Cheat's Seeded Crackers: A lot on her plate by Rosie Birkett

Rosie Birkett grew up in a family who lived to eat. Rosie was exposed to cooking by a talented mother who turned even the simplest ingredients into delectable delights.  Now Rosie has taken that love of the edible and followed in her parents' journalistic footsteps to forge  a successful career as a leading food writer and stylist.

A Lot on her Plate is a culmination of Rosie's favourite recipes inspired by years as  a food writer and hungry traveller, featuring over 80 fun and creative dishes that will appeal to a wide range of home cooks.

Rosie's writing style is infectious and very readable, she starts by telling us How to Shop and encourages us to get to know our local suppliers, but there is an acknowledgement that not everyone is able to do this, at least not all the time.

I loved the equipment flow chart from essential to less essential (but still really useful). Basic Ingredients are also outlined and kept pretty much to the sort of things that I would keep in my fridge, freezer and larder.

Recipes that caught my eye,  by chapter

Breakfast + Brunch: Elly's pea, feta and spring onion frittata is a simple but tasty dish easy to make in the morning. Guacamole Bread with fried eggs and chipotle salsa sounds and looks (in the photo) quite amazing, definitely a brunch dish worth making.  I also liked the sound of  Basted Eggs with Kale, lemon and chilli great flavours to wake up your tastebuds.

Starters and small plates: Crab and Tarragon mezzaluna (little tarragon pasta parcels filled with crab), Leeks vinaigrette looks simple but delicious served with gorgonzola and walnuts, more 'chipotle love' with Winter Squash soup with chipotle, roasted garlic and crunchy seeds.

Snacks and Sides: Cheat's seeded crackers are such a clever idea (see below); Baby potato and rosemary pizzas; Marmite gougeres, love 'em or hate 'em and Chilli, garlic and sesame kale chips.

Bigger Plates and Super Suppers: I love risotto so the Parsley, bacon and broad bean risotto will be  a recipe on my plate.  The Oxtail French dip sandwich looks amazing and is sure to be popular, another Risotto of Leek, Smoked Mackerel and toasted almonds, oh my goodness, I love the sound of that. I'm also drawn to Rosemary-fried mackerel fillets with buttered new potatoes, pickled samphire and radishes. 

Feasts for Friends: Rosie likes to feed her friends and I'm sure they are not disappointed with dishes like Chicken, mushroom and tarragon cassoulet, Maple-braised pigs' cheeks with apple, roasted hazelnuts and Parmesan polenta. I'm sensing a chipotle theme going on in the book, or is it just that I'm seeing them as  chipotle chillies are my favourites?  Anyway, Chipotle Roast Chicken sounds the business.

Salads and Vegetables: I love figs so the Fig, rocket and Gorgonzola salad with toasted almonds and maple dressing appealed immediately.  Surprisingly the Shredded sprout salad, two ways looks fabulous who knows it may convert some sprout haters. Summer watermelon, feta and radish salad with mint just screams summer at me, I hope we get some warm weather as I'd love to eat this outside with some grilled meats.

Desserts and drinks: Combining just about every food trend going a Salted butterscotch popcorn cheesecake is a fun dessert for a party or a movie night in. For a creamy treat Black Cherry Brulee hits all the right spots and it's made with a mix of greek yogurt and cream, so a little lighter than a traditional brulee. Little Orange and Ginger madeleines would go well with coffee or a dessert wine, a nice combination of flavours. For a real showstopper, I would go for the Raspberry and white chocolate Jelly, set in a mould it has the wow factor. In the drinks department there is a homemade elderflower cordial  recipe.

Finally there is a chapter for 'Essentials' things that will take your dish to the next level. Preserved lemons are featured as are Chicken  and Fish Stocks, some mayonnaise variations, salsa and Cumin Brioche.




Cheat's Seeded Crackers
makes about 40

1 egg
1 tablespoon ground cumin
pinch of red chilli flakes
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 wheat or drum tortillas
1 tablespoon chia seeds (available from most health food stores0
1 tbsp za'atar spice mix

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C (350 F/Gas 4)
2. Beat the egg with the ground cumin, chilli flakes, and a little salt and pepper. Use a pastry brush to brush the spice egg wash over the tortillas. Scatter with chia seeds and za'atar, then cut each tortilla into triangles with scissors, Bake for about 10 minutes until crisp and golden, turning them over halfway through cooking.
3. Keep a really close ye on them when you're baking them though, as they can easily burn because they're so thin.

Labels: A lot on her plate, cookbook review, crackers, Hardie Grant books, homemade, review, Rosei Birkett, seeded, Tortilla Chips

posted by Janice @ 07:00 10 Comments

Wee Sweetie - Homemade Sweets and Candies

Clockwise from left: Hot Cross Bun Fudge, Caramel Swirls, American Buttermints, Roobarb and Custard.

My Granny used to ask me "would you like a wee sweetie?"  She always had a bag of, what she called, 'boilings' in her handbag, a bit like the Scottish equivalent of that old guy on the telly with his 'originals' feeding sweets to his granddaughter!
This particular 'Wee Sweetie' is Donna Bradley,  @Wee_Sweetie on Twitter, who makes delicious traditional sweets.  Donna's Papa always called her Wee Sweetie, at 5'2" and 7 stone she is still quite 'wee' and has a real sweet tooth.

Donna is a self proclaimed 'Doonhamer' born and bred in Dumfries in the South West of Scotland.  When she had to give up her career as a psychiatric nurse, specialising in forensics, after illness and injury she returned home to stay with her Mum.  Donna has Crohn's Disease, a chronic digestive disorder and sugar is about the only thing she can eat without pain.  She got fed up with the lack of variety and quality of the sweets available to her and was thrilled when her sister bought her Hope and Greenwood's 'Life is Sweet' and she was able to make her own sweets.

The reaction to Donna's sweets, amongst her family and friends,  was so positive that she soon started taking custom orders for gifts, weddings and parties.  Wherever possible  Donna uses local products including Uncle Roy's colours and extracts and Lockerbie butter. She is looking for someone local to buy cream and would love to find an artisan butter maker. Wee Sweetie sweets are made in small batches to ensure the sweets are as fresh as can be and Donna aims to make them look and feel handmade, not uniform and mass-produced. She doesn't believe in adding anything unnecessarily so make sure everything is completely natural, preservative and additive free. Most are gluten free and veggie friendly too.

Donna kindly sent me some of her Wee Sweeties to try.  Let's start with the Hot Cross Bun Fudge, what a brilliant concept!  The fudge really tastes like a Hot Cross Bun and would be a perfect Easter Gift.   I was a bit concerned to try the Caramel Swirls as I thought they might be hard and chewy, but far from it, they transported me back to my childhood as they tasted exactly like the Russian Toffee my Mum made.  Soft and with a rich, sweet burnt sugar flavour that was completely moreish.  American Buttermints were next on the tasting list, they have a real hit of mint, firm on the outside and meltingly soft on the inside, quite delightful.  And finally 'the boilings' Roobarb and Custard boiled sweets were just brilliant, the balance of the acidic rhubarb taste and the sweet custard make these sweets just burst with flavour on your tongue.

Wee Sweetie is a very new business and does not yet have it's own website.  I'll keep you updated when that goes live.  In the meantime if you like the sound of these delicious homemade sweets you can contact Donna using the contact details at the bottom of the price list pictured above.

Many thanks to Donna for the opportunity to review her delicious sweeties, I'll be ordering up some of that Hot Cross Bun Fudge for Easter!
I was not paid for this post and all opinions are my own. 

Labels: boiled sweets, buttermints, candy, caramels, fudge, homemade, hot cross bun, sugar, Sweets, Wee Sweetie

posted by Janice @ 19:06 35 Comments