Recipes

Fast Pizza Dough

Fast Pizza Dough

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Ingredients

  • Servings: 3 crusts
  • 1 cups warm water
  • 2 tsp honey
  • 2 ½ tsp rapid rise yeast
  • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour and extra for dusting 2 tbsp olive oil + 1 tbsp for greasing
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp Italian seasoning

Instructions

  • Combine yeast + warm water.
  • Stir until the yeast is dissolved.
  • Add flour + olive oil + salt + honey + to the yeast mixture.
  • Using a spoon, mix until the dough becomes tacky.
  • Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface and knead for a few more minutes.
  • Shape the ball and let it rest for 10 min.
  • Preheat the oven to 4500 F. place a pizza stone, heavy baking sheet, or cast iron skillet in the oven.
  • Grease the baking sheet with some oil.
  • Roll the dough in a circle .
  • Combine oil + Italian seasoning and brush the pizza crust with this mixture.
  • Prebake the dough for 7 min.
  • Remove from the oven and drizzle it with the sauce and add topping.
  • Bake for 15 min more or until golden crust, enjoy!
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Course; Basic recipe / Pizza

Pizza Crust

Pizza Crust

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Ingredients

Servings: 3 crusts

Instructions

  • Add sugar + yeast in the ½ cups of warm water to bloom the yeast.
  • Let sit for 5 minutes, until bubbles form on the surface.
  • Add olive oil + salt + vinegar + 1 cup of water to the yeast mixture.
  • Start mixing the dough gradually adding flour for about 5-7 min until it becomes smooth but slightly sticky.
  • Grease a clean, large bowl with olive oil and place the dough inside, turning to coat with the oil.
  • Cover with plastic wrap and Let rise for at least an hour.
  • Punch down the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface.
  • Knead for another minute or so.
  • Cut into 3 equal portions and shape into rounds.
  • Lightly flour the dough, then cover with a kitchen towel and let rest for another 30-50 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, prepare the sauce and topping you like.
  • Preheat the oven to 4500 F.
  • place a pizza stone, heavy baking sheet, or cast iron skillet in the oven.
  • Spray the dough with some oil and prebake the crust for 5 min.
  • Remove from the oven and brush with the sauce and add topping.
  • Bake for 15 min more or until golden crust, enjoy!
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Course; Pizza

Easy 20-Minutes Pizza

Easy 20-Minutes Pizza

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Ingredients

Servings: 16 slices

Instructions

  • Add sugar + yeast in the warm water to bloom the yeast.
  • Let sit for 10
  • minutes, until bubbles form on the surface.
  • In a large bowl, combine the flour + salt + olive oil + bloomed yeast mixture.
  • Using a spoon, mix until the dough becomes tacky.
  • Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface and knead for 10 more minutes and mold into a taut round.
  • Grease a clean, large bowl with olive oil and place the dough inside, turning to coat with the oil.
  • Cover with plastic wrap and Let rise for at least an hour.
  • Punch down the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface.
  • Knead for another minute or so.
  • Cut into 4 equal portions and shape into rounds.
  • Lightly flour the dough, then cover with a kitchen towel and let rest for another 30-50 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, prepare the sauce and any other ingredients.
  • Preheat the oven to 4500 F.
  • Place a pizza stone, heavy baking sheet, or cast iron skillet in the oven.
  • Meanwhile, make the pizza sauce: Add the salt to the can of tomatoes and puree with a blender or food processor until smooth.
  • Once the dough has rested, stretch and press into a thin round shape.
  • Make it thinner as it will slightly shrink and puff up during baking.
  • Sprinkle semolina onto an upside down baking sheet and place the stretched crust onto it.
  • Add the sauce and ingredients of your choice.
  • Slide the pizza onto the preheated pizza stone or pan.
  • Bake for 15 minutes or until the crust and cheese turns golden brown.
  • Add any garnish of your choice.
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Course; Pizza

Home-made five-spice powder

Home-made five-spice powder

makes about ¼ cup Five-spice powder from the supermarket can (depending on its age) look and taste just like brown powder. And that’s a shame because when it’s freshly made, it adds the most wonderful, warm whack of spice to a recipe. Make a big batch and keep it handy for all kinds of things: the plum sauce here, the spring onion pancakes, or as a rub and marinade for all kinds of meats, stir-fries or roasted eggplant (aubergine). It also makes a lovely gift.
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Ingredients

Instructions

  • Combine all the ingredients in a dry frying pan and toast over medium heat for a few minutes or until the spices are aromatic and the seeds are beginning to pop.
  • Transfer the mixture to a high-powered blender, coffee grinder or a mortar and pestle and whizz or bash until you have a fine powder (or as fine as possible).
  • Store in an airtight container.
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Course; Spices & Seasoning

Lime pickle

Lime pickle

There’s always a split second in winter when limes are everywhere and affordable. And when that window opens, I make lime pickle. Move over preserved lemons, this is the new flavour bomb of choice (or it’s mine, at least). It adds a bucketload of zing and zest to soups and curries. You could even pile it on a bowl of plain rice, add a dollop of yoghurt, a fried egg and maybe a handful of steamed beans and you have an excellent meal right there. Yes, there is a lot of salt and spice in this recipe, but you use it as a type of salt seasoning and you really don’t need much at a time.
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Ingredients

  • 12 limes
  • ¾ cup 240 g rock salt
  • ¼ cup 30 g fennel seeds
  • ¼ cup 40 g mustard seeds
  • 2 Tbsp chilli flakes
  • 1 Tbsp ground turmeric
  • 2 cups 500 ml mustard oil (see Note)

Instructions

  • Cut the limes into quarters and place in a large bowl.
  • Add the salt and mix well, using your hands to squish and squeeze the salt into each lime quarter.
  • Divide the lime among 3–4 sterilised jars, really packing everything down well.
  • Seal the jars and leave in a cool dark place for a minimum of 2 days and up to 2 weeks.
  • Toast the fennel seeds and half of the mustard seeds in a dry frying pan over medium–high heat.
  • Bash the seeds with a mortar and pestle or blitz in a food processor until they are roughly broken up.
  • Place the mixture in a small bowl and stir in the chilli flakes and turmeric.
  • Divide the seed mixture among the jars of salted lime quarters and mix well (I use a chopstick to do this).
  • Heat the mustard oil in a small saucepan over medium–high heat, add the remaining mustard seeds and cook until the oil is just at smoking point.
  • Remove from the heat and pour the oil into the jars with the lime quarters, being careful to prevent the mixture from spitting up at you.
  • Mix together with a chopstick or a long spoon, seal and store in a cool dark place.
  • You can use or serve your lime pickle in whole quarters, but I prefer to roughly chop mine so it’s a bit easier to spoon over things.
  • I simply tip the whole jar into my food processor and blitz for a few seconds until it turns into a very rough paste.

Notes & Wine Advice

If mustard oil is tricky to find, you can use vegetable oil.
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Course; Side Dish

Atholl Brose

Atholl Brose

This recipe is for my late father-in-law, Andrew. He loved whisky and would often make up a thermos of this curious Scottish concoction and bring it out to the farm on very cold days when he and my husband Tim were working outside all day. A little dose of Atholl Brose seemed to help keep them going when the sleet was coming in sideways, the mud was up to their ankles and the enthusiasm for the job at hand was waning. Andrew is so very sorely missed by the whole family, and we now make and share this on his birthday every year. It warms us inside and out.
Couverts2 cups
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Ingredients

  • 2 cups 500 ml whisky (see Note)
  • 1 cup 100 g rolled oats
  • ¼ cup 60 ml single (pure) cream
  • ¼ cup 90 g honey, or to taste

Instructions

  • Combine the whisky and oats in a jar and leave them to soak overnight.
  • Strain and discard the oats (or use them for a boozy porridge!).
  • Stir in the cream and the honey, to taste, then decant the mixture into a bottle or jar and place in the fridge.
  • The Atholl Brose can be enjoyed straight away, but we think it’s even better after it’s had a day or so to ‘mature’.
  • You can serve it over ice or (my preference) warmed up and poured into a thermos to kickstart a cold afternoon on the farm.

Notes & Wine Advice

You don’t have to use the best whisky in the cupboard, but use one that’s not too peaty.
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Course; Alcohol

Spiced cumquat and orange rum

Spiced cumquat and orange rum

Talk about a winter warmer! A little shot of this gloriously warming cumquat and orange rum will pep you up after a long bracing walk, an outdoor painting session or a wintery picnic. A small bottle of it makes a wonderful present.
Couverts4 cups
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Ingredients

  • 1 cup 250 ml orange juice (freshly squeezed)
  • 2 cups about 500 g cumquats, roughly chopped
  • 100 g 3½ oz white (granulated) sugar
  • 1 vanilla bean split lengthways
  • 2 star anise
  • 6 cloves
  • 3 cups 750 ml golden rum

Instructions

  • Combine the orange juice, cumquats, sugar, vanilla bean, star anise and cloves in a small saucepan.
  • Cook over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar, for 10 minutes or until the mixture is just at simmering point.
  • Remove from the heat, pour the mixture into a large jar and add the rum.
  • Leave the jar in a cool dark place for a month.
  • Strain the rum, discarding the aromatics, then decant it into sterilised bottles.
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Course; Alcohol

Spinach and yoghurt sauce

Spinach and yoghurt sauce

This sauce is great with the spring onion pancakes, but it’s also really good served alongside slow-cooked lamb (its bright flavour is perfect here) or any similarly rich dish. I also love it on the table with a spicy curry.
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Ingredients

  • 1 large bunch English spinach
  • 1 Tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 cup 260 g Greek-style yoghurt
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp honey or to taste

Instructions

  • Roughly chop the spinach leaves.
  • Wash them in the sink, then place in a colander to drain the excess water.
  • Melt the coconut oil in a heavy-based frying pan over medium heat.
  • Add the chopped spinach and toss for a few minutes or until collapsed and bright green.
  • Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for a couple of minutes.
  • Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes.
  • Transfer the spinach to a food processor with the yoghurt, lemon juice and honey, then blitz until you have a fine purée.
  • Taste and adjust if needed – does it need a little more lemon juice or to be softened by a smidge more honey?
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Course; Sauce

Spiced pumpkin smash

Spiced pumpkin smash

I recommend doubling this recipe as it’s so good in so many incarnations. I love it most with the spring onion pancakes and a bright herb salad, but I also serve it as a side with curries, plopped on top of a bowl of brown rice with greens or just with a softly poached egg and some chilli oil (here).
Couverts2
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Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
  • Spread the pumpkin, onion and garlic on a baking tray.
  • Sprinkle with the salt and drizzle with the olive oil.
  • Pop the tray into the oven for 40 minutes or until the pumpkin is cooked through and the onion is completely softened.
  • Transfer the pumpkin and onion to a bowl and squeeze in the garlic.
  • Mash with a fork, then spoon into a serving bowl.
  • Right before you’re ready to eat, heat the canola oil in a small saucepan over medium–high heat.
  • Add the curry leaves and mustard seeds and cook for a few minutes or until the leaves start to crisp up and the seeds pop.
  • Pour the spiced oil over the pumpkin, sprinkle with the nigella seeds and serve straight away.

Notes & Wine Advice

If you can’t find curry leaves, leave them out and add some lemon zest with the nigella seeds at the end.
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Course; Side Dish

Spring onion pancakes

Spring onion pancakes

These are a sort of a cross between a pancake and an omelette, and they’re so delicious when stuffed with the spiced pumpkin smash and topped with the spinach and yoghurt sauce. When I make these, I cook them in batches and keep them warm in a low oven while making my way through the batter. Then we can all sit down together and dive in.
Couverts8
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Ingredients

  • 12 eggs
  • ½ cup 75 g plain (all-purpose) flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • A pinch of salt
  • 2 cups 130 g chopped spring onions (scallions)
  • 1/3 cup 50 g toasted sesame seeds
  • 3 cm 1¼ inch piece ginger, very finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves very finely chopped
  • 1 tsp five-spice powder here or store bought
  • Vegetable oil for frying
  • Spiced pumpkin smash to serve
  • Spinach and yoghurt sauce to serve
  • Sammie’s chilli oil here, to serve (optional)

Instructions

  • Crack the eggs into a large bowl and whisk to combine.
  • Add the flour, baking powder and salt and whisk until you have a thick batter.
  • Stir in the spring onion, sesame seeds, ginger, garlic and five-spice powder.
  • Leave the batter to rest for at least 30 minutes before cooking.
  • Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F).
  • Heat a frying pan over medium–high heat and add a good splash of the oil.
  • Once the pan is hot, ladle in about ¼ cup (60 ml) of the batter and swirl the pan around until you have a nice thin pancake.
  • Cook for 1 minute or so, then flip over and cook the other side.
  • Transfer the pancake to an ovenproof plate and pop it in the oven while you cook the remaining batter.
  • Serve the pancakes with the pumpkin smash, spinach and yoghurt sauce and chilli oil.
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Course; Pancake’s / Crepes