Heirloom Christmas Pudding

Look!  It's my first ever little, delicious, Christmas Pudding!

In our family, it has always been one person's task to produce the Christmas Puddings for the remainder.  Now obviously, when we lived in Germany, it was a tad tricky for my Nanna to get a pudding to us for Christmas - so generally, we came back to England for Christmas and got our pudding that way.  However, for the years when we couldn't return to England, my Nanna sent her recipe to my Mum so that she could make the same pudding.  We really aren't sure where Nanna got her recipe from, as she was separated from her parents due to emigration to Canada.  It is possible that she could have asked her Mum for her recipe and received it by post during this time, or alternatively, she could have picked up a recipe from just about anywhere.  Unfortunately, she has been gone these last twenty years or so and we can't ask her.

Nanna's Christmas Pudding recipe, written on Air Mail paper, having been sent to my Mum in Germany.

As the years went by and my Nanna became less able to do the serious arm-work of stirring the puddings, my Mum took on the job.  The recipe remained the same for a number of years, until the awareness of health issues began to make themselves felt in changes to the old familiar recipe.  Things like using a sunflower margarine instead of suet, for instance.  Also, people's tastes began to change and we all agreed that we really didn't like the candied citrus peel, so marmalade began to be used instead.

Mum's trusted slow-cooker recipe

Then the recipe evolved a little further, in that the slow cooker had been introduced and made it so much easier to cook the puddings.  Far better to be able to steam them in the slow cooker, where it was unlikely to run out of water, than on the hob where you had to keep checking the water levels and couldn't leave the process alone for longer than half an hour.

This year, for the first year ever and following my Mum's comments that, last year, the making of the puddings was rather more taxing than ever before, I managed to convince her to hand the mantle over to me.


Doing a quick calculation on my fingers, it seems to me that the original recipe (still in my Nanna's own handwriting from where she sent it to my Mum all those years ago) has to be in excess of 100 years old.  Knowing how - over the years - the recipe has evolved, made me want to add my little adjustment to it.  My additional fingerprint in the ingredients.  I love the thought that the puddings now have all our fingerprints - my Nanna, my Mum and myself - involved in the recipe.

I must admit that I threw all notions of making the puddings healthier, straight out of the window.  Well, you eat Christmas Pudding just once a year (unless you cook one for Easter, which does happen!), so to have a richly indulgent Christmas Pudding is entirely right and proper.

So, my puddings were made with 100% butter.  Changes to the recipe also included adding some Medjool dates - we'd found some at a local greengrocer and I'd been sent some even nicer ones to sample.  They were so juicy and delicious, it just made sense to include them.  I also steeped the fruit in non-alcoholic Ginger cordial from The Dorset Ginger Company before mixing.  This plumped up the fruit and added a lovely warmth to the base pudding flavour.  However, the biggest change to the puddings was that I didn't use flour in the recipe at all.  The mix was made with 100% breadcrumbs, a mix of 60% white bread/40% wholemeal, which made a huge difference to the texture of the puddings.

Now I know how much difference it made, because I made a small tester pudding too!  Well, when it's your first go, it pays to be on the cautious side.

So cute - so yummy!  All glamorous photographs will have to wait until Christmas!

I steamed the puddings individually in the slow cooker, each for 12 hours.  The buttery, spicy juices overflowed slightly as the puddings cooked and the house was filled with gorgeous smells that tantalised in a most promising fashion.

The time came to try the tester pudding and my heart was in my mouth as I turned the ramekin upside down into the bowl.  Would it come out in one piece, would it pour out disgustingly, or would it be like concrete?  No!  The pudding was light textured - definitely not one that would stick your teeth together, as so many of them do.  With juicy fruit, lovely spicing with the warmth from the ginger, the occasional flavour bomb in the shape of a whole cherry which seemed to have sucked up the Guinness stout and spiced rum into its hollow interior, soft prune, sticky date, earthy nuttiness and the richness of butter - it is a triumph.

I cannot begin to tell you, how relieved and happy I am that the puddings have turned out so well.  Perhaps you can imagine!  After all, I had 100 years of successful Christmas Pudding making behind me to live up to.  That's fairly heavy responsibility, for someone about to change the recipe.

So, if you haven't yet made your Christmas Puddings and are looking for a richly indulgent, light textured pud with the wisdom of ages woven through its recipe, you can't go far wrong with this one.

HEIRLOOM CHRISTMAS PUDDING  (makes 2 medium sized puddings - and a tester!)

Ingredients :

450g raisins
225g currants
225g sultanas
200ml ginger cordial with 100ml hot water
50g medjool dates, pitted and sliced into chunks
150g glace cherries, approx half of them sliced in two, the remainder left whole
50g orange marmalade
zest of half a lemon
20g blanched almonds, roughly chopped
20g hazelnuts, roughly chopped
20g walnuts, roughly chopped
50g ground almonds
half a tsp freshly grated nutmeg
half a tsp (generous) ground mixed spice
half a tsp (generous) ground cinnamon
quarter tsp sea salt
65g soft brown sugar
1 (generous) tbsp black treacle
450g softened butter
375g fresh breadcrumbs (60% white/40% wholemeal)
6 large eggs, beaten
4 tbsp spiced rum
170ml (approx) Guinness Foreign Extra Stout.

Method :

1.  Place the raisins, currants and sultanas into a very large bowl.  Mix the ginger cordial with the hot water and pour over the fruit.  Cover with cling film and leave for 30 minutes in a warm room.

2.  Uncover the fruit and give them a stir.   Next, add the dates, cherries, lemon zest, marmalade, almonds (both chopped and ground), walnuts, hazelnuts, nutmeg, mixed spice, cinnamon and salt.  Give everything a good stir to mix the spices through evenly.

3.  Next, add the soft brown sugar and the treacle and stir again, until the treacle has been mixed through thoroughly.

4.  Add the softened butter.  Put your spoon to one side, make sure your hands are spotlessly clean, your sleeves are rolled up - and scrunch the butter into the fruit mixture with your fingers.  Once it is evenly spread, add one third of the breadcrumbs and scrunch again to incorporate them into the mix.  Repeat until all the breadcrumbs are included and the butter is evenly spread.

5.  Add the beaten eggs.  You can go back to using a spoon if you like - but I found using my hands to be so much easier, as you can feel the texture of the mix.  Continue to mix until the eggs are completely combined.

6.  Add the rum and half the stout.  Stir well to combine.  Now how much of the remainder of the stout you include, depends entirely upon how wet the mix is by now.  The end result you are after, is thick enough to clump together on a spoon, but wet enough to be able to drop easily from the spoon, if turned.   So continue to add the stout until the correct texture has been reached.

7.  Using a little additional butter, grease your two pudding basins liberally - and a tester ramekin if you're using one.

8.  Divide the mixture between the two basins, pressing down as you go, to make sure they are completely full.   Try to leave a quarter of an inch (at least) lip around the top of the basin, to allow for expansion during cooking.

9.  Take a square of greaseproof paper and fold a pleat into the centre.  Place the pleat over the middle of the basin and fold the sides roughly over the edges.

10.  Fold a doubled piece of silver foil with a pleat and place this over the greaseproof, smoothing it down over the sides.

Words fail - see picture!

11.  Take a piece of string and lay it across the top of the pleat, making sure you have enough spare to tie it either side - this will form a handle which will make removing the basin from the slow cooker, a lot easier.

12.  Place a large piece of string below the lip of the basin and knot it, pulling tight so that the greaseproof and foil are held tightly to the basin and the single piece of string has either end caught under the tightening string.  Knot it securely.

13.  Tie the ends of the "handle" to the tightening string, remembering to leave room to get a finger underneath!

14.  You should now have a made Christmas Pudding, all ready to go into the slow cooker for the next 12 hours.  The tester pudding will need to have something to sit on in the cooker, to prevent it from submerging and it can be cooked alongside one of the larger puddings.  The water level needs to be a good third of the way up the larger pudding basin - and start off with boiling water, as this saves the slow cooker from having to do the heating of it.

Before being cooked, the puddings will last for a few days in the fridge.  However, once cooked, remove the greaseproof/silver foil combo and replace with a clean version.  The pudding can now be kept in a cool, dark place for as long as you need it to be.  I have known puddings be left for some 2 years or more and still come out looking and tasting perfect.

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Coffee & Walnut Loaf - a perfect tea-time cake

One dismal and dreary Saturday, when I was sitting here neatening up photographs for upcoming blog posts, I was made aware of some clatterings and drawer-scrufflings that were undoubtedly coming from the kitchen.

I could hear the baking larder door being opened and closed, the pyrex bowls being got out, the hand whisk's "whiskerators" (our name) being extracted from the mad puzzle that is the utensil drawer and the unmistakable sound of the oven buzzing into life.

All this meant just one thing - hubby had decided to bake a cake.

We had avidly watched the whole series of "Great British Bake Off", without either of us running keenly to the kitchen to follow up on inspiration gained.  We had even watched the Mary Berry/Paul Hollywood baking masterclass spin-off programmes without being moved to recreate any of the recipes.  (Although I do have a number of "would like to makes" on the back burner).

Hubby, however, had been harbouring a secret desire for a Coffee & Walnut cake for a while.

Too many decorations? Does not compute!

We do try to ride out these sorts of desires.  Wait to see whether it's a real yearning, or whether it's just a passing fancy.  For instance, I've been harbouring a want to make a fish curry for oh, probably some four to five months now.  It's just waiting for a time when the right fish is affordable and the dish will fit into the remainder of the week's menu.  I'll get there, one day!

This fancy quite obviously wasn't going to go away though - so he was acting upon it.

Now, how easy would it be, to go off to the local supermarket and buy a Coffee & Walnut cake, eh?  It would be the work of minutes as Sainsbury's is literally just down the road.  But no - there he was up to his neck in flour and walnuts, making the object of his desire.  You've got to admire him for that!

This was a very particular Coffee & Walnut cake though.  It wasn't to be one of your traditional round cake - oh no.  What he was hankering after was a loaf shaped version, filled with chopped walnuts and ripe with the flavour of coffee.  It was to have oodles of coffee buttercream on top, instead of sandwiched in between the two layers.  Oh - and loads of chocolate decoration.  Nothing else would do.


So, for those moments when you desire an outrageously decorated Coffee & Walnut Loaf that is light as a feather, deliciously nutty and rich with coffee flavours - here's hubby's recipe.

COFFEE & WALNUT LOAF

Ingredients :

150g of self raising flour
125ml full cream milk
110g caster sugar
75g unsalted butter cut into cubes
3 tsp instant coffee granules
60g of crushed walnuts plus 16 walnut halves to decorate
1 beaten egg.

Method :
1.  Butter and line (I used a loaf tin liner) an 8 by 3 inch loaf tin.

2.  In a large saucepan, place the milk, butter and coffee granules and warm until the butter is melted and the granules have dissolved.

3.  Remove the pan from the heat and then add the sugar and crushed walnuts.  Stir until the sugar has dissolved before folding in the beaten egg.

4.  Finally, add the flour in stages, stirring gently and continuously until all of the flour has been incorporated

5.  Pour the mixture into the loaf tin and then place into an oven, preheated to 325degF/160degC/gas3.  Bake for 45 minutes before testing with a skewer - which should come out clean, if the cake is done. 

6.  Remove the loaf tin from the oven and leave to cool for 5-10 minutes before carefully turning out onto a wire cooling rack.  Once fully cooled, decorate the cake with coffee frosting and halved walnuts.

For the Frosting

Ingredients :

120g butter, room temperature
160g icing sugar
15ml (or more to taste) strong coffee
1 tsp vanilla extract.

7.  Whisk the butter until it becomes pale before incorporating the sugar in stages.  Whisk together until the mixture becomes light and fluffy.  Finally, whisk in the coffee and vanilla until well incorporated.  If the mixture becomes too stiff, simply add a splash of milk.   For a bit of variation, other trusted coffee additions such as cinnamon or hazelnut syrup can be added.

All that remains is to make a cup of tea, get out your best crockery and indulge yourself!

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Slow Cooker Beef & Walnut Cobbler

I know!  Beef and walnuts - it made me stop and think, too.

I made this Cobbler a few weeks ago, now - when we'd really just come into the cooler days and I had gratefully turned my thoughts to warming stews and casseroles.  Now normally, I'd have a few recipes "up my sleeve" that I'd found whilst browsing around the food sites on the internet.  Surprisingly, that week, I hadn't any.

I immediately turned to my bookshelves - which is why one has recipe books, surely, for when the internet has failed - and sought out those that were likely to contain suitable comfort food.  My eye immediately lit upon Clarissa Dickson-Wright's "Potty", which is a favourite browse for those cold, grey days.

There I found her recipe for "Beef Cobbler" - which upon first glance didn't inspire me with a lot of curiosity.  After all, when you reach my age, you've made several Beef Cobblers in the past.  However, as my eye ran down the ingredients list (mentally checking off those things that I had to hand already),it ground to a halt at "handful of walnuts".  A handful of walnuts?  Were they for decoration, or what?  Nope, it turns out they are to be included in the meat stew part.  Well.  How very interesting!

Pillowy cobbles, instead of crusty cobbles!

Stopping to think about it, I could imagine how walnuts and beef would go together really quite well.  After all, the beef has that iron-like flavour, while walnuts have a dry, sweet, earthy flavour.  A bit like partnering beef with chestnuts, which is an accepted practice.

I was surprised to note that Clarissa reckons the Beef Cobbler to be "rather uncommon" here in the U.K. these days.  Well, it's not a staple in my repertoire, but it will certainly appear once or twice in a winter.  If there is a trend for it becoming "uncommon", then I vote that we make a move to bring it back into being very common - because it's the epitome of comfort food!

I suppose it could be a reflection of either the price of beef these days, or the move towards low calorie, lightweight eating that's done it.  As regards being calorifically heavy, it is certainly heavier than a stir fry - but then you don't come away from eating a stir fry, feeling as though all's right with the world for another few hours.

In fact, because the Cobbler top (a scone-like substance) is made without using suet, but 55g of butter instead, I agree it isn't exactly non-fattening - but it could be a whole lot worse!  The meat stew part of the concoction is about as low fat as you want it to be, in that it all depends on how much fat you put in your frying pan and how much fat you leave on your meat!

Now speaking of meat, I used 600g of beef silverside for the Cobbler.  Our butcher has silverside on special offer and as it is one of the cuts that carries the least fat (just a line of fat along one side, virtually no marbling through the meat) it seemed to be perfect for the job.  I simply trimmed off the line of fat and rendered some of it down in a very hot pan, before browning the beef.  Once I had enough fat in the pan to brown the beef, I removed the un-rendered pieces and put them aside for the dogs to eat.  That way, I made the most of the flavour that beef fat brings, without having to eat unnecessary quantities of it.

Rendering the beef fat - with a teensy bit of Rapeseed oil to help it along

It wasn't just the walnuts that fired up my curiosity with regard to this dish, but also the fact that the scone dough for the Cobbler top included sugar in its mixture.  It seemed superfluous to me and somewhat American in origin, but as Clarissa says, if you bear in mind that the Cobbler is used extensively in America in both sweet and savoury incarnations, it begins to make sense.  So I went along with it.

However, one departure from the original recipe was that I used my slow cooker for this dish.  I was curious to see how the Cobbler top would fare without the heat of an oven to brown the top of the "cobbles" - and it fared pretty well!  Using the slow cooker ensured that the meat was tender and butter-soft and, because I left adding the Cobbler top until a good three-quarters through the cooking time, the cobbles were soft, fluffy and deliciously light.  We didn't notice the lack of a brown crusty top to the cobbles, in fact it was pleasant to have soft, pillowy cobbles instead!

The slight sweetness of the cobbles was a momentary surprise, however once you'd paired it up with some of the delicious savoury gravy from the meat stew, everything fell into place.  The walnuts weren't one of the primary flavours, but very definitely lent an interestingly full, earthiness to the gravy.

I served our Beef & Walnut Cobbler with some steamed parsnips and celeriac, along with some steamed cabbage.  A true autumn classic!

SLOW COOKER BEEF & WALNUT COBBLER    (serves 3-4)

Ingredients :

600g silverside of beef (or brisket, or shin - any good stewing beef would do fine)
1 onion, sliced
4-5 small shallots, peeled and left whole
3 carrots, sliced
2 sticks of celery, chopped finely
200ml beef stock (I used a Knorr Rich Beef Stock Pot)
250ml brown ale
3 tbsp plain flour
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
a handful of walnuts, chopped.

For the cobbles :
250g self raising flour
half a tsp salt
55g butter
55g sugar
1 egg, plus 1 egg beaten
75ml milk.

Method :

1.  Trim the meat of all surplus fat and cut into chunks.  Heat a heavy casserole dish and either fry the pieces of fat until sufficient fat has rendered to fry the meat, or add a little vegetable oil or (even better) rapeseed oil.

2.  Allow the fat or oil to become really very hot indeed, before adding the meat (in batches if necessary) and searing the outside.  The aim is for the outside surface to become a little bit caramelised, which will enhance the beefy flavour of the stew part of the dish.  Decant into your slow cooker, once done, using a slotted spoon.  Put the lid on and turn the slow cooker on to low.

3.   Add the onion to the frying pan and fry on a medium heat - until softened and beginning to turn golden.

4.  Add the carrot and celery and continue to fry until the celery is softened and turning transparent.  Decant the lot into the slow cooker and replace the lid.

5.  Add the stock and ale to the frying pan and heat through.

6.  In a small bowl, add the flour and enough water to turn it into a light, fluid, paste.

7.  Remove the frying pan from the heat and add the flour/water mixture to it, whisking quickly to ensure no lumps form.  Once you are happy that the flour is mixed in, return the pan to the heat and continue to cook, whisking, until the gravy has thickened to your personal preference.  You may wish to add a little more flour/water, or alternatively not so much - depending on how you like your gravy.

8.  Add the chopped walnuts to the slow cooker and taste the gravy for seasoning.  Add a little salt and a lot of black pepper until you are happy with the seasoning.  Decant the gravy into the slow cooker, replace the lid and cook on low for a minimum of 4 hours.

9.  When the four hours are up, make the cobbles by adding all the ingredients except the beaten egg, to a bowl.  It is as well to add the liquid slowly, so that the dough doesn't become too wet.  Stir until a firm dough mixture has formed.

10.  Shape the dough into eight rounds (shaped rather like a beefburger, rather than a meatball) and drop each in on top of the stew mixture.  Paint the top of each cobble with beaten egg.  Replace the lid and cook for a further 2 hours.

Serve with steamed vegetables.

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Walnut Cheese Loaf - a teabread with a difference!

Remember recently I said how we'd managed to pick up a selection of old cookery books from a Freecycle lady?  Well, one of those cookery books was "Traditional Farmhouse Teas" by Janice Murfitt.  It's a teensy little book with lots of lovely tea-time fare detailed.

Hubby, being the baker of the family, was immediately taken with the idea of the Walnut Cheese Loaf - although he envisaged it being more of a bread than a cake.  In fact, it turned out to be very cakey indeed and I would question its description as a "teabread".  It seems a lot closer to a cake, to me.

In the illustration (by Julia Cobbold) beside the recipe, it shows the teabread as being served with what appears to be cottage or cream cheese with chives.  I am sure both would be lovely with the flavour of the teabread, but have to admit that I - predominantly - ate my slices with either honey or raspberry jam!

Maybe I'm a bit odd, but it tasted pretty darned good to me.

Each slice was surprisingly moist - I had imagined it to be a little on the dry side (as teabread often can be) but the addition of the cheese and, quite probably, some of the oil from the walnuts, contributed towards keeping it beautifully moist.  In the baking, the flavour of the cheese came through and with the walnut, complimented each other very nicely. 

There is one thing that we wouldn't repeat in any successive Walnut Cheese Loaves - and that is to grate some parmesan over the top.  We found it made the top crust too salty and the parmesan slightly altered the flavour of the walnuts.  So be warned, if you consider doing that!

I see that the little book is still available on Amazon, but in its updated format.  My version is a 1994 vintage.  It's a fun little book that gives a recipe for my very favourite, Coffee & Walnut Cake.  So between that and this Walnut Cheese loaf, I think it can stay!

WALNUT CHEESE LOAF  (serves 10)

Ingredients :

350g self raising flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp English mustard powder
1 tsp salt
a pinch of pepper
125g butter
175g cheddar cheese, grated
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 tsp chopped fresh chives
1 tbsp chopped parsley
2 eggs
150ml milk.

Method :

1.  Line a loaf tin with either a paper liner or greaseproof paper.

2.  Sift the flour, baking powder, mustard, salt and pepper into a mixing bowl.

3.  Cut the butter into small pieces and rub into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fresh breadcrumbs.

4.  Stir in the cheese, walnuts, chives, parsley, eggs and milk.  Mix together with a wooden spoon and beat for 1-2 minutes, until well blended.

5.  Place the mixture in the prepared tin and level the top.  Bake in a pre-heated oven at 190degC/375degF/Gas 5 for around an hour or until the mixture is well risen, golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

6.  Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out.  Remove the greaseproof paper and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Serve.

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Chicken & Fennel Gratin

We love fennel.  It's worthwhile saying that straight away.

However, even if you're not keen on fennel, it'd be worthwhile making this Gratin dish - so long as you're keen on the combination of Lasagne and salad - as it makes a very satisfying (and rather more lightweight) alternative, that does a similar job.

Hubby was rather disappointed that the fennel seemed to have lost the majority of its flavour in the cooking process, however I quite liked that it had been rendered more subtle than in other recipes.  Fennel is one of those ingredients that seems to either be right up there at the front of the ingredient choir singing in a piercing tenor, or can be muscled out of the way by a big deep voiced bass of a tomato (for instance).  In this dish, however, I felt it added to a harmonious whole by providing the freshness and lightness that the rich sauce required.

As a springtime dish, I think this one absolutely fits the bill perfectly.  Not as heavy as the casseroles and stews we've been relying on to warm us both inside and out whilst the winter slowly progresses on ponderous feet.  This Gratin provides just enough comfort in its creamy sauce, robust chicken and cheesy goodness that we're happy to tuck into the accompanying salad and welcome the advent of fresh, uncooked vegetables into our lives again. Croutons of crunchy baguette pair with the earthiness of the walnuts, while our spirits are lifted by the wholegrain mustard and zing of cayenne pepper.

Did I like it?  Yeah, it was okay.  LOL  No, it was lovely!

Of necessity, I made some changes to the original recipe (which I found in a BBC Good Food magazine, but it doesn't appear to be on their website) as I was cooking the chicken from raw.  As such, it needed a lot longer in the oven so I didn't bother with the pre-cooking of the fennel and didn't add the topping until 25 minutes baking had passed by.  I also drizzled the topping with a little extra virgin olive oil, both for flavour and to encourage the croutons to crisp without going hard.

As an alternative to the laborious process of making a Lasagne, this would definitely get my vote.  I could see it being popular as a suppertime dish for an evening meal with friends, accompanied by a light, crisp white wine.

Even without the wine, everyone here cleared their plate and declared it to be a very great success.

 This recipe has been entered into the Recipe Lion March Blog Hop competition!

CHICKEN & FENNEL GRATIN   (feeds 4)

Ingredients :

2 bulbs of fennel
3 chicken breasts, skinless & boneless, cut into strips

100g butter
2 tbsp plain flour
350ml semi-skimmed milk 

2 rounded tsp wholegrain mustard
pinch of cayenne pepper
100g strong mature cheddar
6 slices baguette
30g walnuts, roughly chopped
a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Method :

1.  Pre-heat your oven to 190degC/375degF/Gas5.

2.  Trim the tops from the fennel, reserving the frondy bits to chop for the sauce.  Make sure that the fennel is washed well, as dirt can hide inbetween the layers.  Trim the bottom root part away, then cut in half and remove the remainder of the core and discard.  Slice into thin pieces and sprinkle into the bottom of a gratin dish.

3.  Trim any fat from each chicken breast and slice into decent sized even slices that will lay on top of the fennel comfortably.   Arrange the slices so that the majority (or all) of the fennel is covered.

4.  In a small saucepan, melt the butter and add the flour.  Stir well and cook for a couple of minutes, but don't allow to brown.  Slowly add the milk, a little at a time, whisking like mad to avoid any lumps.  Increase the heat slowly - stirring and whisking all the time - until the sauce thickens and begins to boil.  You are looking for a sauce that is the consistency of a thick double cream.  One that will coat the back of a spoon, but still liquid enough to pour.  Reduce the heat immediately.

5.  Add the mustard and cayenne pepper, then two thirds of the grated cheese.  Stir well until the cheese is dissolved and the mustard and cayenne are evenly distributed.

6.  Add the chopped fronds from the fennel and adjust the seasoning (salt, more than pepper) if necessary.  Pour the sauce over the chicken and encourage it into the corners, so that every little bit of chicken and fennel is sealed under a blanket of sauce.


7.  Put into the oven to bake for 25 minutes.


8.  In the meantime, you can prepare the topping by cutting the baguette slices into small crouton squares and running a knife through the walnut pieces to reduce their size.


9.  Once the 25 minutes are up, remove from the oven just long enough to sprinkle the croutons, walnuts and cheese over and drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil across the top.


10.  Replace into the oven and bake again for another 25 minutes, or until the top is browned slightly and crunchy and the sauce is bubbling.


11.  Serve with a mixed salad.


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By son & heir's request : Walnut & Banana Muffins

Hubby has started a new short-term contract and so is working during the week.  This means, as our son quickly deduced, that he won't be at home to make cakes, buns, bagels or bread -  all of which appeal greatly to son and heir when he returns home from school.

Hence, in desperation at the idea of a week with no home-baked goodies to return from school to, he asked me whether I'd be able to make some muffins "or something".

I had anticipated a request such as this and had stocked up the baking supplies cupboard already.  Hence, I had a number of goodies like dessicated coconut, semi-dried apricots, chocolate chips and walnuts, just waiting to be used.

However, sitting on the kitchen's side windowsill were two OAP bananas.  They had two options - inclusion in some form of baking, or being pensioned off to the great bin in the corner.  As I'm sure you know, I hate throwing anything away, so it was a foregone conclusion that those bananas were right up there on the ingredients list.

I've used bananas in muffins in the past, as they provide a great base for flavours.  However, you have to be careful about what flavour you match them with as they can be somewhat overpowering in their advanced OAP stage.

Now I'd just read something about how walnuts have been favoured in France for their anti-inflammatory effect, and was quite keen to make use of the walnuts I had in the cupboard.  The condition that afflicts me - Polymyalgia Rheumatica - is one where the veins & arteries become inflamed, so you can probably understand my interest!

There was an added benefit to making walnut & banana muffins, which is that I am very aware of hubby's diabetes and so any sweet cakes we make are required to be low in sugar.  Owing to the intense sweetness of the bananas, I felt sure I would be able to reduce the sugar content - and indeed I was right.

All of which serves as explanation as to why the Walnut & Banana Muffins were settled upon.

The end result was a type of muffin that isn't best eaten as is, but is quite gorgeous when halved and spread with a little butter.  They have that lovely sweet/savoury thing going on, which made them perfect for their function - a little bit of loveliness to go with a glass of milk (or a cup of tea!) after school.

WALNUT & BANANA MUFFINS (makes 10-12)

Ingredients :

2 large overripe bananas, mashed

a quarter of a cup of granulated sugar

1 slightly beaten egg

one third of a cup of melted butter

100ml milk

half a tsp ground cinnamon

half a tsp baking powder

quarter of a tsp salt

one and a half cups self-raising flour

half a cup of chopped walnuts

Method :

1.  Pre-heat oven to 180deg C.

2.  In a large bowl or a Kenwood Chef type of mixer, mix the mashed banana, sugar, egg, butter and milk lightly until combined.

3.  Add the baking powder, cinnamon, salt and flour and mix again until just combined.

4.  Add the walnuts and give it a final mix.  Try not to overdo the mixing, or the muffins will toughen.

5.  Pour into silicone muffin moulds (or greased muffin tins) and bake for 30-35 mins or until a cocktail stick comes out clean.

6.  Put on a cooling rack and get the kettle on.

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Walnut, ginger & banana tea cake

From even as far back as last Wednesday, I knew I'd be making a cake - or muffins - this weekend.  I just had this yen to bake.

It's been ages since I made a cake.  Hubby rather took over the cake making mantle with his gorgeous Boiled Fruit Cake, but he's been a bit too busy lately for baking and we've got out of the habit of having a cake around.  Now this state of affairs is undoubtedly good for our waistlines, but is it good for us spiritually?  ~takes tongue firmly out of cheek~

Speaking of waistlines - I decided to go out for a "walk" this afternoon.  It was blowy and coolly damp out there and, having been sat beside a partially open window for three hours and not frozen to death, I thought it might be a good moment to begin my "Mummy Walks Around the Block" project.  You see, I've been (pretty much) incapable of walking for these last six months or more, due to Polymyalgia Rheumatica.  In fact, I'm fairly incapable of standing for longer than two or three minutes at any one time.  I thought it would be good to see whether a) I could make it around the smaller of the two "blocks" we've got available to us here and b) how many garden walls I would have to sit on, if I didn't.

Well, it turned out to be three garden walls - and I did make it all the way around our little block.  Which is remarkable, on its own!  Okay, it's only 0.21 of a mile, but it's a start.

So anyway, I digress.  Back to the cake.

The ingredients list turned into something of an epic, which is largely due to the fact that I have a number of ingredients left over from christmas (walnuts and stem ginger), but I may have got a tad carried away.  No matter, however, as the whole turned into very much a sum of its parts and it is definitely a cake I would make again.  The texture is very moist, although not heavy, and it doesn't require a slick of butter in order to make it palatable, as many tea cakes tend to.

Such was its siren's call, that upon returning from my amble around the block, we immediately indulged in a cup of tea and a slice of cake, thereby negating any good the amble might have done me.  Very British.

WALNUT, GINGER & BANANA TEA CAKE

Ingredients :

225g self-raising flour

½ tsp ground cinnamon

175g softened butter

50g light muscovado sugar

1 tbsp clear honey

2 eggs, beaten

1 medium sized ripe banana, mashed

50g walnut pieces (crushed small, if necessary)

100g sultanas

2 pieces of stem ginger, chopped

warm water, if necessary.

Method :

1.  Preheat the oven to 160c/140c fan/Gas 3.

2.  Line a 900g/2lb loaf tin with greaseproof paper.

3.  Tip the flour, cinnamon, butter, sugar, honey, banana., walnuts and eggs into a large mixing bowl and mix for some 2-3 minutes or until just combined.

4.  Add the stem ginger and sultanas to the bowl and continue mixing until combined.

5.  Decant into the loaf tin and level the top.  Sprinkle with a pinch of sugar and bake for 1 hour.

6.  When done, the top should feel firm and not springy.  Bake for another 10 minutes if necessary.

7.  Cool slightly, then lift out onto a cooling rack using the paper.  Once cold, remove the paper completely.

8.  Cut into thick slices and serve with a cup of tea for the adults and a glass of milk for the juniors.

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