Recipes

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

Slow-cooker chicken ramen

Slow-cooker chicken ramen

This recipe asks for about 5 minutes of your time in the morning and 10 minutes at night, and rewards you with a delicious, flavoursome noodle soup.
Couverts4
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Ingredients

Instructions

  • Turn the slow cooker to high.
  • Add the chicken, miso, mushrooms and garlic to the slow cooker.
  • Cut the white part of the spring onions into large chunks and add them to the slow cooker.
  • Thinly slice the green parts of the spring onions and pop them in the fridge.
  • Pour 6 cups (1.
  • 5 litres) water into the slow cooker (or enough to cover the ingredients), cover and cook on low for 5 hours (or all day).
  • Turn the slow cooker to high and remove the chicken.
  • Add the bok choy, soy sauce and ginger and cook for 10 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, shred the chicken.
  • Discard the skin and bones.
  • Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions, then drain.
  • Discard the garlic and spring onions.
  • Add the chicken, noodles and spring onion greens and stir to warm through.
  • Serve the soup topped with the boiled egg halves, toasted sesame seeds and anything else you fancy.
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Course; Chicken

Slow-cooked beans with ham hock

Slow-cooked beans with ham hock

I try to regularly make a batch of these through winter so that there’s always something healthy and hearty in the fridge ready to reheat. We all love this on toast and it’s a great filling meal to start the day, especially on those long, cold days when we don’t get home until late in the evening. These beans are also good for lunch and dinner, as per my serving suggestions below.
Couverts6
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Ingredients

Instructions

  • Drain the beans and place them in a large saucepan of water.
  • Bring to the boil over high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 1 hour or until the beans are tender and cooked through.
  • Turn the slow cooker to high.
  • Drain the beans and tip them into the slow cooker.
  • Put the ham hock in the saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil.
  • Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
  • Remove the ham hock and place it on top of the beans in the slow cooker.
  • Add the onion, carrot, thyme, tomatoes and passata.
  • Pour in 1 cup (250 ml) water, or enough to just cover the beans and ham hock.
  • Gently stir in the vinegar, brown sugar, mustard and pomegranate molasses, if using.
  • Cover and cook on low for 5 hours (or for up to 7 hours if that suits you – perhaps add a little more liquid towards the end as those beans can get thirsty!).
  • Remove the ham hock and shred the meat from the bone, then return the meat to the beans and gently stir.

Notes & Wine Advice

You can use 2–3 x 400 g (14 oz) tins of white beans instead of dried beans.
They won’t need soaking or pre-cooking – simply drain and rinse them, then add them to the slow cooker with the ham hock.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:

Pile the beans on top of baked jacket potatoes and finish with a little plain yoghurt and chopped parsley.
Divide the beans among small ovenproof plates, make a dent in each, crack in an egg, dot with feta and parmesan cheese and parsley, then cook in a hot oven for 15–20 minutes or until the eggs are just cooked through.
Thin out the beans with stock and serve them as a stew or soup.
Use the beans as a jaffle or toasted sandwich filling.
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Course; Pork

Snacking cake

Snacking cake

I love the idea of a snacking cake – a lovely slab that sits in the cake tin for a few days, just waiting to be cut and eaten with a cup of tea. It’s not fussy, just plain yet delicious, and a good vehicle for any kind of fruit, preserved or fresh. If that sounds good to you, then this is your cake! The quantities I’ve given do make quite a large cake, so if you think your household might snack less than mine, please go ahead and halve them.
Couverts8
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Ingredients

  • 320 g 11¼ oz unsalted butter, softened
  • 2¾ cups 420 g plain (all-purpose) flour
  • 200 g 7 oz caster (superfine) sugar
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • A good pinch of salt
  • ½ cup 130 g Greek-style yoghurt
  • 4 eggs
  • ½ cup 50 g flaked natural almonds
  • ¼ cup 45 g brown sugar

FILLING

  • 4 –5 apples pears or a similar quantity of preserved fruit, halved and sliced
  • 2 Tbsp white granulated sugar
  • Juice of 1 lemon

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F).
  • Grease and line a 30 x 20 cm (12 x 8 inch) cake tin with baking paper.
  • Combine the butter, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
  • Beat on low until the mixture just comes together.
  • Add the yoghurt and eggs and beat on low speed for 10 seconds or until the mixture just comes together, then increase the speed and beat for a few minutes until the batter is light and fluffy.
  • Meanwhile, make the filling.
  • Place the sliced apples or pears in a bowl with the sugar.
  • Squeeze in the lemon juice, then toss to combine.
  • Spread about half of the batter in the cake tin in a smooth layer, top with the fruit and then add the remaining batter.
  • Smooth the top and sprinkle it with the flaked almonds and brown sugar.
  • Pop the cake into the oven for about 45 minutes or until the centre is springy to the touch.
  • Leave in the tin to cool for 5 minutes, then gently turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
  • If the cake is quite fruit-heavy, you could cool and store the cake in the tin as the fruit makes it more fragile and likely to break up as you turn it out.

Notes & Wine Advice

You can swap the apples with mulberries (see here), or any other fresh or preserved fruit. If you’re using preserved fruit, there’s no need to toss it with the sugar and lemon juice – simply spread it over the batter.
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Course; Cake

Honey jumbles

Honey jumbles

The stuff of childhood nostalgia, these honey jumbles are such a favourite in my house. And they’re a simple melt-and-mix recipe, so are a good opportunity to get the kids involved in baking. I’ve topped these with orange-flavoured icing, but you could stay with the classic option and do half pink and half white (in which case, just omit the orange juice and zest and use a little lemon juice for the white icing and a tiny drop of pink food colouring for the pink).
Couverts12
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Ingredients

Instructions

  • Grated zest and juice of 1 orange (see Note)
  • Combine the butter, honey, brown sugar and vanilla in a small saucepan over medium heat.
  • Cook, stirring, for a few minutes or until the mixture has melted into a thick caramel.
  • Remove from the heat and set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
  • Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl.
  • Pour in the butter mixture and milk and stir until well combined.
  • Cover the dough and pop it into the fridge to chill for 1 hour.
  • Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
  • Line two baking trays with baking paper.
  • Divide the dough into four pieces.
  • Roll out one piece into a 15 cm (6 inch) long sausage on a lightly floured surface.
  • Cut the sausage into three pieces and flatten each into an oval shape.
  • Place on the tray, leaving room for spreading.
  • Repeat with the remaining dough.
  • Bake the biscuits for 8–10 minutes or until they have puffed up a little and are dry to the touch.
  • Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
  • For the icing, whisk the egg white in a small bowl until foamy.
  • Sift in the icing sugar, then add the orange zest and juice, a little at a time, and whisk until the mixture is smooth and thick.
  • Spoon about 1 teaspoon of icing onto each biscuit and gently spread to cover.
  • Store the biscuits in an airtight container for up to a week.

Notes & Wine Advice

If available, use a blood orange to make the icing – it will add colour and some extra tang.
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Course; Side Dish

Toasted cardamom shortbread

Toasted cardamom shortbread

This simple, classic shortbread is made a little more interesting with the addition of aromatic toasted cardamom.
Couverts20
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Ingredients

  • 12/3 cups 250 g plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 100 g 3½ oz rice flour
  • 100 g 3½ oz caster (superfine) sugar
  • A pinch of salt
  • 225 g 8 oz chilled unsalted butter, cut into cubes

CARDAMOM SUGAR

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F).
  • Grease and line a 30 x 18 cm (12 x 7 inch) cake tin.
  • Line two baking trays with baking paper.
  • Place all the ingredients in a food processor and blitz until roughly combined.
  • Turn the mixture out onto a very lightly floured work surface and gently knead to bring it together into a dough.
  • Press the dough into the tin and place in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes.
  • For the cardamom sugar, toast the cardamom pods in the oven for 10 minutes or until they are aromatic and a pale olive green.
  • Place in a spice grinder or food processor and blitz until as fine as possible.
  • Mix in the sugar.
  • Cut the chilled shortbread into fingers, bars or small squares and place on the baking trays.
  • Using a fork, prick the surface of each biscuit a few times, then generously sprinkle with the cardamom sugar.
  • Bake the shortbread for 15–20 minutes or until light golden.
  • Leave to cool on a wire rack, then store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
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Course; Side Dish

Florentines from Sophie Hansen

Florentines from Sophie Hansen

Florentines are so easy and they don’t need any oven time. They also make a great ‘thanks for having me’ present.
Couverts18
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Ingredients

  • ¼ cup 60 g unsalted butter
  • 100 g 3½ oz caster (superfine) sugar
  • ½ cup 100 g brown sugar
  • 2½ Tbsp single pure cream
  • 200 g 7 oz flaked almonds
  • 2/3 cup 100 g dried cranberries
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 200 g 7 oz chocolate (milk, dark or white – your call!)

Instructions

  • Line a baking tray with baking paper.
  • Place a large heavy-based saucepan over high heat.
  • Cook the butter and sugars, stirring, for 5 minutes or until you have a smooth, golden-brown caramel (if it looks crystallised, keep stirring and cooking and it will come together).
  • Pour in the cream and stir until well combined, then cook for a few minutes.
  • Add the almonds, cranberries and vanilla and stir well.
  • Reduce the heat to low.
  • Working quickly, place 1 tablespoon of the mixture on the tray and press down to form a circle, then repeat with the remaining mixture.
  • Keep the pan sitting over low heat and stir the mixture every now and then.
  • Pop the tray into the fridge for 10 minutes or until set.
  • Stir the chocolate in a heatproof glass bowl over a saucepan of simmering water until smooth.
  • Cover the base of each biscuit with a little chocolate, then press it onto the tray to even it out.
  • Return to the fridge to set.
  • Drizzle any remaining chocolate over the Florentines and finish with a tiny sprinkle of sea salt.
  • Store in an airtight container for a few weeks.
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Course; Side Dish