Plum cake

With a bumper crop of plums I've been hunting for plum recipes, hoping this one is a winner. It was very well received, and eaten at speed, so it seems to be a good recipe. It's meant to keep well, but I'm not sure if I'll find that out anytime soon.

Ingredients

1 cup flour (plus a tablespoon)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup ground almonds

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2/3 cup sugar (plus a tablespoon)

2 eggs

2 tablespoon light vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

4 tablespoon melted butter

2 tablespoon natural yoghurt

1/3 cup milk

12 ripe plums. de-stoned and cut in half

6 tablespoon extra sugar

Method

Preheat oven on fan bake to 180°C. Line a 24cm springform cake tin with baking paper.

Chop four plums into pieces and mix with one tablespoon flour and twoof sugar.

Put the flour, baking powder, almonds, cinnamon and sugar in a food processor and blend briefly.
Add the eggs, oil, vanilla, butter, yoghurt and milk,and process until smooth, a few seconds.

Stir in the chopped plums and pour the mixture into the prepared tin.

Dunk the plum halves in water then into the extra sugar and arrange them on the batter
Bake for 40-50 minutes.

At 40 minutes, test with a skewer. It should come out clean, if not, cook a little longer.
Serve warm or cold with yoghurt, crème fraîche or whipped cream.
This cake is a good keeper – it tastes just as delicious after a few days as on the day you made it.
From NZ Womens Weekly

Smacked Cucumber - easy to prepare spicy side dish

Smacked cucumber is a hot asian salad made with cucumber, it's a kind of pickle. A pickle with a punch. It goes with lots of things. It's fresh and spicy hot, and very easy to make. You bash up the cucumber and break it up, then you salt it to remove some of the moisture, then you dress it. There's a bit of waiting around. Then fun eating.

Smacked Cucumber

Ingredients

• ½ cucumber (halved lengthways)

• 1 tsp sea salt flakes

• 
  

• for the dressing

• 4 Szechuan peppercorns, toasted and ground

• 1 garlic clove, crushed

• 1 tsp granulated sugar

• 2 tbsp rice vinegar

• ¼ tsp ground black pepper

• 1 tbsp soy sauce

• 1 tbsp crispy chillies in oil

• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil

topping

2 spring onions

toasted sesame seeds

Method

Wash the cucumber, cut in half lengthwise

place cucmber on a board cover with a metal spatula and thump (smack) it with the rolling pin. You might like to use the flat of your hand, but it don't. You want to crush it like this until it breaks, or cracks, then chop it roughly into smallish pieces

put the cucumber pieces in a colander and scatter the salt over them mixing the salt through - put the colander in a bowl or on a draining board to catch the drips - leave for 30 minutes

make the dressing whisking together all the other ingredients

rinse the cucumber under a running tap and shake dry - toss in a tea towel to make completely dry - put in a bowl, pour over the dressing and stir it through

finely slice the spring onions

sprinkle the cucmber mixture with the spring onions and sesame seeds and serve

Nasi goreng

Nasi Goreng

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup uncooked jasmine rice

2 cup water

1/4 cup peanut oil

4 eggs

250 grams small green prawns, peeled

250 gram chicken thigh fillets, finely chopped

1 tablespoon shrimp paste

4 clove garlic, crushed

1 small brown onion, finely chopped

1 teaspoon ground white pepper

2 teaspoon sambal oelek (or sriracha)

2 tablespoon kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1/2 cup thinly sliced spring onions

1 carrot, julienned

1 Lebanese cucumber, julienned

fried shallots, to garnish

Method

• Place rice and water in a large saucepan. Bring to boil, cover and then simmer for 20 minutes or until rice is just tender. Alternately cook in a rice cooker according to manufacturer’s directions. Spread mixture onto a flat oven tray and stand until cool.
• Heat a large wok or frying pan over high heat. Add a little of the oil and swirl around wok. Add eggs one at a time and cook on both sides until golden brown and yolk is still runny. Remove and set aside.
• Add a little more oil and stir-fry prawns and chicken until golden brown and cooked through. Remove and set aside. Add remaining oil and stir-fry shrimp paste, garlic and onion for 2 minutes or until paste is fragrant.
• Add rice, pepper and combined sauces; stir-fry until well combined. Stir in half of the onions and cooked prawns and chicken.
• Serve topped with combined carrot, cucumber and remaining onions. Garnish with egg and fried shallots

AIRFRYER SPICED CHICK PEAS WITH PITTA CHIPS

AIRFRYER SPICED CHICK PEAS WITH PITTA CHIPS

INGREDIENTS

½ x 400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2 tbsp olive oil

1 pitta bread

½ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp smoked paprika

¼ tsp garlic granules

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

hummus, to serve

METHOD

Preheat the air fryer to 195C.

• Tip the drained chickpeas onto a clean tea towel and rub until dry and the skins have been rubbed off. Discard the skins.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the well-dried and skinned chickpeas and half of the olive oil. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• Tip into the air fryer basket (reserve the mixing bowl!) and set the timer for 10 minutes. Shake the basket of the air fryer halfway through cooking.
• Cut the pitta bread into triangles. You will see the pitta is made of two layers of bread, carefully pull the layers apart.
• Add the remaining olive oil to the mixing bowl, along with the pieces of pitta.
• When the timer goes off, tip the chickpeas into the bowl too. Toss everything until evenly coated and then tip everything back into the air fryer.
• Cook for 7–8 more minutes, or until the pitta chips are crisp and the chickpeas are golden-brown. Shake halfway for even roasting.

Tip everything back into the bowl and sprinkle with the spices. Shake well and serve with hummus.

NYT One-Pot Chicken Cacciatore With Potatoes

 One-Pot Chicken Cacciatore With Potatoes

Ingredients

Serves 4

8 (approx 1kg) bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (approx 1kg)

Kosher salt

3 tablespoons olive oil

500g waxy potatoes, such as Yukon Gold or fingerling

1 tablespoon rosemary leaves (from 1 large sprig)

4 anchovy fillets

2 garlic cloves

2 tablespoons drained capers

1/2 glass dry white wine

3 tablespoons white wine vinegar or red wine vinegar, plus more to taste

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Method

• Heat oven to 200cC425F degrees. Pat chicken thoroughly dry with paper towels and sprinkle all sides with two generous pinches of salt 

• Coat a large jeavy-based high-sided pan or skillet with 1 tablespoon oil.

• Add the chicken pieces, skin side down, in a single layer in the cold pan and place over medium heat. Cook, undisturbed, until the skin is browned and releases easily from the pan, about 15 minutes. 

• While the chicken cooks, cut potatoes into 1-inch-thick chunks and place in a large bowl. Chop the rosemary and anchovy, smash and peel the garlic, then add to the bowl. Add the capers, 2 tablespoons oil and generous pinch of salt; stir well.

• Turn the chicken over and drain the fat.

• Add the potato mixture to the skillet, sitting the chicken pieces skin side up on top and pour over the wine. Put the skillet to the oven and roast, uncovered for around 25m, until the chicken is cooked and the potatoes are tender.

• Chop the parsley

• Put the pan back onto the hob, putting the chickon to one side.

• Add the vinegar and 2 tablespoons water to the pan and continue to cook the potatoes on a medium heat, to reduce the cooking juices for about 5m, stirring occasionally until you have a thick glossy sauce. If the sauce gets too thick add water a spoonful at a time while stirring.

• Return the chicken to the pan, scatter the parsley over and serve.

Coconut Ice Cream is my best trick

Coconut Ice Cream

I've got quite good at making ice cream after spending the summer making it for my lovely sister-in-law Louisa. When you have treatment for cancer it can change the way food tastes, and how much you want to eat. So I started making ice cream, because it was all I could do to give a little pleasure to a friend when  pleasure was thin on the ground. I said to Louisa it was my only trick, and she said it was a good trick.

Louisa said the Coconut Ice Cream was the best, combined with chocolate. The chocolate melted too fast, so I'll just write up the Coconut here.

The recipe has the usual ingredients, sugar, egg, milk and cream with flavours. It's a soft scoop ice cream so it has an extra ingredient, corn syrup or powdered dextrose monohydrate - also called medicinal glucose - don't buy the variety that contains vitamin supplements.

RECIPE

Ingredients

• 70g/ 0.5 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 300ml / 1.25 cups
• 3 tbsp/ .0.25 cup plus 2 tsp powdered dextrose monohydrate (or 130ml corn syrup)
• 185ml/ 0.75 cup whipping cream/double cream
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• makes about 750ml or 3 cups of ice cream
• 6 tbsp coconut milk powder

Method

• In a large heatproof bowl beat the sugar and eff together
• in a pan bring the milk to just below boiling point
• pour the hot milk into the egg and sugar mixture in a slow stream beating constantly
• stir in the coconut milt powder
• put the milk, sugar, coconut and egg mixture over a pot of simmering water until itreaches 85C/185F degrees or it coats the back of a spoon so that if you draw your finger through it it keeps the shape. The bowl mustn't touch the simmering water.
• remove the milk mixture from the heat and stir in the powdered dextrose (or corn sytrup), then chill.
• once chilled stir in the vanilla, coconut and cream and freeze - you can still freeze or pour the mixture into an ice cream machine and churn for about 20 minutes or until it has the consistency of softly whipped cream
• transfer the ice cream into plastic freezer boxes and freeze
• once you're ready to eat the coconut ice cream take it from the freezer and it'll be ready to eat immediately

I'm about to make it again. I'll take photos and add them in a while.

I inherited an ice cream machine from my mum along with an ice cream cook book: Ices the definitive guide by Caroline Liddell and Robin Weir.  It's got the history of ices along with a long list of ice creams that I've been working my way through. I've had to replace the ice cream machine. It does take up a lot of room.

salted peanut chocolate crunch

a tweaked salted peanut crunch

Ingredients

200g/7oz dark chocolate
100g/3.5oz milk chocolate
125g/4.4oz butter
3 tbsp golden syrup
250g/8.8oz salted peanuts
six handfuls of crunchy cereal
1 baking or foil tray, approximately 30 x 20 x 5 cm. (if using a baking tray, line with parchment or greaseproof paper)

method

• prepare oblong tin, 20x30cm, lining with baking parchment (crumple up the parchment so it goes into the corners more easily)
• in quite large pan (jug if you're microwaving) melt chocolate, butter and golden syrup gently on gas or in microwave, stirring occasionally
• stir cereal and peanuts together
• add peanut mixture to the melted chocolate mixture and stir to combine
• pour mixture into lined tin and smooth to one level
• leave to cool several hours in cool place
• slice to suit your taste

Spicy non-mayo by itsu

When I'm out and about in London I like getting lunch at Itsu, now fully automated. I like it so much that I bought the Itsu cook book and found this spicy sauce recipe. It is vegan and simple to prepare. I haven't experimented with flavours yet, besides garlic, ginger and black pepper the main flavour is Sriracha sauce, which is usually vegan but best check the label as fish sauce is included in some varieties.

Tahini is used to thicken the sauce as well as increase depth of flavour, but not very much, so this is truly a low fat low calorie sauce.

When I'm at home this is the sauce I now like to use with my regular lunch of steamed veg and rice. and sometimes I give it a boost with gomasio.

Itsu Spicy Sauce

Recipe

• 120g silken tofu
• 3 tsp tahini paste
• 3 tsp Sriracha chllli sauce (or 1 hot red chilli, chopped)
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 3 tsp  sugar or alternative
• 10g (2cm) grated fresh ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed or grated
• 1 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• t tbsp water
• 1 tbsp light oil

Method

Put all ingredients into a blender and whizz together to make a smooth sauce

Use immediately, or store in a screwtop jar in the fridge until needed.

notes:

if you use a firmer tofu you will get a grainier result, but it will still be delicious

Cauliflower pasta

This is a simple and very satisfying dish. Also very easy to make. The anchovies melt down into the oil and mix with the cauliflower to make a tasty sauce. It doesn't look like much, but it is delicious. 

The recipe gives enough for four people but I find I can share with one other, happily sharing eating a whole cauliflower, just reducing the amount of pasta by half. 

Cauliflower pasta 

Ingredients 

1 cauliflower 

250g penne 

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 

1 tin anchovy fillets in olive oil 

1 fresh chilli (sliced) or generous pinch of dried chilli flakes 

2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped 

ground black pepper 

Method 

• Take a large frying pan and pour the oil from a tin of anchovy fillets into it, put it on a low heat, put the garlic and chilli along with a few grinds of pepper into the oil to infuse for a few minutes 
• Don’t add salt, as the anchovies are already salty 
• Fill a large pot with water and bring to the boil, put in the cauliflower whole or in pieces, and cook the cauliflower until cooked or about 5 minutes, then pick out the cauliflower and set aside, saving the water to use for cooking the pasta 
• Keep the water boiling and add the penne, while the penne are cooking finish the sauce. 
• Add the anchovy fillets to the pan 
• Add the cauliflower and stir and mash them into the oil then cook for 5 minutes, stirring in some parsley, adding water from the pasta cooking liquid if mixture seems to be getting dry. 
• Once the pasta is cooked, mix into the pan with the cauliflower. Season to taste, sprinkle over the rest of the chopped parsley, then serve.

Singapore Noodles - my favourite from the BBC's Ken Hom

Ken Hom’s Singapore Noodles

 

Ingredients

For the Singapore noodles

• 225g/8oz thin rice noodles

• 50g/1¾oz Shiitake mushrooms

• 175g/6oz frozen peas (defrosted)

• 4 medium free-range eggs, beaten

• 1 tbsp sesame oil

• 3 tbsp groundnut oil

• 1 tsp salt

• ½ tsp freshly ground white pepper

• 1½ tbsp finely chopped garlic

• 1 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger

• 6 fresh red or green chillies, de-seeded and finely shredded

• 6 tinned water chestnuts

• 100g/3½oz Chinese barbecue pork (or cooked ham), finely shredded

• 3 spring onions, finely shredded

• 100g/3½oz small cooked prawns, shelled

• fresh coriander leaves, to garnish

For the sauce

• 2 tbsp light soy sauce

• 3 tbsp Indian Madras curry paste or powder

• 2 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry

• 1 tbsp sugar

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

• 250ml/9fl oz coconut milk

• Method

1. Soak the rice noodles in a bowl of warm water for 25 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. Soak the mushrooms in warm water for 20 minutes. Drain and squeeze out the excess liquid. Remove and discard the stems and finely shred the caps into thin strips.

3. Beat the eggs with sesame oil, salt and pepper. Set aside.

4. Mix together all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

5. Heat a wok or large frying-pan over high heat until hot. Add the groundnut oil, and when very hot and smoking, add the garlic, ginger and chillies and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add the water chestnuts, mushrooms, pork and spring onions and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the rice noodles, prawns and peas, and stir-fry for 2 minutes.
6. Add the sauce and cook over high heat for another 5 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated. Pour the egg mixture over the noodles. Stir-fry constantly until the egg has set.

7. Turn onto a large platter, garnish with coriander leaves and serve.