Tray Baking Again


This is a delicious 'tray bake' as they used to be called. It has three elements and you have to make some shortcrust pastry but really it is easy and worth the effort for a tea time treat or even a warm pudding.

Almond Slice
4 oz plain shortcrust - using a processor this is a matter of minutes or you could use pre- prepared of course. 
4 oz pastry  is 4oz P flour, 2 oz butter and just enough water to bind (or the equivalent in metric). I would make double and freeze half for something else while you are getting the machine or your hands dirty.


Good jam - raspberry or another dark one with lots of fruit - about 2 tablespoons


4oz butter
4 oz castor sugar
3oz ground almonds 
1 oz flour 
2 eggs
Flaked almonds - a couple of big spoonfuls will be enough


Oven at N0 4/150

1. When the pastry has rested briefly, roll it out thinly to line a shallow tin approx 11'' by 7''.
2. Spread a thin layer of the jam evenly over the pastry.
3. Beat the butter and sugar till soft and light, beat in the eggs and the flour and almonds - use a wooden spoon or an electric whisk.
4. Carefully spoon this topping over the jam, delicately smoothing it so the jam is covered.
5. Sprinkle with a few or lots of flaked almonds.

Bake for 30 mins in the centre of the oven,then test the topping is set and will bounce back from a gentle finger press. Cool and cut into pieces. Store it a tin or freeze.

Curry House

I have spent many an hour grinding spice mixes, directed by lovely books or lovely friends, in search of true curry deliciousness. Then Pataks pastes took over in our house. Quick, reliable and easy, which the above were often just sadly not. Now a friend is teaching himself to cook the curries his mum used to make and on the way has taught us to how to produce a failsafe and really good version which is the current favourite. This recipe relies on a masala mix, a local spice blend sold here in huge bags, and used for everything. We have enough for curry nights stretching into next year and beyond. The method could be used for any blend you happen to like or have in the cupboard. You could also add meat, chicken or lamb,or vary the veg. But this mixture works, for vegetarians and meat eaters alike. 




 Potato Spinach and Chickpea Curry 
 Feeds at least 4 


1 onion 
3/4 cloves garlic 
2 lbs potatoes cut into quarters or fairly large chunks 
1 tin chickpeas inc liquid 
I tin spinach-of course you can use fresh or even frozen but the Asian origin community here use tins and they work well. 
4/5 tomatoes 
1 red or green chilli 
A large thumb of ginger grated 
1 lemon 
A dessertspoon of a hot masala mix
Fresh coriander

1.  Soften the onion first til browning, at least 5 minutes, then add the chopped tomatoes and the whole chilli. Let these stew gently and start to form a sauce. 
2. Add 1/2 tsp salt. Now add your masala. If it is a hot one, make your spoonful flat until you are sure how you like it. The one we are using is fierce. Let it cook in for 5 minutes. 
3. Add your potatoes and the contents of both tins adding all or some of the liquid now and keeping the rest to see if you need it. 
4. Now let it all cook very gently about 20-30 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked. 
5. At the end add lots of chopped coriander and half a lemon chopped into small pieces. 
6. Taste and add more salt and perhaps some lemon juice. 

 Serve with a tomato salad which has chopped coriander and the other lemon half chopped into it.

Veggie Mash

At the moment, having damaged my facial nerves and teeth in a fall, I can only really manage soft food. Luckily I have my own live in support chef who has been making me risottos, ratatouille, pasta and also by request more than once this yummy mash. It is surprisingly good, open to endless variations and cheap. Try it one night when more effort seems unnecessary and the fridge has a few things in it but not much.


Veggie Mash
For 2:
1lb potatoes or as many as you think you will eat, plus 2 carrots and a parsnip if you happen to have one
1 onion
3/4 oz mushrooms
Garlic
A small quantity of green cabbage, spinach or kale
Cheese

1. Fry the onion and mushrooms briskly in olive oil while the potatoes et al are boiling. Let them brown nicely and add chopped garlic near the end. Steam or boil your greens.
2. Mash the potatoes and the other root veg with butter but no milk.
3. Mix all the veg into the mash - you should have a richly studded mixture.
4. Add some grated cheddar or other strong cheese.
5. Eat in large dollops.

You could also put it all into an oven dish, top with more cheese and bake till a good brown colour.

Or indeed add bacon, other veg etc etc.

Spicy Soup

If every time you have a roast chicken, or even casserole one in pieces, you cover the bones afterwards with water and flavourings for stock, say an onion unpeeled, a carrot or two, a stick of celery if you have it, a bay leaf, a few peppercorns and teaspoon of salt, simmer for 2 hours or so, effortlessly you will build up a store in the freezer to improve soups and risottos to name but two uses of many. If you haven't got an enormous chest freezer like ours, you will want to boil the resulting liquid down, once you have strained off the onion etc, so that it reduces and takes up less space.Or use the stock straight away.


One really good use of a well flavoured couple of pints of homemade chicken stock is an easy, south east asian inspired soup. This is not as fancy as some recipes for this kind of soup but it is quick and yum.

Spicy Soup


2 pints approx good chicken stock
3 cloves garlic crushed
1 red chilli finely chopped
A good thumb length of fresh ginger grated
A teaspoon approx Thai fish sauce
2/3 carrots sliced into thin batons
About 3 oz or so mushrooms sliced
A couple of spring onions very finely shredded
 A nest of fine dried noodles
A handful of fresh chopped coriander

1. Bring stock up to the boil
2. Add the ginger, garlic, chilli and fish sauce and let it simmer a few minutes. Taste and adjust for saltiness and heat - add a tiny sprinkle of sugar if you think it will be good.
3. Now put in the carrots first to cook, let them simmer 5 mins or so, add the sliced mushrooms for another 3/4 mins and then put in your onions and noodles for 2 mins at the most, stirring well.
4. Add the coriander before serving.

Of course you could add other veg, and shredded chicken if there is some, but just as it is will do!

Berry Streusal Cake

This is one of those recipes I have had for years, torn out of a magazine and kept as a scruffy piece of paper, but never used. Then the last frozen berries in the freezer caught my eye and this turned out to be a really delicious pudding/cake - lovely warm with cream or creme fraiche and very good cold with coffee, a cup of tea or just in passing! I used raspberries and redcurrants but as long as they are sharp you could use any others, from your own harvest or bought for the purpose - even rhubarb might work... This is good enough for visitors and to show off in any case. 

Berry Streusal Cake
200g P flour
110g ground almonds
110g castor sugar
225g butter chilled
40g flaked almonds
40g pine nuts - strictly optional - you could add more almonds instead
400 - 450g berries (I used 200g redcurrants and 250g raspberries)
2 good spoonfuls of raspberry jam or another sharp tasting one


No 4/180
20cm cake tin with removable base


NB This uses a food processor but of course if you don't have one, good old fingertips will be fine. Use the rubbing in action as for pastry at the first stage and then form the shortbread base with your hands and a palette knife.

1. Put the flour, ground almonds, sugar and diced butter into a food processor and mix to crumbs. 
2. As soon as it looks like crumble mixture, stop and put half the mixture in a bowl. 
3. Add the nuts to this.
4. Continue to process the rest until the mixture forms a smooth pastry dough.
5. Press this into the base of your tin, smoothing out with your hands.
6. Mix the berries and jam together gently and then put these on top of the base.
7. Scatter the crumble/ streusal mixture on top.
8. Bake for 45 mins till the top is golden and you can see the juices starting to bubble.
9. Cool for a while at least. The shortbread base gets firmer when cold.

Nutty Caramel Cake

Cakes are a treat - in our family they are also a respected tradition which perhaps started with my parents' experience of Germany where they lived post war (and we were all born) because there the time given up for a coffee and a slice of indulgence is a national pastime. In our house it is tea and no-one worries (much)about the fattening side of things, as  little of what you fancy does you good etc etc.

This recipe makes a very sweet slice so you do have to be in the mood. The cake itself is nutty but the indulgence comes from the icing - mind you I did use a bit too much of the caramel ingredient when I made this at the weekend. As there are only two of us for the afternoon ritual - even allowing for visitors a whole cake like this is too much-  I have wrapped half of it in foil and put it in the freezer for a day when we really need  a sweet hit.

Toffee flavour in a cake is quite hard to achieve. Once I have made one with Cadbury's caramel bar chopped up in it but it was very soggy. This uses a tin of boiled condensed milk which is instant caramel. The recipe is one of those which I have stored as a scrap of paper for ages; it came out of a weekend newspaper and I have now adapted it a bit, as roasting and grinding hazelnuts when there were ground almonds in the cupboard seemed a step too far - but I am sure it would be good with those.

Nutty Caramel Cake

175 g butter softened
100g light brown sugar
200g caramel out of a tin
2 large eggs
100g ground almonds -or roasted,skinned and ground hazelnuts
175g P flour
1 tbs cocoa
2tsp baking powder

No 4/350 - 2 x 18cm tins greased and bottom lined

1. Beat the butter and sugar with the caramel till smooth, then beat in the eggs one at at  time - don't worry if it looks curdled.
2.  Beat in the nuts and then the sifted dry ingredients.
3. Use a wooden spoon, or a hand mixer. It would probably be fine in a processor as well. 
4. Divide the mixture between 2 tins, level and bake for 25 - 30 mins till a toothpick or similar comes out clean.
5. Put to cool on a rack and then remove from tins and ice.

Icing

50 g butter
150g caramel - this is slightly less than the rest of the tin but I used whatever there was...
150g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Beat the caramel and butter together first and then mix in the rest to make a smooth icing. If it is very runny add a little more sugar. Put some in the middle of the 2 cakes and let the rest trickle over the top. Add some whole nuts if you like for decoration.

Too cold, too lazy, not enough dosh....

Sometimes it is just too cold and you are too fed up and/or poor and or/lazy so that there is nothing for dinner and  nobody is going to the shops so that old favourite a storecupboard supper is the answer - except there is nothing in the cupboard.

We had two lots of delicious platefuls last week despite this sad state of affairs - because there is always something in the cupboard and something you can do with it. It does help if you have herbs, though fresh ones are not really storecupboard at all. And frozen peas are essential so you can have your greens whatever else.

These are not really recipes, more suggestions for dark days - but tasty ones nonetheless.

Mushrooms and Rice

for 2 people on the sofa

250g approx mushrooms, sliced and then gently cooked in butter with 1 fat clove or more of garlic added
6 oz approx brown rice, cooked in water with a stock cube or powder added

Add the rice to the mushroom pan and mix. That's it.

But you can also add:

• parsley chopped
• a handful of flaked almonds dry fried in a pan till just browning and then sprinkled on each plateful.

Butter Beans and Chorizo

for 2 people on the sofa

1 tin butter beans - or whatever pulses you have
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 onion plus garlic
1 small piece of a whole chorizo - even a little bit will do
Parlsey if you have a bunch in the fridge

Fry the onion and garlic in oil, add the chorizo near the end and let it sweat its oil out. Add the rest, cook without a lid for some minutes, taste and season,add parsley and eat.