Linen Tea Towels

Our gorgeous NEW linen union tea towels have just arrived! 

Designed by Emma Cabrera for Cooking Gorgeous, they're nature inspired and fit perfectly with our focus on simplicity and good, clean design.

Printed on a beautiful linen union fabric, they'll not only look gorgeous in your kitchen - they'll actually dry your dishes and wash really well too. (And you can't say that about every tea towel!)

Here's a sneaky peak. They'll be on the website for you to buy in two shakes of a lambs tail - let us know what you think... 

(Hope you like them xx)

Almond & Poppyseed Shortbread

Inspired by Dan Lepard's Honey & Ginger Wafers in The Handmade Loaf, I've been experimenting. Now, that's not always a good thing but every now and again it creates a corker... 

These buttery shortbread biscuits are light and moist with a textual crunch and nutty poppy seed twist. They've gone down well at home and I'd love to know what you think, if you get a chance to make them too.

(By the way, they're nothing like Dan's wafer triumphs but we all take inspiration from somewhere!)

What you need...

200g plain flour

100g ground almonds

100g caster sugar

1 tsp baking powder

2 dsp poppy seeds

150g cold cubed butter

1 dsp warmed golden syrup

Set oven to gas mark 4

What to do...

Mix all the dry ingredients together and add the cubed butter. Rub it into the mix initially and then gradually kneed it all together to form a light, soft dough.

When all combined, roll out to approx 2mm thickness and cut out rounds. I use a wine glass as there's generally one to hand (?!). Makes approximately 20 biscuits.

Lay the biscuits onto a greased baking sheet and score the top with a fork then brush with warmed golden syrup and bake in the centre of the oven for 15/20 mins - you need to keep an eye to check they don't go too dark and/or that the syrup glaze doesn't burn.

Let them cool slightly before transferring to a cooling rack. And then eat them. All.

The Friday Night Dinner Party Project

This weekend has been busy.

Really, really busy.

Highlights include... parents arriving from France, dinner for 12, foraging for fruit, dancing 'til the small hours, manic house tidy, photoshoot for piece in Daily Mail, waving husband off on windsurfing course, collapsing on sofa. And, to top it all off, got at up five this morning to do the business slot on local BBC radio. 

Bit tired. 

And there's more to come as I now need to make something with the fruits of our forage - I'm thinking a little Elderberry Compote could be in order and have been fantasising about individual blackberry crumbles. Made and frozen now - then revealed in a Blue Peter 'here's one I made earlier' fashion later in the autumn.

 

But, let's go back to The Friday Night Dinner Party Project

We knew we'd have very little time on Friday to get things ready for a sit down meal for 12 - so we kept the menu simple. Soup, cheese and torte. Obviously it still ended up taking much longer than expected and I was slapping on mascara five minutes before people arrived but it was such a lovely evening that it was (always is) worth it.

 

For the soup I went for a favourite Leek and rosemary recipe from Moro East. I love that book. And that's why I wanted to share the bare bones of the recipe - hopefully to give enough inspiration to seek out the real deal from the brilliantly talented Sam & Sam Clark (owners of Moro). 

 

The recipe book follows the stories and recipes of the allotments torn asunder to make way for the Olympics and the incredible edibles that the community grew there. In some ways it's terribly sad and in others it's so inspiring it makes me yearn for an allotment of my own - though the reality of that would be weeds as far as the eye could see and stern words from the allotment committee.

 

The marvellous thing about this soup is that you cook it all and then add the stock. The potato is softened, the leeks are sweet and the blue cheese at the end adds a perfect creamy tangy touch.

 

Without giving away the whole recipe...

 

Trim the leeks (roughly one per person) and slice the white/pale green roots into rounds then roughly chop the darker green leaves and blitz them in a food processor - to waste as little as possible. Soften in butter and olive oil with the lid on then add finely sliced potato (roughly one medium potato for every two people), chopped rosemary, garlic and nutmeg and cook for 20 mins or so without the lid, stirring occasionally.

When it's cooked you can give it a quick blitz so it's as smooth as you like or leave it gorgeously chunky. Add hot vegetable stock (roughly 1/3 litre per person) and return to heat before finishing off with fresh flat leaf parsley.

Finally crumble a blue cheese over the individual bowls, Moro recommend Picos de Europa with Silton or Rocquefort as good substitutes but we went for a Yorkshire Blue as a delicious alternative.

Food and love in troubled times...

I had very mixed feelings about writing this blog. There are terrible scenes in our cities, the financial markets are in meltdown. What interest can there be in a frivalous post about food? But then...

I remembered the words of Mr Jonny Wong, a very dear friend (and wonderful cook) who is sadly no longer here. Whenever things got tricky, Jonny would smile and say:

"In with anger, out with love."  

I had wanted to share this recipe because I love it. I think others will love it too. And in troubled times what's better than food and love? 

Involtini – for 4  

This delicious dish is courtesy of Frances, another dear friend, who served it for us last week on my birthday. The weather was kind and we ate outside in lovely company and beautiful surroundings.

It's called Involtini - though I kept thinking I was being offered a hot malted milk drink...

It's a brilliant dish for large groups of people and ideal for vegetarians and coeliacs (just replace the bulgar wheat with quinoa).

Frances served it with griddled asparagus and gorgeous flat roasts. You serve it how you wish!

Henny

xx 

What to do and how to do it
 

To make the tomato sauce... (though you can cheat and buy a jar)

• 2 tins peeled toms
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 dried chilli
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• Salt and pepper to taste

Cut finely and fry garlic in olive oil with chilli and oregano. Let soften and then add 2 tins of toms, allow the sauce to cook for 1 hr until the toms start to disintegrate. Set aside.

For involtini...

• 4 Aubergines

Cut aubergines in 5mm slices lengthways and griddle. Set aside.

• 100g bulgar wheat or quinoa 
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 50g pistachios, shelled and roughly chopped
• 200g feta
• 2 spring onions, finely sliced
• 1 tbs capers, drained and chopped

1. Cook Quinoa, or put bulgar wheat in a bowl with bowling water. Drain.
2. Mix with all other ingredients
3. Place a teaspoon of mixture on an aubergine slice and roll. Repeat.
4. Place in baking tray, tightly packed together
5. Cover with tom sauce (not too much)
6. Sprinkle with some crumbled feta, pistachios, spring onions (to make it look pretty)
6. Roast in oven for 30-45 mins
7. no need to serve immediately (can be eaten warm rather than hot)

Enjoy xxx 

Happy Birthday to me...

Jams and Jellies - or is it Jam and Jerusalem?

The fruits of our labours

Well, it wasn't quite the Women's Institute but there were moments last weekend when I thought I'd passed over into that mythical land of being the perfect wife, mother and pillar of the community. 

But then reality flooded back and I realised it was just a blip on my otherwise blemished reputation.

Willow weaving for the village flower festival, watching friends in the talent show at the Church and dos-a-dos-ing round the marquee on the green. All very Midsomer Murders and, for afficionados of Miranda, such fun! 

And how did we fill the brief pauses between these bucolic activities? By making jam with friends, of course. 

Foraging for Elderflowers, bribing a troupe of small boys to pick more gooseberries and gathering rose petals...bit part in Darling Buds of May, anyone?

Of course, like all these escapades it was worth every moment to have that exciting realisation that the jam has actually set and the jelly is wobbling invitingly.

So, here's the recipe for the Gooseberry & Elderflower Jam. Coming soon... Gooseberry, Elderflower and Rose Jelly. Yum! Can't wait.

Lovers' Knot - made with willow from the river and wild enthusiasm

Gooseberry & elderflower jam

Elderflowers, roses & a Cooking Gorgeous tea-towel

Essential:

1kg gooseberries

1kg sugar

150ml water

15 elderflower heads

Old jam jars sterilised in the dishwasher and warmed through in the oven (so they don't crack when you add the hot jam)

Useful:

Jam pan

Sugar thermometer

Small saucer in the freezer

Wax paper discs

Top and tail the gooseberries and cook them gently in 150ml of water in a large heavy bottomed jam pan. Pop the elderflower heads into the top of the pan - carefully shaking any insects off first. Leave the pan simmering gently for 10 or 15 minutes and remove the flower heads. Add the sugar, allowing it to melt softly into the water and then boil vigorously.

A sticky scum (urgh) will form unless you add a little knob of butter before it boils - or you can just skim off the scum with a slotted spoon.

And wait... until it reaches JAM on your thermometer.

At this point it's really easy to get over excited and decide it's done. BUT! Rush not! First, drop a little onto your ice cold saucer. If it forms a discernible skin that you can push gently with your finger then, and only then, is your jam ready for your jars.

If you haven't got a sugar thermometer and you plan to make jam again, then get one! Until then, you'll have to keep doing the saucer check - it will work.

Carefully spoon or pour the jam into your jars and top off with a wax paper disc and seal tightly. Leave to cool and wash off any sticky residue once the jam has set.

It's a snip

Get PREPPED! for FREE!

We've teamed up with the lovely Vanessa Kimbell and have one coveted copy of her fantastic new recipe book PREPPED! to give away.

Just leave a comment here on the Blog before 24 June to be in with a chance of winning!

Five things that make PREPPED! a "kitchen life saver" (as quoted by Michelin starred chef Jason Atherton).

• The food is delicious and simple
• The flavours are complex and sophisticated
• It's written and tested by real people for real life
• It means you can get out of the kitchen and enjoy the fun with everyone else 
• Keeps washing up and clearing down to a minimum

We've been lucky enough to have posted one of Vanessa's fabulous recipes here on the Blog, Star Anise & Orange Bread Pudding, and can't wait to try out more of her delicious dishes. 

Three more things you might like to know...

• PREPPED! is printed in the UK - an unusual feat in itself
• Vanessa gave herself 12-months to write a recipe book - and held the first copy of PREPPED! almost exactly one year on from the day she started
• Since discovering Cooking Gorgeous aprons, Vanessa will wear nothing else (not sure that's come out right but you know what we mean!)

Good luck!

Pasta Puttanesca-esque in 10 minutes

For those lovely moments when you open the fridge and think 'oh God, I really need to go shopping' and then realise... you don't. At least, not yet.

  

My lovely friend, Loo, was over for a chat that turned into lunch. With vague panic as I looked in the fridge I summoned up thoughts of Spaghetti Alla Puttanesca, that delicious Italian dish so charmingly translated as 'whore's style spaghetti'. Yes, well.

Anyway, obviously I didn't have the ingredients for that either so instead I gathered together things I know work well and started boiling the water. 10 minutes later we sat down to my new creation, which I thought I should share. Loo loved it. Hope you do too.

What you need

• Enough spaghetti for two people (this varies wildly in our house so I'm shy of specifying amounts)
• 1 generous tbs tomato purée (I always thought this was a cheat ingredient but it turns out even proper chefs use it. Who knew?!)
• 6-8 peppadew peppers roughly chopped (I use hot but mild ones work well)
• 6-8 black olives roughly chopped (particularly good if you've got any marinated ones lurking at the back of the fridge)
• 1 onion roughly chopped (there's a theme developing here) 
• 1 clove of garlic (you guessed it) roughly chopped 
• Toasted pine nuts / fresh basil (optional)

What you do

Start boiling the water for the pasta and get chopping. As soon as the water boils, add your spaghetti with a dash of oil to stop it sticking.

Sauté the onion in olive oil till it starts to soften. Add the garlic, give it a stir then add the tomatoe purée. You'll need to judge the next bit but pour in roughly half a cup of hot water to thin the purée and get it all simmering nicely. You might need a drop or two more, depending on how quickly it evaporates but be careful not to make it too thin.

Next, add the peppers and the olives. If you feel like it, pop in a sprinkling of Bouillon (or half a stock cube) and season to taste. Turn off the heat and throw in your pine nuts and basil.

The pasta should be pretty much al dente by this stage. Strain it but leave a trace of the liquor in the pan. Add the pasta to the sauce - do it this way round so you gather up all the intense flavours from the pan and fully coat the spaghetti. Stir it through and serve.