Hi everyone and welcome to the blog. This week’s blog is all about you domestic gods and goddesses, finding time for yourselves after all of the daily chores are done. There is nothing better than sitting down with a good mug of tea (or coffee), a magazine and something to nibble on. So this week’s recipes are Savoury Scones and Biscotti. The Spice of the week is Vanilla, and, of course, with it being the start of the month, seasonal produce for the month of October.
My first recipe is Savoury Scones, recipe by Si King & Dave Myers, from The Hairy Bikers’ Family Cookbook “Mum’s Know Best!”, published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
This recipe makes 12-14, takes approx. 15-20mins to prepare and can take 12-15mins to cook.
340g x Self-Raising Flour
A Pinch of Salt
85g x Butter, plus extra for greasing
55g x Cheddar Cheese - grated
1/2 tsp x Mustard Powder
125ml x Milk
4tbsp x Natural Yoghurt
Pre-heat the oven to 220C Gas Mark 7 and lightly grease the baking sheet. Sift together the flour and into bowl and rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the cheese, mustard powder, add the milk and yoghurt. Work the mixture together until a soft dough is formed.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead lightly, then flatten it out to an even thickness of about 2cm. Using a 5cm cutter, cut out the scones and place them on the baking sheet. Gather the trimmings and cut out more scones. Bake for 12-15mins until brown. Remove the scones from the oven and leave them to cool on a wire rack.
Spice of the Week – Vanilla (Vanilla planifolia)
Vanilla is the fruit from a perennial, climbing orchid, native to Central America. It is not known where Vanilla was first cured and used as a flavouring, but tribes rules by the Aztecs had fairly sophisticated methods of fermenting the bean-like fruits to extract vanillin crystals. The Spanish conquistadors drank chocolate flavoured with vanilla at the court of Moctezuma. They took it and shipped both chocolate and vanilla back to Spain. They also gave the fruit its name: vanilla is the diminuitive of vaina, meaning pod. Today vanilla is exported from Mexico, Réunion, Madagascar, Tahiti, and Indonesia.
Bourbon vanilla from Madagascar and Réunion has a rich, creamy flavour; Mexican vanilla was traditionally considered to be the most delicate and complex; Tahitian smells heady, floral, and fruity; Indonesian vanilla has a smoky, strong flavour. The best pods have a light, white frosting, called givre, of vanilla crystals. Whole or split pods are most used to flavour creams, custards, and ice cream. The presence of tiny black specks, the sticky seeds, in the dishes indicates authenticity. A whole vanilla pod that has been infused in a syrup or cream can be rinsed, dried and reused. Vanilla flavours cakes, tarts and syrups used for poaching fruit. Cut pods can be laid over fruit to be baked in the oven. Vanilla’s original use with chocolate is still widely practised, and it also enriches tea and coffee. Vanilla is less commonly known of as a spice for savoury foods, but it goes well with seafood, particularly lobster, scallops, mussels and also with chicken.
In old medicinal literature, vanilla is described as an aphrodisiac and a remedy for fevers. These purported uses have never been scientifically proven, but it has been shown that vanilla does increase levels of catecholamines (including adrenaline), and as such can also be considered mildly addictive. In an in-vitro test vanilla was able to block quorum sensing in bacteria. This is medically interesting because in many bacteria quorum sensing signals function as a switch for virulence. The microbes only become virulent when the signals indicate that they have the numbers to resist the host immune system response. The essential oils of vanilla and vanillin are sometimes used in aromatherapy.
My next recipe is Biscotti, recipe by Choc Chip Cookie courtesy of Nigella.com.
This recipe makes approx. 30 slices, takes approx. 55-60mins to bake and can take 12-15mins to cook.
2 cups x Plain Flour
1.1/2 tsp x Baking Powder
3/4 cup x Sugar (raw or white)
1/2 cup x Hazel Nuts
50g x Dark Chocolate - roughly chopped
3 x Eggs
2.1/2 x Vanilla Extract (not essence)
Preheat your oven to 160 degrees C. (325 degrees F) If they are not already skinned place hazelnuts on a tray and toast them in the oven for 10 minutes or until they smell toasty, keep an eye on them this can happen fast. Take them out of the oven and tip them into a tea towel and rub them roughly with the towel, the papery skins should all flake off onto the towel. That was the tricky bit...
Now mix together flour, baking powder, sugar, nuts and chocolate make sure the nut and chocolate are well coated in the dry ingredients, they seem to remain suspended better in the mix, rather than sinking to the bottom. I use the dough hooks on an electric mixture but a wooden spoon is just fine, add the eggs and vanilla and mix well to form a dough. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth and shape into two flattish logs. Place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper/parchment and bake for 35 - 40 minutes, remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Cut the logs into 5mm (thin as you can) slices and lay them back onto the tray, pop them back into the oven for 10 minutes until the biscotti are golden crisp and to your liking.
And to close this week, the seasonal produce available in the UK, during the month of October. Remember, whereas most all produce is available all year round due to force growing and supermarket demand, the produce that follows is at its best during October.
VEGETABLES
artichoke, beetroot, brussels sprouts, butternut squash, celeriac, jerusalem artichoke, kale, leeks, parsnips, potatoes (maincrop), radishes, runner beans, spinach, spring onions, swede, sweetcorn, turnips, watercress.
FRUIT
apples, blackberries, pears. quince.
HERBS, FLOWERS, FUNGHI, NUTS
chestnuts.
MEAT
goose, guinea fowl, lamb, rabbit, venison
FISH & SEAFOOD
brill, crab, mackerel, monkfish, mussels, oysters, plaice, scallops, turbot.
If you have enjoyed my blog, or have tried out the recipes I have included and wish to comment, please feel free to comment using the comment button or by visiting my guestbook, all comments and suggestions will be gratefully received.
Hope you enjoy!!..... ChefGarfy =D
http://chefgarfy.blogspot.com/
http://chefgarfy.blog.co.uk/
No comments:
Post a Comment