Having squirrelled a dog-eared copy of the Observer Food Monthly away the other week, last Sunday seemed like an opportune time to try my hand at baking some of Trine Hahnemann’s traditional Danish Christmas biscuits.

Unfortunately I didn’t clock exactly how many biscuits the recipes yielded, so I ended up with a couple hundred; keeping me extremely busy for seven long hours in the kitchen. That was a lot of painful cookie-cutting, needless to say.

I chose to make some pepparkakor (iced pepper cookies); vaniliekage (vanilla cookies), and brunkager (brown cookies.) With the brunkager still chilling in the fridge several days later, and destined for my in-laws’ house over Christmas, I decided to make little parcels of the 300 or so pepparkakor and vaniliekage to give to colleagues and friends.

The lighting in our kitchen is very poor; please excuse the above photo. I tried going for a messy (or “home-made”) icing style for the pepparkakor, with the vaniliekage thankfully being easier to make. A light dusting with edible glitter on some of the pepparkakor finished them off nicely, before they were wrapped in baking paper; tied with string, and attached with small luggage tags to give away.

You may be surprised to hear that the seven packs of biscuits below were less than half of Sunday’s yield! If you do follow any of the recipes, I’d urge you to halve them (at the very least). Unless you don’t mind being chained to the kitchen for seven frickin’ hours…

It’s rather funny — I spent my last five years growing up in Australia avoiding Cherry Ripes and other similarly gelatine-laden foodstuffs, but since moving to London I just can’t get enough of the nostalgic chocolate bars. I guess I’m willing to overlook a bit of hooves ‘n bones for the sake of feeding my homesickness.

So you can imagine my glee when I saw online last week that my favourite baking writer (and fellow Aussie) Dan Lepard had made Cherry Ripes for Saturday’s Guardian paper. Of course I needed an excuse to be able to bring that many calorific ingredients into the house, and thankfully our friends Tim, Sarah and baby Ava were all too willing to take one for the team, as it were.

Aussies will recognise that it’s a small twist on the old favourite — in order to make the Cherry Ripes more slice-like that chocolate bar-like, Lepard added a chocolate base to the bottom, the texture of which made me recall my Mum’s Christmas rumballs, minus the rum.

I think I’d follow Lepard’s suggested addition from his Facebook page, and add brandy or rum to the base next time…if I can just find some more willing friends to help me out with demolishing them. Wherever might I find them?!

As I had more than half a tin of condensed milk left over, I had to quickly follow the recipe from its side for millionaire’s shortbread; lest I dip a spoon in and discover 10 minutes later that I’ve guzzled the whole lot…

As aforementioned, Sunday was the day o’ three baked goodies, with the rosewater sponge being the best rated by all who ate it.

I followed Feast on Scraps’ recipe, which was really simple. It’s basically an adapted sponge, which rises really well and as Laura wrote, it makes for a bloody big cake. All the more to eat, mmm. Definitely don’t scrimp when pouring the boiled rosewater syrup on before icing it — it makes it more moist, and certainly adds to the flavour.

There was a slight change to mine, however — I actually followed Hummingbird Bakery’s cream cheese icing recipe rather than Laura’s, as I was running low on caster sugar by that stage. Their recipe as follows:

300g icing sugar, sifted
50g unsalted butter, at room temperature
125g cream cheese, cold

I just rinsed a whole lemon of its juice, grated in some rind, and bob was indeed my uncle.

Why a picture of a jug of roses for this post? Well would you believe me when I said the cake disappeared so quickly that I forgot to take a snap of it?

*Morning stretch via Fuckyeahvintagediary via Cupcakes, Music & Chanel via Ribbons of Love*

*Windows via Antique Memes via The Duchess via Ribbons of Love*

*Dress via Fuckyeahvintagediary*

*Flowers and books via A Lovely Rose*

*Trinkets via Claire Prenton via A Piece of the Sky via Ribbons of Love*

*Marchesa via Souvenirs*

*Modesty via Lolita Lempicka via xoHeatherrMariie via A Lovely Rose*

*Waving the French/Italian/Chinese flag via Yukkiie*

I’ve had to dart to the kitchen about six times in the short space of time I’ve been curating the pictures for this Tumblr Diaries post, owing to the fact I’ve got a lasagna sizzling away in there. I still need to pop the garlic bread in, plus toss some salad leaves with a squirt of truffle balsamic vinegar glaze…and perhaps pour myself a glass of red, too.

The Florence, our favourite pub — which is handy because it’s also a stone’s throw from our garden — had a 50 per cent off promotion on Monday for food, so Jim and I went along and indulged in burgers and wine. We did our silly dance of paying by card; realising we don’t actually have any coins to tip with; dashing to a nearby shop to break a tenner by buying a pack of gum while the other waits at the table, and then returning only to depart moments later, coins left on the table.

Tuesday night was particularly fun. I had a last-minute invitation from Gemma to join her at Qype’s bowling, karaoke and dinner fun-night at All Star Lanes in Bayswater. You can read my blog post about it over here, but what I didn’t mention was that I felt pretty rough the next day. I didn’t even drink that much (I don’t think?)

The following night Kate and I saw Black Swan. It was even more brilliant, exciting, gruesome and intense than I was expecting. No doubt it’s a tough year for the Oscars judges, what with The King’s Speech and everything else excelling oh so strongly.

After work on Saturday (it was a screen-printing class, and really fun it was, too!) I went over to the Lomography shop to see about getting my LC-A+ camera fixed or exchanged. Bizarrely, the camera started working again, shortly after Liana looked at it — at least it didn’t do that annoying trick where 99.9 per cent of returned products fail to replicate the problem in-store, so I felt somewhat vindicated. She’s going to test it for a few days and make sure it’s working properly, but the problem is now believed to be battery-related.

Jim and I had to scurry over to Wandsworth for a friend’s panto performance. We were actually running late, so ran from the bus stop to church hall, with Jim panting beside me: “we mustn’t be late, or they’ll pick on us and drag us onstage!” Luckily we got there with seconds to spare — and proceeded to laugh our faces off at Dick Whittington and his cat. Afterwards, we went to the nearby Brewer’s Inn for a couple of drinks with Pete, Karen and the rest of the cast. We bowed out of going on to the “disco bar” for the after-party, choosing instead to 37-bus it home, shivering in the cold.

Today has been deliciously lazy. A long lie-in was followed by a walk to East Dulwich’s Sainsbury’s for those all-important supplies our local branch doesn’t stock (kingsize cat food biscuits, mozzarella cheese and organic veggies). We stopped by the Phoenix pub at Denmark Hill for a spot of lunch (calamari, potato wedges and crab cakes with wasabi), and then ambled home with our bags of groceries, pausing to take some photos of the stately Carnegie Library.

Now if you’ll excuse me, we’ve got the sixth Harry Potter Blu-ray to finish…oh shit, and the lasanga to pull out of the oven!

*Follow my Tumblr here for even more lovely picks*

]]> http://katherinehannaford.com/2011/01/30/tumblr-transcendence-week-four-2011/feed/ 0 http://katherinehannaford.com/2010/10/18/recipe-sweet-potato-and-aubergine-subji/ http://katherinehannaford.com/2010/10/18/recipe-sweet-potato-and-aubergine-subji/#comments Mon, 18 Oct 2010 20:06:22 +0000 Kat Hannaford http://katherinehannaford.com/?p=140 Continue reading →]]> The literary highlight of my month is, without a doubt, the Observer Food Monthly. I rip that plastic wrap off with unrestrained glee, and get busy flipping through the pages, tearing out recipes for my scrapbooks whether I’m in bed, in the pub, or in the bath. Nigel Slater and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall are personal favourites, but I do love the various guest chefs they trot out.

Yesterday’s was less recipe, and more OFM Monthly Awards — which was a tad disappointing, but the Best Reader’s Recipe caught my eye. Sadly it hasn’t been uploaded yet to the website, but until then you can get it here via my condensed rehash. I’ll pop a link in when it’s finally online.

Maya Glaser’s Sweet Potato and Aubergine Subji With Red Onion and Coriander Raita

Recipe says enough for 2 – 3 people, but I think it’d serve four.

It took me about an hour to make, but I had to scurry around four different shops for over half an hour, trying to find garam masala and ground cardamom! It’s a very easy recipe, but I would suggest ensuring you had all the ingredients ready before starting.

It’s not too hot, with the raita tempering it slightly. I’m not a fan of onions (let me rephrase that: I LOVE onions but onions don’t love me — I get horrible stomach cramps), so went easy on them, but by all means, go for it if you can handle them!

Curry ingredients:

2x medium onions
4x garlic cloves, crushed
small chunk of garlic
1tsp cumin seeds
1 – 2 green chili peppers, chopped
dash of olive oil
2tsp garam masala
2sp turmeric
1/2tsp ground cardamom (I used cardamom pods, and just mortar ‘n pestle’d them)
1/2 tin chopped tomatoes
handful coriander, chopped
1x large aubergine, chopped into cubes
2x sweet potatoes, chopped into cubes
2 handfuls spinach, chopped

Raita ingredients:

half pot natural yoghurt
1/2 garlic clove
1/2 red onion
handful coriander
squeeze lemon

Method:

Fry onions, garlic, ginger, cumin seeds and chili in olive oil.
Stir in garam masala, turmeric and cardamom, then chopped tomatoes and half the coriander.
Simmer 5 – 10 mins, add aubergine. Simmer for 20 mins, then add sweet potato. Simmer for further 20 mins.
Add spinach, simmer until wilted. Add coriander.

Meanwhile, make the raita by combining the yoghurt, garlic, red onion and coriander with squeeze of lemon in bowl.

Serve with rice (but don’t let it get gluggy like mine went…I got sidetracked watching an episode of Kath & Kim. Whoops!) and perhaps a naan if you’re feeling naughty.

Turns out Martha Stewart can’t get enough of the 19-year-old American student’s blog either. Kaitlin was recently asked to present the recipe of the rainbow layered cake on Stewart’s colour-themed show, and I was bowled over by how smart and confident she was. For her first media appearance, she really impressed. If she doesn’t get her own baking segment on a cookery or lifestyle programme, I’ll be very disappointed.

I can’t embed the video of Kaitlin on Martha Stewart’s show, but you can watch it here. Otherwise, read Whisk Kid’s beautifully-written blog here, which combines lovingly-photographed delicacies along with small memoirs of her life.

Christina’s Domestic Sluttery recipe for smoked garlic and mushroom risotto looked very decent and easy to make, however as we’re a strict no-white-wine household, I had to use some merlot we had lying about. I usually only use red wine in mushroom or beetroot risottos, as it makes it a more cloying, winter-suitable risotto. While it’s late-May, I could sense some bad weather coming last night, so it made us feel pretty snug.

Instead of using parmesan cheese like Christina’s recipe called for, I used goat’s cheese. I also roasted up some portobello mushrooms for the side, and boiled some English asparagus. Over the top of the asparagus I drizzled some Australian truffle oil. It’s expensive stuff, and we’re down to our last bottle (I’ve already request Mum bring over a bulk lot when they arrive in a few weeks), but it really suits asparagus well.

Quick (for risotto), and very easy. Certainly made watching the last episode of Lost a heck of a lot better. (And the leftover risotto was excellent the next day, shaped into fritters, rolled in plain flour, and fried in oil. I even put a fried egg on top of Jim’s cakes).

Link: Christina’s Domestic Sluttery risotto recipe.

Salmon is one of my favourite fish, and when it’s sold at Sainsbury’s for £6 per two packs, we eat it pretty often too. The best way to cook it is wrapped in a sheet of aluminum foil, with a bit of olive oil drizzled over the top, in the oven for about 15 minutes. Served while still pink in the middle, it’s absolute bliss.

However, I do love pan-frying it with a bit of olive oil, then pouring a generous drizzle of ketjap manis (caramelised-tasting soy sauce from Indonesia – got mine in Brixy market, but it’s quite common, just got to know what the bottle looks like!) and some honey. Fry until still a bit pink and tender inside, and serve. As you can see from the photo, the ketjap manis turns the salmon almost black, and gives it a chicory/caramel taste. Beautiful served with a stir fry.

I first made this pie a few months after getting back from San Francisco with Jim, Laura and Ricky. We had our first (of many, I hope!) San Francisco reunion at Laura’s, where we had the pie with other SF-themed food: clam chowder, prawn sandwiches, lots and lots of prosecco…

The second time was on the weekend when Gemma, Darika, Kate and Libby came over for the Twilight movie night. I forgot to take a photo before we munched on it (well, everyone except Darika, who had to run for her train), so what you see above is the crumbled remains the next day, sans whipped cream.

So, due to popular demand (Kate), here’s the Hummingbird Bakery recipe…

Recipe

Filling
- 8 egg yolks
- 2 397-gram tins of condensed milk
- freshly squeezed juice and grated zest of 5 limes (I can never be bothered grating zest, lest I finish with Madonna arms, so I use the juice of 6 limes instead. And use a sneaky dribble of green food colouring – which the recipe says not to use as the zest will provide the colour.)
- 450ml whipped cream

Crust
- 500 grams digestive biscuits
- 200 grams unsalted butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees

For the crust
Roughly break up the digestive biscuits and put them in a food processor (I do about four lots). Process until finely ground. Put the crumbs in a large mixing bowl, and pour the melted butter in, and stir. Press the mixture into the base and neatly up the side of the prepared pie dish, using a tablespoon to flatten and compress.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, until deep golden and firm. Set aside to cool completely.

Turn the oven down to 150 degrees.

Put the egg yolks, condensed milk and lime juice in a mixing bowl, and mix with a whisk until everything’s smooth. It’ll thicken as you go.

Pour into the cold pie crust and bake in the oven for 20 – 30 minutes. Pull it out when it’s firm to the touch, and not at all wobbly. Leave to cool completely, and put in the fridge for at least an hour (I make it the previous day).

Serve with whipped cream on top.

- If you’re wondering what to do with the leftover eight egg whites, try this white cake recipe. I made it the day after the pie got eaten, using the whites I’d refrigerated, and it was delicious. Light and fluffy, with a slightly sticky and caramelised top. Didn’t even add icing. The recipe calls for just six egg whites, but I increased the whole recipe by a third so I could use all eight whites.