Guest Blog Posts

Huevos Rancheros

~ Kitty ~ 2 Comments

This post follows on nicely from the last one. The link? Both recipes were shared with me by Emirates cabin crew. A complete coincidence, but not surprising I suppose living where I do. I have decided that the best thing to do with the blog while living in Dubai is to collect international recipes – this recipe is number two in the series and shared with me by Raquel who is Portuguese – although the recipe is Mexican. You can follow Raquel’s travels on Instagram here.

Ingredients

  • 1 Onion
  • 4 tomatoes
  • a red pepper/ capsicum
  • a bay leaf
  • ground black pepper
  • a 400g can of beans (such as red kidney beans)
  • eggs (maybe one per person – how hungry are you?!)
  • chopped coriander or parsley to garnish.

Method

Chop one onion and throw it in a pan with some olive oil. Let it fry for a bit and add four chopped tomatoes, red capsicum to your liking, a bay leave and some ground black pepper. Add some organic tomato puree. Let it cook for 3 minutes. Add a 400g can of beans (I used red beans) and let it cook for 2 minutes. I smashed the beans a bit to release its flavor into the stew. Add the eggs (as many as you like), some salt and cover the pan. Let it cook for 5 minutes. At the end sprinkle some coriander or parsley and voilà!

Serve on a slice of bread.

Yum!

In defence of modern parents

~ Kitty ~ Leave a comment

I introduced the lovely and talented Jane a short while ago when she shared her vegan chilli recipe with us. It was actually this parenting article which gave me the idea to ask her to write a guest blog post; she wrote it to encourage her friends on facebook but I think it definitely deserves to be shared more widely. Please do share it with parents who you know are doing a good job, we so often feel judged negatively that we could do with a little encouragement!

in defence of modern parents

So this past couple of weeks there has been an upsurge in the number of wildly overblown, emotive and derisory anti-parent fodder on Facebook and it’s beginning to drive me a little bit insane. Apparently modern parents are lazy, digitally distracted, lacking in the skills of a disciplinarian and all for an easy life as regards parenting. We are presented with black and white photos of crying children needing more from momma or graphics showing a huge phone dominating a lounge featuring sad children wanting daddy to play with them. In the same diatribes our generation’s failings are allegedly connected with the large incline in mental health problems and diagnoses of ADHD in the future generation.

So a few points to raise, factual and non confrontational, as counter arguments; The average loan to value percentage for a couple buying their first home is a whopping 82%. with the necessity to save a substantial amount for a deposit. Steps up the property ladder as families expand see mortgages soar past £200K and pretty much everyone, first time buyer or not, parent or not, is paying between £700-£1,000 per month for a mortgage and a similar amount for private rents per month. Most families now have both parents working around 37-40 hours a week and often running two cars due to the necessity to commute to find the right job. We are paying for the food, clothes and hobbies of our children. Debt is at an all time high and costs are rising all the time, particularly with the uncertainty of what will transpire economically and politically.

Fundamentally, it’s not an easy time to raise kids and despite all the accusations of lazy parenting and digital distraction lets have a think about these phenomena and re-frame these ideas in light of the above points. So full time working parents doing long hours and commuting long distances probably don’t have as much time to enjoy their kids as much as they would like to and part time workers are cramming vast amounts of work into shorter hours to prove their worth against a backdrop of sneering colleagues who envy their 2pm finishes. Those who run their own business throw heart and soul into trying to guarantee a regular and healthy income and though often working from home don’t get to benefit from the home life they are trying to sustain. We’re up against it aren’t we??

Parents are hard working human beings who have to plot hobbies and associated tournaments/exams, sports days, nativities, birthday parties, school trips. We also have to deal with unexpected illnesses and hospital trips, broken boilers, car problems and save for Christmas and birthdays. This factor hasn’t really changed to be honest over the years but what has is that because of both parents generally having to work long hours there is a very short window of time left to both accomplish the raising of healthy and well rounded children as per guide books and forums, and also the need to see our own friends and family and keep our minds healthy too.

There is constant “noise” from parenting forums, the guide books, the health visitors and the opinions of all and sundry on how we should be accomplishing this crucial task of shaping and nurturing a human and it is very bewildering and constant. It also makes it so hard to feel 100% confident in what you are doing, leading to further self-doubt.

The importance of modern parents keeping in contact with their own friends and family, the wind beneath their wings, cannot be underestimated. Especially when you think about the stress and exhaustion issues around modern parenting. Furthermore, the importance of parents having time for each other cannot be underestimated. Mental health problems in adults are rising as well as children because we are all depleted and struggling to cope.

And has ADHD really risen that dramatically in kids or was it simply not diagnosed back in the day? Were the kids labelled as “the naughty ones” and simply put in life’s Room 101? ADHD is real, it’s not a label, and physiologically the brain of a person with ADHD differs in structure and make up. It’s no-one’s “fault” and maybe statistics on this incline are not reliable because of the former lack of care and diagnosis.

As for the bad press single parents get, don’t get me started. For whoever reads this raising kids on their own I take my hat off to you, truly, because you are warriors.

Digitally distracted? To have a look at Facebook is sometimes the only time we can connect with our friends and see what they are up to, drop them a quick message and check all is well with them. It may not always be as meaningful a connection as a night out or a coffee with them but with busy diaries sometimes it is the only way. Those who love you the most will find the time for you no matter what and I am embracing the big night in these days rather than the big night out now haha! It takes weeks to find a date where all concerned are available but we get there.

When I look around and think of all my friends and acquaintances I see parents setting good examples of the work ethic, showing how you get what you want through graft and effort alone. I see parents encouraging their children to enjoy hobbies and taking them to wonderful museums, theatres, big green spaces, foreign climes and expanding their minds with these efforts. I see parents who work long hours standing on the sidelines of a football pitch through winter for more hours at the weekend when they could be relaxing!!!

For those on lower incomes just the simple things have to be enough, and those like us on a single income plus a smidge from the cakes try to find out about the free stuff and seek out the vouchers, which takes commitment and skill to find haha! My kids have visited some wonderful places though, climbed a thousand trees, swam in open waters, enjoyed roaring fires in cottages, and tried all sorts of everything from a hobby perspective and never at a great cost. But however and whatever parents are doing I see in my friendship circle that they are doing it universally well, with the greatest love and commitment. I want to say to you that if you ever doubt yourself when reading these derisory posts, to challenge your self-doubt and think about what you have done that has made your child smile and all that you have achieved on life’s hardest but most rewarding journey. I can assure you that just being there for them, in a warm environment, with a decent meal and the example of a parent or parents who work hard and love them immeasurably is enough. You are enough.

Thanks again Jane, I needed that bit of encouragement!

Janey’s Venerable Vegan Chilli!

~ Kitty ~ 1 Comment

Hurrah, a guest post – thanks Jane! It is so refreshing to be able to share someone else’s cooking and writing styles. I met Jane at a toddler group that I used to go to when I lived in the UK. She is a supermum (although I’m sure she doesn’t always feel like it) who has set up her own business making incredibly impressive party cakes. You can see her fabulous cakes here. This isn’t a cake recipe – I expect that she didn’t want to share her trade secrets!

I really enjoyed testing this recipe. We used smoked paprika because we couldn’t get hold of liquid smoke. The observant amongst you will also note that we missed out the sweetcorn – we were convinced that there was some at the back of the cupboard, but alas there was none. This made a huge amount of chilli – we should have invited the neighbours! I am looking forward to having it again as a freezer meal on a lazy evening.

vegan chilli

I love this “chuck it al in” chilli in January, a veg packed antidote to the over indulgence of Christmas and mercifully quick to temper one’s exhaustion at the thought of what to serve for tea (the eternal dilemma haha)! Protein rich, store cupboard friendly and super yummy with either long grain or wholegrain rice with some home-made guacamole or for vegetarians sour cream with chopped chives/grated cheese. The liquid smoke, if you can get hold of it, adds a super special magic and really does take it to a new level! Lastly, kids actually like this….all three of mine and this is a minor miracle as they all have such different tastes (I have a Venn diagram under a fridge magnet lol).

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large onion
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1 red and 1 yellow pepper
  • 2 carrots, peeled and cut into batons
  • 1 broccoli head chopped into florets
  • 1-2 tbsp of chilli powder depending on your spice threshold!
  • 1 tsp of smoked paprika or a splash of liquid smoke
  • 1 tsp of ground cumin
  • 1 tsp of oregano
  • 1 tin of chick peas
  • 1 tin of kidney beans
  • 1 tin of tomatoes (add a little veg stock if required)
  • 1 tin of sweetcorn
  • 1 tsp sugar (I would start with half a teaspoon and then add more to taste)

Method

I used a large, shallow pan with a lid.

1)  Saute the onion and garlic on a medium heat in the olive oil until starting to soften.

2)  Lower the heat and add the carrots and broccoli, plus the peppers, stir frying until they soften a little.

4)  Add the chilli powder, smoked paprika/liquid smoke, cumin and oregano and stir until the veg are thoroughly coated.

5)  Add the tomatoes and chick peas, as well the kidney beans and sweetcorn. Add the sugar and stir through.

6)  Simmer away on a low heat until the veg are cooked through but still a little al-dente and the liquid in the tomato base sauce has thickened (if it is still a little watery add some diluted cornflour to thicken at the last minute or add more liquid if vice versa…either another tin of toms or veg stock).

Serve as suggested above and enjoy!

vegan chilli

Vegan Chestnut Stuffing Sausage Rolls

~ Kitty ~ 4 Comments

I love a guest blog post – this isn’t because I’m lazy (much), but because I love discovering and sharing other people’s recipes and writing styles. This recipe comes from the fabulously creative Kate.

Kate is, amongst other things, a Laughter Yoga teacher, a creative writer and seriously skilled at making cakes. Embracing the vegan lifestyle has, if anything, made her more creative in the kitchen and I always enjoying sampling the tasty treats she makes.

So without further ado, and in her own words (and with the help of playdough), here is Kate’s recipe for Vegan Sausage Rolls.

vegan sausage roll

So… near the start of the month I had a vegan sausage roll from Greggs (pleasant warming snack).

But then I got obsessed with sausage rolls!

I wrapped a Linda McCartney vegan sausage in pastry… also good.

Then I made my own stuffing with bagels, chestnuts, pecans, sage, dried cherries and spices and made it into this super fancy braided sausage roll based on some random video that appeared on my newsfeed. And it is the best yet!

I wrote it into my titchy recipes notebook (started in 2002!) but here it is slightly more legibly.

Day one: make the stuffing and eat some of it with some roast potatoes and veg

Day two: turn the rest into sausage rolls.

Special skills needed: adding just the right amount of water to things.

Ingredients:

(Stuffing fills a 15cm diameter, 7cm deep round oven dish)

STUFFING

  • 2x bagels
  • 200g ready to eat chestnuts
  • small handful pecans
  • 8 dried cherries (I like the Urban Fruit ones as they aren’t sweetened)
  • 6 sage leaves
  • pinch of ground nutmeg
  • pinch of smoked paprika
  • sprinkle of mixed pepper
  • sprinkle of mixed herbs
  • water
  • dessert spoon of vegan margarine

PASTRY

(to make three sausage rolls)

  • 180g plain flour
  • 90g vegan margarine
  • pinch of salt
  • cold water to mix

Method:

Day one:

Blend bagels, chestnuts and pecans on a low speed until they are in crumbs/small pieces. Tip into a mixing bowl.

Boil the kettle.

Preheat the oven to 180oC.

Snip cherries into thirds, add to bowl (It is possible that using a different amount of cherries cut into different fractions will also work!).

Skip idyllically into your garden to harvest some sage leaves, wash them, then rip them up and add to the bowl.

Add the spices and smush around with your fingers.

Pour a splurge of boiling water on until the texture looks like stuffing. Add the margarine on top and stir to melt it in.

Cook in an ovenproof dish for 25 minutes.

Day two:

Preheat the oven to 200oC

Make the pastry. Rub margarine into flour and salt. Tip a little cold water in until you get a dough, then roll it out and cut it into thirds. Top tip: don’t go back and forth over your pastry like a steamroller, just push it one way at a time then it won’t go tough.

Place a chunk of stuffing in the middle of each rectangle.

I didn’t have the opportunity to make another batch of pastry to demonstrate the braiding technique… but I did have some play dough and giant chalks (see below images for a step by step guide. ed).

Please do not consume chalk or play dough in a moment of confusion.

Cut the pastry in diagonal lines, wet the edges, braid it and do something rustic with the ends (or find a slightly more detailed tutorial if you aren’t a fan of super chunky pastry!).

Cook for 25 minutes.

Enjoy the wodge-tastic January comfort food goodness! Smile and then you can ingest your chestnuts in jest. Sausage ROTFL. Ha!

😋

braided sausage roll

vegan sausage roll

 

Salmon Pinwheels

~ Kitty ~ Leave a comment

I have found that I am not very good at blogging in summer – I am too busy enjoying my garden! So I was rather chuffed when this little recipe dropped into my inbox from the fabulous Michelle, who has guest-blogged for me before and who coined the wonderful phrase ‘fridge gravel‘. This is a true storecupboard recipe and I will be giving these pinwheels a try next time I need to make canapés at short notice  (yes, that does happen).

Thanks Michelle!  salmon pinwheels

This is something I do when I fancy something a little different – salmon pinwheels.

It is quite a simple dish. The omelettes are just one egg, a little salt and pepper and a pinch of tarragon beaten together and cooked gently in a small egg pan in a knob of butter.

Spread the egg out until it covers the base of the frying pan and cook until set on one side, flip over and cook on the other side for about one minute.

Slide out of the pan onto a chopping board to cool.

Once cold, spread the omelette with a mix of tinned pink salmon that has been mixed with a bit of mayo and apple cider vinegar.

You could use any filling you like – chopped cooked chicken and mayo, leftover minced beef etc.

Roll up the omelettes into a cigar shape and slice into bite sized pieces. Delicious!

Adding the tarragon to the omelette works really well with fish, but that could be subbed for other herbs.

Simples!

 

 

A little lesson in distilling and gin appreciation…

~ Kitty ~ 5 Comments

I hope that you are all enjoying Kitty’s Storecupboard Gin Week as much as I am! This post has been written by ‘Australian Sarah’ (not ‘Winemaker Sarah’ or ‘my sister Sarah’) who was given the very difficult task of visiting one of the Edinburgh Distillery’s near where she lives, so that we can all better appreciate  the hard work that goes into making the smaller scale ‘craft’ gins which we  enjoy so much. Read this post with an Friday evening G&T in hand, and as Sarah concludes her piece ‘never forget how much love and care has been put into your handcrafted gin’.

Happy Gin Week, and Happy Friday!

As an oompa loompa of science I find the world of distilling and brewing quite fascinating.  Basically Chemistry class for adults!  So to celebrate Gin Week and a couple of visitors from home I headed to Edinburgh’s first gin distillery in 150 years: Pickering’s, situated in Summerhall in Edinburgh’s south.  I had unfortunately missed out on Juniper Fest over the weekend and had already visited the Edinburgh Gin Distillery, so was keen to learn what made Pickering’s special.

Pickerings gin is based on an original Bombay recipe dating back to 1947 and kept as a family secret until it resurfaced in 2013 when Matt and Marcus began distilling at Summerhall.  The tour begins at the Royal Dick Bar in Summerhall, also home to one of Edinburgh’s breweries Barney’s Beer, with a G&T to sip throughout.Collage_Fotor

From the bar you are taken past the Mens room, then the Ladies, through winding corridors and over uneven ground to what used to be dog and cat kennels.  They have since been repurposed with some of the kennels used to store raw ingredients, gin and boxes.  But how do they make their gin?

A neutral grain spirit with 96%abv is piped into one of two copper stills on site, one called Emily, the other Getrude after Matt and Marcus’s great-grandmothers.  In the still the 9 botanicals are added and the spirit left to steep.Collage_Fotor2

The 9 botanicals that go in to making this tasty drop are juniper, coriander, cardamon, angelica, fennel, anise, lemon, lime and clove.  The two stills have an ingenious custom-designed bain marie heating system that provides a gentle simmer able to coax out their subtle, soft, highly drinkable flavours. gin_5b

After steeping, this bain marie system is used to heat the spirit to vapour.  As the heating begins this vapour is trapped in the ‘onion’ of the still, condenses and travels back down to the heart of either Emily or Gertrude.  This process of vapourising, condensing and travelling back to the spirit can occur up to 16 times before the spirit is warm enough for the vapour to bypass the onion and travel through the swan neck to the neighbouring condenser.

The condenser uses water that is stored in a local underground well to cool the vapour back to a liquid.  Similar to whisky distilling, the potable alcohol the distiller wants to capture has a boiling point of 78.2oC, with the first vapours to boil off being more volatile and known as the ‘heads’.  The heads include chemicals such as acetaldehyde (CH3CHO), acetone ((CH3)2CO) and esters (pretty sure I learnt about those in chemistry back in the day!).  Once the desired boiling point is reached the ethanol liquid is called the heart and piped through copper piping to one of three vats.  The heart will be ethanol.  The tails are left, containing water, carbohydrates and less volatile alcohols, all undesirable.  The tails will consist of 1-propanol (CH3CH2CH2OH), butyl alcohol (C4H10O), amyl (Isobutyl carbinol) and acetic acid (CH3COOH) to name a few.

The copper in the still and piping is very important as it helps produce an even, smooth flavour and impurities are left on the inside of the copper piping thereby keeping the spirit pure without excessive filtration.

Once stored in the vats the distillers will monitor the temperature and density of the spirit, regularly taking temperature and density readings and adding water until the desired alcohol content is arrived at.  Pickering’s Gin has 42%abv, slightly more than the required 37.5%abv to qualify as a London Dry Gin.  It is a particularly high tech process at Pickering’s, adding the water by hand in smaller and smaller quantities, stirring using a oar bought from an outdoor shop and taking individual measurements with thermometer and hydrometer then double checking them in a large book full of tables.

Collage_Fotor3.jpg

This is a one-shot method, only mixing their end distillate with water to cut it to bottling strength, compared with larger distilleries who use more base spirit to stretch their distillate before cutting with water.

When the desired alcohol content is achieved then it is piped in copper pipes to the room next door where it is bottled by hand.  It is also stoppered and waxed by hand.

If you’ve ever seen a bottle of Pickering’s you’ll know the bottle isn’t square, which makes attaching labels by hand consistently rather difficult.  The distillery is housed in part of Summerhall, an old Veterinary Hospital that is now home to many community groups including Edinburgh Hacklab.  This hacklab is a space for people to mess around with technology for fun so Pickering’s asked them to come up with something they could use to attach the labels, as they were worryingly close to their launch date and had a few hundred bottles to label.

The resulting machine is quite something, and is still going well considering it was designed to be used on a few hundred bottles and has now been used on over 60,000.

Once labels are attached, and the stoppers are waxed the bottles are boxed up and stored in the old dog kennels.  Throughout this whole process it s evident that everything is done by hand by a very small team, and it is definitely a labour of love.Collage_Fotor5.jpg

The original 1947 recipe was altered as they were creating a gin that goes perfectly with tonic, and it seems they have hit the nail on the head.  They also produce a Navy Strength gin, as official partners of the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, and have also created a gin using the original 1947 recipe which is a spicier, sweeter and more intense spirit.

Their most recent release has its beginnings in a trip around Scotland to the iconic whisky regions in search of the best casks they could find.  They then age their Original gin in one of five ex-Scotch malt whisky casks, and the result is truly something!

gin_13b

Well that’s all from me today.  I hope you feel a little better informed about the process of creating one of my favourite gins.  I definitely believe a greater understanding of something leads to a much deeper appreciation of its beauty. So next time you sip that G&T ask yourself what botanicals are in it, how they affect the gin, whether it is a one or two shot distillate, and never forget how much love and care has been put into your handcrafted gin.

gin_12b

… and that’s nearly the end of Gin Week guys and gals. Not quite though, because Winemaker Sarah and I are going on an unexpected little adventure tomorrow afternoon which we will share with you tomorrow – watch this space!

Gin and Tonic Tart!

~ Kitty ~ 2 Comments

Sarah* and I have been drooling over this recipe for months and we finally got around to  making it one sunny weekend in May; it certainly lived up to expectations! In Sarah’s own words…

Gin and Tonic Tart
Serve with a decorative cat and some sunshine… and of course Gin!

When Kitty’s Kitchen came to visit me in deepest Hampshire (I like the idea of Kitty’s Kitchen being a vibe of relaxed and joyful cooking which follows me wherever I go – thanks Sarah! Ed.), a mere stone’s throw from the Bombay Sapphire distillery we made sure to put the local produce to good use. It seemed only right to make a Gin & Tonic tart we had been sharing with each other for over a year and I won’t go too heavily into detail because the recipe is pretty clear and the images speak for themselves.

Gin and Tonic Tart

We found that the pastry shrank fairly dramatically in the oven (which could be a problem of temperature and humidity but is always a danger when one isn’t familiar with baking in a particular oven). I think it is worth being quite generous with the edges on a first attempt to avoid this since too much shrinkage leaves less base to contain your filling; I speak from experience!

However, the whole was very pleasing; the filling zesty and smooth, the pastry light and the syrup gave an excellent added tang. I am not normally a fan of fiddly desserts but this one came out excellently and I would certainly do it again.

The gin and tonic syrup kept very well in the fridge, so well that it made it back to Northamptonshire and became the base of a blended gin for my Grandmother who was finding her dry gin too sharp having been spoiled with Edinburgh Gin Elderflower Liqueur for Christmas.

* who I call ‘wine-maker Sarah’; as opposed to ‘Australian Sarah’ who is writing a post for us later in the week, my sister Sarah… and the many other lovely ladies in my life of that name.

Gin and Tonic Tart

Gin and Dubonnet Sponge Cake

~ Kitty ~ 5 Comments

We are continuing to celebrate Kitty’s Storecupboard Gin Week, so in the words of the lovely Vicky…

I’ve always been one for a spot of baking (next to eating it’s my favourite thing!) and I’ve recently been pondering starting a blog so when Katherine asked me to do a guest post for her blog I was straight on it!

This particular post celebrates two national treasures – Her Majesty the Queen, and Gin. This year is queenies 90th birthday and this weekend it just happens to be World Gin Day. Legend has it that our Liz’s favourite tipple is the classic ‘gin and dubonnet’, so I decided it was only right and proper to use this as inspiration for my latest bake.

I’m always one for an easy life so decided to use a classic (and easy!) Victoria sponge as the basis for the cake. I can safely say the hardest part about it was finding somewhere that sells dubonnet! Sadly it’s not the most popular of drinks so can be hard to track down but definitely worth it – it’s got a light fruity flavour which works really nicely in this cake, and it’s not half bad in a gin cocktail either!

Gin cake
Ingredients
6oz butter (actually I am a stork devotee but whichever you prefer)
6oz caster sugar
3 eggs
6oz self-raising flour
3tbsp gin and dubonnet (equal measures, so 1.5tbsp of each)
300ml double cream
approx 3tbsp icing sugar (or to taste)
mixed fresh berries
200g white chocolate
optional glitter!
Method
Grease and line two 8″ round cake tins and preheat your oven to around 170oC fan.
As for a normal sponge, you could easily use the all in one technique but I used the traditional creaming method – cream the butter and sugar together until pale and light, then beat in the eggs one at a time, adding a little flour with the last egg to prevent curdling, then gently fold in the remaining flour. Lastly fold in the alcohol then split the batter between the two tins as evenly as possible (you could weigh the tins if precision is your thing but I just guesstimate). Try and spread the batter with a dip in the middle which will offset any ‘doming’ during cooking. Then just bake in the oven for around 20-25 minutes.

Now I know most chefs will say baking is an exact science, blah blah, but I’m a bit more freestyle with my cooking…. use whatever size eggs take your fancy, if the batter curdles when you add the booze just give it an extra mix and chuck it in the tins, and the oven time is flexible – just keep an eye on them, after 20 mins check and then leave a bit longer if needed. You can check with a cake tester (or skewer/cocktail stick/knife) which will come out clean when the cake is ready but I prefer to just give it a prod – if the sponge bounces back rather than leaving a massive dent then you’re good to go!

Once the cake is done, leave to cool in the tins for about 5-10 mins then remove and leave on a cooling rack until completely cold. Whilst still warm brush the cakes with a mixture of gin and dubonnet – I used about 1.5tbsp but you could use more if you fancy. For a more intense flavour and an even more moist sponge you could poke holes all over and spoon alcohol over liberally (a la lemon drizzle cake).

Next gently whip the cream, adding icing sugar to taste – make sure not to over whip! A good tip is to keep some cream back and then if you do slightly over mix the cream you can add a bit more and fold through to slacken it off. Unfortunately this won’t work if you’ve gone so far it’s turned to butter! Spread about a third of the cream on one of the cakes (if it’s domed slightly during baking then trim it down so the top is level) then top with your mixed berries. I soaked the berries beforehand in gin and dubonnet and a teaspoonful of sugar, then drained them well before using but this is optional.

Top with the other cake and then cover the top and sides with the remaining cream. To make the white chocolate ‘collar’ measure around the cake (actually it’s much easier to measure around the tin!) and also measure the height of the cake then cut a strip of greaseproof paper to size and lay on a flat surface. For the sake of your kitchen you may want to lay a further sheet of greaseproof or cling film underneath as it does get messy! Melt your white chocolate (in the microwave or over a saucepan, either way remove from the heat once around 2/3 of chocolate has melted then beat until the remainder has melted, this makes sure you won’t burn it) and then simply spread over your greaseproof template. You want a layer a couple of millimetres thick to make sure it holds.

I sprinkled glitter on the greaseproof before spreading the chocolate to give a nice finish, I’ve also done this in the past with 100’s and 1000’s! You can also pipe the chocolate to make a design or use patterned transfer sheets for different effects. Leave the chocolate until it has set enough that it won’t drip or run when you move it but not so hard that you can’t bend it. (I have zero patience so I often cheat and slip a couple of ice packs under to speed this up but it’s a high risk tactic as it can set too hard very quickly). Then simply pick up your greaseproof and wrap around the cake – you need to do this quickly and press tight against the cake to hold so this is easier with two pairs of hands but not impossible to do single handed. Then straight into the fridge to set!

Once the chocolate collar has set hard simply peel off the greaseproof. Finally I decorated the top of the cake with more fresh berries and then glazed them. I used the juice/booze mix which I had soaked the other berries in, boiled until reduced by at least half, but you could use jam thinned down with a little water for a nice finish. Then last but not least I topped the whole thing off with a liberal sprinkling of gold glitter! After all, it’s hardly a celebration without some sparkles around.

And it’s as simple as that 🙂

You can read more about baking in honour of the Queen’s birthday with the Fleet, Farnham & Farnborough group of the Clandestine Cake Club, which Vicky runs, here.

You can also follow Vicky (although I feel I should call her Victoria – rather more regal!) on Twitter @vixyvonshock.

Michelle’s ‘fridge gravel’ supper with lamb

~ Kitty ~ 1 Comment

image

This recipe comes from a lovely lady who I met volunteering at Stroud District Foodbank. Michelle is a writer who is in love with her slow-cooker – a lady after my own heart!

Michelle and I bonded over conversations about frugal food and storecupboard cooking, and I have rather fallen for her phrase ‘fridge gravel’ which describes the ‘stuff’ that accumulates at the bottom of your fridge (unless you are a super-organised meal planner!). Here is a ‘fridge gravel’ meal which Michelle cooked last week, and kindly wrote up for me to share with you.

Ingredients
This dish comprised mainly from what was found lurking in the bottom of my fridge, the end of a bag of frozen vegetables, and some cheap diced fresh lamb that was marked down at the supermarket (300g for around £1.50 I think).

The vegetable mix consisted of:
1 small courgette, sliced
1 yellow pepper (that was crushed and discounted), sliced
1 red onion, peeled and quartered
1/2 red pepper, sliced (from the freezer)
About 4 cherry tomatoes, whole (leftovers from a larger tub)

Method
Throw all the prepared veg into a mixing bowl and pour over a generous glug of Olive oil. Sprinkle over some salt and ground black pepper and about a teaspoon of any dried herbs of your choosing that you may have hanging around in your kitchen cupboard.

For this dish I used dried Basil and Oregano, but I often change this according to whatever meat I am including with the dish. For example I have made similar mixes before using diced chicken pieces with Chinese five spice and a shake of soy sauce, or dried mixed herbs and parsley when using diced beef.

In a separate bowl mix the diced lamb with a little Olive oil, salt and ground black pepper, and again whatever herbs you fancy. I added a bit of dried tarragon to the meat to give it a slightly different flavour than the more Mediterranean style herbs used for the veg.

Line a baking tray with tin foil and spread out the vegetables evenly in one layer. Put the pieces of lamb on top of the veg – making sure to spread the meat out evenly and not letting it all clump together.

Bake for about 30 to 35 minutes at 200 Celsius or Gas mark 7 until all the vegetables are tender and the meat is cooked through.

Divide between two bowls and sprinkle over some grated Parmesan cheese (optional) and serve hot.

You can use whatever combination of vegetables you may find lurking in your fridge or freezer, even if they are looking a bit sad and old! I tend to do my ‘fridge gravel’ tray bake once or twice per month when cleaning out the fridge and using up any leftovers I find along the way.

Cheap, tasty and filling. Enjoy!