The Rhubarb Fool

Time 2020-11-08 06:04:18

Web Name: The Rhubarb Fool

WebSite: http://rhubarbfool.co.uk

ID:108683

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I first came across this recipe more than 20 years ago in Sophie Grigson s recipe column for the Evening Standard. I was delighted to rediscover it recently when I was thumbing through an old copy of her book Sophie s Table .She recounts how an American friend would send the family a gift of these puffs for Christmas each year and how they would barely last beyond Christmas Eve. They are a crumbly and buttery mouthful, essentially a shortbread but with a delicious pecan and vanilla flavour.They have a Christmassy feel with their snowball-like appearance and are quick and easy to make. The only slightly fiddly part of the recipe is the rolling in icing sugar and returning to the oven to set the sugar.They ll keep for a week or more and so would make a lovely last-minute edible gift.As an alternative to icing sugar, I ve recently discovered snow sugar on the Bakery Bits website. It s powdered dextrose plus cornflour and doesn t dissolve away so bakes retain that freshly dusted look for longer. Ordinary icing sugar is fine though. Pecan puffsAdapted from a recipe in Sophie Grigson’s book “Sophie’s Table”.Makes about 35.Ingredients125g unsalted butter3g salt30g golden caster sugar½ teaspoon vanilla extract150g shelled pecan halves150g plain flouricing sugar or snow sugar for dustingFreeze the pecans beforehand to prevent them turning oily too quickly when ground. Put them into a food processor with the golden caster sugar and grind to a coarse powder without overworking.Cream the butter, beat in the vanilla extract and gradually work in the ground nut and sugar mix and the flour to make a paste.Chill the mixture briefly in the fridge to allow it to firm up just a little.Roll rounded teaspoons of the mixture into balls and set onto baking sheets lined with silicone paper. Space the balls well apart to allow them to bake evenly.Bake at 150 degrees C fan for 30 minutes until golden.Allow to cool very briefly then carefully roll each puff in icing sugar, place back on the baking sheet and return to the oven for a further 2 minutes to set the icing sugar.Cool on cake racks and store in an airtight tin, dusting each layer with icing sugar and separating with sheets of baking paper. Shortbread is the classic British, or more properly Scottish, biscuit. With just three ingredients, flour, butter and sugar balanced in the baker s golden ratio of 3:2:1 it s sublime in its simplicity, the perfect riposte to an oversized cookie or indeed the overworked esoterically flavoured creations on offer on our TV screens at the moment courtesy of the Great British Bake Off.Shortbread is relatively straightforward to make at home (though as I have discovered there are several ways to go wrong) but you can buy great shortbread too. One of my favourite commercially produced shortbreads is that made by Dean s of Huntly. On a visit to Aberdeenshire not so long ago (mainly focused on sampling Speyside whiskies) we found ourselves in the small town of Huntly and took the opportunity to visit the factory showroom and café, learning the story of how Helen Dean started baking and selling shortbread from her family kitchen in the early 1970s. Dean s shortbread truly is melt-in-the mouth and the list of ingredients for the premium all-butter shortbread is admirably simple. So if Dean s sets the benchmark, where does my own shortbread recipe come from?It s a combination of various different recipes plus a little trial and error.In contrast to the brevity of the ingredients list, there are a number of aspects to the method for making and baking of shortbread that warrant a little further discussion or explanation.1) RatiosI referred above to the baker s golden ratio of 3:2:1. Where does this come from you may be wondering?I have 3 unimpeachable sources. The first is my mother-in-law s handwritten recipe which calls for 6oz flour, 4 oz butter and 2 oz sugar (incidentally this is also what she does to make the best crumble topping); the second is Jane Grigson s shortbread instructions from her book English Food (sorry Scotland!); the third is a classic shortbread recipe attributed to Katharine Robertson from the book Seasonal Cooking by Claire MacDonald of MacDonald who runs a famous hotel, Kinloch Lodge on the Isle of Skye.2) Substituting some of the flour for cornflour, semolina or ground riceThe received wisdom seems to be that you can substitute up to one third of the plain flour with one of the above alternative starches. I have found that shortbread made with just plain flour has an amply crumbly and melt-in-the mouth texture if properly baked so why make things more complicated than they need to be?3) What sort of butter is best?I like to use a salted British butter, ideally a farmhouse one as this gives the best flavour to the finished biscuit. I think a little salt in the recipe lifts the flavour and if this is added by way of salted butter there is no danger of over-salting the dough. British butter is generally made from straightforward pasteurised cream and is known as sweet cream butter. Butter from the continental mainland e.g. Lurpak or the many French butters available are generally made from cream that has undergone lactic fermentation. This gives butter with a fresh, clean flavour but for shortbread making I prefer the richer taste of a sweet cream butter.4) What sort of sugar is best?Some recipes call for icing sugar but as far as I m concerned, caster sugar is the way to go helping to achieve the desired crumbly texture. I also think that golden caster sugar gives an extra depth of flavour to the finished biscuit.5) How should the ingredients be combined?Some recipes suggest rubbing in the butter, flour and sugar whereas others suggest creaming together the butter and sugar and then working in the flour. I ve tried both methods and find that it makes no difference. I find it easiest to start by creaming the butter and sugar in my Kenwood mixer and I was pleased to see that the legendary Helen Dean started off her family shortbread-making business using a trusty Kenwood mixer (proudly on display at the company s HQ in Huntly see photo above) so I feel I m on solid ground here.6) To roll or not to roll?Several recipes suggest rolling out and cutting shortbread dough into shapes. Good luck to you if you can manage it! There is no way I d attempt to roll out this type of dough as I find it just to hard to work with which is why I press my dough into a tin and cut it into fingers when baked. There are other recipes available for crisp little sablé-type biscuits that contain either egg yolks or whole eggs which are more suitable for rolling-out and cutting into shapes if that s what you re looking to make.7) How long to bake and at what temperature?Different recipes contain vastly different instructions on this aspect. As far as I m concerned, relatively low and slow is the way to go which is why I suggest a baking temperature of 150 degrees C fan and 45 minutes cooking time. If you like a paler shortbread you might consider dropping the oven temperature by a further 10 degrees Claire MacDonald s recipe referred to above calls for a conventional oven temperature of 150 degrees C and a baking time of 1 hour. Traditional shortbreadMakes enough to fill a standard rectangular Swiss roll tin (mine is 33cm by 23cm by 2cm) which when cut into fingers yields 36 individual biscuits. The ratio of flour to butter to sugar is the simple to remember 3:2:1 so you can readily alter the quantities to suit whatever tin size you have.Ingredients250g salted British butter125g golden caster sugar (plus a little more for sprinkling afterwards)375g plain white flourLine the tin using a sheet of baking parchment carefully trimmed to fit. I do this by cutting a sheet of parchment slightly larger than my tin, pressing it into the tin to mark the division between base and sides then carefully snipping the paper at each corner at right angles then folding in the sides origami-style to create a 3D lining. If this sounds too complicated then just line the base of the tin.Making the shortbread dough is easily done in a stand mixer but works well using a large bowl, wooden spoon and some elbow-grease too.Cream together the butter and caster sugar thoroughly until the mixture is a little lighter in colour. Add the flour in 3 or 4 stages, mixing until well incorporated. The end result should be a crumbly dough that barely holds together and looks like badly made shortcrust pastry.Tip the dough into the lined tin and spend a few minutes carefully pressing and distributing the dough evenly in the tin. You can do this using any combination of your knuckles and fingertips, a metal spoon or a small crank-handled palette knife. Prick the dough all over with the tines of a fork. I think this helps the dough to bake through more evenly, it looks attractive and importantly creates tiny pockets in the baked surface allowing the final sprinkling of caster sugar to adhere better to the biscuits.Place the tin of shortbread dough into the fridge for at least 15 minutes to chill and firm up. It can be left into the fridge for several hours, even overnight if that suits your timetable.When you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 150 degrees C fan. Bake the shortbread for about 45 minutes until a light golden colour throughout. Judging the right degree of baking is perhaps the hardest aspect of this recipe and will probably require a degree of trial and error depending on how accurate your oven temperature is. It shouldn’t be too dark a colour – baking long and slow is the way to go. Also, if the shortbread is baked too long it becomes too hard and brittle and will shatter when cut into. If underbaked it will lack flavour and have a claggy rather than melt-in-the-mouth crumbly texture. When it is baked just right it will still be somewhat soft when cut into while still warm but, fear not, it will firm up to the right crumbly texture when cooled.Once baked, remove from the oven, immediately carefully cut into fingers of the desired size (I cut mine lengthwise into 3 long strips then crosswise into 12 strips to produce 36 fingers) and sprinkle the surface with a little more golden caster sugar. Leave to cool completely in the tin. The latest in our Breakfasts of the World Project series. It s been a while but I think the muse is back The Republic of Chad is a landlocked country in Northern Central Africa named after the great freshwater lake on its Western border. It is a huge country in terms of land area (the fifth largest in Africa) but with a relatively small population of some 14 million.It was part of French Equatorial Africa until 1960 when the country declared independence from France. The capital city is N’Djamena and French and Arabic are the official languages. Confusingly, Chad’s flag of vertical blue, yellow and red stripes is identical to that of Rumania, a source of low level diplomatic tension unlikely to be resolved any time soon.Chad has experienced vast numbers of refugees flooding across its border with Sudan since 2003 as a result of the Darfur conflict. More recently there have been further waves of refugees crossing its Western border fleeing civil war in the Central African Republic.The UNHCR publishes copious detailed reports of its work with refugees in Chad that are probably not as widely read as they should be. Looking at these reports, I was struck by the pictures of refugees eking out a meagre living selling street food. My Chadian breakfast took inspiration from these resilient street food vendors and comprised sweet millet fritters plus the ubiquitous “jus de fruit” which is in fact a simple mango smoothie. The helpful Chad information website where I found both recipes says that many small businesses have started up throughout Chad based on selling this one popular drink. Millet is a staple grain from this part of Africa and grows successfully in hot arid conditions but is relatively unknown in more temperate climates except as bird seed. The grains are like tiny creamy seed pearls and grind down to a yellowish, mild, slightly nutty tasting flour. It s naturally gluten free and perhaps as a consequence quite hard to handle and my millet fritters were something of a disaster. This is what the first deep-fried batch looked like after cooking:I had to abandon the deep fat fryer and ended up shaping my millet dough into shortbread-style fingers before oven baking. Perhaps these would have turned out better if I d been able to use freshly ground local millet flour as the recipe specifies rather than a bag of Bob s Red Mill US grown millet flour. It s also possible that my proportions were wrong as I used US cups i.e. 8 fl oz measures whereas the measure used in the original recipe was a verre i.e. a glass. Who knows what that might be but I suspect it may be smaller than 8 fl oz.At least the mango smoothie turned out well I d happily drink this for breakfast anytime and the addition of the powdered cardamom adds an extra flavour dimension.Jus de fruit Mango smoothie from ChadAdapted from a recipe from http://www.tchad.org/research/cook.htmlIngredients1 medium-size ripe mango, peeled, stone removed and cut into chunks2 cups whole milk (fresh tastes good but powdered milk would probably be used in Chad)Caster sugar to taste6 ice cubes1/4 teaspoon cardamom powderCrush the ice in the blender
. Peel and cut up the mango and put the fruit chunks into a mixer.
 Blend the mango in the mixer.
 Add the milk, sugar and cardamom to the mixer and blend well.
 Serve immediately.Millet fritters from the OuaddaïAdapted from a recipe from http://www.tchad.org/research/cook.htmlIngredients2 cups millet flour ground the day you prepare the fritters1 cup wheat flour1 cup vegetable oil1/2 cup powdered sugar1 eggPeanut oil to fryMix the millet and wheat flours together. Heat the cup of vegetable oil to hand-hot and pour it over the flour mixture. Mix roughly. Whisk together lightly with a fork the sugar and egg and pour over the dough. Knead the dough for 5 minutes until it becomes firm and smooth.Roll the dough to a thickness of 5 millimetres on a lightly floured board and cut into ribbons.Fry to a golden brown in the peanut oil at about 150 degrees C. Drain the fritters on kitchen paper and serve hot, warm or cold. We were out with friends at a local Italian restaurant on Friday and I ordered their spaghetti vongole to benchmark my own version against it. The restaurant version was competent but no more the pasta hadn t taken on the sweet flavour of the clams and there was too much pasta and not much else. I shall spare the restaurant kitchen s blushes by not naming it here!I ve been experimenting at home recently with spaghetti vongole having seen a recipe demonstrated by chef Theo Randall on the BBC cooking show Saturday Kitchen back in April.The Theo Randall version ups the shellfish flavour by partnering the clams with squid and prawns. White wine, garlic and sweet cherry tomatoes form a base for the sauce, strips of courgette are mingled with the pasta to lighten the dish and the whole whole thing is freshened up with lots of chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley.The trick to boosting the flavour of the finished dish is to only part-cook the pasta in boiling and salted water and complete the cooking in the clam sauce so that the pasta really takes on the sweet shellfish flavour.The recipe for spaghettini with squid, clam and prawns that the BBC give on the website (to accompany the Saturday Kitchen show) for is frankly pants. It misses out the wine from both the ingredients list and method, some of the cooking times are wrong you really don t want to boil the wafer-thin courgette strips for 7 minutes and the weight of some of the ingredients is unbalanced. My version of the recipe corrects these errors and omissions.It s important to have everything prepped and ready to go before you start cooking, as once you begin cooking it s all systems go and the dish is finished quickly and cooked pasta can t be kept waiting. Doing all the prep is a little time consuming but the finished dish is worth the little bit of effort this takes.The clams need to be fresh but the recipe works just fine with defrosted raw squid and prawns.The courgette strips would probably most easily be created with a modish spiraliser but if you don t have one (and I don t as you can see from the pictures), the courgette can be fashioned into long thin strips using a vegetable peeler or mandolin and kitchen knife.I experimented making this dish with different types of good quality dried pasta. You don t need to use spaghetti my favourite version was with fine flat linguine to which the sauce clung well. Linguine with clams, squid and prawnsServes 2Ingredients200g good quality dried linguine (or spaghetti or other long thin pasta of your choice)1 medium courgette cut into thin strips using a vegetable peeler or mandolin (or spiralised)3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil350g clams in their shells, cleaned (1 generous handful each)1 medium squid, cleaned, cut into small pieces (0.0,75cm dice is about right)150g raw peeled deveined prawns cut into small pieces (the same size as the squid pieces)1 garlic clove, thinly slicedpinch dried chilli flakes10 baby plum or cherry tomatoes cut into quarterslarge glass dry white wine2 tablespoons chopped fresh flatleaf parsley1. Prep all the ingredients, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil , lay the table and warm your serving bowls and have your guest at the ready before you start cooking as this dish is ready in the time it takes to cook the pasta and is at its best served and eaten as soon as it’s ready.2. Cook the pasta in the pan of boiling salted water according to the packet instructions but reduce cooking time by 1 minute. It will finish cooking in the clam juices.3. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a sauté pan or deep frying pan big enough to hold all the sauce and the cooked pasta. Add the prawn, clams and squid and stir fry for one minute.4. Add the garlic, half the parsley, the dried chilli flakes and the quartered baby plum or cherry tomatoes and stir fry for a further minute. Add the glass of white wine and allow it to bubble away for a further minute or two until reduced by approximately half. Turn off the heat while the pasta cooks.5. Once the pasta is about one minute away from being ready, drain in a colander but reserve a cupful of the starchy pasta water. 6. Straightaway, add the raw courgette strips and drained pasta to the frying pan containing the sauce, turn the heat back on and cook for a further minute or so, tossing the pasta and courgettes in the pan so that sauce emulsifies and the pasta and courgettes really take on the flavour of the sauce. You may need to add a little of the reserved cooking water if the contents of the pan seem too dry. Go easy on the liquid though as you don’t want to drown the pasta in water.7. Add the reserved tablespoon of chopped parsley and mix well before dishing up into warmed bowls. I spotted a recipe in last month s edition of the M S food magazine for something they called Salmon and ricotta brunch . Practically every food publication that comes out at this time of the year features healthy eating and detox options. The brunch recipe was billed as being high protein fuel for those concerned with their health and nutrition. The recipe title wasn t great, nor was the health-food angle but the picture looked pretty so I gave it a go and was really pleased with the result.At the time I decided it was far too fussy a dish to make for breakfast. Who wants to tumble out of bed on a Sunday morning and start separating eggs for goodness sake!But on reflection, if you re in the right frame of mind, with a bit of forward planning it is manageable and making this dish for a second time at the weekend, the process seemed a whole lot easier.Don t let the whole seventies-retro vibe feel of a roulade put you off either. The end result is delicious, filling, and yes, being high-protein and low carb probably counts as healthy too.I bet you re thinking that the roulade in the picture looks just a tad too golden-brown. You re right as I mistakenly baked mine at 200 degrees C fan rather than the 190 degrees C fan I suggest in the recipe. Salmon, spinach and ricotta rouladeServes 8 for brunch or a light lunch.IngredientsFor the roulade50g unsalted butter50g plain flour300 ml milk (whole or semi-skimmed)60g grated parmesan4 medium eggs at room temperaturefreshly ground black pepper2-3 further tablespoons grated parmesanFor the filling240g bag ready-to-cook spinach250g ricottasalt and freshly ground black pepper¼ grated nutmeg175g cooked flaked salmon or hot-smoked salmon or trout1. Heat the oven to 190 degrees C fan and line a swiss roll tin with baking parchment.2. Make a very thick white sauce as the base of the roulade. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan, add the flour and cook the resulting roux for a minute or two but do not allow to colour.3. Take the pan off the heat and add the milk a little at a time whisking thoroughly after each addition. Return the pan to the heat (medium heat) and, whisking constantly, bring the mixture to the boil and cook for 4-5 minutes, again whisking all time to produce a thick smooth mixture.4. Remove the pan from the heat and add the 60g grated parmesan. Mix well to incorporate then set the pan aside for the mixture to cool for 5-10 minutes. Stir it from time to time while it cools to stop a skin from forming.5. Separate the eggs. Reserve the yolks and whisk the whites until firm but not too stiff and dry.6. Beat the reserved egg yolks into the thick cheese sauce mixture.7. Take a big spoonful of whisked egg white and mix it into the thick cheese sauce mixture to loosen it a little then add this mixture to the whisked egg whites. Fold together using a balloon whisk trying not to knock too much air out of the whisked mixture.8. Carefully pour the roulade mixture into the prepared tin, spread it to the corners with a palette knife and sprinkle 2-3 tablespoons grated parmesan over the top.9. Bake for 15 minutes until risen and golden-brown.10. Meanwhile, lightly steam the spinach, squeeze out all the excess water, chop roughly and place in a bowl. Add the ricotta, salt, pepper and grated nutmeg to the bowl and mix thoroughly to combine.11. Place a sheet of baking parchment on a work surface and when the roulade is cooked, turn it out onto the parchment. Peel away the parchment used to line the tin.12. Quickly spread the spinach and ricotta mixture over the roulade and top with the flaked fish. Roll up the roulade using the parchment on the work surface to help create a tight roll.13. Cut into slices with a serrated knife and serve while warm with roast cherry tomatoes if liked.14. The rest of the roulade is good served cold for lunch the following day. Here s a quick idea for a special meal at home if you don t fancy sharing an evening in a restaurant with couples out on an awkward first date, red roses and all that over-hyped jazz.My suggested menu is built around a main course of Lobster Mac and Cheese. This is a world away from the stodgy macaroni cheese I remember from my childhood. It was a very on-trend dish last year but now that Marks and Spencers do a ready meal version I think we can say it s truly become mainstream.I d wanted to give the dish a try but couldn t bear the idea of using expensive and hard-to-source lobster in anything except it s purest form. But then I saw the Iceland Christmas ad campaign and filled my chest freezer with 10 quid packets of pairs of Canadian lobster tails. Perfect for experimenting with different lobster recipes, be they salads, chowders or indeed lobster mac and cheese. After a couple of trial runs, I m quite pleased now with the recipe I ve come up with. I d accompany it with a crisp green salad dressed with olive oil and lemon juice.To start, you could stay with the seafood theme and serve a pretty-as-a-picture crab, pink grapefruit and avocado salad.To finish something fresh and light on carbs would be in order maybe a lemon granita or fruit salad, and of course Champagne would be the perfect drink.Lobster mac and cheeseServes 2Ingredients180g dried macaroni or other small pasta shapes (I used conchigliette)2 small cooked lobster tails, meat removed from the shell and cut into bite-size chunks30g unsalted butter1 shallot, finely chopped25g plain flour100ml Noilly Prat vermouth350ml semi-skimmed milk35ml double cream2 teaspoons tomato purée1 teaspoon paprikagenerous pinch cayenne pepper25g gruyère cheese2 tablespoons chopped flatleaf parsleySalt and pepper2 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese3 tablespoons Panko or similar dry breadcrumbsPreheat the oven to 210 degrees C fan.Cook the pasta in plenty of boilings salted water until just al dente then drain.While the pasta cooks, prepare the sauce.Melt the butter and sauté the chopped shallots for a minute or two until soft and translucent. Stir in the flour to make a roux and cook for a further minute.Add the Noilly Prat, milk and cream a little at a time stirring well after each addition. Cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens. Add the tomato purée, paprika, cayenne pepper and gruyère cheese and stir to combine well and melt the cheese. Add the chopped parsley and season to taste.Mix together the sauce, cooked pasta and lobster meat and turn into a shallow heatproof dish.Sprinkle the grated parmesan and breadcrumbs over the top and bake in the preheated oven 210 degrees fan for about 15 minutes until piping hot and golden brown on top. As I write, England need just 33 to win in the surprisingly exciting test match against Pakistan..This reminds me that earlier this year I fulfilled a longstanding ambition to take a along a cake to the BBC cricket commentary team in the Test Match Special studio. The occasion was a glorious Saturday at Cardiff during the opening Ashes test match 2015 (a hotly contested series whereby England take on Australia in case you re not a cricket aficionado).England s batsman of the moment was Yorkshire s finest, Joe Root, and it was his name that gave me inspiration for what to put in the cake and how to decorate it. Everyone knows that carrots make a great teatime cake so why not run with the idea and throw parsnips and swede into the mix as well? That s exactly what I did. The only other change I made to my failsafe carrot cake recipe was to substitute coarsely ground hazelnuts for the chopped walnuts as I thought this would make a better flavour match with the nutty notes of parsnip and swede. And so the root cake was born. The cake recipe, like the England team, was a winner, whether in its original carrot and walnut form or with the root vegetable and hazelnut variatiotion straightforward to make and bake, travels well, reliably moist and delicious and with a cream cheese frosting that holds its shape and won t let you down when the heat is on…I was delighted that my cake made it onto both the Test Match Special Facebook page and Twitter feed, was tweeted by former leading Australian bowler turned commentator Glenn McGrath and was referred to by Jonathan Aggers Agnew in an interview for Radio Times. A tiny bit of fame! Root cake with cream cheese frostingThis quantity makes a triple layer 20cm round cake. Increase the cake batter quantities by 20% and the frosting quantities by 50% to make a triple layer heart-shaped cake in a tin measuring 22cm lengthwise (from low point between lobes to tip) by 23cm across widest part.The 20cm triple layer round cake cuts into 12 slices.Ingredients300g soft light brown sugar3 eggs300ml/265g rapeseed oil½ teaspoon vanilla extract300g plain flour1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda1 teaspoon baking powder1 teaspoon ground cinnamon½ teaspoon ground ginger½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg½ teaspoon salt100g each finely grated carrots, parsnips and swede100g coarsely ground hazelnutsFor the frosting300g icing sugar, sifted50g unsalted butter, at room temperature125g cream cheese, coldTo decorateA selection of root vegetables modelled from marzipan and painted with food colouring or, more simply, a handful of toasted hazelnut halves and a sprinkling of ground cinnamonPrepare three 20cm cake tins by greasing and lining the bases with silicone baking paper. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C fan.Put the sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and oil in a stand mixer fitted with K beater attachment and beat until the ingredients are well incorporated. Mix together the flour with the raising agents and spices and slowly add this to the bowl continuing to beat until well mixed.Stir in the grated root vegetables and ground hazelnuts and mix until evenly dispersed.Pour the mixture into the three prepared cake tins (weigh to ensure evenly distributed) and level the surface with a palette knife. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through (test by pressing quickly and lightly with a clean forefinger – the sponge should bounce back when cooked). Leave the cakes to cool in the tins for a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool fully. Peel off the baking paper.Make the frosting while the cakes cool. Beat together at slow speed the icing sugar and the butter in a stand mixer fitted with a K beater attachment. Add the cream cheese all in one go and beat until fully incorporated. Turn up the speed to medium-high and continue beating for about 5 minutes until the frosting becomes thick and fluffy.When the layers are fully cold, you can assemble the cake. Put one layer on a stand and spread about one third of the frosting over it. Place the second layer on top and spread over it the next third of the frosting. Top with the last cake and swirl the remaining frosting decoratively and smoothly over the top. Decorate with marzipan models or halved nuts and a sprinkling of cinnamon according to your preference. Whilst on our annual pilgrimage to Southwold on the bracing Suffolk coast I tried out a new salad recipe inspired by the cover recipe on this month s Delicious magazine. It combines two of the season s best ingredients asparagus and baby new potatoes and adds to them crunchy radishes and a fresh herby dressing. The Delicious magazine recipe requires you to whip up a herb hollandaise sauce to dress the salad but creating a vinegar reduction, separating eggs and creating a delicate emulsion is not my idea of fun for a quick holiday lunch, and frankly, the idea of all that butter is a little off-putting. I replaced the herb hollandaise with a quick and easy yoghurt and herb dressing that worked really well with the other ingredients.At this time of year, Southwold s greengrocer, the Crab Apple in the Market Place is heaving with local Seabreeze asparagus, so much so that one no longer feels the need to treat it reverentially. Wild fennel grows in abundance by the beach and a little of this thrown into the herb dressing adds a fresh aniseed flavour note that works well with the asparagus and potatoes.The genius part of this salad is that the potatoes are not just plain boiled but after a quick parboil are smashed and roasted in olive oil in a hot oven becoming deliciously crispy.In terms of aesthetics, the long thin white tipped Breakfast variety of radish look prettiest, especially if you leave on a little of the green radish top. If you can t get hold of these then the regular scarlet globe-shaped type works just fine.Here s the recipe. I d recommend it to anyone wanting to pep up a holiday lunch and it provides welcome relief from yet another carb-heavy pork pie and sandwich picnic.Southwold asparagus and crispy potato saladServes 4Adapted from a recipe in the Delicious magazine May 2015 edition.Ingredients450-500g baby new potatoes (e.g. Jersey Royals), scrubbed4-5 tablespoons olive oil400g asparagus, woody parts trimmed-off and ends peeled200g radishes, washed, trimmed and halved lengthwise (the long thin white-tipped Breakfast variety look prettiest but the regular For the dressing250g full fat natural yoghurtsea salt and freshly ground black peppersmall clove of garlic, peeled, smashed and finely choppedgenerous handful of fresh herbs whatever you can get hold of I used fennel foraged from the beach, basil and chivesOptional garnisha spoonful of extra chopped herbsa little balsamic vinegar or pomegranate molassesHeat the oven to 200 degrees C fan. Line a shallow roasting tin with baking paperCook the potatoes in boiling salted water for 7-8 minutes until you can just pierce them with a knife point but they are not quite tender. Drain thoroughly and tip the potatoes onto the prepared roasting tin. Press each potato with a fork to squash it partially. Drizzle over the olive oil, season and toss lightly to coat. Slip the roasting tin into the oven and roast the potatoes for about 30 minutes, turning them half way through the cooking time.While the potatoes are in the oven, make the dressing. Put all the dressing ingredients into a medium bowl, stir to mix, cover and set aside in the fridge.Steam or boil the prepared asparagus until just tender about 5 minutes for the plump spears shown in the photograph. Slice each asparagus spear into two halves carefully on the diagonal.When the potatoes are ready, tip them onto a platter and spread them out. Scatter over the asparagus and then the radishes. Dollop the herbed yoghurt dressing over the salad and, if liked, scatter over a few chopped herbs and drizzle with just a little balsamic vinegar or pomegranate molasses. Last weekend, some 50 family and friends descended on the Northern Lake District hamlet of Fellside near Caldbeck to share our friend Bruce s 50th birthday. As my contribution to the celebrations, I offered to cook a meal for all the guests staying over on the Saturday night.This is the menu I put together with its foundations in the Lake District classics of Herdwick lamb sourced from Yew Tree Farm in Rosthwaite and Sticky Toffee pudding, a recipe that originated at Ullswater s Sharrow Bay hotel.Menu for Bruce’s Saturday nightOlivesHummusTzatzikiDukkah and olive oilAll with pitta*****Herdwick lamb tagineSeven vegetable tagineBoth with preserved lemons and harissaCouscousDate and orange saladRoot vegetable slawChargrilled broccoli with chilli and garlic*****Sticky toffee puddingToffee sauce and creamCheeseboard with water biscuits and Winter Tarn Farm organic butterMrs Kirkham’s LancashireKeverigg (like Caerphilly) from Winter Tarn Farm near PenrithBurt’s Blue from Altrincham The lamb tagine/sticky toffee pudding formula is a tried and tested way of feeding a crowd and I m indebted to my friend Shelley for introducing me to this lamb tagine recipe which can be made ahead of time and will appeal even to those who, like me, are not lovers of stewed lamb. The fell-bred Herdwick lamb shoulder becomes meltingly delicious, sweet and spicy after two and a half hours of slow-cooking. And for those who prefer vegetables to lamb, I offer a recipe for a Moroccan-inspired seven vegetable tagine. The vegetables are given flavour twice over first by being marinaded in olive oil, garlic and harissa and second by being roasted in a hot oven to concentrate their flavour further. As the sauce is made from pureéd vegetables and a little stock, this recipe is both gluten and dairy-free, an added bonus when feeding vegetarians with different dietary requirements. Both recipes are straightforward to make, freeze and reheat well and are equally good eaten for supper at home or scaled up for a celebration.Contact details for Yew Tree Farm, Borrowdale (for Herdwick Lamb via mail order or in person from the farm shop)017687 77675http://borrowdaleyewtreefarm.co.uk/herdwick/Joe and Hazel RelphYew Tree FarmRosthwaiteBorrowdaleCumbriaCA12 5KBTagine of Herdwick lambAdapted from Antony Worrall Thompson recipe on the BBC Food website. Serves 6 generously or up to 10 if served with salads and side dishes. Doubled up, this fits comfortably into a preserving pan and if making ahead and freezing, the double quantity can be ladled into 5 pour and store bags each serving four people and holding 1.1 litres/kg tagine.The quantity of spices given in the recipe if measured accurately with cook’s measuring spoons will give quite a spicy tagine, particularly so if your spices are fresh. If you prefer a milder tagine, put in a quarter (for a mild end result) or half (for a medium end result) of the stated quantities of cayenne, ground ginger and black pepper. Replace the hot spices with more of the milder ones (paprika, cinnamon and turmeric). Taste the sauce half way through the cooking time and crank up spices according to your taste at that stage.Ingredients1 teaspoon cayenne pepper2 teaspoons ground black pepper1 and a half tablespoons mild paprika1 and a half tablespoons ground ginger1 tablespoon turmeric2 teaspoons ground cinnamon1 boned shoulder of Herdwick lamb, trimmed carefully to remove excess fat and sinew and cut into 5cm chunks. There should be approx 1kg trimmed weight of meat2 large onions, very finely chopped in a food processor (original recipe calls for grated onion)2 tablespoon light olive oil2 tablespoon argan oil3 cloves garlic finely chopped570ml tomato juice400g can chopped tomatoes115g natural colour (unsulphured) dried apricots, halved55g Deglet Nour dates, stoned and halved55g organic sultanas85g flaked almonds1 teaspoon best quality saffron stamens (I like Brindisa Belefran brand from Spain)570ml lamb stock1 tbsp clear strong tasting honey (I like heather honey)1 can drained rinsed chickpeaschopped fresh flatleaf parsley and coriander to garnishCombine the dried spices in a small bowl and mix well to combine. Place the trimmed lamb pieces in a large bowl and toss together with half the spice mix. Cover with cling film and refrigerate overnight.The next day, preheat your oven to 140 degrees C fan.Heat 1 tablespoon light olive oil and 1 tablespoon argan oil in a large casserole dish. Add the finely chopped onion and the remaining half of the spice mix to the pan and cook over a gentle heat for about 7 minutes. Add the chopped garlic and cook for a further 3 minutes then turn off the heat.While the onion and spices are cooking, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon each of olive and argan oils in a large frying pan and brown the pieces of lamb a few at a time.Add the browned lamb pieces to the casserole along with any juices. Deglaze the frying pan with a quarter of the tomato juice and add these juices to the pan.Add the remaining tomato juice, chopped tomatoes, dried fruits, flaked almonds, saffron, lamb stock and honey to the casserole dish. Bring to the boil, cover, place in the oven and cook for 2 and a half hours. Cool, skim off and discard any excess fat. Add the chickpeas, stir in well and heat through when ready to serve. Garnish generously with chopped fresh herbs and serve with couscous.Seven Vegetable TagineSource: adaptation and combination of several recipes from Paula Wolfert’s book “Moroccan Cuisine”. Apparently, in both Fez and Marrakesh, the number 7 is considered lucky and this recipe has both seven vegetables and seven flavourings so is doubly so.This recipe was originally devised for a Moroccan-themed party to suit a vegetarian family member who cannot eat tomatoes.Serves 7-8 as a main course; 12-15 as a vegetable accompanimentIngredientsThe 7 vegetables1 butternut squash, peeled and quartered2 medium aubergines2 red peppers1 medium turnip (not swede), peeled and quartered3 medium onions, peeled1 large bulb fennel, trimmed1 can white cannellini beans (400 g can, drained weight 225g) drained and rinsed4 tablespoons olive oilThe 7 flavourings4 crushed cloves garlic3 teaspoons harissa3 tsp cumin seeds1-2tsp saltfew twists pepper2 tsp dried thyme1 generous pinch saffron threadsThree quarters to one pint vegetable stock (I use Marigold vegetable stock powder)Cut all the vegetables, other than the beans, into bite sized chunks (roughly 1” cubes). Don’t worry if the the onions and fennel fall apart.Put the flavouring ingredients except the saffron into a large mixing bow, add the olive oil and, tip in the vegetable chunks (but not the beans) and mix everything together with your hands, making sure all the vegetables are well coated with the flavoured oil.Tip into large roasting tin – don’t cram them into too small a tin otherwise the vegetables will steam rather than roast – and roast for approx half an hour in a hot oven – 220 degrees C in a domestic fan oven. The vegetables are ready when they are soft but not mushy and the top layer are toasted and golden brown with darker brown edges – don’t let them blacken and burn. Stir them about once or twice while they are roasting.While the vegetables are roasting, soak the saffron threads in a little hot water (1-2 fl oz) in a measuring jug for 15 minutes or so. Top up the measuring jug to the three quarter pint level with vegetable stock.When the vegetables are cooked, remove from the oven, tip in the drained beans and stir to mix. Remove approximately one quarter of the vegetable mix and liquidize or blend with the saffron stock liquid to make the sauce. Add up to a further quarter pint of vegetable stock if the liquidized sauce seems to thick. Tip the sauce back into the roasting tin and stir gently to mix, scraping any toasty brown bits from the base of the roasting tin as you do so, but being careful not to break up the roast vegetables too much.To serve – warm through and garnish with chopped fresh coriander and offer extra harissa and chopped preserved lemons separately. Yes I know it sounds hackneyed and a teeny bit boring but this is what I will be cooking up at home on February 14th. It won t be just any old steak and chips but one of my all-time favourite special occasion recipes, Tournedos with Polenta and Salsa Verde, the signature dish of chef Alastair Little s restaurant in Soho back in the nineties.The recipe comes from the book Keep It Simple co-authored by chef Alastair and food-writer Richard Whittington and first published in 1993 at the height of the restaurant s fame. It s a slim volume arranged in four seasonal chapters with attractive photographs and drawings and clearly laid-out recipes. It s a book I turn to time and time again and as I leaf through the pages I marvel that it doesn t seem dated at all. Every single recipe is true to the book s title, the flavour combinations are spot-on, and the mixture of classic and eclectic dishes means it s book you keep coming back to.The tournedos recipe is really three dishes in one a polenta croûte enriched with parmesan and butter, crunchy golden-brown on the outside but with a soft inside perfect for soaking up the steak juices; a perfectly cooked fillet steak medallion with the pan juices turned into a sauce with the addition of stock and madeira; a lively and unexpected salsa verde that freshens-up the dish and makes all the flavours sing.Most of the prep can, in fact needs, to be done in advance making it ideal for dîner à deux when you don t want to be spending hours in the kitchen. I suppose that the raw garlic in the salsa verde should make this a no-no for a romantic meal but, what the heck, we ve known each other long enough now not to mind a little mutual garlic breath. Tournedos with polenta and salsa verdeServes 4.IngredientsFor the polenta croûtes200g instant polenta50g grated parmesan cheese30g unsalted buttersalt and pepperlight olive oil for oiling the baking tray and croûtesFor the salsa verde1 large garlic clove, peeled and choppedlarge bunch flatleaf parsley, washed, dried and largest stalks discarded (about 40g prepared weight)small bunch basil, just the leaves (about 20g prepared weight)half a small bunch mint, washed, dried and stalks discarded (about 10g prepared weight)2 tablespoons capers1 tablespoon Dijon mustard1 tablespoon white wine vinegara little coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste150ml extra virgin olive oilFor the tournedos and sauceFour 140g tournedosA little light olive oilMaldon salt and freshly ground black pepper150ml beef stock5 tablespoons dry sherry or Madeira15-20g cold unsalted butter, cut into chunksMake the polenta croûtes at least 2 hours before you plan to cook the steaks. Cook the instant polenta in a medium saucepan following the packet instructions. Stir in the grated parmesan cheese and butter and season generously. Spread the polenta out onto a lightly oiled baking tray and spread out into a sheet about 1cm thick (a small crank-handled palette knife is ideal for this). Cool, then refrigerate for an hour or so. When set firm, cut out 4 rounds using a cutter a little larger than the tournedos. Brush lightly with oil and transfer to a second baking sheet lined with baking paper. If you like, you can cut the remaining polenta into chunky fingers and brush these with oil and bake them along with the croûtes to make a stack of crispy polenta “oven chips” to serve alongside the tournedos.And don’t waste the offcuts either. Cut into the neatest pieces you can manage and keep them in a sealed container in the fridge. Brush them with oil and bake them off and they will form the basis of a light lunch served eg with chunks of dolcelatte or goats cheese or chopped tomatoes and basil.The salsa verde should also be made ahead of time. Put all the ingredients except the oil into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until chopped then with the motor running pour the oil through the spout and whizz until you have an emulsified sauce. You will need to scrape down the sides of the processor bowl with a spatula several times. Decant the salsa verde into a small bowl, cover with cling film and set aside in a cool place (not the fridge which is too cold) until ready to serve.Remove the steaks from the fridge about an hour and a half before you plan to eat and allow to come up to room temperature.About half an hour before you plan to eat, slip the baking sheet on which you laid out earlier the oiled polenta croûtes and “oven chips” into an oven preheated to 210 degrees C fan. Bake for about 25 minutes, turning halfway during the cooking process, until crisp and golden brown.About 10 minutes before you plan to eat, heat a heavy-based frying pan (large enough to hold all the steaks and with an ovenproof handle) over a medium to high heat. Brush the steaks with light olive oil and, when the frying pan is hot cook the steaks for exactly 2 minutes each side, season, then transfer to the preheated oven (210 degrees C fan) for further 4 minutes. These timings work to cook a thick steak to medium rare.Remove the steaks from the frying pan and place them on top of the croûtes on prewarmed plates and leave to rest for a minute or two while you complete the sauce. Make sure you protect your hand with a dry cloth from the super-heated pan handle and add the stock and Madeira to the frying pan in which you cooked the steaks. Boil fiercely for a minute or two until the liquid is reduced by about two thirds and is becoming thick and syrupy. Quickly whisk in chunks of cold butter and a little seasoning. Spoon over the steaks and serve straightaway. Privacy Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use. To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

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