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This is another recipe from my “Cakes, Pastries and Bread” book, as I work my way through the untried recipes. This time I followed the recipe exactly and the cookies were fantastic – great flavour and a lovely texture. For some reason the kids weren’t very keen on them, but happily, that left more for the grown ups!
Peanut Cookies
100g butter or vegan margarine
50g caster sugar
150g plain flour
Pinch of salt
A little milk (or vegan alternative) for brushing
50g peanuts roughly chopped
Set the oven to 180oC.
Cream the butter or margarine with the sugar until light and fluffy. Sieve in the flour and salt, then mix to a stiff dough. Turn on to a floured surface, knead lightly and roll out to 6mm thick.
Cut into circles with a 5cm cutter and place on greased baking sheets. Brush the biscuits with milk and sprinkle with the chopped nuts.
Bake in the oven for about 12 minutes or until crisp and golden brown. Leave on the sheets for a minute, then remove on to a wire rack to cool.
I’ve long had a collection of cookery books from the St Michael Cookery Library (St Michael was a brand owned by British retailer Marks and Spencer). Some I’ve had for decades, others I’ve found more recently. But one of my go-to recipe books has always been this one, ‘Cakes, Pastries and Bread’, first published in 1977. I remember reading the book and looking at the recipes, and a small selection became favourites that I’ve use a lot.
Recently, I rediscovered the book and have been trying out, for the first time, some of the recipes that I used to only look at. These yummy, squidgy cakes came about as I changed the original recipe to suit the moment. I loved them, especially as they taste of sticky toffee pudding, one of my favourite desserts. However, I still have to go back and follow the original recipe more closely!
Date Cakes
100g butter
1 egg
100g caster sugar
200g stoned dates, chopped
100g self raising flour
Pinch of salt
Heat oven to 180oC and grease an 18cm (7in) square cake tin.
Melt the butter and the dates over a gentle heat until the dates are starting to soften
Beat the sugar and egg together until light and fluffy. Add the butter and dates and mix well.
Sieve in the flour and salt and mix well.
Turn the mixture into the prepared tin and spread evenly.
Put in the over for 30 – 40 minutes, until golden brown and well risen.
Take out of the oven and cool for 10 minutes before cutting into squares. Leave in the tin to go cold and remove.
These are best eaten fresh on the day, but do last a couple of days in a sealed container.
So, on the hottest day ever, or something like that, here’s a truly simple salad to help you through the heat! I always like to keep a melon in the fridge in hot weather, as a slice is like an ice pop and perfect for a cooling afternoon snack! Chilled melon is perfect for this salad, which is delicious as a side salad, a starter or just with fresh crunchy bread if you want something light.
Watercress and Melon Salad with Caraway Seeds
1 handful of watercress, washed
1 handful of lambs lettuce, washed
1 quarter galia melon, chilled
1 tblsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp caraway seeds
Peel the melon and cut into small chunks. Add the watercress, lambs lettuce and melon to a bowl. Add the lemon juice and toss the salad. Sprinkle the caraway seeds over the salad and serve cool.
A sad day for veggies, especially London veggies, when Covent Garden institution Food For Thought closes its doors for good on Sunday 21st June. A former banana warehouse was turned into a vegetarian restaurant in 1971, it was a favourite spot of mine. It was brilliantly quirky with it’s basement seating – and nearly always a queue up the stairs waiting to be served. It was always a mystery how the staff did it – keeping so calm while serving in such a tiny space. It will be missed.
I can see that this dish is probably mixing my culinary metaphors, but I did think this was a successful combination. I tasted my first dukkah a few years ago after I was given some as a present, and it has since become a standard in the kitchen, albeit one that gets occasional use. Dukkah (or duqqa) is an Egyptian condiment, consisting of a mix of ground nuts, seeds, spices and herbs. The jar I’m currently using contains sesame seeds, almonds, hazelnuts, coriander, cumin, salt, garlic, thyme and black pepper. I use it mostly as a coating or in this case topping, added to breadcrumbs or cornmeal. Every family would have their own blend of dukkah, so you could certainly make up your own mix!
The fine spear asparagus was delicious, although thicker spears would work well cooked a little longer. This dish would make a wonderful seasonal starter, or a main course with a big side salad and chunks of crusty bread.
Asparagus with Dukkah over Chilli Polenta
Large handful of fine spear asparagus, washed and any woody ends cut off
2 tblsp olive oil
1 tblsp dukkah
1 tblsp fine cornmeal / polenta
Dash of sea salt
1 pint water
1/4 pint polenta (I find it works well to measure the polenta as a quarter of the water!)
1 small red chilli chopped.
Pinch of salt
Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F. Put the asparagus into a roasting tin, pour over the olive oil and toss till well coated. Roast for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile heat the water in a large saucepan. As it heats, add the polenta, chilli and salt, stirring constantly with a whisk. Keep stirring until you have a thick, creamy mix, then keep warm over a very low heat (or just put the lid on the pan).
Mix the dukka and the cornmeal. Take the asparagus out of the oven, turn the spears with tongs, then sprinkle the dukkah mix over them. Put back in the oven for a further 5 minutes.
Serve on warm plates, by spooning up a heap of polenta and topping with asparagus spears.
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