R is for Rusks

Some of you will now be in a very happy place thinking about rusks. In fact, I suggest that before you read any further you make a hot milky beverage of your choice to enjoy with a rusk while you read.

The rest of my readership will fall into the category of uninitiated in the way of the rusk and are probably thinking "why is she writing about baby teething biscuits that do nothing but cause a mess and turn to musk" right now.

Well, prepared to be enlightened.

Rusks are the anglicised term for beskuit a traditional biscuit in South Africa that you have for breakfast, they are designed for dunking...nay... soaking in your morning tea or coffee.  You definitely cannot eat them dry or you are likely to break a tooth and that will really spoil your day. Of course you don't just have to keep them for breakfast either, they are great as a snack with a hot drink any time of the day,

So why am I eating rusks? Well, here comes a bit of background for those that don't know me so well.. my dear husband is from South Africa I have been enjoying rusks for a good 6 years now, and whilst you can buy the big brand Ouma Rusks over here in the UK they are massively marked up so they became a bit of a treat that we would always bring some back after a trip or visiting family would cram packs into their suitcases.

But then I realised that actually, maybe it was time it was only after our visit in December 2013 that I decided to step out, be brave, and make my own.  And you may not think it, but it is a big deal as the rusks that we buy when in South Africa aren't a mass produced product but something that a ladies bake up at home and sell at the local corner shops to supplement their income and they are faultless...and delicious...and when they hold such a central place in your families heart, trying to replicate them is quite a daunting task.


But what is a rusk in baking terms? Essentially they are is a bread based dough that is baked twice so in a way very similar to biscotti.  Some recipes call for yeast, some don't. It really is totally dependant on the type of rusk you are after. Once you make and prove the dough you separate it into balls, pack it into a tin and bake. Once baked you tear the pieces apart and put them back into the oven at a very low temperature to dry out (preferably overnight)

So I returned home with a few cut out recipes from magazines as well as looking up a few online recipes to see what they had to say and then every Sunday for about 4 weeks, I made rusks.

Now some batches were much more successful than others, the one I tried to make with yeast was alright but possibly in trying to be clever and cook it in my large square stone baker it didn;t quite work. I should have rather used several smaller loaf tins so the dough in the middle wasn't undercooked...if they were judged on Great British Bake Off they would definitely get the Paul Hollywood prod of disaprovement.  I also used 100% whole wheat flour in an attempt to make it healthier but that also didn't quite work. In subsequent batches I still used it but only as 30 or 40 % to plain white flour.

I then moved on to the more breakfast type rusks, the ones where one or two will set you up for the morning but a third would just be too much. With these I really could go to town on what when in; seeds, ground nuts (like almond and coconut which in turn reduced the wheat content), museli. They were also a simpler bake as there was no proving to do it was very much a case of mix the wet and dry ingredients together and bake. These proved to be much closer to the ones that we bought when in South Africa and are still my favorite ones to make, the recipe was from another blog called Under the Blue Gum Tree and I highly recommend following the link if you want to try it.

 Due to our moving house in March I started packing up the kitchen in late February so my weekly stashes of rusks came to an end.  I also have to admit to getting a little frustrated with my Little Giant as he had just started walking and had a tendency to like turning the oven temperature knob....so two batches instead of "drying" actually got baked to a crisp and burnt raisins are really not nice.  Thankfully the oven in our new kitchen is higher and I also have a baby gate to keep the Two Monkeys out while I am cooking so I really have no excuses not to start making them again.

So put away your Rich Teas (or Marie Biscuits), hide the Hobnobs and ditch the Digestives, when it comes to dunking biscuits in your tea or coffee...you need rusks in your life.  I know that writing today's post has made me quite hungry for some so I am making sure the ingredients have gone down on my shopping list for this weekend!

Q is for ...

to be honest I am not entirely sure. Lets be honest there was always going to be a letter or two for which I couldn't come up with a decent title!

So what do I use in my kitchen that begins with a 'Q'?

Well for a start there a 'quince'. A pear like fruit found in central and southern Europe and featured in the poem 'The Owl and the Pussycat'. I know of quince jam but can't  say I have ever tried it...so that is the end of that. Q is not for quince in my kitchen

Q is also not for Qinoa in my kitchen. I have seen it on the shelves, I have seen it named in recipes but I have yet to be brave enough to try it...even if it is a "complete protein" containing very good amino acids...its just not for me. Yet. 

I guess for me the most obviously choice in my kitchen is that Q is for Quick.

Cooking that is quick (and easy!) makes a whole lot of difference in any mummy's kitchen. And I am not talking about Jamie Oliver's meals in 30 minutes because, lets be honest, realistically they take 90 minutes. I am talking about those meals where recipes don't apply and that you can just throw on a plate in minutes (preferably less than five) in order to feed the hungry and occasionally angry hoards.

There are times (say 4.45pm most days) when my Little Giant is moaning because he is hungry and his energy levels are low and The Bug isn't helping things by either winding him up or deciding now is the best time to try out playing the keyboard at full volume. It's at these times when the only way I am guaranteed any silence is to tell them that dinner is ready and its like flicking a switch and as soon as the food is in their mouths they are quiet, happy and very content children.

On some days it's super easy as I may actually be prepared and already have something lovely in the oven or something to pull out the fridge and reheat from the day before. But there are days when waiting for the oven to heat so they can have fish fingers and smiley faces or cooking some sausages to go with a can of beans just won't cut it. It's these days when fresh tortellini (we call it surprise pasta)with a bit of pesto or cream cheese stirred in is your friend...that or eggy bread (which means I can have a nibble too) or an 'its and bits' tea. 

This last one is great for using up the last little bits of things, I basically put out a tasting plate of things for them to nibble on like olives, beetroot, gherkins, cheese cubes, chorizo or ham, crackers or bread soldiers, a spoonful of coleslaw or other raw fruit and veg. If you want to be really fancy you can make it into pictures. Now some of you may be thinking that they are very strange or strong flavours to be giving to children but they eat them because they have first seen us eat it and have tried it off of our plates. It really is one of the quickest meals they have and also keeps their diet varied and allows me to introduce new things in very small quantities.

P is for Pampered Chef

Pampered Chef...what is it? 

Let me be very clear, it isn't me standing in the kitchen with a face mask on whilst I cook.

It is a lovely range of kitchen ware and gadgetry that can make cooking and baking and doing what you do in the kitchen much easier. If not a lot more fun.

I first discovered the pampered chef products about 4 years ago whilst still pregnant with The Bug. My sister had become a Pampered Chef consultant and I dutifully hosted a party at our wimbledon flat, describing it to my friends as like an Anne Summers party but with stuff for the kitchen and a bit cooking to see how things work.  This was the first of 4 parties that I would end up hosting and I enjoyed every one of them.  In fact, by the last party my sister didn't even have to bring any of her demo kit as I had about a third of the catalogue in my kitchen cupboards already. 

Admittedly I didn't have to buy EVERYTHING that I had, some I got free as a bonus for the amount spent at my party and some bought with the points I earned from hosting the party or bought with the host discount.

Out of the various bits and pieces I have, I do havea few favourites and have listed them (complete with links to The Pampered Chef website) so you can pop over and have a nosey.

• My stoneware, in particular the pizza stone and medium bar pan get used pretty much every day. And for all sorts, I can cook meat on there then do some pizza or chips and then fish and there is absolutely no residual smell. They are amazing and naturally non stick so you don't have to cook with much oil, for example, the muffin pan I also turns out the most perfect and tall yorkshire puddings with only a brush of oil under the batter. I have five stoneware pieces, the three I have already mentioned along with the square baker and the large rectangular baker. In the states they also do a stone bunt tin which looks fantastic but they don't have that over here yet.
• The food chopper. I don't have time to finely dice ingredients for some recipies, and others i just want to cram as much veg in without The Two Monkeys paying much heed. The chopper is a great way of chopping up veg quickly and into really fine pieces...and its child safe too. The bug loves having a go with it.
• The knives. My dear husband got a large Santoku knife for Christmas about 3 years ago and he loves it. I don't use it as it is rather large for me but I do have the utility knife which I wield every day. It is so comfortable and comes with a life time guarantee but the quality is so good that I doubt we ever will have to use it.
• The large scoop. When it comes to baking cupcakes or muffins or individual cakes, there is nothing like the scoop to ensure that the batter makes it into the case without making a mess AND the final cakes are identically sized
• Prep pots. I have a set of 6 little glass prep pots that all come with plastic lids. They can be frozen, they can be heated (without the lids) and are just the bees knees for storing left overs for The Two Monkeys. 
• The brownie pan. Now I don't know about you, but to me when you make (and eat) brownies or banana bread the corners are the best bit. This little piece of magical bake ware means that you can  have 4 corners all to yourself with every piece you make. Also, the cooking time for your brownie is shorter as its in smaller portions...so you get to eat it faster. Win/Win situation all round really.

There are lots more products that I could rave about (the garlic crusher is just brilliant) but I thought I would stick to the ones that have proven them selves most useful and do get used everyday.

I have to admit there are a few items and gizmos that have barely been touched but mostly because I got them as a gift or because I bought them in order to use up the points...the egg slicer springs to mind, but I am thinking of reviving it for the boys to use with playdough. 

However, the biggest white elephant has to have been the trifle bowl. It was a free gift for achieving so many sales at one of the parties I had  but it sat unopened and unused for 2 years after I got it...in fact I first used it one weekend not so long ago after our move. It also happened to be the first trifle I had ever made but that is mostly because it has never been my favourite dessert. However, this particular weekend was fathers day and I had promised my dear husband that I would make him a trifle (with extra love mixed in) and not only did it look great in the stunning bowl that FINALLY got used but it tasted wonderful too.  Now since that weekend it has only been used a further two times BUT it is getting out of its box more frequently and I have no doubt it will put in a regular appearance during the Christmas season when we will have a full house of family visiting from South Africa.

I also have to add that along with such fabulous products The Pampered Chef team also produce some fantastic recipes to go with them.  One of our favourites  is the Mexican Chicken 'Lasagne' that we make in our square baker (more stoneware), it's a  total genius recipe that is always great to do when we have guests but can also be made mild enough for the little ones to eat too.

And that about wraps it up for this post.

The only thing I have left to say is that I was not paid for this post or given any products for it and I am not a sales consultant for Pampered Chef. This post is totally my own opinion of the products and I totally agree that what may work for me might not work for someone else.  If you want to find out more about The Pampered Chef you can find them on twitter and facebook or if you want to have your very own cooking show go and take a peek at this page to find your local consultant. 

O is for Ooops

I failed! I didn't make my self assigned Friday deadline last week...oops in a major way! 

I do have a very good excuse though, The Two Monkeys and I were away for a few days visiting my sisters and her family to celebrate my nieces 4th birthday and so I wasn't actually at home to write and too busy to put my thoughts onto the screen of my phone.  I will be doing some writing on birthday cakes in the future and I did deconstruction of the pink castle cake to write up on here for you all.

However, I am here now and thought I would share with you a few of  my kitchen "ooops" moments...because lets be honest, unless you are Mary Poppins there will be times when things just go wrong.

My most recent ooops can actually only be described as a complete disaster and happened just yesterday. The boys and I were off out to a friends for a play date and I thought I would be super organised and take over some fresh baked danish pastries. I am going to be totally honest and say they weren't my own pastry, rather the lovely bake-it-fresh range from Jus-Rol

They look lovely don't they.  

Really delicious.

Just perfect with a cup of something and a natter with my friend whilst our children played on the trampoline or ran laps of the garden.

But I got distracted.

First up was the nappy change that needed doing, but having sorted that and taken a quick peek in the oven and I thought I still had plenty of time.

Then the laundry needed hanging out on the line and as the sun was out for the first time in days I wasn't going to waste the opportunity. Half way through the basket of wet clothes I come across a shirt, which meant a quick dash inside and upstairs to grab a hanger or two out of the wardrobe. Back out to the garden (passing the oven on the way but not checking this time...error!) I finish pegging the last t-shirt and odd sock up on the line and head back towards the house, but not before I pick up all the various plastic toys of the lawn and put them in a pile for later. I feel a real sense of achievement, I am winning, in that moment I am a domestic goddess.

As I get to the back door I smell it...the unmistakable smell of burning food.

I run to the oven and pull down the door to be greeted with the most unfortunate and charred sight and with various muttered expletives I pull the stone tray out of the oven for closer inspection. Could they be saved? Was it just the corners?

No.

No such luck for me. 

What should have been delicious morsels of yummy goodness were now well burnt offerings fit only for the food waste bin. They looked bad, smelt bad and tasted even worse.

Ooops.

Needless to stay I stopped by a mini supermarket on my way to our playdate and grabbed some much better looking and very scrummy maple and pecan danish plaits.

N is for Nutella

Nutella.

Other chocolate spreads are available.

Mmm.

Like Homer in The Simpsons; Mmmmmm.

 

It is the forbidden jar of spreadable yumminess that, when I was a child, was never allowed by my Mother to go in the shopping trolley. And to be honest, now I have children it rarely makes it into the shopping basket as I see it more as a luxury rather than a must have and (if we are being totally honest) The Two Monkeys barely get a look in as they don't have toast for breakfast...Mummy does!

Now I thought about writing about cooking without certain items...like No Wheat or No Gluten or No Fat (not sure I agree with that concept any way) but these topics didn't really strike a chord with me. And whilst I have made the odd gluten free bake, it was always at the request of someone else and not something that I would go for myself. 

In fact for a while this letter of the alphabet had me stumped, I had to turn to my friend (and super duper blogger) Lucy over at The Pie Patch to sound off ideas. In doing so I was reminded of Nutella and to be fair that took less than 5 minutes.  I had (once upon a not so very long ago) baked some delicious cupcakes using this must delicious of ingredients, and as this blog seems to be full of the more chocolatey side of cooking it seemed like a fitting thing to write about. 

But first a confession about why I really don't buy Nutella.

It isn't because of the sugar content or that it is a luxury that I can really do without. It is because I cannot resist it, especially around about 3pm in the afternoon when there is still two hours before my dear husband comes home and I need a little sugar hit to go with my cup of tea. I grab a tea spoon out of the cutlery drawer, open the cupboard where the jar of chocolatey goodness resides, remove the lid and dig out a heaped spoonful before licking the spoon clean.

And its not just my own cupboard either. I will do this when I go to my parents house too...although I just want to say I find the fact they now have chocolate spread hugely unfair. How is it ok for grandchildren to eat but not your own? Anyway, before any of you go eeeewwww, i am never having chocolate spread when I visit your house again. I never go for a second dip with the same spoon! On the rare occasion that one spoon isn't enough, I do actually get a clean spoon and take the jar back out of the cupboard and indulge for a second time.

So there you have it, the truth is out, I am a secret Nutella spread stealer. To my parents I can only apologise, maybe you need to hide the jar when I am around.  To my sister I can say don't worry I have never done this at your house and to my sons...well you're both still too young to understand but I will try and stop so we can have a jar that actually lasts longer.

So back to the cupcakes I mentioned earlier, this was one of the many bakes that I had the where with all to photograph as I went. And looking at the date on the image (March 2012) it can only have been a session of what I like to call naptime baking.  Please excuse the photos aren't as clear as I would like but they were taken on my old HTC sensation and are not a dot on what my Samsung Galaxy now takes.

This recipe uses a very basic chocolate sponge which I haven't copied out here because that is against the rules.

As with all cupcakes I use an scoop to make sure that a) all my cupcakes are the same size which means I wont have to alter the bake time for bigger/smaller ones, and b) that no mess is made on the side of the cases which prevents an even rise.

I always aim to make the amount that the recipe says, if you still have a bit of cake batter left at the end, either use a teaspoon to top up each case or discard it. Don't be tempted to make one extra large cupcake!

 Leave to cool in your tin for about 5 minutes before removing, this will allow any batter that has gone over your case and onto the tin to slightly shrink back and not get stuck. I use a stone muffin pan by Pampered Chef (more about them when I get to P) and it really does produce great results.

 Now here comes the fun bit. Once your cupcakes are completely cooled, cut out a hole in the middle much as you would for fairy cakes, if not a bit smaller. Fill with a chocolate hazelnut spread. Then over the top of the cake and spread filling, add a  chocolate butter cream icing and whole hazelnuts (your own preference as to if they are blanched or not).

As to what to do with the cake bits you cut out...completely your call. I would suggest eating them before someone else does! Or make mini trifles in ramekins for pudding later

So there you are, a tray of  Hazelnut and Chocolate Cupcakes from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook, my most favourite cupcake book and it also has the best banana bread recipe too.

A little bit about the Hummingbird Bakery itself; I first discovered their perfectly iced morsels whilst working in South Kensington and fell in love with their red velvets and black bottoms. I even wrote about over here way back in 2009 at my other blog.. In fact, it was the Mary Poppins of cake shops; practically perfect in every way...the only downside was that the venue in question could get quite crowded if you were eating in. When I went on maternity leave and became a stay-at-home-mum it was one of the things I really missed, and now we have moved out of London I miss it even more.

M is for Macaroni Cheese

Now before the giant marrow invaded my kitchen and my blog, I had fully intended on writing about the wonderful comfort food that is macaroni cheese.

Now I am not talking about the stuff out of a can...that I find a bit sickly.

Nor am I talking about the rather orange (but still quite yummy) Kraft Dinner, although if you have never ventured across the Atlantic pond you are unlikely to have ever sampled this delicacy.

I am talking about the home-made kind.

The kind that as a grown-up, it transports me back to my childhood and gives me that warm fuzzy feeling. It comes second only to sausages, smiley face potatoes and spaghetti hoops in evoking such memories

The kind where the sauce is made with a mix of whatever cheeses are lurking in your fridge...the more the better in my opinion.

And The Two Monkeys love it, and whilst it may not be the best meal in terms of nutritional value it tastes good and in moderation...why not? Getting to cook it is always great as it means I get to taste it (obviously) which in turn helps me not scoff the whole lot before anyone gets a look in.  In fact my oldest friend loves this dish and is always delighted if there is any left in the pot once the boys have eaten.

Now I realise that everyone has their own recipe, but for me put the pasta (it doesn't HAVE to be macaroni either) into boiling water and whilst it cooks make up a basic white sauce of butter, flour and milk. I won't give you the weights as I don't measure it out...it's more a chuck it in and see method. Add to that the cheese or cheeses of your choice, a bit of salt, pepper and a pinch of ground nutmeg and....voilà, you have the perfect dinner for a rainy day. 

Well, at least I think so.

M is for Marrow

And this isn't just any old marrow, this is a whopper of vegetable that was gifted to me by my Mother who got it from who knows where. Unfortunately "Olivia and the Giant Marrow" doesn't quite have the same ring to it as "James and the Giant Peach" but there is still a story to tell none-the-less

My problem was, I hadn't a clue what to do with it. Now I don't mean in terms of I didn't know how to cook a marrow as I have vague memories of having baked marrow stuffed with spicy rice as a child and could probably replicate that to one degree or another. But at the same time the same memories also tell me that stuffed marrow gave me really bad gas and that is not at all attractive so that option was quickly crossed off the list.

So whilst I could have cooked it, it was more the sheer size and quantity of said vegetable that put me at a complete loss as to what to do, in fact, I found it quite intimidating having this cucurbita (fancy new word I found) sitting on my worktop glaring at me to use it each time I went in the kitchen.

So I reached out to friends on twitter for some help and the responses ranged from turning it into rum -not helpful, a cake - intriguing but not convincing, or jam - bingo!

So jam it was and after a quick search via Google I came across this simple recipe on the River Cottage website which matched up to the quantities of marrow I had. I wish I could say that I leaped into action there an then, after scribbling a quick shopping list (lemons, preserving sugar and root ginger) but it took another few days before I made it to the supermarket with The Two Monkeys in tow feeling über productive and positive because after a week of having this behemoth of a vegetable glaring at me I was finally going to use it.

On returning home, I got the boys settled The Two Monkeys down to eat their lunch (which I like to think gives me about 15 minutes to do something but in reality its about 5) and returned to the kitchen. Having donned my apron, grabbed my biggest pan and cleared some space I laid out my ingredients to do a "before" shot.

Looks good doesn't it. Very country kitchen. But that was when production came to a screaming halt...and why? Because I had no jam jars. None. Zilch. Because in my infinite wisdom I had the previous evening made tangy plum jam with some of the first fruit off the tree in our garden and used up all the empty jars I had. Talk about school girl error!

So I put my ingredients in the pan which sat on the stove not getting cooked Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. I was reluctant to buy brand new jars so had scoured some of the charity shops on Monday but to no avail. Wednesday arrived and so did my Mother along with a hoard of empty jars, this is it, I thought...but no, I ran out of time during the day and I was not going to sacrifice watching Great British Bake Off for an overgrown courgette.

It was Thursday (yesterday) that I finally got to cut into the giant légume. I cut it into slices, scooped out the insides and (leaving the skin on) cooked with a little water but mostly letting it steam in its own juices in the pan.

 Now my thinking behind leaving the skin on was that it would be easier to separate the flesh from the harder skin and on that count at least I was right. The recipe that I referred to above also suggested squeezing the excess water from the marrow which I dutifully did as I removed the skin.

 This however, is where it started to go wrong.

Once I had plonked what remained of the marrow back into the pan it looked rather pitiful, I mean I had expected some reduction but not that much. I added the sugar, lemon zest and juice and the ginger as directed but chose to use fresh ginger over ground or crystallised ginger. I chopped and bruised it to release the oils and then added it to cook with everything else.

But it just didn't look right. Not only did the it just become really pulpy without the natural fluid from the marrow that I had squeezed out, there seemed to be nothing for the sugar to bind with in. It looked lumpy and not at all appetising for spreading on toast or having on a cracker with a really stinky cheese. So either I was meant to end up with more marrow in my pan than the recipe suggested or, and this is my thought, I should have ignored the squeezing instruction.

But what to do now? I am not a chemist and felt, not for the first time with this whole marrow debacle, at a loss.

I did what any normal, sane individual would do.

I added yellow plums.

Now you may be thinking "What?" but my logic went as follows; its similar in colour and these also had a fairly dryish flesh. I had lots of them. As some were still a little under ripe they may add a nice tang to pot which to be quite frank tasted like a zesty ginger stew, the marrow adding bulk but little flavour. And did I mention that I had lots of them?

Yup... please excuse me while I go off topic but I have to tell you about the plums. One of the joys of having a garden is that we now have a plum tree and whilst they are not the sweetest or most flavoursome, I am all about the free fruit and also my Little Giant loves them and will do everything he can to get at the windfalls. So far I had made a crumble, a first pick tangy jam, plum tarts, as well as de-stoning and freezing approximately 4kg and have given various neighbours 500g punnets of them. And there are still more to be picked.

So, back to the jam, why not add them? It couldn't hurt to try right?

Right! After 5 minutes boiling with the plums in the mix I could already see the difference in volume and the consistency looked a lot better too. I continued to cook it at a simmer for another 20 minutes stirring occasionally so the sugar wouldn't catch, but it still did a bit but that's OK because it added a nice bit of colour. I was so pleased to have rescued the jam as I hate waste and I was loath to throw it away.

But now all is said and done I have learnt my lesson, if I am ever offered a marrow in the future I will politely decline and change the subject :)