May 18, 2012

Studies and Snackage

Notes upon notes upon notes

 

 

Well hello there, it’s me again!

 

Sadly my blog has been down for maintenance for rather a long time (because of a very naughty virus), but i’m very happy to say that it’s now up and running as before :) As it was, I had to take a bit of a break from blogging over the last couple of months just because I’ve been so epically busy with college work, but it’s really good to be back, and to spend a bit of time devoted to the old blog.

 

Well, I shall fill you in a little. The whole of March & much of April was taken up with meetings and rehearsals for a play that I was co-writing as part of my course.  Many hours were spent arguing over which lines should stay and which should go, whether there should be a monologue at the end of the piece or not, and precisely how many coconuts there should be on the stage. It was a case of many people with many (very interesting, but very different) opinions, but despite that it was hugely fun to do and we wrote a great piece (if I do say so myself). I wish I had some photos to show you, but I was just too busy to take any. Ah well.

 

Then came the essays, and the feeling of content was replaced by stress. I’m currently in the middle of writing a particularly long winded essay on the theory of tragedy (boring), however, research for my dissertation is coming along nicely, and I must say, it is fantastic fun. But more on that later. Anyway, the point is, all this hard work and stress makes a girl hungry. Snacks must be frequently consumed to keep up the workers morale, and never one to turn down an opportunity to experiment in the kitchen, I have consulted the oracles (i.e. my old cook-books) to come up with some tasty treats. A recipe instantly caught my eye as I flicked through the savory snacks & supper dishes section in my beloved Devon W.I. Cookery Book, because of it’s unusual name. I had to make it!

 

So here we have, a 1950s tea time treat:

 

~ Tomato Wiggle ~

 

2 eggs

2 tomatoes dropped in boiling water and skinned

¹/₄ teacup of bread-crumbs

¹/₄ lb. grated cheese

2oz. margarine (or butter)

Salt and pepper

Whisk eggs, chop tomatoes and mix with breadcrumbs and cheese, season.Leave in basin until wanted.Melt margarine in a saucepan and stir “wiggle” over the cooker until it is almost set.Serve on toast.

Mrs. Thomas,Brampton.

 

(The above quantities made enough for a substantial snack for 4 of us)

 

Tomato Wiggle on toast

Does this look especially wiggly to you?

In terms of aesthetics, it wasn’t the most charming thing ever seen on a piece of toast (then again toast toppings aren’t usually things of great beauty), but it was really tasty, very quick to make, and uses things that you’d probably have lurking in the house. A big thumbs up from us then. I’ll definitely be snacking on that again soon.

 

Secondly, from a whole host of savoury snack recipes in Good Housekeeping’s Book of Good Recipes (1946), I give you:

 

~ Cheese Fritters ~

 

1oz butter

1 gill (5fl. oz.) water

2oz flour

2oz grated cheese

2 yolks of egg

1 white of egg

Salt and pepper

 

Put the butter and water into a small saucepan and bring them to the boil. Add the flour and beat until the mixture draws away cleanly from the sides of the pan. Then draw the saucepan to the side of the stove, add the cheese, egg and seasoning to taste. Mix thoroughly and turn on to a plate to cool. When required drop small pieces into a saucepan of hot fat and fry to a gloden brown. Drain on paper and serve hot sprinkled with more cheese if liked.

 

Another quick and tasty treat, though certainly not the healthiest! There seems to be a bit of a cheese theme happening here. Next time I’m going to make cheese dreams, one of my boyfriends favourite vintage treats… essentially a cheese toasty, deep fried!

 

I’ve got loads more retro snacks and nibbles to try out, so stay tuned for more! But for now I’ll leave you with a quote; a few words of wisdom that have inspired me today:

 

“The theory of tragedy is full of absurdities. Few artistic forms have inspired such extraordinarily pious waffle”

(Terry Eagleton, Sweet Violence. 2003)

 

Well, it made me laugh.

 

Cheerio for now,

 

Ella x

 

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January 28, 2012

So that was January, eh?

Hello again, my dears.

Golly, it has been a while, hasn’t it! January has flown by in a screaming vortex of essay deadlines,  winter flu, crushing poverty (due to my university randomly putting up their tuition fees this year, and not bothering to tell me until it’s practically too late, giving me precisely a day to pay them everything I owed them…we sorted out our differences eventually, but i’m still totally skint) and general work overload. There have been tears a plenty, and quite frankly I can’t wait to put this month behind me. I’m just glad it went so quickly.

But never fear, it’s not all been miseryville here. There have of course been some rather exciting moments; my boyfriend officially graduated with a masters from Kings College London the other day, so I am feeling a very proud girlfriend; I watched (or perhaps I should say greedily consumed) both series of Downton Abbey back to back (yes, I realise how behind I am with this, but being ill in bed gave me plenty of time to catch up, and gosh, isn’t it good!); I took up rock climbing again after several years off (and i’m thoroughly enjoying it, despite my complaints of aches and pains after too many years of not exercising); aaand, I have started research for my dissertation on…drumroll please…food, of course! Exciting stuff! Considering I am doing a theatre MA this is quite an achievement.

To be more specific, I’ll be looking at eating and dining as a theatrical form, ranging from the grand banquets of our medieval forefathers, through the lavish dinner parties of the Edwardians, right up to the current day with the current phenomenon of pop-up and underground/home restaurants, arguing that holding a successful dinner is as much about spectacle as it is about food, and that putting on a great dinner is much like putting on a show. I can’t wait to get stuck in! Not only does this mean that I get to visit lots of pop up and underground restaurants, but hopefully I’ll also get to put on a couple of pop up events based on my research myself! So watch this space

Expect something along these lines! Maybe... (The Garden Party, K. Schweninger Jr)

Let the feasting commence!!!!

Ella

Xx

 

Posted in Dissertation research, Life | 1 Comment »

December 2, 2011

A Taste of Christmas Past: Mince Pies

There are all sorts of stories surrounding the origins of the mince pie. Some say that they were they were originally large and rectangular, sometimes with a doll made out of pastry on top, symbolising Jesus in his crib, some say that the mincemeat is supposed to be made up of 13 ingredients, to represent Jesus & his 12 apostles, and some say that the three spices; nutmeg, cinnamon & cloves, were added as a nod the Eastern Magi. Magical though they are, theses stories are all speculative of course; perhaps the mince pie has an incredibly mundane history, with no Christmas connection at all (as some articles I have read on the matter seem to say).  Lets face it, without refrigeration people did all sorts in an attempt to preserve their food harvested during the Autumn to eat during the harsh Winter months. Add to this the fact that in Britain we have a long history of making pies, all year round, so making such a pie could seem only natural. Yet, if nothing else, all of the myths & stories surrounding the origin of the mince pie must mean that people believed that the humble mince pie embodied the spirit of Christmas. And isn’t that what Christmas is about; belief, tradition & the magic that is Christmas spirit. Does it really matter if there is no actual truth to the stories? If the Puritans saw fit to ban them in 1644, along with other ‘Christmas traditions’ then they must be Christmassy, eh?!

 

The mince pie predecessor has been around in Britain since the medieval times & beyond. Known back then as chewetts, these pies contained many of the dried fruits & spices that we associate with our mince pies now, as well as plenty of minced meat. Several early manuscripts have been discovered containing such recipes, one of which, dating back to 1624, reveals that at this point they were already known as minst pyes. The recipe entitled For six Minst Pyes of an Indifferent Bigness, calls for a filling made up  of minced veal, minced lamb and an assortment of dried fruits, peel & spices. By the 1700s tripe & tongue were favoured over lamb & veal, although Hannah Glasse’s recipe for mince pies of 1740 instructed only to add the tongue if you choose, and by the early 1800s minced beef had replaced that. Gradually, throughout the 19th century the meat content in the pies started to diminish, and by the time Mrs Beeton was writing (Beeton’s Book of Household Management was published in 1961), alcohol soaked fruits had completely replaced the meat.

 

I must admit, although I love the idea of mince pies, simply because they are a traditional Christmas staple, I don’t actually like them very much! To be fair, I think I have only ever had shop bought ones. The idea of a meaty mince pie is something that I find much more appealing! So I will certainly be giving them a go. I think I shall try out the 1624 recipe mentioned above, which I came across on this wonderful website. However, they don’t last very long, since they contain meat, so i’ll wait until its closer to Christmas, so watch this space! But or now, I’m going to take a more Victorian approach. Sadly I have left it too late to do Mrs B’s recipe for mincemeat, as that requires at least a month if not more, to mature, so that’s one for next year, but I have found a lovely looking recipe in the Devon W.I. Cookery Book, a little gem I found over the summer probably dating back to the 50s (more on that here), which calls for 2 weeks maturing time. So, here we go:

 

~‘Excellent Mincemeat’~

 

3 large lemons

3 large apples

1 lb. stoned raisins

1lb. currants

1lb. suet (chopped)

2lbs. moist sugar

1oz. chopped candied citron peel

1oz. chopped candied orange peel

1oz chopped candied lemon peel

1 teacup brandy

2 tablespoons orange marmalade

 

Grate the rind of the lemons.

Squeeze out the juice.

Strain, and boil the remainder until tender enough to pulp or chop finely.

Add to this pulp the apples, which should be baked and the skins & cores removed.

Mince raisins, citron, orange and lemon peel.

Add this and the remaining ingredients to pulp & mix thoroughly together.

Put into jars with closely fitting covers, and in 2 weeks it will be ready to use.

 

(Mrs. D McDermott, Westward Ho! W.I.)

 

Mincemeat ready to be jarred

 

It’s certainly simple enough; just mash things up & combine. I really loved the fact that it uses baked apples, when mixed in it gives a glorious smell & texture. Since I didn’t want to be completely drowned in mincemeat over christmas, I halved the recipe. I also made my own candied peel using this recipe, but since I couldn’t get hold of any citron (do they even exist outside of Classical mythology?!?!) I made extra orange & lemon peel. In total I used 1 lemon & 2 oranges.

So now all I have to do is wait! Check back in a couple of weeks for the tasting session!

While we are on the subject of things that need maturing, I made some Christmassy chutney the other day. It is christmassy because it has cranberries in it. It takes about 3 weeks to mature, so why not give it a go and it’ll be ready just in time for Christmas dinner, the perfect accompaniment for after dinner cheese. This could be make another lovely gift to add to your christmas hampers.

 

~Christmassy Cranberry Chutney~

Makes 5 x 250ml jars

 

 

3 red onions, roughly sliced

1 white onion, roughly sliced

1 clove of garlic

5 medium apples, cored, peeled & cut in to large chunks

2 tbsps white wine vinegar

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

4 tbsp red wine

A dash of allspice, black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg & cumin

7 oz sugar

10 oz cranberries

5 oz raisins

Sweat the onions. Once they are soft add all of the other ingredients, except for the cranberries & raisins, bring to the boil and then simmer uncovered for about 50 mins, stirring occasionally.

Add the cranberries & raisins & cook for a further 10 minutes, until softened, but not burst.

Spoon the chutney into sterilised jars and seal. Leave to mature for at least 3 weeks, although it will keep longer.

Note: To sterilise the jars for both of the above recipes, wash in warm soapy water, rinse & dry in a hot oven for about 10 minutes.

 

A veritable tower of chutney!

 

As I want to share the Christmas love, I am entering these recipes into Vanessa Kimbell’s ‘Lets Make Christmas’ extravaganza. Don’t forget to check out her website for lots more homemade Christmas inspiration.

Click meee!

Hopefully that’s enough christmassy goodness to keep you going for now.

 

Until next time,

 

Ella x

Posted in Christmas, Cookery books, Food history & traditions, Recipes, Vintage Cookery Books | 2 Comments »

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December 1, 2011

The Countdown to Christmas Begins!

Decorating the Christmas tree (last year)Happy 1st of December!

With the 1st doors on our advent calendars opened, not to mention the cold weather, it’s really starting to feel Christmassy!

In our family we don’t usually start thinking about Christmas until the very end of November, after my sister’s birthday on the 29th as all focus must be on her until after that point. So, every year on the last day of November, I finally turn my attention to Christmas and start the countdown to the truly most wonderful time of the year (the song doesn’t lie!).  I do, however, find that once the 29th November has been and gone, it does leave me in a bit of a rush trying to get everything ready for the festive season. One day to find, patch up and fill our advent calendar is never enough, and every year we seem to finally put it up around the 10th December. Then there’s cards to source (I inevitably end up buying rather than making, due to time restrictions), write and send, Christmas feastage to plan , with a roast beast and all the trimmings to order, house to decorate, parties to plan/attend, gorgeous frocks to find, and presents to buy. Oh, god, the presents to buy! Of course, present buying is always left to the very last minute, and premium prices are paid!

But not this year, my friends. This year there will be no rush. This year I am being organised!

This year the Christmas wreath will be hung on the door at least a week before christmas, presents will be bought, wrapped and under the tree well before christmas eve, and on Christmas eve I will be sitting in front of the fire with a nice drink rather than rushing round trying to finish decorating the house. This year I will get round to making my own Christmas cards. In fact, this year I am even going to be making most of my own Christmas presents! Partly because I love making and baking, and it’s always been something that I’ve wanted to do, and partly (mostly) because I’m skint.

As I’m sure you’ve guessed, I am a big fan of cooking (really?!?!), and so many of my presents and decorations will naturally be food related. So, homemade hampers all round it is then!

Well, I must say, I’m feeling proud. December has snuck up as usual, like a pigeon after your sandwich, but preparations for the perfect homemade Christmas are well underway. Supplies for decorations, presents & cards have been ordered, my christmas card list has been written up, oranges have been sliced and are currently drying in the airing cupboard ready to be turned into garlands, and for the last couple of weeks all my free time has been spent in the kitchen practicing & perfecting all my favourite christmas treats.The house smells deliciously christmassy already with cider mulling, biscuits baking, mincemeat ageing and chutney…chutneying.

I shall of course be blogging all my christmas ideas, inspiration & experiments, foodie & otherwise, and so, for now, I leave you not one but two (!) delicious recipes for festive tipples, both of which can, and should, be made in advance. I feel a pre-christmas cocktail party coming on!

 

~Mulling Syrup: For Wine or Cider~

 

Mulling syrup ready to give as a gift

There is nothing like a cup of hot mulled wine or cider (my personal preference) to warm your cockles on a cold winters day, and lets face it, the smell alone is enough to make even the scroogiest Scrooge feel jolly & festive.

Decant the syrup into small bottles, tie a pretty ribbon round its neck, and write out a lable with instructions for use and you’ve got yourself a cute little gift to give.

18 oz brown sugar

40 fl/oz water

1 orange, sliced

¹/₂ tsp ground nutmeg

¹/₂ a vanilla pod

1 bay leaf

12 whole cloves

2 tsp ground allspice

2 cinnamon sticks

1/2 tsp ground ginger

5 fl/oz dark rum

Put the sugar and water into a pan and heat gently until the sugar has melted. Add all the other ingredients, excluding the rum and simmer for about 10-15minutes, stirring occasionally. It will become very viscose, as syrup should be, but if you think it is too gloopy, just add some more water.

Remove from heat and allow to cool. Once cool, strain through muslin into another pan, then re-heat the syrup gently, mixing thoroughly. Add the rum, and give a good final stir.

Pour into sterilised bottles while still warm, and seal. Once bottled, should keep for a good couple of months.

Include the following serving instructions:

To use, warm either cider or wine in a large pan and add the mulling syrup. Use 1/3 syrup to 2/3 alcohol. If making mulled cider add some slices of apple, and if making wine add some slices of orange. Serve hot. 

 

 

~Cranberry & Orange Liqueur~

The liqueur after 2 days

Cranberries & oranges scream christmas.  Not only are they super tasty-delicious when combined but their jewel colours look beautiful when put together, and as such I intend to have plenty of cranberry & orange decorations adorning my christmas tree. But more on that later.

Decanted into little bottles this would make another splendid gift. I adapted this recipe from the one I found here.

 

350ml water

300g sugar (I used brown, simply because that’s what I had in)

300g fresh cranberries

Rind & juice of 1 orange

A 500ml bottle of good quality vodka

 

Combine water and sugar in a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer sugar syrup for five minutes, making sure the sugar is completely dissolved.

Stir in the cranberries, grated orange rind and orange juice. Remove syrup mixture from heat and leave to cool a little.

Pour the mixture into a food processor & blitz for a moment or two, chopping the cranberries roughly.

Allow the mixture to cool, then add the vodka and stir.

Pour into a large glass jar, cover and store in a cool, dark place for three weeks, stirring every few days.

After steeping for three weeks, strain the mixture through muslin until there are no cranberry bits or general residue left.

Pour liqueur into small glass bottles.

 

With only 3 weeks to go it’s really time to get cracking, but never fear, it certainly isn’t too late to start preparing for a homemade Christmas! There is just sooo much inspiration out there on the bloggosphere & the lovely Vanessa Kimbell over on her website at has come up with the brilliant idea of collecting and collating the recipes of all of the tasty things that bloggers are making in the run up to christmas, as a sort of go-to guide for Christmas recipes. There are so many fabulous recipes on there, so take a look if you need some Christmas inspiration. I shall be submitting these two recipes.

 

Click meee!

Inspired by the response that she go to ‘Lets Make Christmas’, Vanessa went on to put on a ‘Lets Make Christmas’ event at Fortnum & Mason, which I was lucky enough to attend.  The idea was that we (50 food bloggers) would go along, taking an assortment of homemade Christmas gifts, drink tea, eat cake & have a good old chit-chat, and at the end of the day we would come away with a bunch of other gifts, from the gift swap, and a whole host of new ideas. One of the gifts that I took along to the gift swap was the mulling syrup above. It was a lovely afternoon, and I hope to write some more about it in a few days.

Click me too!

In my next post i’ll be writing about mincemeat & chutney, so keep an eye out for more recipes very soon.

 

But for now, I bid you adieu.

Ella xx

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November 21, 2011

Just a little note to say…

…sorry i’ve been away for so long. I haven’t forgotten about you!  Life has been hectic. But in a good way. I have been getting up to all sorts of exciting things this month. As I catch up with all by blogging that I should of done over the last few weeks here’s a few photos of all things that I have been up to, that will be making appearances in my blog posts very soon.

 

Ella x

Our fireworks night bonfire

The flaming tar barrels. A bonfire night tradition in Ottery St Mary, Devon

The men of Ottery who run round the streets with the flaming barrels on their backs

Eating on a tight budget isn't easy. Especially when the signs in Iceland try to knock you out.

A visit to the wonderful Geffrye Museum. A lovely free day out.

Shopping & hanging out at the Vintage Mafia Sale and Social

Collecting Christmas inspiration at various events

and lots of cooking, of course!

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October 21, 2011

Fireside Feasts & An October Apple Challenge

Well, it’s nearly the weekend once again, and I still haven’t got round to telling you about last weekend! In essence there was a lot of straw, a lot of fire, a lot of apples and some wonderful cooking. So here we go…

As you may recall from a previous blog post Autumn is Awesome I am a huge fan of bonfires (actually, fan doesn’t really cover it), and Autumn is bonfire season. Yay!

Well, this weekend was spent in Devon, helping with the thatching. By that I mean burning all of the old thatch that had been taken off the roof to make way for the new thatch.  And by Jove, what a lot of thatch there was!

 

Where has the house gone?!

 

Uncovering the cottage

 

Just havin' a snooze

Loading up the fire

Keeping the fire going

All of this old straw meant that the bonfire had to be kept lit all weekend, and while it was a very dirty, smelly job at least it meant I was round a nice fire for two whole days. Now this got me thinking. Thinking about the perfect bonfire meal.

In my opinion it has to be something that can be made in a big pot, so that you can pop a ladle in it when its done and everyone can help themselves. It has to be something eaten from a bowl, that requires no more that one utensil, be it a fork or a spoon, so that you can still prance around the bonfire pixie-like should you wish, and most importantly it has to be delicious, warming and hearty.

I am currently organising a bonfire night party, which will involve a huge bonfire (i’ve gathered loads of old wood and made sure I kept back a few bundles of straw from the thatch for bonfire night), sparklers and of course lots of delicious food.

 

My shortlist for the main course so far is:

  • Hearty vegetable soup with crusty bread
  • Beef stew with dumplings (we had that at last years party, perhaps we need a change)
  • Chicken and mushroom risotto
  • Jacket potatoes with Chili-con-carne
  • Lentil/ split pea casserole (I looooooove lentils…actually, I love all of the above)

 

Anyway, since I had a bunch of hungry builders to feed in between my bouts of thatch burning, I decided to give a sausage, squash and split pea casserole a go. And my goodness, was it tasty.

 

So here you go;

 

~Squash, Sausage and Split Pea Casserole~

Serves 4

 

8-10 pork sausages

2 small red onions, cut into quarters.

2 sticks of celery, finely chopped.

1 clove of garlic, crushed.

1 large squash, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks.

¹/₂ – 1 tsp mild curry powder

1 cup (about 200g) yellow split peas, rinsed.

1 pint vegetable stock

 

 ~ Grill or fry the sausages until browned on all sides, and set aside to cool a little. Once cool enough cut into chunks, or just in half.

~ Heat the oil in a large casserole dish and add the onion, celery and garlic and cook until they start to soften.

~Add the butternut squash and the curry powder and fry up for a few minutes (adding a little water if you need to to stop it from sticking), before adding the split peas. Cover everything with cold water.

~ Once the water has come to the boil top up with the stock. Add the sausages, cover and cook for about 40 mins, stirring occasionally. You may need to add some more water if it gets too dry. 

 ~ Season to taste and serve with warm crusty bread. Totally delicious!

Well, it's certainly not the most attractive of dishes!

Then of course there’s dessert. The first thing that springs to mind when I think of bonfires is toffee apples! Those sticky little bundles of delight. Luckily for me our little apple tree happens to be bursting with apples ready for the picking. We’ve already been feasting on apple pies and crumbles for the last few weeks, so new ideas were needed and toffee apples seemed like a welcome change. But there’s only so many toffee apples one can eat, so I decided it was time to experiment. And that was when I came up with the idea of a toffee apple tart. Nom!

 

There are plenty of toffee apple tart recipes out there it seems, but none of them were quite what I was looking for. I really love the texture of toffee apples; the hard super sweet shell that you have to break through to get to the crisp tart apple centre, and that was what I really wanted to recreate in a tart form. I gave my tart an apple curd filling with a hard toffee topping, and let me tell you, it really was delicious.

 

So here we are:

 

~Toffee Apple Tart With a Gingerbread Crust~

 

 

Gingerbread Pastry

8oz (225g) plain flour, plus extra for dusting

1oz (25g) soft brown sugar, sifted

4oz (115g) cold butter, cut into small cubes

¹/₂ teaspoon mixed spice

¹/₂ teaspoon ground ginger

2 desert spoons of golden syrup

1 egg, beaten

 

Apple Curd

4 large cooking apples

12oz (350g) soft brown sugar

4oz (115) unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

2 rounded rounded dessertspoons cornflour

 

Toffee Topping

6oz (170g) brown sugar

¹/₂ tsp vinegar

2 tbsp golden syrup

 

 

~ Start by making the pastry. Sieve the flour from a heigh into a large mixing bowl and sieve the sugar over the top. 

~With cool hands rub the cubes of butter in until it resembles fine bread crumbs. Mix in the spices and then the golden syrup and egg. 

~Work together until you have a ball of dough. If it seems too dry, add a splash of milk, or if too sticky, a sprinkling of flour. 

~Wrap in cling film an leave to rest in the fridge for about half an hour, while you blitz up your apples and have a cup of tea.

 

~Pre heat your oven to 180°C, 350°F, gas mark 4.

~Peel and core your apples and cut into chunks, then in a food processor, blender or juicer blitz the apples until you are left with a pulpy juice. This took me quite a while, so bear with it!

 ~By now your pastry should be well rested, so get it out of the fridge.  On a floured surface roll out into a circle, giving quarter turns as you roll to keep the circle shape. Roll to approximately ¹/₄ inch thick, or large enough to sit inside a 9” flan tin. Place in the greased and lined flan tin and press all over the sides and the base, allow an overhang of pastry as the pastry will shrink back. Prick the bottom all over with a fork and place in the over for about 20 mins.

~Meanwhile, make the apple curd. In a saucepan lightly whisk the eggs, then add the rest of the ingredients. 

~Place the pan over a medium heat and whisk continuously until the mixture thickens, this takes about 8-10 mins. 

~Lower the heat and let the curd simmer for another minute or so.

~ Remove the pastry case from the oven and allow everything to cool for a few minutes. Then spoon the apple curd into the pastry case. If you have some left over t will keep in the fridge for a few days and makes a really good pancake filling!

~Leave aside to cool and set for about 1 hour. 

 

~Finally, make the topping. Tip the sugar into a saucepan along with 100ml water. Cook for about 5 mins over a medium heat until the sugar dissolves, then stir in the vinegar and syrup. 

~Boil for another 5 or so minutes, stirring continuously, until it reaches a hard set point. If you have a sugar thermometer boil to 140°, if like me, you don’t have one, test the toffee by pouring a blob into a bowl of cold water. If it hardens instantly, and is brittle when removed then it’s done, if not, keep boiling.

~Once you’ve reached the hard set point, pour all over the tart filling in a thin layer. You don’t want it to be too thick or it will break peoples teeth! So if you’ve got some left over, don’t be tempted to use at all up. 

~This can be served as soon as the toffee on the top has set, but it is just as good later on when all of the flavours start to run into one and other.

 

Crack the top before serving

 

A slice of the pie

In my humble opinion, this pie tastes just like autumn should do! It’s certainly not the simplest recipe in the world, but my goodness, it is certainly worth it.  Sweet, sticky and super satisfying. I will definitely be serving this up on bonfire night to all my friends. Here is one of my tasting  guinea-pigs. His face say’s it all!

In heaven...I think?!

 

I am so proud of this one that I have decided to enter it into my very first baking challenge!

Great British Bake-off finalist, Ruth Clemens aka The Pink Whisk is hosting a baking challenge on the theme of apples, this month so I thought i’d give it a go.  Her blog is so inspiring, full of fabulous recipes and tutorials, and it’s been lots of fun taking part in her challenge.If you’ve got an abundance of apples that you don’t know what to do with, then go and have a look at all of the entries for the October challenge over at her blog. Tons of inspirational ideas there! I’ll have to look out for next months challenge too!

 The Pink Whisk

 

I hope you give these recipes a go, and enjoy them as much as I do.

 

Until next time,

 

Ella x

 

P.S. I have just had a slice of the pie, several days after making it, and it was good! I think if anything it just gets better with age!

Posted in Country Life, Recipes | 4 Comments »

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October 10, 2011

The Great Egg Famine of 2011

A strange situation has arisen here in deepest darkest Devonshire. Before mid September eggs were in abundance, popping out of the chickens at a rate of knots. Half a dozen eggs could be purchased for a pittance at any number of houses in the vicinity. Now there are none. Not one. Not a sausage! So, unless I fancy the 2 hour trek to the nearest supermarket (which I don’t, by the way, just in case you were wondering) then I am going to have to survive without them, until the next rare bus into town.

 

Coincidentally, a few days ago a friend contacted me with a challenge to make some tasty bakes, without using eggs, as he is allergic. Always up for a challenge, I scurried into my kitchen to start experimenting.

 

My first port of call was Eating For Victory, a book published a few years ago made up of facsimiles of all the leaflets issued by the Ministry of Food during WWII. I have always been fascinated with WWII ration cookery, discovering ways in which housewives coped, indeed flourished, with the limited resources available to them. Thanks to the combined efforts of the Ministry of Food, established at the outbreak of the war, the Women’s Land Army, slaving away to produce enough food to replace the imports that had been cut off, and the inventive and persevering housewives that fed the nation, Britain managed to not only stay well fed, but became fitter than ever during the war.  From 1940 the Ministry of Food issued jolly pamphlets suggesting interesting ways to cook with what was available, or instructing on how to use new products, such as tinned meat, powdered (or household) milk, introduced in 1941 and dried eggs, in 1942.  One such pamphlet, entitled Cakes, Biscuits and Scones Without Eggs, deals with the chronic egg shortage, and was exactly what I was looking for. Although this pamphlet deals specifically with cooking without eggs, I found that most of the recipes in the book are egg free, which is not surprising, since even though egg rationing didn’t come into place until July 1941 eggs were incredibly difficult to come by from the beginning of the war, and most cooks learned to manage without.

 

From a whole host of recipes for  cakes, biscuits, puddings and other sweet treats, here are a couple tried and tested by me.

 

 

~Chocolate Cake~

From leaflet No. 30 – Baking without eggs

 

3oz. margarine or fat

7oz. plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

¹/₂ teaspoon salt

1 ¹/₂ oz. cocoa

3 oz. sugar

¹/₄ pint warm milk & water

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 tablespoon vinegar

¹/₂ teaspoon vanilla essence

 

~Rub the margarine or fat into the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the cocoa and sugar and mix with the milk and water. Dissolve the soda in the vinegar and add to the cake mixture with the essence. Mix, turn into a greased 6” tin and bake in a moderate oven for 1 ¹/₂ hours.

 

The recipe is written simply and eloquently, and after searching high and low for my measuring jug (it was behind the armchair, of course?!?!), I got started, finding all in all, a very easy to make cake, with the bicarbonate of soda/vinegar mix adding a bit of pazzazz and brightening up what would have otherwise been a rather dull Wednesday afternoon.  Aside from exciting me, the bicarbonate of soda/vinegar supposedly makes the cake lovely and bouncy. Instead it gave the cake mix a very odd rubbery texture when uncooked and once it had cooked, lets just say it was far from bouncy.

A rather unattractive war time chocolate cake

It tasted just as bad :(

 

But, I was determined to try again, sure that with a little tweaking it would work. So, using almost the same ingredients, here is my version of a ration regulation chocolate cake. The biggest problem I found with the above cake was the crumbly, dry texture and floury taste. It was also more salty than sweet, which in a cake, I find rather weird. So I lowered the flour content and upped the sugar content to 4oz, which at half of the weekly sugar ration, leaves enough sugar for another cake during the week! I also upped the fat content from 3oz o 4oz, which, by the end of the war, was the entire weekly fat ration…so thats the end of making 2 cakes :(

 

~Chocolate Cake: Take 2~

4oz. sugar

4oz. marge (or butter-if you can get it!)

1 tbsp oil

¹/₄ pint warm milk & water

6oz. plain flour

3tsp baking powder

1 ¹/₂oz. cocoa

 

 

~Cream together the sugar and fat. Add the oil and whisk (this sort of takes the place of the egg…except oil isn’t binding. Oh well). Stir in the warm milk and water.

~In a separate bowl stir together the flour, baking powder and cocoa. Beat this into the wet mixture until smooth.

~Pour the mixture into a greased tin and bake at 180°C for about 40 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted.

 

I finished the cake off with this suggestion from the above leaflet (I managed to ‘find’ a sneaky  ¹/₂ oz of butter…).

 

~Chocolate Filling~

¹/₂ oz. margarine or butter

2 oz. cocoa

2 oz.  sugar (I used icing, is that allowed?)

2 tbsp. strong black coffee

or

2 tbsp. water & 1 tsp vanilla essence

(I opted for the coffee variation)

 

~Melt the margarine. Remove from the heat and add the cocoa and sugar. Beat in the coffee or water and essence, until the mixture becomes a good spreading consistency.

 

Surprisingly, this made a really tasty and good looking topping for the cake. I’ll definitely be using this recipe again.

An altogether more attractive chocolate cake

 

The second recipe from Eating For Victory was a steamed jam pudding. Although it was a lot less sweet that jam pudding we are used to nowadays, it was very good indeed, and would make a delicious treat for a cold day,  served with lashings of custard. I have edited the quantities ever so slightly…just to bring out the sweetness.

 

~Steamed Jam Pudding~

 

Steamed to perfection

 

 

 

6oz. plain flour and 3 level teaspoons baking powder

or 6oz. self raising flour.

A pinch of salt

2oz. fat (grated suet is best)

2oz. sugar (maybe add a little more, for modern sweet-tooths)

Just over ¹/₄  pint of milk, or milk and water

2 tablespoons of Jam…3 if you can spare it!

 

 

~Mix together the flour, baking powder if used, and salt. Rub in the fat and add the sugar. Mix to a dropping consistency with the milk and water. Put the jam at the bottom of a greased tin and add the pudding mixture. Cover with lid and steam for 1 ¹/₂ – 2 hours.

 

For the steaming I used a ceramic pudding bowl, covered with a piece of cloth and tied up with string. i put this into a large pot with anout 2” water in the bottom, covered with a litd and let it steam away. Make sure you check the water levels in the pot.

Happily steaming away

 

The next recipe, also from WW2 is taken from Marguerite Pattens book We’ll Eat Again.

Super simple, and very tasty.

 

~Golden Syrup Loaf~

 

4oz. self raising flour or plain flour with 2tsp baking powder

¹/₂ tsp bicarbonate of soda

Pinch of salt

2oz. brown sugar (this is just my addition. Omit it if you want to be totally authentic)

3 tbsp warmed golden syrup

¹/₄ pint warm milk

 

~Sift the flour (or flour and baking powder), bicarbonate of soda, salt and sugar. Heat the syrup and milk and stir together, then pour over the flour mixture. Beat well, until all the lumps have disappeared.

~Pour into a greased loaf tin and cook in a moderately hot (220°C) oven for 30 minutes.

 

While this isn’t as spongy as your average cake, it is still very good. In my opinion, the more golden syrup, the better. This could just be because I LOVE golden syrup. Once baked pierce the cake all over with a skewer and pour another tablespoon of warmed Golden Syrup over the top, for extra syrupy goodness.

Nom nom, cake!

So what have I learned from this brief foray into war time cookery?  For one, I know that baking during the war must have been no mean feat! Without eggs, and with only limited supplies of fat and sugar the cakes tend to be dryer, denser and less sweet than you’d like, but with a little bit of improvisational ingenuity, then cakes can be baked!

 

Experimenting is certainly fun, but perhaps i’ll stick to non-ration cakes in future.  I will, however, in the very near future be trying out some more WW2 recipes… savoury things and such like…I may even take the experiment a little further by only eating rations for a week or two. That would be fun…

 

To finish off, I leave you with one more egg free recipe. This isn’t from a ration cookbook, but it is one of my favourite biscuit recipes ever, and although I have been making these my whole life, I have only just realised that they are egg free. I made these the other day as a present for our neighbours, completely unrelated to my egg free experimentations. They really are delicious!

~Cornish Fairings~

Makes about 18

10 cornish fairings, sitting on the shelf...

 

8oz (225g) plain flour, sifted

3 tsp baking powder

¹/₂ tsp ground mixed spice

¹/₂ tsp ground ginger

3 ¹/₂ oz (90g) margarine

2 ¹/₂ oz (65g) demerara sugar

4 fl oz (100ml) golden syrup, warmed by standing the tin/bottle in hot water.

 

~Heat the oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas 4) and grease 2 baking trays.

~Mix together the flour, baking powder, spice, and ginger. Rub in the margarine until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Mix in the sugar followed by the syrup, which should be mixed with a fork to form a soft paste.

~With floured hands roll chunks of the dough to form a ping-pong sized ball. Place the ping-pongs of dough onto the prepared baking tray and flatten with your finger tips until each bit of dough is about 1cm /¹/₂ in thick. Ensure they are well spaced as they will expand considerably.

~Bake for about 15-20 mins until risen and golden brown. They will be quite squishy to the touch but will solidify as they cool down.

~Allow to cool on a wire rack and enjoy

 

Ping-pong sized ball of dough, see

Before baking

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, enough of this waffle! If you’ve made it to the end of this extremely long post, well done… treat yourself to a tasty little egg. In other news, since I started writing this post a few days ago, we have returned to London, where there are plenty of eggs, so if any of you lovely people were just about to rush out to your nearest post office to send us a food parcel of eggs, then sit back down, and put your feet up.

 

If anyone has any great WW2 recipes out there, do let me know. I always love getting new recipes to try! Do try these out, and let me know how it goes too.

 

So long for now,

Ella x

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September 26, 2011

Building Works and Breakfast Wonders

Helping to put up the scaffolding/ standing around looking pretty but not actually doing work

 

Well, happy Monday to you! Last week literally flew by and Monday has snuck up and taken me by surprise. It has certainly been busy round here the last week. We have just embarked upon the (somewhat epic) task of re-thatching our roof which is a job long over due. Before the thatcher comes in next week the scaffolding needs to be put up, the walls de-wisteriad, and the roof needs stripping of it’s current, rather moldy, thatch. Pretty frocks have been abandoned in favour of practical and rather scruffy workwear, dainty china tea sets have been packed away, replaced by builder friendly mugs, and my days are now spent doing sweaty manual labour rather than making cakes and other such delights.

 

 

Note the current mouldy thatch

Saying that, I really don’t mind a bit of manual labour, it’s nice to be outside working up a bit of a sweat, and all this hard work will certainly pay off in winter when we are snug and warm inside, rather than battling with the usual leaks and dampness. Plus, once the thatch is done, building works on the interior will start which means I get a new kitchen. Yay!!!!! Maybe even an Aga…if it will fit.

 

Although I am helping outside, lugging round scaffolding/ stones /other building materials, and hurting myself by getting little pieces of glass stuck in my fingers/ trapping my fingers between scaffolding poles/catching my hair on brambles, I am still head cook, in charge of feeding several hungry builders. It is important to start the day well fed and full of energy, and frankly cereal every morning is dull dull dull, so the other day I cooked up one of my favorite breakfast  treats:

 

~American Pancakes with Bacon and Maple Syrup~

Makes about 18

 

Filling and totally delicious, not to mention super easy to make. Although, maple syrup and bacon isn’t to everyones taste. I didn’t think it would be to mine, but I tried it anyway, and was hooked!

 

Ingredients:

8 oz flour

2 eggs

10fl/oz (¹/₂ pint) milk

2 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp melted butter

 

1 pack smoked bacon (streaky is the best)

Maple syrup

 

Serve with lashings of maple syrup

~ Sift the flour and baking powder together in a large bowl and stir in the sugar. In a jug whisk the milk, eggs and melted butter lightly.

~ Pour the liquid into the flour mixture slowly, combining as you go along. Whisk with a fork or a hand-held whisk to remove any lumps.

~ Leave the batter to stand for a few minutes while you fry the bacon. In my opinion, the crispier the better when it comes to bacon to go with pancakes.

~ Pop the bacon in the oven while you make the pancakes… If you have 2 large frying pans (which I don’t) you could cook the bacon at the same time as the pancakes I suppose.

~ Now comes the trickier bit; cooking the pancakes. Heat a large non-stick frying pan over a hot steady heat and add a splash of oil. Let the oil heat up and then use a piece of kitchen roll to mop up any excess oil/coat the pan. You don’t want much oil at all otherwise the pancakes go all funny :(

~ Ladle or pour (from a jug) the batter into the frying pan (I comfortably fit 3 little pancakes into one pan) and cook until bubble rise to the surface of the pancake, then flip and cook on the other side. Repeat until all of the batter is used up and serve with the bacon and lots of maple syrup.

Yummmmm!

 

Just to finish off, here is a cute frog that we found under all the rubble. Still no hedgehogs though :(

Our little friend

 

Bye for now!

Ella x

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September 17, 2011

Autumn is Awesome!

Every day for the past week as I’ve been walking the doggies I have noticed just how quickly summer is turning in to Autumn. With golden leaves and cob nuts crunching under foot, mushrooms sprouting out of literally everywhere, and a riot of fantastic Autumn colours, it really is a beautiful time of year. As you may be able to tell, I am very excited about autumn! It is one of my absolute favourite seasons (along with Winter, Spring and Summer) as there is so much to get excited about.

So, for your perusal, here is a list of my 10 favourite things about Autumn… and I do hope that some of you feel the same way as I do!

 

1. Autumnal vegetables: Squashes, pumpkins, parsnips, artichokes, beetroots, gourds, peppers etc. The most beautiful array of fiery colours you ever did see!

Autumn vegetables

2.Hearty Autumn dishes: Warming meals of roast pumpkin risotto, thick spiced squash soup, beef stew with dumplings, hot apple pie, wild mushroom soup, lamb hot pot, moussaka, steamed pudding with custard, the list goes on! Omnomnom! Recipes to follow soon :)

The lovely apple pie that our friend Esme made for us last week

3. Mushroom picking:There are soooo many mushrooms in the forests around us at the moment, just calling out to be picked. The problem is i’m not very good at identifying them :s My Nana used to take me and my sister out mushroom picking when we were young, and we learned a lot from her, but I seem to have forgotten most of it, which is a problem when you are dealing with potentially poisonous things. Luckily I have my trusty Collins Gem Guide to Mushroom and Toadstools at hand, so hopefully I won’t be poisoning anyone any time soon!

Mushroom, mushroom!

Heart or bum? Either way, it looks like a friendly mushroom!

To eat or not to eat. If my instincts tell me anything i'd say not.

4. Mulled cider: Basically amazing! I cant wait to make some. It’s a bit early yet though. And mulled wine too…but that’s a bit more Wintery than Autumny in my opinion.

Mmmm, sweet warming goodness

5. Sloe Gin: Collecting sloes and making sloe gin, I should say.

Sloes outside the garden gate

6. Bonfires: Sitting around in the garden on a clear cold night keeping warm and drinking cider by a massive bonfire. With toasted marshmallows. And Smores…Although I’ve never been able to make a successful Smore in England. I leaned how to make them (to perfection) on holiday in Canada, but have failed since then. Well, here’s to trying!

Cider round the bonfire

7. Bonfire Night!One of my favourite holidays of the year. What’s not to like?! Fires, fireworks and general revelry. Every year we go to the Tar Barrels in Ottery St. Mary, Devon, on bonfire night, where the town folk run around carrying huge flaming tar barrels on their back. If it sounds like utter madness, I can assure you that it definitely is! Crazy and fantastic, with more than just a hint of danger. Although it’s roots have been lost over time, the tradition is thought to date back several hundred years, with fumigating cottages, fertility rituals and the old Guy Faulks saga amongst many other theories of why it started. The evening starts with the small children of the town carrying little barrels, working up, through teens and women and through 17 different barrels, to the flaming monsters that the men carry. The last one of the night is a whopping 30kg, spewing flames that burst into the sky reaching higher than the thatched cottages that line the streets. If you don’t like fire, getting squashed in crowds, the smell of singed hair or indeed getting burned, then this probably isn’t the thing for you. And people who aren’t quick to react when theres a ball of fire heading your way DO get burned. I would know!

Don't say I didn't warn you!

Tar barrel 1

Tar barrel 2

Tar barrel 3

8. My Autumn wardrobe: Warm vintage knitwear, tweed, anything red (my favourite colour to wear, but it just doesn’t feel right in Spring and Summer), woolen plaid, capes, boots, hats, wellies, coats, scarves etc.

At bonfire night last year, modelling a lovely 80s jumper and the latest in Autumn headwear; a burn dressing...I'd just had a run in with one of the afore mentioned tar barrels.

Another Autumn favourite; my gorgeous 40s wool houndstooth plaid suit

9. Dark Evenings: Snuggling up in the evening, as soon as it gets dark, with a blanket and/or a roaring fire to do some hard earned relaxing with a book or the TV.  Or better yet, going on long walks in the dark, with just a torch to lead the way. Then finding a lovely warm pub to hole up in to drink the evening away before walking back…the same way as you came, but in a wobblier line.

Walking through the village on a dark Autumn evening

10. Jumping on piles of crunchy leaves:Fairly self explanatory.

Lots of golden leaves...and Oliver with a chainsaw

11. Hedgehogs: Ok, ok, I know this is more than 10, but I just love Autumn that much! I have never actually seen a hedgehog, but I live in hope! I always check under the  piles of branches and leaves before we burn them, to check for sleeping hedgehogs.

Awwwwww, it's so cute! Look at it's tiny hands and feet!

Well, having got all excited, i’m off to play outside!

 

Bye for now!

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September 15, 2011

Last Days of Summer

Summer, it seems, is drawing to a close. Not wanting to miss out on the last of the nice weather, a couple of friends and I packed up a picnic and headed for the beach. We very sensibly prepared for the worst, packing warm jumpers and waterproofs, as well as a flask of tea, but amazingly we were treated to glorious sunshine all day. Whatever the weather, tea is an absolute essential when going to the beach. It will keep you cheery in miserable weather, and warm you up after a dip in the sea. When it comes to flasks of tea my advice would be take a flask of tea, but keep the milk separate as it usually goes a bit disgusting after a while. Better yet, take a flask of hot water and separate tea bags, so that people can take tea to their preferred strength. Just as important are biscuits to go with the tea. Not simply because they are tasty, but because the sugar will replenish your energy that the cold sea has taken out of you. When I was young I used to go on a holiday to Wales every year with my friend Carragh and her family, and after hours of swimming, surfing and splashing around in the sea her mum would always have a packet of biscuits ready to stuff into our mouths to stop us complaining when we got out. It worked a treat, and I have very fond memories of those holidays and those biscuits.

This trip to the beach was no different. Hours of splashing around in the sea (ok, not quite hours, i’m not as hardcore as I used to be, and couldn’t be bothered with a wetsuit either) followed by hot tea and cookies to warm up.

Cookie?

Attempting to bodyboard

Someone refused to go in the sea

Splashing around

...and back on shore in time for tea

Hot tea and homemade cookies to warm up

For this particular outing I made my delicious chewy chocolate chip cookies. Goodness knows where I originally got the recipe, but I have adapted it over time, and it currently goes like this:

 

~Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies~

Makes about 18

 

 

12oz plain flour

Pinch of Salt

8oz butter or marge, softened

6oz caster sugar

2 eggs

2tbsp golden syrup

2tbsp dark treacle

2tbsp Horlics powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

12oz milk chocolate, smushed up

 

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5 and grease and line a 2 baking trays.

 

In a bowl, combine the butter and sugar until creamy. Beat in the eggs, golden syrup, treacle, and vanilla extract. Gradually beat in the flour, Horlics and salt. Stir in the chocolate. The consistency should be gooey, but not runny.

 

Splodge large blobs of the cookie mix on to the pre prepared baking tray, ensuring that they are evenly spaced. When they start to cook the splodges will flatten out and expand sideways, so make sure there is plenty of room between each cookie. Cook for about 20-30 mins, until they are going golden on the outside, but still chewy on the inside. As they’ll need to be cooked on 2 baking trays, you can either do one tray 1st and then the other, or do them at the same time, but adda on a bit of extra time for the lower tray.

 

Mmmmm, cookies!

 

 

Well, that is quiet enough of that for now, so until next time,

 

Cheerio,
Ella x

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