#37 LOTS of Kitchen Play

How has another week passed? I swear I’ve blinked since last Sunday!! How’s everyone getting on?

First things first, the important matters:

• It’s still frickin cold, and SO grey here in the UK, and I really don’t love it - please send some sun?

• Wednesday afternoon hair wash was successfully performed - albeit with cold water, which was NOT OK - apparently Id’ done too much washing up earlier in the day and used all the hot water! Whoops!

• “I’m a Celebrity” is back on our TV screens… It may be a slightly different format, but I’m already loving it - I find it the PERFECT pre-bed mental switch off… I’m team Toff and Tuffers if you were wondering!

WORK (aka baking play!)

As I mentioned last week, I’ve been carrying out some SERIOUS recipe testing for an INSANELY talented friend over the last few days, and it’s been SUCH a joy! Obviously, I can’t divulge too much about this yet, but it’s made me realise a few things, firstly… in case it wasn’t apparent, I just ADORE baking… admittedly it can leave me feeling shattered, frustrated and slightly overwhelmed at times, but these times simply teach me important lessons for the future… and when things work, I find the magic that unfolds before my eyes simply mesmerising!
Naturally, I’ve doubted myself endlessly: I’ve wondered whether I’ve done things thoroughly enough, if/when things haven’t worked, I’ve done them several times to check what has gone wrong, (it’s largely been my error and not that of the recipe), and I’ve made a LOT of notes!!!
Despite the doubt, the purpose it’s given me has been so welcome, I’ve thrived feeling like I’m doing something worthwhile, and I’ve just loved the feeling of being able to help with such an exciting project. I’m hoping to be able to do a bit more testing next week and am, again, very excited - I also can’t wait to reveal what I’ve been testing for - I think you’ll love it!
A few things I have learnt this week:

• Don’t rush, be patient, have faith!

• Browned butter incorporated into sweet dough is a total game changer.

• I’m addicted to custard-cream mixtures (technically called crème légère)

• Flaky pastry/choux pastry… pastry in general, is simply magic - I can quite happily stare at the oven whilst it bakes, watching it take on it’s crazy, delectable form!

• Leeks are a new favourite vegetable.

• I also feel SO inspired in terms of my own recipe development… which makes me excited!

As a result of said testing, my own kitchen adventures have been somewhat limited… nevertheless, I have of course thrown a few shapes of my own. I’ve generally employed the ‘low effort, pure comfort’ approach to baking and cooking, to counter the intensity of my other work… the results have been: maximal reward, minimum effort, which we all LOVE right?
Last weekend, I rustled up some Cornish Saffron buns - I think I mentioned to you a few weeks ago that a friend had sent me her recipe? Well, I tried it out, and the result was simply INCREDIBLE! 1. I have clever friends, 2. Bread IS LYF!
You may also have noticed me continue my ‘perfect sponge’ quest, I think I’m nearly there, although my tests were temporarily halted due to the other work. I promise I will get a recipe to you when I’ve got it nailed - I just need to get the right quantity in the tin - I had some overflow issues which I don’t want to inflict on you - and then it’s YOURS TO TRY!

What else do I have to report? Oh ok, an Olive update - she’s gorgeous… but also a little DEVIL for eating ANYTHING and EVERYTHING - she seems to be favouring the inedible quite a bit at the moment! On that note, I believe onions are a bit no-no for dogs, so would imagine leeks fall into the same category. You can, therefore, imagine my despair as she merrily ploughed through a rogue piece of leek that found its way onto the floor earlier this week - I fished as much as I could out of her mouth but I’m pretty sure a fair bit went down, nightmare! Fortunately, she doesn’t seem to have suffered any ill-effect from leek-gate, but gawd, it’s a full-time job keeping your eyes on them!
I’ve REALLY missed my Dad this week - they say that time heals and that grief gets easier, but for me it has just changed I guess, it looks a little different every day, sometimes it hurts more than others, but it never goes away.
I’ve discovered Bonraw natural sugars, and am low-key obsessed - I want to try everything they have to offer!
I want to read more… has anyone got any good recommendations - I loved things like ‘Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine’, ‘Everything is beautiful’ and ‘Sorrow and bliss’… so anything along these lines, feel good ‘nice’ reads! Pop any suggestions below (please and thank you!)

OK, it’s time to hit you with 3 little cracker recipes from the week PLUS over on TCC+ is my No Knead Focaccia recipe which you’re gonna LOVEEE…

Homemade roasted nut butter

Let’s face it, there are some ELITE nut butters on the supermarket shelves, and I won’t stop buying my favourites any time soon! However, a 250g packet of (roasted) peanuts from Waitrose currently costs £1.90 (68p/kg), meanwhile, a 275g jar of my FAVOURITE PB - Manilife - currently costs £4 (£1.46/kg), which is clearly quite a big difference.
Now I’m not sure what the energy cost of blending a packet of nuts to oblivion for about 5-10 mins is, but assuming it doesn’t rack up more than 78p, we’re quids in if we make it ourselves. PLUS… I LOVE little mindful tasks like this - I don’t know if it’s just me, but I feel extremely proud of myself when I recreate a product that usually comes in a jar - mayonnaise, jams, curds - they give me a little buzz, (I don’t get out much, OK?), and anything that lifts my mood, is absolutely worth it.

My advice here is to pick your favourite nuts, roast until golden, cool them, then BLEND, BLEND, BLEND, add a pinch of salt and pop into sterilised jars - job done. I’m on a mission to create a chocolate/hazelnut (aka Nutella style) version of this too - stay tuned!!

Ingredients

250g Nuts - personally hazelnut and peanut are the leading pair for me but pecans/almonds/cashews are also fabulous - have a play around and establish your favourite
Flaky sea salt to taste

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan. Line a baking tray with parchment and spread the nuts evenly onto the tray. Roast in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned and smelling toasty (don’t let them catch - I’m so guilty of walking away from things like this and returning just a moment or two too late to find a burnt offering - not ideal!).

Remove from the oven and allow to cool fully.

Once cooled, add to a food processor along with a good ping of salt and blend until smooth - stop the machine after every minute and scrape down the sides, then blend again - it takes a little bit of patience, but I promise you will be rewarded! Once really smooth, transfer to sterilised jars and store at room temp.

Wild Garlic Pesto

OK so I’ve heard a LOT about Wild garlic in the last few years but, until last weekend, hadn’t tried it. To be totally honest, I wondered whether it was one of these trendy things that we’ve been conditioned to like, that actually aren’t all that fantastic. Well, I’m pleased say, I was wrong to be sceptical, blitzed up to form a pesto, it’s DEVINE - I’ve been stirring it through pasta, smearing it on bread and at one point spooning it out of the jar - it’s THAT good!

In terms of foraging for it, I believe it’s legal to pick wild garlic in the UK although you can’t remove the roots or dig up whole plants.

At what time of year can you find it? It tends to be around from as early as mid-February time through to May, although it varies with the weather.

In terms of knowing where to look for it… well, as it turns out, you’re never far from some at this time of year. It typically grows in ‘deciduous woodlands’, it thrives in the shade and enjoys damp ground, with a preference for slightly acidic soil. It can often be found near bluebells and generally when you stumble across some, there will be a fair amount of it - it’s dense and will cover much of the forest floor. It also gives off a pungent aroma, so you KNOW when you’ve hit the jackpot.

For my recipe below, 75g looks like… ‘quite a big bunch’ (not that helpful sorry), take a bag with you to pop it in. It reduces down a lot once pesto-ified, (aka blended), and if you don’t pick up enough, you can scale back the recipe accordingly. Besides pesto, you can create epic garlic infused oils, garlic butters, add it to omelettes, salads, dressings, or even create pickles with the buds, honestly, the possibilities are endless, and I urge you to jump on the bandwagon!

Ingredients

75g wild garlic leaves, stems removed (save to top salads - similar to chives) preferably use the smaller, younger, tender leaves
25g grated parmesan or pecorino
1/2 garlic clove grated
Zest and juice of 1/4 lemon
25g Roasted pine nuts
75ml Olive oil

Method

Thoroughly soak/rinse and then dry the wild garlic leaves and roughly chop. Add to a blender with the olive oil, garlic, lemon juice and lemon zest - blitz to a rough paste. Add the pine nuts and parmesan and blitz again until you have a smooth- ish paste. Transfer to a sterilised jar and use as you wish - warning, this stuff is super addictive.

Harissa chickpeas with herby yoghurt

I first made this during lockdown I think, and having made it again this week, question why I left it over a YEAR to make it again.
Actually, you know what it is? I bought a jar of Rose harissa mid-last year, it’s the good stuff from Belazu - as great as this Harissa is, and much as I’m partial to spreading it onto most things/ lobbing it into various dishes, I find the pressure of getting through a whole jar, before the recommended use by once opened, pretty intimidating.
A few weeks ago I FINALLY broke the seal of said jar realising that life was too short to hold on any longer… it has since sat in the fridge, and been dipped into sporadically… it has now WELL exceeded the recommendation in terms of ‘use once opened’ but I can’t let it go to waste when it still seems absolutely fine to me.
(FYI, I’m not advocating using out of date food, buttt also - I think we should be better at using our initiative, and thus minimising waste! If a product is high in natural preservatives like sugar, oil and or salt, (e.g., chutney’s/jams/Harissa/pesto), it’s usually pretty well guarded against nasty things. Furthermore, refrigeration prevents bugs from thriving, so you bought extra time. Obviously try not to double dip into jars and be just sensible - if it looks funky or there is obvious mould growing on the surface, maybe give it a miss, otherwise, CRACK ON!

Anyway, back to the recipe, I’m pretty sure I should be crediting someone for the inspo here as I’m sure it’s based on someone else's recipe, but I can’t remember - so forgive me. All I do know is that it’s a bit of a belter - a PERFECT quick, simple, nourishing weeknight dinner solution, it happens to be vegan, although you can have it with meat/fish/eggs, and it’s pure comfort… winner! The yoghurt is a little stunner too - it turns wonderfully green and is LUSH paired with the slightly spicy tomato-y chickpeas.

Recipe

Serving suggestion: 2 as a main, 3 as a side

Ingredients

2 tsp Olive oil
2 small banana shallots peeled and chopped
1 red pepper roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves grated
2 tsp Tomato puree
1 tbsp rose harissa I use Belazu’s - it’s next level epic - I eat it out of the jar!
3/4 tsp ground smoked paprika
1/2 tsp cumin seeds ground up in a pestle and mortar
1/2 tin crushed tomatoes
1 x 400g tin (or equivalent from a jar) of chickpeas AND their juices Bold bean are undoubtedly the best here!
Optional 100g Spinach (if you’re trying to sneak in extra veg)

Herby yoghurt

100g Greek yoghurt
15g Fresh Coriander
juice of 1/2 Lime - a good squeeze
optional splash of milk to loosen if you like a thinner consistency

Method

Heat the oil in a medium sized saucepan, once hot, add the shallots and pepper and cook for 15 minutes or until softened. Add the garlic, tomato puree, harissa, smoked paprika and cumin seeds and stir to combine, cook for another couple of minutes. Next add the chickpeas and their juices, followed by the tomatoes. Bring to a simmer, then turn down the heat, cover and cook for around 20 minutes or until the chickpeas have softened and you have a lovely rich stew-y situation - if using the spinach, add it to the pan now and return the lid for 5-10 minutes allowing it to wilt down into the chickpea mixture.

For the yoghurt, blitz all of the ingredients together in a blender and serve atop the harissa chickpeas.

Serve with flatbreads/rice/your favourite grain (I’m loving freekeh at the moment) and/or a piece of pan-fried fish

MISCELLANEOUS EXTRAS

• THE BEST DUNKING BISCUIT EXPERIMENT - did everyone hear about this in the news this week? Much as I don’t advocate dunking a biscuit - biscuits should be crunchy or melt in the mouth - not soggy, end of discussion - I need to meet the researcher who carried out this experiment because clearly, we are on the same wavelength in terms of priorities when it comes to scientific experiments. If you missed this pivotal news article, Jaffa’s were reportedly most durable when it came to ‘dunkabillity’… don’t say I don’t provide you with the most ground-breaking news!
  Side note… I don’t LOVE Jaffa Cakes - am I going to hell for saying that??

• Sport - who watched (or took part in) the Marathon last weekend? I LOVE watching the race! You can feel the atmosphere, the pain, people’s motivation for running… it’s full of emotion, energy, and positivity - a real mood-boosting watch I find! F1 is also back on our screens this weekend and it’s ACTION packed! AND the athletics season kicks off with the first Diamond League event on Friday - whoop!! I do love a bit of sport related BUZZ!

• I fancy some sticky Malt loaf, spread THICK with cold butter - anyone else team Malt loaf?

• Finally… who has grand plans for the Coronation weekend? I’m not doing anything particularly exciting myself, but I will undoubtedly be tucking into some thoroughly regal recipes - pass the scones, strawb jam, and clotted cream!

As ever, I do hope you are all doing ok. I’ve recently received a few messages from people sharing their struggles, and seen others online recount their feelings of despair and hopelessness. Unfortunately, I don’t have a magic wand or a fool-proof solution for this but… I’ve said it before and I’m saying it again, you’re not alone, in fact, there’s a cute little club of us; we have super-powers, and we WILL all emerge. However, whilst we’re here, we can make ourselves cosy, we don’t need to fight the ‘yuck’, just brace yourself a bit and roll with the punches, do the things you love, do them repeatedly, and be kind to yourself - you’re fabulous and have so much to offer to the world!

Sending love and positivity to all of you!

Steph xxx