rose petal jam

'like the sea'

The subject of this post is what I say to anyone who asks me what an oyster tastes like. Isn't that true? I have tried really hard but I can't come up with a better description. They taste like the sea! I introduced Mum and Maggie to them recently when I ordered them for lunch when we were all in Edinburgh and they agreed. They do. (BTW we ate in The Ship in Leith which doesn't appear to have a website but is very very good and if you are ever in the area do pop in as the food was really memorable).

Anyway, this isn't a recipe, just some nice pictures of oysters and my favourite place to get them! We are going to the cottage this weekend and I will be nipping into Whitby to visit this wee stall.

What's that? You can't see the seafood? Oh Ok then...

Not that much better but they were busy and whilst happy to be photographed by their greediest customers (we go a lot) we didn't want to interupt their busy trade.

However we did buy these...

Aren't they GORGEOUS?

Now it is of course lovely to eat Oysters in slingbacks with a glass of champagne at the ready. But there is something unbeatable about eating them, with a squeeze of lemon, sat on Whitby Pier with the wind in your hair and the sound of seagulls in your ears, watching the boats go by.

Sit. Slurp. Sigh.

So if you are ever in Whitby, walk down the harbour on the side opposite the Church and Abbey, past Woolworths, towards the pier. Next to a Gyspy fortune telling caravan with a mysterious scarved lady you will find Nobles and three freshly shucked osyters for £2.

slice o' cake an' a cup o' tea*

Do you rememberWorzel Gummidge*? He was a big fan of cake and tea and I seem to remember that if formed quite an integral part of each episode. I always found the head swapping that went on a bit freaky and his nose a little too warty but would gladly have put up with all that for a slice of the delicious fruitcake he always seemed to have! There were four cakes which dominated my childhood, a particularly delicious caraway seed cake, a chocolate cake with chocolate icing, lovely rich Christmas cake (all home made by Maggie) and shop bought battenburg cake, eaten at my grandma's house. And whatever Worzel was eating on a Sunday afternoon.

I love all kinds of cake and am planning to make some butterfly cakes soon, inspired by Jane at Yarnstorm. Being a girly girl, I love cupcakes and french fancies and the like in pretty pastel colours, with sugar roses, silver balls and other tiny offerings, but there is still a place in my heart for a good old fashioned loaf cake, the kind that goes so well with a cup of tea, particularly on a chilly autumn day. This one scores a little on the 'not too bad for you' scale too as it contains bananas and prunes - pottasi-yummy! Still, it has a fair whack of butter and sugar too so maybe just two slices...

Banana, Prune and Walnut Cake

225g self raising flour
1 tsp mixed spice
100g salted butter
125g dark muscovado sugar
450g very ripe bananas
2 medium sized organic free range eggs
50g walnuts (or whatever nut you like)
75g prunes, snipped into little chunks

Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Grease and baseline a 2lb loaf tin (ingredients may have gone metric but cake tins stay firmly imperial!).

Sift the flour and spice into a large mixing bowl. Melt the butter and sugar in a pan.

Peel and mash the bananas and then stir into the butter/ sugar mixture. Mix into the flour with the eggs, walnuts and prunes. You should have a slushy looking mixture with a lovely treacly, banana smell. Pour into the cake tin.

Bake in the oven for about 1 and 1/4 hours but possibly a bit longer, until a skewer or fork comes out clean. The length of baking depends on how sloppy the bananas became when you mashed them. The riper the banana the better the taste but the slower the bake if you see what I mean.

Cool a little then turn out and place on a wire rack to cool completely (if you have the willpower and if you do can you send me some please, thank you). Serve in generous slices with tea, candles and the rain lashing against the window.

the witching hour is upon us...

Look at this wee chap! isn't he lovely? Admittedly not very scary but that was the brief given to Dominic, a pumpkin that I could smile with! Unfortunately we have no windowsill deep enough to display him in, so he sits, smiling away at me from the hearth. Aww!

And not to let his insides go to waste (heaven forbid), here is a lovely autumn soup, with a bit of a kick...

Pumpkin, Sage, Pancetta and Chilli soup

Ok, I know, too much sage and pancetta recently! But I LOVE the combination, so really I am not making any apology for it. And I'll stop soon I promise :-) And if you are with me on this one, please check out the latest entry from the gorgeous Cherry Menlove

Serves 4

The inside of a medium pumpkin, diced
a red onion, chopped
15 (or so!) sage leaves
1/2 tsp chillli flakes
2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
500ml vegetable or chicken stock
3 slices of pancetta, snipped up into smallish strips

Fry off over a gentle heat the pancetta, onion, sage, chilli and garlic in some olive oil for about 5 mins untl soften and frangrant.

Add the pumpkin and cook over a slow heat for about 2-3 mins.

Add the stock, bring to the boil and then simmer for 15 mins.

Blitz with a hand blender until smooth but with some texture.

Serve with a smile.

small beauties

Note: the title of this entry is stolen from the very lovely and sadly departed Julia Darling Read her poem of the same title via this link.

Just look at them!! I should have put this post up weeks ago as that is when the berries were picked, but it just never happened. I wondered whether it was now past bramble season and I shouldn't blog this, but the bushes on the country walk path at the weekend said no, so here we go.

Blackberries, or brambles are a childhood thing for me. We used to go along the banks of the Leeds - Liverpool canal, carrying empty margarine tubs and collecting as many of these as possible. God the scratches we used to get! By the end of the afternoon we all looked like we had had a cat fight with a vicious moggy! Also, our lips and hands were stained purple as I think Helen and I ate as many as made it into the tubs.

Afterwards they were transformed into jam, puddings and even wine (strictly for the grown ups though!).

And in honour of all of this I created a new and unbelievably easy pud, which would even cut the mustard at a casual dinner party I reckon.

Bramble and Ginger Mess

ok, so it's not even a recipe!!

Put together brambles, creme fraiche and smashed up ginger biscuits and serve in pretty/ attractive glasses. I used Tescos organic ginger biccies which are very oaty so it gives a nice wholesome edge to the dessert. If your berries are very tart, as they can be, then sprinkle them with sugar about 5 mins before combining with the rest. Ooh! and a slug of ginger wine at this point also adds a lovely booziness to the proceedings. It's just lovely and takes 2 mins to assemble and serve and as you can see looks very sweet.

flavours of autumn

I love autumn and everything about it. The colours, smells, that snappiness in the air, the strong sunshine followed by the weaker, watery kind of late afternoon, the mist in the mornings, the return of porridge (more later) ah…was there ever a better season than autumn? It’s rich and abundant and there is so much that is yummy in the produce of the season. It’s a time for cosy food, eaten by candlelight as the rain lashed down or the fog rolls in.

There’s no need to let healthy eating go completely out of the window, but it is the season to indulge in hearty food, soul food that takes the chill from your bones and gives you the strength and fortitude to face dark early mornings, commuting in the wind and rain and the start of Christmas shopping (first present bought yesterday – Helen, you are a lucky girl!)

So, what did I make for dinner last night? Well, I am having a love affair with sage right now, it’s the very essence of cold weather cooking for me and I think would be my dessert island herb. I love the robust, aromatic flavour and the way that it stands up to fierce temperatures and even crisps up for a deeper, more mellow flavour. So here we have it.

Pork and squash tray roast with pancetta and sage.

Serves two

Two pork chops or loin steaks
6 slices of pancetta
16 sage leaves
half a medium butternut squash, chopped into inch cubes
a red onion, cut lengthways into 8 chunks
8 garlic cloves, still in their papery skin
some olive oil
salt and pepper
splash of dry sherry
100ml chicken stock

pre heat the oven to 200 degrees C. Take your pork and put 4 leaves of sage on one side of each. Lay the pancetta over, holding the sage to the meat and then flip over in your hands, add 4 more leaves of sage and wrap the pancetta round. The pancetta gives a rich saltiness to the dish and really perks up the soft pork flavour. Place in a strong roasting tin, crossed pancetta side down. Add the squash, garlic and red onion to the tray, placing around the meat. Drizzle the veg with olive oil and season the whole thing with salt and pepper. Place in the oven for about 40 mins or until the veg is soft and the pork is cooked. It’s nice if you manage to get some crisp edges to your veg but depending on how much juice comes out of the pork and the squash this isn’t always possible and isn’t necessary.

Take the vegetables and pork out of the tin, put on a plate and keep warm back in the oven. You should have the juices, the garlic and oil still in the roasting tin. Squash the garlic so the roasted cloves pop out of their skins. Pick the skins out with fingers. Lick fingers. Put the tray over the heat on your stove top. Add the stock and the sherry (about 50mls will do) and simmer. The sauce will become syrupy very quickly. Remove from heat.

Arrange the meat and veg on warmed plates and pour over the gravy. Serve with mulled red cabbage. Eat at the table, by candlelight, with no TV. Have a conversation about autumn flavours and get planning your next meal!

What is your favourite autumn meal?

red is the colour

Red cabbage is a favourite of ours. I cannot imagine Christmas dinner without it; it looks so beautiful on the plate and really takes the festive flavours such as cinnamon and cloves to its heart. Often I cook it in red wine, but I know lots of people (my mum included) aren’t keen on food cooked in wine, so it is just as lovely cooked in apple juice (the cloudy kind is more softly apple-ish I find, the clear is a bit sharp).

It’s hard to see how such few and humble ingredients can make something so delicious that Dominic reckons he could just eat it on it’s own, but it does.

Mulled Red Cabbage

Makes enough for 4

A medium sized red cabbage
Enough apple juice to almost cover – about 500ml should do
6 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 tablespoon of muscavado sugar

Put everything into a large pan. Bring to the boil and simmer, uncovered for about 1-1/2 hours until the cabbage is tender and most of the liquid has reduced away. C’est tout! Amazingly easy. If you like, and can find them, pick out the cloves and cinnamon before eating. As this makes enough for four and there are just two of us, we freeze some...

it freezes really well and there is nothing nicer than knowing that there is a little batch of it, waiting in the freezer, maybe to be brought out on a chilly night to eat with fluffy mash and some roasted chicken or maybe a nice beef casserole…

How do you like your eggs in the morning?

The other morning, I think it was Sunday, I wanted to make scrambled eggs for brekkie. However, Dom wanted to go for a run and by the time he got back, got showered it was more like brunch time. Sundays can be like this, it’s probably the only day of the week where it seems OK to have two meals rather than three. Probably because there is often the promise of a big roast dinner later on!

So, scrambled egg didn’t sound enough. Not in quantity but in flavour. Now don’t get me wrong, I love scrambled eggs with their soft blandness and I rather immodestly think mine are some of the best I have ever had (after much practice, I used to make eggs like rubber!), but brunch needs more of a kick to it don’t you think?

So this is what I came up with, purely from bits and pieces that I had in the fridge and store cupboard. I decided to make something with a bit of a kick, mainly for Dom who embraced curry for breakfast when we travelled to Sri Lanka and loves all things spicy.

Spicy scrambled eggs

Two spring onions, finely sliced
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
Half a courgette, diced
1 red chilli, deseeded and cut into little slices
1/2 teaspoon of cumin seeds
4 eggs
Wholemeal bread toast
Few leaves of basil (coriander or parsley would also be ok)
A little oil

Make the toast and keep warm (I find this easier than trying to make whilst trying to make the eggs which nearly always ends in burnt toast!)

Gently fry the onion, garlic, cumin, chilli and courgette until softened and aromatic

Beat the eggs in a bowl and then pour over the veggie mix

Add some chopped basil

Scramble the eggs by gently cooking the eggs over a low heat until they are a sloppy consistency. Don't over stir, just fold the set egg from the bottom of the pan into the liquid egg. At this point, when they are still a bit runny, be brave and remove from the heat. The heat of the pan and in the egg mixture will do the rest of the cooking. If you keep it on the hob until they look done they will end up over cooked.

Serve on top of the toast and garnish with the remaining basil.

You could put whatever you have and like into this, peppers would be good, cheese added at the end would be nice, maybe some parmesan? I think if I had had some I would have used coriander over the basil but in a way I was glad it was the only fresh herb I had as it was a nice contrast and not the obvious choice.

Make it your own, but make it. It’s dead easy, very quick and would make not only a great brunch but would be a fab quick tea before having to rush back out to meet friends etc.

oh cherry oh cherry oh baby

dedication: this post is for Carli, who I reckon would have loved this as much as me!

Look what was drink of the day in Becketts in Whitby when we were staying at the cottage the other week! A cherryade float! As soon as I read the blackboards there was only one drink for me. It was a lovely sunny day with blue skies and breezes and therefore the perfect occasion to indulge in such a seasidey (is that a word?) and nostalgic drink.

I first had an ice cream float courtesy of Emma Sawula when I was about 9 and so she was about 13. It was a Pepsi float and she couldn’t believe that I had never had one before! I had never heard of such a thing but it was amazing and I have never forgotten it. Years later I ordered one for Emma’s daughter Zoe, when she was about seven and she must have said the word ‘delicious’ about 12 times whilst drinking it.

The brilliantest (another made up word) thing about floats is the way the fizzy pop reacts with the ice cream to produce a larva-like foam which overspills the glass. Magic!

The best ice cream float is, in my opinion, one made with American cream soda. The combination of the sweet, creamy fizz and the sweet vanilla ice cream is gorgeous. But this cherryade version was absolutely sublime. And so pink! It has to taste good when it looks as good as that.

Becketts is a great café in Whitby. As well as amazing homemade cakes and very nice panini it sells second hand books. I found an immaculate, one previous lady owner copy of Tove Jansson’s The Summer Book there, which is a fantastic summer read. And it was just £2.50 to me – bargain! The books are mainly from the lady who owns and runs the café (and more importantly makes the cakes, like rhubarb and custard cake, white chocolate and vanilla, Greek honey, almond and orange…). She’s a big reader and once she’s done with a book she pops it on sale. Great idea!

So, if you’ve never had an ice cream float, now’s the time, just before autumn arrives! Grasp one of the last days of summer with both hands, pop a summer dress on and mix yourself a little glass of seaside heaven.

Fill a nice tall glass 3/4 full with the fizz of your choice. Now is not the time for sophistication or adult tastes. Think good old coke, dandelion and burdock, Tizer even!

Add a scoop of plain vanilla ice cream. No need for a posh kind, good old Cornish vanilla or a similar supermarket soft scoop will do. You MUST have straws otherwise you won’t be able to drink the damn thing. And a spoon. Watch the foam rise and fall over the side of the glass. Sip, slurp, scoop, lick and enjoy.

Backyard chicken

As the weather improved recently (ok, slightly improved) it was time to dust of the BBQ and get into some outdoor cooking. I am a bit of a snob about BBQs; I don’t want to eat burnt sausages (mainly because I don’t really like them) or shop bought burgers in soggy buns. I like to use the BBQ as a way of getting a different flavour onto meats, fish and veggies and to enjoy the opportunity to eat outside for a change. It is a well known fact that food always tastes better in the fresh air. Oh and that you’ll sleep better after being outdoors for a while…well, so I was told as a child and it works for me!

Many people’s experience of BBQs is in a crowd, people have them in the summer and invite a whole load of people round for a big party. Which is great and I love them and it’s a fun and relatively easy way of feeding a group. However, I am also a fan of the BBQ for two, and we often have them just the two of us, especially on a Friday evening in the summer when we can just relax and take our time.

We don’t have a garden or glamorous patio but we do have quite a sweet backyard, a tiny area really, but it isn’t overlooked, has a tree and enough room for 2-4 people to sit out on a little decked area and space for a BBQ. And as everything looks better with a couple of candles here we go.

The first thing I did was make up a sauce. Dom decided what the base of this should be and I tweaked it with a few bits and pieces to make it extra yummy. This is like the sort of BBQ sauce you get in restaurants etc, sweet, sticky, with a bit of warmth.

I’m not going to give a ‘recipe’ of how to make this, as it’s really just BBQing chicken which I am sure you know how to do. The sauce recipe is below however and just wanted to say that we used organic free-range chicken breasts. I know it’s a bit dull everyone banging on about organic etc but it really does taste better and frankly in the case of chicken if it isn’t free range I am not eating it - battery chicken is cruel and if that weren’t enough it actually doesn’t taste that good either. I try to find organic in the reduced section of supermarket chillers and squirrel it away in the freezer for an occasion such as this.

BBQ chicken sauce

1 tbsp runny honey
1 1/2 tbsp ketchup
2 tsp Worcester sauce
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chilli flakes

This makes enough for two but if you were having a few people round it can easily be multiplied, just don’t add so much chilli. You can also marinade the meat in a bit of balsamic vinegar and some olive oil to tenderise the flesh – as little as one hour will do it but you can also do before work and leave it all day in the fridge quite happily.

The method is simple, just cook the chicken for a few mins on each side to get I going and then start to baste it with the sauce using a pastry brush or similar. Keep basting and turning until chicken is cooked right through. Its best to have this a few inches away from the coals and cook more slowly to allow the sauce to build up and so it catches in places but doesn’t burn too much.

We then carved the chicken into slices and ate in ciabatta bread, with fresh salad leaves from the allotment, some garlic mayonnaise and a nice glass of shiraz. It felt good to be finally sat outside in the twilight eating something delicious (ethical!) and so easy to make.

I would love to hear about other people's BBQ sauces and recipes. what's the best thing you have ever cooked on a BBQ?

Guilty of simplicity

Do you have a dish that you make where the effort that goes in is inversely proportionate to how amazing it tastes? I have a couple and this one in particular makes me feel quite guilty! When I cook it for people I get embarrassed if they ask for the recipe as it’s so simple and requires so few, easily available ingredients that I feel a bit of a fraud. I really MUST do something about my belief that for something to be good or worthwhile it must be hard to do or difficult to attain. Must be my puritanical upbringing (JOKE mother).

This dish is something I created a few years ago and was one of the first things that I made up entirely from nowhere but my own head and what I thought would taste good. It was just after I discovered that coriander was actually really nice, after a childhood of disliking it. It also uses fresh chilli and has a wee kick and so went down very well with Dominic.

And as if it couldn’t get any better (see how I am learning to blow my own trumpet Janice?) it is

a. Good for you – low fat, good lean protein, contains veggies and

b. You can make it in well under 30 minutes – I’d say you could do it in 15 mins to be honest if you concentrated, didn’t have to root around for the ingredients and weren’t listening to The Archers at the same time.

I haven’t really had a name for it until now so…err….

Spicy prawn pasta with lime & coriander

serves two

Enough prawns for 2 people, defrosted
150g linguine pasta
Punnet of cherry tomatoes
Handful of coriander leaf and stalks, chopped
2 cloves of garlic
A tray of sugar snap peas
The juice and zest of a lime
1 fat red chilli, deseeded and chopped
2 big dollops of half fat crème fraiche
1 dessertspoon of olive oil

Do all of the chopping and defrosting
Put the pasta on to boil according to packets instructions
Put oil, garlic and chilli into a saute pan and gently soften. Add the tomatoes and cook out for 3 mins
Add the prawns, coriander and lime to the pan and mix together. Cook for minute the turn off the heat so the prawns don't become rubbery.
When pasta has 4 mins to go add the peas to the water.
When al dente, drain pasta and peas and add to prawn mixture.
Add the crème fraiche and combine everything together.

Serve, guiltily but defiantly!