Tomato and Mozzarella Risotto

Pasta with tomato sauce could easily be a desert island dish for me. I know it’s not that exciting and doesn’t exactly take much skill but I don’t mind. That’s part of it’s charm and appeal! It’s my ultimate comfort food after a day of ‘chewable’ soup at cookery school (more of which on Sunday), the meal I make when I have no time, the meal to line your stomach before a night out, the meal for when there’s nothing in the fridge. The meal for when I’m tired, a storm is brewing outside and Downton is on (hello last Sunday evening). But, much as I love it, it’s not the most interesting dish to share on the blog and even I need a change (however small) once in a while. Enter, tomato and mozzarella risotto. Obviously this contains all the the things that make pasta and tomato sauce great: carbs, cheese, tomato, a bit of herbage. Just in a way that makes it a little bit different and makes me feel like I’m doing some actual cooking! This recipe uses the same method as a basic risotto, just with the addition of a tin of tomatoes to the hot stock. Although it was only one tin, the resulting tomato flavour was surprisingly intense but I suppose you could add a blob of tomato puree as well to boost the flavour even further. I loved the final result – the strings of melting mozzarella, soft rice with just a little bit of bite left, sweetnesss from the onions… exactly what I needed! And fancy enough to serve to friends too. You can find the recipe here – funnily enough, right underneath a recipe for pasta and tomato sauce…

Caramelised Garlic Tart

I normally bake when I’m home alone, meaning that I have full decision making power in the kitchen and can choose to bake whatever I want from my books, magazines or To Bake list. However, last week these decisions were taken out of my hands as my Mum put in her requests for her Mother’s Day meal. For our main course she chose this Caramelised Garlic Tart, from Ottolenghi’s latest book Plenty. I love Ottolenghi’s shops and recipes but I don’t think this would have been a recipe I would ever have chosen on my own, despite its intro saying ‘‘I think this is the most delicious recipe in the world’ wrote Claudine after trying it out for me’. However, I’m glad that I did get to try it out as it certainly was delicious!It was maybe a little bit more involved than savoury recipes I normally do, but really I think it wasn’t that difficult and you can do parts of the recipe while other components cook. Anyway, the results were worth it! I’m not normally a big fan of goats cheese but I really loved this tart and I think it worked really well with the garlic. Speaking of which, garlic is definitely the predominant flavour – with 40 cloves (3 heads) of garlic it would be strange if it wasn’t! This sounded overwhelming, but after being blanched, fried and caramelised for 10minutes garlic loses its super intense flavour and becomes much more mellow, sweet and soft. Another unusual aspect of this tart was the puff pastry base – I’ve used puff for more rustic galettes, pies and turnovers but not pressed into a fluted tart tin. When you had to bake the case without beans the base completely puffed up but I just pressed it down and it was fine. I was slightly worried that when I went back to the finished tart the filling would be all over the oven floor, but it was all good! Overall, the tart definitely had an intense flavour and was rich but really good with a simple rocket salad on the side. You can find the recipe here and I strongly recommend you give it a try, even if like me it doesn’t sound like something you’d normally make. Enjoy!

Cheese and Onion Tear and Share Bread

I love a good foodie television show. There’s Masterchef – tears and shouty John and Gregg (who’s restaurant I did work experience at last year!). There’s Nigella’s series – fairy lights, dressing gowns and ‘cookie crumbs tumbling like Mexican mud’…There’s Nigel Slater and his gorgeous garden, Simon Hopkinson with slow-mo falling egg graphics or Sophie Dahl’s series where she cooks and reads poetry. Currently, there is The Great British Bake Off – which the week before last featured this delicious bread.Each week of the Bake Off is themed – and so this obviously came from Bread week, a challenging one that I know I would have found really hard. One of the contestants Jason, an 18 year old baker from Croydon, made this and after watching I couldn’t get it out of my mind. Melting cheese, soft bread and a crunchy top plus the onions in the mix – what’s not to like? Happily, the recipe is featured in the new book to go along with the show, and the next day another yeast adventure was going on in my kitchen. As I’m still very much a bread and yeast novice, this took me ages to make. It was an enjoyable process, just long because rolling, stuffing (with two fillings) and folding nineteen balls of bread dough is not going to be a quick process. Add in three sets of rising times and in turned into quite a days baking but the end result was worth it, and could have been even more so had I got it perfect. The problem was I placed all the nineteen dough balls too far apart before they went in the oven so they didn’t join together to properly make a tear and share bread. This meant they were a bit drier then would have been nice and so went stale faster. I had some straight out the oven when the cheese inside was still melting and warm and it was delicious! Sadly one person cannot eat 19 rolls very quickly :( Still, I would recommend the recipe as I think this could be irresistible if done properly! There are a couple more recipes from the Bake Off book that I want to make, so hopefully I’ll get a chance to do them soon. Enjoy :)

Spinach and Feta Pastries

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When life gives you spinach, make spinach and feta pastries!

I was recently fortunate enough to receive a gift of a large bag of home grown spinach from the garden of my Mum's close friend Jan. Fresh, vibrant, bursting with colour - I knew this gift would not be waiting long to be used. After a Bank Holiday trip to the Suffolk seaside inspiration had dutifully struck. Thanks to hot pastries bought from Lawsons Deli and eagerly consumed on the beach, this spinach had been found a use! Once home, the cooking began. 

Mixed with salty, crumbly feta cheese (my current favourite thing: joining lunchtime salads every day.) and wrapped in flaky flaky puff pastry: these were ready. Well, after a speedy 15-minute trip to the oven - these were ready. The pastry rose, the feta melted and the spinach darkened. Just to warn you - these give a  big hit of spinach flavour. As someone still learning to love spinach in forms other than cannelloni, they occasionally erred on the too-spinachy side. However, they were balanced nicely with sweet tomato salad and I know for anyone who likes spinach they are delish. So next time you find spinach lurking in your kitchen? You know what to do :)

Spinach and Feta Pastries
As these were based on Lawsons Deli pastries and a gift of spinach, I didn't use exact measurements, so these are rough approximations. These quantities made 6 pastries, with two per serving for a main meal. You can easily scale the numbers up or down for different amounts of people.

Ingredients:
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
200g carefully washed (no one wants soil in a pasty), destalked and cooked spinach
1 egg
150g feta cheese
1tbsp mint, finely chopped
1tsp thyme leaves, finely chopped
250g puff pastry
1 more beaten egg

1. Preheat the oven to 190'C.
2. Saute the onion and garlic slowly in two large knobs of butter until the onion is softened and golden. Meanwhile, squeeze all excess water out of the spinach and chop into more bite-size pieces with a large pair of scissors.
3. Take the onion off the heat and add in all the remaining ingredients other than pastry. Season well and taste, then add more of whatever is lacking.
4. Roll out the pastry very thinly and cut into 10cm squares. Place a large tablespoon of the spinach mix into the centre of each pastry square. Brush the edges with beaten egg and bring up to the top, pinching together diagonal edges and twisting the corners. Brush the whole top with more egg.
5. Place on a baking tray and bake for 15-20minutes until the pastry is risen and golden and the feta is melted. Serve warm with a salad in the sunshine and enjoy! 

Roasted Tomato and Thyme Soup with Twice Baked Potatoes

For my birthday, I received some fabulous foodie gifts. So much so, I thought I would make a mini-series as I revealed each one and made something using each one. So, today is the day I start!

Gift: Sophie Dahl’s book “Miss Dahl’s Voluptuous Delights”

Recipe: Roasted Tomato and Thyme Soup with Twice Baked PotatoesNow strictly speaking, these recipes aren’t in the book. Which is a travesty because they were in the TV series that accompanied the book and are both fabulous dishes! The book, like you might expect from a former model, is beautifully laid out, full of pretty pictures and glamorous stories but most importantly to me – good food! Like this deep, rich, hearty-yet-summery, velvety soup. My sister and I have been meaning to make this soup for ages and today regretted waiting so long as it filled the house with the best smell of slowly roasting tomatoes. Sophie Dahl’s recipe is super easy because it cuts down on any fussy chopping, peeling, boiling etc. Everything is just halved and put in a roasting tin, left to cook in the oven and release all their gorgeous juices, then whizzed up in a blender and enjoyed. That was the basic plan, but this leaves a very thick soup – more like a tomato puree or sauce for pasta. After years of extremely smooth Heinz tomato soup, I do look for a smoother soup so after a quick boil and slosh of cream the soup was perfect. And all made by my sister who originally found the recipe. So on to the side dish, made by me…Twice Baked Potatoes. Which essentially means you bake potatoes, cut them in half, scoop out all potatoey goodness and then mix with cheese, chives, and a dollop of yoghurt, replace in the potato and bake for a tiny bit more to crisp up the top. Gorgeous and quite filling by themselves, let alone with a big bowl of soup! These are something I would like to repeat because they make a refreshing change to ordinary jackets and could make good use of odds and ends from the fridge. Individually – delicious. Together, curled up in front of the Doctor Who finale as it rains in the middle of June – perfect. Find the recipe and video of Sophie Dahl making both recipes here, and I do also recommend the charming book! More recipes from that and other birthday gifts to come soon :) 

Cheese, Onion and Potato Pies

As summer creeps back in, my thoughts inevitably turn to picnics. As soon as we have three consecutive days of strong sunshine, out come the summer dresses and meet-ups in the parks. Picnics vary from just sunbathing on the common with a friend, to a full blown Marks and Spencer’s feast…A picnic from last summer…
So as you can easily tell, I love picnics. Relaxing, laughing, tanning, eating – what’s better? But nowadays my friends and I need our money spent elsewhere, so its time to make our own picnic food. Next time, I’ll be bringing these pies. Move over sandwiches, these are so much better. A tiny bit of a faff to make, but each step is extremely simple and the recipe works so that whilst something is chilling, something else needs grating, whilst something is cooking, something else needs chopping. Always busy! The potato filling for these pies (diced potato, spring onion and a myriad of different cheeses) is delicious and, happily, the recipe makes much more than you will be able to make pies from but is just as lovely on its own as simple potato filling. But back to the pies… Sturdy and savoury (always a shocker around here!) the pies are perfect picnic food. Having said that, I ate a pie for three meals over two days just at home, as the weather proves itself not quite ready for picnics. I think these are best warm – melty cheese, hot pastry – but a treat anywhere. I did really like Nigella’s recipe but if I made it again would make a few minor changes – more cheese, cut the potato smaller, few more herbs – basic stuff. Otherwise, enjoy the summer picnic goodness!

 

Quiche Lorraine

Living in London, it’s not all that often that you get to make use of local ingredients. We have a garden where we can grow tomatoes and there’s an apple tree – but getting produce from nearby farms or orchards or something, not really! Therefore an extra reason we enjoy going to our house in Suffolk is the chance to embrace cooking with fresh and local food. For example, this quiche. The bacon – from the butcher up the road, from the pig farm we always drive past as we approach our house. The eggs – from Eddie the Egg Man (note: names have been changed :D) and his Honesty Box table outside his house. (An Honesty Box is where he leaves his eggs and a jam jar outside his house, trusting everyone to leave the right amount of money in the jar.) Both the eggs and bacon, I think, helped make this quiche extra special.I hadn’t made a quiche ever before, and don’t often eat it. But the time had rolled back round for a savoury bake and as I enjoy working with pastry I thought that it would be an interesting classic to cover. I was surprised with the simplicity – the filling takes seconds to make so the main time is spent on the pastry and final cooking. Although I had a few kerfuffles with making this recipe fit my tin, in the end I enjoyed the result. The filling was velvety soft, spiked with the salty lardons and sharp Cheddar. Accompanied by cherry tomatoes and enjoyed in the sun – pretty perfect.

Rhubarb Tart

Happy Mothers Day! Today I am celebrating everything brilliant about my Mum, and that certainly takes much celebrating.I have so much to thank my Mum for. This blog, in particular, would be a very different place if it wasn’t for her. When I’m stuck for inspiration on what to bake, or my mind cannot find an “angle” for each post, she’s always there with an idea, a book, an article to show me. Even today’s recipe was her find, and boy am I thankful. My email inbox is full of emails from her, even if we are just one room apart, with links to gorgeous recipes and “This looks nice” , “Make this!” or “Isn’t this pretty…". Without those recipes and ideas I would never have broadened what I cook and the periods in between posts would be much longer! Of course it isn’t just because of this blog that I am thankful towards my Mum. As I grow up I constantly realise little ways I’m like her, little habits I’ve inherited. There’s a little tune we both hum after we hang up the phone. There’s the shared sense of humour, shared love and dislike for different people. She’s a sensible one my Mum and always has the best advice and encouragement for me when I feel down or doubtful. Funny, kind, loving, beautiful: a worthy recipient of this pretty pink tart. This tart, even if I say so myself, was gorgeous. Light cream cheese pastry, fabulously smooth Cointreau-cream cheese filling and the stunning topping of bright rhubarb. The rhubarb was bought from Greg Wallace’s new restaurant, Wallace and Co. , and was delicious. After stewing the rhubarb, you boil up the rhubarb juices to a thick syrup. This method creates more syrup than you need for the tart, but is so perfect spread over yoghurt or drizzled extra over your own slice of tart. You can find the recipe here, to save me typing it, and although this author did not enjoy it please do not be put off! I subbed in Cointreau for the Muscat as orange and rhubarb is a marvellous combination and it honestly was scrumptious. So, Happy Mother’s Day Mum, I love you! X

Cheese Straws

I love baking and spending time in the kitchen, but like so many people – I don’t spend as much time there as I would like. I enjoy baking not just for my family, but also to keep the blog up-to-date and interesting. Whilst this would be much easier (and possibly more relaxing) if I could spend all day, every day with my oven: this unsurprisingly isn’t an option. When I know I have the spare time, I like to make more complicated in-depth bakes whilst I have the chance. More often than not, however, bakes need to be relatively quick and easy. And whilst I’m prepared to sacrifice the time I spend in the kitchen I am definitely not prepared to sacrifice the tastiness of the end result. So, quick and easy, but very delicious – pretty much sums these Cheese Straws up! Perfect.

I warn you, these straws are dangerously moreish. Just one is never going to be enough. Plus they’re versatile – just as nice warm from the oven, as cold a few hours later, as reheated later to be served very hot with soup. Each “straw” is crisp and crunchy yet melt in the mouth, and full of delicious cheesy goodness. And to make them? About 10minutes hands on time, max. What could be better?

I used a Delia Smith recipe that is, annoyingly, not online. However this recipe is almost identical: just after you have your cheese dough, brush with an egg or milk and sprinkle over grated parmesan (doing this before cutting into strips makes the job easier).  These are perfect for parties because they are so simple – when we had them out at our New Kitchenwarming (Yes. A Kitchen-warming.) they disappeared super quickly! Enjoy :)

Yeast Adventures – Part Two!

Oh yes, I told you that the yeast would be back. Plus, with its sell-by date on January 31st, I had no excuse. I know supermarkets set sell-by dates way in advance of the real thing – but with an ingredient that I am still slightly wary of, I wanted to be sure!

A while ago, I did a biscuit challenge. I tried to re-create some of the shop-bought goodies we know and love, because making them at home means you know exactly what’s in there and you lose nasty additives and flavourings. After all, I don’t know any baker who keeps a nice jar of E-numbers in their kitchen! Now, I am trying to do more savoury things. Savoury inspiration doesn’t come naturally, especially savoury photography (sorry!). So I just thought to what I enjoy eating, at restaurants or at home. Pizza!

Pizza, for me, is something I don’t really think about making totally from scratch. Yet shop-bought versions are expensive and really not the best you can get. Before this creation, the most I’ve done is make tomato sauce and decorate a naan bread (delicious and quick, by the way!). I hadn’t yet tried a proper yeasty pizza dough. There are other savoury dishes like this (always shop-bought) and I’m looking forward to attempting some new savoury ideas…as and when yummy inspiration hits! For now, I’m happy munching on this!

This pizza dough was (happily) easy and delicious. It smelt strongly of olive oil – I was temporarily transported to Italy, the home of true good pizzas! My focus was on the dough, but I made a simple tomato sauce to top and then went crazy with toppings. When I go to pizza restaurants, I’m generally fussy and stick with the classic Margherita. At home I could have what I wanted and so on went the pineapple, bacon, mozzarella, tomatoes and mushrooms (for my sister, I cannot stand mushrooms.).

The recipe came from the gorgeous Supper for a Song book by Tamasin Day-Lewis. My Mum got it for Christmas and when she read it she said “I could cook my way right through this book”. SO true! I have just included the dough recipe as it has some helpful tips. Then just add sauce and toppings!

(Makes two large pizzas)
Ingredients (Pizza dough) : 500g strong white bread flour
7g sachet fast-action dry yeast
2tsp sea salt
1tbsp olive oil
about 350ml nearly hot water

1. Tip the flour onto a work surface, and add yeast and salt. Make a well in the middle and pour in the olive oil followed by about two-thirds of the warm water.

2. Begin to knead by tipping the inside wall of flour into the middle and gathering flour as you go. When it gets difficult to knead, add more warm water. Continue until you have a dough.

3. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, stretching it away from you with the heel of you hand every so often, then furling it back towards you with your fingers.

4. Divide in two, shape into balls and place on an oiled baking sheet. Cover with a plastic bag and leave to rise in a warm place until they have doubled in size, about 1.5hours.

5. Preheat the oven to its highest setting, at least 230’C. Scatter semolina flour over 2 baking trays. Working with one ball at a time, knock down the dough, stretch it and then roll it out until about 5mm thick. Don’t worry, it will shrink and spring back to begin with but eventually it will obey your command. Keep the rim a little thicker. Repeat with other dough ball.

6. Spread over tomato sauce and add toppings. Bake for 15minutes before checking. Enjoy!

Savoury Alert

Perhaps it wasn’t a good idea to start my savoury rule just before the Christmas baking season. Needless to say, it hasn’t exactly worked out and nothing savoury has graced my blog since the chicken pie. Well, New Year, new resolutions – and back with the savoury.
I always think that there are two ways to go with food in January. There’s the detox, uber-healthy, salad and water survival way. Or there’s the “its-cold-and-summer-is-too-far-away” mentality – comfort, comfort, comfort. Whilst I always prefer the comfort way – this sort of manages to mix a bit of both. Carrot and Red Lentil soup, with Bacon and Cheese Bread.
On my “Savoury To Make List”, second from bottom, was a rather unclear wish - “some kinda soup”. I’ve never really made soup before so had no idea which way to go with it. It wasn’t until my Mum told me about her recipe (that sounded simple) for this soup, that I knew where I was heading. It was a learning curve for me, simple or not, and a couple of times I did ring my Mum “It’s too watery”  “I think it’s the wrong lentils” “How many onions again?” etc BUT all that said and done – it tasted good. It didn’t turn out watery, in fact perhaps it was a tad on the thick side. I’ve said it before and I don’t mind repeating it – I adore sweet baking, its why I bake. But always at the end of a savoury bake or cooking, the sense of accomplishment is pretty good. There’s no stopping me and soup now ;)
And to go with it – Rachel Allen’s Bacon and Cheese Bread. Its another thing that sounds harder than it is – it’s not a yeast sort of bread, in fact its almost a savoury cake, especially with its soft texture.  This bread is really simple and can be made up in so little time, no kneading or rising or anything like that. I guess you just can’t go wrong with Rachel Allen! The bread creates a gorgeous thick crust, and the lardons throughout mean bursts of extra flavour. Delicious, and even better toasted!
Rustic Bacon and Cheddar Bread, from Bake by Rachel Allen
Ingredients: 320g/11.5oz plain flour
1tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4tsp ground black pepper
100g/3.5oz Cheddar cheese, grated (I think you need to use more for stronger flavour)
100g/3.5oz bacon lardons cooked until crisp
200ml/7fl oz milk
2 eggs
1tbsp wholegrain mustard
60ml/2fl oz olive oil
1. Preheat the oven to 180’C/350’F/Gas Mark 4. Lightly oil and line a 13x23cm (5x9in) loaf tin.
2. Sift all the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Add the grated cheese and cooled bacon lardons and mix well.
3. Pour the milk into a large measuring jug, add the eggs, mustard and olive oil and whisk to combine.
4. Make a well in the dry ingredients and slowly pour in the liquid, stirring all the time until it is fully incorporated.
5. Pour (or spoon, my dough was not pourable) into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 50minutes. Remove from the tin and allow to cook for 10 more minutes on the oven shelf in order to crisp the bottom (I baked first for 45 minutes, then gave it 2-3 out the tin and this was more than enough). When cooked, it will sound hollow when tapped on the base. Allow to cool on a wire rack before eating.
My Mum’s Carrot and Red Lentil Soup. Serves 4
Ingredients: 1 onion
1 clove of garlic
4-5 carrots, sliced fairly thinly into circles
1 stick of celery, chopped
4-5tbsp red lentils
1 litre of vegetable stock (I make it 4tsp stock powder = 1 litre of hot water, but your stocks may vary)
1 tin of tomatoes
1. Finely chop the onion and crush the garlic. Soften the onion and garlic in a small amount of oil in a large saucepan/stock pot over a low heat. Add the carrots and celery.
2. Pour in your vegetable stock which should cover the vegetables. Spoon in the lentils, which won’t look like there are enough but they swell like rice during cooking.
3. Leave to simmer over a low heat until the vegetables are soft. Add the tomatoes and let cook for 4-5 minutes.
4. Blitz the soup in a food processor and serve. Some people like to blitz half and leave half, to get varied texture. You may need to add a little more stock if it is too thick, or cook and add more lentils if too thin. Enjoy!

Tomato, Ricotta & Basil Tart

Taking a break from The Biscuit Tin Mission, and returning to the Cookbook Mission, (loving these various mini projects) my next bake was – shock horror – savoury.

Everyone loves this tart! I had it ages ago and it is a surprise favourite thing, and now all the family enjoys it. It is extremely quick and easy to make: you just blend the basil and ricotta mix and spread it on rolled out pastry. You could make it more complicated by trying your own pastry or something but really there is no need: this is the perfect weekday dinner. It is quite hard to describe why it is so good – but just try it and it is crystal clear! The crunchy pastry is perfect with the soft and creamy ricotta topping, and all finished off with sweet and juicy tomatoes.
The recipe is from Jo Pratt’s “In the Mood for Food”. I haven’t cooked from it before but I have read it and it is a lovely book. The food is split by chapters like “In the Mood for Being Extravagant” , “In the Mood for Comfort” and “In the mod for Being Healthy”. The tart I made comes under “In the Mood for Being Lazy” which is appropriate seeing how easy it is! I also like the look of the Lemon Cheesecake Muffins, Chicken Leek and Ham Pies or the Lamb Steaks with Lemon Pesto. I am pleased to say this tart has made me realise baking savoury is fun :) and I may well go savoury again.
Tomato, Ricotta and Basil Tart from In the Mood For Food by Jo Pratt.
Serves four to six
375g ready rolled pastry
250g ricotta cheese
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
35g parmesan cheese, grated
1 clove of garlic, crushed
a LARGE bunch of basil leaves, finely shredded
salt and pepper
6 ripe tomatoes
olive oil
1. Preheat the oven to 180’C/gas 6. Place the pastry onto a lightly oiled baking tray and prick with a fork.
2. Mix together the ricotta, eggs, parmesan, garlic, basil and seasoning and beat until smooth ( I do this in a food processor). Spread over the pastry base leaving a 2cm border.
3. Arrange the tomateos on top of the ricotta. Season lightly and drizzle over a little olive oil.
4. Bake for 25minutes until the filling has lightly set and the pastry is golden.

December 18th – Parmesan Sables

Ten Days it has been! Oooh dear :( But I have been ill with a feverr for a majority of that time and since my appetite has been tiny – which is very worrying for me! Hehe Oh well back to baking todayy.

These are some goood biscuits. They are from this months Waitrose Magazine which is one of the many food magazines I always like – it has a nice mix of good recipes and lovely articles..it is very English if that makes a lot of sense!

These biscuits are simple to make because you can just whizz them all up in the Magimix, roll, wet, coat and bake! You can make them just as bake and freeze cookies and then coat them in the edging when you need to, or not even edge them at all if you don’t want to. I like the edging though, it adds a delicious crunchy edge. I love poppy seeds – see last post! – but this was my first time eating the black onion seeds which the batch above are coated with and i thought they worked well too.

Above is the poppy seed version, which were my favourite but we served them to my Mum’s friends at her Christmas party and they liked both! You could coat them with different things too – the recipe suggests sesame seeds.You can find the recipe here. I had no problems with this recipe at all..although I am not sure if it makes quite as many as it says.

That’s all for now, although I would like to say I wont be able to post for a few days as I am very busy! However, i was absolutely thrilled to receive a charming award from Marie a few days ago. I will definitely try to pass this on , by doing the post from my Dads blackberry! x

Cheese Scones

I’ve been promising something savoury for a while now so finally here I am! Probably as savoury as I am going to get on here – I do way prefer cooking sweet things. Also, my Mum takes care of the savoury and there aren’t specific recipes just a bit of this and a pinch of that, equalling a delicious meal!

I said I would make these when my Dad got home, and as he got back yesterday morning I did these this evening. Simple ingredients, simple method – lovely result!

Cheese Scones from the Good Housekeeping Cookery Book

Makes 16 (no way would the batch make this much if you want them the thickness it suggests in the book. I got 8 big ones and one widgy one with the left over bit of dough!)

1. Grease a baking sheet. (Oh I didn’t grease it! They came off fairly easily although perhaps greasing it would have been easier...).
2. Sift the flour, salt and baking powder together in a bowl and rub in the fat until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. (I did this in the Magimix.)
3. Stir in half the cheese, the mustard and enough milk to give a fairly soft, light dough.
4. On a lightly floured surface, roll out to about 2cm (3/4inch) thick and cut into rounds 5cm (2inch) plain cutter.
5. Put on the baking sheet, brush the tops with milk and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
6. Bake in the oven at 220’C (425’F) mark 7 for about 10 minutes.
7. Cool on a wire rack.

Although I would choose a fruity scone with jam and clotted cream as The Best Scone Ever - I liked these! In my mind they are best warm with some good butter on top – lovely.

As you can see below they sort of exploded into interesting shapes whilst baking, but they were for my Dad and he liked them so that’s all that matters.