Hot and Sour Quinoa Soup

Spring should have sprung but the winter weather is just not abating.... it has been truly grim. The shelves are still providing us with various types of cabbage, potatoes and produce flying in from afar. If you are the type of cook who chooses seasonality over variety it has been a very long season indeed! Hot soups and stews are still very much on the menu and I am just longing to eat salads and drink rose in our tiny garden.... alas we must be patient and wait a littler longer.

This soup is a beautiful combination of crunchy vegetables, nutty quinoa and a fragrant hot and sour broth. A version of it was made for me by a friend a few years ago and since then it has featured regularly. I cant actually remember the recipe she used so this recipe is one I have adapted over time. It is so easy to make and is great when the fridge is looking a tad bare and you have the odd carrot and leek lolling about. Quinoa is one of my favourite grains and I cook it far too rarely, this soup brings out its delicious flavour and adds wonderful texture. It is a complete meal in a bowl and lovely with some whole grain bread or crispy crackers. I am ridiculously addicted to Finn Crisp, thin rye crisp breads that I could eat with everything. You can also add a final gilding of yoghurt and coriander when serving. 

Recipe

1 large carrot

1 medium green leek

an inch of fresh ginger

1 red chilli, sliced

half a tsp fennel seeds

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 Lt vegetable or chicken stock

juice of a lemon

2 cloves garlic, crushed

60g quinoa

olive oil

salt and pepper

Prepare quinoa: two parts water to one part quinoa, bring to the boil then reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes until tender. In the meantime julienne the carrots and thinly slice the ginger into tiny match sticks. In a heavy saucepan, heat about a tablespoon of olive oil and add the fennel seeds, allow to sizzle. Add chilli, ginger and garlic, fry for a couple of minutes until garlic is just turning golden. Add carrots and warm through. Add tomatoes, stock and lemon juice. Bring to the boil and reduce heat, simmer for 5 minutes. Add finely sliced leeks and quinoa, again bring to the boil and then allow to simmer for a further 10-15 minutes. Keep the cooking time quite short to help the vegetables retain some crunch. Season with salt and pepper and add a teaspoon of sugar if the broth is too tart. There should be a lovely balance between the hotness from the chilli and the sourness of the lemon, adapt to suit your taste.

Bakewell Tart

Living on this grey and green isle has exposed me to the most incredible array of things, not least of which has been to the humble Bakewell tart. It is a traditional English confection which is completely delicious and comes in the form of a rich tart or pudding made from pastry, jam and an eggy almond filling. I love the simplicity of this tart and the satisfaction it delivers is well worth making pastry for. Strawberry jam can be used but this recipe uses raspberry jam for tartness and also calls for lemon zest to lift the richness of the frangipane filling. There are varying recipes, with fillings that are more sponge like and others that are custardy. This once is a luscious affair. It keeps really well for a few days and makes the best tea time treat. It's hard not to smile....

 

Recipe (Olive Magazine)

Pastry

125g plain flour

75g unsalted butter

25g castor sugar

1 egg yolk

2-3 tbsp cold water

Put all the dry ingredients in a food processor and blitz until the mix resembles fine bread crumbs. Add the egg yolk and a tablespoon of water, pulse again and add more water if necessary until the dough just comes together. Don't over process it, as this will result in tough pastry. Knead lightly and press down into a thick disc. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Once chilled, roll out to about 5mm thick and line a 20cm flan tin. Return to the fridge for a further 30 minutes before baking.

Filling

150g butter, softened

150g castor sugar

150g ground almonds

3 eggs and 1 egg yolk, beaten

zest of a lemon

2-3 tbsp raspberry jam

1 tbsp flaked almonds

Preheat oven to 190C. Line the pastry case with baking paper and fill with baking beans or dried beans. Bake blind for 15-20 minutes, remove paper and beans, return to the oven and bake for a further 10 minutes until the base is cooked through and golden. Remove from the oven and reduce temperature to 180C. To make the filling: cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add egg very gradually to avoid mixture splitting, beating well after each addition. Fold in almonds and lemon zest. Spread jam over the base of the pastry case. If you have a piping bag, fill it with the almond frangipane and pipe the mixture evenly over the jam. Smooth top with a knife. If you don't have a piping bag, cover the jam very carefully with the almond frangipane to avoid the jam from moving towards the sides. Bake for 15-20 minutes and then sprinkle with the flaked almonds. Return to the oven and bake for a further 15-20 minutes until golden and set. Allow to cool before serving.

Courgette and Aubergine Lasagne

There is something utterly delicious about lasagnes, meat or vegetable. This is a delicate and light alternative to the usual rich and creamy recipes. It has been inspired by my love of melanzane parmigiana and is refreshingly stress free to make. I have used a fresh tomato and garlic sauce, which lifts it from the heavy depths of traditionally cooked ones, and without the need for bechamel there are no lengthly cooking processes. This skinny gem is just layers of grilled vegetables, fresh sauce, grated mozzarella and lasagne sheets. Use good quality egg lasagne sheets, that are as thin as possible, I don't precook them but rather allow the sauce to do the job. Cool for five to ten minutes before serving and enjoy with a salad. 

Recipe

1-2 large aubergines

2-3 large courgettes

6 medium tomatoes

1 large garlic clove

olive oil

lasagne sheets

mozzarella, grated

sea salt and black pepper

Preheat oven to 200C. Slice aubergines and courgettes into about 5mm slices. Place aubergine slices into a colander with some salt and allow to stand for 10-15 minutes. Brush off salt before using. Heat a heavy pan medium to high, grill courgettes and aubergines until golden and slightly charred. There is no need to use any oil, the heat from the pan will help steam the vegetables and after a couple of minutes the slices should come away easily from the surface. Grill in batches and set aside until needed.  In a food processor, blitz together tomatoes and garlic. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, half a cup of water and some salt and pepper. Blitz again.

Drizzle a baking dish with some olive oil and begin to assemble the lasagne. Start with a layer of tomato sauce, layer with a few slices of aubergine and courgette, sprinkle with mozzarella and add another thin layer of tomato sauce. Then layer with lasagne sheets and repeat process another three times. The top layer should have cheese as the final topping, you can add some extra mozzarella and grated parmesan. Finally grind some pepper over the top. Bake for 20-30 minutes until cooked through, golden and puffy.

Spinach Tart

This tart is my childhood in a dish, it is also the ultimate show stopping spinach and cheese pie. My mum used to make this on most special occasions and she is still well known for it. The other day I was reminded of this stunner when speaking to her, so I made it as a tribute to some of my most precious memories. Nestling inside a crisp puff pastry shell, the filling is a pillowy mixture of spinach and three cheeses in a bechamel sauce enriched with eggs. The key is to bake it in a hot oven so the base is well cooked and crisp too. You can adjust the amounts of feta and cheddar if you prefer something richer, but the quantities below produce a pretty perfect pie. It is best served hot and goes beautifully with a selection of salads.

Recipe (adapted from Myrna Rosen) 

500g puff pastry

500g frozen spinach

100g feta cheese, crumbled

250g cottage cheese

100g strong cheddar, grated

250ml double cream

250ml milk

2 eggs, slightly beaten

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp flour

half and onion, grated

salt and black pepper

Preheat oven to 225C. Roll out puff pastry to about 5mm thick and use about 300g to line a 25cm deep fluted tin or pie dish. Return to the fridge until needed. Keep the rest of the rolled pastry aside under a damp cloth to stop it from drying out. Defrost spinach by heating it on the stove and cool down rapidly in ice cold water. Remove excess water by squeezing spinach out well and set aside until needed. To make the filling: saute onion in butter until soft in a medium saucepan, add flour and allow to cook until the mixture resembles beach sand. Add milk and cream gradually to make a bechamel sauce, keep whisking to avoid lumps forming. Take off the heat and add eggs very slowly, mixing constantly to avoid scrambling. Return to the heat and allow to thicken. Turn off heat, add all the cheeses and the spinach, mix together well and then season to taste. Check the salt carefully as the cheese will also provide much of the salt. Spoon into the pastry shell and spread evenly. Cut the remaining pastry into strips about an inch wide. Create a lattice over the filling using the pastry strips. Brush with egg yolk. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes until golden and puffy. Serve hot. 

Welsh Cakes

A friend of mine once told me that a baker who doesn't do currants makes for quite a contradiction. I have always had a difficult time with these tiny dried up grapes and it has indeed taken me a while to accept them and their fatter cousins into my baking bowl. Currants and raisins have long been picked out of every dish and delight since I can remember but no more! I am finally a fan and love their sweet bursts of chewy flavour. 

Welsh cakes are delicious drop scones cooked on a griddle until blisteringly golden. They are simple, made with cupboard staples and are truly scrummy. I found it very hard not to eat them all just hot off the stove. Traditionally they are made on cast iron griddles but if you don't have one of these, any heavy pan with a flat base will do. Make sure the heat is low to medium so they cook through without burning, they do catch quite easily so keep an eye on them. Serve them warm with lots of butter, honey or jam... they are also fab without adornment. We had them for breakfast and for tea, divine!

Recipe 

225g self raising flour

110g butter

75g castor sugar

75g currants or sultanas

zest of half a lemon

1 medium egg

splash of milk

half a teaspoon mixed spice

Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl and rub in butter until crumbly. Add fruit and zest, mix through. Beat the egg and add it to the mixture, bring into a dough and if it seems too dry add a splash of milk. Roll out on a lightly floured surface to about 5mm thick. Cut into rounds with a medium sized cookie cutter or using a glass. Keep re-rolling the excess dough until it has all been used up. Grease the pan with butter and place on a low to medium heat. Cook the cakes in batches for about 3 minutes a side until slightly risen, crisp and golden. If they are browning too quickly turn the heat down.

Ful Mudammas

Whoop! Whoop! I have wanted to make this simple dish for some time now and finally managed to find dried fava beans otherwise known as broad beans or 'ful'. They are the oldest domesticated legumes and have been eaten throughout the middle east and ancient world for hundreds if not thousands of years. This dish is traditionally eaten for breakfast with boiled eggs and is also often combined with chickpeas. There are many ways of preparing it and the beans can be mashed or left whole but the main additions are always garlic, lemon and olive oil. I made mine to go with a vegetable curry and decided to mash half the beans and leave the rest whole. I also added chilli and used fresh coriander as a topping instead of the more traditional flat leaf parsley. Soaking and boiling the beans (which I did) is a seemingly endless process and getting the beans just tender is quite difficult so if you can find tinned beans I would probably suggest using them instead. Oh how I love a bean!

Recipe

1 cup dried fava beans or 400g tinned beans

1 tomato, finely chopped

small handful coriander, roughly chopped

1 lemon

2-5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic, crushed

half a teaspoon dried chilli flakes 

Salt and black pepper

If using dried beans, soak in plenty of water overnight. Drain and bring them to boil in a large pot of water, turn down the heat and simmer for about two hours until tender. Keep a quarter of a cup of the cooking liquid aside then drain the beans and allow to cool. Remove the tough skins from the beans by cutting them gently along the edge and popping the flesh out. If using tinned beans, keep a little of the liquid back, drain and rinse. No need to remove the skins. 

Place beans and the liquid in a pan and simmer for 5-10 minutes. The mixture should be slightly creamy. Remove from the heat and put half the beans into a bowl. Mash with a fork or pestle until semi smooth. Add the rest of the whole beans, juice of the lemon, crushed garlic, chilli flakes and mix together. Add olive oil and salt and pepper to taste, mix again. Spread onto a plate and top with chopped tomatoes and coriander. Drizzle generously with olive oil. Serve with warm pita or flatbreads.

Genoese Sponge

January's grey skies were just asking for something vibrant to lift our spirits. I found a recipe for a Genoese sponge with fresh fruit. I had never made one of these cakes before, it is quite stunning experience. The eggs and sugar are beaten for 10 minutes over a pot of boiling water (bain-marie) until thick and tripled in volume. Beautiful, airy and light.  A Genoese is a firm sponge, it relies completely on the air provided through mixing to give the cake rise as there are no other raising agents used. Slightly drier than a regular sponge it is traditionally used in tiramisu and can be soaked with syrups or alcohol. It can be topped with fruit and whipped cream, sandwiched together with buttercream or baked in a swiss roll tin to make sponge fingers for a trifle. Easy, extremely satisfying to make and it gives a pop of colour and delight to the coldest days of winter.

Recipe (by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall)

60g unsalted butter

125g plain flour

4 medium eggs

125g castor sugar

Pinch of sea salt

200ml whipping cream

250-300g strawberries or raspberries

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease two 18cm or one 22cm cake tins with butter and dust generously with flour. Line the bases with baking paper. Melt the butter and set aside to cool. Sift flour and salt together and set aside. Put eggs and sugar in a large heatproof bowl that will sit snugly over a saucepan of boiling water. The water must not touch the bowl, the steam will warm and help thicken the mixture. Beat the eggs and sugar for about 10 minutes until very pale and at least tripled in volume. The mixture should form thick ribbons on the surface. Sift half the flour and salt into the egg mixture and fold in very gently with a metal spoon, repeat with the remaining flour. Carefully pour in the butter and fold in until just incorporated. Pour the mixture into the tin or divide between the two tins and bake in the middle of the oven for about 20-25 minutes until golden and firm to the touch. Leave to cool in the tin until the cake pulls away from the sides, you may need to run a knife around the edges to help it along. Turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

Top with whipped cream and fresh fruit.