perfect soda bread?

Regular readers will know that I'm a fan of Felicity Cloake's series in the Guardian 'The Perfect...'. This soda bread recipe is taken from her recent soda bread explorations and I have to say it has worked out really well. The oven in my apartment is a bit rubbish so food doesn't always brown properly on top but loaf turned out pretty well anyway and it was ridiculously easy to make. I put everything together when I woke up this morning, put it in the oven and sat down to enjoy a cup of coffee and in almost no time at all I had a freshly baked loaf of delicious soda bread ready for brunch. I think scrambled eggs and maybe some bacon is called for here. If there's any bread left over from brunch soda bread is a great accompaniment to homemade soup.

Ingredients
450g wholemeal flour
50g rolled oats
1 tsp salt
1 level tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tbsp treacle
1 tbsp honey
450ml milk soured with a tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp melted butter

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6 and line a baking sheet with baking parchment.
2. Put the flour, oats, salt, and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl and mix together well.
3. In another bowl or jug mix together the soured milk, treacle and honey then pour into the dry ingredients. Mix everything together quickly and trying not to work the dough too much as this will make the resulting bread tough. You will end up with a soft and sticky dough. (Mine was a little too wet and gloopy so I needed to add a little extra flour.)
4. Transfer the dough to your prepared baking sheet, form into a round and then cut a deep cross into it. I covered my loaf with an upturned cake tin to help maintain the shape while it was baking but feel free to leave it uncovered if you prefer a more free-formed shape. 
5. Bake in the oven for about 50 minutes or until it is golden brown and cooked through. 
6. Once you've removed the bread from the oven brush the top with melted butter and then leave to cool before eating. 

pistachio cookies three ways

Living where I do in London there are numerous small shops selling beautiful looking and delicious tasting baklava. This has undoubtedly been the influence behind my latest recipe offering. The flavours of pistachio, cardamon and honey are a perfect combination and come together in a fragrant, elegant and crisp biscuit. The dough is fairly forgiving and you can shape it however you like.You should also feel free to experiment with the fillings or leave them unfilled so that you can dunk them in your tea. It will be a great biscuit however you decide to make them. Below I've included recipes for both a honey and orange buttercream and a chocolate ganache filling.

Biscuit Ingredients
375g plain flour
250g caster sugar
125g unsalted butter at room temperature
100g shelled pistachio nuts (set a few to the side if you want to use them for decoration)
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1 medium egg
Generous pinch of salt

1. Put the pistachios and sugar in the food processor and pulse until finely ground and resembling fine breadcrumbs. 
2. In a bowl beat the butter with an electric whisk until soft then add the egg and beat for a further 30 seconds or so.
3. Add in the remaining ingredients and mix until you have a dough. You may find it easier to do this with your hands. 
4. Form the dough into a 40cm log and wrap in cling film. Leave to rest in the fridge for around an hour. 
5. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 170C and line a baking sheet with baking parchment. 
6. Unwrap the dough and cut off discs about 1/2cm thick. You can alternatively roll the dough out on to a lightly floured surface Place on the baking sheet, place a halved pistachio in the centre of biscuit if you wish and then bake for around 15 minutes or until just golden on the edges. 
7. Once cooked allow to firm up on the baking sheet before removing them to cool completely on a wire rack. When the biscuits are completely cool you can fill them with one of the options below or eat them as they are. Enjoy. 

Honey and Orange Buttercream

100g butter at room temperature

400g icing sugar

3-4 tbsp honey

finely grated zest of half an orange

couple of tablespoons of cream or milk

1.  Using an electric whisk, beat the butter until it is light and fluffy then bit by bit sift in the icing sugar. 
2. Once the sugar and butter are thoroughly combined add the honey and zest and beat for a few seconds. If the icing is a bit thick add a couple of tablespoons of milk and cream and beat in until you have a smooth consistency.

Chocolate Ganache

100g dark chocolate broken into small pieces

100ml double cream

pinch of salt (optional)

1. Heat the cream in a saucepan over a low heat. Remove from the heat just before it reaches boiling point then pour over the chocolate pieces in a heatproof bowl.
2. Stir the chocolate and cream together until the chocolate is completely melted. Add the salt is wanted then set the mixture to one side to cool. 
3. Once the mixture has cooled down, beat it with an electric whisk until it thickens up. 

slow cooker red cabbage

I made this to go with my blue cheese meatloaf but it goes well with many other dishes too. Red cabbage and apple is also a staple on my family's Christmas table too. I made this in a slow cooker but it could just as easily be made on the hob or in the oven, remember to keep it covered, cook on a low heat for a long time and check back every so often to make sure things are going ok.

Ingredients
1 small red cabbage, cored and finely sliced
2 eating apples, cored and cut into bite sized chunks
1 onion finely sliced
300ml stock (I used beef stock but use veg or chicken if you prefer)
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp honey
1 star anise
1 tbsp butter

Add everything to your slow cooker or saucepan then cover and cook for around 2-4 hours. I cooked mine on high in the slow cooker for 4 hours. I added the butter and honey to the hot stock, stirred then poured over the cabbage, apple and onion in the slow cooker.

makowiec (polish poppy seed roll)

Makowiec is a wonderful example of a festive enriched bread that is central to the Christmas celebrations in Poland. It is related to stollen and other similar enriched Christmas breads but the poppy seed filling gives it an entirely different, more complex flavour. My version is based on this one from the Polish language food blog Moje Wypieki. If you find stollen too sweet and you're not a fan of dried fruits I urge you to give this recipe a go. Although it contains raisins and mixed peel they are blended into the filling and treated more as a flavouring.

These quantities are enough to give you three decent sized poppy seed rolls but you can adjust to your requirements. I think if you're going to all this effort to make the makowiec in the first place you may as well go all out and make the full amount and either freeze the spares or give them away to friends and family as gifts. Why not spread the love?



Ingredients
Filling:
450g poppy seeds
170g caster sugar
40g unsalted butter
1 egg
4 tbsp honey
50g mixed peel
grated zest of 1 lemon
30g walnuts
30g almonds
90g raisins
2 egg whites (keep the yolks to one side, they get used in the dough)

Dough:
1 tbsp fast action yeast
750g plain flour
80g melted butter
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
120ml sour cream
130g icing sugar, sifted to remove any lumps
1 tbsp rum or vodka (I used krupnik a Polish, honey scented vodka liqueur)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
approx 100ml warm water

Glaze:
130g icing sugar
1 tbsp water, lemon juice or rum

STAGE 1- The filling

1. Put the poppy seeds into a saucepan, cover with water bring to the boil then strain through a fine sieve. Set to one side. (As this is my first time making makowiec I'm not sure how essential this stage is. On a repeat effort I would be tempted to miss it out and see if it made any difference. I'll leave the choice up to you.)
2. Put the raisins, mixed peel, nuts and lemon zest into a food processor along with the poppy seeds an process until you have a rough paste and there are no longer any large pieces of nut or raisin. You can leave this chunky if you like but I prefer a smoother texture. 
3. In a large pan, melt the butter then add the poppy seed mixture along with the honey and leave to cook over a low heat for around 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then remove from the heat. 
4. In a bowl beat together the egg whites until stiff. Beat the whole egg into the poppy seed mixture followed by the egg whites.
5. Set the mixture to one side to cool while you make the dough.

STAGE 2 - The Dough

1. In a large bowl place the dry ingredients (flour, icing sugar, salt and yeast). In a separate bowl or large jug combine the wet ingredients (eggs, egg yolks, sour cream, melted butter, alcohol and vanilla).
2. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, pour in the wet mixture and combine together adding additional warm water a tablespoon at a time until all the flour is incorporated and you have a rough dough.
3. Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured surface and knead for around 10 minutes or so until you have a smooth dough. Place in a bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rest for about an hour so that it doubles in size.

STAGE 3 - Putting it all together

1. Divide the dough and the mixture into the number of rolls you want to make then follow the remaining stages for each roll.
2. Take the dough and roll it out into a thin, roughly square shape. Spread the required filling evenly across it leaving a small gap all around, then roll the dough up closing the seam and the ends as tightly as you can. 
3. Place the roll onto a greased baking sheet, cover then set aside to rise for a further 90 minutes. 
4. Preheat the oven to 180C then bake for 30-40 minutes or until the exterior is golden brown. Allow to cool then glaze.

slow roast shoulder of lamb with moroccan spices and salt cured orange

This is my first attempt at using my brand new slow cooker. I'm quite excited by the possibilities and couldn't wait to prepare some slow cooked meat. I apologise now if my blog gets a little overtaken with slow-cooking recipes. I'll do my best to not get too carried away. Anyways, whether you're a novice or pro slow-cooker I urge you to give this recipe a try. You could serve it with couscous but I decided to shred it and serve with flat bread and a range of side dishes including roast butternut squash and marrow slices, hummus, mint and garlic sauce and some sriracha too (I love that stuff).



Ingredients
1 kg half shoulder or leg of lamb
Rub
2 tbsp ras al hanout (check out this recipe for the spice mix or use shop bought)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp honey or agave syrup
1 tbsp dried mint (don't even think about using fresh - it won't work anywhere near as well.)
1 salt cured orange, pith removed, sliced into quarters
2 onions, peeled and roughly sliced
2 sticks of celery, halved
2 carrots, peeled and halved

1. Mix the spice rub ingredients together and rub into the lamb making sure it is completely slathered in the mix. Cover and set to one side to marinate. I left mine overnight but an hour or so should do it. 
2. Put the carrot, celery, onion and orange into the base of a slow cooker and put the lamb on top. Add a cup of water then cover with the lid and leave to cook on low/medium for 6 -12 hours. You may need to adjust this depending on your slow cooker. It is ready when the meat pulls apart easily and is falling off the bone. 
3. When cooked, remove the meat from the slow cooker and when cool enough to handle pull the meat apart into smaller pieces.
4. Serve with hummus, roast vegetables, flat bread and yogurt and chilli sauces.