He is a thoroughly nice bloke too. I have now met him 3 times, and I really enjoy our conversations.  It was a pleasure to provide him with supper, even if I did have to go to Barbican.     If you have not yet fed him do give it a go.   Read about the meal I made for him here, and Danny, I really think you need to give Ocado a trial run.

The August challenge, and my first, from Fresh From the Oven was to make a whole wheat walnut bread.   Like the Daring Bakers, Fresh From the Oven has a new challenge, hosted by one of its members, every month.    For July our host was Sarah from Simply Cooked who chose her recipe from The Neighborhood Bakeshop by Jill Van Cleave.

After some sourdough mishaps, I feel I have lost confidence in my bread making abilities, and am delighted to have joined Fresh From the Oven, and to have the nudge to make bread once a month and am looking forward to building my skills.

I pretty much followed Sarah’s recipe to the letter, but, my sponge starter was made with 50% white / 50% whole wheat flour, and I was out of walnuts and so used pecans instead.  I really like the sponger starter method, and will be using it again as I think that it gives far more flavour and hit of sourdough character to the loaf.   

Whole Wheat Walnut Bread
adapted from The Neighborhood Bakeshop by Jill Van Cleave
makes 2 loaves

1 t active dry yeast, divided
2 c (500 ml) lukewarm water (95 – 110F, 35 – 45C), divided
3 c (380 g) plain bread flour, divided
1 T honey
1 T olive or walnut oil
1 1/2 c (180 g) stone-ground whole wheat flour
1/4 c (40 g) semolina flour, oat flour, or more whole wheat flour
1 t sea salt
1 1/2 c (175 g) coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted

First prepare the sponge starter. Dissolve 1/2 t yeast in 1 c (250 ml) lukewarm water in a medium bowl. Let proof until bubbly, about 5 minutes.
Add 1 1/2 c (190 g) bread flour and stir until a thick batter forms. Cover the bowl and leave at room temperature to rise and bubble for 6 to 8 hours. The starter is ready to use now or can be put in the fridge overnight. (Bring it back to room temperature before using.)

Dissolve the remaining 1/2 t yeast with the 1 c (250 ml) lukewarm water in a large bowl. Let proof for about 5 minutes.
Add the sponge starter and mix well. Stir in the honey, oil, whole wheat flour, semolina flour or oat flour (if using), and salt.
Add 1 1/4 c (160 g) of the remaining bread flour gradually to form a stiff dough.
Add the walnuts.
Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for ten minutes, adding as much of the reserved flour as needed to keep it from being too sticky. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Grease the bowl and return the dough, turning it to coat it in oil. Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rise until it is doubled in size, about 2 hours.

Divide the dough into two pieces and form into loaves. Place on a baking pan and leave them to rise again, about 30 minutes.
Bake at 400 F/205 C for 30 to 40 minutes, until the loaves sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.
Cool on a wire rack.

Ready for the Oven

Delicious.   We had several slices warm with butter, the rest will be for breakfast tomorrow and the second loaf will be sliced and squeezed into the freezer.

Many thanks to Sarah for an excellent challenge and I am looking forward to seeing what August brings.

It seems that the entire world has gone mad for matcha, and  once again I am late to the culinary bandwagon.   Last week I visited the Mind Apples pop-up health farm, then went to the Japan Centre for some of their splendid (and very affordable) sushi and spied lots of matcha.   I remembered reading about  Matcha Madness Month on Catty’s blog and decided that it was time to get some fuss free matcha madness in my kitchen.     Bewildered by the choice of matchas on offer I choose a 10g pouch for £2.

For those not in the know, matcha is finely ground Japanese green tea.    It is made from tencha, which is stoneground to a bright green talc like powder.   It is fairly labour intensive process, taking up to an hour to grind 30g.  The tea bushes are covered for several weeks before harvest; the shade slows down growth, resulting in darker leaves and more amino acids giving a more intense flavour.    Matcha is packed full of all sorts of things that are good for you; antioxidants, betacarotene and vitamins A, B & C.  And matcha is also delicious, like green tea, but more intense and sweeter in flavour.

When I bake there is a high chance that I will make muffins, and my first foray with matcha is no exception.  I used Kara coconut milk which added a hint of coconut flavour, but any milk (dairy or non dairy) would work here.    My full muffin method is here, if you eat eggs throw one in with wet ingredients, if not, leave it out.   I did not measure the buttercream ingredients – too much buttercream is not a bad thing and is delicious straight from the bowl!

Matcha Muffins (Makes 4)

For the muffins

“Dry” Ingredients
4.5oz plain flour
1.5oz  sugar
1 heaped tsp matcha powder
1tsp baking power
pinch salt

“Wet” Ingredients
4.5oz  Kara coconut milk
1.5oz  sunflower oil

Whisk the oil and milk mixture with a fork.   Mix the dry ingredients.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry and fold together (the batter should be lumpy and mixing should take no more than 15 folds).   Bake at GM5/190C/375F in your favourite muffin pan for 20 – 25 mins until risen.

For the buttercream

1 tsp butter or non diary spread
1 tsp milk (I used Kara)
1 tsp  matcha powder
About 4 heaped tbs icing sugar

Beat the butter & milk together for a minute with an electric mixer, add the matcha and icing sugar and beat for at least 5 minutes until fluffy.   You may need to add more liquid or icing sugar.   Too much frosting cannot be a bad thing! Wait until the muffins are cold before frosting them.

This is the pudding that I came up with for the recent foodbloggers’ Masterchef cookoff with Miele.    When planning a menu it is perfectly normal and reasonable to come up with a pudding first and then plan a main course to go with it?   I wanted a very summery pudding using my homemade elderflower cordial;  it also had to be very quick to make, impossible to mess up and hopefully delicious.   I think that I have attained all 3 requisites here.   Looking back over my archives it would also seem that possets will freeze well too.

As these possets have extra liquid from the cordial added to them I used extra thick double cream to make sure they set.

Lime & Elderflower Possets (makes 4 – 6)

284 ml carton extra thick double cream
2 oz sugar
juice and zest of one lime
1tbs (15ml) elderflower cordial

Simply scrape the cream into a saucepan and bring to the boil keep a close eye on it as  it can very rapidly (and messily) boil over.  While the cream heats zest the lime into the pan.   Once it boils, add the sugar, lime juice and cordial.   Simmer for a minute stirring well until the sugar has dissolved.     Pour into serving dishes – 4 ramekins or 6 espresso cups.   Chill until set before serving.    I made these and they were set in under an hour.

I served with strawberries marinated in elderflower cordial and Irish lace biscuits (recipe to come)

I was delighted to be recently asked by Wildcard to an evening with Jo Pratt, who would be demonstrating the new range of Tilda stir fry rices.   A large group of bloggers arrived one boiling hot summer’s evening at the rather wonderful Food at 52 which is situated in a rather lovely street of Georgian townhouses near King’s Cross.   Here we were greeted by the Wildcard team, Jo and Camilla from Tilda who was going to talk us through the range.

We sat down in the gorgeous sitting room and had delicious drinks and chicken toasts (just like prawn toasts but possibly better) and Camilla told us all about the history of Tilda and basmati rice.    As all I knew about basmati rice at this point was that I liked it immensely and it tastes far better than other rice, I found Camilla’s talk very interesting.    Basmati rice is highly prized and will improve with age (in much the same way as wine).  Many families will keep some rice to age it and then serve it when an honoured guest comes for dinner (at this point several bloggers nodded their heads and said they could remember their mother doing the same thing).  Tilda basmati is special as they ensure that only whole unbroken grains are sold – when cooked broken grains leak starch which is what makes some cooked rice stodgy and sticky – with no broken grains the Tilda basmati should be perfect everytime.   Tilda sort their rice by laser and any broken grains are removed by a miracle of modern technology to be used as animal feed.

Chatting to Camilla later I also discovered that Tilda ensure all their rice is 100% basmati by DNA testing the grains.   Also Tilda do not own farms in India but are committed to providing farmers with a fair price for the rice by buying from them at open auction.   In addition Tilda supply farmers with free rice seed (with no obligation to sell their crop to Tilda) and a free telephone advice line.     As CSR and sustainability is very important to me I was also please to discover that Tilda has helped local communities by helping to establish a school and has rebuilt a local temple that had fallen into disrepair.

Camilla then bought out the new stir fry rices; up until this point I had not grasped that these were ready cooked and seasoned in a packet rices,  I had been slightly puzzled at how stir fry rice was going to be any different from any other sort of dried rice.    I have to admit that my first thought was a skeptical “I cook.   From scratch. Why do I want ready cooked rice?”  Happily I was proved very wrong when I got to use and taste the product.

We moved on to the kitchen to see Jo demonstrate the product.  Despite the heat and fearsome gas burners Jo looked as cool as a cucumber as she prepared some delicious dishes for us.

She started with a Thai rice prawn soup a simple stock with soy, ginger,  garlic, chilli, spring onions, coriander,  prawns and a packet of the Tilda Green Thai rice.   It was utterly delicious.  Perfectly flavoured with perfectly seasoned rice.

Using the Tilda stir fry rices Jo then went on to make a lamb stir fry and some crispy duck pancakes – which also contained rice – a clever way to make then more substantial.   She also told us that the utterly delicious chicken toasts we had had earlier (and which Kavey and I had polished a plate off) during the demonstration were also made with the rice, by blending chicken and rice in the food processor.

We were then let loose in the kitchen to conjure up our own dishes using the rices.

I could not resist the king prawns (I may have eaten some and rearranged my plate so as not to appear too greedy here)

Enjoying our rice creations outside in the garden.

I really like this product.    I do not think that is something that I will be using once a week; but I certainly will keep a couple of packets in the cupboard and use it as an alternative to calling for a takeaway when I am tired, late home, just back from holiday.    It certainly will be far cheaper than a takeaway and barely any effort to make a quick stir fry with a packet of the rice and some frozen seafood and whatever vegetables that are in the fridge or freezer.      I am certain that it will taste far better and be better for me too as there are no artificial colourings, preservatives or the dreaded MSG in the rices.

For the non confident or time pressed cook I think that the rices are a great idea.    There is the perfect amount for two adults or one adult and a couple of children.   You can have them as plain or as jazzed up as you like (perfect for using up leftovers).

The rices come in 4 flavours; Peking,  Kung Po and Thai Red & Green.   Each 240g packet costs £1.79 from Waitrose or Ocado.  All 4 rices are vegetarian and gluten free and a couple of them are vegan.

Many thanks to Tilda and Wildcard for a lovely evening.  I am greatly looking forward to working my way through Jo’s book – In the Mood for Entertaining!

It is Friday again and I have received a bumper number of entries for this  week’s PPN.    Happily for those of us in the Northern hemisphere there are some salads and for those in the depths of winter a pasta bake or two!

In order of receipt!

Margaret from Tea and Scones made Penne with Roasted Tomatoes, Garlic and White Beans.

Nupur from One Hot Stove has avoided her stove being too hot by making a raw sauce or salsa curda for her pasta.  Delicious and super healthy.

Liz at Cooking the Vegan Books, also used white beans, this time with courgettes and homemade vegan feta.

Val from More than Burnt Toast has a glut of courgettes so used some up in her Rigatoni with Zucchini Pistou.

More courgettes, from Abby of Eat the Right Stuff.  This time they are paired with parma ham & tagliatelle.

Sarah from What Smells so Good? Sent summery low fat cacio pepe – lemon pasta with brocolli.

Mary the Food Floozie made a salad for a sweltering summer’s day with noodles beef and lots of bits and pieces from her kitchen with a delicious end result.

Deb who has a Hawaiian beach kitchen (Kahakai Kitchen) made a chicken piccata pasta salad.  Perfect for the beach!

Girlichef Heather made a Mark Bittman recipe of pasta with bacon which she believes to be the perfect pairing.

More courgettes from Joanne, who Eats Well With Others  and made Linguine with Zucchini, Capers, Pinenuts, Lemon and Herbs.  Impressively she made the pasta from scratch and as usual wrote a fantastic post with it.

Sabiha from Cooking Escapades and Delights made a delicious looking Baked Schiaffoni stuffed with herbed vegetables.

Apu of Annarasa: Essence of Food sent me a quick macaroni with black olives and pinenuts, which is perfect either hot or cold.

Photo to come!

Once Upon a Feast’s Ruth is suffering from the heat wave but sent a maple smoked salmon pasta salad. Maple smoked salmon sounds divine Ruth!

More courgettes and tales of renovation of her French house from Katie at Thyme for Cooking who made a warm courgette pasta salad with peanut and ginger dressing.

Jeanne at Cook Sister was sent a hamper of smoked salmon to review (I am somewhat jealous!) made a beautifully summery Smoked Salmon and Pea Pasta with it.

Pam at Sidewalk Shoes sent the second bacon pasta of the week – Pasta all’Amatriciana.

More bacon and another salad from Kait at Plots and Pots – Tomato, Bacon, Bean & Pasta Salad.

Johanna from Green Gourmet Giraffe had a sick child at home and so needed fortifying food so made a bake of spaghetti, pumpkin ricotta and facon. I like that the recipe was inspired by a London blogger and is has come back to a London blog for the round up!

Lastly the 3rd London recipe of the week and more courgettes, Niamh at  Eat Like a Girl made Courgette and Truffle Carbonara and gave me the welcome news that good pasta cooked al dente is in fact low GI!

I have failed to get an entry in, but I did have a pasta night this week where a lucky  group of UK food bloggers were  cooked for by Gennaro Contaldo!  Gennaro has been working with Bertolli to produce a new range of pasta sauces.    There is a full write up coming, but these sauces are amazing, I really cannot believe that they came from a jar – amazingly the jarred sauce tasted every bit as good as the sauce cooked from scratch.  They are perfect for having on hand for when it is too hot or too late or you are too tired to cook.

Next week’s host is Pam at Sidewalk Shoes – the full hosting list is here look forward to seeing the round up next week! Thanks for taking part in PPN # 171.

I had had to plan and give my menu to the organisers in advance.  In a burst of organisation, I had ordered everything I needed from my local butchers, the utterly fabulous HG Walter in Barons Court.  Everything was ready for me when I popped in this morning to collect it and utterly perfect.       I got to the distinctly futuristic Miele demonstration gallery yesterday lunchtime and was greeted with a most welcome nerve calming glass of champagne and some lovely food.   I am hugely keen on buffet food so dived in.

The  competition  (fellow food bloggers) arrived.    It was lovely to see Mimi (Meemalee’s Kitchen) again, and to put faces to Danny (Food Urchin and WMPC) Sarah (Maison Cupcake) and Ireena (Fastest Food Blog).    With all of us fortified with champagne and nibbles (and me with espresso) we were shown our work stations and assigned our Miele Home Economist that would help us use the equipment (and  find pretty bowls and plates and pieces of equipment).  I unpacked my food, dug out all the pans I needed and was ready for the off for an hour of cooking.

I was so engrossed that I did not even notice Gregg watching me  whilst I was serving the veal.

At the end of which I had made:

Veal on a Mediterranean sauce of garlic, onion, raisins, capers & olives with a rocket and broad bean salad.

Lime and Elderflower posset with berries marinated in my homemade elderflower cordial and an Irish Lace biscuit.

It was fantastic fun.   I had been slightly worried about it all, but arrived and decided that I had to enjoy the experience.   I thought that the timing would be incredibly tight, but I had loads of time and even managed to get a glass of champagne whilst cooking!  The Miele equipment was wonderful I am quite smitten with the induction hob with all the control of gas but without the burners and an easy to clean glass top.  The oven was fantastic with its digital temperature display and my biscuits cooked perfectly.   My huge thanks to Hazel, who was assigned to help me with the equipment and found me everything I needed and then cleaned up around me; I think that Miele should clone and sell her.  Every kitchen needs a Hazel  as well as the fantastic Miele equipment.

We lined our dishes up and awaited judgement from John and Gregg.    I waited a long time as I was at the end of the line.

I was hugely pleased that the feedback that I got from John and Gregg.   The worse thing that was said was that my chive garnish was pointless.    Gregg did not like the sweetness of the raisins in the sauce, they liked my salad and said that the veal was well cooked but they would not serve the salad with the veal and tomato sauce.   I am puzzled as to what I should serve with the veal – it needs something with it?   Maybe some simple green beans?   They also really liked my pudding saying it was ideal for a hot summer’s afternoon.       Considering that I had woken in a cold sweat the morning of the cookoff having dreamt that I had been told that I was a disgrace and should never go near a kitchen again I was delighted.

The winner was Ireena who made salmon spiced with cumin and coriander, vegetable pilau rice, and aubergine raita followed by a pudding of baked nectarines with amaretti crumble topping & mascarpone/orange cream.

I was very impressed with Sarah who made hazelnut french macarons with nutella and mascarpone cream filling and an apple and pecan loaf with lavender chocolate chips in the hour – something I would not consider attempting in the time allowed or in a strange oven.     Danny made grilled mackerel on bed of spring onions, potatoes with calcot sauce and pea shoots then gooseberry pudding with soft meringue peaks.  I had never heard of calcot sauce before and it was utterly delicious and something I shall be trying soon.    Mimi who arrived with a scary large and firey looking bag of chilies made Ohn-no khao swe (Burmese coconut chicken noodles) followed by blueberry and orange zest shortcake, whipped cream, blueberry and orange coulis.

Danny putting the finishing touches on his fish.

All smiles with Gregg after the judging!

It really was immensely fun and last night I dreamt of that lovely Miele oven.    Many thanks to Forever Better and 1000 heads for asking me.    And a huge thank you to HG Walters for having my order ready and supplying such perfect product, they are the best butcher I have ever used and well worth a visit if you are  in the direction of Barons court.

I will try to get the recipes blogged in the next week or so.

This month it’s Sarah’s turn to host Breakfast Club.

Breakfast Club is a  food blogging event hosted by me and Sarah from fingers and toes. We love breakfast and want everyone to enjoy better and more interesting breakfasts.

Each month one of us will choose a theme and then post the round up on the last Sunday of the month.

Last month I hosted and the theme was Asian.  You can read my round-up here.

I think some people found Asian a challenge, but Breakfast Club is all about challenging yourself.  So bear that in mind when I mention this month’s theme:

Eggs.

Eggs have long been a breakfast staple in many parts of the world.  There are so many different ways to prepare them.  For this month then I would like you to try something different from what you would normally do with eggs.  Entries don’t necessarily have to be “out there” – I would be quite amused to receive a dozen conflicting posts on the correct way to make perfectly scrambled eggs – but do try to pick something that challenges YOU.

For those who don’t eat eggs, you can substitute if you like.  For example, do a tofu scramble instead of scrambled eggs.

Because this month ends on a Saturday, I’ve decided to make the deadline Sunday 1 August, 6pm. We look forward to reading your ideas.

To recap:

Make breakfast inspired by the month’s theme, write about it (please include a link in your post to both hosts’ announcement – Sarah’s post is here)

Mail the host for the month, (sarah dot e dot moore at gmail dot com) with a link to your post, name of your blog and a photo (or link to your photo) by 6pm (UK time) on the last Sunday of the month.

If you do not have a blog send a recipe and photo to the month’s host who will include it in the round up.

Tell everyone – let’s inspire each other to make more interesting breakfasts!

It has been some months since I lasted hosted Presto Pasta Nights and I am delighted to be hosting PPN #171 next Friday 9th July.  If you have not had your friday supper yet, this friday’s round up, hosted by the event’s founder Ruth at Once Upon a Feast should give you lots of ideas.

Just cook some pasta (or noodles), write a post, mention Presto Pasta Nights and Fuss Free Flavours (with links), and e-mail the link to your post to me (helen (at) fussfreeflavours (dot) com) and copy (ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com).

I know Ruth is looking for some hosts for late summer, so do get in touch with her if you are interested.   I look forward to seeing your pasta recipes this week.

At some stage I’ll put together a breakfast index on the blog to compile all the events.   Shamefully I have failed to make myself an Asian breakfast apart from my regular tofu scramble.  I have had a huge amount going on which I will write about soon.

Liz from Cooking the Vegan Books made a Chinese Tofu Scramble.  I am a huge fan of scrambled tofu and will be making this one soon.  Liz has an encyclopedic knowledge of vegan cookbooks, and has been a recipe tester for lots of them.     If you are looking to buy a new cookbook do pop over to her blog and read some of her recipe reviews.

Rachana from Sizzle and Spice sent 3 recipes for the event.    She says she is a realtively new blogger but has a huge amount of energy and posts far more than I ever have time for.     She is also a fellow knitter, crocheter and stitcher – all of which both Sarah and I are keen on.

First up are some Chawli Vada/ Black- Eyed Pea Fritters which are just the sort of thing I love for breakfast (or at any other time!)

Next are some Potato Masala N Sesame Toasts  – French Toast Indian Style.  These look excellent too.

Her third entry was Kulith/ Horsegram Dosa.   I had not heard of Horsegram before, apparently it is a legume that is usually used as cattle feed, but is also full of iron, protein & calcium and was brought from India for Rachana when she had her daughter as it is meant to be excellent for new mums!     I am inspired to try some dosas for future breakfasts – but am unsure if I could find horsegram in London!

Akheela of Torview Toronto sent a recipe for sweet savoury semolina which is eaten in Sri Lanka for breakfast and has the bonus of being quick and easy to prepare.   It looks great!

Her second entry were some delicious looking milk rice kiribaths.   I think that these would be great for a packed lunch too!

Mary-Rose who usually writes about Maltese food at Did You Put Garlic made a Baby Clam Rolled Omelette with Ssamjang.   Apparently Ssamjang is dangerously addictive – I have actually never had ssamjang and am sure that it will appeal to my chilli loving taste buds.

Nayna at Simply Food sent a Betawa Pawa – a breakfast snack of beaten rice and vegetables.  I think that beaten rice is what I would call rice flakes and it can be eaten raw, making it a popular convience food.

Her second recipe are some delicious Bajra ni puri which are deep fried to puffy perfection!  These are made with millet flour which I have not used before.

Angela at the wonderfully named Velvet Kerfuffle made some Steamed Eggs (Chawanmushi or Steamed Eggs), which were her childhood equivalent of chicken noodle soup when she was sick.   They look delicious and I think that they would be great as light supper dish too.

Another blog that is new to me is Saranya’s which is full of wonderful Indian home cooking.    She sent me two recipes, Spicy Dill Leaves Idlies, which are spiced semolina and coconut patties, I can’t quite work out how coconut and dill will taste together, but Saranya says they were a big hit!

Her second recipe was for Semiya Upma a spicy vermicelli that looks very tasty.

Lastly was Sarah with some coconut pancakes another dish she enjoyed on her epic trip to Sri Lanka earlier this year, that inspired the egg hoppers that lead to the theme for Breakfast Club #1 being Asian.

Many thanks to everyone that has taken part – if I have missed anyone please mail me and I’ll add you in – all the recipes look lovely.

I am going to ask my contact at Clearspring to choose a winner!

Sarah is hosting Breakfast Club #2 for July and will be announcing the theme shortly!   We hope to get a prize for this one too so do keep an eye out for the announcement!