FRUIT SALAD

Fruit Salad

Ingredients

1 punnet of ripe strawberries

1 orange

1 honey Murcott mandarin

2 kiwi fruit

1 large, ripe pear

Juice of an orange

Juice of a lemon

2 tbsp raw sugar (or honey) – optional, but advisable as the fruit can be quite sour

1 tbsp of orange liqueur (Cointreau, Grand Marnier, Curaçao or Triple Sec)

Method

Hull the strawberries and cut them in quarters. Peel the orange, removing the rind and pith, leaving the exposed flesh. Cut into small pieces removing the core and seeds in the process. Do likewise for the mandarin.

Peel the kiwi fruit and cut into slices and then quarter them. Peel the pear and cut into small pieces. Mix all fruit together in the bowl.

Dissolve the sugar (or honey) in the mixed citrus juices and add the liqueur. Pour over the fruit in the bowl and chill the fruit salad.

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme,

and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

SUMMER SALAD

As we progress towards Winter, one thing I'll miss is the Summer produce from our vegetable garden - ripe red flavoursome tomatoes, crisp cucumbers, fresh herbs, Spring onions... This is a salad we enjoy in the summertime.

SUMMER SALAD

Ingredients (for 2 persons)
3 ripe beefsteak tomatoes
2 Lebanese (i.e. baby) cucumbers
4-5 sprigs of fresh purslane
2-3 sprigs of parsley
1-2 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 large fresh Spring onion
1 tbsp baby capers
A pinch or two of dried oregano
Salt, pepper to taste
70 g of blue vein cheese

Vinaigrette Dressing
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp wine vinegar
1 tsp Italian “balsamico” vinegar

Method

Cut and slice the tomatoes and put in a salad bowl. Peel and slice the cucumbers on top of it.  Pluck the tender leaves of the purslane and add to salad. Chop up the parsley and thyme and add to salad.Add the chopped Spring onion and capers. Add the oregano, salt and pepper. Dress with the vinaigrette, tossing thoroughly, and add the cheese cut in small cubes.

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme,

and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

LOAF

A loaf of bread, the staff of life, a basic food item on the daily menu for billions of people around the world.

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

Wheat Germ Bread
Ingredients
7 cups white unbleached flour
1 cup wheat germ
1 tablespoon dry (granulated) yeast
2.5 cups warm water
2 teaspoonfuls salt
2 tablespoonfuls olive oil

Method

Mix the yeast with about 1/2 cup of the warm water. Leave for about 10 minutes, by which time the yeast should have begun to foam.

Put the flour, wheat-germ and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre, and pour in the yeast mixture. Stir and add the oil and the remaining water gradually, always stirring, until the dough forms a ball but doesn't become so sticky that it sticks to your fingers. There is no precise way of knowing when your dough will be ready except by experience... You really have to go on how the dough feels and looks. As you knead you can add more water or flour if it is needed. Thankfully, bread isn’t one of those things that require a perfect balance of ingredients. Furthermore, once you've made bread a few times you will learn to tell exactly when your dough is right.

Turn the dough out onto a floured board. Every so often sprinkle the board with more flour as you knead, or the dough will stick. Knead by pushing the heels of your hand into the dough, folding it back on itself, turning it around, and generally giving it a good work out. Kneading generally takes about 10 minutes but again the best way to tell is by experience and just by feeling it. It should be satiny, springy, elastic and smooth.

Put the dough in a bowl and cover with a clean, damp tea-towel. Leave somewhere warm to rise (under a blanket in winter). It will take between one and three hours to rise, depending on the ambient temperature. You can tell when it’s ready in two ways: Firstly, it should have doubled in bulk. Secondly, give it a little poke with your finger. If the indentation disappears let it rise some more. If it stays in the dough, it is ready to be shaped.

Now, take out your aggression by punching the dough down. Knead for about 3 minutes, and then shape the dough. The possibilities here are endless. Loaves, rolls, plaits, twists, knot rolls, cottage loaves, wherever your imagination takes you. Put your loaves or rolls or whatever onto a greased pan or bread tray, cover with a damp cloth, and leave to “prove” (i.e. rise again; this is quicker than the initial rising, and will take about 45 minutes).

Bake in a preheated oven at 190°C. Loaves should be left to cook for about 40 minutes, rolls need about 20 minutes. The bread is ready when it has a nice brown crust. Also, you can tip the loaf out of its pan, and tap its base. It should sound hollow. If it doesn’t, put it back in the tin and leave it bake for a little while longer.

ECCLES CAKES

The English Eccles Cake is named for the town of Eccles in Lancashire, and was a popular pastry in the seventeenth century. However, these cakes were banned (along with mince pies) by the Puritans in 1650. In fact, Oliver Cromwell decreed in an act of Parliament that anyone found eating a currant pie would be imprisoned. Luckily, by the time of the Restoration, the cakes were once again popular.

Eccles Cakes

Ingredients

50 g unsalted butter

150 g dried currants

2 tablespoons chopped candied mixed fruit peel

50 g white sugar

1/3 teaspoon mixed spice

1/3 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/3 teaspoon ground cinnamon

250 g frozen puff pastry, thawed

1 egg white, beaten

4 tablespoons caster sugar for decoration

Method

Preheat oven to 220 ˚C.and grease a baking tray.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in currants, mixed peel, white sugar and spices. Stir until sugar is dissolved and fruit is well coated. Remove from heat.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out pastry to a 5mm thickness. Cut out eight 13 cm circles, using a saucer as a guide. Divide the fruit mixture evenly between the circles. Moisten the edges of the pastry, pull the edges to the centre and pinch to seal. Invert filled cakes on the floured surface and roll out gently to make a wider, flatter circle, but do not break the pastry.

Brush each cake with egg white and sprinkle generously with caster sugar. Make three parallel cuts across the top of each cake, then place them on the prepared baking tray.

Bake in preheated oven 15 minutes, until golden.

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

FESTIVE CRÊPES

Festive Crêpes
Ingredients - Crêpes:
4 eggs
1 and 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup water, about
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsps vanilla, about
1/4 cup butter, melted, plus more for the pan
2 cups flour, sifted
Ingredients - Filling:
1 cup blackberry jam
1/2 cup sultanas
1/3 cup glace cherries, chopped
2 tbsp brandy
Ground cinnamon and cloves to taste
Optional: Custard, cream or ice cream to serve

Method
Prepare the filling by soaking the sultanas and cherries in the brandy. Stir a few times, leaving the fruit to soak for about 15 minutes. Then add the blackberry jam and spices and stir well. Leave to macerate for 30 minutes.
Beat eggs with a whisk until frothy. Beat in milk and water. Still whisking, add in salt, sugar, vanilla and butter. Add in flour in stages, about half a cup at a time, whisking well to incorporate.
Refrigerate for 30-45 minutes. You can also make the batter the night before and let it rest in the fridge overnight. Stir before using. You will probably need to add more water before using because the gluten in the flour will have soaked up some of the liquid in the batter while it rested. If it seems too thick, add just a little cold water– you can always add more later if the crêpe batter is still too thick.
Heat non-stick pan over medium to medium high heat; when it is hot enough, a few drops of water will seem to bounce across the surface before evaporating. Add a pat of butter and as soon as it has melted, add a small ladleful of batter. Swirl the pan around to distribute the batter evenly. When it is time to flip, the batter on the surface will lose its glossiness and the edges will start to look brown. Cook the second side for 30 seconds, no more.
Put a little of the filling in each crêpe and roll into a cylinder. Serve with custard, cream or ice-cream.
Stack the cooked crêpes on a plate with non-stick baking paper between each crêpe. Any left over can be frozen like that in a stack. Batter here makes about 12 crêpes.

This post is part of the Our Beautiful World meme,
and also part of the My Sunday Photo meme.

QUINCES

The quince (Cydonia oblonga) is the sole member of the genus Cydonia in the family Rosaceae (which also contains apples and pears, among other fruits). It is a small deciduous tree that bears a pome fruit, similar in appearance to a pear, and bright golden-yellow when mature.

Throughout history the cooked fruit has been used as food, but the tree is also grown for its attractive pale pink blossom and other ornamental qualities. The tree grows 5 to 8 metres high and 4 to 6 metres wide. The fruit is 7 to 12 centimetres long and 6 to 9 centimetres across. It is native to rocky slopes and woodland margins in South-west Asia, Turkey and Iran although it can be grown successfully at latitudes as far north as Scotland.

The immature fruit is green with dense grey-white pubescence, most of which rubs off before maturity in late autumn when the fruit changes colour to yellow with hard, strongly perfumed flesh. The leaves are alternately arranged, simple, 6–11 cm long, with an entire margin and densely pubescent with fine white hairs. The flowers, produced in spring after the leaves, are white or pink, 5 cm across, with five petals.

Quince jam, jelly, paste and stewed fruit are all quite delicious and easily made. Quinces are also used as an ingredient in savoury food. You can find several recipes here.

This post is part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

SMOKED SALMON PIZZA

SMOKED SALMON PIZZA
Ingredients
2 rounds of flat Middle Eastern bread
Olive oil
100 mL of cream
100 g of cream cheese
A good dollop of tartare sauce
A tub of ready prepared taramosalata from the supermarketCapers
200 g of smoked salmon slices, cut into 2 cm wide strips
Juice of half a lemon
1 large red onion, peeled and thinly sliced and chopped
Chopped dill
20 mL of extra cream and some tartare sauce
rocket leaves

Method
Preheat oven to 150˚C. Oil two pizza baking trays and place one of the bread on each them. Use more oil to spread over the top of the flat bread. 
Mix the cream, softened cream chees and tartare sauce until it is of a smooth consistency.
Spread over the bread in a thin layer. Spread the taramosalata over the cheese mixture. Sprinkle a few capers over the taramosalata. Bake in the oven for a 5-10 minutes.
Toss the salmon slice strips in the juice of half a lemon and some salt. Add the chopped dill and toss thoroughly. Remove the pizzas from the oven and place the salmon strips over the pizza, covering the whole surface. Add a few more capers here and there.
Place in the oven and bake for 5-10 minutes until the salmon is thoroughly heated, but not overcooked or dried out.
Remove from oven, place the rocket leaves on top of the pizza. Mix the cream and tartare sauce and drizzle over the rocket.
Put back in oven and heat for a few minutes to just wilt the rocket. Serve.

This post is part of the Food Friday meme.