Cheese and Chive Scones with Marjoram and Marigold Cream Cheese

I love to make scones.  It's so simple to rub together the ingredients and a few minutes in a hot oven produces a fresh, soft and wholesome quick bread, perfect with soup, with cheese or in this case with a fresh marjoram infused cream cheese sprinkled with marigold petals.

Cheese and Chive Scones with Marjoram Cream Cheese
225g wholemeal self-raising flour
1 level tsp baking powder
50g butter or soft margarine
50g grated hard cheese (I used cheddar)
1 tbsp finely chopped chives
1/4 tsp chilli powder
a pinch of salt
1 egg
milk

2 tbsp cream cheese
1 tsp finely chopped marjoram leaves

A few marigold petals to scatter

For the Scones
1. Heat the oven to 220C, Gas 7
2. Put the flour and baking powder in a bowl and rub in the butter or margarine until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.
3. Add the cheese, chives, chilli powder and salt.
4. Crack the egg into a measuring jug mix it with a fork and then make up the liquid to 150ml with milk.
5. Stir the milk into the flour and mix to a soft dough, add a little extra milk if required.
6. Turn onto a lightly floured table and gently roll out to about 1.25cm thick.
7. Cut into rounds, the size of the cutter will determine how many scones you make.
8. Place the scones on a greased baking tray, brush the tops with a little milk and bake for about 10 minutes or until pale golden brown.
9. Remove the scones from the tray and leave to cool on a wire rack.

For the Marjoram Cream Cheese
Mix the cream cheese with the marjoram, leave to infuse for at least 30 minutes.

Spread the cooled scones with the marjoram cream cheese and sprinkle with marigold petals.  Best served with a cup of tea.


I'm entering my Cheese and Chive Scones for Cooking with Herbs, the blog challenge run by Karen at Lavender and Lovage, this month's theme is Summer Herbs and Flowers - well I've given you both, enjoy!


The Love Cake challenge run by Jibber JabberUK is looking for savoury bakes in August, so my cheese and chive scones, with a little pinch of chilli heat, are a perfect match.

Labels: cheese scones, chilli, chives, Cooking with Herbs, cream cheese, Love Cake, marigolds, marjoram, Scones

posted by Janice @ 19:16 15 Comments

Cheesy Pasta Bake for 'Pasta Please'

This particular carb-fest is the result of my store cupboard audit.  As I mentioned in my Random Recipe post I'm trying to use up the bits and pieces that have been abandoned at the back of the larder. In this case about a third of a bag of chickpeas, a few tagliatelle 'nests'.  There was also a butternut squash which has been in the fridge for two weeks, I can't even remember why I bought it!

Jacqueline at Tinned Tomatoes is hosting 'Pasta Please' a food blogging challenge using, yes you've guessed it, PASTA!  This month the theme is Cheese and Jac has been begging asking for entries on Twitter, so I thought I would help her out with this rather unusual combination of pasta and other stuff that needed used up.

Cheesy Butternut Squash, Chickpea and Pasta Bake

1 large butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and chopped
2 tbsp oil
150g dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and cooked in boiling water until just tender
3 tagliatelle 'nests'
100g Philadelphia cream cheese (mine was the light one but any will do)
100g cheddar cheese, grated (you can use any hard cheese)
salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat the oven to 200C.  Put the oil in a roasting tray and add the squash, roast for 30-40 minutes until soft and slightly browned.
2. Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions in boiling water, when ready, drain and mix the cream cheese into the pasta.  Season to taste.
3. Mix the cheesy pasta with the chickpeas and roasted butternut squash and put in a buttered or oiled ovenproof dish.
4. Sprinkle the grated cheese over the pasta bake and put in the oven for 15 minutes until the cheese has melted and formed a crunchy golden topping.
5. Serve with a green vegetable.

The bake was filling and tasty, ideal for a cold day in January.  The chickpeas near the top of the dish had become lovely and crunchy in a 'Bombay Mix' sort of way and the sweetness of the butternut squash and saltiness of the cheese worked well with the bland flavour of the pasta and chickpeas. 

Labels: butternut squash, chickpea, cream cheese, pasta, Pasta Bake, Pasta Please, Philadelphia cheese, Tinned Tomatoes

posted by Janice @ 20:27 3 Comments

Handpicked Smoked Salmon and a Club Chocolat Francais Giveaway

NOT my Wartime Kitchen, but the other one, full of tempting treats and deliciousness!


The first time I tasted smoked salmon was at my Great Aunt and Uncle's home in West Kingsdown in Kent.  We used to go down there at Easter and go on exciting trips into London!  I must have been about 7 years old and Aunty Phyllis made us smoked salmon sandwiches, she bought end pieces which were not so expensive, but I was so impressed (a very early foodie!) and loved the smoky saltiness of this delicate fish.
Smoked Salmon is not such a luxury  now with more farmed salmon but it often disappoints being wet or greasy.  Not so the MacGilvray Finest Smoked Salmon sent to me by The Handpicked Food 
Store. Here is what MacGilvrays say about their smoked salmon:

"All of our smoked salmon is sourced by fine food purveyors MacGilvray from the cold clear waters of the Scottish West Highlands.  It has been dry cured and oak-smoked in traditional brick built kilns and we believe it to be the finest available."

The salmon was firm, not too finely cut and just melted in your mouth.  The smoke was subtle and didn't overpower the flavour of the fish.  In fact, it was just how I remember that first taste of delicious smoked salmon in the 1960s!  The Handpicked Food Store is a new venture from the people who bring you well-established The Handpicked Collection  both are well worth a visit for gift shopping. 

Club Chocolat Francais Autumn Collection and a Giveaway

I am feeling really spoiled, first smoked salmon and now delicious french chocolates.  I've reviewed Club Chocolat Francais before and I have to say that this collection is even better than the last.  There are some stunning flavours enrobed in the very best dark, milk and white chocolate.




This was my absolute favourite from this selection it's the 'Citron Coriandre' and it absolutely bursts onto your tongue with an incredible lemon and spice taste that I've never encountered in a chocolate before.  I also loved the Petales Framboise, again the intensity and freshness of the fruit flavours are really not like anything you get in a standard box of chocs.



Club Chocolat Français comes is a family business, established 20 years ago in Southwest France, in the country side. Their workshops are surrounded by orchards. These orchards provide the plums and hazelnuts  used for the chocolate creations.


If you love Gourmet chocolate, have a look at the Club Chocolat Francais chocolate club, each month you get 34 luxury handmade chocolates delivered to your door  - mmm heaven!

GIVEAWAY

I have three full size boxes of Club Chocolat Chocolates to giveaway to three lucky readers.  Just follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter widget.
This competition is open to readers in the UK and Europe only as Club Chocolat Francais chocolates are handmade using the finest ingredients with no artificial preservatives added. The high quality of our products makes speedy delivery a necessity.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Labels: bagel, chocolate, Club Chocolat Francais, cream cheese, giveaway, Rafflecopter, smoked salmon, The Handpicked Collection, The Handpicked Foodstore, win

posted by Janice @ 12:12 164 Comments

Pina Colada Cupcakes - Reviews and Challenges

I love a nice sweet pineapple, even though they are available all year round in the supermarkets, they still seem rather exotic.  I've never had any difficulty in peeling and cutting a pineapple but was  intrigued when I was sent an OXO Good Grips Pineapple Slicer to review.

I decided that the best way to show you how it works would be to make a video and post it on here.  When I uploaded it to You Tube, I came across a professional 'how to' video created by OXO Good Grips.  I've decided to post both of them, so that you can see me reading the instructions and cutting a pineapple for the first time/  This was going to have to be 'one take' because I only had one pineapple, so I was concentrating on reading the instructions and cutting the pineapple and didn't realise, until my husband started laughing, that some of it could be interpreted as a bit rude!   Anyway here is my version:


And here is how you should really cut your pineapple...


I'm hoping I will get better with practise, now that I understand how the slicer works!

 Here is the slightly mangled pineapple, oh boy was there lot of juice.

At the same time, I was asked to try this 12 cup deep Glidex Muffin Tray from Great British Bakeware by George Wilkinson The tins are ceramic reinforced and triple coated with superior non-stick, dishwasher safe and they even state that they are safe for metal tools.  I liked the weightiness of the tin and the cups are a good size and, very importantly,  they are British made, in Lancashire.

The best way to test the tin was to make some muffins or cupcakes and I thought I'd bake some cupcakes that included pineapple, so what better than a combination of pineapple, rum and coconut. The Glidex Bakeware performed extremely well, I will try it without paper cases next time, perhaps with some savoury muffins to test out the non-stick coating.

Pina Colada Cup Cakes

 175g (6oz) self-raising flour
150g (5oz) plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
125g (4 1/2 oz) unsalted butter
250g (9oz) caster sugar
2 large eggs
50ml crushed pineapple
75ml (4fl oz) Coconut yogurt (I used Rachel's)
1/2 tsp of rum or rum essence

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C/Gas Mark 4.  Line a 12 cup muffin tin with cupcake cases.
2. In a bowl, combine the flours and set aside
3. In a large bowl beat the butter until creamy and smooth. Add the sugar gradually, beating after each addition.
4. Add the flour in three stages, alternating with the milk and rum.  Beat until the ingredients are combined and well blended.
5. Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases, filling about 2/3 full. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 15-20 minutes.
6. Cool in the tin for about 15 minutes. Remove from the tin to a cooling tray and cool completely before icing.

Cream Cheese Frosting

25g (1oz) white chocolate, broken into pieces
100g (7oz) cream cheese, softened
50g (2oz) unsalted butter
1/2 tsp rum or rum essence
250g (8oz) icing sugar (sifted)

1. Put the chocolate pieces in a heatproof bowl that fits over a pan of very gently simmering water, allow to cool to room temperature.
2. Beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth.  Mix in the white chocolate and rum or rum extract.
3. Gradually beat in the icing sugar until the mixture is fluffy.
4. Spread the mixture over the cupcakes with a palette knife.

To decorate
1. Toast about 50g (2oz) of dessicated coconut in a dry pan over a medium heat, stirring frequently and watching carefully so it doesn't burn.  Leave to cool.
2. Sprinkle the coconut over the cream cheese frosting and place small wedges of pineapple on top.


At first I was a little disappointed in these cupcakes, the cake seemed a bit cloying and stuck to the roof of your mouth.  However, if you can be patient,  they keep incredibly well, in an airtight plastic box in the fridge and improved quite dramatically after a couple of days. 

We should Cocoa is 2 years old and celebrating with Cocktail inspired chocolate creations. The challenge is run by Choclette at The Chocolate Log Blog and Chele at Chocolate Teapot. I'm entering the Pina Colada Cupcakes with their little bit of white chocolate in the frosting.

The Calendar Cakes challenge from Dolly Bakes and Laura Love Cakes is  celebrating National Cupcake week and apparently  'Caketails' are the latest cupcake craze, who says I'm crazy?

And just to round things off, the letter for Alpha Bakes, hosted this month by Caroline Makes, alternately with The More Than Occasional Baker this month is 'P' which gives me a hat trick of cakey challenges.

Labels: British, coconut, cream cheese, cupcakes, Glidex Bakeware, How to video, Lancashire, Oxo Good Grips Pineapple Slicer, Pina Colada, pineapple, review, rum

posted by Janice @ 13:55 22 Comments