Month: Feb 2021

Scones

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Whether you put on the jam first or the cream, or you neither know nor care what I’m talking about, this is the base that you want to do it with. Perfectly plain, more-ish and best straight out of the oven

  • 225g plain flour 
  • 4 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt 
  • 40g butter, softened
  • 150ml milk 
  • 1 egg, beaten – to glaze (although you can just as easily not. They won’t be shiny on top, but you won’t have used an egg for something purely aesthetic. Your call)
  1. Pre-heat oven to 210C fan (230C)
  2. Mix flour, baking powder and salt
  3. Rub the butter in with your fingers until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs 
  4. Make well in the centre and stir in enough milk to make a soft dough. Don’t overwork it. The secret to tender scones is to mix it only just until it comes together.
  5. Turn onto a floured surface and knead lightly
  6. Roll or pat out to about 2 cm thick 
  7. Cut into rounds and place on baking sheet 
  8. Brush with egg if you’re doing that
  9. Bake for 8-10 mins until brown and well risen Cool on a rack before tumbling into a basket and serving

Satay sauce

~ Sophie ~ 2 Comments

Peanutty, aromatic, warm and delicious. Usually a closely guarded family secret, so my dad is going to be unimpressed I’m posting it here – but I made a judgment call that the world needs it. The perfect accompaniment to grilled chicken but, trust me, you’ll want to pour it straight from the jug into your mouth. (Note: this is frowned upon in a public setting)

  • 1 small onion, grated
  • 1 tbsp veg oil
  • 1 stalk lemongrass, grated
  • 1 tin coconut milk
  • 2 tbsp smooth peanut butter
  • 2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
  • 1 tbsp soft light brown sugar
  • Pinch of chilli flakes
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • Squeeze of lime
  1. Cook the onion in veg oil over a low heat until completely soft but not brown
  2. Add the lemongrass and stir in for a minute
  3. Then add all the rest of the ingredients
  4. Stir together thoroughly until completely combined and cook over a low heat for about 10 mins (adding a little bit of water if it gets too thick)

Coconut rice

~ Sophie ~ 4 Comments

One of the very nicest rices you can eat. Especially good as a soothing counterpoint to something challengingly spicy

  • 225g basmati rice
  • 150ml coconut milk
  • 300ml water
  • ½ tsp salt
  1. Place the rice in a bowl, cover with cold water and soak for 10 mins
  2. Drain and rinse through with fresh water
  3. Dump into a saucepan with a lid and stir in the coconut milk, water and salt
  4. Stick the lid on, bring to the boil and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for 10 mins, then turn the heat off and leave with the lid on for a further 5 mins
  5. Fluff up and serve sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds and finely chopped spring onion

Curd thumbprint cookies

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Like little jewels. Enormously satisfying to make (because they’re easy) and to offer to guests (because they are both beautiful and tasty). And they are a perfect way to use up a jar of lemon curd. Or some other curd like passionfruit or Seville orange if you’re a fancypants.

  • 170g butter, softened
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 220g plain flour
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • Lemon (or other) curd
  1. Pre-heat oven to 160C fan (180C)
  2. Beat together the butter, sugar, vanilla and egg yolks until fluffy and pale
  3. Mix in the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt until a soft dough forms
  4. Roll into balls around 3cm diameter – about the size of a 50p
  5. Place on a baking tray, evenly spaced. They won’t spread much, but you want to give them a bit of room
  6. Press your thumb gently into the middle of each one, flattening it out a bit and making a dent in the middle
  7. Fill each hole with a little bit of curd, no more than a ½ tsp. A bit goes quite a long way, so don’t overdo it or they’ll turn into sticky mini-volcanoes.
  8. Bake for 10-12 mins until the biscuit is golden brown. Cool on a rack.

Word to the wise, don’t put them anywhere near your mouth until they’ve cooled. Trying to eat one straight from the oven will most likely end with screaming and running of tongues under the tap.

If you want to make jam thumbprint cookies, I’d recommend adding the jam after they’re baked rather than before, just because it has more of a tendency to turn to liquid when it’s hot and run off to seek its fortune elsewhere. Possibly the underneath of the cookies, perhaps all over the baking tray, maybe the floor of the oven. There’s no good outcome.

Teriyaki sauce

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Glossy, savoury, sweet. Makes everything it touches better

  • 2 tbsp honey
  • 4 tbsp soy sauce/tamari
  • 4 tbsp mirin
  • 2 tbsp shaoxing rice wine
  • 3cm ginger, sliced thickly
  • 2 cloves garlic, smacked with the back of a knife to squash them without disintegrating
  • 1 level tsp cornflour, mixed with 1 tsp water
  1. Put all the ingredients except the cornflour in a small pan and heat until bubbling
  2. Cook for 2 mins then fish out the ginger and garlic
  3. Add the cornflour and whisk in
  4. Turn the heat right down and cook until glossy and thickened

To make teriyaki chicken, marinade small pieces of skinless, boneless chicken thighs in all the ingredients except the cornflour for 20 mins. Remove the chicken from marinade (don’t throw it away though!) and fry over medium/high heat in 1 tbsp of oil. When cooked, turn the heat right down, pour the marinade/sauce into the pan (removing the garlic and ginger en route), add the cornflour/water mix and cook for a further 5 mins until bubbling and glossy. Serve over rice, sprinkled with sesame seeds, and some delicious stir-fried broccoli or green beans on the side.

Coconut and tamarind dal

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Also known as Sri Lankan masur dal. This recipe needs some slightly more obscure ingredients, but it’s so worth it if you can find them. You’ll end up with a bowl of fragrant, creamy, spiced, lentilly goodness. A veritable hug in a bowl. And quick enough from raw ingredients to eating that it makes a great weeknight dinner.

  • 200g red lentils, washed in cold water and drained
  • 1 heaped tbsp tamarind paste
  • 500ml water
  • 250ml coconut milk
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp dried chilli flakes
  • ¼ tsp turmeric powder
  • 3 tbsp veg oil
  • 3 cloves garlic, finely sliced
  • 2 small shallots, finely sliced
  • 8 fresh curry leaves
  • 2 red chillies, deseeded and chopped
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • Put the wet lentils, tamarind and water into a saucepan and bring to the boil
  • Reduce heat to a low simmer and cook until the lentils are soft, stirring occasionally. This can take anything from 20 mins to 45, as it depends on the age (and dryness) of the lentils. You may need to add more water if they are drying out but not yet soft
  • Add the coconut milk, salt, chilli flakes and turmeric and stir through
  • Simmer for 10 mins and then cover and turn the heat off
  • Heat a wok or small heavy-based frying pan over medium-high heat and add the oil
  • When hot, add the shallots and garlic, stirring for 2 mins until lightly browned
  • Add the curry leaves, red chilli and ground coriander
  • Mix well and cook for another minute until everything is fragrant and sizzling
  • Tip this hot mixture straight into the dal and stir through

You can serve this as part of a larger array of dishes and it will not only hold its own, but impress on its own merit. But I like to eat this with some steaming basmati rice, in a bowl, with a spoon. Add in a G&T and The Great Pottery Throwdown on TV and this is the ultimate comfort food!

Lamb and pistachio koftas

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

This recipe makes 10-12 succulent, highly-flavoured, barbecue favourites. Equally as delightful indoors if the weather turns against you. Best stuffed into a pitta with a drizzle of yogurt, a squeeze of lemon and a crunchy salad

  • 750g minced lamb
  • 1 red pepper
  • 1 red chilli
  • 1 large onion
  • 5 cloves garlic
  • Bunch of fresh parsley
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 50g breadcrumbs (would work with GF breadcrumbs if you prefer)
  • 100g pistachios, roasted and chopped
  • 80g currants/dried sour cherries/dried cranberries
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp pul biber (mild Turkish chilli flakes, substitute with a pinch of dried chilli flakes)
  • 1 tbsp ground coriander
  • 1 tbsp paprika
  1. Use a food processor (or pestle and mortar in absence of machinery) to make a rough purée of the pepper, chilli, onion, garlic and parsley
  2. Scrape into a big bowl and add the lamb
  3. Add all the rest of the ingredients and mix really well to create a uniform texture
  4. Shape into sausages around a skewer – two to a long metal skewer/one to a short wooden one
  5. Place in the fridge for at least 20 mins and up to 24 hours before cooking. This helps them hold together when you cook them
  6. Barbecue them or roast at 200C fan (220C) for about 20 min

These also make good meatballs or burgers if you don’t want to do them on skewers

Green mango salad

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

A brilliant summer salad to serve with something barbecued and spicy. Cool, refreshing, crunchy, sweet, sour, nutty, herby. It’s like a small and very delicious party in your mouth. A favourite with everyone who tries it. Feeds 4-6 as a side dish. Don’t worry about exact quantities – it’s very forgiving!

  • 1 large unripe mango – it needs to be unripe or it’ll turn to mush when you slice it
  • ½ red pepper
  • ½ small red onion
  • 4 tbsp fresh mint, chopped
  • 6 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
  • 4 tbsp roasted unsalted peanuts, coarsely ground (not too fine, into small pieces rather than meal)
  • 6 tbsp roasted unsalted cashew nuts
  • 1 tbsp Thai fish sauce
  • ½ clove garlic, minced as finely as poss (a microplane grater is ideal for this)
  • 3 tbsp caster sugar
  • 1 tbsp lime juice
  • 1 tbsp peanut oil (or any unflavoured oil)
  1. Peel the mango using a vegetable peeler.
  2. The description of how to cut them is a bit complicated. If it makes no sense, just bear in mind that, at the end of the process, you should end up with a large pile of long and very thin strips of mango. Here goes… Lie the peeled mango on one of its broad sides and, holding it firmly and still, use a large (very sharp!) knife to cut into it lengthways from top to bottom in very narrow stripes down to the stone about 3-5mm apart. Cut a small slice off the base of the mango so it can stand on its end without falling over then stand it up and cut very thin layers off the sliced front of the mango. Turn the mango round and repeat the process on the other side. With the edge pieces where there is no stone, just chop them off and slice them separately
  3. Cut the red pepper into long, thin strips to match the mango
  4. Cut the red onion into wafer-thin half moons.
  5. Put the mango, red pepper, red onion, herbs and peanuts in a bowl
  6. To make the dressing, mix together the garlic, sugar, fish sauce, lime juice and oil. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. It smells quite pungent, but it tastes really good, so don’t worry!
  7. Pour the dressing over the salad and mix it all together so that everything is coated. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed – it should be piquant with garlic, sour with lime, sweet with sugar, savoury with the fish sauce, and you should be able to taste all the different elements being delicious in perfect harmony.
  8. Serve immediately (or within the hour)

Banana bread

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

A recipe handed down by my mum and the absolute best way to use those very brown bananas that you’ve been trying to persuade your family to eat for a week and no-one wants to touch. The addition of walnuts and cranberries adds a touch of bitterness and sourness which offsets the sweetness of the banana perfectly. I tend to buy cranberries when they’re in season and keep them in the freezer. They keep for months, and you can use them from frozen. In fact, I don’t think I ever use them for anything else. Perhaps I need to expand my cranberry repertoire.

  • 200g plain flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda 
  • ½ tsp salt 
  • 75g unsalted butter at room temperature 
  • 175g caster sugar 
  • 2 eggs, beaten 
  • 450g bananas, mashed. This is quite flexible – I usually use 2-3 bananas, I’m not sure what they weigh
  • 100g walnuts, chopped roughly 
  • 100g cranberries 
  1. Preheat oven to 160C fan (180C)
  2. Grease and line a 8×4” loaf tin. I dislike this job out of all proportion to the effort it takes, so I always try to delegate it
  3. Put the flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt into a bowl 
  4. Stir in the nuts and cranberries so they’re coated with flour – this means they won’t sink to the bottom of your loaf. I don’t know why. Witchcraft? Chemistry? But it works
  5. In another bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy
  6. Add egg a little at a time and beat well as you go
  7. Stir in the mashed bananas
  8. Then tip in the flour mixture and stir together (don’t beat it at this stage)
  9. Coax into the loaf tin, make sure it gets into all the corners
  10. Bake for 1 to 1½ hours. Use a clean skewer to check if its done – if you poke it into the middle of the loaf, it should come out clean

Spanakopita

~ Sophie ~ 2 Comments

Spinach pie. Wholesome – because so much iron in spinach! – prettily greenly herby, crunchy on the outside, and mouthwateringly yummy. An excellent vegetarian main course for 4.

  • 500g fresh spinach 
  • 1  onion, finely chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed 
  • 2 tbsp veg oil
  • 8 sheets of filo pastry 
  • 4 tbsp of butter, melted 
  • Grated nutmeg
  • 200g pack of feta cheese, crumbled 
  • 2 eggs, beaten 
  • Handfuls of fresh parsley, dill and mint, chopped 
  • Salt and pepper 
  1. Pre-heat your oven to 160C fan (180C)
  2. Wash the spinach and chop it. In a large pan, heat 1 tbsp of the oil and cook the spinach until wilted
  3. Transfer it to a sieve and squeeze out as much water as possible
  4. In the meantime, add the other tbsp of oil into the same pan, drop in the onion and garlic, and saute until soft – about 5 mins
  5. Put the spinach, onion and garlic into a bowl and add eggs, herbs and feta. Grate a few gratings of nutmeg over
  6. Season and mix well until everything is combined
  7. Time for the butter! Best to apply it using a pastry brush if you have one. Butter the inside of a ceramic oven dish then place in a layer of filo pastry, letting the edges drape over the sides. Brush the filo with melted butter and then put the next sheet on. Do this with 5 sheets of filo altogether. You don’t need to butter the top one because you then fill your filo-lined dish with the spinach mixture
  8. Cover with the remaining filo sheets, buttering each one in turn, then flip the trailing edges over onto the top of the pie. Scrunch and crinkle them before also brushing them with butter for an extra crunchy top. (With hindsight, I know I called this dish wholesome – and I stand by that – but it’s also buttery and cheesy and eggy, so definitely not a diet food!)
  9. You can scatter the top with sesame seeds if you want to make it especially tempting and crunchy
  10. Bake for 20-30 mins until the top is golden brown and crisp
  11. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 5 mins before serving straight from the dish

A tomato salad goes really beautifully with this dish – incredibly simple to make. Beautiful, refreshing and delicious to eat. Just cut up some lovely ripe tomatoes (slices or wedges or whatever you like), sprinkle with salt, a good grind of black pepper, a large pinch of sugar and some decent extra virgin olive oil. That’s it.