White chocolate, orange and cranberry cookies

The good thing about few people voting in the poll posted previously is that it was easy to fix. Tash did this so we ended up making white chocolate, orange and cranberry cookies, adapted from the recipe found here.

Ingredients
150g plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
75g oats
125g soft butter
75g dark brown sugar
100g caster sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
75g dried cranberries
150g white chocolate chunks
rind of one orange

Preheat the oven to 180oC/ 350°F/gas mark 4.

Measure out the flour, baking powder, salt and oats into a bowl.
Put the butter and sugars into another bowl and beat together until creamy  then beat in the egg and vanilla.
Beat in the flour, baking powder, salt and oat mixture and then fold in the cranberries, orange peel and chocolate chunks.
Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into a ball with your hands, and then place them on a lined or greased baking sheet and squish the dough balls down with a fork. You may need two baking sheets or be prepared to make these in two batches.
Cook for 15 minutes; when ready, the cookies will be tinged a pale gold, but be too soft to lift immediately off the tray, so leave the tray on a cool surface and let them harden for about 5 minutes. Remove with a spatula to cool fully on a wire rack.

Baking Sunday Poll 1

Caramelised Onion Marmalade

Currently making some caramelised onion and shallott marmalade, adapted from here. I can’t guarantee it’s a good recipe yet, I will update later with a result.

Ingredients
450g/1 lb onions & shallotts
30g/ 1 oz butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
120g/ 4 oz light brown sugar
150 ml/ 1/4 pint red wine vinegar
salt
pepper
touch of cinnamon

Method
Top and tail, peel and thinly slice the onions/shallotts
Sauté in the oil and butter
Cook till soft and a little browned (5-6 minutes)
Add the salt, pepper, cinnamon, sugar and vinegar
Cook on a high heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently
Store in a sterilized jar for 3 months and opened in the fridge for a month or so

Early signs suggest it’s good, nice and tangy. It’s now the hardest part, leaving it for a month for the flavours to develop.

Back in the Room

I need this for two reasons;

After finishing off a batch of pear chutney that I’d made exactly 18 months ago today, I’ve realised I have a massive need for somewhere to record recipes I enjoy. This chutney was perhaps the best chutney I’ve ever tasted and I’ve no recollection of where it came from.

One of my new year’s resolutions was to reinstate Baking Sunday. We’re now coming up to the 10th Sunday of the year and every one has been a success so far, this means I’ve got plenty of recipes to go back and log. Luckily I have photo evidence of most of these successes.

I’m back in the room.

Steamed Oriental Salmon

My sister Sophie bought me a bamboo steamer for Christmas, this is my favourite dish so far using it. Adapted from here. I generally serve it with a bit of vegetable-fried rice.

Ingredients
150g/5¼oz salmon fillet
2 spring onions, sliced lengthways
2 tbsp soy sauce
½ lemon, juice only
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp sesame oil
Method
1. Place a bamboo steamer over a pan of simmering water. Add the salmon fillet and spring onions and steam for 10 minutes, or until the salmon is cooked through.
2. Meanwhile, mix the soy sauce, lemon juice, vegetable oil and sesame oil in a bowl.
3. Remove the salmon and vegetables from the steamer and transfer to a serving plate. Drizzle the sauce over and serve.

Baked Tomato Rice with Vegetables

This is one of my easy mid-week recipes for after work when I don’t want to have to do much cooking. Nice and simple, chuck everything together and bake.

Serves 2

Ingredients
170g rice
200ml stock
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
A few sprigs of thyme
1 pepper
1 courgette
1 handful of mushrooms
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
Salt + pepper
Olive Oil

Method
1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C
2. Put a glug of olive oil in a roasting tin and put in the oven.
3. Finely chop the onion and garlic and fry on a low heat until softened.
4. Chop the rest of the vegetables into small pieces.
5. Take the olive oil out of the oven and add the rice, stir to coat the rice.
6. Mix the stock and tinned tomatoes.
7. Add the softened onion and garlic, the rest of the veg and the thyme to the rice.
8. Pour over the tomato/stock mix.
9. Stir, add salt and pepper and return to the oven until the rice is cooked (30-40 minutes).

Cranberry Cake

Another good recipe for using up Christmas bits (we used a jar of cranberry sauce instead of fresh cranberries) and a really simple cake recipe, stolen from here.

Ingredients
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup milk
2 cups cranberries
2 tablespoons grated orange or lemon peel

Method
1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. beat in egg. Combine the flour, baking powder and nutmeg; add to the creamed mixture alternately with milk. Stir in cranberries and orange peel.
2. Pour into a greased 11-in. x 7-in. x 2-in. baking dish. Bake at 160 degrees C for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Toad in the Hole, Mashed Potato and Onion Gravy

This recipe is adapted from a Gordon Ramsay recipe.

Serves 4
Toad in the Hole
Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
8 good-quality pork sausages
150g plain flour
half tsp salt
2 large eggs
150 ml milk

Method:
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.
Put the olive oil in an oven proof dish.
Add the sausages and toss to coat them in oil.
Put in the oven for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the batter. Put the flour, salt and eggs in a bowl then gradually add the milk whilst you whisk the mix.
Take the sausages out of the oven and pour the mix around them.

Sausages + Batter

Put back in the oven for another 30 minutes.

Finished Toad in the Hole

Gravy
Ingredients:
knob of butter
1 and a half finely sliced onions
salt
pepper
1 and a half tbsp plain flour
300 ml chicken stock
1 tsp english mustard
splash of cider

Method:
Melt the butter in a pan and add the onions.
Heat over a low heat until soft.

Soften the onions

Add the flour and turn the heat up.
Fry for a couple of minutes and add the splash of cider.
Gradually add the chicken stock whilst stirring the gravy.
Once all the stock has been added, add some salt, pepper and the mustard.

Add the liquid

Simmer gently to reduce to the desired thickness.

Mash
Ingredients:
2 large potatoes, peeled
splash of milk
1 tsp English mustard
knob of butter

Method:
Chop the potatoes into chunks a couple of inches wide and put in a pan of boiling water.

Boil the potatoes

Once the potatoes are soft, drain them and mash them.

Mash the potatoes

Add some milk, butter and mustard to taste.

Combine all 3 on a plate and eat.

Toad in the hole, mashed potato and onion gravy

Lamb Hotpot

When the weather’s cold outside, there’s nothing better than a nice stew, got this recipe from Nigel Slater. I had to cheat slightly as we don’t have a casserole dish, instead I fried everything then put it all together in an oven proof dish.

Ingredients
4 thick lamb neck chops
plain flour, for dredging
good glug fruity olive oil
3 onions, peeled and cut into wedges
2-3 large parsnips, peeled and cut into sixths
6 large, juicy garlic cloves, peeled, cut in half
salt and freshly ground black pepper
6-8 fresh rosemary sprigs
6-8 small potatoes, cut in half

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

Lightly dredge the lamb chops in the flour. Heat the oil in a shallow ovenproof pan with a lid, then add the lamb chops and cook until browned on both sides. Remove the lamb from the pan and set aside.

Brown the lamb

Add the onions, parsnips and garlic to the same pan and cook for 2-3 minutes. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper and add the rosemary.

Fry the veg

Return the lamb chops to the pan, tuck the potatoes around the chops, season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper and pour in just enough water to cover the pan contents. Cut out a circle of greaseproof paper the same size and shape as the inside of the pan. Place the paper circle over the lamb and vegetables, then cover the pan with the lid.

Cook in the preheated oven for an hour or so, until the meat is tender.

Serve

Apple and Mincemeat Tart

Before Christmas, Tash and I made some jars of mincemeat, we’ve given some away, made lots of mince pies but we’ve still got a few jars left. We also had some apples in the fruit bowl going soft, what better way to use them than an Apple and Mincemeat Tart.

Found a recipe from here which worked really well. I’ll admit I cheated on the pastry, I got Tash to make it for me from a Rachel Allen recipe.

Ingredients (serves 6-8)
1 oz golden caster sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
225g shortcrust pastry
410g jar mincemeat
3 small eating apples (Cox’s are good for this)
a little milk or beaten egg

1. Pre-heat the oven to 220C. Peel, core and slice the apples and toss in the sugar and spice until well coated.

Apples, Sugar and Cinnamon

2. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface until the thickness of a pound coin. Cut a large circular shape (no need to be perfect circle).

3. Spread the mincemeat all over the centre of the pastry circle, leaving an inch or so as a border.

Pastry and Mincemeat

4. Arrange apples on top of mincemeat and then bring the pastry up around the edge of the filling, pressing together so that the sides stand up around the edge….

5. Brush the pastry with milk or beaten egg and then bake in the oven for 20 minutes until pastry golden and apples softened.

Before going in the oven

6. Serve hot or warm with ice cream, custard or cream.

Fresh from the oven

Finished