You are currently browsing the monthly archive for December 2008.
hazelnuts before roasting
Last night saw a near disastrous attempt at making biscotti (part of our edible Christmas gifts). Thankfully it tastes great, but looks shit. Last Christmas was my first go at making biscotti – and two different types no less (lemon & pistachio and chocolate & hazelnut). It received rave reviews from family and friends, and I don’t recall it being challenging.
I should have known it wasn’t going to end well after I split open a bag of sugar all over the worktop, but I shrugged it off telling myself that mess is all part of the fun of cooking. Then the metal blade in my MagiMix broke.
Things went from bad to worse, when the dough just wasn’t forming into the unctuous just-firm-enough-to-mold it state it should have been. Even with N attempting to diffuse the situation (I get wound up quite easily in the kitchen when things don’t go right – I’m a bit *understatement* of a perfectionist – I blame it on my dad) and rescue the dough it was looking bleak.
Borage helping me cook
I started imagining my miserable trek to a boutique farm shop or worse still a supermarket to find an alternative for the family members we’d intended to give the biscotti to. Finally, we (by that I mean N, I am busy sulking in the corner) somewhat salvaged the dough and produced some tasty, but frankly unattractive, oversized biscotti.
The thing is, last year is looked so perfect and beautiful – just how biscotti should look, long and slender with a curvaceous bulge – but we wrapped them up in greaseproof bags tied with coloured raffia. These were pretty, but you couldn’t see the biscotti. This year I decided that tall glass jars were the way forward, so that everyone could gaze longingly at their dark chocolately yumminess studded with nuts…
So, as you can see I’m not a happy bunny. N is trying his best to assure me with the “taste is what matters” line, and my reasonable self agrees – they taste great (what wouldn’t taste great with 300g of the best 70% chocolate?!), but my vain self is unhappy at the prospect of giving them as gifts.
THE biscotti
To top off the past 24 hours, of all things disastrous: I woke up to discover I had racked up 60p (I rack up a lot) in library fines (one namely a Jamie Oliver book that I have already renewed 9 times!); tipped over an Amarylis bulb showering soil all over the living room; partly wrecked the wrapping of a Christmas present; and on writing this post I realised that I am perhaps the first person to ever write about a cookery cock-up.
In conclusion, I have accepted that I am probably just way too tired, with too many things to do, and too many commitments. Typing up recipes from my (long-overdue Jamie Oliver library book) this morning I was reading over and over again ‘a handful of thyme’ in the ingredients list. I realise this is exactly what I need, a handful more of time.
*I will post some pictures of the “ugly” biscotti later* *Pictures now up – when I have revisited and hopefully perfected this biscotti recipe, I shall post it*
some of our edible Christmas gifts
Over the weekend we have started to put together our Christmas presents for our family. For a couple of weeks now we have been building up a box of bits and pieces, that on their own look pretty odd – jars of coconut oil, garlic powder, jars of every shape and size. Now we have embarked on the exciting process of making gifts out of them.
The weekend has seen us marinating olives, mixing popcorn and potato wedge seasonings, and melting all kinds of oils and butter to create some delicious smelling hand balms. Other than eating and growing food, this is when I seem to be most in my element. Last Christmas staying at N’s family, I disappeared into their workshop, spread myself out over a stunning old wooden workbench and busied myself arranging baskets with tissue paper, gifts, and weaving in ivy and berries.
homemade Christmas hampers :: Christmas 2007 ::
So back to the weekend. We made two types of marinated olives (ideal for an olive-loving family member) – Lemon Fennel Olives and Thyme & Chilli Olives. I’ve filled two medium-sized kilner jars with these delicious concoctions and will later tie raffia round them and a label to say what they are. Recipes below for anyone interested in having a go.
Lemon Fennel Olives
Approx 400g green olives (not pitted)
1-2 tsp fennel seeds
1 lemon
1 tsp black peppercorns
2 garlic cloves
Olive oil
Nice glass jar
Be sure to sterilize your glass jar first. We washed ours in soapy water, rinsed, and placed in a low oven (50ºC) for about 20-30 mins until dry.
Slice the garlic into thin slivers. Carefully peel the lemon. In a bowl combine the sliced garlic, lemon peel, a squeeze of lemon juice, and the peppercorns.
Drain the olives and rinse. Combine the olives in the bowl with the other ingredients and spoon into the sterilized jar.
Cover with olive oil and seal tightly. Leave for about a week to let the flavours infuse.
homemade marinated olives
Thyme & Chilli Olives
Approx 400g black olives (not pitted)
Couple of sprigs of fresh thyme
1-2 tsp crushed chilli flakes
Glug of red wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves, in their skins
Glug of extra virgin olive oil
Nice glass jar
Sterilize the glass jar first (see above).
Crush the garlic cloves in their skins, and bung in a bowl with the chilli flakes, red wine vinegar, thyme and a glug of extra virgin olive oil.
Drain the olives and rinse. Combine the olives in the bowl with the other ingredients and spoon into the sterilized jar.
Cover with olive oil and seal tightly. Leave for about a week to let the flavours infuse.
This recipe is adapted from Nigel Slater’s Real Food.
Linguine with homemade meatballs
Last night for tea we made homemade meatballs with linguine and a tomato sauce. When it comes to following recipes, I’m not very good at sticking to them unless requires precision – things like pastry I’m not yet confident at “adding a little bit of this ” and a “little bit of that.” Instead I often use recipes as a guide, or more often than not just the title or photo of a recipe to make my own version.
So last night I created my own spaghetti and meatballs after seeing a delicious photo in Jamie at Home (one of my all time favourite recipe books, and probably my most used). Most of the time I don’t have all the ingredients a recipe calls for, and I’m not very good at planning ahead and going out to stock up on the right ingredients. So instead I substitute with ingredients I have hanging around in my fridge or cupboards, or just work my way around them.
We made our meatballs from mince beef (from Little Heath Farm) rather than sausagemeat. We mixed the raw meat with breadcrumbs (I blitzed up a few slices of a Sweet Poppy Seed loaf from Barbakan), some dried herbs that my mom had brought me back from France, and some salt and pepper. N shaped them into small balls and we cooked them in a good glug of olive oil under brown and crispy.
No spaghetti in the house, just angel hair or linguine – I opted for linguine I felt as the angel hair was too thin for a thick tomatoey sauce and meatballs. The tomato sauce consisted of chopped garlic, parsley stalks finely chopped, a tin of cherry tomatoes, and a glug of balsamic vinegar – plus seasoning. This was blitzed up, spooned over the cooked linguine, and the meatballs piled on top, finished with a handful of chopped parsley. The recipe called for peas. I wanted peas, planned on having peas, but forgot the peas. Oh well. Maybe next time.
Yum
Manchester Christmas Market :: image from Manchester Evening News website ::
Yesterday N and I finished worked at lunchtime and headed into the city centre to do a bit of Christmas shopping. Manchester pulls out all the stops in terms of the number of Christmas markets that it features – around 5 or 6 dotted around the centre. Albert Square is the European Market, St Ann’s Square the German Market, Brazennose Street the World Market, Exchange Street the Arts & Crafts Market, and New Cathedral Street the Manchester Christmas Market.
We hopped off the tram at St Peter’s Sqaure and cut through to Albert Square – the European Market held here is probably the best way to start off your tour of the Manchester Christmas markets as it is a large square with lots of “streets” of wooden market cabins and a large log chalet bar in the middle selling Gluhwein. It’s a hub where everyone seems to congregate and there’s a nice feel to it. We then made our way down to the World market which I always seems to find the least interesting, which is odd considering a great many treasures in our house are ethnic pieces collected from around the globe. On to St Ann’s Square and finally to the ‘posh’ market in front of the designer shops.
A couple of hours later and we left the markets laden down with our goodies…two Camembert from Normandy… It’s safe to say N and I have discovered we aren’t really into the whole Christmas shopping thing. It made me feel strangely odd, like there was something wrong with me. Why wasn’t I rushing about in Marks & Spencer with my basket (I didn’t even have a basket) full of selection boxes of biscuits? Why wasn’t I in the crowd at the market stall selling large glowing rocks? Why didn’t I think my granny would like a giant plastic-wrapped iced gingerbread Christmas tree?
We really enjoyed the buzz at the Christmas markets; the fantastic wafts of cooking sausages, Raclette, mulled wine, and soaps as you passed different stalls; the lines of Christmas trees and bunches of red berries; even the fake snow shooting from a fake chimney atop a fake log cabin which combined with the smell of burning frankfurters resembled ash from a bonfire. We enjoyed all these things. We really enjoyed putting the heaters on full-whack in the car to defrost our numb fingers and bums after spending five minutes sitting on a platform after getting on the wrong tram.
So even though I had a crisis of confidence in my ability to be a British citizen and enjoy frenzied Christmas shopping for tat, I am comforted in the knowledge that I still like that Christmassy feeling – and part of that is (watching other people) on their made Christmas shopping sprees. I am firm in the knowledge that I love shopping, but it’s for food. There were some truly fantastic cheese stalls and I wish I had more money and a set of spare arteries to indulge in my love for cheese. To come home with only two Camembert is very restrained and probably due part to N being there for that look that says ‘Charlie, do we really need more cheese…?’ The Camembert will be saved (somehow!) for Christmas eve, removed from their wrapping, replaced in their box, bunged in the oven to be baked to a gooey deliciousness and served with crusty bread.
Camembert :: bought at the Manchester Christmas Markets ::
For those who share my love for all things cheese here is the recipe for the baked Camembert.
Camembert baked in the box
Enough for 2
A whole Camembert in its wooden box
A clove of garlic, halved (optional)
Drop of white wine (optional)
Sprig of thyme (optional)
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Remove the cheese from its plastic wrapper and put it back into the wooden box.
Slice a cross into the top of the Camembert. At this point you can put the lid on and bung it in the oven, but if you want you can do the following to it first. Rub the top of the cheese with the cut garlic clove, drizzle a little white wine into the centre where you made your slices, and stick a sprig of thyme into the top.
Bake the Camembert in its box with the lid on for 25-30 minutes when it should be hot and bubbling.
Serve with crusty white bread cut into chunks that can be dunked into the melted cheese. Eat beside a crackling fire on Christmas Eve.
*This dish also works well with Vacherin Mont d’Or – a fantastic French cheese that is wrapped in spruce bark and only available in the Autumn and Winter months – perfect for Christmas. Best served for more than two as it’s larger and richer than baked Camembert.
frosty morning
I am terrible at remembering to bring my camera with me when we go out. This morning we went down to our local farmers market at Abbey Leys Farm (http://www.abbeyleys.co.uk/). It’s a beautiful day – blue skies, sun shining, the countryside frosted with white icing – but bloody freezing. All our favourite local producers were there, everybody wrapped up in scarfs, hats and mittens. And I forgot my camera. And didn’t even have my phone which takes pretty good photos. I will learn, I promise – it’s so frustrating to want to share a lovely experience and not have any pictures to show of it.
For now I shall just have to tell you that we came away with a basket of farmhouse butter (from Preston), a string of onions (from Southport), half a dozen organic eggs (Abbey Leys), mini chocolate butter Stollen (from Warrington), a raspberry thickie made from Cheshire yoghurt (Tiresford Farm), and a french country loaf (from Love Bread in Knutsford). We had a quick chat with Sue at Little Heath Farm and emplored her to start making cocktail-sized sausages over the Christmas period – I have been craving those little sausages you find at Christmas parties that have been baked in the oven with honey and wholegrain mustard – yum! We also saw the Pie Man (Neil from The Great North Pie Company) who had, as usual, sold out an hour and a half into the market.
It has been a nice week for local food – the first ever Lymm Farmer’s Market was held at Oughtrington Community Centre to raise funds for their badly needed new boilers. I went down to volunteer and help out during the morning, and it seemed to be a big hit and a great success.
There were some of the local food ‘big boys’ like The Great Tasting Meat Company (http://www.greattastingmeat.co.uk/) , who were cooking up sausage and onion buns for chilly customers.
The Great Tasting Meat Company :: Lymm Farmer's Market ::
Our local box scheme providers – Northern Harvest (http://www.northernharvest.co.uk/) – were there with some fantastic bundles of cavalo nero, the only kind of kale I seem to manage. This was later cooked up into a fantastic Italian Bread and Cabbage soup.
Northern Harvest :: Lymm Farmer's Market ::
And some businesses from further afield who were new to us, like The Piemill (http://www.piemill.com/) from Cumbria.
Pies from The Piemill :: Lymm Farmer's Market ::
N is busy in the kitchen whipping up some Smoked Mackerel Pate for lunch. There was a near disaster when we discovered we were out of lemons, but the pate has been rescused with a few store cupboard staples – a glug of white wine vinegar (to give it a tang) and some lemon flavoured olive oil that we brought back from Croatia. It tastes almost as good, and is about to go down a treat on the bread from the market…
Recent Comments