#15 Crumbs of Comfort

I’m all OVER the place at the moment, one minute I’m carefree & feeling all zen, the next, frazzled and overwhelmed, one day I think I know what I’m doing with my life, where my interests lie, and how to pursue them, fast forward an hour or two & I’m questioning myself, I’m drained of energy and my only desire is to live in a shed (a cottage would be ideal but we can’t be picky now can we?) in the country (Italian/French/Mallorcan countryside really appeals), with animals, a veg patch and really good coffee (daily yoga practices would also feature, and the odd run) - realistic goals ya know?

I haven’t had a great deal on this week, therefore my days have merged together a bit. I find that weeks with less ‘content’ equal generally less productivity… you know when you feel like you have all this time to ‘GET STUFF DONE’ and you spend the time thinking about the stuff you should be getting done… and not actually doing any of it? Yeah I feel like that!

ANYWAY.. there have still been some little highlights - like Ensaïmada making, simple cake baking, and random wholesome conversations with good people - like the local butcher and friends on Instagram!

There have also been a few cute ‘comfort’ moments this week which have really stopped me in my tracks, you know when you just feel really at peace and calm? That’s what I’m talking about! It all started with Sunday’s weather; the warmth until late into the evening, an alfresco dinner, and a glass of rose - simply perfect. This zen rolled into Monday morning with an early walk before the rest of the World had woken up; I trundled down to the river, saw a lot of birds - don’t ask me what they were, but they were living their best life which was cute - I got caught in an unexpected torrential rain shower - quite welcome because it was very muggy - and generally just marvelled at the little world around me! My final little nugget of joy was my Thursday morning coffee; the same brand of coffee I enjoy every day, poured from the same coffee pot, served in the same mug… but it smelt better and tasted better - IT JUST HIT DIFFERENT SOMEHOW. So there you have a few mindful comfort moments from my week.

Before I enlighten you on Mallorcan pastries, another little salad and the simplest (yet very special) cake EVER, there’s one more thing I wanted to mention… I read this quote on Tuesday:

“Follow your dreams, be the best version of yourself and your purpose will find you.”

… I’ve heard, seen and read this SO many times before, in fact, I have probably mentioned it in the newsletter in previous weeks. It’s the kind of statement that I have been inclined to roll my eyes at even, like ‘YEAH, I GET IT’, but this time I read it more consciously.

I always think my dreams have to be goal driven… you know like being a flying, sparkling, lifesaving, Game changer/all-round legend (also with a reputable career, a handful of children, a handsome husband and house and all the other stuff). All these things are great… but actually, when I really stop and think about my dream, it all relies on much simpler stuff; I just want to be the happiest and healthiest version of myself, for my family to be happy and healthy too and to sprinkle as much kindness, love and positivity on the World as possible. Once I have this nailed, I can go about flying and sparkling (if I want to - I may try magic instead), and my purpose in life will find me… but it all starts with the basics - I guess I kind of mentioned this last week but now I’m reiterating it… to myself and anyone else who needs to hear it.

Ensaïmada

For years my Mum and I holiday-ed in Mallorca - often with my grandparents too - we stayed in a hotel called the Hotel Bon Sol situated in a little town called Illetas, just outside Palma. It’s family run and each time we visited, it was like returning home. Besides the fabulous hotel, climate, scenery and lovely people we met there, the breakfasts were always a REAL highlight, in particular the Mallorca delicacy - Ensaïmadas.

If you haven’t heard of these before, they are a traditional Mallorca pastry; an enriched yeasted dough, rolled super thin, spread with fat (often lard) and sometimes an extra flavouring - sweet or savoury, rolled up and coiled into a spiral - the result is a rich yet light, airy dough (think brioche/croissant hyrbird), with an almost flaky pastry exterior that shatters slightly as you bite into it - honestly they’re divine.

When I saw pastry Queen, Nicola Lamb, share her recipe for these delicacies in her AMAZING newsletter (Kitchen projects), following her recent trip to Mallorca, I HAD to give them a try. Due to my aforementioned mood this week, I nearly gave up halfway through this little project. Thankfully though, my desire to recreate my favourite childhood pastry was enough to outweigh my mood, and I persevered. The process was kinda messy - particularly when it came to spreading the dough with the fat, it all looked DIRE (I genuinely thought the outcome was going to be LAUGHABLE) but I should not have doubted Nicola’s recipe and instructions - the result was just as I remembered and a much needed dose of doughy comfort.

If you have a weekend spare and fancy a little project… and a great Sunday morning breakfast, please give these a try, you will not be disappointed.

Another herby Chickpea salad

I’m ALLL for good wholesome salads - the ones that are simple to prepare, packed with flavour and can be boxed up and eaten over a few days - I swear they are better on day 2 or 3 too! This was a bit of a mashup of some of my favourites but also the odds and ends I had leftover in the fridge (approx. 1/3 of a jar of Bold bean co. chickpeas, a nubbin of Feta, & half packets of herbs) - I hate hate hate waste so I threw everything together, paired it with my favourite creamy tahini dressing and was wildly satisfied with the outcome so you get to try it too!

Serves 2-3

Salad
120g drained chickpeas (1/2 a 400g tin or 120g drained from a jar)
80g Dried quinoa
50g baby spinach - roughly chopped
2tbsp finely chopped parsley
2tbsp finely chopped coriander
50g chopped Cucumber
1 small shallot (approx 20g) finely chopped
30g crumbled feta
2 tbsp toasted pumpkin seeds toasted

Dressing
20g olive oil
20g tahini
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp runny honey
1 small garlic clove grated
1/4 tsp salt
ground black pepper
approx. 2 tbsp ice cold water

Method

Cook the quinoa as per the packet instructions. Add to a bowl along with the drained chickpeas, spinach, cucumber, shallot and herbs - mix to combine. In a small bowl mix together the oil, tahini, lemon juice, mustard, honey, garlic, salt and pepper. Drizzle in the cold water a little at a time until you achieve a desired consistency - a fairly thick, creamy sauce consistency. When ready to serve, add the dressing to the chickpea and salad mixture, toss to combine then portion into bowls and top with the crumbled feta and toasted pumpkin seeds.

Lemon, Olive oil, Yoghurt pot cake

This was the fruit of Tuesday afternoon’s labour. Now, I’m going to be honest, it was my first attempt at this cake, and in typical ‘Steph’ fashion, I managed to make it considerably more challenging than it needed to be - a lack of baking powder and a fair amount of egg shell falling in the batter were just two of several rookie errors I made. On the plus side, it turns out the cake is pretty robust! The recipe below is based on this one from the wonderful Letitia Clark. Letitia is based in Sardinia - which makes me very jealous - she bakes and cooks some wonderful dishes that meld her British roots with traditional Italian cuisine - absolute winner. The cake is traditionally ring shaped (baked in a Bundt type pan) and as Letitia suggests, wonderfully nostalgic and comforting. If you need an emergency cake to enjoy with a cup of coffee and friends, this is what you’re looking for. The recipe can be simplified to just using a yoghurt pot and no scales (1 pot of yoghurt, 1 pot of oil, 2 pots of sugar and 3 pots of flour with the remaining ingredients)… butttt this doesn't suit my overly precise baking brain so I measured the ingredients using my trusty scales and this is what I went with. My lack of baking powder resulted in an emergency bicarb substitution which I wouldn’t recommend so stick with the baking powder as advised.

Ingredients

150g Natural yoghurt (1 Yeo Valley yoghurt pot)

250g Caster sugar (2 pots)
Zest of 1 Orange
Zest of 1 lemon
140g Light Olive oil (1 pot)
3 Large eggs

270g plain flour (3 pots)
15g Baking Powder
1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Optional lemon icing
120g Icing Sugar
45ml Lemon juice
20g Runny Honey

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan. Grease an approx 26cm bundt tin LIBERALLY with butter (I use this 10 cup Nordicware Heritage bundt tin - it’s a high quality one so I don’t find it needs flouring too, but sometimes it can be useful to grease with butter then dust with flour). Combine the caster sugar, lemon and orange zest in a bowl, massage the sugar with the zest - it really infuses the flavour). Add this to a food processor along with the yoghurt, oil, eggs, flour, baking powder and vanilla - blitz the ingredients together until combined - don’t over mix it, but make sure its smoothish. Pour into the prepared cake tin and bake for 40-50 minutes (I did 40 minutes) or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Leave to cool for 10 minutes in the bundt tin before turning out onto a wire rack.
If making the icing - prepare it as the cake bakes - just whisk together the icing sugar, lemon juice and honey until smooth - and apply to the cake as soon as you have turned it out of the pan (i.e. while it’s still warm) - I try to spread it into all of the ridges, and over the sides of the cake such that the whole outside crust has a liberal coating of the glaze (do it as it’s on the wired rack and place it over a large plate - to catch the glaze that doesn’t adhere - you can reapply this as much as you like, but otherwise just discard when you’re done), it’s, quite a thick glaze - not a drizzle, but it really adds to the finished cake in my opinion - but totally optional!

EXTRAS:

• I’ve been following people as they have been gallivanting off to all four corners of the World this summer and I have LOVED seeing all the fabulous content - food, love, culture, history, weather - from different countries. Unfortunately I haven’t afforded a trip abroad this year… in fact I haven’t been on a plane for 4 years - madness - but… I do love seeing others enjoying themselves in beautiful places - wholesome content in my opinion!

• A bit more reality. This week I have made a few terrible recipes - from burning things - the grill is HOT as it turns out!!! - to incorrectly adjusting a recipe by adding far too much spice to some herby falafel (I ate 2 of said falafel because I hate waste and was trying to convince myself that they didn’t taste vaguely metallic - they did!!! - 6 have gone in the freezer, because I couldn’t commit to binning them straight away… they will probably end up in the bin in about 3 months when I clear out the freezer, but somehow the pain of throwing them away feels a little less 3 months down the line!). I don’t consider myself a pro cook or baker AT ALL, but my point is that, even someone who has been messing around in the kitchen for a few years, is prone to making BIG mistakes; they happen, it’s called real life!

• I’m conscious that I bang on about myself A LOT in this newsletter… I justify this to myself in thinking that it may be useful to some or one of you out there to hear a pretty honest account of life - we so often see and hear about perfect worlds/lives and I guess I’m trying to present a bit of reality, but I’m also keen to hear if there are any recipes, information, recommendations that you want to know about. Honestly, I may not be able to provide answers to everything, but I LOVE doing a bit of research and will always give you my honest opinion - so leave any questions or things you would like to know below. Also, if you make any of my recipes - please let me know, I’d love to see your creations.

• Things on TOAST. So you guys know I’m a fan of ricotta on oily toasted sourdough, topped with blistered balsamic tomatoes (and more oil). Well Thursday, I switched things up a touch, still toasted sourdough rubbed with olive oil and smeared with quality ricotta, but this time topped with baked apricots - as per this recipe - and drizzled with some of their juices, a little olive oil and a sprinkle of greek basil. This sweet and salty combo was an absolute TREAT… give it a go!

Finally, a huge thank you to you all for the support. I often worry that I’m not doing enough in this World and that these newsletters are pretty self indulgent and very little use to anyone, but I have received some delightful messages over the past couple of weeks from lovely people; it means the absolute world to think that I may be providing a bit of sparkle for a few of you!

Ok, enough from me - have a wonderful week, and love and hugs as always!

Steph x

Cheeky little reminder that there are still signed copies available for my book out on the 1st of September - link below to order: