theordinarycook

The Ordinary Cook loves to cook. If I am not cooking or baking then the chances are I am thinking about cooking and baking. I love sharing recipes and ideas and my website is my space to do this.

Rhubarb crumble

7 Comments / crumble, pudding, rhubarb, The Ordinary Cook, vegetarian /

It’s lovely to go on holiday and relax with the family, but it is also lovely to come home.  It is especially lovely if when you go on holiday winter seems to still be hanging around and then you come home three weeks later  (a longer holiday than planned thanks to that dastardly volcano!) to find that spring has certainly sprung. So much has changed, the trees are in full leaf, the apple blossom is heavy, the wild garlic is everywhere (and past its best for that salad I was planning) and the weeds seem to have taken over the veg patch. We have been back for over a week now and much of that time has been taken up with sorting out all that post that has piled up, cleaning the (volcanic?) dust that has accumulated and doing some heavy-duty gardening.  Never before have those knee pad thingys that you can buy from the garden centre seemed so appealing.

What was so lovely to come home to (apart from family and pets) was that first trek around the garden to see what was coming up (ignoring the weeds).  The mint, of which there was no sign when we left, is now a foot high.  I reprimanded myself for not getting round to cutting last year’s dead sticks back before I left, but that has now been rectified. The rhubarb, which was just a couple of nobbles peering out of brown earth when we left is now positively taking over its corner of the garden.  I was very pleased to see both of these things as mint is something which I add to my cooking as often as possible and I love and adore rhubarb.

So, one of the first meals we had on our return was minted aubergines followed by rhubarb crumble.  Both of these were demolished before I managed to get the camera out so you may have to wait a while for the recipe for the minted aubergines, but I have made the crumble again and so here it is in all its lovely spring is here glory.

6 sticks of rhubarb, prepared by peeling, if not forced rhubarb, and slicing into chunks
grated zest of 1 orange
juice of ½ orange
4-6 tbsp vanilla sugar

For the topping:
25g (1oz) pecan nuts
175g (7oz) plain flour
100g (4oz) butter
50g (2oz) sugar

Method

Spread the rhubarb into a deep pie dish and grate the zest of an orange over.  Pour over the orange juice and sprinkle with the vanilla sugar.

I always prepare my crumble in a food processor by whizzing the flour and nuts together until the nuts are finely ground. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.  Add the sugar and pulse until the crumble is crumbly. If you don’t have a food processor, then place the pecans into a food bag and bash with a rolling-pin until fine and then add to the flour.  Dice the butter and then rub into the flour using your fingertips and then mix in the sugar.  Sprinkle this crumble topping all over the rhubarb.  I like to have little bits of rhubarb peeking out so that the juices caramelise on the top.

Here is the crumble how is should be eaten, with cream poured generously over, and it’s just as lovely cold as it is hot.

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Back soon, hopefully

11 Comments / The Ordinary Cook /

Just to say to all my lovely readers, that I am currently on holiday and was due to be back to normality and home again today.  However, due to a volcano erupting in Iceland, I can’t get home until next Thursday.  This means an extra week away for us, but  also an extra week until I can get back to regular blogging and reading everyone else’s lovely blogs. 

I hope to be back to my kitchen and cooking again soon and back to my much missed Mac.

Kath x

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A white loaf (again)

10 Comments / bread, The Ordinary Cook, yeast cookery /

I think I may be becoming a little obsessed with bread and yeast cookery generally. I am really enjoying the challenge of getting a better loaf each time. It doesn’t always happen, I have to admit.  It is only relatively recently that I have had success with bread as you will see from one of my early posts on this site about white bread.  I now make bread at least two or three times a week and I have made lots of other yeast based cakey type things recently.  It may not be good for the waistline but it is very good for the soul.

The bread in this picture is a slight variation on my earlier white loaf post.  In this one I use half milk/ half water and a bit of butter to make a lovely soft crumb that is really tasty.  I love my spelt loaf but sometimes all you want is a soft loaf of white bread (with a good crust, of course) and this is for these moments.

I was reading A Wee Bit of Cooking‘s blog the other day, in which she cooks a loaf based on Dan Lepard’s recipe and he has a very interesting way of making bread; he mixes the dough, lets it rest, kneads very briefly, rests and repeats.  Visit A Wee Bit of Cooking for the link, it’s worth a look.  Anyway, I was inspired to try at least some of this method, so I now mix my dough and then leave it to rest for at least ten minutes before I go back to knead it (or at least switch on the mixer and let it do the hard work!). I can’t quite get my head around not needing to knead.  This resting seems to work well and does improve the crumb.

500g strong (or very strong) plain flour
7g sachet easy bake yeast
1½ tsp fine salt
150ml milk
150ml water
1 oz butter, diced

Method

Mix the flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl.  Heat the milk and water to hand hot in a small saucepan and add the diced butter.  Pour the liquid into the flour and, using your hands, combine well to a smooth dough (on the slightly sticky side rather than the dry side).  Leave to rest for about ten minutes in the bowl.  Turn the dough out on to a wooden surface and knead well for about ten minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Shape into a ball. Clean the bowl and grease with butter or oil.  Place the dough in the bowl and cover with a bin liner or cling film.  Leave the bowl in a draught-free place until the dough has almost doubled in size.

Deflate the dough by using your fingertips and lift out of the bowl.  Now you could reshape it into a ball and leave it to rise again, which if you have the time is well worth doing as it does improve the texture of the bread . Otherwise, shape the dough into a round by stretching it under itself or shape into a baton by  flattening the dough into a square, then roll the dough much like you would a swiss roll and then using your fingers seal the join very well. Stretch the dough lengthwise until twice as long.  Fold over one-third to the middle and then fold the remaining third on to the top. Flatten again into a square with your fingers and roll up again as before, sealing well and then rolling gently into an evenly shaped baton loaf (thanks again to Daniel Steven’s Bread book for his tips on making bread).

Preheat your oven to as hot as it will go and place a baking tray or stone in to heat up.

Place the shaped loaf onto a well-floured tray and sprinkle the top well with flour.  Cover again with the bin liner and leave to prove for about 20 minutes or until nicely risen, not quite doubled in size.  Don’t allow it to rise too much as you want the yeast to have some energy left.

Slash the tops and gently pick up the loaf and place directly onto the tray or stone in the oven.  Check after twenty minutes as you may need to turn the heat down for the last ten minutes of cooking.  It should take about 30 minutes for the loaf to cook, depending on how well cooked you like your crust. The loaf will sound hollow when tapped on the base when it’s cooked.  Leave to cool on a wire rack.

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Spiced fruit buns

15 Comments / yeast cookery /

These are a variation on the hot cross buns I made a few weeks ago.  For this recipe I use half strong plain and half strong wholewheat flour which makes for a good texture and I have upped the spice.  The glaze is egg wash and sugar brushed on five minutes before the end of cooking, making them lovely and crunchy.

You can use whichever combination of dried fruits you prefer.

250g strong plain flour
250g strong wholewheat flour
½ tsp ground cardamom (the seeds from about 8-10 pods)
1 tsp mixed spice
½ tsp cinnamon
1½ tsp salt
7g sachet easy bake yeast
grated zest 1 lemon
grated zest 1 orange
50g caster sugar
125 ml milk
125 ml water
1 egg, lightly beaten
50g butter, softened
25g dried cranberries
25g dried cherries
50g raisins

For the glaze:
1 egg, beaten
about 6 tsp sugar

Method

Put the flours, spices, salt, yeast, lemon zest, orange zest and sugar into a bowl.  Warm the milk and water and add to the mixture and stir to combine.  Add the egg and the butter and mix well.  Begin to knead, adding the fruit and kneading it into the mixture. Knead for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Place into a buttered bowl, cover with clingfilm or a bin liner and leave to rise in a draught-free place until almost doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 200°c with a baking tray or stone inside to heat up.

Press the air out of the dough and cut into 8 pieces with a sharp knife.  Make each into a ball by stretching the dough under itself.  Place onto a well floured board and cover again with the clingfilm or preferably the bin liner as this will allow more room for rising and leave to prove until they have risen to almost double. Place the buns on the heated tray or stone and bake in the oven for about ten minutes, until beginning to brown. Take out of the oven, brush with the beaten egg and sprinkle with the sugar.  Place back into the oven for a further 5 minutes.  Take out of the oven and place onto a wire rack to cool a little.  They are best split open and spread with butter whilst still warm.

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Crispie or cornflake cakes

13 Comments / cake, chocolate /

I couldn’t decide what to call these little beauties –  Easter egg nests/ Crispie cakes/ Cornflake cakes?  Obviously the ones in the picture are crispie cakes (made with rice crispies), but they could just as easily be made with cornflakes and with it nearly being Easter they could be nests.  We made them (my three-year old and I) this afternoon, ready to take to school tomorrow so that they can be sold at the Easter Fayre.  I am not sure there will be many left though by that time, I keep noticing the box being opened and another sneaked away.  There are not many people that don’t love these cakes.  If I am making them for a party I make sure I make plenty as they are always the first cakes to go and are just as popular with adults as they are with children.

I sometimes make them more simply by melting a bar of Dairy Milk and then stirring in as many rice crispies or cornflakes as the chocolate will coat. However, I do have to plan ahead for this as I always have a cupboard full of 70% chocolate but have to purposefully buy Dairy Milk.  I am afraid that my children love 70% chocolate as much as I do, I think this may be a result of the amount I consumed when I was pregnant and feeding them.

They are very easy cakes to make and very easy to polish off!

I can’t really give you an indication of the weight of the rice crispies or cornflakes, as you will need more rice crispies than cornflakes and they will make more cakes than when you use cornflakes, which need more chocolate to coat them.   Strange but true.  Just pour in as many as you think the chocolate mixture will coat easily and then add more if you think you can get away with it.  You want a good coating on every grain or flake.

Method
50g unsalted butter
100g good quality dark chocolate
4 tbsp golden syrup
Rice crispies or cornflakes (as many as you need)
Sugar coated chocolate eggs or other decoration (optional)

Melt the butter, syrup and chocolate over a very gentle heat until melted and smooth.  Add the cereal and stir well and pour spoonfuls into cake cases. Decorate with the eggs or other decoration or leave them unadorned.  Allow to set, if you can bear to, and then enjoy.

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Kamut bread

8 Comments / bread, yeast cookery /

In my continuing quest to make the perfect loaf I have been trying out different flours.  Kamut flour is a wholegrain and was originally grown in ancient Egypt.  It is high in proteins and minerals such as selenium.   It has a lovely golden hue, not unlike gram flour.  You can see the lovely colour in the pic below.

The bread tasted good and it had a lighter texture than a wholemeal loaf, but I don’t think it was extraordinary and I think I prefer the taste of a spelt loaf.  However, it is worth trying at least once.  It has quite a sweet flavour and I think it would be good dipped into a soup.  The Kamut flour I have is from Doves Farm and they suggest making pasta and shortbread with it too.  I might give the shortbread a go.

500g kamut flour
7g sachet yeast
1½ tsp fine salt
2 tbsp oil
350 – 400ml warm water

Method

Mix the flour, yeast and salt in a bowl.  Pour in the oil and the water (you may need the full 400ml or you may not, so go careful with the last bit, you want the dough to be soft but not too sticky) and mix well with your hands to a soft dough.  Turn out onto a wooden board and knead for ten minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic and is harder to stretch.  You should be able to put your finger into the dough and it should bounce back leaving only a small indentation remaining.  Clean the bowl and oil lightly and smooth the dough into a ball and place into the bowl.  Cover with oiled clingfilm or a bin liner and leave to rise in a draught-free place for 1-2 hours until doubled in size.  Preheat your oven to as high as it will go (240°), preheating the baking tray or stone that your loaf will be sitting on at the same time.

Press the air out of the dough using your fingertips and tip onto the wooden board.  Shape into a loaf and put onto a well floured surface or place into a 1lb loaf tin that has been lightly oiled.  ( I shaped mine into 2 small loaves). Leave to prove for 20-30 minutes until it has risen until almost double in size.  Slash the tops with a sharp knife to allow the loaf to rise better in the oven and place in the oven on the heated tray or stone. Leave for 10 minutes and then check, if it is starting to brown then turn the heat down to 200°c.  Check the loaves after they have been cooking for another 10 minutes.  Depending on your oven it can take between 20-40 minutes to cook.  They will sound hollow when tapped on the base when they are cooked.  Place onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely before slicing.

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Cider cabbage with bacon

15 Comments / cabbage /

This is a recipe inspired by friends and family.  Our friend Pete has a friend, Chris, who produces his own cider on his farm near Ludlow.  Pete describes himself as Chris’ Chief Helper as he often spends his weekends at Farmers’ Markets selling the cider.  He had told us that he was selling it at a market near us, so after years of hearing about this cider we thought it was about time that we gave it a try.  So, off we went and purchased some medium and dry cider.  Now, I am afraid that you can no longer to tempt me to drink cider, (tales of a misspent youth would explain), but I do love to cook with it and Mr OC is more than happy to drink it.

On the way home from the market we called in to see Mr OC’s family and my sister-in-law told me about how she sometimes cooks cabbage and bacon in cider with wholegrain mustard and crème fraîche.  Now this seemed like a very good idea indeed and so this is my take on her recipe, adding a bit of garlic and using the rest of the double cream in the fridge rather than buying some crème fraîche.  It’s a really good way of eating cabbage and I think it would be especially good with roast chicken.  We had it with yorkshire puddings because I had no chicken and I think you can never pass up the opportunity of eating yorkshire puddings.

I only wish the photo had been better and had done the cabbage justice.

1 small cabbage, shredded
4-6 rashers of bacon, snipped into bite-size pieces
100- 150 ml cider (depending on the size of your cabbage)
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
100ml double cream
salt and pepper to taste

Method

Heat a little oil in a large pan over a medium heat and cook the bacon until golden, add the garlic and cook for a minute.  Add the shredded cabbage and stir well.  Add the cider and cover the pan.  Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until the cabbage is cooked through.  Add the cream and the mustard and stir to combine.  Cook until the cream is bubbling. Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve with something to mop up the cidery juices.

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Chocolate banoffee cup

8 Comments / chocolate, pudding /

We had friends for dinner last night and I needed a dessert.  I was going to do a rum chocolate cup, but then I spotted the bananas in the fruit bowl and couldn’t resist a banoffee pie, but I had no biscuits to crumble and I couldn’t be bothered with making pastry, so this was it – a combination of banoffee pie and the chocolate cup that I was going to make.  Very yummy it was too, although you probably wouldn’t want to eat two, it is decadently rich. The chocolate ganache sets in the fridge so when you dip your spoon in you get the combination of a hardish chocolate and a silky smooth caramel.  Mr OC described it as tasting like a Mars should taste.

Please notice that lovely evening sunshine we had yesterday – oh joy, the light is returning!

To make 6 cups

2 bananas, sliced thinly
2-3 tbsp rum (optional)
400g dulce de leche (otherwise known as Carnation Caramel)
150g 70% chocolate
300ml double cream

Method

Divide the banana between the 6 cups or glasses and pour a splash of rum over each.  Mix the dulce de leche in a bowl until smooth and then spoon over the bananas.  Chop the chocolate finely.  Scald the cream in a pan over a medium heat.  Remove the cream from the heat and stir in the chocolate until smooth.  Pour the chocolate ganache over the caramel. Place in the fridge until ready to serve.

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Tomato, basil and yoghurt dip

2 Comments / dip, tomato, yoghurt /

Spring has nearly sprung.  We have had some really spring-filled days in the last week or so, with blue cloudless skies and a watery sun.  The washing has been hung outside to dry, bringing the fresh smell back in with it.  It’s a sign of the times to come, or at least we hope it is. This change in the weather inspired me to make something that tastes of the summer and nothing reminds us more of summer than our oven dried tomatoes that were from our bursting at the seams polytunnel last summer.  This dip was taken down to my parents’ house as part of a shared meal and it was really very tasty and it will be made again and again, I am sure of it.

It used up the last of the Total yoghurt – well they did give me a batch with a decent shelf life.

1 garlic clove, crushed
2-3 tbsp oven dried (or sun-dried) tomatoes in oil
3 tbsp fresh basil leaves
200g Total Greek yoghurt
salt and pepper

Method

Blend the garlic, tomatoes and basil leaves in a food processor or blender, leaving them a little chunky, and mix with the yoghurt.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

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