Apricot, walnut and honey loaf cake

I love a tea loaf. And anything that involves honey and walnuts tends to catch my eye - since I began dabbling in beekeeping I've always failed to keep up with the honey supplies (I read in a beekeeping book that beekeepers tend to start because of the bees and stop because of the honey - it struck a chord); and we have an epic quantity of walnuts dropping every autumn, that it is hard to keep up with. So I liked the look of this one - also because I liked the idea of cake as a vehicle for cheese...

I convinced s to help me make it this windy sunday afternoon.

150 g honey
100 g light brown sugar
250 g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
50 g oats

150 g dried apricots

2 eggs
125 ml black tea, cooled if possible

150 g golden sultanas (used mix of these and raisins)
50 g walnuts

Heat oven to 160C. Grease and line loaf tin. Gently warm the honey and sugar in a small saucepan, without stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and oats in a large bowl. Cut the apricots into small pieces and stir them in. Break the eggs into a small bowl, beat lightly with a fork.

Pour the warm honey and sugar mixture into the flour together with the tea and the beaten eggs. Then fold the golden sultanas and walnuts into the batter. Scoop the mixture, which will be soft and runny, like a gingerbread batter, into the lined tin.

Bake for 60-75 min until risen and lightly springy (mine seemed perfect at 60 min). Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin.

 

It fit perfectly in my regular sized loaf tin.

Cranberry oat coconut biscuits

These are probably my favourite biscuits at the moment. They remind me a bit of the 'National Trust' biscuits my mum used to make (the bicarb, and oats). And I love that the only sweetener (apart from the cranberries) is honey - I am always looking for good things to do with my jars on jars of honey... 

(makes about 12 small ones - double for a more normal number of biscuits is in brackets)

50 g wholemeal flour (100 g)

1 tsp cinnamon (optional) (2 tsp) 

45 g oats (90 g)

43 g desiccated coconut (86 g)

23 g sunflower seeds (46 g)

15 g dried cranberries (30 g)

56 g honey (112 g)

38 g melted butter (or coconut oil) (72 g)

1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda (1/2 tsp)

1 tbsp warm water (2 tbsp)

Heat oven to 180C. Line a baking sheet with paper. 

Mix flour, cinnamon if using, oats, coconut, cranberries and sunflower seeds in a large bowl. Melt butter and honey together in a small bowl in the microwave until just melted. Mix bicarb and water together in a cup and then add to the butter/honey mix. Add the butter/honey/bicarb mix to the flour mix, and mix well.

Put tbsp sized balls on the tray and flatten as much as you can without breaking (nb one time we squished the mix into dinosaur cutters to make dinosaur shapes and it worked OK). Bake 12-15 min until golden. Take out of the oven, let sit on the tray for c. 10 min, then remove to a wire rack and let cool.

The toasted oat / cranberry / sunflower seed / coconut mixture is delicious. Could easily be vegan (with coconut oil instead of butter). Raisins instead of cranberries and chopped walnuts instead of sunflower seeds could be good - or other such substitutions.

Honey cake

Ever since I started keeping bees I have always been on the lookout for a perfect honey cake. I spotted this recipe in a feature about using stuff up (in this case, crystallised honey), and it seemed to fit the bill. So I gave it a try.

200-250 g honey
150 g butter
2 eggs, beaten
220 g wholemeal flour
1 tsp baking powder

Heat the oven to 200C. Grease and line a 20 cm diameter cake tin. Melt 170 g honey and the butter in a pan over a low heat. Remove from the heat, stir in the eggs, flour and baking powder until well combined, then pour into the prepared cake tin. Bake c. 35 min / until a skewer comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Spike the cake all over with a skewer, then spread / crumble the remaining honey over the top.


It was a bit dry. Maybe I left it in the oven a bit long? Or I used 200 g honey, maybe it would be worth trying with 250 g instead? The quest for the perfect honey cake continues...

Apple galette with walnut pastry

This was one of those ideas that crystallized suddenly, and I just had to figure out how to do it. I wanted a galette, with a sticky apple filling and a crisp walnut pastry. I based the pastry on this recipe, and the filling on this one. I love a galette just now, a pie without needing a pie dish, brilliant.

(makes one galette - approx 4 portions)

For the pastry:
30 g walnuts, toasted
120 g flour
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
23 g chilled butter, cut into small cubes
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
c 3 tbsp cold water

For the filling:
8 small apples
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp butter, cut into small pieces

Grind walnuts until finely chopped. Mix with flour, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Add butter and rub in until the mix resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in oil, then stir in water 1 tbsp at a time until it comes together. Gather into a ball, flatten into a disc, then wrap in cling film and chill for at least an hour.

While the pastry is chilling, prepare the filling. Peel, halve and core the apples, then slice crosswise c 1/4 in thick. Keep the good slices whole, and chop the ends and broken pieces, so about half the amount of apple is slices and the rest chopped. In a separate, small bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon.

When ready to assemble, first heat the oven to 210C / 420F. Roll out the chilled pastry on a piece of baking paper and transfer to a baking sheet. Spread the chopped apples over the pastry, leaving about a 2 in border around the edges. Drizzle with honey. Arrange the sliced apples over the top, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and dot with pieces of butter. Fold the edges over, and brush with egg (or milk, or nothing). Bake for approx. 45 min, until golden brown and pastry is crisp - cover with tinfoil if it starts to catch.


We ate with custard and it went down very well. The pastry was delicious and crisp, but the walnuts gave more texture than taste - another time maybe I'd try increasing the walnut content... and could potentially add half as much apple again and pile it high, too.

Best grated carrot salad

I've tried a few grated carrot salads in the past but never got it quite right. This attempt turned out exactly as I wanted; even better... The toasted coriander is key, and came from a Delia recipe (that I then decided not to stick to...).

1 tbsp coriander seeds
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp sesame seed oil
2 tsp white/red miso
1 tsp honey
salt+pepper
1 tiny clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp finely chopped onion
c 10 medium carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
1 tsp lemon zest
2 tsp chopped chives
1/4 cup raisins
2 tsp black onion seeds

Toast the coriander seeds and then crush them in a pestle and mortar. Put in a medium bowl with the vinegar, oils, miso, honey, salt and pepper (not much salt, miso is salty), crushed garlic and chopped onion. Whisk together with a fork. Add the grated carrots, lemon zest, chives, raisins and black onion seeds and mix to combine. Keeps well in the fridge (the raisins will plump up) for a few days.

Apple muffins

Our apple tree started dropping apples already, so I wanted to make a start on some apple recipes to use them up. I fancied making muffins, even though they are not the most efficient way to use up apples. I liked the sound of this recipe, with grated, diced and sauced apple in it, and decided to give it a go even before I realized it's also a great baking-with-honey recipe - I especially like that it takes into account honey's tendency to dry out / burn.

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup oats
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup grated apple
1 cup diced (1 cm) apple
1/3 cup olive oil (or veg oil)
1/2 cup honey (or maple syrup)
2 eggs (ideally at room temp)
1/2 cup Greek yoghurt
1/2 cup apple sauce
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)
1 tbsp demerara sugar to go on top

Heat the oven to 163C / 325F (218C / 425F for maple syrup). Prepare a 12-cup muffin tin.

In a large bowl, mix flours, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, bicarb and salt with a fork. Add grated and chopped apple and stir.

In a medium bowl, beat oil, honey (or maple syrup) together, then add eggs and beat, then add yoghurt and apple sauce and mix.

Add wet to dry and mix until just combined, adding raisins and pecans in the final few strokes. Spoon into muffin cups and sprinkle with demerara sugar. Bake for c 25 min (13-15 min for maple syrup), until skewer comes out clean.

Walnut, raisin, honey and oat cookies (no dry sugar, no butter, no white flour)

These were another go at perfect quick cookies using walnuts and honey - pretty tasty, probably the best yet, although maybe could cut down the oil just a bit. This recipe.

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup olive oil (or sunflower or vegetable)
1 tbsp mulberry molasses (or normal)
1 egg (beat with 1 tbsp water)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts

 In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients (except raisins and walnuts) together. In a medium bowl, mix all the wet ingredients together (note: measure oil before honey so the honey doesn't stick). Mix the wet into the dry. Add the raisins and walnuts and mix. Chill for c. 20 min in the fridge.

Heat the oven to 335F / 170C. Dollop the mixture in heaping teaspoonfuls onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper, and press gently with a fork. Bake for 15-20 min or until golden on the bottom of the cookie.


These came out good - perhaps a little soft/greasy, try reducing the oil a bit. Also, the recipe said they freeze well - test that next time. The flavour is all there though, and they stick together well despite not containing much flour. Could maybe also try cramming in a few more raisins+walnuts.

Banana Cake I (also: Baking with Honey V)

We just returned from a very pleasant couple of weeks in Scotland. I had long promised S that we would go to Scotland for an actual holiday, and tour around a bit so he can see more than just Edinburgh and the Lothians. The beginning of Festival time is probably one of my favourite Edinburgh times - things just warming up, not quite in full swing yet, then a taste of the real thing. I accidentally booked a table at the Kitchin for Aug 2... and then it turned out my uncle was planning a big party and my dear friend would be in town for the first look at a play-experiment based on her book (part of the Books Festival), both on the same day (Aug 12), and so a Scotland tour suddenly developed bookends in Edinburgh. The promise to S had been that he would get a 'whisky tour of Scotland', so we decided we'd need a car to get around... but then remembered how much we both dislike driving so I tried to come up with a route that would give a good taste of Scotland and take in some serious distilleries without too much driving. Along the way, I realized how long it's been since I travelled around much in Scotland, and how little I really know, since almost all my travels there have been as a kid/teenager, and usually with someone else doing the planning... In the end, we planned a few days on Islay (for max. whisky tour potential plus gorgeousness of western isles), and stops in Glencoe on the way and at Loch Tay on the way back, for a bit of highlands.

We stayed in B+Bs all the time we were travelling, then with my uncle while in Edinburgh. For the drive/hike days, we visited a big supermarket and pretty much created a larder in our car boot - we had little luggage, it was full of food+drink. Since we were heading for some slightly out of the way places, and we're both veggie, we wanted to make sure we had plenty of emergency supplies. We actually did a very good shop, and got decent food that lasted for most of our lunches and even some picnic dinners. The one thing we bought and didn't eat was bananas - we came back to Edinburgh with a full hand of week-old bananas. At that point, I decided it was about time I contributed some baking to the party preparations - there was already a gang of about 8 people staying over, so I was pretty sure some banana bread would find an audience. A quick Google found this recipe, which I doubled since there were lots of us, and made two loaves - one with walnuts, the other with chocolate (also from our uneaten car-supplies). The chocolate one baked in C's silicone loaf tin was a particular success.

olive oil
250 g self-raising flour
3 ripe bananas
2 tbsp apple juice
125 g butter (at room temperature)
2 large eggs
½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp honey

Optional: 50 g chopped pecans, walnuts, or chocolate

Heat the oven to 180C/350F. Grease the bottom and sides of a loaf tin, and line the base. Mash the bananas in a medium bowl, then add the apple juice and stir. In a separate, large bowl, cream the butter, then beat in the eggs one at a time. It might look a little lumpy, but it's OK. Fold in the flour, cinnamon, honey and banana mixture until just combined. Mix in the chopped nuts or chocolate.
Dollop into the prepared loaf tin, then bake in the hot oven for around 40 min, or until golden and a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for about 10 min, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Baking with Honey IV: Ginger, honey and chocolate biscuits

A Delia recipe for ginger-chocolate biscuits caught my eye, but I ended up making the first one that came up on Google instead - this. It's quite similar to National Trust biscuits, but why not try something else instead... Since I haven't managed to find golden syrup or treacle here, I subbed honey, and so this ended up being another honey recipe.

225 g / 8 oz butter
100 g / 3½ oz golden syrup (used honey instead)
200g / 7 oz soft brown sugar
150g / 3½ oz flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt flakes
4 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
400 g / 14 oz rolled oats
2 eggs, beaten
50 g / 1¾ oz stem ginger, chopped
115 g / 4 oz good quality dark chocolate

Heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Line two baking trays with paper. Melt the butter and the golden syrup / honey in a pan over a low heat. Set aside to cool slightly. Combine the sugar, flour, baking powder, salt and spices and mix well to combine. Stir in the rolled oats and mix well. Pour in the melted butter and syrup/honey and stir until well combined. Then stir in the beaten eggs and the stem ginger.

Spoon in even, heaped teaspoons onto the lined baking trays, leaving room for them to spread. Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes. Remove the biscuits from the oven and set aside to cool completely.

Melt the chocolate in a bowl suspended over a pan of barely simmering water. Dip the biscuits in the melted chocolate (or spread a bit on them with a knife/spoon), and place on a cooling rack until the chocolate has set.


These were nice. Not super special, but nice and gingery - anything with ginger, especially stem ginger, usually works for me... They are a soft, cakey kind of a biscuit - rock bun kind of texture. I did some with chocolate and some without - I thought we liked them both equally but the chocolate ones did disappear first...

Baking with Honey III: Gooseberries, mint and honey

I got a punnet of gooseberries from the vegetable share (well, fruit share) on Wednesday, and decided to bake them with a bit of honey and some mint, inspired by this recipe. I just put the gooseberries, honey and mint in appropriate-looking quantities into a ceramic baking dish, then baked at about 200C for c. 15 min. We ate it together with skyr.

Baking with Honey II: Cinnamon honey fruitcake

This was the second of my two cakes last weekend featuring honey (I wanted to have one to keep at home as well as one to take to C's). It uses a lot of dried fruit - we had quite a lot around, I don't think I've been eating as much of it as usual. The recipe was one I'd cut out of the Guardian years ago, and caught my eye when I was browsing my ancient recipe folder. I'd never made it, but why not now? It's one of Dan Lepard's - I used to really like his recipe column.
 
200 g raisins
200 g dried apricots, chopped
200 g dried figs or prunes, chopped
75 g light soft brown sugar
75 g unsalted butter, softened
75 g honey
50 g treacle
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
75 ml brandy or cold tea (used a mixture of honey rum and cold Earl Grey)
200 g plain flour
1½ tsp baking powder

Line the base and sides of a 20 cm round cake tin with baking parchment. Weigh out the fruit. Substitute depending what you like / what you have in the cupboard - and include 100 g whole almonds if you like (I used a mixture of dates, apricots, raisins, sultanas and figs).

Heat the oven to 170C/325F/gas mark 3. Beat together the sugar, butter, honey, treacle, cinnamon and one of the eggs until creamy and smooth. Add the other egg, along with the brandy or tea, and beat well. The mixture will look dark and curdled, but for this fruit cake that's quite all right.

Mix the flour and baking powder with a fork, then fold the flour mixture into the fruit and nut mixture until evenly combined. Spoon into the tin, smooth the top, and bake for about an hour and a half.

Baking with Honey I: Honey-Lavender Cake

We harvested honey a couple of weeks ago - T and me, plus S and T's friend. It was a lot of fun, if somewhat improvised... My estimate was that we got 18 kilos of honey - so I guess I ended up with about 8 kilos. I still have some from last year, so realized I'd better start experimenting more with baking and other projects using honey. Last weekend, I tried two quite different honey cake recipes. This is the first (Ottolenghi - full recipe here). It is very similar to a cake I made with L, back at Mill Hill Road in Norwich, when we had a teaparty - it was a different recipe (I still have it in my recipe folder but we were never quite sure about the quantities) - we were very proud of it then, but I never made it since. I always thought about it, so it sprang to mind instantly when I was thinking about honey recipes. I used lavender from the garden as well. I took it for C's birthday party/dinner, and it ended up being her birthday cake, with candles and all!

For the cake:
225 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
115 g sugar
115 g honey
3 eggs
245 g flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp chopped dried lavender, plus more for garnish (used fresh)
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
110 ml sour cream (used yoghurt instead)

For the glaze:
4 tsp lemon juice (one lemon is enough)
2 tsp honey
100 g icing sugar

Heat the oven to 325F / 163C. Grease a 9-inch cake tin, line the bottom with parchment paper, and butter and flour the base paper. Cream the butter, sugar, and honey together until light and fluffy. Beat the eggs lightly together and slowly incorporate into the butter mixture. Mix the dry ingredients together (all remaining ingredients but the sour cream / yoghurt) and stir well. Fold 1/3 of the flour mixture gently into the butter base, then about 1/3 of the yoghurt. Repeat twice more until all ingredients are just incorporated. Turn the batter into your prepared cake tin and bake in the oven for about 50 min, or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Note that honey browns very quickly in the oven, so if you notice this happening, you can tent your cake with foil for the duration. When the cake is done, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool for about ten min, then place on a rack to cool.

When cool, transfer to a plate and make the icing: whisk the lemon juice and honey together, then whisk in the icing sugar (ideally pre-sifted to remove lumps). Drizzle/spread over your cake, allowing the icing to trickle down the sides. Sprinkle with additional lavender flowers. Allow icing to set, and serve.

I thought the lavender might be a bit subtle, but it was a nice, moist cake. It went down pretty well (I think). The icing got good feedback too - it was thick and spreadable and maintained a good layer - it's perhaps a good idea to use for other cakes too!

Melon, feta and toasted almond salad with honey-miso dressing

The last few months, I have made a lot of delicious salads, but rarely remembered to write them down here. This one I have made again and again. It's simple, but really refreshing.

1-2 little gem lettuces (or butter lettuce, or similar mild/crisp lettuce)
1/2 a small Galia melon (or canteloupe)
1/2 of a 200 g pack feta
approx. 1/4 cup almonds, chopped

For the dressing:
2 tsp white miso
1 tsp honey
2 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
black pepper and a little salt (not much, the miso is salty)

Wash and chop the lettuce and put it in a medium sized bowl. Remove the peel from the melon, chop it into bite-sized chunks and add to the bowl. Crumble in the feta. Toast the almonds in a frying pan over a medium-low heat until lightly browned (or in the oven, if you feel like switching it on)

In a separate, small bowl, beat together the dressing ingredients. When ready to serve, add the toasted nuts to the salad, then pour over the dressing and toss.


Notes: sometimes I like to add a little chopped mint - not always though, often it's good in it's simplest form. This dressing is in very regular rotation in our kitchen - over all kinds of salads - it's very adaptable - sometimes just a hint of miso, sometimes some mustard too, sometimes lemon juice instead of vinegar, sometimes without honey...

Poppy Bee Sting (Bienenstichkuchen mit Mohn)

For S's birthday this year, he requested a bienenstichkuchen (bee sting cake). We talked about it a bit, and he said it was the topping that he really likes, with honey and toasted almonds - the creamy filling not so much. I reflected, and browsed the internet a bit, and then spotted this and realized I'd found our cake - it has bienenstich topping and a mohn filling, thus combining two of S's fave cakes (the other being mohnkuchen). And we get to use honey from my bee club for the topping! I've not made many yeasted cakes before, so wasn't sure how it would turn out - also because I was translating a recipe from German, referring to another in English for tips, and buying ingredients in Danish...

Cake:
150 g whipping cream
50 g butter
400 g flour
1 pack fresh yeast (42 g) (= approx. 2 tbsp dried yeast)
50 g sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla sugar
pinch of salt
2 eggs (size M)

Topping:
150 g butter
100 g sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla sugar
50 g honey
50 g whipping cream
200 g flaked almonds

Filling:
74 g custard powder
40 g sugar
600 ml milk
50 g butter
250 g poppy seeds (partially ground)

Make the dough:
Heat the cream and butter for the dough together until butter is all melted. Put the flour in a mixing bowl and crumble the yeast over the top. Add the sugar, vanilla sugar, salt, eggs, and warm cream-butter mixture and mix until well combined. Knead for about 5 min, until the dough is smooth. Leave the dough covered in a warm place until it has doubled in size (about 45 min).

Make the topping (do this while the dough is rising):
Heat the butter with the sugar, vanilla sugar, honey and cream, slowly with stirring. Then boil for about 4 min with stirring, until the mixture becomes a little thick and caramel (it should become a little darker, and go from yellowish to light beige). Mix in the almonds. Allow to cool, stirring occasionally.

Assemble and bake the cake:
Heat the oven to 200C / 180C fan. Lightly grease a large rectangular baking tray (30 x 40 cm).

Sprinkle the dough with a little flour, remove it from the bowl, briefly knead on a slightly floured surface and roll/press out on the baking sheet. Spread the topping out evenly on the dough and let it rise again somewhere warm, until visibly enlarged (about 30 min). When ready, put in the oven for approx. 15 min, until golden brown on top. When ready, take out and leave to cool in the baking tray on a cooling rack, until completely cold.

Make the filling (do this while the cake is rising / baking):
Mix the custard powder with the sugar in a medium bowl. Gradually stir in approx. 12 tbsp of the milk. Bring the rest of the milk to the boil in a medium saucepan, remove from the heat and add the powder-sugar mixture, stirring well. Put the pan back on the heat and bring to the boil, and simmer for about 1 min until thickened. Add the butter and poppy seeds and stir; then leave to cool.

Fill and finish the cake:
When the cake and filling are completely cool, you can assemble the cake. Loosen the cake from the baking tray and halve it vertically. Take out one half and carefully cut in half horizontally. Spread half of the poppy seed mixture evenly over the lower part, then put the top back on. Repeat for the other half of the cake and the other half of the poppy seed mixture. Best eaten within 24 hours.


I was really pleasantly surprised by this recipe - the busy work takes a couple of hours, but the rising steps don't feel like a drag because there is always something else to do - making the caramel topping; making the custard-poppyseed filling; going to the shop again because you forgot to buy milk the first time... And it was actually really simple - apart from not managing to mix in the yeast very thoroughly and getting a slightly uneven rise, it came together incredibly well. Did I mention it is delicious? Another great example of German cakey brilliance: really sweet parts (topping) are so well balanced with not so sweet parts (filling and cake); and there's loads of texture going on (light bread-cake; crunchy caramel almonds; toothsome poppyseed custard...). It was best within about 24 hours, but perfectly edible after that - it took us 5 days, but S and I ate it all.

Ultimate gingery red lentil dal

They've had a red lentil dal on the menu at Grød all the time we've been here, and I keep ordering it even though I know it's really something I can make at home. Because it is pretty much the ultimate comfort food on a chilly day (it's starting to feel like Spring and sunny but it's still a bit chilly if we're honest).

I have been making versions of the Grød dal ever since we first went there. This time I think I nailed it. And I made crispy garlic butter flatbreads to go with it, which really took it over the edge.

(takes about half an hour from beginning to end)

Dal:
1-2 tbsp coconut oil
3 tbsp chopped fresh ginger
1 1/2 tbsp coriander seeds, crushed in a pestle and mortar
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups red lentils
4 cups hot water
3 tbsp tomato puree
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped into half moons
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
juice of 1/3 lime
1 tsp honey
1-2 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper

To serve:
yoghurt (or skyr, or ricotta)
more chopped fresh coriander
salty almonds (about 5 per bowl)

Cheat's garlic flatbreads:
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1-2 cm slice of butter
flatbread (7 chapati size pieces)

Heat the oil in a large lidded frying pan. Add the fresh ginger and saute for a couple of minutes. Add the dried spices and saute until fragrant. Add red lentils and mix around, then pour in hot water, add tomato puree, stir, cover and simmer for about 20 min. Peel and chop the carrots and add to the pan (they should need 10-15 min to become tender). Add about 1 tbsp of chopped coriander. Simmer until the lentils and carrots are tender.

Meanwhile, make the flatbreads. We had some thin Turkish flatbread that needed eating; I chopped it into 7 chapati size squares. Put the chopped garlic and cold butter into a small bowl and heat in the microwave for 15-20 sec, or however long it takes for the butter to become soft and scoopable but not liquid. Mix garlic and butter together. Heat a large heavy frying pan to a high heat, then put the first flatbread piece in it. Warm for a few min, until hot, then turn over. Put about a teaspoon of garlic-butter mixture on it and spread out. Transfer to a plate to keep warm. Repeat for the remaining flatbreads.

To finish off the dal, add the remaining 1 tbsp of coriander (remember to keep some for serving), lime juice, honey, salt and pepper. Taste and add more if necessary.

To serve, fill a bowl with dal, put some yoghurt on top and scatter with chopped fresh coriander and salty almonds. If necessary reheat the flatbreads in the microwave. Scoop dal up with flatbread or eat with a spoon.


Notes: the flatbreads were quite crispy - to make softer, perhaps it would be good to sprinkle them with water while warming the first side; I microwaved the garlic with the butter in the hope it would take the edge off the raw garlic taste and I don't know if it was that that did it but something worked and they were just garlicky enough.

Carrot and coriander soup

Since we got here we are eating a lot of simple, warming food: rye bread, butter, yoghurt, honey, tahini, muesli, sunflower seeds, carrots, chickpeas/lentils, celeriac (cheap and easy to find), parsley root sometimes; salad, curry, soup.

I made a chunky soup the other day. This time I wanted to make a blended soup. I'd just bought a big bag of carrots so that was part of the motivation. Aside from that, it's a chilly February day so what do you expect?

It's not quite a classic carrot and coriander. It has both fresh coriander leaves and toasty coriander seed. Ginger, garlic, and a little bit of celeriac add some more depth and warmth. A spot of honey magnifies the carrots' sweetness. And I experimented with using tahini to thicken the soup, and was pleased with the results - I just used a little, but it gives a smooth, subtle nuttiness that I like.

(makes approx 5 servings)

~1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 in piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp coriander seeds, ground
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
~6 medium carrots, peeled and chopped into chunks
~3 in piece of celeriac, peeled and chopped into chunks
1 stock cube made up with ~3 cups of water
1/2 tsp honey
lemon juice
salt+pepper
1 tbsp tahini
~2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

Heat the oil in a large, lidded saucepan. Add the onion and cook for ~10 min, until softened and starting to brown. Add the garlic and ginger about halfway through that. Next add the ground spices and cook until fragrant (~1 min). Add the carrots and celeriac and saute for a few minutes before adding the stock, covering and simmering gently for ~15 min, until the carrots and celeriac are tender. Add honey (be restrained), lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Remove a few tbsp of the liquid into a bowl and mix in the tahini. Return this liquid to the pan along with the fresh coriander. Let cool for 10-20 min, then blend until smooth. Taste again to check acidity and seasoning. I've been eating it with a swirl of natural yoghurt on top and a grinding of salt and pepper.


This is so simple I almost wasn't going to bother writing it out. But it was good, and is improving every time I eat it (over a couple of days of keeping it in the fridge). So here we are.

Mulled wine / goodbye Boston

The clock is ticking through our final week in Boston. Doesn't quite seem real... Yesterday we had a birthday / christmas / solstice / goodbye / freeloading party - I guess things started to feel more real... Lots of friends came by to say goodbye and help us out by taking some of our stuff away (I was taken aback by the attendance, given the time of year). Seb rolled out his pretzel factory for one last time in Boston, and I kept a pan of mulled wine going on the hob all afternoon / evening.

The mulled wine is made the same way I used to make it as an undergrad, and ever since - lots of Christmassy memories. I am in the less-is-more camp when it comes to alcohol levels: I like to add orange juice rather than spirits. The orange juice provides sufficient sweetness for me, but in you like it sweeter you can add honey or have it nearby so people can add some to suit themselves.

I can't imagine there'll be much more cooking this Christmas - everything is in boxes and we have hardly any food left. So I suppose this is it.

(makes ~20 servings)

~ 2 bottles red wine (not the cheapest, but not the best either)
1.5 litres fresh orange juice
1 medium-large orange, sliced
2 cinnamon sticks
8-10 cloves
~5 whole green cardamom pods (optional; allspice / nutmeg might also be good)
honey on the side

Pour the wine into a large saucepan and add the orange juice. Add a bit at a time and taste in between until you get a wine-juice balance you like. Add the sliced orange, cinnamon sticks, cloves and cardamom to the pan and heat over a low heat until it is just below a simmer. Keep the heat really low, so the mulled wine stays warm but does not boil. Ideally keep like this for ~30 min before ladling out the first serving. You can keep it going (below boiling) a few hours, and you can top up the liquid a couple of times before the spices lose their power.

Red cabbage, radish, sesame and wasabi

We had a red cabbage in the fridge, and three tubes of wasabi to use up before we leave (not going to happen)... I'd stumbled across these coleslaw recipes a couple of times, and this time thought I'd borrow the wasabi dressing idea for a red cabbage salad.

~1/2 a smallish red cabbage
2 medium-large purple radishes, peeled and grated
2 medium carrots, peeled and grated
~ 1 tbsp chopped chives

~1 tbsp peeled, finely chopped ginger
~1 tbsp wasabi paste
~ 2 tsp honey
juice of ~ 1/3 lime
~1 tsp umeboshi plum vinegar (optional)
~1 tbsp cider vinegar
~1 tsp sesame oil
~ 1 1/2 tbsp sunflower oil

1 tbsp white sesame seeds and 1 tbsp black sesame seeds, toasted

Finely shred the cabbage and put in a medium bowl with the grated radishes and carrots. Add the chives. In a small bowl, whisk together the ginger, wasabi, honey, lime juice, vinegars and oils. Pour the dressing over the vegetables, add the toasted seeds, toss and serve. Best eaten immediately but keeps OK for a couple of days in the fridge.


Another fresh+tasty Winter salad.

Buckwheat breakfast bowl

Our trip to Brattleboro naturally featured a trip to the Coop (best food shop ever)! I tried to be restrained (because of our imminent big move), and just picked up a few favourites (nori cashews, sesame sticks), plus a few random things to make me proud of remembering to bring reusable containers (roasted tahini butter; jasmine kombucha)... and a few things I couldn't resist (raspberry dust chocolate, figs, pecans). It made me realise I still had some stuff left from our last trip there around Easter, and resolve to use that stuff when I got back...

The most notable was raw buckwheat groats. I'd been interested in them but didn't really know what to do with them. I'd sprouted a few, and they were good, with a gentle aroma reminding me of buckwheat honey. But that was about as far as I'd got. I made the amazing seed+nut bread yesterday, and spotted a raw buckwheat porridge recipe on the same blog: tipping point on a recipe I'd seen one too many times - so this time I should make it...

(makes about 3 servings; start the night before)

1 cup raw buckwheat groats
1 tbsp cider vinegar
warm water
1 banana
almond milk
hemp seeds
buckwheat honey
blueberries
toasted flaked almonds
raisins
cinnamon

The night before you want to eat buckwheat for breakfast, put the buckwheat groats in a container with the vinegar and plenty of warm water. Let soak overnight. In the morning, they will be soft enough to nibble. Drain and rinse them. If you want to use them for salad etc just stop here.

To make into a buckwheat bowl (somewhere in between porridge and an acai bowl?), put the rinsed groats into a blender cup and add the banana, about 1/2 cup almond milk and a good sprinkle of hemp seeds, and blend. It should end up about the consistency of yoghurt (except not as smooth, unless the blender is high-speed).

To serve, transfer to bowls and drizzle with buckwheat honey (or other honey, or maple syrup, or no additional sweetener... I had  buckwheat honey though and the combination seemed too serendipitous to pass up). Sprinkle with blueberries (mine were frozen), almonds, raisins and cinnamon. Mix up and eat.


I was amazed by how good this was, and by how much of it I managed to eat!

When I asked S if he wanted to try buckwheat breakfast he was not excited, but he's the kind of chap who'll always give something a go. He did, and he liked it enough to request it for breakfast the next day too (this time mixed with cupuaçu, so even more like an açaí bowl hybrid)! Only downside is, we've now worked our way though that stash of buckwheat groats, so unless another trip to Brattleboro ensues, there'll be no more of this for a while.

Hot toddy

This was cobbled together from the contents of my cupboards, on a snowy Saturday evening. The ginger wine is unorthodox but it seemed appropriately warming; I used bitter orange instead of lemon because it's what I had, also because I thought it might be good.

(makes two)

~1/2 cup whiskey
~1/2 cup ginger wine
juice of one seville orange and ~5 strips of zest
1/2 tsp honey
~1/2 cup hot water
2 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 green cardamom pod

Put all ingredients in a small pan. Heat very gently until almost boiling. Strain through a sieve into a jug, pour into small mugs and sip.