Herbs

It is so easy to grow herbs in pots on the patio it seems a shame to buy them from the supermarket.
My bay is a few years old now and just starting to produce lots of new growth, the rosemary bush is about a year old, and the sage, mint and thyme are new this year.
I have bought a lavender bush to sit amongst the herbs because the thyme seems to attract lots of little flies, and I am told the lavender helps to keep them away.
With the exception of mint, when the herbs grow too big or woody for the pots I put them in my vegetable garden and basically, I just let them grow into small bushes.
I chop the rosemary leaves and put these in the freezer for the winter, the thyme is too fiddly to chop and so I just cut the stems complete with leaves, and freeze these too.
Mint and sage can also be chopped and then stored in the freezer. The bay I cover up for the winter months to protect from the frosts and so in the winter I am able to also use fresh bay leaves.
Herbs are a cooks best friend and the uses for them are endless. An excellent book about herbs is The New Vegetable & Herb Expert by Dr D G Hessayon.

FISH AND CHIPS

Fish and chips are a popular takeaway food, particularly on Friday and Saturday evenings. I know a lot of people go to their local 'chippy' (fish and chip shop) and take them home wrapped up in paper.

The problem with doing this, is that by the time you get them home, the steam trapped inside the paper has done a splendid job of making the fish batter and chips soggy. Then to top it all they are lukewarm!

Do you put the fish and chip paper onto a plate and eat them with your fingers, or do you tip them out of the paper onto a plate and eat them with a knife and fork? Either way, I'll pass on that one thank you.

There's a time and place to eat fish and chips from the 'chippy', and that time for me, is either walking along the seafront, taking in the sea air, or sitting on the wall looking out to sea. The chips at the bottom of the paper are going slightly soggy from the wonderful, golden, crispy fish lying on top of the chips (mine have got salt and vinegar on!). This is my idea of fish and chip heaven.

Occasionally I make battered fish, chips and mushy peas (the recipe for the mushy peas belongs to Nigella Lawson and I have posted this below). Oh! and don't forget to serve them with good pickled onions and white bread and butter.


BATTER

This batter is wonderfully crisp and golden.

Makes enough batter mixture to coat four average size pieces of fish.

6 oz self-raising flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder and ½ teaspoon salt.
(For a very crispy batter you can add 3 teaspoons of malt vinegar to the batter).

1. Put the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl and pour in enough water to make a thick gloopy batter. Leave for 1 hour to rest.
2. Dry the fish well. Coat with seasoned flour. Dip into the gloopy batter.
3. Heat a deep fat fryer to 180°c and cook the fish on both sides until golden brown.

I always acknowledge the source of my recipes, but in this instance, I don't have a reference. The recipe came from a television programme, more years ago than I care to remember!

UPMARKET MUSHY PEAS

Nigella's original recipe for the peas (which includes a head of garlic and creme fraiche) is to go with roast cod for a more formal fish dinner.

I have adapted this recipe to go with the fish and chip dinner above.

HOW TO EAT - NIGELLA LAWSON

ISBN 0701165766 - PAGE 194

800g frozen petits pois, 100g butter.

1. Cook the peas for longer than you would do if you were eating them normally.
2. Drain, then tip into the bowl of a food processor, add the butter and process.
3. Place the peas back into the saucepan and reheat.

These mushy peas are a doddle to make and so why not give them a go?

ORANGE POUND CAKE

Well - I don't think it's ever going to stop raining and this cake is just the thing to make for 'rainy day baking'.
The cake in the photograph looks very orange, but I promise you, it isn't food
colouring, I used only fresh orange juice.
Making this cake is a doddle, all the ingredients are mixed together for a couple of minutes in a bowl (easy!).
The butter cream is different from your usual creaming together of icing sugar and unsalted butter - there isn't any icing sugar in sight for this one. If you don't like butter cream, maybe you will enjoy this filling.

JAMES MARTIN COOKBOOK - THE GREAT BRITISH VILLAGE SHOW

ISBN 9781405320801 - PAGE 160

Serves 6-8

125g soft butter, 125g vanilla caster sugar, 125g self-raising flour, 1 tsp baking powder, grated zest of 1 large orange, juice of ½ large orange, 125g eggs (about 2 medium eggs), 1 rounded tbsp ground almonds (optional).

1. Preheat the oven to 150°C fan(170°C/Gas 3). Line the bottom and long sides of a 23cm loaf tin with baking parchment.
2. Put all the ingredients for the cake into a bowl and mix until smooth. Spoon the mixture into the loaf tin. Bake for 40-45 minutes until golden brown and springy to touch.
3. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then take hold of the edges of the baking parchment and lift the cake onto a wire rack. Leave to cool.

BUTTER CREAM
125g granulated sugar, 3 tbsp orange juice, 2 egg yolks, beaten, 125g soft, unsalted butter.

1. Dissolve the sugar with the juice, then put a sugar thermometer in the pan and boil to 115°C or a fraction higher. Put the egg yolks in a bowl. Tip in the boiling syrup and beat vigorously with an electric mixer. Before the mixture is cold, add the soft butter and beat again until light, creamy and thickened. Chill in the fridge to firm up (this takes a while).
2. Cut the cake horizontally in half. Fill with the butter cream, keeping back a little to smooth on top (I found I didn't use all of the butter cream).

TO FINISH
A handful of flaked almonds, sifted icing sugar.
Scatter over the almonds and dust with icing sugar before serving.

This cake is definitely in my repertoire now, it not only looked fabulous, but tasted fabulous too.

SIMPLE SCONES

These scones are wonderfully soft and light textured. The unusual thing about this recipe is that you melt the butter, rather than rub the butter into the flour.
I love watching them through the oven door as they miraculously puff up and become golden!
Afternoon Tea has become popular again in hotels, and scones are one of the stars on the cake stand.
I was fortunate, on a recent trip to London, to have Afternoon Tea at The Wolseley, a real girlie treat. They were very accommodating too, with Nanna, Mummy, baby and pushchair in tow, and made us all very welcome (in fact, I think baby made their day!).

BILLS FOOD - BILL GRANGER

ISBN 174045085 - PAGE 94

Makes 8

310g plain flour, 1 tbsp icing sugar, 1½ tablespoons baking powder, a pinch of salt, 250ml milk, 30g butter, melted.

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C(425°F/Gas 7). Sift the icing sugar, flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Add the melted butter and milk (you may not need all of the milk) and stir to combine. Knead quickly and lightly until smooth and then press out onto a floured surface.
2. Cut into rounds 5cm in diameter and 3cm deep and place them close together on a greased baking tray. Gather the scraps together, lightly knead again, then cut out more rounds.
3. Cook for 8-10 minutes, until puffed and golden.
4. Serve with jam and lightly whipped cream.

Yummy!

GOATS' CHEESE, PINENUT AND CHERRY TOMATO TARTS

Meeta over at 'What's for lunch, Honey?' is hosting 'Big Birthday Bang'. When I took a peek at her site to see what everyone else was taking, I thought maybe something on the light side would be a good idea.

The wonderful thing about this particular dish, is that it is light and tasty, and what's more you will have plenty of room left to sample something that everyone else has made. Crafty me!

This is my type of recipe where you can go to the fridge, freezer and store cupboard and have all the ingredients to hand, and then pop outside the kitchen door and pick some herbs.

My favourite ingredients make up this tart, goat's cheese, cherry tomatoes, pine nuts and thyme. I hope everyone enjoys this as much as I do.

FAB FAST FOOD


ISBN 0600604683 - PAGE 36

SERVES: - 4 people (or mostly 2 I'm afraid to say!)

4 filo pastry sheets, each about 25cm square, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 20 cherry tomatoes, halved, 200g firm goat's cheese, cut into 1cm cubes, 20g pine nuts, 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, salt and pepper, rocket or spinach, to serve.

1. Lightly grease 4 individual tartlet tins, each about 10 cm in diameter. Brush a sheet of filo pastry with a little olive oil. Cut in half, then across into 4 equal-sized squares and use these to line one of the tins. Repeat with the remaining pastry. Brush any remaining oil over the pastry in the tins.
2. Place 5 tomato halves in the bottom of each tartlet. Top with the cheese, then add the remaining tomato halves and pine nuts. Sprinkle with the thyme leaves and season well.
3. Bake the tartlets in a preheated oven, 200°C(400°F) Gas Mark 6, for 10-12 minutes or until the pastry is crisp and golden. Serve hot with a leafy green salad.