Ups and downs

Well, it's been quite the time of it here. Bit of a baptism by fire in the new job, lots of hours, lots of things to take in and get to grips with, and lots of things doing battle in my head.

Oddly, I think the biggest thing I've struggled with this week was the fact that I miss being home so much it hurts, and yet I love my job. It's such a strange feeling. If I hated my job I could almost cope with the pining for domestic life, but in fact I don't want to give up my job, because it's great. Weird.
So this weekend I went a little bit mad! I'm just so desperate not to lose the hobbies and interests in the new mess of working life, so I crammed my weekend with all sorts of manic activities. I might have over-compensated a tad. Something I'm trying to learn, with lots of help from N, is that sometimes you just need some time off, and I shouldn't get too het up about time that isn't "productive" as rest is productive too.
And indulgence is definitely something that aids rest, and sometimes you need the simplest dessert to curl up with on the sofa on a Sunday evening, in your dressing gown, whilst watching recorded cookery shows.

The trick with this is to use the best cream you can, and the ripest berries. I add a sprinkling of granola to add a more autumnal feel.

Raspberry "fool" - Serves four (or two, really generously!)

200ml double cream
200g raspberries, so ripe they're almost dripping (I just used two small punnets)
sugar
cinnamon/spice of your choice
Blueberries
Toasted oats/granola

In a medium bowl place a large pinch of caster sugar and one of whatever spice you prefer, I'm a cinnamon lover myself, but I think star anise would go well, or ginger for a hint of warmth. Add the cream and whip lightly. When it just starts holding it's shape stop whipping and add the raspberries, and smush them into the mix. Serve topped with a few berries and toasted oats/granola.

Eat immediately...and relax...

I'm a fool (for rhubarb and mango)

I'm aware that there's been more than a bit of sewing posts going on round here lately, and that I might have to admit that perhaps this blog has moved on from being entirely food-based. I like to think of this as a good thing - it certainly is for my waistline, I can tell you! - I like to think of it as me extending my skills (albeit rather slowly since I can't keep my head in a project for long).

However, the food ain't going away, and I'm still toiling away in the kitchen (okay, I never "toil" but you get the idea), because lets face it, sewing is hard work (?!) and the only way it's going to get easier is if there's a big ole chocolatey, desserty, baked piece of goodness to go with it.

With that in mind I think it's about time I shared another recipe from the tonne that I've been making (and tasting) recently. Tonight I was in a mad dash to use up a whole bunch of stuff that was in fear of festering in the fridge during our busy weekend.

I had some cream leftover from another project - more about that another time - and a mango that was positively oozing with ripeness. As I was standing with the fridge door open, totally unecologically pondering what to do with mango and cream, the rhubarb caught my eye. Now I had three things to work with.

Do rhubarb and mango go together? I figured they must and set to work.
Slice, chop and puree mango. Whip cream loosely, add mango to cream. Voila! Mango fool. Slice rhubarb and lay in pyrex dish, squeeze over the juice of an orange and drizzle with a tablespoon of honey. Roast in a preheated 200C oven, for 25mins, or until tender, sloshing juice over every so often. Cool. Bung scoops of fool into wine glasses and top with cooled rhubarb and a bit of the cooking juices.

The result: Mango fool topped with honey and orange roasted rhubard. Sounds impressive, took about five mintes (minus the cooking time of course!). We haven't scoffed it yet as N is still on his way home from the pub. But we will, soon (I can't wait much longer!), and based on sneaky licks of the bowl and spoon, it's going to be very nice indeed.
Go forth and fool!


p.s. I realised that I didn't give you any measurements, mostly because I didn't take any. I reckoned it was about 200ml of double cream, one medium mango, about 350g rhubarb (once chopped). It would easily serve four if you used smaller glasses, but I was generous and made three servings.

A posse of posters, and a posset.

I'm an obsessive postcard sender. I can go away for a weekend, to a place down the road, and my parents still tend to receive at least one card. When N went travelling for six months I sent him a postcard or letter a day, (sometimes three or four) even though I knew he wouldn't be able to actually read them until he returned. That was one helluva pile of post.

So when Molly got in touch to tell me that she wanted to add some excitement to our mailboxes how could I refuse! We are the Mavens of the Mailbox and we like real mail. Proper stamps, nice envelopes, handwritten messages. Au revoir emoticons and hastily rattled off emails. We're bringing the purpose back to post, the merriment back to the mail.

You can find us here.

I'm so excited, and I can wait to rattle off my first round of letters. A lazy bank-holiday evening, a class of wine, and pens and paper, what could be a better way to round off a four-day weekend?

We had a brief window of sunshine today and used it to finally get out into the garden and get our long-overdue planting and clearing done. A little later than we might have liked, but we have at least got some things going. Hopefully the yield will be more impressive than last year (two tomatoes, three raspberries and a handful of very small potatoes).
I did of course promise a recipe today. I've been pondering which of things I've made recently to tell you about. There are a whole variety of things taking up my "to post" file, but I think it has to be the Lemon Posset today. Why? Because it's the most simple dessert I think I've ever made, and yet one of the best. It's adapted from a Nigel Slater recipe and serves two. It looks like such a small amount, but believe me, it is just enough because it's so rich and delicious.

I am also dedicating this recipe to Sarah. I think she'd like it (it's not too sweet) and it's a cinch to make, which I think she'll appreciate, and it takes no time at all, which helps when you're a super busy person. So Sarah, here's a dessert for you to make on Wednesday when your boyfriend comes home!

Lemon Posset.

160ml heavy cream
50g caster sugar
25ml (or a little more if like me you adore sharp lemony goodness!)

Whack the cream and the sugar in a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring every so often to dissolve the sugar. Lower the heat so it is just bubbling gently and leave for three minutes, again stirring from time to time. Up the heat slightly and let it bubble steadily, but not boil over, for another two minutes. Stir constantly. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice. Then let it sit and rest for two minutes. Then pour into two small ramekins, or espresso cups, or something suitably cute. Refridgerate for at least an hour, then serve.

Seriously, this tiny dessert packs a punch! I have no picture because it was so quick to make and eat that I didn't have time to grab the camera.

A trifle tasty if you ask me.

It's incredibly hard to find fresh blackcurrents these days. I think they majority go into Ribena making, and the rest are probably tinned. We had some on our bush in the garden (about seven!) but the birds got to them before I could net the bush in protection. I thought the hope of fresh blackcurrents was over, and then suddenly I stumbled across them yesterday whilst pottering at Spitalfields market.

I was so excited by the prospect of having found some that I only bought one punnet (it didn't cross my mind I should by two and freeze one - oops!). No matter, one would be enough for the two of us. It was now just a case of what to make with them. I didn't really have enough for a pie (despite the numerous suggestions from a certain person *cough*mum*cough* that it was the only suitable way to serve them) so decided on a trifle. I haven't had trifle for years and have never made one myself. Fortunately with a little guidance from a certain Mr Slater, I discovered that all I really needed was a layer of sponge, a layer of fruit and a layer of cream. I had all those things ready. Sponge in the freezer leftover from the garden party, a spare pot of cream in the fridge for the same reason, and of course our lovely blackcurrents.

It was a bit of a slap-dash approach, using no recipe really other than the knowledge of the order the layers needed to be in, but it worked out very well indeed. A very simple version of trifle, but just what we needed to end our lazy weekend.



Easy blackcurrent trifle (serves four small portions or two large)

I used a small square pyrex dish from Ikea and it made just enough for two portions last night and two for this evening) You can double or triple the recipe if you use a larger dish

Quarter of a sponge cake.
punnet of blackcurrents
sugar
water
double cream
honey (optional)

Layer the sponge so it tightly fills the base of the serving dish. Put the blackcurrents in a saucepan with a tablespoon of sugar and two tablespoons of water. Cook for about ten minutes on a low heat until they are just bursting and releasing lots of lushious purple juice. Pour evenly over the sponge and leave until cool to allow the sponge to soak up the juices.

When it's cool whip about 100 -150ml of double cream (I just poured a bunch into a bowl without measuring!) adding honey to taste if you wish. Whip until it is just thickening. Spoon over the fruit layer in rough "clouds" and then place the whole thing in the fridge until ready to indulge!

Clememrermefoutis?

We had a little trouble with the name, but the concept went down very well, and despite having to wait 45 minutes for it N liked his "clememrermefoutis" very much this evening!

This food adventure was born as a result of various conspiring events. Firstly, while we were away my mum took the opportunity to "borrow" our flat while she was in London for a long weekend break. It was the perfect arrangement: she didn't have to pay extortionate hotel prices, and we got someone to take in the post and water the plants. There were also some other added bonuses that hadn't occurred to me until we got back to a sparkling clean flat (and more importantly - oven!) and a bag of goodies she'd purchased during her shopping trips. It was far far too generous, but very lovely and certainly gratefully received.

Having the same obsession with kitchenware that I do - which is of course where I get the infliction that means a simple trip to a cook shop for a 6' sandwich tin will consume whole afternoons - there were more than a few culinary goodies waiting for me. Some of these will have to wait until later posts to be discussed (as I am sure they will appear), some were dealt with swiftly (like the deliciously indulgent Montezuma's chocolate...mmm...) and some were screaming to be used immediately, and yet I wasn't quite sure what for. Such as the beautiful bright red gratin dishes she bought for us.

Then the second conspiring event occurred; Abel and Cole delivered our first boxes of fruit and veg since we'd returned from the holiday. Ah, how I'd missed good, wholesome fruit and veg (more about that to come. I promise you will eventually get some tales, both gastronomic and cultural, from our travels). I unpacked our huge delivery with such glee and gusto. When we'd left it was snowing and still felt like winter. Root veg was still the staple of the box, and N was getting more than a little fed up with me insisting he help out with the kiwi fruit surplus. We arrived home to glorious sunshine, which reminded us that we have finally passed into another season, and so to different fruit and veg. The Abel and Cole delivery confirmed our excitement; cherry tomatoes, radishes, and courgettes in the veg box, and pears, dates and mangoes in the fruit box. And of course one of my very favourite things in the fruit world; rhubarb. I love it so much and was dismayed to discover that the plant in our garden is still not quite ready yet. I am so desperate to proudly yank the stems and make things with something from our very own garden. However that moment will have to wait. At least I can start enjoying rhubarb though now thanks to our fruit box.

There are so many delicious things to do with rhubarb that I wasn't really sure where to start; crumble or compot? cheesecake or fruit filled cake? Then I remembered that I have been wanted to try making clafoutis for ages now, but had never really had the right fruits around. We always had plenty of apples, but no berries or softer more strongly flavoured fruit. Rhubarb seemed perfect, the tart bite of the fruit cutting through the sweetness of the batter. It just had to be done. And what would I serve it in? The two gorgeous bright red gratin dishes my mum had so thoughtfully bought us.



I had to do a bit of fiddling with the recipe (when don't I?!) to make it the right amount and the right flavour for what I wanted, but as you can see the three events conspired perfectly to give us a wonderful spring dessert. It has turned slightly chilly once again after the bright sun and heat of the past week, and so a warm dessert was a comfort, but with the rhubarb and lemon keeping the spring present. It was delicious and I shall definitely be making it again, and will certainly experiment with other fruits. I think the only change I would make would be to add more fruit. Although N said he liked the amount I think I wanted a touch more, but I can always add it to mine and not his in future!

So, here's the recipe. I took the basic batter from Tartelette and adapted it slightly, adding more lemon zest and juice as I like it as a stronger flavour and thought it would accompany the rhubarb well.

Roasted Rhubarb Clafoutis (Serves two)

Filling:
3 medium sticks of rhubarb, washed, trimmed and cut into 1cm pieces
1-2tsp golden caster sugar

Batter:
1.5 oz plain flour
0.5oz cornflour
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
0.5oz melted butter
2 oz sugar (I used vanilla sugar as it would compliment the other flavours and add more depth)
zest of one lemon
juice of half lemon

First, prepare the rhubarb and toss in the sugar. Then place in a roasting pan and roast at 190C for ten minutes, until just soft. Set aside to cool before dividing evenly between the gratin dishes. Drop the oven temperature to 180C to preheat for the cooking of the dessert.

To make the batter; mix the dry ingredients in one bowl (including lemon zest) and the wet in another, making sure each is well combined. Then pour the wet into the dry whisking to make sure you get as few lumps as possible. Continue to whisk until thoroughly combined, then divide between the gratin pans, pouring gently over the fruit.

Place the dishes on the middle shelf of the oven and bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. For me this took about 45 mins, but will vary according to the dishes used.

Removed from the oven and allow to cool slightly, enough for the dishes to be touchable, but the clafoutis to still be warm. Dust with icing sugar and then eat. Mmmm....rhubarby!


post script: How great do those dishes look! They were so wonderful to eat out of and match our other red kitchenware, but I just viewed the picture on the post and was oh so chuffed at how great and cute they look. Thank you mum, you're the bestest.