Crumpets anyone?

I'm bored! And no, that's not the children saying it, it's me. One good thing about boredom though is I tend to experiment in the kitchen. So the other day I was walking around Lakeland (you brits will know it - for others, it's a kitchen shop with loads of gadgets and cooking stuff), and I saw crumpet rings. I'd never even considered that crumpets were something you could make, rather than spend a small fortune on imported ones. How much fun to try though....so I bought the rings.

I googled the recipe and cobbled together a bowl of batter based on a couple of good recipes. There is something very satisfying about seeing a lovely yeasty batter, oozing and bubbling like it's alive - which I guess in a way it is.

I heated a frying pan with the crumpet rings in it, well greased (important point), and starting cooking. The first batch didn't quite work out, the batter was too thick and they didn't have the lovely holes that crumpets should, so I added a little bit of water to the mixture. Too much it seemed as the mixture ran out under the rings. So I added some more flour back in (this could have gone on for a while), and whisked and the next batch were perfect.

They do take a little while to cook, but the result is worth it - light, crunchy golden brown goodness. The first one didn't even make it to a plate, I just globbed on the butter and devoured it while standing at the oven cooking some more. I was a little more refined with the next few, and ate them drizzled with golden syrup. The recipe made about 16, so I've popped some in the freezer to toast for brekkie tomorrow, I can't wait!

Crumpets

• 450 grams white plain flour (if you have bread flour, replace half of the plain flour with that)
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 300mls lukewarm milk
• 300mls lukewarm water

 Method

1. Sift together the flour, salt and cream of tartar.
2. Mix the milk, water, sugar, baking soda and yeast together and set aside for 5 minutes to become frothy
3. Pour the liquid into the flour and mix well with a whisk. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place for an hour. Give the batter a stir and you're ready to cook.
4. Heat a frying pan over medium low heat for about 5 minutes to heat fully, pop the well greased crumpet rings into the pan for a minute, then spoon in the batter. The batter will be thick, but shouldn't be too thick. Within a minute or so, little bubbles should have appeared on the surface of the crumpets, if not, the batter is too thick and you need to add a little water.
5. Cook the crumpets for about 12 to 15 minutes, you can remove rings once they're set (about 5 minutes) and pop them into another pan to speed up the cooking process. Once the crumpets are cooked, flip them over and cook the top side for 2 minutes or until it is a nice toasty golden brown. Enjoy!!

Balsamic Caramelised Onion and Goats Cheese Pizza

It's Ramadan and a time for muslims to fast and reflect. As a non muslim in Qatar during Ramadan, it's a lovely lazy hazy time, as there isn't much happening during the day, and to be honest, at 50 degrees it is getting too hot to do more than pop out to the supermarket once a day for supplies, or dive into the pool to cool off. That means a lot of time indoors.

The little chefs are busy doing craft, playing the Wii or turning cushions, blankets and chairs into houses and forts, which leaves me plenty of time to indulge myself in the kitchen cooking up a storm, including cooking some freezer meals for the Green Box to deliver. Today I used their lovely goats cheese - you can order it online at http://www.thegreenbox.me/, along with their fabulous hormone free chickens and quality fruit and vegetables.

I love goats cheese - on it's own with crackers, in a cheesecake, where it adds a sharp tangy loveliness, or mixed with cream cheese, parmesan, herbs and nutmeg, popped on top of portabello mushrooms and grilled to cheesy perfection.

My favourite way to use it is in a tart or on a pizza, paired with some caramelised onions, and that's what the Green Box customers are getting today. I'm using chapati flour, as it's a lot less refined than white flour and creates a nice chewy base that crisps up well.

Caramelised Onion and Goats Cheese Pizza

This makes two large thick crust pizzas - for thin crust, use less yeast. I like to prebake the base for 5 minutes before putting the topping on - the onions can be a bit moist and I hate soggy bases.

Pizza dough

• 4 cups of wholemeal or plain flour (or a combination of both)
• 400mls of slightly warm water
• 3 teaspoons dried yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt

Caramelised Onions

• 3 large white or brown onions, sliced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Goats Cheese

• 300 grams Goats Cheese with Herbs or 300 grams plain goats cheese mixed with 1/2 teaspoon each of thyme and oregano
• Olive oil to drizzle
• freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. To caramelise the onions, heat the oil in a large pan over low heat, add the onions and cook slowly, stirring occasionally for about 20 minutes. When the onions are translucent, add the sugar and balsamic vinegar. Turn the heat up to medium and stir frequently for about 10 minutes until the mixture is rich and caramelised. Watch it while it's cooking as it can burn once the sugar is added.
2. To make the dough, mix the water, sugar and yeast together and let stand for a few minutes until starting to froth. Put the flour, salt and olive oil in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook (or into a bowl, just get ready to exercise those arms).

3. Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture and mix. The dough should be moist, not dry, but not too sticky. Knead using the mixer, or by hand until the dough is smooth and elastic (if you poke it with your finger, it'll spring back into shape quickly). Have I mentioned before how much I love my Kitchen Aid.

4. Pop this into an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave for an hour or two to rise. Check out just how much it will rise.


5. Heat the oven to 200 degrees celcius (400 degrees fahrenheit), put an upside down baking dish, or pizza stone in the oven and heat for 10 minutes.
6. Roll half the dough out to about 0.5cm thick. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes
7. Remove from oven and spread with half the caramelised onion mixture, crumble the goats cheese on top, season with freshly ground black pepper and drizzle on a little olive oil. Bake for 15 minutes till base is crisp and cheese is a delicious golden brown.

Rhodes - Yummm!

I couldn't come up with a witty title, that takes too much thinking time, when we're only here for a week and it gets in the way of eating time. Rhodes is a typical mediterranean island, with it's emphasis on vegetables, fresh fruit, olive oil, pulses, grains, fish, poultry and little red meat is a diet low in saturated fat and rich in vitamins and healthy omega 3’s. The benefits of a Mediterranean diet are heralded in a number of studies, the most famous conducted by Harvard University’s school Public Health in the 1990s. Rhodes, part of the Dodecanese Island groups, showcases the best of Greece in terms of the Mediterranean diet and is part of an awesome Aegean Cuisine initiative - a campaign by the Dodecanese and Cyclades Island groups to highlight and protect the traditional foods of these islands.

We took a tour around the island with Nicklos, an Egyptian born half Italian/half Greek Rhodian who has lived in Rhodes for 20 years - how's that for multicultural. Driving through the countryside, we were amazed at the vast number of olive trees. Nicklos proudly shared that Greeks consume more than 18 litres of olive oil per year (seriously! I googled it to check), compare that to what is thought of as the olive oil capital of the world Italy where the amount is roughly 9 litres per person.

Rhodes is a large island, with 220 kilometres of coastline, so it is not surprising that seafood features as a nightly dish here.  Most common are fish like grouper, sea bass, and red snapper, sometimes cooked in sauces, but mostly grilled whole, drizzled with olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon juice and served with a fresh garden salad. A Rhodian favourite is to sandwich freshly sliced tomatoes, green pepper and oregano between two slices of feta cheese, wrap well in tinfoil and pop onto the grill while the fish is cooking, turning it often. What results is a beautiful creamy, salty, sweet (from the tomatoes) and fragrant dip that is fabulous with the fish and freshly baked bread.

We popped into a traditional Greek Taverna in the old city of Rhodes for lunch and were served a vast and varied Greek platter full of traditional dishes including Mezedes. Similar to Mezes in the Middle East or Tapas in Spain, Mezedes are a variety of small dishes. Our platter held some fabulous dishes like taramoe salad (a delicate fish roe spread), melizanosalata (a smoky aubergine salad), dolmadas (stuffed vine leaves dripping with olive oil and fresh lemon juice), keftedes (tender beef and lamb meatballs) and saganaki (creamy baked feta). There was also a hearty helping of olives, greek salad, tzatziki (creamy cucumber dip) and a glorious melt in your mouth Moussaka (a cheesy beef, tomato and aubergine dish).

We're loving Rhodes, it's a beautiful island with so much to offer - thousands of years of eventful history (I still can't figure out who 'controlled' Rhodes and when), super-friendly locals, crystal clear seas, fantastic scenery, and absolutely fabulous food, cooked simply and perfectly, using the freshest ingredients.

Keftedes with Tzatki

·         4 slices white bread, torn into pieces

·         2 tablespoons milk

·         1 clove garlic, minced

·         1 onion, quartered

·         2 tablespoons fresh mint

·         1 teaspoon salt

·         ground black pepper to taste

·         250 grams minced beef

·         250 grams minced lamb

·         3 eggs

·         1/2 cup flour for dredging

·         vegetable oil for frying

Method

1.    Moisten the bread pieces with the milk in a large bowl, and set aside.

2.    Place garlic, onion, mint, salt, and pepper. Process until the onion is finely chopped. Add the onion mixture to the bowl with the moist bread, along with the beef, lamb, and eggs. Mix with your hands until thoroughly blended.

3.    Roll the mixture into balls measuring 4 to 5 cm in diameter. Place the flour in a shallow pan, and roll the balls in the flour to coat. Shake off any excess flour, and place the meatballs onto a plate or baking sheet, pressing to flatten slightly. This will keep them from rolling away.

4.    Heat 2cm of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the meatballs, 8 or 10 at a time, and cook until nicely browned on the outside and no longer pink in the center, about 10 minutes; drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Repeat with remaining meatballs. Alternatively, place the uncooked meatballs on a lined baking tray, spray with oil and bake for 15 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius, turning once.

Tzatziki

·         3 tablespoons olive oil

·         1 tablespoon vinegar

·         2 cloves garlic, minced finely

·         1/2 teaspoon salt

·         1/4 teaspooon white pepper

·         1 cup greek yogurt, strained

·         1 cup sour cream

·         2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded and diced

·         1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill

Method

1.    Combine olive oil, vinegar, garlic, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Mix until well combined.

2.    Using a whisk, blend the yogurt with the sour cream. Add the olive oil mixture to the yogurt mixture and mix well.

3.    Finally, add the cucumber and chopped fresh dill. Chill for at least two hours before serving.

Filling the Biscuit Tins

I was born in the wrong era. I should have been born in the 50s when donning a frilly apron and spending all day in the kitchen baking was the way to fill the biscuit tins.

 

I have really fond memories of baking day with mum. Once a week she'd pop the oven on, get out her lovely old kenwood mixer with porcelain bowls and start mixing. At the end of it she'd have filled tin after tin with gorgeous home made biscuits (cookies for you American folk).

 

My favourites were:

• afghan biscuits - delicious chocolate treats with sweet chocolate icing and a piece of walnut (never figured the walnut thing out, we always took it off to eat them)
• hokey pokey biscuits - delightly soft and chewy golden syrup morsels, popped onto the tray as balls and squished down with a fork, they look and taste so wonderfully home-made
• melting moments - which did what it said on the tin, and 'melted' delicately in your mouth. The trick was to shove the whole biscuit in, and let it dissolve while munching - a bit gross if you were watching, but hey, we were kids, and we didn't care (actually I still don't when it comes to scoffing bickies)
• and finally, shortbread, so soft and buttery and divinely crumbly (mum would cut it into squares - I like to cut it into shapes, but then I don't have 6 kids to deal with and clean up after, so have lots more time)

It was the little chefs last day at nursery and school this week, so the 3 of us baked the teachers thank you gifts. Actually little chef number 2 got bored in the first 5 minutes so he went upstairs to play the Wii, followed about 10 minutes later by little chef number 1. That's ok, as much fun as it is baking with them, it's a teensy bit slower, and I had a lot to cook. I had so much fun recreating my favourite biscuits. I dusted off the Edmonds cookbook, a NZ institution - every household has one, so all credit for these recipes goes to the Edmonds team. I plugged in my fire engine red Kitchen Aid (I love my KA) and baked the afternoon away.

 

So here's the recipes.

 

Afghans

• 200 grams butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa
• 2 cups cornflakes

Method

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy
2. Sift flour and cocoa together and stir into creamed mixture
3. Fold in conflakes and put mounds of mixture onto a tray lined with baking paper
4. Bake at 180 degrees celcius (350 degrees fahrenheit) for 15 minutes.
5. When cold ice with chocolate icing - mix 2 cups icing sugar with 2 tablespoons water and 1 tablespoon cocoa

 

Hokey Pokey biscuits

• 125 grams butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon golden syrup
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Method

1. Heat butter, sugar, golden syrup and milk in a pot until butter is melted and mixture is nearly boiling, remove from heat and allow mixture to cool to lukewarm
2. Sift flour and baking soda together and add to cooled mixture, mix well
3. Roll tablespoons of the mixture into balls and place onto a try lined with baking paper. Flatten with a fork
4. Bake at 180 degrees celcius (350 degrees fahrenheit) for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown.

 

Melting Moments

• 200 grams butter, softened
• 3/4 cup icing sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup cornflour (cornstarch)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• buttercream icing or raspberry jam

Method

1. Cream butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy
2. Sift flour, cornflour and baking powder together and mix into creamed mixture, stirring well
3. Roll dough into small balls the size of large marbles and place on a tray lined with baking paper, flatten slightly with a fork
4. Bake at 180 degrees celcius (350 degrees fahrenheit) for 20 minutes.
5. Cool and sandwich two biscuits together with buttercream or raspberry jam

oops - no photo here, there aren't any left over - excuse me while I wipe the crumbs off my chin.

 

 

Shortbread

• 250 grams butter
• 1 cup icing sugar
• 1 cup cornflour
• 2 cups flour

Method

1. Cream butter and icing sugar together till light and fluffy
2. Sift flour and cornflour together and mix into creamed mixture
3. Knead well
4. Roll out to about 1.5 cm thickness (it mightn't roll well, mine started to break apart, so as I rolled it, I squidged it together)
5. Cut shapes out or cut into squares, pop onto a tray lined with baking paper, and prick all over with a fork
6. Bake at 150 degrees celcius (290 degrees fahrenheit) for 30 minutes until golden brown

I packed them all into jars and popped labels on, this one was for little chef number 1's  teacher Mrs Daniels - a great big thank you.

Good Morning Vietnam

I know I know, the title is a cliche, but so appropriate, it's 6am in the morning, and I've just popped two onions and some ginger on the barbeque. It's not your usual hour to fire up the grill, but I have a hankering for a bowl of pho. It was my staple breakfast throughout Vietnam, and roasting the onion and ginger is the start to creating the divine stock that forms the basis of the soup.

I loved Vietnam - the crowds, the temples, the beaches, the sounds, even the crazy motorbike drivers (well maybe not), but everything else was fabulous. It's a country that overwhelms the senses, constant noise, vibrant colours and interesting smells, and the food (especially street food) is so much a part of the ambience. The food is prepared quickly, noisily, the colours are so bright they look photo-shopped, the smells are intoxicatingly heavenly and the tastes are a beautiful balance of salty, sweet, sour and spicy.

Walking the streets of Vietnam, I was fascinated by the women carrying the “don ganh” (or yoke), In the baskets attached they carried a portable kitchen and restaurant - in one basket a charcoal grill, with a large pot of simmering stock. In the other stacked bowls of noodles, fresh herbs, sliced meat, spoons, bowls and cups, and plastic stools. They stopped on demand and set up shop, delivering a fabulous tasteful bowl of Pho (a rich noodle soup, laced with fragrant herbs, and finished with lime and chillies to taste).

My favourite place to eat was the market - try it if you're ever in Vietnam. Head to the local market, sit yourself down on a rickety plastic stool, and get ready to have a taste experience you‘ll love. You’ll be encouraged (vigorously so) to try everything, and as cheap as it is why not, from freshly made spring rolls in Ho Chi Minh City, to Ban Xeo (steamed dumplings) in the historic and beautiful town of Hoi An, and the famous Pho (noodle soup) found all over Vietnam and cooked to perfection in Hanoi, the food will simply astound you.

Chicken Pho

(If you don't fancy making the stock from scratch, use 2 litres of a good quality stock, add 3 tablespoons fish sauce, 1 tablespoon palm sugar, 2 tablespoons coriander seeds, 4 whole cloves and 1 bunch of chopped coriander)

If you have the time though, give it a go, the taste of the stock is phenomenal.

• 2 brown or white onions, unpeeled
• 10cm piece of ginger, unpeeled
• 2 kilos whole chicken
• 1.5 kilos chicken bones (backs or thighs)
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon palm sugar
• 2 tablespoons coriander seeds, toasted in a dry pan for 1 minute until fragrant
• 1 small bunch coriander
• 1 packet of rice noodles, soaked in warm water for 20 minutes
• 2 cups shredded chicken (from the chicken cooked in the stock)
• 4 spring onions, finely sliced
• 1/3 cup chopped coriander
• 3 cups beansprouts
• small bunch of mint
• small bunch of thai basil, leaves only
• 3 small chillies, deseeded and sliced thinly
• 3 limes, cut into wedges

Method 

Make the stock

• Place the onions and ginger on the barbeque, or under the grill, and cook until skin is charred, turning frequently, this takes about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

• Rinse the cooled onions under warm running water, rubbing off the charred skin, cut in half. Peel the skin from the ginger and chop ginger in half lengthways
• Rinse the chicken under cold water, using a big knife, make bone cuts every two inches on the chicken, this releases the bone marrow and adds flavour to the stock
• To make a clear stock, parboil the chicken first - cover the whole chicken and chicken pieces with water in a stockpot, bring to the boil and boil for 5 minutes. Dump into the sink and rinse the chicken pieces and chicken.
• Pop back into the pot and add 6 litres of water, and bring back to the boil, skim off any scum that floats to the top. Add the onions, ginger, salt, fish sauce, sugar, coriander seeds, cloves and coriander and cook uncovered for 30 minutes.  
• Remove chicken, cool slightly, remove the breasts and chop off the legs. Cover and refrigerate. Put the carcass back into the pot with the bones and simmer stock gently for about 1 1/2 hours
• Strain through a fine mesh sieve lined with muslin cloth and set aside

Putting the bowls together

1. Bring the stock to the boil
2. Place a portion of noodles on a mesh strainer and dunk the noodles in the stock for 20 seconds until they collapse. Pop into a bowl, top with the green onions, sprouts and coriander
3. Place shredded chicken on top, and ladle the stock on top of the noodles

4. Serve immediately and add the mint, thai basil, chillies and limes to taste