Recipe Clippings: March Round Up and April Linky

I'm beginning to see a bit of a pattern in the Recipe Clippings that are being shared this month, we have a feast of comfort food!   I'm not complaining though, I love homely dishes that fill you up and taste great.  Many thanks to everyone who joined me for Recipe Clippings this month, the Linky to join in with your Recipe Clippings for April is at the bottom of this post.


Cruffins - by Jane at Onions and Paper, a sort of cross between a crumpet and a muffin and no less tasty. It was snipped from one of my favourite, and much missed magazines, Family Circle.


Vietnamese Chicken Salad  a traditional Vietmanese recipe inherited from T.U.'s Grandmother and shared on Cloud of Cookmorphosis.

Warm Gingerbread Cake with Lemon Sauce is served up by Elizabeth at Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary alongside a very moving story which I urge you to read.   I love gingerbread but have never thought to serve it as Elizabeth has done, with a lemon sauce, so thanks for sharing this childhood recipe, Elizabeth.


Posh Toad in the Hole posh because it contains Chorizo and Pork Sausages wrapped in bacon and red onions.  This is the dish created by Deon at Food Jam from a recipe in Good Food Magazine.


Pastitsio is another delicious recipe from Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary and this time it's a recipe provided via a photocopy from Elizabeth's father. Well thank you Dad, now that really is a comfort food special, just what I like.



There are a number of different ways you can join in and cook up the recipes from your #RecipeClippings

Make a recipe from a magazine/newspaper clipping or note:

• post a photograph and the recipe, or a link to a recipe, on your blog and add to the InLinkz linky at the bottom of this post. Link to Farmersgirl Kitchen in your blog post and include the #RecipeClippings logo OR
• post a photograph and description on Instagram tagging FarmersgirlCook and using #RecipeClippings OR
• post a photograph and description on Twitter tagging @FarmersgirlCook and using #RecipeClippings OR
• like and post a photograph and description on Farmersgirl Kitchen Facebook page using #RecipeClippingsYOU ONLY NEED TO DO ONE OF THESE, BUT YOU CAN DO MORE IF YOU WISH

Rules:

• You may post recipes you have clipped from magazines, newspapers or have written down from friends and family.Please credit the author of the recipe or ask permission.
• Please say where the recipe came from.
• Three entries per month.
• I will re-share any posts and/or photos that are tagged
• Recipes must be added to the linky by the 28th of each month.

Labels: Cruffins, Gingerbread Cake, Lemon Sauce, Pastitsio, Recipe Clippings, Toad in the Hole, Vietnamese Chicken Salad

posted by Janice @ 07:00 4 Comments

What I've been reading: Rise and Watersmeet

My love of reading precedes my love of cooking.  I spent my primary school years devouring the books of Enid Blyton, I was fortunate to be able to go home for lunch and after eating my lunch I would lie on my bed for half an hour reading before heading back to school.  I seem to have much less time to read novels these days, but always have at least one book on the go, usually manage a couple of chapters before I go to sleep at night.  I also like to have books on my tablet, that I can read when I'm travelling, so can be reading more than one book at a time.

I've been fortunate that, through reviewing cookbooks, publishers have also offered me some novels to read and review.  So every now and then you will find my first love creeping into my kitchen to claim a little spot here where I can share with you the books I am reading.


RISE by KAREN CAMPBELL

The Blurb
Justine is running for her life. Escaping a city and a man, who, between them, have almost broken her. She heads north to the mountains and the valleys of the Highlands, looking for somewhere to hide.
Michael and Hannah are also running. With their two sons and their tattered marriage they have come to the village of Kilmacarra. They are looking for somewhere they can call home.
In a place of standing stones, an ancient landscape in a country on the brink of change, a brutal accident causes their lives to intertwine. Tangled together in threads of guilt and love, with Scotland rushing towards a referendum and the community around them fracturing, each must question where they truly belong.
Tackling contemporary questions of nationhood and identity through the issue of Scottish Independence and the debates surrounding sustainable energy, Rise is an important and powerful story of living in the modern world.

Labels: Bloomsbury Publishing, fantasy, Karen Campbell, magic, Rachel Cotterill, Rise, Scotland, The Falconer, The Twelve Baronies, This is where I am, Watersmeet

posted by Janice @ 20:52 1 Comments

Sweeet Biscuits, Crisps and Juice on my Kitchen Table

You may have seen the TV adverts featuring the McVittie's Sweeet friends, in  the latest on-pack promotion from McVitie's, they are giving you a chance to win your own McVitties Sweeet friend.

McVities Digestives are such a classic, they are nice on their own with a cup of tea and they also taste great with cheese, the sweet wholemeal flavour acts as a perfect foil to a good cheddar or blue cheese.  Digestives can also be crushed for cheesecake bases or sprinkled on top of  yogurt, ice cream or crumbles.

The Chocolate Digestives take me right back to my childhood when they were a real treat, sweet and half covered with thick chocolate, they never disappoint.  Look out for the McVitie's sweeet friends on-pack promotion which runs until July 2015, you will have a  one in ten chance to win either the Chocolate Digestives kitten, the Digestives puppy, the BN owl and the Jaffa Cakes tarsier.  The on pack promotion will be present on 35 million packs across nine core McVitie's sweet biscuit and cake products including Jaffa Cakes, Chocolate Digestives and Hobnobs.

The sweeet friends are lovely and soft and cuddly and I'm sure there is someone in your life who would love to own one.  Find out if you are a winner by texting the unique on-pack promotion code from the promotional range on McVities's products.  There are also a number on no purchase necessary opportunities to win a McVitie's sweeet friend spanning across the McVities's website, social media and media promotions.

Rating:
sweeet friends 10/10
McVities Digestives 10/10
Chocolate Digestives 9/10


Sweet Greens Are Made Of These… New vegetable and fruit blends set the bar for juice flavour Don’t vegetate with the same old boring juices. Instead, reach for one of Cawston Press’ three new vegetable and fruit blends - ‘Sweet Greens’, ‘Sunshine Blend’ and ‘Radiant Roots’ - delicious and intriguing drinks that will revitalise your taste-buds.

Featuring nothing but pressed fruit and veg (Cawston never use concentrate) and all-natural ingredients, each is free from any added sugar, sweeteners, preservatives or colourings. The drinks are carefully blended and mixed with a little water to make them refreshingly drinkable. Crafted by the company’s Master Blender, Micah Carr-Hill, the distinctive recipes are inspired by juice bar culture and the fresh ingredients found in kitchen gardens. The balance of each flavour presented a significant blending challenge. Just finding the perfect mint for ‘Sweet Greens’ proved hard, as Micah wanted to replicate the gentle ‘grassy freshness’ of the mint from his garden, rather than the often harsh mint used in chewing gum and chocolate.

Rating:
Sweet Greens (39% apple, 30% Iceberg lettuce, 8% pear, 2% cucumber, lemon, water and garden mint extract)- This one really didn't do it for me, I found the cucumber and lettuce taste was overpowering and while I did drink the juice, I didn't find it pleasant.4/10
Sunshine Blend (26% apple, 24% carrot, 21% orange, 7% celery root juice, lemon and water) Really tasty and fresh flavour with a hint of sweetness 8/10
Radiant Roots (47% apple, 24% carrot, 8% beetroot, lemon, water and ginger extract)  This juice combo went down a lot better, the sweetness of the beetroot came through with only a hint of earthiness, the ginger came through well and this was an enjoyable drink. 7/10


Do you remember how as children you used to mix up all your snacks in one bag? We used to call it Duck Soup, I've no idea why but everyone would share their different crisps and snacks and even peanuts and we each ended up with a mixed up bag of 'Duck Soup'. Well Walkers have now created great big sharing bags already mixed up for us!

Labels: Cawston Press, Chocolate Digestives, McVities Digestives, Mixups, Walkers

posted by Janice @ 11:00 5 Comments

Gnocchi with Spinach, Bacon and Mustard Cream Sauce and a Giveaway

I've always wanted to make gnocchi but there was one thing missing.  I didn't have a Potato Ricer and, while I could have spent hours mashing and pushing potatoes through a sieve - it never really appealed.

However, just before Christmas OXO Good Grips sent me a Potato Ricer to review and it is now one of my favourite kitchen tools. It makes the most fantastic smooth mashed potato, lumps are a thing of the past and that is why you need one to make good gnocchi.


I made my gnocchi using a recipe I found on Pinterest which was posted by Nicole at Cooking for Keeps: How to make Light as Air Gnocchi.  It was a very simple process, once the potatoes have been pushed through the ricer, you add eggs, flour and salt, then roll out the gnocchi, cut and press a fork into the cut edge.  The gnocchi is then boiled for 7 minutes before being served with sauce.

One of the joys of social media and the Foodie community is that you get some great advice about making the best of new recipes you are trying.  I had posted a photo of the uncooked gnocchi expressing my hope that it would taste as good as it looked once cooked.  Becca from Amuse Your Bouche replied to suggest that I sauted the gnocchi in butter after boiling in water to improve the flavour and texture.  You can read more about Becca's Sauted Gnocchi in Simple Garlic Butter Sauce  you don't need much more than this simple sauce when you saute your gnocchi.


The sauce I made had a few more ingredients wasn't too complicated. It's another recipe I found on Pinterest for Gnocchi in Mustard Cream from Maras Wonderland (it's a German blog, but if you scroll down Maras also has the recipe in English.  I added about 200g of spinach to the pan with the onion and let it wilt down before adding the other ingredients.

The most excellent news is that I have one OXO Good Grips Potato Ricer worth £30 to Giveaway to one lucky person, just follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Labels: Amuse Your Bouche, bacon, cream, giveaway, Gnocchi, mustard, potato, Potato Ricer, spinach, win

posted by Janice @ 06:00 122 Comments

Marbled Chocolate Cheesecake Muffins

When I was asked by Dr. Oetker  to bake one of their Chocolate Indulgence recipes. I chose these Marbled Chocolate Cheesecake Muffins.  I love to bake muffins, they are easy to make and just the right size for a sweet treat with a cup of tea or coffee, I also often serve muffins instead of dessert and they are always welcomed.


Dr. Oetker has a great range of products and tools to help you make a great chocolatey bake. They have several varieties of cooking chocolate, chocolate decorations and powders that make it so simple to make a tasty chocolatey bake.  There are also lots of great recipes on the website to help inspire you. 





The muffins were very easy to make, you do need to make two different mixtures, one with the cream cheese the other with melted chocolate, then you swirl the two together to get the marbled effect. I liked that they are not too sweet and there is a definite cheesecake flavour.  There are many more delicious recipes on the Dr. Oetker website for you to try. 


I couldn't resist using up the remaining cream cheese to make some Cream Cheese Frosting and decorating the muffins with Dr. Oetker Chocolate Hearts and Dr. Oetker Chocolate and Silver Pearls I took them into work to share them with my colleagues who were duly grateful!

Labels: baking, Cheesecake, chocolate, Dr. Oetker, Easter, Muffins

posted by Janice @ 06:30 8 Comments

Celebrate Mothers Day with Afternoon Tea

It's Mothers Day or Mothering Sunday on 15th March, that's next Sunday!  It's a great opportunity to treat your Mum, but when you are a busy Mum too, it's sometimes nice to let someone else spoil you both.


The good news is that you can treat your mother and/or mother-in-law and yourself to an afternoon tea with these lovely treats from Marks and Spencer.

Daffodil Madeira Cake, all butter sponge filled with buttercream and raspberry jam with soft icing and royal icing flowers - £12.00
*The Daffodil Madeira Cake is soft and moist with a nice layer of buttercream and jam, the icing is very sweet.  The daffodil decoration is delightful and very effective, overall it is a good cake.

A selection of Sweet Treats, milk chocolate coated honeycomb, white chocolate covered strawberries and milk chocolate discs - £9.00
*It is nice to have a slightly different take on a box of chocolates.  I enjoyed the honeycomb covered in chocolate and the white chocolate strawberries have a bit of a zing to them, you can definitely taste the fruit.  The milk chocolate discs are smooth and shiny and the chocolate has a good taste.

All Butter Lemon Shortbread Thins, scrummy lemon shortbread baked in the Scottish Highlands - £3.00
*The shortbread thins have a nice snap to them , the flavour of lemon does not overwhelm the delicate buttery taste.

Mini  Scottish Shortbread Tea Cup, all butter Scottish Shortbread mini rounds in a beautifully decorated cup and saucer - £12.00
* This pretty cup is a good size for tea or coffee and the buttery mini shortbreads are ideal for a little nibble to go along with it.

Simply add a pot of tea, some pretty linen and china and a bunch of flowers and you have everything you need for a relaxed afternoon tea.

Thanks to Marks and Spencer for providing me with these sweet treats for Mothers Day, I was not paid for this review and all opinions are my own. 

Labels: cake, honeycomb, Marks and Spencer, Mother's Day, shortbread, tea

posted by Janice @ 05:30 16 Comments

Creamy Butterscotch Pudding from Vanilla Table

Do you remember Butterscotch Angel Delight?  Well this is nothing like that, it is rich, creamy and sweetly caramel flavoured, a really indulgent treat.  It comes from a beautiful book called Vanilla Table: The essence of exquisite cooking from the world's best chefs.


Vanilla Table is curated by Natasha MacAller who has a passion for Vanilla and hopes to inspire home cooks, students and chefs to try this exotic but familiar ingredient in a wide range of dishes.  It includes recipes from Natasha and 33 other chefs from around the world including David Lebovitz, Anton Mosimann, Yotam Ottolenghi and Peggy Porchen.

About the Author: NATASHA MACALLER is known worldwide as the “Dancing Chef”. A former professional ballerina, after thirty years of performing with companies such as New York’s Joffrey Ballet, the Boston Ballet and on the stages of Broadway, she decided to move on to what she considered another performing art: cookery. She used her seasonal layoffs from ballet to become a professional cook and eventually set up her own catering business, Dancing Chef Catering, which served TV, theatre, film and food industry folks. In 1996, after graduating number one in her class from The Colorado Culinary Institute, Natasha went from strength to strength, and she now holds her own culinary classes and has become an international chef consultant.

About the Photographer: MANJA WACHSMUTH is a Danish photographer who, while currently residing in New Zealand, comes out of the Scandinavian photographic tradition. Specialising in food photography, she has her own boutique photographic studio and works with some of New Zealand’s favourite magazines and chefs, as well as with clients in Denmark, UK and Australia.


Here are some of the recipes that caught my eye:

Starters: Shaved Fennel and KeriKeri Orange Salad, Caramelised Orange Salad, Pate au Poulet with Tipsy Cherries and Heirloom Tomato Bisque.

Main Plates: Slow Roasted Oxtail Pot Pies, Vanilla Lacquer Duck Leg, Seared Scallops with Vanilla Parsnip Puree, Chicken Stroganoff with Chanterelles and Vanilla.

Blue Plates* and Brunch Plates: Coronation Chicken on Squashy Poppyseed Buns, Crunchy Cornflake Fried Chicken and Apricot, Almond and Vanilla Clafoutis.

*Blue plates are a US invention, literally a plate made up of three compartments - one each for main, side and dessert. 

Sharing Plates:  Island Crab cakes with vanilla-grapefruit remoulade,  The Tonga Trifle, Devilish Eggs with vanilla candied bacon and Saturn Peach, Onion and Blue Cheese Pie.

Dessert Plates: Vanilla Spiced Pineapple Roast, Quince Tarte Tatin, Raspberry Meringue Martinis, Creamy Butterscotch Pudding with Tash's English Toffee and The Anna Pavlova.

Cake Plates: Pure Vanilla Layer Cake, Caramelised Pineapple Carrot Cake, Two-Tone Chocolate Malt Cake and Bittersweet Chocolate Torte.

The Cookie Plate: Chocolate Sticky Bits, Espresso Brownie Bites, Gold Ingots, Cranberry Tweed Cardigans and Black Pepper Chai Truffles.

Bevvies and Bar Snacks: Toasty Coconut Chips and Nuts, Vanilla Passion Martini, Pink Ginger Zinger, Carrot Vanilla Gougeres.

Vanilla Pantry: Vanilla Sugar, Vanilla Salt Flakes, Vanilla Extract, Vanilla Aioli, Raspberry Vanilla Vinegar and Scooter Pastry Cases/Pie Shells.

Vanilla Plate concludes with Notes, Weights and Measures, All Sorts of Sources and biographies of the Contributing Chefs.

Who is this for?
This is not a beginners book, it is a book for confident cooks who would like to produce restaurant style dishes.

Pros:  Each recipe is well laid out with a paragraph about the story behind the recipe, a table showing the ingredients and clear instructions.  The photographs by Manja Wachsmuth are outstanding and help you understand how the dish should look as well as tempting your taste buds.

Cons:  Some of the recipes are quite complex or include ingredients that are difficult to source although the majority seem fairly straightforward.


I chose to make the Creamy Butterscotch Pudding which is essentially a caramel custard made with dark brown sugar, cream  and butter.  I am not entirely sure why the egg yolks were added when the pudding also contains cornflour to thicken it, they seemed a little surplus to requirements to me.  Whether you add the eggs or not, it is a gorgeous dessert and would be perfect for a dinner party or other event as you can make it beforehand and keep it in the fridge until required.  The taste is well worth the many pots and bowls that it requires to make it.

Creamy Butterscotch Pudding
6 servings

475 ml whipping cream
225 g unsalted butter, softened
45 g cornflour/cornstarch
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
480 ml milk
3 egg yolks, lightly beaten
15 ml pure vanilla extract
1 tsp rum (optional)
1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1. In a small saucepan, heat 300 ml cream until warm (or microwave in a small jug until warmed). Remove from heat and set aside.
2. Combine butter and brown sugar in a medium stainless steel saucepan over low heat.  Simmer 2 minutes, stirring with a spatula until bubbly. Add warmed cream and stir until smooth.
3. Combine cornflour and salt in a small bowl.  Slowly whisk in 1/4 of the cold milk until cornflour dissolves.  Add this mixture to the pan with remaining milk.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly to prevent burning.  Stir about 2 minutes until you see steam rise from the surface and the pudding thickens.  Slowly stream in egg yolks, whisking constantly.

4. Switch to spatula and continue to gently stir until bubbles form on top of pudding.
5. Remove from heat and stir in 2 1/2 tsp vanilla, rum (if using) and the vinegar.  Quickly strain into a jug , to make pouring easier, and then immediately pour into 6 individual serving dishes or glasses.
6. Tightly cover each one with a piece of cling-film to keep a skin from forming.  Chill 3 hours or until softly set.  Can be made a day in advance.

To serve whip remaining cream with 1/2 tsp vanilla until soft peaks form.  Place a dollop of the whipped cream on top of each pudding.  Garnish with a toffee shard.


As you can see I didn't serve mine with whipped cream but topped with thin slices of banana and finely grated chocolate.  Banana and butterscotch is a great combination and gave a different texture.


Vanilla Table by Natasha MacAller
Published by Jacqui Small in March 2015
RRP £25

I have one copy of Vanilla Table to giveaway, follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter to enter (UK/EU only) GOOD LUCK!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Labels: Butterscotch, Cook book review, creamy, custard, dessert, pudding, Vanilla, Vanilla Table

posted by Janice @ 06:30 22 Comments

Snip, Clip, Store, Bake, Cook, Share - it's Recipe Clippings!

There were some great entries to Recipe Clippings in February and now it's time to open the March Linky so get out that folder full of recipes cut from magazines, the ones copied from your mother, grandmother and friends and cook or bake the recipe and share it right here.

There are a number of different ways you can join in and cook up the recipes from your #RecipeClippings.

Labels: InLinkz, Linky, Recipe Clippings, recipes

posted by Janice @ 21:10 0 Comments

A Spicy Slow Cooked Challenge for March

Many thanks to everyone who took part in the February Slow Cooked Challenge. There were lots of great slowly cooked recipes so check out the ROUND-UP.

• Make your recipe in your Slow Cooker or other slow cooking method and post a photograph and the recipe, or a link to a recipe, on your blog
• Link to Farmersgirl Kitchen
• Use the Slow Cooked Challenge logo in your post
• If you use twitter, tweet your post with @FarmersgirlCook and #SlowCookedChallenge and I will re-tweet it to my followers AND post your picture on the dedicated Pinterest Board. 

Rules: 

• Please do not publish recipes from cookbooks on your blog without permission, they are copyright.
• If you are using recipes from another website, please link to the recipe on the website rather than publishing the recipe.
• One entry per blog.
• Recipes must be added to the linky by the 28th of each month.

Labels: Dhruv Baker, Slow Cooked Challenge, Spice Layers of Flavour, spicy

posted by Janice @ 20:08 3 Comments

From Mississipi to Vietnam in the Recipe Clippings Round Up

Hooray!  Another batch of recipes, been clipped, cooked or baked, blogged and shared for Recipe Clippings. Many thanks to all who joined me for the February Challenge.


1. Rachel Cotterill - Mississippi Mud Pie 
2. Baking in Pyjamas - Jaffa Cake Tea Bread
3. Onions and Paper - Pastitsio


4. Cloud of Cookmorphosis - Bun Mam: Vietnamese Fermented Fish Vermicelli Soup
5. Lancashire Food - Almond Sponge Topped Apple Pots
6. Chocolate Log Blog - Lemon Coconut Cakes with Freekah Flour


If you would like to find out more about Recipe Clippings please visit the page and come back and join in when the March Recipe Clippings Challenge is posted.

Labels: Almond, Apple, cake, coconut, Freekah, Jaffa Cakes, lemon, Mississippi Mud Pie, Pastitsio, Recipe Clippings, Vietnamese

posted by Janice @ 19:00 1 Comments

From Pies to Puddings: The February Slow Cooked Challenge Round Up

 I'm always amazed by the variety of dishes that are entered to the Slow Cooked Challenge and as there was no particular theme this month, we have everything from pies to puddings with a side order of focaccia.  Thanks to all the cooks who entered this month, it's such a pleasure to visit your web sites and blogs to see what you have made.


1. Onions and Paper Buffalo Pie
2. Family Friends Food 5-grain and Onion Soup with Cheese Brulee
3. Baking Queen 73 Slow Cooker Spinach and Feta Focaccia
4. Searching for Spice Slow Cooked Pork in Peanut Sauce



5. How to Cook Good Food Game Pie
6. Belleau Kitchen Slow Cooker Brisket with Caramelised Onions
7. Chardonnay and Samphire  Leek, Sweet Potato and Aubergine Curry
8. Baking in Franglais Slow Cooker Rice Pudding
9. Cloud of Cookmorphosis Easy Peasy Delicious (Asian Style) Duck Confit

The new challenge will be open very soon, February doesn't give much turnaround time with it's meagre 28 days, so please bear with me.



If you would like to find out more about the Slow Cooked Challenge then please visit the page which has all the details.

Labels: Brisket, Buffalo, curry, Duck Confit, Feburary Round Up, Focaccia, Game Pie, Pie, Pork, Rice Pudding, Slow Cooked Challenge, Soup

posted by Janice @ 09:26 8 Comments