Vietnamese Chicken Curry - ca ri ga

The light fresh flavours of the recipes in My Vietnamese Kitchen by Uyen Luu seem very appealing now that the festive season is over.
 

The Author
Uyen Luu hosts a Vietnamese supper club in her East London apartment where she cooks dishes she learned from her mother, she also holds Vietnamese cookery classes and teaches people from all over Europe. Visit Uyen's blog and find out more about her interests, including photography and film making.

The Photographer
Clare Winfield specialises in photographing food, her work has appeared in magazines and cookery books.

Introduction
The book has a foreword by Raymond Blanc who met Uyen durng the filming of his television series, How to Cook Well.  The introduction goes on to tell of Uyen's childhood an cooking inspiration. This is followed by a glossary of ingredients with alternatives which is always useful.

Chapter 1 - Awaken the Senses, Breakfast
Many of the breakfast recipes would translate well into lunch or even main meal dishes.  I particularly liked: Lemongrass Beef or Pork Baguette; Hue Noodle Soup with Beef and Pork, Chicken Curry (see recipe below); Beef Stew with star anise.

Chapter 2 - Feed the Soul, Soups
These are main course soups, full of fish, meat and vegetables including Hot and Sour Fish Soup, Duck Congee and Crab Tomato and Omelette Soup.

Chapter 3 - Sticky Fingers, Snacks
Street food is a major influence on the dishes in this chapter and there some of the tasty bites I liked the look of were Puff Pastry Chicken Pies; Spring Rolls, Sai Gon fresh summer rolls and Sizzling Crepes with pork and prawns.

Chapter 4 - Live Long, Noodles
There are many different kinds of noodles and the dishes in 'My Vietnamese Kitchen' feature a variety of these.  Here are my favourites: BBQ Pork Belly Skewers (with rice noodle salad), Stir Fried Beef and Fresh Noodles and Egg Noodles with Chinese Broccoli.

Chapter 5 - Eat and Play, Lunch and Dinner
And so to the main event, I was fascinated by the Fishcakes with Dill which are held together with french baking powder rather than potato, so all that you eat is fish!  Fish features heavily with a beautiful Fired Tiliapia with Green Mango and a Baked Seabream both of which I found very appealing.  Rich and sticky BBQ Spare Ribs would be hard to beat and a rather surprising Spaghetti Bolognese, included because of the love of Italian food in the new cosmopolitan Vietnam.

Chapter 6 - Happy Endings, Sweets
I love Mango and the Mango Smoothie looks and sounds totally delicious.  This chapter also includes Banana Fritters, Creme Caramel and Avocado Ice cream as well as Pandan Cake, coloured with an extract from Pandan Leaves.

The chapters are interspersed with interesting short essays about the Vietnamese way of eating, cooking and dining as well as information about the French influence on their cuisine. 

Who is it for? Anyone who enjoys Asian food and would like to expand their repertoire I would suggest you check out Uyen's web site and if you like the recipes she has published there, then you will love this book . Fish, seafood, beef and pork feature throughout the book with a very few vegetarian recipes, so probably not a good buy for vegetarians.

Pros:  The book is well laid out, with beautiful, tempting photographs and a fairly wide range of different recipes. The fusion of Asian and French cuisine leads to some really inspired dishes.

Cons: Some of the ingredients may be difficult to source outside a large city, although you may be able to get them online. It would have been helpful to include some information about where to source ingredients.

Ease of Use: While I have eaten curry for breakfast while visiting Malaysia, it's probably not something I would do at home, so I felt that it was easier to ignore the chapter headings when looking for a dish to cook. Otherwise, the recipe I cooked was well laid out and I had no difficulty following the instructions.

The Verdict
At first, I found it quite difficult to get going with this book,  I think because of the chapter headings as I've described above.  Once I got over this and just looked at the recipes, I found that there were many dishes here that I wanted to make.

The Chicken Curry was one of the best I have made,  similar to a Thai Green Curry, with so much flavour and just the right amount of piquancy.  I am, therefore,  excited and encouraged to make more recipes from My Vietnamese Kitchen. 




Chicken Curry (serves 2)
ca ri ga

1 tbsp cooking oil
1 red onion, roughly chopped
1 thumb's worth of fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 lemongrass stalk, finely diced
2 large chicken legs, cut into bite-size pieces or 6 whole drumsticks, skin on
3 teaspoons curry powder
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
165ml (2/3 cup) coconut milk
300ml (1 1/4 cups) chicken stock
2 medium potatoes, cubed
1 carrot roughly sliced
4 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp sugar
ground black pepper
1/2 aubergine/eggplant cubed (optional)
handful of okra, cut into bite-size pieces (optional)
6 Asian shallots, peeled
handful of mangetout/snow peas (optional)
warm baguette and butter, or steamed rice to serve

Garnishes
Thai sweet basil
spring onion/scallion
Bird's eye chillis

1. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over low heat.  Gently fry the red onion , ginger and lemongrass.
2. Once the onion has softened, add the chicken legs and fry, turning often until they're evenly browned.
3. Add the curry powder, stirring well until the chicken legs are well coated.  Add the garlic, coconut milk, chicken stock, potatoes and carrot and stir.
4. Cover with a lid and simmer for about 10 minutes.
5. Season the curry with the fish sauce, sugar and a pinch of black pepper, then add the aubergine/eggplant, okra, shallots and mangetout pea/snow peas.
6. Cook for a further 8-10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

Garnish with Thai sweet basil, spring onions/scallions and chillies. Serve with a fresh, warm baguette and butter, or a bowl of steamed rice.

What I did differently
I used 6 chicken thighs, doubled up the aubergine, potatoes, carrots and the coconut milk.  Used a Korma curry paste rather than powder.  No okra or mangetout, so I used a green pepper and some green beans.  The fish sauce and coconut milk are both key to the flavour of this dish.

My Vietnamese Kitchen by Uyen Luu
Published by Ryland Peters and Small
RRP £16.99



I'm entering this recipe for  Bloggers Around the World,  a blogger challenge from Chris at Cooking Around the World blog.  This month the country of choice is Vietnam, thanks Chris for motivating me to make this dish and post the review. 

Labels: Chicken, coconut milk, cookery book review, curry, fish sauce, kitchen, review, Ryland Peters and Small, Uyen Luu, Vietmanese

posted by Janice @ 18:26 4 Comments

Ruby Red Strawberry Crumble - Mouthwatering Vegan Review

About the book
Mouthwatering Vegan is promoted as a book of vegan recipes for everone's favourite comfort foods.  Miriam challenges herself to replicate dishes that are usually impossible to include in a vegan diet and opens up the scope for what vegan eating can be.  Included in the book are recipes for vegan cheese, cream and mayonnaise; Chilli Con 'Carne', Shepherd's Pie, Mince and Ale Pie, Stroganoff Supreme and the Perfect Roast.

I was rather surprised by this approach to vegan cooking, surely the point of being vegan is not to eat or use products from any living thing?  So why would you want to recreate recipes which are based on meat and dairy?  Many of the recipes use substitutes for meat and dairy products such as vegan bacon, vegan ground meat substitute, vegan burgers, vegan beef strips or textured vegetable protein (TVP) it is perhaps a matter of semantics but it still seems a little strange to me.

The Chapters
The Introduction tells you a little about the author and her reasons for choosing a Vegan diet.
Vegan Nutrition and The Vegan Pantry are very well laid out and would be extremely useful for anyone starting out as a vegan.
Breakfast, Juices and Smoothies includes Blackberry Muffins, Scrambled Tofu with Mushrooms, Sizzle-Sozzle Sausages, Banana Oat and Cinnamon Smoothie and Rose Coconut and Cardamom Smoothie.
Appetisers and Sides includes Moroccan Smoked Eggplant Dip, Pecan and Cognac Pate, Chilli, Olive, Garlic and Rosemary bruschetta and Mouthwatering Vegan Pastizzi.
Soups and Salads includes Greek 'Chicken' and Lemon Soup, Creamy Coconut Broccoli Soup, Cherry Tomato Soup, Cherry Tomato, Chickpea and Orange Pepper Salad and Rainbow Rice Salad.
Pasta, Pizza and Burgers includes Five Perfect Pesto Variations, Nutty Ragu Bolognese, Cheesy Cauliflower Pasta Bake, State-of-the-Art Lasagne, Stir-fried veggies with Cashews and Noodles, Fast Layered Tomato Cheese Burgers and Wacky Hot Dogs.
Curries includes Fastest Thai Curry ever, Orange and Chocolate Knockout Curry,  Sweet Potato Fusion Curry and Tandoori Kofta Masala.
Mouthwatering Mains includes Chilli Con "Carne", Greek Garlic Bean Stew, Spicy Rice and Quinoa Bake, Juicy Portobello Steaks in a Peppered Cognac Sauce, Lemon Spiced Dolmades, Sweet Potato Moussaka, Cornish Style Sausage Pie, Mince and Ale Pie and The Perfect Christmas Roast.
Desserts, Cakes and Treats includes Raw Chocolate, Fruit and Nut Balls, Maltese Date and Fig Bars, Chocolate, Kahlua and Orange Trifle, Ruby Red Strawberry Crumble (see recipe below), Double Chocolate Coke Cake and Bountiful Coconut Chocolate Bars.
Decadent Cheese and Dairy Alternatives includes Happy Milk, Vegan Mozzarella, Mature Cheddar "Cheese", Nutty Parmesan and Bechamel Sauce.

The final chapter is "Why Vegan?" where Miriam explores the ethical, dietary and environmental reasons for being vegan.

There are over 130 recipes and I found myself drawn toward the Appetisers, Salads and the Desserts and any recipes which didn't use substitutes.

I had bookmarked the Cherry Tomato, Chickpea and Orange Pepper Salad but in the end decided to make the Ruby Red Strawberry Crumble


Ruby Red Strawberry Crumble 
serves 4
1 1/2 lb (750g) fresh strawberries, washed and sliced into 3-4 slices each (I used frozen strawberries, which I baked from frozen and left whole, it worked perfectly well.)
2 tsp (10ml) turbinado or raw sugar
2 tbsp (30ml) maple syrup
1 cup (250ml) unbleached all purpose or wholewheat flour, or a combination
1 1/2 tbsp (22.5ml) rolled oats
3 tbsp (45ml) vegan white sugar or turbinado sugar
3 tbsp (45ml) vegan margarine
1/2 tsp (2ml) almond extract

1. Distribute the strawberries evenly in a 9 x 13 inch (3.5L) greased casserole dish, then cover with the sugar and pour the maple syrup over the top.
2. Preheat the oven to 350F (180C)
3. Place the flour, oats and sugar in a food processor and process until crumbs are formed.
4. Add the margarine and almond extract and process for a few moments.
5. Tip the mixture into a large bowl and continue to crumble by hand.  You should be left with a crumble mixture, not a dough, it if over thickens, add a little more flour to dry it out.
6. Distribute the crumble as evenly as possible on top of the strawberry filling, cover in aluminium foil and bake for 20 minutes (baking covered helps the filling to cook and yield its nectar).
7. Uncover and cook for another 15 minutes, until the crumble turns golden.  Serve hot.


This is an excellent recipe and very forgiving.  I did the first 20 minutes with the foil lid earlier in the day when I had the oven on anyway, then reheated the crumble for 15 minutes to crisp up the crumble.  The frozen strawberries worked really well, I don't usually freeze strawberries, but they were given to me on a day I had already bought some strawberries and didn't have time to use the for anything else. 

I served the Ruby Red Strawberry Crumble with vanilla icecream on the first night and then with custard the second time I served it.  I can thoroughly recommend this crumble, it's the first time I've used strawberries in a crumble and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.  There is no overwhelming taste from the Maple syrup nor is the fruit too sweet. The crumble is not very crisp but I know from experience that that is the oats in it, but it is quite light and not cloying at all.  I got five generous helpings from the dish, so I think it could easily stretch to six.

Pros
There are many interesting and varied recipes in Mouthwatering Vegan, each recipe has a page to itself with a bit of introduction, ingredients on the left and instructions on the right. The photographs are excellent and really do make your mouth water.

Cons
I definitely struggled with the concept of meat and dairy style recipes, but as I said at the beginning, I'm not a vegan and as Miriam says "each of us should take responsibility for our food choices" so each to their own.  My only other comment is that the book does not sit open easily, it's a large paperback and I think the spine would eventually break from pressing it open. 

The Verdict
If you are a vegan or are interested in becoming a vegan, I would suggest you start with Miriam's blog and if you like her style of cooking then you will love having all the recipes organised into a book.  I'll certainly make some of the  recipes, at least those which don't use processed substitutes, as that is my choice.

Mouthwatering Vegan by Miriam Sorrell
Published by Appetite by Random House
A special US import distributed by Turnaround
RRP £19.99

Labels: cookery book review, Miriam Sorrell, Mouthwatering Vegan, Random House, Strawberry Crumble, Turnaround, Vegan, vegetarian

posted by Janice @ 08:19 2 Comments

Beef Bourguignon Pie and a book review

Beef Bourguignon Pie

 This recipe comes from 'A Suitcase and a Spatula' by Tori Haschka, a Sydney-born food and travel writer, blogger at eatori.com and intrepid gourmet.

A Suitcase and a Spatula

A Suitcase and a Spatula is a quirky little book, a kind of hybrid travelogue cookbook.  At first glance, it seems a bit wordy, but the words are well written, amusing and informative and the recipes are very good.

The Introduction tells you  about Tori, her travel companion or 'co-pilot' and some of the places they visited. 

Off to a good start - Food for a sociable start to the day and when you crave breakfast for dinner 
Here are a few of the Breakfast treat,  starting in London with Mushrooms, Brown Butter and Parmesan on Toast, New York gives us Corn Popovers with Tomato Bacon Relish, in Paris a Raspberry Croissant Pudding is the delightful offering.  In Agadir,  warm and spicy Baked Moroccan Eggs brighten up the breakfast table and we finish up in Sydney with Latte Banana Bread, nuff said!  My favourite part of this chapter was the double pager called "How to get the best out of a breakfast buffet" what a brilliant idea and so many good tips to avoid gluttony but have your fill of the good stuff.

Summer - Feasts best eaten with sand between your toes
Living in Scotland, we don't often have the kind of weather that makes you want to eat light summer dishes, but on those days when the sun shines and the temperature gets above 16C (yes, really 20C is a heat wave!) I'm going to be trying out some of the following summery recipes:  Griddled Bread with Ricotta, Mint, Chilli and Lemon from Bondi, Sydney's iconic beach, Pork Burritos with Spicy Pineapple Salsa from Avoca Beach (that's in Australia, not Ireland) Sardines with Campari Peach and Fennel from Venice, Fava with Lamb Meatballs from Athens.  There is a lovely section on The South of France featuring Mussels, Fennel and Chickpeas in Pink Wine and Rose Jelly with Vanilla Cream - mmm how delicious.

Another fun section is the Minibar Cocktail Party - create a Citrus Gin Fizz, a Coffee martini or a Lazy Sangria, amongst others!   The chapter ends with Avocado Milkshake Popsicles displayed in stunning coloured glasses.

Winter - Feasts best eaten when hunkering down in front of a fire.
I would certainly eat Roast Apple and Pumpkin Soup with Maple Nut Crumble while hunkering down in front of a fire in the Blue Mountains and Tori has some sound advice for would be frontier-braving campers!

Another great section provides a Formula for Carpet Picnics, for those days when the weather doesn't allow you to eat outside, some simple combinations of local ingredients make for a great picnic no matter where you are.

More winter dishes include Slow Cooked Pork Ribs with Rhubarb Pickle from Brooklyn, Icelandic Hot Dogs and Pecorino, Pepper and Pig Cheek Pasta from Rome. I will definitely be making Koshary a  spicy rice, pasta and chickpea dish from Cairo.  Full details of the French Beef Bourguignon Pie below, another pie from San Francisco: Tomato Soup Pie!


The Sweet Stuff - Desserts for sharing, treats for snaking and things to call on when a grey day needs a lift
There are some nice recipes in this chapter, but I don't think it is as strong as the other chapters, I was drawn to the following recipes: Elderflower Almond Cake with Summer Berries from London Fields, Apricot Frangipane Puddings from Val D'Isere a perfect 'chalet girl' pud!

In 'A Tale of Two Christmases' we are given menus for a hot Christmas in Sydney and a cold Christmas in London.  I liked the look of the Christmas Pudding Semifreddo with Boozy Chocolate Sauce which I think would go down just as well in London as Sydney.

Pros
The presentation of some of the recipes as pages stuck in with tape appealed to me, and the photographs of the completed recipes were beautifully styled. There was also a theme of airmail and postcards which was effective. Each recipe comes with a few paragraphs to tell you about the author's travels and the dish featured. The narrative pieces, some of which I have already mentioned but there are more e.g. 'Plane Food', are a real treat. Great ideas for travellers written with gentle humour.

Cons
It is a rather eclectic mixture of recipes, which is inevitable given the travel theme.   There are still quite a lot of Australian themed recipes, but all the recipes use ingredients which should be fairly easily available.

Ease of use
Both imperial and metric measures are shown.  The instructions are clear and well laid out.  There is a photograph for all the main dishes, some simple recipes mentioned in the narrative pieces don't have photographs.


I chose to make the Beef Bourguignon Pie because it is the dish in the book which features Beaune, the delightful French town in the Burgundy area that I visited in March.

Hotel de Dieu - Beaune

Charcuterie - Beaune

Fromagerie - Beaune

Wine Tasting - Beaune

Janice in Beaune!

Tori tells us "one option is to serve the silken hunks of meat over mashed potato or white bean purée. Or you could do what every homesick Australian does when stranded in the middle of France, and ponder how it would taste under a cap of pastry."



Beef Bourguignon Pie (serves 4)
1kg/2 1/4lb beef shin or chuck steak, cubed
1 1/4 tbsp plain/all purpose flour
1tsp salt
1tsp black pepper
3tbsp olive oil
2 carrots, diced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 onions, diced
2 bay leaves
675ml/2 3/4 cups red wine (burgundy is classic)
2tbsp tomato purée/paste
1tsp sugar
2tbsp cassis or sherry (optional)
150g/5oz lardons/streaky bacon, cut into strips
200g/6 1/2oz button mushrooms, halved
375g/12 1/2 oz puff pastry
1 egg, beaten
4 ovenproof bowls or pudding containers

Preheat the oven to 230C/450F/Gas 8. Dust the beef in the flour, salt and pepper.
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a casserole dish over a high heat, and brown half the meat. Remove and add another tbsp of oil before browning the other half (try not to crowd the pan - you don't want the meat to stew.
Remove the meat and add 1tbsp olive oil to the pan. Sauté the carrots, garlic and onions until the onion is translucent.
Return the meat to the pan. Add the bay leaves and red wine. Scrape up the sediment on the bottom of the pan with a spoon to encourage it to join the stew. This is where the flavour is.
Simmer over low heat with the lid off for 2 hours or longer if you have it. An hour before serving add the tomato purée/paste and sugar. (If you feel inclined, add the cassis or sherry).
Just before serving, brown the lardons or streaky bacon in a frying pan. Add both to the beef stew, season with salt and pepper.



Divide the stew among 4 pie dishes. Divide the pastry into four, roll out on a floured surface and place on top of the pies. Seal around the edges of the dishes. Brush with beaten egg, make a cut in the centre and bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden.



I don't have any little pie dishes so decided to bake the pastry separately and serve with the meat stew.

 Stunning dish, worthy of a restaurant (even though I say it myself) the Beef Bourguignon was rich and full of flavour and deconstructing the pie worked really well as the pastry was crisp, airy and light.


A Suitcase and a Spatula
Recipes and stories from around the world
AUTHOR Tori Haschka
PHOTOGRAPHER Isobel Wield
RRP £18.99
POPULAR ONLINE RETAILER £12.15
PUBLISHER  Ryland Peters and Small
SPECIFICATIONS 144pp
c. 100 colour photographs
ISBN 978-1-84975-349-4

Labels: A Suitcase and a Spatula, Beaune, Beef Bourguignon, beef. pie, cookery book review, Peters and Small, puff pastry, Ryland, Tori Haschka, travel

posted by Janice @ 13:00 3 Comments

The Vegetarian Pantry - a cookbook review

Although I'm not a vegetarian, far from it, I have always enjoyed meatless meals. The Vegetarian Pantry by Chloe Coker and Jane Montgomery aims to teach you how to create stunning dishes using the best of fresh produce and a well stocked kitchen pantry.  I have a number recipes bookmarked already.

Chloe Coker grew up in a vegetarian household and is passionate about encouraging people to cook with and enjoy local, seasonal food. Previously a lawyer in the city, she turned her passion into a profession and retrained as a chef at Leiths School of Food and Wine.
Jane Montgomery had a previous career in advertising but turned her creative flair to her love of food and trained with Chloe at Leiths School of Food and Wine. Since then she has spent time cheffing and cooking for private clients as well as teaching classes. In 2010 Chloe and Jane launched Citycook, www.citycook.co.uk a boutique teaching and catering company specialising in bespoke events.

Introduction
The introduction tells you a bit about Chloe and Jane and their inspiration for writing the book. This is followed by some sound advice on staying healthy as a vegetarian with details of key nutrients required and how to get them in a vegetarian diet. The authors also, helpfully, describe the requirements for a well-stocked vegetarian pantry and how to store your ingredients.

Breakfast and Brunch includes Quick Cornbread, Saffron and Pepper Frittata with roasted garlic aioli, which would make a great lunch or even main meal, as would Herby Chickpea Pancakes with Halloumi and roasted corn and red pepper salsa. For the sweeter toothed breakfaster how about French Toast stuffed with bananas or Honey and Apricot breakfast muffins?

Small Bites is a chapter of snack, starters, tapas or mezze ideal if you like to entertain. Choose from Lemon and Mushroom risotto balls, Vegetable Dumplings with dipping sauce or indulge in Samosas with lemon and garlic dip. There are some great buschetta toppings and one recipe I've particularly bookmarked: Breadcrumbed Halloumi goujons!

Dips, Salsas and Sauces provides some recipes to help your vegetarian dishes along. I liked the look of Sweet Potato hummus with breadsticks, there are four punchy pesos: roasted beetroot pesto, watercress pesto, mushroom and walnut pesto and a ricotta and herb pesto. The three fresh salsas look great too: apple, celery and mint salsa, Carrot, orange and mint salsa and Asian cucumber salsa. The chapter is rounded off with a Spicy Tomato Ketchup and a Sweet Chilli Jam recipe.

Soups and Salads promises us light refreshing summer dishes and warming winter comfort food. There are both hot and cold soups and some interesting salads including Beetroot Quinoa and green bean salad with spicy ginger dressing and shallot crisps, I bookmarked the Winter salad of pearl barley, mushrooms and walnuts as I love the nutty taste of pearl barley. There is also an Italian tear and share bread and a Soda Bread recipe to accompany your soup or salad.

And so we move on to Main Dishes, possibly the most visually appealing is the Carrot and Leek Tarte Tatin with the caramelised vegetables atop a layer of light puff pastry. The Beetroot Risotto is a glorious deep pink and the Individual Baked Cheesecakes with salted honey walnuts are worthy of a special dinner party. I have to say I found this chapter the weakest in the book, there are a number of one-pot dishes which look rather uninspired alongside the delicious ones I have mentioned.

We all love Sweet Treats and there are some real crackers in this chapter. Always on the lookout for rhubarb recipes, I will be trying the Rhubarb, Orange and Vanilla Fool with shortbread cookies. Plum Frangipane Tart with ginger cream also sounds good and, as a sucker for all things almondy, Poached Amaretto Peaches with Amaretti cookie creme fraiche is on my list for the summer. There are few baked sweet treats too including Orange, almond drizzle cake, Chocolate Orange Brownies and Pistachio, white chocolate and Cranberry Biscotti.

Who is it for?
This is a book for an established vegetarian who is looking for some inspiration and new ideas particularly for entertaining. It would also appeal to adventurous non-vegetarians with good cooking skills who would like to try something different.


Pros
The book is well laid out with large clear photographs to tempt you to try the recipes. The recipes themselves are well written and easy to follow with symbols indicating where they are suitable for vegans and those recipes which are gluten-free which I thought was an excellent idea.

Cons
I felt that the recipes were aimed at summer eating and most of the recipes that are "comfort food" were a little predictable and would already be in the repertoire of most vegetarians. Nor do I think this is the best book for new vegetarians as it features a lot of bits and pieces rather than main meals.

As my featured recipe, I chose to make these Honey and Apricot Breakfast Muffins which are easy to make and incredibly soft, moist and delicious. They also kept very well in an airtight cake tin which is a bonus. 

Honey and Apricot Breakfast Muffins
200g plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
21/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tsp mixed spice
50g chopped dried apricots
50g pecan nuts chopped
100g porridge oats
50g sultanas
2 bananas (preferably soft)
2 unpeeled apples, grated
2 eggs
5 tbsp veg oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp honey
6 tablespoons milk
100g light brown sugar

12 hole muffin tin filled with muffin cases (my mix made about 17-18, but I think it depends on your paper cases and how full you fill them!)


Pre-heat the oven to 180C.
Sift the flour into a mixing bowl.  Add the bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and mixed spice and stir to combine.  Add the dried apricots, pecans and oats to the flour mixture together with the sultanas and set aside.

In a separate bowl, mash the bananas with a fork.  Add the apples, eggs, oil, vanilla extract, honey and milk and stir to combine.  Add the sugar and stir gain.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Pour int he wet ingredients and gently stir from the centre, gradually drawing in the dry ingredients to make a smooth batter.

Fill the muffin cases two thirds full and top with chopped pecans for added texture.  Bake in the top half of the preheated oven for approximately 30-40 minutes until the muffins are well risen, golden and springy to touch.  Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack then serve with cups of hot coffee. These muffins are best eaten fresh but will keep in an airtight container for 3 or 4 days.


I'm entering these moist, fruity and delicious muffins for Tea Time Treats.  The Tea Time challenge hosted by Karen at Lavender and Lovage and Kate at What Kate Baked.  Kate is hosting this month and the theme is "Fairy Cakes, Cup Cakes and Muffins". 

Labels: Apricot, cookery book review, Muffins, Peters and Small, Ryland, Tea Time Treats, The Vegetarian Pantry, vegetarian

posted by Janice @ 20:29 3 Comments

Treacle Tarts from 'The British Larder' - A review

Mini Treacle Tarts

The British Larder, A Cookbook for all Seasons

By Madalene Bonvini-Hamel

I was provided with a copy of The British Larder by Absolute Press/Bloomsbury Publishing, I was not required to write a positive review and my opinions are my own.

Labels: Absolute Press, Bloomsbury Publishing, book review, breadcrumbs, cookery book review, golden syrup, Madalene Bonvini-Hamel, mini treacle tarts, Seasonal Cooking, The British Larder, Treacle Tart

posted by Janice @ 22:01 7 Comments

How to Bake Paul Hollywood's Christmas Cake

What do you think about when you think of Paul Hollywood?  Oh stop it, you naughty readers.  If you were behaving yourselves, you might think of baking but more specifically, baking bread.  Certainly, I associate Paul Hollywood with bread baking rather than cake baking.  So I was surprised and delighted when I received a copy of his book 'How to Bake' to review, to see that there were indeed lots of bread recipes but also lots of other bakes too.

How to Bake by Paul Hollywood

Who is it for?

Pros and Cons

 

Ease of use

 Worth buying?

 As I hadn't yet made my Christmas cake, I decided to try Paul's recipe, the photograph above is from the book.

Christmas Cake

Makes at least 16 slices / prep 1 hour, plus pre-soaking fruit / bake 3–3½ hours
This is a classic, richly fruited Christmas cake – deliciously moist and
substantial. It tastes wonderful just as it is, but of course the addition of
marzipan and snowy white icing make it much more festive and spectacular.
You can either make your own marzipan, or use a good-quality bought
one. The same goes for the icing.
450g sultanas
225g raisins
225g dried apricots, chopped
115g prunes, chopped
55g glacé pineapple
225g glacé cherries, chopped
225g chopped candied peel
115g blanched almonds, toasted and very roughly chopped
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 orange
70ml brandy
225g unsalted butter, softened
200g light muscovado sugar
5 large eggs
280g plain flour

To finish
2 tbsp apricot jam
1 quantity marzipan (see page 255), or a 500g packet ready made marzipan
Icing sugar for dusting
1 quantity royal icing (see page 255), or a 500g packet ready-to-
roll royal icing

1. Combine all the dried and glacé fruit, candied peel and almonds in
a large bowl. Add the orange zest and juice, and the brandy. Mix well,
cover and leave for several hours or overnight.
2. Heat your oven to 150˚C. Line the base and sides of a 20cm round deep
cake tin with a double thickness of baking parchment, cutting it so that
it stands a good 5cm proud of the top of the tin.
3. In a very large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar together for
several minutes until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time,
adding a little of the flour with each to prevent the mixture splitting.
Stir in the fruit mixture. Sift the remaining flour over the mixture and
fold in, using a large metal spoon. Spoon the mixture into the prepared
cake tin and level the surface.
4. Bake in the middle of the oven for 3 hours, then check by inserting
a skewer into the centre – if it comes out clean, the cake is cooked.
If not, give it a further 15–30 minutes. Leave the cake to cool before
removing it from the tin.
5. When your cake is completely cooled – and ideally after a couple of days
– you can marzipan and ice it. Warm the apricot jam gently in a saucepan
with a splash of water to thin it down, sieve, then brush all over the cake.
6. Roll out 300g of the marzipan to a large circle, about 4mm thick. Using
the cake tin as a guide, cut a round of marzipan to fit the top of the cake
and position it. Roll out the other 200g marzipan with the trimmings
and cut 2 long strips to fit around the side of the cake. Position these,
then smooth the marzipan and mould the edges together.
7. If you are using ready-to-roll icing, roll it out on a surface lightly
dusted with icing sugar to a thickness of about 5mm. Lift it over the
marzipan, smooth down and trim off the excess at the base.
8. If you are using homemade royal icing, smooth it over the cake with
a palette knife. You can leave it smooth or swirl it into peaks with the
back of a spoon or your palette knife, as you choose. Leave to set.
9. Wrap a ribbon around the side of your Christmas cake and finish as you
wish with festive decorations.

Here is my cake, it is much lighter than the one I usually make but it is packed full of fruit.  There seemed to be a lot of mixture, too much for my 20cm tin, so I baked the remaining mixture in a small loaf tin.


The advantage of this was that I was able to taste the cake without cutting into my Christmas cake!  In fact the cake cuts very well as the texture of the cake is quite dense but moist and not over sweet. As an apricot and prune fan, I particularly enjoyed the dried fruits.  I'll be interested to see how the cake matures.

How to Bake by Paul Hollywood is published by Bloomsbury  RRP £20,  Popular On line Retailer £8.86

Thanks to Bloomsbury for the opportunity to review this book

Labels: apricots, book review, Christmas Cake, cookery book review, Great British Bake Off, How to Bake, Paul Hollywood, prunes

posted by Janice @ 21:49 7 Comments