you want]
Ground almonds
Caster sugar
Icing sugar
Eggs
Almond essence
Vanilla essence
**Use a standard recipe for almond paste / marzipan; depending on how deep a filling you want, use somewhere between 300g and 500g of ground almonds and proportion the other ingredients accordingly.
Method
Go to the Coquinaria website at
http://www.coquinaria.nl/english/recipes/speculaas.htm
"Speculaas or speculoos is one of the Dutch culinary specialties. It is a spiced biscuit, made with wooden forms or moulds. They are typically winterfood, and especially associated with the feast of 'Sint Nicolaas' or Saint Nicholas, the original Santa Claus. This feast is celebrated on 5 or 6 December. Speculaas is very old, the spices used date from medieval times."
The recipe comes from the Coquinaria website, which gives some background information as well and from which the above information was extracted.
Note: This is a cake / biscuit recipe, but it also works very well if you serve it hot with ice cream as a dessert. It makes a fair amount, so plenty to allow the best of both worlds!
Ingredients for speculaas dough
500 gram (4 1/4 cups) simple white flour
250 gram (1 cup) cold butter
250 gram (1 1/4 cup) sugar
2 eggs, stirred
1/2 decilitre (1/4 cup) cream
salt to taste (don't forget this, and be liberal, otherwise your speculaas will taste bland)
50 to 60 gram (1/4 cup) spices for speculaas*
grated skin of 2 untreated lemons
200 gram (2 cups) flaked almonds, broken in to little pieces (optional)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
*This is a standard mix readily available in the Netherlands, but the website gives instructions for mixing it from scratch using powdered cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, white pepper, ginger and cardamom.
Ingredients for almond paste** [you can use ready-made marzipan if you want]
Ground almonds
Caster sugar
Icing sugar
Eggs
Almond essence
Vanilla essence
**Use a standard recipe for almond paste / marzipan; depending on how deep a filling you want, use somewhere between 300g and 500g of ground almonds and proportion the other ingredients accordingly.
Method
Go to the Coquinaria website at
http://www.coquinaria.nl/english/recipes/speculaas.htm
Roasted celery soup
Feeds 4–6
You know the way there are loads of recipes that call for one or two sticks of celery? And that it is only ever possible to buy a whole head of celery? Well, now you know what to do with the rest—the Mammal found this on food52.com, and it is gorgeous. It is made with real chicken stock, but also worked out fine (if not quite as perfectly flavoured) with vegetable stock cubes.
Ingredients
8 large celery stalks cut into 2-inch pieces
half bulb fresh fennel cut into 2-inch chunks
2 large whole garlic cloves
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
half teaspoon black pepper
3 medium redskin potatoes,* peeled and cut into one-and-a-half-inch dice
1.5 litres chicken stock
half cup light cream
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Salt and pepper for re-seasoning if needed
Celery leaves and fennel fronds for a little garnish
* or whatever potatoes happen to be lying around
Since the original poster of this recipe should get the credit, you'll have to find out what to do with all of these ingredients through this link:
http://food52.com/recipes/16467_roasted_celery_soup.
Total prep plus cooking time is roughly 1 hour.
You know the way there are loads of recipes that call for one or two sticks of celery? And that it is only ever possible to buy a whole head of celery? Well, now you know what to do with the rest—the Mammal found this on food52.com, and it is gorgeous. It is made with real chicken stock, but also worked out fine (if not quite as perfectly flavoured) with vegetable stock cubes.
Ingredients
8 large celery stalks cut into 2-inch pieces
half bulb fresh fennel cut into 2-inch chunks
2 large whole garlic cloves
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
half teaspoon black pepper
3 medium redskin potatoes,* peeled and cut into one-and-a-half-inch dice
1.5 litres chicken stock
half cup light cream
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Salt and pepper for re-seasoning if needed
Celery leaves and fennel fronds for a little garnish
* or whatever potatoes happen to be lying around
Since the original poster of this recipe should get the credit, you'll have to find out what to do with all of these ingredients through this link:
http://food52.com/recipes/16467_roasted_celery_soup.
Total prep plus cooking time is roughly 1 hour.
Frozen pea and spinach soup
SM 2002-03 p.46 [01.057.01]
Serves 6, at least
Peas: best with frozen peas.
Serves 6, at least
Peas: best with frozen peas.
Quick and easy raspberry and lemon squares
SM 2011-08 p.50
Makes 12–16
Prep time 15min, Total 1 hr, plus cooling [needs to cool completely, so allow plenty of time].
Will keep for a few days in an airtight container
This is a real winner: absolutely delicious, yet incredibly simple to make. Maximum results for minimum effort! The original quantities of sugar are shown in square brackets; the Mammal does not have a terribly sweet tooth and prefers to bake with the reduced amounts given below.
Ingredients
3 large eggs
175g caster sugar [200g]
175g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
200g very soft butter
a pinch of ground cinnamon
150g raspberries
For the syrup
75g granulated sugar [100g]
zest and juice of 2 lemons
Equipment: 20cm (8in) square baking tin, preferably loose-bottomed.
Method
Pre-heat oven to 180°C, fan 160°C (gas 4)
Combine all the cake ingredients apart from the raspberries, using either a mixer or a wooden spoon. Lightly oil the baking tin and line the base with non-stick paper [though if your tin is really non-stick, this should not be necessary].
Gently fold the raspberries into the mixture and tip into the tin, smoothing over the top.
Bake for 45 minutes or until golden and risen.
To make the syrup, combine all the ingredients. As soon as the cake is out of the oven, prick the top with a fork and spoon the lemon syrup over it [use it all, even though it will seem an awful lot. Also, if using a loose-bottomed tin, put some newspaper or kitchen paper underneath to deal with any seepage.] Leave in the tin to cool completely, then remove and cut into 16 squares or 12 rectangles [greedy!].
Per serving: 224cals; 12g fat (of which 7g saturated); 29g carbs; [20g] total sugars; 0.3g salt.
Chicken Pasanda
02.022.01
This recipe comes from David Smith's website, The Curry House, which is dedicated to providing cook-at-home versions of the staples served up by Indian restaurants and takeaways.
The idea is to match the taste as closely as possible—as anyone knows who has cooked food from recipes genuinely native to the Indian subcontinent, it does not greatly resemble the forms that have evolved in curry houses. For those evenings where you want the taste of a takeaway without surrendering control over the nutritional / ethical quality of your ingredients and processes, this website is a gem.
The printout of the chicken pasanda recipe has been sitting quietly in the Inner Mammal's recipe folder for years; last night, we finally got around to making it, and lovely it was too.
Makes 2 portions
Preparation / Cooking time: about 1h 30m all told
Ingredients
3 tablespoons vegetable oil or ghee (clarified butter)
1 small onion - finely chopped
1.5 inch piece cassia bark (or cinnamon)
2 green cardamon pods
1 inch piece fresh ginger - very finely chopped
2 cloves garlic - very finely chopped
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander seed
half teaspoon good chilli powder
5 tablespoons Greek-style full cream yoghurt (3/4 of a 150 gm tub)
1 teaspoon (or a little more) concentrated tomato purée
salt to taste
2 chicken breasts, skinned and cut into 1 inch pieces
2 tablespoons flaked almonds prepared as in Method
chopped fresh coriander leaf (cilantro) to garnish
As usual when using other people's freely available recipes, the Mammal directs you to the source to see what you have to do with all these ingredients.
There is a later version of this recipe, but it is available only on subscription (at the modest price of £7.75) to The Curry House Cookery Book, an e-book containing many recipes and useful information about ingredients and cooking methods.
This recipe comes from David Smith's website, The Curry House, which is dedicated to providing cook-at-home versions of the staples served up by Indian restaurants and takeaways.
The idea is to match the taste as closely as possible—as anyone knows who has cooked food from recipes genuinely native to the Indian subcontinent, it does not greatly resemble the forms that have evolved in curry houses. For those evenings where you want the taste of a takeaway without surrendering control over the nutritional / ethical quality of your ingredients and processes, this website is a gem.
The printout of the chicken pasanda recipe has been sitting quietly in the Inner Mammal's recipe folder for years; last night, we finally got around to making it, and lovely it was too.
Makes 2 portions
Preparation / Cooking time: about 1h 30m all told
Ingredients
3 tablespoons vegetable oil or ghee (clarified butter)
1 small onion - finely chopped
1.5 inch piece cassia bark (or cinnamon)
2 green cardamon pods
1 inch piece fresh ginger - very finely chopped
2 cloves garlic - very finely chopped
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander seed
half teaspoon good chilli powder
5 tablespoons Greek-style full cream yoghurt (3/4 of a 150 gm tub)
1 teaspoon (or a little more) concentrated tomato purée
salt to taste
2 chicken breasts, skinned and cut into 1 inch pieces
2 tablespoons flaked almonds prepared as in Method
chopped fresh coriander leaf (cilantro) to garnish
As usual when using other people's freely available recipes, the Mammal directs you to the source to see what you have to do with all these ingredients.
There is a later version of this recipe, but it is available only on subscription (at the modest price of £7.75) to The Curry House Cookery Book, an e-book containing many recipes and useful information about ingredients and cooking methods.
Thai ginger soup (for Vita-Mix)
This recipe was posted by a Vita-Mix Community member at http://community.vitamix.com/_Thai-Ginger-Soup/blog/2350346/22442.html
Ingredients
1 Vegetable stock cube
500 ml water
1 Stick of celery
1 Carrot
1 Spring onion
1 Tomato
130 gms Cashew nuts
Very small piece of root ginger
Small bunch of fresh coriander
Small amount of coconut milk (optional)
1. Place all the ingredients in the Vita-Mix container in the order listed.
2. Secure the 2 part lid.
3. Select Variable speed 1.
4. Turn machine On and quickly increase speed to 10 then to high.
5. Run for 5 to 6 minutes or until steam escapes through the lid opening.
6. Serve immediately.
Ingredients
1 Vegetable stock cube
500 ml water
1 Stick of celery
1 Carrot
1 Spring onion
1 Tomato
130 gms Cashew nuts
Very small piece of root ginger
Small bunch of fresh coriander
Small amount of coconut milk (optional)
1. Place all the ingredients in the Vita-Mix container in the order listed.
2. Secure the 2 part lid.
3. Select Variable speed 1.
4. Turn machine On and quickly increase speed to 10 then to high.
5. Run for 5 to 6 minutes or until steam escapes through the lid opening.
6. Serve immediately.
Crunchy rough Scottish oatcakes
04.050.01
Makes 20 small oatcakes
Preparation: 15 mins – Cooking: 20 minutes
Can freeze raw dough
Ingredients
225g (8 oz) medium oatmeal, plus extra for dusting
1.25ml (¼ tsp) bicarbonate of soda
1.25ml (¼ tsp) salt
15ml (1 tbsp) unsalted butter [= 14g]
This recipe comes from the good folks at Greedy Gourmet. To see the rest of it, go to http://www.greedygourmet.com/2008/06/14/crunchy-rough-scottish-oatcakes/
Inner Mammal's note:
Finding a good recipe had become imperative, since oatcakes are very hard to come by here in the Netherlands, and then only at pretty eye-watering prices.
This recipe makes a lovely oatcake, and produces little biscuits that look just like the ones in the photo provided (the Mammal's productions, though generally tasty, frequently end up looking considerably messier and more formless than any illustrations given in the recipe). Future experiments, such as the addition of cracked pepper, will be undertaken.
The only caveat we would note is that it took considerably longer than 20 minutes to bake, probably because of the fiddly nature of turning over the biscuits every five minutes to ensure crispness. The solution may lie in a wire mesh baking tray or sheet to allow the necessary circulation of air. Or in having greater manual dexterity than the Mammal: sometimes paws are just too blunt a tool ...
Makes 20 small oatcakes
Preparation: 15 mins – Cooking: 20 minutes
Can freeze raw dough
Ingredients
225g (8 oz) medium oatmeal, plus extra for dusting
1.25ml (¼ tsp) bicarbonate of soda
1.25ml (¼ tsp) salt
15ml (1 tbsp) unsalted butter [= 14g]
This recipe comes from the good folks at Greedy Gourmet. To see the rest of it, go to http://www.greedygourmet.com/2008/06/14/crunchy-rough-scottish-oatcakes/
Inner Mammal's note:
Finding a good recipe had become imperative, since oatcakes are very hard to come by here in the Netherlands, and then only at pretty eye-watering prices.
This recipe makes a lovely oatcake, and produces little biscuits that look just like the ones in the photo provided (the Mammal's productions, though generally tasty, frequently end up looking considerably messier and more formless than any illustrations given in the recipe). Future experiments, such as the addition of cracked pepper, will be undertaken.
The only caveat we would note is that it took considerably longer than 20 minutes to bake, probably because of the fiddly nature of turning over the biscuits every five minutes to ensure crispness. The solution may lie in a wire mesh baking tray or sheet to allow the necessary circulation of air. Or in having greater manual dexterity than the Mammal: sometimes paws are just too blunt a tool ...
Couscous and chorizo stew
SM 2002-10 pp.103–104 [01.014.02]
Serves 4
Coriander: seeds; Cumin: seeds; Chickpeas: tinned; Tomatoes: tinned.
Link to recipe:
http://www.diigo.com/item/image/gwo1/ekqy
Serves 4
Coriander: seeds; Cumin: seeds; Chickpeas: tinned; Tomatoes: tinned.
Link to recipe:
http://www.diigo.com/item/image/gwo1/ekqy
Ginger snaps (MC's recipe)
Here is the original Be Ro recipe for ginger snaps, comments in italics update from the 1970s to the 21st century:
225 g (8 oz) Be-Ro Self Raising Flour
pinch salt
1 x 5 ml spoon (1 tsp) ground ginger (I use 1 tbsp)
100 g (4 oz) caster sugar (I use brown sugar)
75 g (3 oz) margarine (I use butter)
100 g (4 oz) golden syrup (flour your scales, then the syrup doesn't stick so badly)
1 medium egg, beaten (free range)
I also add some chopped crystallised ginger and add a cheeky little bit on top.
225 g (8 oz) Be-Ro Self Raising Flour
pinch salt
1 x 5 ml spoon (1 tsp) ground ginger (I use 1 tbsp)
100 g (4 oz) caster sugar (I use brown sugar)
75 g (3 oz) margarine (I use butter)
100 g (4 oz) golden syrup (flour your scales, then the syrup doesn't stick so badly)
1 medium egg, beaten (free range)
I also add some chopped crystallised ginger and add a cheeky little bit on top.
Spicy lentil soup
1001 Recipes p23
Serves 4 as starter / lunch, or 2–3 as dinner; cooking time 50–60 minutes.
125g red lentils
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped finely
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp garam masala
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 litre vegetable stock
350g can of sweetcorn, drained [soup works fine without this; there is just less of it]
Serves 4 as starter / lunch, or 2–3 as dinner; cooking time 50–60 minutes.
125g red lentils
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped finely
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp garam masala
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 litre vegetable stock
350g can of sweetcorn, drained [soup works fine without this; there is just less of it]
Sausage casserole with cheddar dumpling
2009-02 p88
serves six.
2 tbsp suet
12 pork sausages
6 small onions, peeled and halved
1 tbsp tomato puree
1.5 tsp cornflour
250ml red wine
6 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
400g tin chopped tomatoes.
25g pk fresh thyme, leaves only
280g jar onion chutney
For the cheddar dumpling
275g self-raising flour
100g suet
75g grated cheddar
Preheat the oven to 180C (fan 160C), gas mark 4.
serves six.
2 tbsp suet
12 pork sausages
6 small onions, peeled and halved
1 tbsp tomato puree
1.5 tsp cornflour
250ml red wine
6 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
400g tin chopped tomatoes.
25g pk fresh thyme, leaves only
280g jar onion chutney
For the cheddar dumpling
275g self-raising flour
100g suet
75g grated cheddar
Preheat the oven to 180C (fan 160C), gas mark 4.
Czech goulash (the real thing)
04.041.01
Serves 8–12
Cooking time: 1h 45m
Note: We have never made the full amount of this recipe; half the quantities make more than enough for 4 helpings and will stretch to 6 quite easily. If you don't eat pork, it works just as well with beef on its own.
This dish is gorgeous, and very simple: don't be put off by the long list of ingredients, as these are mainly standard spices that are probably already in the cupboard.
Ingredients
2 lbs of cubed beef
2 lbs cubed pork
2 tablespoons oil, to brown your meat
2 teaspoons pickling spices
1 cup chopped onions (preferably sweet)
2 (15 ounce) cans of diced stewed tomatoes
1 (14 ounce) bottle catsup [ketchup]
1 (10 ounce) can tomato soup
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground paprika
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red peppers
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon good whiskey
Method
Credit where credit is due; you can find the rest of this recipe via the following link:
http://www.familyoven.com/recipe/czech-goulash-the-real-thing-/155164
Serves 8–12
Cooking time: 1h 45m
Note: We have never made the full amount of this recipe; half the quantities make more than enough for 4 helpings and will stretch to 6 quite easily. If you don't eat pork, it works just as well with beef on its own.
This dish is gorgeous, and very simple: don't be put off by the long list of ingredients, as these are mainly standard spices that are probably already in the cupboard.
Ingredients
2 lbs of cubed beef
2 lbs cubed pork
2 tablespoons oil, to brown your meat
2 teaspoons pickling spices
1 cup chopped onions (preferably sweet)
2 (15 ounce) cans of diced stewed tomatoes
1 (14 ounce) bottle catsup [ketchup]
1 (10 ounce) can tomato soup
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground paprika
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red peppers
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon good whiskey
Method
Credit where credit is due; you can find the rest of this recipe via the following link:
http://www.familyoven.com/recipe/czech-goulash-the-real-thing-/155164
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