Nectarine and Plum Crumble for a rather warm evening...

Ok...not that I was to make people jealous but...Carol on BBC Breakfast has got my hopes way way way way up....apparently it is going to be 23 degrees by Saturday!! What the squuuueeeeeeppppp?? October? 23 degrees???

Well....despite the impending heat wave....it was somewhat wet and miserable today (although mild) which can mean only one thing....TIME TO BAKE! So, I don't know what my deal is with nectarines, but the last few times I have bought them they haven't softened...but have totally wrinkled up....ewww...nothing to do with them but toss them into a crumble!

3 or 4 nectarines and a few victoria plums sliced up and tossed in white sugar, popped into a gorgeous enamel baking dish and topped with crumble mixture.  Now, normally I would make my topping from oats, flour, sugar and butter...but for some reason today I had half a package of ready-made dry crumble topping, which I just added some butter to.  The mixture felt really grainy as I was rubbing the butter in, so I had a good look at the package and it turns out this particular brand uses flour, oats, breadcrumbs, salt and sugar...breadcrumbs?? weird....

Nigella's Small pasta with salami

Good Lordy! Nigella is back in true domestic goddess form and looking like one yummy mummy! One episode into Nigella Kitchen and I am totally under her spell.  As soon as she started creating this comforting meal I knew it was perfect for a quick mid-week fix for me and David.  In the time it takes to boil the pasta- the sauce has come together and bish bash bosh....dinner is served. 

Ok, so at first look this totally looks like KD with some chickpeas and salami...but I promise...I swear it is just a simple tomato sauce made from chopped tomatoes with some herbs.  I've used macaroni because it was the smallest pasta I could find....but I'm on the hunt for all those great Italian shapes I know are out there!You'll find the recipe on the bbc food website and please please please try it!

Simple Chocolate Tart...easy as...tart!

Masterchef The Professionals has returned to UK television screens this past week, leaving me slightly more motivated than I have been over the past few weeks.  I don't know what is up, but I've been finding it hard to look at the contents in my fridge and think up new and exciting meals.  The other day on the news I saw a segment in which they claimed the average person cooks the same 5-7 meals over and over and over again. 

Surely I am not average, I mean I try new recipes and foods all the time...right?

Well...to be honest, recently I have found myself more and more relient on the old stir fry or thai curry to come to the rescue...

Anyway, I was inspired by one masterchef classic recipe challenge...chocolate tart.  Now...this is NOT the baked chocolate tart from the program, but it is decadent and rich and...most importantly...SIMPLE! The recipe comes from Jamie Oliver's The Naked Chef.  And basically, you line a tart tin with pastry and blind bake it until cooked though.  While the tart shell is cooling you boil up some double cream and sugar and then melt in butter and chocolate and, once slightly cooled, pour it all into the tart shell and leave to set a few hours. 

chicken soup with rice (well veggie stock...but....)

In September, for a while

I will ride a crocodile
Down the chicken soup-y Nile
Paddle once, paddle twice
Paddle chicken soup with rice

 

 

Left over basmati from last night's curry...veggie stock cube...perfect

Cheesey Scones for a rain soaked day

The past three days have been gorgeous, sunny and warm....and today...when I am not working...pouring with rain! I know I said I love autumn...but c'mon! Well, I suppose the rain gives me the perfect excuse to do some baking (like I need an excuse!).

For the past couple of months BBC has been airing their reality baking show The Great British Bake-Off culminating in the finale this past Tuesday. For the last challenge the finalists had to create afternoon tea for a tea party held at Fulham Palace.  Well...I just LOVE afternoon tea....and even more...I LOVE SCONES!

I am not sure if it was the influence of Tuesday's episode or just my need to bake that created a huge craving in my belly for scones this morning.  Walking through Marks and Spencers I had to steer myself away from the prepackaged scones and hurried myself home to bake bake bake!

Scones are something you can always throw together.  You don't need soft butter....you don't need much of anything really...just one egg...some milk and flour, sugar and baking powder.  Today I was craving something savoury so opted to toss in a few tablespoons of parmesean cheese and a handful of cheddar cheese.  Yum yum yum!

Butter Tarts...yearning for a Canadian fall

It is that time of year again...the last few lingering days of summer sun struggling to heat up the day and the almost in-your-face wall of cold that comes earlier and earlier each night.  Cool crisp mornings, sweaters and jeans, and mittens at night...my kind of day! I love love love this transition period between summer and fall...infact I have been secretly counting down the days.  I know I know I know...I live in England, surely every summer day is like this...but...believe it or not....it isn't.  This past summer we've had a pretty good spat of hot days and not too much rain...but I've just been waiting and waiting for now!!

Oh so many lovely treats come with the arrival of fall...corn on the cob, acron squash, slow cooked stews, chocolate pecan pie...and the best best best bit....BUTTER TARTS! Here in the UK butter tarts just don't exist.  I mean...of course they don't...they are quintessentially Canadian...which means if I want one I gotta make em!

I like to think that butter tart recipes are closely guarded family treasures.  Back in Toronto I used to volunteer with a group of older women who told me that everyone's recipe is different, PLUS there was also the debate over runny vs. thicker filling, raisens vs. pecans, depth of the pastry....so many things to consider.

Well...I'll admit I don't have an old family recipe, but I am determined to introduce my version (borrowed from The New Canadian Basics cookbook) as a staple here in my UK world.  I've not made these tarts since moving in with David and so....there was a slight overflow of filling...mostly because I wasn't sure how deep the tart shells would be when I made them in my muffin tins (I need to invest in some loosebased tart shell tins), but the taste and texture were totally heavenly!!!

Cabbage and Cashew Stir-fry

So Friday was back to reality...my parents had gone home...no more free meals...no more treats...no more excuses...so off to the library I trotted with my huge bag of books to return and came home with new inspiration in the form of Valentine Warner and the Abel & Cole cookbook (and a fresh veggie box waiting)

Still being in vacation mode (or at least in I don't want to go back to the real world mode) I haven't been able to really get stuck into cooking new and exciting things, but on Saturday (craving chinese food) I adapted a soba, cabbage and peanut stir fry recipe from the Abel & Cole book (not having soba or peanuts) and was most impressed with the results.

Cabbage is used in asian cooking...and I love it, but I don't think that I have ever really thought about using it as an MAIN ingredient in a stir fry. This dish is basically...cabbage...but a pointed cabbage, which has softer leaves and a milder flavour than bog standard white cabbages.  The recipe calls for soba noodles, which are nice...but not something I regularily have in my cupboard and are...expensive. Instead I used dried eggnoodles...easy to prepare, cheap and worked really well I think.  Basically what you do is stir fry thinly sliced garlic...like 4 cloves...(I added some fresh red chili) and 1/2 a cabbage that has been chopped into squares about an inch wide, then I added about a handful of chopped cashews and a handful of corriander the noodles (already cooked) and the sauce-2 tsp caster sugar, 1 glug of groundnut oil, 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar and 2 glug soy sauce all mixed together, toss the noodles and cabbage to coat in sauce and wait until it bubbles and thickens...and finally serve with more chopped corriander, cashews, soy sauce and lime.  Yum yum yum!