christmas baking: a delicious stollen recipe

Fragrant Christmas stollen

It is something of an understatement to say that I love stollen as an alternative to Christmas cake: I simply adore it. And why wouldn't you love a buttery sugar-coated fruit loaf fragrant with Christmas spices?

something for the weekend: roasted paprika chicken with black pudding and cannellini beans

roast chicken with rosemary and smoked paprika

Is it too early to be thinking about Sunday lunch? For me, it is never too early. Like Winnie-the-Pooh, I am always game for a little spot of something and often fretting where my next meal is coming from. So what are we going to cook for Sunday lunch?

a quick midweek curry: malaysian-style chicken curry

easy Malaysian-style chicken curry

This Malaysian-style curry is wonderfully scented, quite hot, and a little creamy. It is the perfect way to use up any leftover chicken from Sunday's roast.

I like to make my own curry spice mixes, but there are some really good ones out there. If you are looking for a Malay spice mix, then you really need a sweet curry blend that includes aniseed flavours, including star anise and fennel - this is what sets a Malaysian curry apart from an Indian one.

roasted parsnips with gingerbread magic cookie dust!

roasted parsnips with magic cookie dust!
(or gingerbread crumbs)

I wasn't kidding when I said I had found all sorts of uses for my magic cookie dust (or the ginger biscuit crumbs I had whizzed up after almost burning a load of ginger biscuits).

Some years ago at a restaurant in New York whose name I have forgotten, our meal came with a few roasted parsnips sprinkled with gingerbread crumbs. The parsnips were fabulous - not surprising since they have a total affinity for spices such as nutmeg and ginger.

how to fix a baking disaster - make magic cookie dust!

Magic cookie dust

Another day, another baking disaster. Welcome to my world.

These days I don't panic, although there is usually quite a lot of swearing involved and occasionally the quaffing of cooking sherry, to aid the recovery process. But usually I don't panic too much. 

I had made the dough for some spicy ginger biscuits. The dough was chilling and I had just put my oven on to pre-heat. My wits were wondering again; although to be fair, I think I should be blaming Eddie Mair, the Radio 4 journalist. He has an awful lot to answer for.

me derby kell is well and truly stuffed! slow roasted beef brisket in ale with carrots and mushrooms - with Adnam's Broadside

where's the beef?
(carrots, mushrooms and beefy ale!)

There is an old music hall song from the early 1900s with the catchy refrain of "boiled beef and carrots", which was song by the Cockney artiste, Harry Champion (of "Any Old Iron" , "I'm Henery the Eighth, I am" and my favourite "A Little Bit of Cucumber").

christmas baking:traditional bread pudding (or my cheat's christmas pud! )

traditional British bread pudding
(or my cheat's guide to Christmas pud!

A Best of British blog challenge!
These days if you say "bread pudding" most people assume you are talking about "bread and butter pudding" - layers of sliced stale bread, dotted with dried fruits and butter, and soaked in a custard sauce, before baking. While bread pudding is another member of the frugal baking club as it is made with breadcrumbs and dried fruit, it is actually more like a cake than a pudding and is, to my mind, even nicer.

christmas baking: kruidnoten (dutch christmas spice biscuits)

kruidnoten: Dutch Christmas spice cookies

I have never met a spice biscuit that I didn’t like and these little cookies are an absolute treat. While these cookies are popular in the Netherlands at Christmas, they are packed full of all the spices that we like in Britain too.

I suspect though that these kruidnoten are probably strictly for the grownups as despite the sugar and golden syrup they aren’t actually very sweet. They are fragrantly spiced with a distinctly peppery flavour and a hint of bitterness coming from the cocoa powder. Which I imagine, if you have children, means all the more for you!

winter warming pea and parsnip soup with bacon

pea and parsnip soup

I have mentioned before, that while I adore parsnips, I am not always convinced by parsnip soups awash with curry spices, although Nigel Slater's spicy parsnip soup is one of my absolute favourites. I was on a mission to create a parsnip soup recipe that didn't include the usual suspects.

Did you know that peas and parsnips are kissing cousins in the world of flavour compounds? No me neither. But it turns out that they both contain one of those completely unpronounceable compounds, which accounts for their affinity with each other. (OK, its 3-sec-butyl-2-methoxypyrazine - aren't you glad you asked!)

what's in season: december

winter cherry tomatoes!

How did it get so late so soon?
Its night before its afternoon.
December is here before its June.
My goodness how the time has flewn.
How did it get so late so soon?
Dr Seuss, 1904-1991

You may be wondering why I am illustrating this seasonal December post with a photograph of cherry tomatoes. What have tomatoes got to do with December in England? Nothing usually. However, I found these tiny little tomatoes when I was clearing away some garden debris destined for the compost heap. As I saw the flashes of red through the mound of branches and leaves, I thought they might be some kind of berry and decided to pull them out to feed the birds. Except they turned out to be cherry tomatoes. I didn’t even know I was growing these cherry tomatoes, which I managed to save from the first frosts of winter. I love these kinds of surprises, especially in the dying days of November.

thai-style tuna fishcakes

Thai-style tuna fishcakes

These little fish cakes explode with the flavours of south east Asia – garlic, galangal, chilli, lime and lemongrass. Mine may not be particularly authentic, but they are quick and easy to make and taste delicious with a bowl of ginger-spring onion or chilli noodles, or a spicy noodle soup. They also make a fabulous party nibble with a chilli or soy dipping sauce.

how to fix a baking disaster: bread and butter pudding

bread and butter pudding

In the scheme of things, flooding, war, hurricanes or volcanic eruptions, my baking misfortune is hardly a disaster. But in the sense that things in my kitchen took a decided turn for the worse, it was a definite catastrophe!

I had found a recipe for a yeasted fruit loaf that I thought might be seasonally festive. It was based on a recipe found in an unpublished 18th century manuscript and was crammed full of dried fruit and spices. So far, so good. I did think that it was more a case of a lot of fruit held together by a little sweet dough, but hey ho.