Monday 30 January 2012

Shake Up Your Wake Up! Greek Yoghurt with Banana & Pistachio

Continuing with the breakfast theme of my latest posts, here is another idea for a healthy Greek yoghurt breakfast. It's so simple to create:

First stir a few drops of vanilla essence into a small bowl of Greek Yoghurt. Top with chopped banana slices & shelled pistachio nuts, drizzle with maple syrup (or golden syrup) and top with grated nutmeg. Enjoy! 

Thursday 26 January 2012

Shake Up Your Wake Up! Golden Corn Breakfast Rolls

At the moment I can't get enough of this next recipe! These are slightly sweet corn rolls, perfect warm with butter or in this case topped with scrambled egg, herbs and cheese for breakfast. I have also been eating them for lunch with cheese and salad. The rolls hold their shape well when filled.

Makes 8 large or 12 small rolls

Ingredients:
2tbsp golden syrup
40g melted butter
30g yeast
450g strong white plain flour
140g polenta (cornmeal)
350ml warm water
1tsp salt

Method:
- Cream the yeast and dissolve it in the warm water in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the salt, golden syrup, melted butter, polenta and half the flour.
- Beat using a wooden spoon until smooth and combined.
- Add the remaining flour, a little at a time to make a smooth and moist dough.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.
- Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl. Cover and set in a warm place to rise until doubled in size.
- Preheat the oven to 190oC/375oF/Gas Mark 5.
- Punch the dough down and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead lightly. Shape the rolls and place them on lightly greased baking sheets.
- Allow the rolls to rise for about 30 minutes.
- Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes until the rolls sound hollow when tapped underneath.
- Turn onto a wire rack to cool.


Tuesday 24 January 2012

Shake Up Your Wake Up! Blueberry Twist Yoghurt


This week is Farmhouse Breakfast Week, this year named 'Shake Up Your Wake Up!' The annual campaign highlights the importance of eating a healthy breakfast.

And why should breakfast be the same every day?! A simple base of natural yoghurt or Greek yoghurt can be dressed up in so many ways to make a healthy breakfast.

To get into the spirit of breakfast week I thought I would share one of my favourite greek yoghurt breakfasts.

Blueberry Twist

Take 1 portion of Greek yoghurt (or natural yoghurt), then add a handful of blueberries and black grapes (cut in half lengthways).

Next chop a small handful of pecans and add these to the centre of the bowl.

Drizzle the bowl with approximately 2 generous tsps of honey.

Finally use a small sieve to dust the dish with cinnamon.


Sunday 22 January 2012

Ever Reliable Wholemeal Bread

We all need a reliable wholemeal bread recipe and this one does the trick. It uses a mixture of white and stoneground flour to create a palatable wholemeal loaf. The crust is tasty but not too hard or chewy, it slices well and body of the loaf is soft and tasty. Remember that when making bread the dough should be fairly soft, if necessary add a little more water, otherwise your finished loaf will be hard.

Makes 12 medium sized rolls and a 1lb loaf

Ingredients:
1 lb stone ground flour
1 lb plain flour
½tsp salt
2oz butter (I used Clover)
1oz fresh yeast (refer to Tip of the Week dated 17/09/11 regarding yeast if you don’t know how to source this)
1tsp sugar
1 pint water (tepid)

Method
- Place the two flours in a large bowl and mix well. Rub in the butter and place the bowl in a warm place.
- Cream the yeast and sugar and add half the tepid liquid. Leave in a warm place.
- Make a well in the flour and add the yeast and enough water to give a rather soft dough. 
- Knead well, then put to rise till it doubles in size. 

- Knock back and re-knead. Just under half of the dough should be shaped and placed into the 1lb loaf tin. The remaining dough should be shaped into 12 equal sized rolls and placed onto baking sheets. Ensure the baking sheets have first been greased and floured.
- Allow the loaf and rolls to prove in a warm place for around 20 minutes and then bake in a hot oven at Gas Mark 7/220oC/425oF. Check the loaves after 15 minutes and remove loaves when they are brown and sound hollow when tapped underneath. The rolls will need to be removed from the oven before the loaf.

Remember, wholemeal flours generally require more moisture than white flour and will take longer to cook.



The flour I used today was sourced from Pann Mill Watermill and was very reasonably priced at £1 per bag:


For anyone living in Buckinghamshire or the surrounding area I would recommend a trip to Pan Mill Watermill when they hold a milling demonstration. Pann Mill is at the eastern side of High Wycombe at the edge of the Rye park. It is the last operating water mill on the river Wye, a tributary of the Thames. There have been mills on the site since at least 1086, and probably earlier. The previous Victorian mill was substantially altered in the early 20th century and mostly demolished in 1971. However, the High Wycombe Society saved the remains and the site, which is owned by High Wycombe Council, and a restoration project was started which continues to this day.

The mill is run entirely by volunteers and opens several days each year to hold demonstrations. It is possible to go inside the mill to see how everything works and the gardens surrounding the mill are lovingly kept. All in all a good afternoon out!

The next Pann Mill open day will be held on Sunday 13th May 2012 between 11.00am - 5.00pm.

Spicy Chickpea Stew

On this blog you won’t usually find many spicy recipes, simply because this is not my style. I love using fresh home-grown ingredients and prefer actually being able to taste them! Occasionally though I fancy something a little hotter. If you like your food spicy you will probably want to ramp up the quantities of spices in this recipe as it should be fairly mild otherwise.

Serves 4

Ingredients:
225g dried chickpeas (soaked, cooked until tender, then drained)
2 onions, peeled and chopped
225g carrots, peeled and sliced
100g sweetcorn
175g broad beans
2tsp ground coriander
1 ½ tsp ground cumin
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
600ml water
3tbsp tomato puree
Olive oil
Salt & pepper

Method:
- Heat approximately 2 tsps olive oil in a large saucepan, add the onion and carrots and fry gently for 10 minutes.


- Stir in the spices and cook for a further 2-3 minutes, stirring.
- Stir in the sweetcorn, broad beans, chickpeas, then add the water and tomato puree. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down so that the chickpea stew simmers.

- Simmer the mixture for approximately 1 hour, covered with the lid slightly ajar to allow steam to escape. After 1 hour remove the lid and turn up the heat, allowing the mixture to reduce as you wish. 
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Serve with brown rice and garnish with fresh coriander or parsley.

Tuesday 10 January 2012

Poppy Seed Cake Bars

After over indulging at Christmas I fancied a less rich cake to eat over the weekend; something that would be satisfying with a cup of tea but would not feel too heavy. So I decided on the recipe below which was also great for using up the poppy seeds I collected from my allotment last summer.

Ingredients:
100g poppy seeds
225ml milk
225g butter
225g light brown sugar
350g plain flour
3 eggs (separated)
2 1/2tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
juice of 1/2 lemon

Method:
- Add poppy seeds to milk in a saucepan. Heat to boiling point only. Remove from heat and let stand for 20 minutes.

- Cream butter with light brown sugar until fluffy.
- Beat in 3 egg yolks (save whites).


- Sift in plain flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well.


- Beat egg whites until stiff. Fold into butter-flour mixture (it will be stiff).


- Fold in poppy seeds and milk. Mix until just blended. Mix in juice of half lemon. 


- Spread into greased tray (9x13inch baking tray)
 
- Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in the tray, then slice into cake bars and store in an airtight container.

Monday 2 January 2012

Traditional Austrian Baked Cheesecake

This traditional Austrian cheesecake slices well and can be prepared in advance and frozen for up to two months. It has a fresh lemony taste and is lovely served with strong coffee.

You may notice that the recipe specifies Ricotta cheese which is of course Italian! The recipe would have been traditionally made with curd cheese. This is hard to find in my local shops but you may be able to locate a supply. Alternatively for the most authentic likeness to curd cheese you could use equal quantities of cream cheese and cottage cheese, but take care to drain both of them well before using.

Serves 6

Ingredients:
100g (4oz) butter
100g (4oz) caster sugar
4 eggs (separated)
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
100g (4oz) ricotta cheese
100g (4oz) ground almonds
icing sugar, to decorate

Method:
- Beat the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the sugar and egg yolks, one at a time.


- Mix in the lemon zest, ricotta cheese and ground almonds.


-Whip the egg whites until stiff. Whisk 2 tablespoons of beaten egg white into the mixture then fold in the remainder.

- Pour the mixture into a greased and floured 24cm (9 1/2 inch) springform tin.

- Bake in a preheated oven for 45 minutes at Gas Mark 4/350oF/180oC until well risen and golden. Cool in the tin on a wire tray.


- Carefully remove the sides of the tin and set the cheesecake on a serving plate.

- Place a paper doily or cut out paper snowflake on top of the cake. Sprinkle icing sugar over the paper. Carefully remove the paper or doily without disturbing the pattern.

Tip of the Week: Permaculture Magazine

For this week’s Tip of the Week I thought I would recommend my favourite magazine Permaculture. It’s full of inspirational yet practical and affordable ideas for a more self sufficient and sustainable lifestyle.

For those not familiar with Permaculture I will attempt to explain the concept! Permaculture is a way of working with nature to sustain human activities in the long term to provide for our needs of food, shelter, energy and community in ways that are healthy and efficient. It is about designing systems which are light on the planet; preserving the Earth’s resources whilst increasing soil fertility and agricultural yield. So an example of this could be my willow windbreaks. Instead of purchasing a plastic windbreak (created and transported using fossil fuels etc), I am using a sustainable wood resource in my local area. The permaculture application of this would be teaching others on my allotment site how to make windbreaks to improve the overall efficiency and resilience of the site. In the future strong local communities will be best placed to weather the problems caused by peak oil.

Interesting articles in the winter edition of Permaculture magazine 2011 include:

-        The history and uses of charcoal
-        How to make a pottery kiln from newspapers
-        Book reviews including Alys Fowler’s The Thrifty Forager
-        An interview with Green Party MP Caroline Lucas
-        A feature on composting toilets
-        Instructions on how to make Sauerkraut
-        A wonderful description of the Karuna forest garden  

Happy New Year! Winter Blog Update

Happy New Year to all who read this little blog of mine! I hope everyone has enjoyed the Christmas break and is ready for another hectic and exciting year. In church yesterday we were asked to think of good things that have happened in the last year and hopes that we have for 2012. One of my highlights of last year was definitely setting up this blog and I hope that in 2012 it continues to grow. At some point in the near future I will be organising a giveaway and I have lots of recipe ideas which fingers crossed I will find the time to try out!

This blog has been quiet over the last few weeks but I have been busier than ever! In the run up to Christmas I was gathering materials for my Christmas wreaths and getting out the boxes of dried flowers/seed heads that I collected over the summer. I made 3 Christmas wreaths this year, one for our own house and 2 for my grandparents. It is incredibly satisfying to make something like this which has cost next to nothing and looks so much better than the simple holly wreaths you can buy. The picture below shows one of the Christmas wreaths. As most of the materials are dried it is designed to be hung up indoors over a mantelpiece or doorway.


Although the wreath looks complex it is really quite simple to make. First a base is made of two strong wire bands which will hold their shape. A smaller wire band is set inside the larger wire band. The two wire circles and tied together with garden twine so that they are set in position. A hay band is then laid over the wire base and fixed in place with florists' wire. It is then a simple task to fix the fresh and dried materials to the base, again using short pieces of florists' wire.

The wreath includes:
Ivy
Holly
Red berried shrub
Teasel seed heads
Ornamental & California Poppy seed heads
Clematis seed heads
Burdock seed heads
Tea rose flowers
Lavender flower sprigs
Chamomile flowers
Sea holly flower heads
Calendula flower heads
Straw flowers
Yarrow (Achillea) flower heads, broken into smaller pieces

Following Christmas I started another seasonal project, making willow windbreak hurdles. These should give great protection down at the allotment when I plant out crops such as beans, cucumbers etc.

The first windbreak starting to take shape:


I was lucky enough to get some great presents over Christmas, including a new Nikon camera to enable me to take better pictures for this blog. I got a chance yesterday to try it out on some birds at the local reservoir, the picture below shows a pretty grey wagtail in a stream:


I am also very excited to have been gifted a year's membership to the Garden Organic Heritage Seed Library. It will be great to grow and taste some of the very old vegetable varieties such as the Victorian era purple podded pea:


Happy 2012!