All That I'm Eating

Recipe ideas for budget meals, everyday cooking and a little indulgence. Travel inspiration and restaurant reviews too.

Lemon Drizzle Cake

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Zesting the lemons
There have been cakes in my past which I tried either when I was too young to appreciate them or they were a mass produced poor version of what is actually a beautiful cake. An example of this is carrot cake. What I thought carrot cake tasted like was nothing compared to when I made one for myself; it wasn’t dry it was moist, it wasn’t boring it was luscious and the icing is by far my favourite of all icing.  Another cake I had always ignored was lemon drizzle cake. Ones that I had tried were too sticky, not lemony or had so much icing you could have waded through it. This was my unshakable opinion and I wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole, until I made it myself.

This turned out to be one of my favourite cakes to bake as it makes your kitchen smell so good. The classic cake baking aromas are wafting around with a bit of lemon thrown in for good measure. This is another recipe from my Granny. Some recipes make the cake in two tins and put lemon curd or butter icing between the cakes, I made one cake for optimum drizzle potential. 

To make the sponge, butter and line a nice deep cake tin. Beat together 175g each of butter and caster sugar until pale and fluffy. Part of the reason I like making cakes is because I feel the beating, whisking and subsequent reduction in circumference of my arms more than compensates for the rather large slice I’ll help myself to once complete. 
Gradually add in three beaten eggs. Sift 175g self raising flour and a teeny bit of baking powder and fold this into the mixture. Grate in the zest of two lemons and mix. Place in a preheated oven at 180C for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Mine took about 55 minutes in the end. read more

Blackcurrant Summer Pudding and Red Gooseberry Fool

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Summer is a wonderful time for unctuous puddings. Sweet ones, sharp ones, gooey ones and normally in some shade of pink. I wish I had the willpower to buy millions of summer berries and freeze them so I can knock up a pudding anytime I fancy, but I can barely resist them enough for them to make it to the saucepan. How can you go wrong with inky blackcurrants and vibrant gooseberries? Over the weekend I had occasion to make luscious puddings with both of these fruits. First a slightly sweet, sticky blackcurrant summer pudding and then a sharp, creamy gooseberry fool.  read more

Smoked Trout and Potato Salad

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Local smoked trout
I have been doing many things recently that I have not done before. I recently de-boned a chicken, which I was pretty apprehensive about because it was new to me, but I am pleased to confirm it couldn’t have gone better. This recipe is another example of trying to do something I was thoroughly convinced was complicated and time consuming.  I had never previously bought a whole fish and so I bought two strikingly golden smoked trout from the farmers’ market. I wanted something light and filling and so I made a potato salad where the dressing (I suppose you’d call it) was more trout orientated. 

Ingredients

You will need (for one large bowl of salad):
  • 2 smoked trout
  • 500g potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 250g crème fraîche
  • Wholegrain mustard
  • Fresh tarragon, dill and parsley
  • 1 lemon
  • Salt and pepper

Method

I got home and I unwrapped the trout. I looked at it somewhat diffidently and with remarkable concentration. I lopped the heads off and was relieved that it was at least half complete. How do I take the skin off? By now there was a faint glisten of moisture about my brow. Due to its being gutted my life was made awfully easy. I took the bottom fin and gave it a pull. It was like peeling an orange.

I can’t tell you how simple it was. What I thought would be a right kerfuffle turned out to be one of the most satisfying things I’ve ever done. Once the skin was off, the meat just fell off the bone and I was left with a pile of meat and a complete pile of bones. There were a few strays that I found amidst the pile but I got the blighters. 

During my adventures with the trout, a pan full of potatoes had been merrily bubbling away in the background. Once cooked they were drained and left to cool while the dressing was made.  read more

Celeriac, Leek and Apple soup

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A new year and many resolutions to break. I decided to start with good intentions however with a fresh, earthy and filling soup.
It had three main ingredients; celeriac, leek and apple. To be frank and somewhat rude, the celeriac is not a looker. If you’ve been through life without the celeriac, please overlook its brutal looks in favour of its wonderful flavour. My apple was half a Russet and half a Kentish somethingorother and rather strikingly large. My leeks were still covered in mud and had a little frost still left from picking in the green ends.
The Farmers’ Market can offer these things in a way that nothing else can. It is for vegetables like this and a hundred other reasons why I love it so much. read more

Using up jars in the cupboard – Rich Shortcrust Pastry Tarts

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ingredients for shortcrust pastry tarts

Where a few months ago a slice of lemon drizzle cake or a blueberry muffin would have cheered up my lunchbox I needed something more substantial, more buttery and more comforting. All this snow has meant I’ve been raiding the cupboards and I found jars and bottles full of stuff that really I’m never going to use. I also figured if any of my nearest and dearest know me, I’ll be getting many more jars of treats on the 25th.

I managed to find some raspberry jam, golden syrup, lime curd, greengage jam, pecans in honey and some quince jelly. All lovely on toast or scones or crumpets but also all nearing their ends. I needed to use them up and make the most of them. read more

Quince and Apple Crumble – adventures with the quince

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apples and quince
The quince used to be a hidden fruit. It seems it was embarrassed of its furry skin, ever varying sizes and odd looks. I had heard rumours of it returning to its former glory and I kept my eyes peeled and nostrils ready for a sight or a whiff of this mysterious fruit.  I found it. If you have not ever been lucky enough to encounter the quince then scrap any plans this weekend and go and hunt some down. It looks like a pear, is tough like a pumpkin, fuzzy like a peach and smells like a guava crossed with a passion fruit. It’s a cheeky fruit that would cheer up even the most dampened spirits. I wanted to make the most of this fruit. Very resourcefully I had frozen some apples that were given to us a while ago and for which I had no use at the time. I made a crumble, it is the season for them after all.

Ingredients

What you will need (for four large servings):
  • Quinces – I had 2
  • Apples – I had 1 big one
  • Knob of butter
  • Good portion of caster sugar
  • Bowl of water with lemon juice in
  • 175g flour
  • 75g butter
  • 50g light muscavado sugar
  • Almonds and oats for the top

Method

I have never come across anything that will brown as quickly as a quince. It’s quite impressive. You will need to super speed peel the quinces and put them in the lemon infused water. Even then don’t be surprised at how quickly they change colour. When chopped, put them in a pan with the butter and the sugar. 
I would say don’t go too sweet as some of the charm of the quince is in its astringency. I added the frozen apples right at the end so they didn’t turn to a mush.

I put this in a small dish so that when it was served, everyone got a good dose of quince. I then crumbled. Rub the butter into the flour and then stir in the sugar. By putting it into a small dish it ensures no one will be short of crumble either. 
I put some crushed almonds and oats on the top too. read more

Buttered Toffee Apple Crumble

By 14 Comments

cooking apples for crumble

When one suffers from less than optimal circulation in the extremities, they certainly know when the days are shortening and the evenings cooling. To rectify this and to warm the cockles there was only one thing for it. Apple crumble.

Not just any apple crumble but one which I had discussed with my Grandmother just hours before. “Oooh, the other day I saw someone put butter and sugar into the apples for a crumble. It did look nice”. I took this little gem as gospel and went crumbling about.

Ingredients

What you will need (for four large servings):
  • 6 to 8 large apples
  • 250g unsalted butter
  • 150g sugar – muscavado or demerara
  • Dried fruits – a handful of any you want to include
  • 175g flour
  • 75g butter
  • 50g caster sugar
  • Handful of demerara/muscavado for the top
  • Flaked almonds – if you want them, as many as you deem fit

Start by putting the apples, unsalted butter and devilishly dark sugar in a pan. Let it bubble and goop away until it reaches the consistency that you think is best. Then mix in any dried fruits that you are using.

Put this mixture in to a suitable oven proof dish and then crumble away. Rub the butter and flour together until you get the texture of fine breadcrumbs. I start by using a knife and then move on to using hands. Stir in the caster sugar and then sprinkle the best bit (crumble) on the top.   read more

Plum Bakewell Tart

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What a strange time of year. As a newbie to vegetable gardening and being too distracted by pride with what had been successful, I missed the band wagon and subsequently planted nothing else this year. Curses. All was not lost! A friend of mine with superfluous plums was kind enough to give us a bag full. What to do with that many plums…I consulted my various books and found a recipe I had written out by hand. I’ve no idea where it came from originally but what a recipe it was; Plum Bakewell Tart. read more

Strawberry Ice Cream

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ingredients for homemade strawberry ice cream

It has been such a busy time recently. As you may note, not even a tiny snippet of bloggage crossed my keyboard in the whole of July. Not for lack of wanting to but for a lack of time! During the hectic haphazardry that ensued I did manage to whip up a few culinary delights. And so to begin… Strawberry Ice Cream.

Ingredients

What you will need (for enough for 4-6 people):
600g strawberries, stemmed and sliced
4 tbsp fresh lemon juice
330g granulated sugar
330ml milk
600ml double cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract read more

Anzac Biscuits and Chocolate Nut Biscuits

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What a week! I felt like I’d earned a good baking session. The following two recipes are really easy and truly yummy.

Anzac Biscuits

Yes perhaps I am a bit premature for Anzac day but nonetheless, they are a deliciously oaty crunchy cookie.

Ingredients – makes 12-15 biscuits

What you will need: 100g rolled oats 140g plain flour 100g unrefined light brown sugar 45g flaked coconut 110g unsalted butter 2tbsp golden syrup ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda 1tbsp hot water

Method

Preheat your oven to 175⁰C/350⁰F/Gas mark 4. Line two baking sheets with some parchment. Firstly, mix the dry ingredients together – not the bicarb.

Melt the butter and golden syrup together on a low heat. Dissolve the bicarb in the hot water and then stir this into the butter and golden syrup mixture. Mix the hot butter mix into the rest of the dry ingredients.

Put dollops of the dough onto the parchment – make sure there is room between them because these fellows expand like the foam used for house insulation. Flatten them slightly on top. read more

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