EY UP. PUT T'KETTLE ON LOVE.

AT LAST. Internet, after many an hour talking to the-people-who-know-best, is connected! This is a pathetic excuse for my inactivity over the last few weeks (although it does help), but just because I haven't blogged it doesn't mean I haven't cooked it.

Getting back into the swing of moving into a new house, spending life in the library again and realising there is no food in the fridge is slowly but surely getting back to some state of normality. Summer has flown, gardens are nowhere in sight and the nearest I've been to cultivation is by way of a 'grow your own basil from an egg' plant on my windowsill...four shoots so far. Every little helps.


This season I will be bringing you flavours of the North, experimenting with hot-pots and parkins; I will be preparing for the winter with warming and sustainable foods to defrost blue noses and keep the stomach rumbling at bay; and finding ways to make food last longer...

Before any of this happens though, I would like to bring on the term with the perfect housewarming gift: my favourite cupcake, the RED VELVET, courtesy of The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. My home baking has never tasted so good!



RED VELVET cupcakes

Makes 12
60 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
150 g caster sugar
1 egg
10 g cocoa powder
20 ml red food colouring (preferably Dr. Oetker Red Food Colouring)
1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla extract
120 ml buttermilk
150 g plain flour
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
11⁄2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
1 quantity Cream Cheese Frosting*
(300g icing sugar, sifted; 50g unsalted butter, soft; 125g cream cheese, cold. MIX)
a 12-hole cupcake tray, lined with paper cases

Preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F) Gas 3.

Put the butter and the sugar in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a handheld electric whisk) and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy and well mixed. Turn the mixer up to high speed, slowly add the egg and beat until everything is well incorporated.
In a separate bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, red food colouring and vanilla extract to make a thick, dark paste. Add to the butter mixture and mix thoroughly until evenly combined and coloured (scrape any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula). Turn the mixer down to slow speed and slowly pour in half the buttermilk. Beat until well mixed, then add half the flour, and beat until everything is well incorporated. Repeat this process until all the buttermilk and flour have been added. Scrape down the side of the bowl again. Turn the mixer up to high speed and beat until you have a smooth, even mixture. Turn the mixer down to low speed and add the salt, bicarbonate of soda and vinegar. Beat until well mixed, then turn up the speed again and beat for a couple more minutes.


Spoon the mixture into the paper cases until two-thirds full and bake in the preheated oven for 20–25 minutes, or until the sponge bounces back when touched. A skewer inserted in the centre should come out clean. Leave the cupcakes to cool slightly in the tray before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
When the cupcakes are cold, spoon the Cream Cheese Frosting on top.

This recipe comes from the brilliant book, The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook by Tarek Malouf.

Or check out their website at http://hummingbirdbakery.com/flash.html to order cakes for delivery if making them yourself seems just too much...

PUFF THE MAGIC MUSHROOM

Recovery time.

Bestival is over and I am catching up on much needed sleep in a big bed with duvet and mattress, a far cry from achy backs in the morning, no-pillow-neck-crunch and grass in the sleeping bag.

This time of year is perfect for body and mind rehabilitation. Shuffling about with half open eyes suits the autumn light; each day lived through the lens of a Polaroid camera with warm orange light and slightly blurred edges. It all brings back a comforting nostalgia of bonfire smoke, apple crumble in the oven, feet by the fire and walks in a warm wind. This year's forecast has hit the
nail on the head for encouraging that oh-so-sickly word 'cosy' to stream back into our vocabulary.

Today has been one of those 'cosy' days. A warming Mumsoup, with hot bread and cheese for lunch, followed by a walk in the fields at a leisurely pace, stealing berries from bushes and no doubt, this evening lighting the fire whilst tucking into one of Monty Don's garden recipes. It has reached the season when it is considered perfectly OK to stock up on fuel for the winter; baggy clothes and big jumpers hiding the extra insulation you have worked so hard to build up in preparation for Arctic winds and sideways snow. Well almost...

Perhaps I am making up too much for the glut of my next recipe. But it is only right to be indulgent when you discover two ginormous Puff Balls beneath your feet, eager to be plucked from the grass and appreciated for all that they are. The Giant Puff Ball, otherwise known as Langermannia gigantea, is a rare and underestimated beauty which, unknown to many, can be delicious fried up in a saucepan with garlic and cream and parsley. With it's strange shape, white flesh, stiff skin and spongy texture, it looks less like a member of the mushroom family and more like a ball of freshly formed mozzarella.





Bizarre fruits of the earth, but these ring all bells. Serve on its own, with a fry up or throw chopped puff ball into risotto for a delicate version of risotto ai funghi.


In this instance, I am going to show them at their most simple.

Fried Puff Ball with bacon, garlic and cream.
SERVES 2-3
400g puff ball, freshly picked, roughly chopped (This may seem like a large amount but it shrinks massively)
25g butter
2 rashers of smoked bacon. roughly chopped

1 clove of garlic, crushed
40ml double cream

Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the chopped bacon and fry until brown. Throw in the chopped puff ball and keep stirring it so that it turns a golden brown colour. Add more butter if necessary, but the puff ball will become moist the more it is fried. Add the garlic and stir in.
This tastes fantastic just as it is without the cream, and I would recommend to keep it like this if serving it with a fry up. If the cream appeals to you, then let the mixture cool slightly before pouring it in. The cream will turn slightly brown because of the butter, but this adds to the earthiness of the recipe, I think.

Mouthwateringly good! Savour this, it may be the only one you find.
Now it is back up North for me. Back to baked beans and regular mushrooms.
Perhaps the Yorkshire Dales will surprise me with a treat or two to jazz up old leftovers?

BRAMBLES AND BLACKBERRIES

Late August, given heavy rain and sun
For a full week the blackberries would ripen.
At first, just one, a juicy glossy clot
among others, red, green, hard as a knot.
You ate the first one and the flesh was sweet
Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it
Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust for
Picking. Then red ones inked up and that hunger
Sent us out with milk cans, pea tins, jam pots,
Where briars scratched and wet grass bleached our boots.

This extract from 'Blackberry Picking' by the Irish poet, Seamus Heaney, for me sums up the last weeks in August with every single word. Whether laden with empty bowls waiting to be filled, heading out on a "can't-come-home-until-we-fill-to-the-top" mission, or stopping at every bush, slowing the power walking down, resulting in bored and frustrated dogs.

There are endless opportunities for this bountiful berry. Jam. Pie. Crumble. Fool. Compote. Sprinkled on Yogurt. Summer pudding. But there is one new discovery for me that tops it off and hits the spot: a recipe found in the August 2009 edition of Waitrose Food Illustrated, slightly altered and loved loved loved by my niece and nephew.

The original recipe by Mark Price uses ripe plums, at their best at this time of year. Thanks to our garden, we had these too - and used them for a tangy alternative to the sweet blackberries.



Blackberry and Yogurt muffins.

Makes 30 mini muffins or 15 large ones
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 25 minutes

115g Unsalted butter
300g Self-raising flour
1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp Salt
250g Caster sugar
250ml Natural Yogurt
2 Eggs
200g freshly picked Blackberries
(for plum recipe:
300g chopped plums
3/4 Ground ginger
2 stem ginger balls, finely chopped)

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C. If you are making mini muffins, use the non stick plastic cases, laid out on a baking tray, which work brilliantly. If making large, line a baking tray with muffin cases, or for a beautiful rustic look, adopt Waitrose's idea of using squares of baking paper (tying them round the middle with string at the end - it looks fantastic).

In a saucepan, gently melt the butter; set aside to cool slightly.

Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, (ground ginger) and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar, mix thoroughly and make a well in the centre.

Add the yogurt, eggs (and ginger) to the pan of butter and whisk together.

Pour half the mixture into the dry ingredients: combine quickly using a wooden spoon. before mixing in the rest, add 150g blackberries. Don't over mix - any lumps will keep the muffins light.
Spoon into the muffin cases and top with the remaining blackberries.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown and risen. cool in the tins/ cases for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Delicious!

CREDITS:


Extract from 'Blackberry Picking' by poet, Seamus Heaney. The whole poem can be found in Opened Ground: Selected Poems 1966-1996


Original 'Spiced plum and yogurt muffins' recipe by Mark Price, taken from Waitrose Food Illustrated, Page 74. August issue 2009

INTERESTING FATHER FACT OF THE DAY:

There are now 88 species of bramble growing on the Isle of Wight.

Thank goodness for that!

TEA FOR THOUGHT.

Just a quick one...

A very good cuppa was kindly handed to me today - thank you - and I was asked how I took my tea. I replied, 'Oh, just a dash of milk, please'. It was only when I was, in return, asked a simple question that tea drinking became more of a thinker than it ever had been before...

When does a
dash become a splash??


For me, this comes into that agonising category of 'Is the glass half full, or half empty?'. I usually reply, idiotically, 'well, it all depends if the contents of the glass are above or below the half way line'. This is no way to respond...
But what about this one?
In my humble opinion, I'd say a dash was less than a splash. A dash shouldn't splash, otherwise it's too much and it becomes...a splash?
To satisfy my insanity, I typed in 'dash of milk' into Google images and this is one of the pictures it gave me. Either they are confused or I am about to go mad.

Perhaps, I need to stop drinking as much tea, start thinking less about dashes and splashes, and get on with real life...
More intelligent suggestions start here please:

ISLAND HOPPING

I am going to say FAREWELL, TOOTLES, TA RA, GOODBYE, as I am heading west from the Wight Isle to the Emerald Isle for a week for a fun filled holiday of diabolical surfing, puddle jumping and rolling down sand dunes. YIPPEEEE.

Until I return, enjoy the end of July, gobble up the remaining strawberries and bring in August with a sun dance, sipping on some deliciously sweet and sour lemon presse' - a must-drink for getting in the summer mood, even if it's raining!

LEMON PRESSE'
2 lemons, sliced thinly,
150g caster sugar,
dash of elderflower cordial,
1 litre sparkling water,

handful of mint leaves to serve

Pop the first 3 ingredients into a blender, until the lemons have pureed. Add the sparkling water with the lemon/sugar mix into a large glass jug. Stir and add mint leaves.

If far too sour or too sweet, add more sugar or lemon juice.

Et voila! The sun is shining again...isn't it??

A SPOONFUL OF SCONE.

There are many many things about the summer months that I look forward to. BBQs, all day beaching, french cricket, greedy picnics, late orange sunsets and early morning sunrise.

Bizarrely, the best things about summer all seem to begin with the letter F:

Festivals (yes, I have just splashed out on my 5th Bestival ticket...ouch),
Fetes ( Brook Green on the Isle of Wight holds a delightful get-together with steam train rides, willow hut weaving, fresh strawbs and Irish jigs),
Feet (BARE is best),
and rather essentially: FOOD.



Just last week, I was lucky enough to indulge in my first cream tea of the summer. When I say indulge, I mean it...

Two large scones, a pot of tea, a larger than life dollop of
clotted cream,
fresh strawberries and delicious jam.

Sounds rather like something out of Mary Poppins...

It was all so twee being presented with pretty cakes and colourful pottery, that the celestial sounds of birdsong and the tinkle tinkle feet of Morris dancers drowned out the vicious grumbles blasting out from the over-stuffed stomach below. Only until the second to last sip of tea did I realise that getting off my seat might become a bit of an issue.


On the roll home, luckily all downhill, I thought to myself, perhaps I shouldn't have given in to such a large scone? With one round cream and jam filled loveliness sat in front of you, it is so easy to gobble it in one go, rather than taking your time over lots of little bites...


I know it is awful to say but maybe they would be easier to digest if just a fraction smaller?

SACRILEGE, I hear you cry?

Well, I certainly found it difficult to finish scone number one, let alone start on numero dos. But, truthfully, who wants just one scone? We would feel so much lighter if we were to eat the same amount but in smaller portions, non? And with the same amount of dough you can get more for your money. Bite-sized deliciousness, and endless fun spreading layer after layer of cream then jam then strawberry. Into the mouth they go, with no effort at all!

Here goes...

ALL PURPOSE SMALL SCONES ( the normal recipe for large but with 3cm scone cutter)

200g/8oz self raising flour
1/2 level teaspoon salt
50g/2oz butter
125ml/1/4 pint milk
Extra milk for brushing.

1. Sift flour and salt into bowl
2. Rub in butter finely
3. Add milk all at once. Mix to soft , but not sticky, dough with knife
4.Turn onto lightly flowered bowl. Knead quickly until smooth
5. Roll out to about 1cm/1/2 in thick.
6. Cut into around 20 rounds with 2cm biscuit cutter (serrated edge)
7. Transfer to butter baking tray and brush the tops with milk
8. Bake towards top of hot oven (230 degrees C/ 450 degrees F/ Gas mark 8) for 7 mins (or until well risen and golden brown)
9. Cool on wire rack.
10. Gobble. Share if you must.

Serve with delicious strawberry jam - for homemade recipes try Jo Pratt's version - but for laziness you can't beat Bonne Maman, bursting with fruit and with such beautiful packaging (Watch this space for blog on jam recipes soon!). Clotted cream is best but you can whip up some double cream which is just as satisfying, and more fluffy if that's your kind of cream tea. Fresh strawberries are at their best at the moment, and a scone without these is no scone at all.

A pot of tea and dainty little tea cups (egg cups if you want to carry on down the miniature route) and a cliche red gingham table cloth will do the trick.




Afterwards, why not take a dip in the river to cool off from the summer heatwave? Spiffing!

QUICK FISH

Unable to go to Weymouth Seafood festival last weekend, I have been on a mission for fish. Instead of standing in the rain under cover of fish markets and devouring the fresh flavours of the Dorset coast, I have been rummaging in the freezer at home - just as wet and cold, but without the wellies.


A recipe I managed to whip up by scavenging from larders, fridges and freezers - all ingredients dangerously near the sell-by-date (nothing like building up the immune system)- SEARED SCALLOPS, ROASTED BABY PLUM TOMATOES AND SMOKED HAM, WITH GARLIC AND CHILLI MASH. Quite a catch for a Sunday night supper for one...

Serves 2 (more polite and less greedy this way)
Cooking time: 24 mins

8 frozen scallops, de-frosted.
10 baby plum tomatoes, halved
3 leftover slices of smoked ham, cut into strips.
3 large potatoes.
Spoonful of English Provendor Co. Very Lazy Red Chillies
1 large garlic clove finely chopped.
Large pinch of Oregano.
2 glugs of Olive Oil.

First, defrost the scallops if frozen.
Put the tomatoes and ham into a baking tray. Drizzle olive oil over the top and sprinkle with Oregano. Place in the oven at 190 degrees C for about 20 minutes, until the tomatoes are soft and juicy and the ham is crisp.
Meanwhile, boil the potatoes, until soft.
When the potatoes are done, the tomatoes should be too. Leave them to rest a bit in their baking tray.
Place the rest of the olive oil in a frying pan, and carefully drop in the scallops, giving them two minutes on each side, so they have a golden glaze. While you are watching the scallops -no need to touch them while they are cooking, unless to turn them - mash the potatoes until smooth, and add the garlic and chilli.

Serve the scallops on top of the tomatoes and ham - their juices should be the perfect marinade/sauce for the scallops and potatoes.

Need I say more?

Yes. YUM