when life hands you lemons....make lemon cake!

light, bright and delicious lemon cake.

this citrusy delight was inspired by a neighbouring lemon hanging over the fence and the desire to bring a bright pop of yellow into an otherwise dull and monochrome winter palette. it's light and luscious, zingy and YELLOW - just the thing for a grey winter day. cosy up with a generous slice and a cup of lady grey and drift away on thoughts of sunshine and summertime.


things you will need:

125g of caster sugar
125 g of softened butter
185g of self-raising flour
1/4 of a cup of milk
a pinch of bi-carb soda (or baking powder)
2 eggs
1 lemon
icing sugar (to dust the cake)

what you will need to do:

firstly remove the rind from the lemon. you can use a vegetable peeler to do this but i prefer a small, sharp knife. try to get the rind only, and not the white skin underneath (as it's quite bitter!). in a small food processor/whizzer, combine the caster sugar and lemon rind. this breaks up the rind and releases the fragrant lemon oils into the sugar, so your cake will be really yellow and lemony. juice the lemon and reserve the juice.

place everything else except the icing sugar and lemon juice in a large bowl and combine with an electric hand mixer or food processor. add a couple of teaspoons of lemon juice ensuring the batter doesn't become too runny. if the batter is still a bit thick, add another teaspoon of lemon juice.

pour into a springform baking tin (mine is about 22cm in diameter, or roughly 9 inches) and bake in a 170C oven for 25 minutes. run a skewer through the cake to ensure it's cooked (it should come out clean). cool the cake then drizzle 1 or 2 teaspoons of leftover lemon juice over and dust with icing sugar.

golden glaze

this is a super easy, super delicious baste/glaze/sauce you can whizz up at home and use to tart up any number of otherwise-dull dinner options. i personally prefer it on the bird, as it's quite sweet and works well with the flavours of chicken. the quantities below should yield enough glaze for a small chicken.

things you will need:

1/4 of a cup of olive oil
1/2 a cup of golden syrup
juice of half a lemon
pinch of sea salt
2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 red chilli, de-seeded
2-3 teaspoons of cumin

what you will need to do:

place all the aforementioned ingredients into a small food processor and blast for about 30 seconds. taste to ensure the flavours are balanced; if it's a bit olive oily, add in a little extra squeeze of lemon juice. otherwise, it's ready to go.

use this glaze to jazz up chicken maryland pieces or when roasting pumpkin.

note: the golden syrup will caramelise pretty quickly in a hot oven, so be sure to keep checking on your roasting bird/plant to ensure it doesn't burn!

golden risotto

this creation happened purely by accident and it tastes AMAZING. also unspeakably good when consumed alongside golden chicken. i have only two words of advice: try it.


things you will need:

a quarter of a kent pumpkin
3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 brown onion, finely chopped
3/4 of a cup of arborio rice
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 litre of chicken stock (or make your own here)
olive oil
cumin
golden glaze (follow link for instructions)

what you will need to do:

remove the skin from the pumpkin and chop into large chunks. transfer to a large bowl and coat with a dash of olive oil, season with salt, pepper and cumin and brush over some golden glaze. mix the pumpkin around to ensure all pieces are evenly covered with the seasonings and oil. lay the pumpkin pieces out on a large, foil-covered oven tray and roast in a 180C fan-forced oven for 20-25 minutes or until you can easily run a knife through each piece.

meanwhile, get the risotto going by frying the onion and garlic in a good splash of olive oil  over a medium heat for a good 5 minutes (keep stirring and don't let the onion or garlic burn!). add the rice and keep stirring for another 2 or 3 minutes. start adding the stock in increments of about a 1/3 of a cup at a time, or enough to just submerge all the rice. let the rice absorb all the liquid before adding more and keep stirring to avoid the rice getting dry and sticking to the bottom of the pan.
once the rice is cooked (this should take about 30-40 minutes, sample to ensure it's cooked all the way through and not grainy), remove from the heat and gently fold through the pumpkin. don't worry if some of the pumping goes mushy, it only adds to the deliciousness of the dish!

serve immediately. if you've made golden glaze chicken to go with it, spoon a few helpings of the chicken's pan juices over the risotto. the hot, sweet, chickeny liquids act as a kind of gravy and the end result is a juicy, luscious risotto (and chicken!).

note 1: if you made the chicken and have leftover risotto, pour any remaining pan juices from the chicken into a small ramekin and save for tomorrow! we had our leftover risotto and poured over some reheated pan juice gravy and it was divine.

note 2: unlike every other risotto i've ever made and probably consumed, this one does not need cheese.  at all! the flavours of this risotto are such that cheese would be a downright vile addition and completely clash with the sweet and gently spiced pumpkin flavour.

breakfast eggs-travaganza

hola! huevos mexican-style for breakfast!

for a bit of a spin on the usual eggs and toast breakfast offering,  try these delicious baked eggs. use whatever you have on hand to create your own signature eggs. and the best bit - no cooking guaranteed! below are just 3 variations on a theme, but please don't let this stop you from letting your imagination (and appetite!) run wild. each variation is designed to yield 2 servings.

MEXICAN-STYLE BAKED EGGS (or huevos in spanish!)

 - THE VEGO OPTION

things you will need:

4 eggs

1 roma tomato, sliced thickly

half a red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

a small wedge of red onion, thinly sliced

2 slices of your favourite bread

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

cumin

a few slices of tasty cheese

sour cream (to serve)

jalapeños - the sliced, pickled ones in the jar (to serve)

2 small oven-proof bowls or pans

what you will need to do:

toast the bread and use this to line the bottom of the bowl or pans. place 3 or 4 of the sliced roma tomatoes on top, followed by the red onion. season with salt, pepper and sprinkle some cumin over. break 2 eggs into each bowl, ensuring they're sitting reasonably close to the centre of the bowl (or as close as you can get). sprinkle over the chopped chilli. sit the bowls/pans onto a large oven tray, and place into a 180C fan-forced oven for about 20-25 minutes. it pays to keep checking the eggs, and rearrange the bowls if you find your oven is uneven (as mine is!) and one bowl of eggs is cooking quicker than the other.

once the egg whites have turned opaque, take the tray out and break up the sliced tasty cheese over the eggs. or if you want, just lay the slices over the eggs. return to oven and bake for another 5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbling slightly. remove from oven and carefully place the hot bowls on small wooden serving boards or some other heat-proof mat. spoon a good whack of sour cream over the eggs, and top with a jalapeño or two.

SPANISH-STYLE BAKED EGGS

things you will need:

4 eggs

1 can of crushed tomatoes

some chorizo, thickly sliced
handful of cubed potato (par boiled or roasted) - if leftovers are on hand!

a small wedge of red onion, thinly sliced

2 slices of your favourite bread

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

paprika or cayenne pepper (for a bit more kick!)

a few slices of tasty cheese

2 small oven-proof bowls or pans

what you will need to do:

as above, toast the bread and use it to line the bowls or pans. spoon a few of the crushed tomatoes over the bread and throw in the chorizo, cubed potato and red onion. if you want, fry the chorizo off first and save the oil to drizzle over the finished product (you don't need to do this though, especially if you're feeling lazy and can't be bothered washing up a frypan afterwards!). sprinkle a bit of paprika or cayenne pepper and season with salt and pepper (i'd recommend using less salt than the mexican-style eggs call for, as the crushed tomatoes and especially the chorizo will contain salt already). break in the eggs and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the egg whites have turned opaque. put some cheese over the eggs and return to the oven for another 5 minutes. drizzle some of the chorizo oil over the eggs (if you fried the chorizo). serve immediately.

FRENCH-STYLE BAKED EGGS

 - MINIMAL COOKING REQUIRED

things you will need:

4 eggs

1 leek, sliced thinly

butter

2 rashers of bacon or 100g of speck sliced into thick strips

2 slices of your favourite bread

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

a few slices of gruyere cheese

a few fresh chives, finely chopped

2 small oven-proof bowls or pans

what you will need to do:

sautee the sliced leek in the butter until cooked (it should turn a vibrant light green and look a bit sweaty). then lightly fry the bacon or speck (i'd recommend not over cooking it as i hate very crusty, crispy bacon and speck, and it'll cook further in the oven, but that's a personal preference). as above, toast the bread and use it to line the bowls or pans. spoon in the leek over the bread then top with the bacon or speck. break in the eggs and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the egg whites have turned opaque. put some of the gruyere over the eggs and return to the oven for another 5 minutes. once the cheese has melted, remove from the oven, sprinkle over a handful of chives and consume immediately.

mmmmmmushroom sauce

tonight we're having polish cabbage rolls (golabki) and instead of the usual tomato sauce to go with them, i decided a mushroom sauce would be better. it took about 10 minutes to cook, even less time to prepare and smells and tastes delicious.

things you will need:

about 10 small to medium sized button mushrooms (washed and sliced)
5 dried porcini mushrooms
2 tablespoons of sour cream
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
butter
plain flour

what you will need to do:

soak the porcini mushrooms in about 3/4 of a cup of boiling water and let stand for a good 45 minutes (you want to infuse the water with the mushroom flavour). once you're ready to start your sauce, melt a couple of decently sized pats of butter in a medium sized pan and sauté the sliced button mushrooms until they're brown. sprinkle some sea salt and add freshly ground pepper for taste. then pour in the porcini mushrooms and water, and bring to a boil. keep this going for about 5 minutes, then add 2 generous tablespoons of the sour cream and stir to combine. keep this going for another 2 or 3 minutes until it starts to look nice and saucy. to thicken the sauce, sprinkle a few teaspoons of plain flour and stir  to combine. keep tasting to ensure the sauce is flavoursome enough (add more salt and pepper as you see fit) and remove from heat. spoon generously over your cabbage rolls (or steak!) and enjoy immediately!

oh so simple stock

what could be more satisfying than knowing you're getting truly the most value out of the produce you consume? nobody feels good about waste in these green-tinted times and so what better way to showcase nose-to-tail consumption than by making your own stock. cheap, simple and incredibly versatile, a good stock is the starting point for most home cooking. the homemade variety tastes better, contains less salt and ten points for being a friend to the planet.

things you will need:

1kg of beef bones - use the bones of your animal of choice depending on what flavour stock you want

2 large brown onions (peeled and quartered)

4 stalks of celery (roughly chopped)

2 carrots (peeled and roughly chopped)

1 bay leaf

5 or 6 peppercorns
freshly ground salt and pepper

2 cloves of garlic (peeled)
olive oil

what you will need to do:

preheat the oven to 180C. lay the bones out on an oven tray lined with baking paper. drizzle with oil and freshly ground salt and pepper then roast for 20 to 25 minutes.

once the bones are roasted, throw them into a large cooking pot, along with all of the other ingredients. add enough cold water to cover the bones and vegetables. bring to the boil on a medium-high heat then simmer on a low heat for 2 or 3 hours. give the stock time and the flavours will develop. taste as you go to ensure you have enough salt and pepper. once the stock is done, remove all the solids from the pot of liquid and pass the remaining liquid through a strainer or muslin cloth (you want to be left with as clear a stock as possible). use immediately and freeze any unused amounts for next time.

use in your next risotto, ragout, soup, stew or casserole!

chicken maryland: a saint

infallible chicken maryland. served with mac & cheese.

whether you're low on cash or tight with time, there is one resounding answer to your meal-time woes: chicken maryland! passed over in the freezers at the supermarket for being too dull or a little unfashionable, maryland is like your gran's old toyota: a faithful friend but nothing you'd be queuing up to be snapped next to in the social pages. we get it. but we also believe this fantastic cut encompassing thigh and leg deserves a little more love and attention! it's inexpensive, versatile and easy to cook. what's not to like?

things you will need:

1 pack containing 2 chicken marylands (buy more if you can and freeze what you don't use)

3 or 4 cloves of garlic (unpeeled)

butter

2 or 3 tablespoons of olive oil (or infused olive oil if you have some handy - i used a parmesan and rosemary oil)
freshly ground salt and pepper

what you will need to do:

exceptionally simple to prepare, just throw the marylands into a medium sized oven-proof dish (ensuring they have enough space between them and aren't touching otherwise they won't cook evenly) and pour over the olive oil. sprinkle the marylands with the salt and pepper and massage the oil/salt/pepper mix into the skin. scatter the garlic cloves around the chicken (if you like your garlic, then feel free to use more than the quantity ascribed above) then cut small knobs of butter and place them on and around the pieces of bird.

place uncovered into an oven preheated to 180C and set the timer for 40 minutes. remove from the oven and baste with the pan juices every 10 minutes (you don't want the skin to dry out!) then return to the oven to continue cooking. serve immediately with your choice of vegetables or salad and spoon the juices from the pan over your pieces of bird on the plate as a bit of gravy. impossible to get wrong and guaranteed to please!

GOLDEN GLAZE CHICKEN
 - A VARIATION


if you're after something a bit different, prepare the chicken exactly as instructed in the first paragraph, excluding the butter. instead, baste the chicken generously with golden glaze, bake as advised above, removing from the oven every 10 minutes to baste with more glaze and pan juices. serve with golden risotto.