Dairy & Eggs Archives - Page 16 of 23

Cranberry, Cointreau and Clementine Sauce

December 9, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 26 Comments

cranberry, cointreau and clemantine sauce (1 of 9)

Christmas cannot be a cranberry free zone; this versatile berry can be paired with both sweet and savoury things. Not only is this fruit a great all rounder but it makes itself into a sauce in no time. As the cranberry transforms so simply into a sauce it lends itself to interference, by you, to turn it into something new and exciting. This recipe is for my cranberry sauce with Cointreau and clementine which is extremely delicious when used as a mini pie filling, or, as I like to call them: festive puffs.

You will need (for the cranberry sauce):
200g cranberries
80g sugar
50ml water and 50ml clementine juice, mixed together
Splash Cointreau

Put all the ingredients into a pan and cook for five minutes until the cranberries start to burst. If it looks a like there’s a little too much moisture (I find cranberries to vary a lot in their water content) then cook for a few minutes more to evaporate some of the water. Put the cranberry sauce into a bowl and leave to cool. I’m not sure it gets much simpler and this sets to a lovely dolloping consistency. read more

An Autumn Picnic 3 of 3: Caramelised Pears with Crumbled Parkin

November 6, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 21 Comments

A picnic must always have something sweet to round it off; a jam tart or two, some chocolate biscuits or even a slice of cake. This being an autumn picnic meant that the sweet must have a seasonal feel. Pears were an obvious choice but you can’t finish a picnic with just a pear that would be akin to having a carrot instead of a birthday cake. No, these pears needed some warmth and caramelised pears seemed just the ticket.

Parkin is a traditional cake eaten on Bonfire Night so I made some a few days before the picnic as I had heard it is a cake better left before eating. This would be the perfect accompaniment to the warm gooey pears. read more

An Autumn Picnic 2 of 3: Garlic Butter Mushroom Burgers

November 4, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 14 Comments

By now those picnic attendees that are left will be crying out for some sustenance and these garlic mushroom burgers really hit the spot; they are warm, juicy and full of flavour. There are several reasons why I chose to use mushrooms rather than meat: you don’t need to take an extra pan, minimum effort is required for delicious results and I think they are actually nicer! Also they sit happily on the BBQ needing barely any attention so you can get on and enjoy the picnic without having to stand and watch over them.

You will need:

4 large mushrooms Garlic butter (butter, garlic, parsley and black pepper) 4 bread rolls

I prepared the butter before I left by crushing three garlic cloves into about 50g butter and mixing it together with a few sprigs of chopped parsley and some black pepper.
Take the mushrooms and wrap them (gill side up) in some foil so they are completely covered. Put the parcel onto the edge of the BBQ, so it is not directly over the heat, and leave them to soften in their own juices for about 20 minutes. When they are soft put a little of the garlic butter onto the mushroom gills and leave the parcel open so that some of the moisture evaporates. After about five minutes toast the buns on the BBQ and put a mushroom in each bun. read more

Orange and Caraway Cake

October 9, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 26 Comments

I didn’t mean to make this cake. I was sat there minding my own business and my mind started to wander. It wandered into realms of freshly baked things, delicious wafting scents and warm moist sponge. My imagination ran away with me and before I knew it my hands and arms were creeping in to the fridge and searching for butter and eggs.

There have been many times where I’ve fancied something in particular and invariably I never have what I need to fulfil my requirements. But this time I did. I was having one of those days where I just needed a bit of warm cake; a spontaneous bake if you will. It was also one of those days where a plain sponge just wouldn’t do; I wanted some spice in my life and so this orange and caraway cake was born. read more

Greek Style Baked Spaghetti and Feta

October 5, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 25 Comments

When I was on holiday I endevoured to try as many new Greek foods as possible. I stopped at sampling some of the more unusual (lamb’s brains in intestine) but immensely enjoyed the baked goods and baklava. One of the things I tried and absolutely loved was tomato baked spaghetti with feta; Italian Greek fusion maybe. Either way after a day at the beach, and a carafe of very easy to drink red wine, this meal was exactly what I needed.

Foraging in Greece would be an amazingly acidulated affair; lemons, limes, olives, figs and pomegranates were dripping from the roadsides. I loved the fresh herbs that were used in all of the hot food I had and that no matter where you went bread and dessert were obligatory and free of charge. I had a great time and I can’t wait to try and recreate some of the great flavours I tried while I was over there. Here is my interpretation of one of my favourite dishes.

You will need (for two):
Olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 fat clove garlic, chopped
400g cherry tomatoes
Small handful of basil and parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper
170g spaghetti
200g feta read more

Pear and Damson Lattice Pie

September 20, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 25 Comments

You know when you’ve just always wanted to make something? I’ve always wanted to try a lattice pie; one with lovely red fruit under the interwoven top. I imagined it would be assembled in a cloud of flour with pastry flying all over the place while I tried to weave the lattice. I envisaged having to try and find my inner Mr Tickle. In reality it was a comparatively calm affair with only slight frowning during the construction. Some people, I like to think of them as having iron teeth, will happily eat a damson just as it is. I find them far too sour; comparative to eating a stick of rhubarb, and so cook mine (or mix them with gin) to encourage their flavour with a little sugar. Damsons are rock hard plums with a lovely deep purple skin. I have been lucky to find some growing nearby but they are so high up only some enthusiastic tree shaking would get them down. I think I’d get some funny looks. Luckily my greengrocer has ample damsons and also (of benefit to the finished pie) some unripe pears.

You will need:

Large handful damsons, stones removed 3 unripe pears Sugar 250g plain flour 125g cold butter A few spoons of cold water 1 beaten egg

Put the damsons into a pan with a spoonful of sugar and a little water and heat them gently so they start to soften. While they are cooking, peel and dice the pears and then add them to the damsons. You want to keep them on a heat where the fruit makes gentle pfft pfft noises as it cooks, lid on, for about 20 minutes. You might need to add a little more water if the fruit starts to catch. After 20 minutes give the fruit a little squidge with a masher to puree it a little, keep a few lumps though. Taste it and add more sugar if you think it needs it. Remove from the heat and allow to cool, you don’t want much moisture left in the pan. read more

Elderberry and Apple Turnovers

September 9, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 22 Comments

The sun was shining, the birds were singing and my bicycle was glistening and raring to go. Foraging can be a trifle difficult when you’re cycling if, like me, you think you’re Victoria Pendleton. Berries can whizz past in the blink of an eye and then you need to brake, reverse to try and find the source of your distraction. When I went out to get these elderberries I took it nice and slowly to ensure I could scour the hedgerows sufficiently.

It wasn’t quite as smooth as I envisaged, it wasn’t like I could grab the berries as I cycled past; that would have been a bit too suave. Elderberries seem to grow just beyond my reach and there is always a little danger involved when picking; will you fall in the ditch, slip in the mud or even lose a welly. This most recent expedition resulted in me being attacked by some stinging nettles, swearing rather loudly and then just a few moments later kicking my bicycle stand into my own foot. read more

Greengage and Almond Ice Cream

August 30, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 18 Comments

When I planted my goldengage tree it was more out of curiosity and fascination than potential fruit volume. The fruit that I cannot get elsewhere or the rarer varieites are those that I chose to plant. My goldengage is in its second year and it produced seven fruits. I picked the two ripest and quartered them to share so that we could all enjoy a slice of this evasive plum. It was the most honeyed and nectarous of all the plums I had ever had. My quince is in its third year and has thus far given me nothing. Both trees have given me a wonderful blossom but with the weather and what not this hasn’t been my year. Perhaps I am a little strange but I like to think my trees have personalities. The old apple tree is always top of the class; plenty of fruit but none that is particularly flavoursome. The apples are meant for pies and crumbles not really for eating. My goldengage seems to be the one that always tries really hard but makes a few mistakes. The quince seems to be a stubborn brute but you just know that when it does fruit there’ll be more than I know what to do with.

I am very fortunate that my local greengrocer shares my passion for the slightly unusual. They can’t go too far into the bizarre for fear of scaring away all their customers but they do try to get quinces, medlars, mulberries and the like. The lady who runs the shop is almost more enthusiastic than me about greengages. She has tried to get the golden but they are rarer than anything. I will happily settle for green if golden isn’t around. And for the perfect summer dessert my Greengage and Almond Ice Cream is just the ticket. read more

Alternative Blueberry Muffins

August 27, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 19 Comments

I’m not sure what has happened. I have turned from overindulging at dinner to starting the day on luxurious breakfasts. I’ve gone from pies to porridge. I suppose that this is the time of year where it’s nice to be able to (even if only sometimes) sit outside and enjoy that first meal of the day. There are plenty of glorious contenders to do this with: Eggs Benedict, a full English, pancakes with maple syrup and simple, but wonderful, toast with butter and jam. Now, I can also add these alternative blueberry muffins into the mix.

I don’t know about you but I have certainly started the day on a blueberry muffin if I’m out and about and in a rush. Muffins seem to have taken over coffee shops and bakers, I can’t remember the last time I went somewhere where a muffin wasn’t an option. Usually purchased in a cellophane wrapper and inevitably disappointing I wanted to make my own blueberry muffins. Not the cake type muffin though. The unrivalled blueberry flavour was essential but with something crunchy; a breakfast to take your time over. I made an easy blueberry sauce for these however it would also be worth having a go at making some blueberry jam. read more

Peas, Broad Beans and Feta with Roasted Tomato and Chilli Sauce

August 22, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 24 Comments

This is almost the meal that changed my life: broad beans and feta. Until a few years ago I considered any food that wasn’t plain boiled pasta disgusting. I was completely disinterested in anything that wasn’t beige and flavourless. I went to University and had to start fending for myself so a few more exciting things crept into my culinary repertoire; a little melted butter on my pasta for example. I know, exotic.

I suppose I was what you would call a late flavour bloomer; I think my olfactorary centre and taste buds started to develop with my wisdom teeth. Indeed not only had I grown some physical wisdom I also had some previous culinary knowledge on which to build, and now, more teeth to eat things with. I have always cooked; biscuits with my Granny, cakes and pastry with my Mum and barbeques with my Dad but it wasn’t until 2008 that I really started to experiment.

At University you become extremely good at procrastination. One of my favourite time wasters was trawling the internet looking for cookbooks. For someone who found flavour offensive I had a pretty large collection of cookery books; I found great pleasure in cooking for others things that I wouldn’t touch with a bargepole. I came across a particular cookery book that sounded pretty good to me; it was over 500 pages long which is a lot of bedtime reading. I ordered it.
What I didn’t know when I ordered it was that it was a book about vegetables; pages and pages of green, red, orange and purple things which were all alien to me but they were organised alphabetically so I liked that. There was one particular recipe that caught my eye, mostly because it seemed cheap. It was green beans with roasted tomatoes. I made it and the textures and flavours were like nothing I’d ever had; the beans were still slightly crunchy and squeaked when you chewed them, the tomatoes were sweet but also acidic. I probably ate more beans at that moment that I had ever eaten cumulatively in my life before. read more