Bird Baths and Brownies...

I haven’t been writing as much over the past few months mainly because my mum was visiting from Australia. During her stay we had a great time scouring charity shops for treasures, visiting the lovely town of Faversham several times and of course cooking up many delights in the kitchen.

My mum is a master of organization! I, however am the complete opposite – although I do have ‘a system’ (it usually doesn’t work very well and results in mega tantrums). Anyway, while she was here she very kindly took it upon herself to sort through and organize my collection of recipes. There were clippings from newspapers and magazines as well as print outs from websites stuffed and stacked in various cupboards and shelves in my kitchen. It took a full 2 days (and 3 bottles of Pinot Grigio) but she did it and the result is;

• I can actually find the recipes I am looking for

• I rediscovered some long lost recipes I had always wanted to try

One of these rediscovered recipes is a Jamie Oliver one, snipped years ago from a magazine. It’s for chocolate brownies, something I enjoy eating but have never made. Well this past weekend I gave them a go and they are absolutely scrummy! However they are definitely NOT low in fat. I doubled the recipe so my husband could take some into work and let me just say that when you see a whole pack of butter disappearing into your brownie mix you know you’re in trouble!

So to balance things out (in my own mind anyway) I have been putting extra time into my garden. Over the past few days there has been a lot of pruning, re-potting and general sorting out. I was actually just enjoying one of these brownies in the garden (with a large mug of tea) as a reward for assembling my newly acquired bird bath. It was bought from the RSPB and I also become a member at the same time. Wildlife is very important to me and I love watching all the life going on in and around my little garden.

In fact I think I may have another brownie and watch to see if any birds decide its bath time!

And Thank You MUM for all your love, help and support!

Here is the original Jamie Oliver recipe:

Chocolate Brownies (Serves 4)

Ingredients

• 100g dark chocolate, broken into small pieces

• 125g butter

• 4 large organic eggs

• 300g caster sugar

• 100g self raising flour

• Pinch of salt

• 125g shelled walnuts

• Icing sugar, for dusting

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 190C (375F, gas mark 5)

• Grease a 20x20cm baking tin with a little butter, then cut a square of greaseproof paper to fit neatly in the bottom

• Melt the chocolate and butter in a glass bowl over a pan of simmering water. Remove from the heat and set aside

• Mix the eggs, sugar, flour and salt together in a bowl. Add the melted chocolate and butter mixture. Sprinkle in the walnuts. Stir and fold together being careful not to over-mix

• Spread evenly into the cake tin and bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 15 – 18 minutes, or until a crust has formed but they are still a bit wobbly (you don’t want them to be really cooked through like a cake)

• Allow the brownies to cool slightly and then cut into squares. Serve with icing sugar dusted over the top

Jamie’s top tip: If you don’t like walnuts, try the recipe with dried cherries, apricots or pecan nuts.

Luna Note: As I doubled the recipe I used 125g of walnuts and 100g of dried cranberries. It was a great combination!

If you are interested in the RSBP then please visit their website to find out the many ways you can help protect our natural world.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/

Indian Pudding: Childhood Memories And Autumnal Tr...

Thinking back on my childhood, one of the things I remember from this time of year was my Mum making a dessert known as Indian Pudding. There was nothing quite like playing outside in the crisp Autumn air – jumping in piles of leaves and playing make believe in the back yard – and then coming inside to this wonderful dish. The spicy aroma and deep smoky flavour of molasses take me right back to those happy childhood memories.

The origins of Indian Pudding come from Colonial America where the settlers attempted to recreate dishes from their homelands. It is very similar to porridge and also to what is known in the U.K as hasty pudding. Cereal grains (usually wheat or oats) would be boiled down over a long period of time in scalded milk, resulting in a thick creamy consistency (no lumps please!).

Not having access to large stores of wheat or oats the colonists used cornmeal instead which was more readily available. Often butter or beaten eggs would be added to give the dish extra richness. Spices such as Cinnamon, Ginger and Nutmeg would be used to enhance the flavour and it would be sweetened with molasses. Dried fruits were also occasionally added.

For me this creamy dessert conjures up happy childhood memories (and Autumn) just as much as a big slice of pumpkin pie.

Here is the recipe for my Mum’s Indian Pudding

Ingredients

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

3/4 cup water

4 cups whole milk

1 large egg

3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup dark molasses

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup combination of raisins and dried cranberries

Good quality vanilla ice cream to serve. (I love Mackie’s)

Directions

Preheat oven to 150 degrees Celsius (300 degrees F).

Heavily grease a 1-1/2 quart oven proof baking dish with unsalted butter.

Place 3/4 cup water in a small bowl and gradually whisk in the cornmeal until it is completely mixed and smooth.

Scald 3 cups of the milk in a heavy saucepan (heat until tiny bubbles appear around the edge). Make sure you don’t bring the milk to a full boil.
Stir the cornmeal mixture into the hot milk. Reduce heat to low and stir frequently, for approximately 15 minutes, or until the mixture has thickened.

Remove from heat.

Beat the egg in a small bowl. Gradually stir some of the hot cornmeal mixture into the beaten egg, one spoonful at a time, until you have added about 1/2 cup of the mixture. (This will gently warm up the egg so the hot cornmeal mixture doesn’t cook it too quickly.)

Return the egg and cornmeal mixture to the saucepan and stir in the sugar, molasses, butter, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. You can add dried fruit at this stage if you want.

Pour the mixture into the prepared greased dish and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and gently pour the remaining 1 cup of milk over the top of the pudding. Do not stir in.

Continue to bake for approximately 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until the pudding begins to set.

Remove from oven and set aside for 30 minutes to one hour. It will continue to thicken further as it cools.

Serve warm, topped with vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!

Note: This recipe serves 5-6 but I love to have the leftovers for breakfast the next day – slightly warmed and served with milk. YUMMY!

Indian Pudding

Mum’s Marvellous Muffins: A healthy snack and a ...

Well I have been back from Australia for just over 5 weeks now and I am still trying to get myself settled back into a daily routine. Fortunately Nutmeg hasn’t been having the same problems. Once we picked her up from the cattery and brought her home she hopped straight up onto the sofa wanting nose rubs and cuddles. All seems to be forgiven – which when dealing with cats is a good thing, however I am still sleeping with one eye open – just in case!

The time spent with my parents was very special. My husband and I spent time in Sydney, Brisbane and Airlie beach. There were some wonderful trips to nature reserves where we saw some amazing (if not slightly terrifying) wildlife. We also helped my parents move house which was an adventure in and of itself. There were restaurant visits of course but what we really enjoyed was cooking together and sharing our meals at the dining room table.

While my Dad and husband were in charge of making cocktails and occasionally throwing something on the barbeque, it was my Mum and I that did the majority of the cooking. She shared many wonderful recipes with me – some were old favourites that I hadn’t had since I was a child. Others like this muffin recipe were new to me.

I have to say this muffin recipe is one of my favourites and I have made them several times since arriving back in the UK. They are so simple to make and are perfect for breakfast or as a healthy snack during the day. They are nothing like the ’cake’ style muffins we get here in the UK and I am delighted. If I wanted cake I would eat it – but muffins should taste like muffins!

So here it is, my Mum’s Marvellous Muffin Recipe.

Ingredients:

2 ½ Cup of Raisin Bran Cereal

¼ Cup All Bran Cereal

5 dried apricots chopped in large chunks (one apricot chopped into 3 pieces works well)

5 dates chopped (same as the apricots I like to chop each date into 3 large pieces)

¼ Cup walnuts

¼ Cup dried blueberries OR cranberries

1 ½ Cup of low fat milk (I actually use 2%)

2 ½ tbsp of Oil (you can use vegetable oil or canola)

1 egg

1 ¼ Cup self raising flour

¼ Cup brown sugar

3 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp dried ginger

¼ tsp nutmeg (the magic ingredient!)

(You can also add wheat germ or any other nuts or dried fruits you like. I did use fresh blueberries which also worked well. It made the muffins really moist)

Directions

Heat the oven to 180 degrees.

Grease the bottom of 12 medium sized muffin tins (or see my Mum’s Top Tip below)

Mix the Raisin Bran and All Bran in a large bowl and slowly add the milk.

Let this stand until the cereal has softened (about 5 minutes)

Muffin Mixture After Adding Milk

Gradually beat in the oil and egg.

Mix the remaining ingredients (including the flour) in a separate bowl and gently stir into the cereal and milk mixture.

Mix until everything is just moistened.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin tins.

Bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove muffins and place on cooling rack.

Enjoy for breakfast with some fruit yoghurt on the side or in the afternoon with a cup of tea!

Top Tip

Greasing muffin tins is not only messy but it adds unnecessary calories to your cooking.

I have never felt comfortable cooking with parchment paper but my Mum showed me a really easy way to use it.

Cut some squares of parchment paper (I use 4 inches by 4 inches)

Fold the paper over the end of an upturned glass (my Mum used a can of olive oil spray)

Top Tip For Lining A Muffin Tin

You get a nice little ‘cup’ of paper that neatly slots into your muffin tin.

Getting The Muffin Tins Ready

Carefully spoon the batter into each cup.

Mum's Marvellous Muffins About To Go In The Oven

Once the muffins are cooked the parchment paper peels off really easily.

There was no mess and no fuss!

Mum's Marvellous Muffins