Filled breadbuns

I was inspired to make this by watching the Great British Bakeoff Masterclass on TV, and so I dug out my ‘How to bake’ cookbook by Paul Hollywood and gave it a go. Of course I didn’t follow the recipe to the letter – I never do. But they are a pretty good approximation, I think. It was certainly popular when served as a birthday breakfast, with tzatziki and a mixed leaf salad.

I have written it here to be made in one go, but I actually made the vegetable filling and the dough the night before, and then made the buns in the morning, because I wanted a quickly made breakfast.

Makes 9 breadbuns

For the dough

500g gluten free flour mix

2 teaspoons xanthan gum

14g dried yeast

30g butter (at room temperature)

1 egg

350ml water

For the filling

1 tablespoon butter

1 escallion shallot (or any other type shallot)

1 clove of garlic

10 cherry tomatoes

1 yellow pepper

½ small courgette

a few sprigs of fresh thyme

a few leaves of fresh basil

50g cheese (I used a mixture of Boursin & Applewood smoked cheese)

Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl and use your hands to crumble in the butter. Add the egg, and carefully mix it in with your hands. Finally add the water a little at a time, using your hand to stir it in. You may need to adjust the amount of water, but you should end up with a sticky dough. Use your hands to press it together into a ball, and place it back in the bowl. Cover it with clingfilm and place somewhere nice and warm, like next to a radiator or in an airing cupboard. Leave it to rise for about 2 hours, or overnight if you are making the buns for breakfast. If you are leaving the dough overnight; take it away from the heat source after the 2 hours and leave it to rest at room temperature.  

To make the filling; finely chop the shallot and sweat it in a little butter.  Crush and finely chop the garlic, and add to the onion. Leave it to sweat for a few minutes until the shallot is soft. Meanwhile, chop the remaining vegetables, and add them to the pan. Remove the thyme leaves from the stalk, and chop the basil leaves. Add these to the mixture. Leave to cook gently until all ingredients are soft. Take away from the heat and let the mixture cool for a little while.

Chop or grate the cheese into small pieces.

Divide the dough into 9 pieces. Roll them each into a ball, and press flat into the shape of a disc. Place some of the filling in the middle of the disc, add some cheese, and gently fold the sides of the dough-disc over the filling so that you have a ball-shaped bun. Press it slightly flat, so that it will be easier to bake.

Once you have made all the buns, get a frying pan out, butter it, and bake them on gentle heat - about 4 minutes on each side (just like making pancakes). 

Serve with a dip or a light salad. 

Baileys Chocolate & Banana Cake

I was originally going to make plain chocolate brownies, but then I realised that I had a couple of bananas that needed using, and I also spotted the bottle of baileys, and I thought hmm... bet I can make something out of that. And it turned out I could. So here is a really simple cake, made a bit more grown-up and different by the addition of booze. You can use any liqueur, but I would stick to the same one both for drizzling the cake and in the glaze.

Makes about 18 squares

For the cake

125g butter

210g granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 large bananas (about 260g)

185g plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

4 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 tablespoon melted butter

1 tablespoon baileys (or any other chocolate/coffee liqueur)

For the glazing

200g icing sugar

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

15ml baileys (or any other chocolate/coffee liqueur)

25ml water

Popping candy for decoration

Pre-heat your oven to 180^oC.

Beat the butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and stir well. Peel the bananas and break them into pieces before adding them. (If you’re using an electric mixer you can add them in pieces, but if you are whisking by hand it’s a lot easier if you mash the bananas before adding them.)

Mix the dry ingredients and sift them into the batter. Carefully stir until you have an even and smooth mixture. Finally melt the butter and add to the mixture and stir in.

Pour into a baking tray lined with greased baking parchment.

Place in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when you do the skewer test.

Take the cake out of the tin, and leave to cool on a wire rack. When the cake has rested for about 5 minutes, sprinkle the baileys over it.

When the cake is completely cooled, make the glazing by sifting the dry ingredients together, then adding the baileys and as much of the water as is needed to make a runny but not too wet glaze.

Pour over the cake, and decorate with popping candy or other small sweets if wanted. 

Lemon & Chocolate Fairycakes

As easy and effortless as these are I really don’t know why I don’t bake more often. Although I suspect the answer has something to do with the bathroom scales... Anyway, today was a really hectic day at work, so I decided we all could do with a little reward and cheering up, and so when I got home this evening I whipped these up in no time at all.

Makes 12 fairycakes

For the fairycakes

130g butter

130g granulated sugar

the zest of ½ large lemon

20g milk chocolate

2 medium eggs

150g plain flour

¼ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon lemon juice

For the icing

75g cream cheese

30g butter

180g icing sugar

the zest of ½ large lemon

½ teaspoon lemon juice

¼ teaspoon yellow food colouring

sweets for decoration

Pre-heat your oven to 180^oC

Cream the sugar and butter in an electric mixer until the mixture is light and fluffy. Alternatively, do it by hand. This takes a little while, but it is worth getting the mixture as light and as fluffy as you can, as this improves the texture of the cakes.

Zest a lemon, and add half of this to the cake mixture. As always when zesting lemons; make sure you don’t get any of the white pith in with the zest, as this is very bitter.

Also grate the milk chocolate on a fine grater, so that you have a fine powdery result.

Add the eggs, one at a time, and stir well until you have an even mixture.

Mix the flour and baking powder and sift these into the mixture. Carefully stir until you have a smooth cake dough. It’s worth being careful here, as you don’t want to overwork your mixture. This releases the gluten in the flour, and makes the cakes more rubbery.

Finally add the lemon juice and mix it in.

Fill 12 cupcake cases and bake in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean after being inserted into the middle of a cake.

To make the icing; mix the butter, cream cheese and icing sugar in a large bowl. When the mixture is smooth; add the lemon zest, lemon juice and food colouring. Mix well, and spoon into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle. Squirt the icing onto the fairy cakes, and decorate with sweets. 

The Cake & Bake Show - London 22 & 23 September 2012

After a weekend of strolling round the ‘Cake and Bake show’ at Earl’s Court, London, I had rather sore feet this Monday morning. And sore arms, for that matter. I hadn't planned on spending any money, and so I hadn't brought anything for carrying heavy items in – and thus the long arms from carrying my goodies.  I'm not complaining though, there were some good deals on offer; both on cookbooks, cake carriers, sugar craft moulds and much much more.

I’d bought tickets for both days, thinking that since I had to go all the way down to London I might as well stay for the full experience. The tickets had sold out well in advance, and the demand had been so high they had increased the opening hours on the Saturday, and with it released more tickets for the evening only. And I do believe those were sold out as well.

On the day of the opening I arrived early, having misjudged the distance from my hotel (it turns out those guides online that tell you how far things are, and how long it takes to get there are rather careful with their timings, and I used a third of the time they suggested). So the only sensible thing I could do was to join the steadily growing queue of people waiting to get inside. By the time the doors opened I could no longer see the end of the queue, but bearing in mind it was 5 persons wide, I think there were quite a lot of people there. Luckily the sun was out, and people were mostly friendly and chatty, looking forward to the show. 

With a sudden surge people were moving forward, and it wasn’t long before I was inside. The ticket checker was a bit baffled by my ticket being valid for two days, but soon I was on my way up the escalator and into the fun. Momentarily confused I took a minute to get my bearings, but then headed towards the nearest stalls. Soon I found someone selling a programme, and I headed towards a quiet corner for a read. It seemed other people had the same idea, and soon there were programme reading people everywhere. Having made sense of the layout I headed for the ‘Edible Beach’ competition area. This was an area where people who had signed up to take part in the competition had brought in and exhibited their cakes. As the name suggested, the theme was beach. And what beaches they were; one more stunning than the other.

After some gazing I moved on to the stalls, which had quickly filled up in the time I had spent by the beaches. Thinking I couldn’t be bothered with the crunching and queuing by the stalls, I moved on to the other end of the hall, where the wedding cake stands and chocolate area was. I have to admit I had expected a bit more than a table with a few cakes on it from the wedding section, but the chocolate section was better. There were people selling chocolate, and there were classrooms advertising talks throughout the days. Moving on I located the other classrooms, and also the large demo area. The classrooms required tickets, but the demo areas were free for all. Having brought a marker pen I made a strategic plan using my programme, and made a move to catch the first talk.

In the afternoon the hall started to thin out, before there was a slight increase in numbers again. Presumably these were the lucky ones who had got tickets for the evening. I was also heading home around that time, when suddenly it was nearly eight o'clock and the show was closing.  

The next morning I knew not to arrive so early, and I joined the queue of people just before opening hours. The weather had changed overnight, and instead of the lovely sunshine that had accompanied us the day before, we were threatened by large black clouds. Thankfully the organisers redirected the queue indoors, so there was only a short sprint in the rain.

The second day took on much the same pattern as the first day, with me walking from one talk to another. There were a lot of very interesting things to see and hear, but I have to admit that I thought some of the guest speakers were a waste of time. Hopefully some of those will be weeded out before the next show. But overall, the presentations and demonstrations were very good.

Eventually it was time for me to catch my train home, and I cast a last glance over the hall before heading towards the doors, where a very nice team was handing out goodie-bags to the leavers. A nice touch, I thought. 

Raspberry Cake with Buttercream

When I needed to make a cake for my friend's birthday this weekend, I wasn't quite sure what to make. I knew I wanted to make something a bit special, but that was as far as I'd got in my planning a few days before the party. The it suddenly struck me that since it is autumn, and fruit and berries are in season, I could make something seasonal. And it would work well because not everyone who would be at the party have a sweet tooth. So off I went searching through my recipe books for inspiration. I found several tasty-sounding recipes, and what I ended up with was a great success, very tasty and not too sweet. 

Serves up to 12 people

Pre-heat the oven to 180oC and grease a 20cm diameter round baking tin.

For the cake
350g caster sugar
125g butter
3 eggs
300ml crème fraiche
500g flour (I used Dove's Farm gluten free white bread flour)
1 teaspoon xanthan gum - but only if your flour does not already contain this
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 tablespoon glycerine
1 tablespoon red food colouring
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
250g raspberries

For the buttercream and decoration
450g cream cheese (full fat)
180g butter
1.1kg icing sugar
125g raspberries

Whisk the sugar and butter until they are light and fluffy, and then add the eggs one at a time, stirring well between adding each egg. Add the crème fraiche, and again stir well.

Measure out the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, and sift these into the mixture. Stir well and add the glycerine, colour and vanilla extract. Finally add the raspberries and stir well. 

Pour the mixture into the cake tin, and bake for about 1 hour and 30 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when you do the skewer test. 

Take the cake out of the oven, and place on a cooling rack. After a few minutes; remove it from the baking tin. Leave the cake to cool.

Slice the cake into four layers, using a sharp bread-knife.

To make the buttercream, mix the ingredients and mix well until you have a smooth mixture without any lumps. Using a palette knife, spread some of the buttercream on the bottom layer. Place another layer on top, and repeat until all four layers are stacked. Use the remainder of the mixture to cover the cake in cream. Decorate with the raspberries.

Butternut Squash and Wensleydale Cheese Soup

For such a simple soup this is remarkably tasteful. I was going to add some exciting spices, but at the last minute I decided not to, as my friend was a bit poorly and a ‘safe’ soup was needed.

If you don't have access to wensleydale cheese, then you can use any other mild and crumbly cheese. 

Serves 2

1 tablespoon butter

1 large leek

1 large butternut squash

600ml water

1 teaspoon salt

100g wensleydale cheese

Finely chop the leek. Melt the butter in a large thick-bottomed saucepan. Add the leek, and sweat for a few minutes while you peel and finely chop the butternut squash. Add this to the leek and stir well. Add the water and salt, and bring to the boil.

Simmer for about 30 minutes until the vegetables are soft. Mash them with a potato masher (or an electric mixer if you’re lucky enough to have one).

Grate the cheese and sprinkle it into the soup. Stir, and serve. 

Chocolate, Banana & Maple Syrup Cake

Yet again I found myself with a bunch of over-ripe bananas that really needed using sooner rather than later. Sadly there was no flour or any other useful ingredients in the house, so my friend and I headed towards the local shop to hunt for provisions. Unfortunately their stock was rather limited, so some improvisation was needed. We secured a handful of ingredients, and set off for home. Once there I set to work, and soon we had cake to enjoy.

100g butter

40g corn-flour

100g ground almonds

60g cocoa powder

50g sugar

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

2 eggs

4 ripe bananas (about 250g)

50ml maple syrup

Grease and line with baking paper a 22cm round baking tin.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Leave it to cool down while you sift the corn-flour, almonds, cocoa powder, sugar and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl. Stir carefully with a spatula. Add the butter and stir slowly until the mixture is even. Add the eggs and stir again.

Mash the bananas with a fork, and add to the mixture. Finally add the maple syrup.

Pour the mixture into the tin, and place in the middle of the oven on 180^oC. Bake for about 30minutes until a skewer comes out clean when you perform the skewer test.

Leave the cake to cool in the tin, then serve. It is delicious with some custard or vanilla ice cream. 

Marsbar Crispies

The cafes at work make these lovely and slightly addictive sweet things, and I thought since it’s a long weekend I’d try to make a treat. They’re really really simple to make, the hardest part is being patient while the chocolates melt, so it doesn’t burn.

These things are ideal snacks for kids’ parties and at other times when non-sticky snacks are a good thing. They’re much more caramelly than the original chocolates, and yummily chewy.

Makes 9 squares

 

200g mars-bars

40g crisped rice

Scrunch up some grease-proof paper, and line a tin with it. Scrunching the paper makes it more cooperative and easier to use. It doesn't matter if your tin is a bit too big, as the mixture won’t run.

Slowly melt the mars-bars in a thick-bottomed saucepan, over low heat. Stir occasionally to make sure it isn’t sticking or getting burned. When the chocolates have transformed themselves into sticky glup, add the crisped rice and stir well with a metal spoon.

Pour the mixture onto the lined tin, and pat it flat with a spatula. Leave to cool for about 30 minutes. Cut into squares, and enjoy.

Can be stored for a few days in an airtight container. 

Warm green and feta salad

The wonderful thing about a warm salad is that it is so quick and easy to make, and after a long day at work, when you really just want to get a takeaway and dive into bed, it is just the thing. There’s no need for accurate measuring, just measure out an amount that you think is suitable for how hungry you are. The amounts below are a suggestion only; really you can use whatever lurks in your fridge.

Serves 1

5 or 6 small potatoes (new baby potatoes are brilliant for this)

3 or 4 asparagus spears

6 or 7 sugar snap peas

6 or 7 mange touts

4 large cherry tomatoes

50g feta cheese

4 olives

2 half artichoke hearts (ready cooked, jarred and stored in oil, you can get them from most supermarkets)

1 egg

olive oil

balsamic vinegar

herbal salt

Wash the potatoes, and boil them in a little water. When they are nearly done, throw in the asparagus, mange touts and sugar snap peas, and simmer until these are tender.

Use a slotted spoon to fish out the vegetables. Keep the water boiling, and crack open the egg into it; to poach it. The poaching time depends on how well cooked you like your egg. You can use the flat side of a spoon to gently press the yolk to check the softness and thus the readiness.

While the egg poaches, arrange the vegetables on a plate. Slice the artichokes, feta cheese, tomatoes and olives, and sprinkle them over the vegetables.

Drizzle a bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar over the food.

Use the slotted spoon to fish out the egg, and place it on top of the food.

Sprinkle a little bit of herbal salt over the top, serve and enjoy. 

Golden Root Stew

Fancying something sweet yet savoury for my dinner, I rummaged round my fridge to see what I could find. On offer were, amongst other things, several different types of roots. So it was an easy decision to make a warming stew. Not only is a stew easy to make, but with the right ingredients it can be a very cheap and nutritious meal. Roots generally contain a surprising amount of delicious vitamins, so they’re an easy way to fill up on good stuff after a long winter. Adding some lentils adds protein, which not only is good for you, but also fills you up and makes you feel fuller for longer (really useful for those of us trying to shed some pounds).

Serves 2

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion

3 small parsnips

¼ sweede

½ bitternut squash

500ml water

1 teaspoon herbal salt

1 teaspoon herbes de Provence

1 handful of red split lentils

1 tablespoon tomato puree

Finely chop the onion while the oil warms up in a saucepan. Sweat the onions, and leave them to get soft for about 5 minutes. I the meantime; peel and chop the parsnips, sweede and butternut squash. Add these to the onions, and stir for a few minutes until all the vegetables are warm.

Boil the water in a kettle (or separate pan) and add to the vegetables. Boiling the water before adding it prevents the vegetables from cooling down, and so reduces the cooking time.

Add the herbs (use any type of dried mixed herbs if you haven’t got any Herbes de Provence), the salt and the lentils, and slowly boil for about 30 minutes. Add the tomato puree, and leave to simmer for another 5 minutes. Test to see if the vegetables are soft. If they’re not, then leave to simmer until they are.

Serve in a bowl, tastes great with a toasted slice of bread. 

Banana Brownies

When some friends went off on a two-week holiday, they left behind not only two cats to be looked after, but also a kitchen full of fruit and veg to be eaten. Most food was quickly consumed, but for some reason there were more bananas than could be coped with. After looking at said bananas for a few days, watching then go browner and browner (I do love bananas, but there are only so many you can eat in a week) I decided to do something about them – and so I got out my recipe books and investigated banana related recipes for inspiration. The one that took my fancy was a chocolate brownie recipe I got from a baking course at Betty’s Cookery School in Harrogate. However, it did not contain any bananas, so some modifications had to be done.

125g butter

4 medium sized eggs

300g granulated sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla sugar

125g gluten free flour mix

80g cocoa powder

6 ripe bananas (medium sized)

Icing sugar for dusting

Pre-heat your oven to 175^oC.

Gently melt the butter in a saucepan. You do not want the butter to go brown, so keep an eye on it. Leave it to cool down for a little while.

Whisk the egg and sugar together in a large bowl, until the mixture is lump free. Slowly stir in the butter while stirring. If the butter is too hot or you pour it in too quickly you could end up with scrambled eggs, so take your time with this step.

Sift in the vanilla sugar, flour and cocoa powder and gently stir it in until the mixture is smooth.

Crush the bananas with a fork in a separate bowl, and when they are soft like baby-food, add to the rest of the mix.

Prepare a medium sized baking tray (I used one that is 22cm x 22cm). It can be useful to line the bottom of the tray with baking parchment, so that the brownies don’t get stuck.

Pour the mixture into the tray, and bake for about 45 minutes. The cake should be soft but firm, and springy to the touch. The ripeness of the bananas will determine the baking time, as the more liquid you add the longer the baking time.

Leave to cool, and cut into pieces. Sieve some icing sugar over the top and serve. 

Dandelions

I went for a walk in the rain today, it was a spur of the moment thing; I just decided I needed fresh air, grabbed my walking gear and set off. It's always a good idea to have a few plastic bags in one's rucksack in case of exciting foragery, but when I spotted a field full of dandelions I realised that I hadn't brought any today. So after a quick reorganisation of my bag I had to use the side-pocket instead. This was not exactly ideal, for dandelions do stain a little, but it was the best I could do, and I was not about to leave these goodies behind. I hadn't really thought that the dandelions were out yet, but the warm weather last week must have brought them out.

.
Dandelion flowers make brilliant jam, and are also really good in salads. The leaves can be dried and used as herbal tea, or they can be added fresh to soups and salads. They have quite a bitter taste, a bit like rocket salad leaves.

As always when foraging, make sure you don't strip the whole area, as there are little critters, like bumble-bees, who depend on the nutrition they give. Also, when picking food off the ground, make sure you don't collect form areas where people take their dog for a walk (for obvious reasons). If on private land, make sure you have the permission of the landowner before picking. Although if you're visiting a friend, I'm sure they'll be delighted if you want to remove some dandelions from their garden.

Once I got home I placed them in a sieve and gave them a good rinse, shook the water off, and prepared to cook with them.

Dauphinoise Potatoes with Wild Garlic

Potatoes can be made into so much more than just chips or boiled spuds. This variation is one of my favourites, and is far from dull. It can make an ordinary meal into something that little bit more special, and can look quite good on a plate of food for a dinner party.

I’ve used wild garlic here, but if you can’t get your hands on that, you can use 1 clove of garlic (finely chopped) and 2 spring onions (also finely chopped) instead.

If you can, leave the skin on your potatoes; just give them a good scrub instead of peeling them. Most of the vitamin goodness in the potatoes is located just under the skin, and by peeling them you lose this. The skin also contains a lot of flavour, which it would be a shame to miss out on. Personally, I also think that the skin is rather pretty on thinly sliced tatties. Of course, if your potatoes are last year’s, and the skin is really though, then by all means do peel them.

For an extra special treat, replace some of, or even all, the milk with double cream.  

Serves 2 as a side dish 

400g potatoes

5 leaves of wild garlic (OR 1 clove of garlic & 2 spring onions)

1 ½ tablespoon butter

200ml whole milk

60g cheddar cheese

Pre-heat your oven to 180^oC.

Finely slice your potatoes, and chop your wild garlic. Butter the sides of a small heat-proof dish.

Layer the potatoes and garlic in the heat-proof dish. Make sure the top layer is potatoes, as the wild garlic will get burn if left exposed to the heat of the oven. Cut the butter into little blobs, and place on top of the final layer of potatoes. Pour over the milk, and place the dish in the oven. It can be a good idea to place a baking tray under the dish; as otherwise the milk can easily get splattered at the bottom of your oven if it boils over.

Bake the dish for about 1 hour and 30 minutes, until the potatoes are soft when you pierce them with a knife.

Grate the cheese and sprinkle it over the potatoes. Place the dish back in the oven for about 10 minutes until the cheese is melted.

You can either serve the potatoes in the heat-proof dish, or you can use a food ring to cut out portions and serve straight onto your plates.

Baked beans with balsamic vinegar

Being a big fan of baked beans, I often make my own. They are just as nice as bought ones, but because I make them myself, they are more varied, as I make a different variant each time. I use different types of beans, and I add different things to the tomato sauce. Some times I use tinned beans, and some times I boil dried beans. Dried beans are usually cheaper, but there are times when I’m too lazy to sort them out with soaking and boiling. And then I use tinned beans.

Makes 5 servings

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs

1 teaspoon dried basil

2 teaspoons dried thyme

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

800g tinned tomatoes

250g borlotti beans

If using tinned beans, drain them.

If using dried beans, soak and boil them according to instructions on the packet.

Very very finely chop your onion. Warm the oil in a large thick bottomed saucepan, and add the onion. Sweat the onion until it is soft. Add the salt and dried herbs, and stir well until the herbs are evenly distributed. Add the balsamic vinegar, and stir well again.

Chop the tinned tomatoes, and add to the onions. Simmer for about 30 minutes. Add the beans, and simmer for a further 5 minutes. 

Okra in a rich tomato sauce

Juicy vegetables can be a brilliant side dish for things such as burgers, baked potatoes, or a quiche. This dish is simple yet tasty, and is quick to make. You can make it with green beans if you can’t get your hands on okra.

Serves 4 as a side dish

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium size shallot

2 small cloves of garlic

10 sun-dried tomatoes

2 tablespoons tomato purée

400g tinned tomatoes

1 teaspoon dried basil

175g okra

Warm the oil in a saucepan while finely chopping the shallot. Add the shallot to the oil and turn down the heat. Stir well, and make sure you don’t burn the shallot, as this is easily done. Sweat the shallot while finely chopping the garlic and sun-dried tomatoes. Add these to the shallot, and stir well. Now add the tomato purée, stir, and add the chopped tinned tomatoes. Stir, and then add the dried basil.

Leave to simmer under cover for about 10 minutes. Top and tail the okra, and add to the tomato sauce. Then leave to simmer for another 20 minutes until the okra are soft. 

Wild Garlic and Cheese Oat Biscuits

Oatcakes are a brilliant snack, either on their own, or with some cheese or a dip. They're quite expensive when bought in the shop, especially if you're buying gluten free ones. So making your own can save quite a bit of money, and also they are rather nice. You can use all sorts of added ingredients to make different flavours. 

Makes about 25 biscuits

150g rice flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

½ teaspoon xanthan gum

¼ teaspoon salt

50g butter

20ml (4 teaspoons) caster sugar

150g gluten free oats 

100ml whole milk

50g cheddar cheese

25g wild garlic leaves

Pre-heat your oven to 200^oC. 

Use a sieve to mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda, xanthan gum and salt into a large bowl. Add the butter, and use your hands to crumble the butter into the flour mixture. Once these are combined, add the caster sugar and oats, and stir well. Add the milk, the grated cheddar cheese, and finally the finely chopped wild garlic leaves. Stir well, and then use your hands to knead the ingredients into a biscuit dough. It should be a little dry, but will stick together as a lump. 

You can use a rolling pin to make a thin (about 5mm) sheet, and then use a glass or biscuit mould to cut out the biscuits, or you could make little balls and press them flat. The first option gives more identical biscuits, but I find the second option easier, although the biscuits will have a more 'rustic' look. 

Place the biscuits onto a baking tray, and bake them in the oven for about 10 minutes. Leave them to cool on a cooling rack. 

Wild Garlic Pesto

Having picked lots and lots of wild garlic leaves recently, I've been thinking of ways to use them. So I googled and found some great inspiration. The recipe for this lovely pesto comes from River Cottage. It has a fantasticly vibrant colour, and quite a strong flavour.

My jar was rather too full, but I knew that there was no point using several jars, as some of it would be eaten quite soon.

Makes 1 jar of pesto

100g wild garlic leaves
40g leek
60g walnuts
60g pecorino romano cheese
50ml olive oil, plus extra for sealing the jar

Measure out your ingredients, and place everything except the oil in a food processor. The garlic leaves don't necessarily need to be washed, but mine were picked on a muddy riverbank just after a rainy morning, so needed a little rinse. Grate the cheese before placing it in the food processor. You can use any hard cheese, but you'll get the best results by using a strongly flavoured one.

Whizz the ingredients, and while you do so, slowly pour in the olive oil. If you find that the pesto is a little firm for your liking, then you can add some more oil.

Pour the pesto into a clean jar, and shake it a little to release any air-bubbles, as these would make the pesto degrade sooner. Once all the air-bubbles are gone, pour a little olive oil over the top. This seals the pesto and keeps air away from it, and therefore prolonging its life.

Keep the jar in the fridge until it is all eaten.

Wild Garlic

My friend and I went for a walk in Farndale, North Yorkshire, yesterday. We had come to look at the wild daffodils, but they were not out yet - instead we came across lots and lots of wild garlic. The first hint of its presence was the aroma. As we entered the small woodland around the stream we became engulfed in the gentle garlic scents, and the forager in me was awakened.

We had come to go for a walk, so we decided that since there was lots of wild garlic not far from where we had parked the car, we would go for a walk first, and then come back and gather some leaves afterwards. We had a lovely walk, through beautiful countryside, but I have to admit that throughout all of it I was looking forward to picking the wild garlic, and taking it home to create good food.

You recognise the wild garlic by its smell and taste, and the pointed oval shaped leaves. You can also use the flowers and bulbs, but they are quite small and have a very mild taste, so leaves are the best bit. When you bite into the leaves you get a sharp garlic flavour, quite pugnant and peppery, but milder than the garlic bulbs you buy in the shops.

You can make all sorts of delicious food with wild garlic leaves; from pesto to soups to bread - your imagination is the limit. The leaves can be picked in early spring, and are usually found in woodland areas. They can be picked and kept in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.

Balsamic Stir-fry

Stir-fry and balsamic vinegar may not have the same ethnic background,  but they do make a good combination. And adding a bit of honey brings out the sweetness of the vegetables. You could experiment with all sorts of flavours, until you find your very own favourite. I often use what comes to hand, it could be that new bottle of raspberry & mint vinegar, or it might be a lemon infused olive oil. But today I opted for an old classic of mine; the balsamic vinegar with honey.

Serves 2

150g rice noodles
250g vegetables
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons runny honey

Boil your noodles according to the instructions on the packet.

Slice your vegetables lengthways - long strips are easier to get hold of with your chopsticks. You can use any combination of vegetables, stir-fries are a brilliant way to use up those little scraps that you have left over in the fridge and don't quite know what to do with. I usually try to include vegetables of different colours; some green, some yellow and some red, as they all bring with them different vitamins. Good examples are: leek, sugar snap peas, mangetous, baby sweetcorn, red peppers, orange peppers, courgette, onions, carrots, broccoli. Or any other vegetables that take your fancy.

Heat the oil in your wok, and add the vegetables. Some might take a bit longer than the rest, like broccoli, so add them first and give them a minute before adding the rest. Turn down the heat, and keep stirring for a few minutes until the veg are cooked. Add the balsamic vinegar and honey, stir until you have an even coating, and serve with the noodles.

Warm Vegetable Salad

I don’t know about you, but I quite like having a small pile of mixed warm vegetables with main courses such as burgers or tartlets. They bring a bit of colour and moisture, and can be varied and made different each time. Some times you might add some olives, other times a bit of chilli. If using with pasta, add some cheese of your favourite type.

Serves 2 as a side dish OR 1 with pasta

1 small courgette

1 small shallot

1 clove of garlic

1 tablespoon butter

a pinch of salt

½ red pepper

4 cherry tomatoes

5 small button mushrooms

3 basil leaves

a sprig of dill

a pinch of black pepper

Finely slice the courgette lengthways, using either a sharp knife or a vegetable peeler (or a mandolin if you’re lucky enough to own one).

Finely chop the shallot and garlic, and melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the onion and garlic, and sweat for about 5 minutes.

Slice the red pepper into fine strips, and add to the pan. Add the courgette and a pinch of salt, and let it sweat for a couple of minutes. Finely slice the mushrooms and add. Stir, and add the fresh herbs. Leave on the heat for a few minutes until the mushrooms are cooked, while stirring now and again.

If using as a side dish, serve.

If using with pasta, boil your pasta while cooking the vegetables, drain the pasta, mix it all together and add some grated cheese. 

Courgette striplets

Some times, when your main course is sort of nice on its own, but could just do with a little extra greenery to complete it, strips of soft warm courgettes is just the thing. They are easy to make, and take no time at all. They’re also quite tasty and healthy. You can add all sorts of interesting extras, to make it slightly different each time. You could toast some pine nuts and add those, or you could grate some parmesan cheese and add that. Different fresh herbs also work really well.

Serves 2 as a side dish

1 medium sized courgette

1 clove of garlic

1 tablespoon butter

a pinch of salt

Finely slice the courgette lengthways, using either a sharp knife or a vegetable peeler. Finely chop the clove of garlic, and melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the garlic and sauté it for a couple of minutes. Add the courgette and a pinch of salt, and let it sweat for about 5 minutes. Drain off the excess liquid, and serve with your main course. 

Baked Beans in (lots of) Tomato Sauce

I’ve always like baked beans, but recently I’ve eaten quite a lot of them. After reading the list of ingredients on a tin I realised there’s a bit more sugar and salt than I would ideally like to consume, and so I decided to make my own. The recipe I've given here makes a massive portion, so that you can freeze some of it in handy sized portions for easy use at a later date.

Makes about 10 servings

300g dried haricot beans, OR 600g ready boiled/tinned ones

1 ½ tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion

1 teaspoon salt

3 x 400g tinned tomatoes

140g tomato puree

10 large basil leaves

½ tablespoon honey

⅛ teaspoon smoked paprika powder

⅛ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

Prepare the beans according to the instructions on the packet. Normally this means a 12 hour soaking plus 1 ½ hours boiling time. You can soak the beans overnight, plus during daytime before you are ready to boil them. A slightly longer soaking does not hurt them; it instead makes them a little bit softer.

While you boil the beans, make the tomato sauce.

Start off by very finely chop the onion. I whizzed mine in my magimix, to get the onion completely mashed. This makes for a smoother sauce. Warm the olive oil in a large saucepan, and add the onion to it. Add a teaspoon of salt, and sweat the onion for about 5 minutes.

Pour the tinned tomatoes into your magimix and whizz until you have a smooth mixture. Pour this onto the sweated onion. Alternatively, if you don’t have a magimix; pour the tomato liquid onto the onion and finely chop the tomatoes and then add them too. Add the tomato puree, stir well, and cover. Leave to simmer for about 30 minutes.

Add the beans once they are cooked and drained.

Finely chop the basil leaves, and add to the sauce along with the honey, paprika powder and cayenne pepper. I’ve suggested some amounts here, but you should taste while adding and find amounts that suit your taste buds. You might like your beans sweeter than I do, or maybe spicier.

Leave the beans to cool down, then place portion-size amounts in small containers, label them, and freeze until you want to eat them.