Biscotti

Brittle biscotti is all that a biscuit should be. The real thing should be tooth crackingly crunchy leaving even the most delicate nibblers with a crumb filled plate behind them. The twice baked sticks are perfect coffee dunkers, quickly soaking up bitter black espresso and turning a spongy soft texture in the process; much more friendly to the gnashers.

In Italy they are dipped in Vin Santo as well as coffee, but this isn’t the only tipple you can serve them with. Amaretto liqueur, all sorts of desert wines and even fruity cassis or damson gin offset the sweet, nutty biscuits wonderfully.

Traditionally they are plain or made simply with almonds but there is plenty of scope to add your favourite flavours.

Chocolate, hazelnut, pistachio, raisins, vanilla, ginger, apricots or cranberries are just a few of the ingredients that a trawl of the books will produce.

This recipe is a festive one with plenty of cardamom, spices, nuts and fruit. If you want to personalise it stick to the quantities below but change the fruit, nuts and spices to suit your taste.
Being dried out in the oven for so long means they will last for up to three months in an air tight tin and wrapped in cellophane they’re perfect presents.

Plus they’re made without butter so you can nibble them with a clear conscience.

Biscotti

500g plain flour
500g caster sugar
3tsp baking powder
3tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
5 eggs (beaten)
1 tsp vanilla or almond essence
150g raw pistachios
150g raw unpeeled almonds
150g dried cranberries
150g dried apricots

Roughly chop all of the fruit and nuts. Sieve the flour, sugar, baking powder and spices into a large bowl. Mix in half of the eggs and vanilla or almond essence and stir well. Gradually add the remaining eggs until you have a firm dough that comes away from the sides of the bowl (you may not need all of the eggs). If the dough is too wet and sticky add a little more flour. Kneed in the fruit and nuts and turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Divide into six and roll each into a long sausage shape which is 3-4cm wide. Place on a baking tray and slightly flatten the cylinders allowing space in between them for rising. Bake at 150˚C for about 25 minutes until golden. Allow to cool for ten minutes and then slice each cylinder on the diagonal into 1cm strips. Lay the strips flat on a baking tray and bake again at 140˚C for 10 minutes, turn them over and bake for a further 10 minutes. The biscuits should be pale but not turn brown, the aim is to dry them out not cook them more.

Cupcake Crazy

If there were a turf war between the oversized American cupcake and the humble British fairy cake the smaller species would have suffered the same fate as red squirrels at the hands of their grey cousins. A similar fortune has befallen the sugar sprinkled ring doughnut; now little more than a memory as the green and white Krispy Kreme stands have marched their sugary march through our station platforms and supermarket aisles.

Not that I’m complaining. I have been charmed by the enemy, defected and emerged as a staunch supporter of the opposition. Any fond childhood memories of fairy cakes at birthday parties and village fairs faded into the recesses of my mind when my teeth first sunk into an offering from the Hummingbird bakery.

Before this moment I wouldn’t have thought to complain about the paper cased treats I had greedily gobbled, but with hindsight they were not exactly gourmet. Sometimes they were show stoppers, topped with all manner of decorous sugary glazes, sprinkles, sparkles and spots. Yet often a solid chunk of slightly charred Victoria sponge cake lurked beneath, concealed by a dollop of hastily mixed butter icing, made with granulated sugar, leaving grains in your teeth. The lavish decorations and liberal doses of food colouring were I think an attempt to induce a sugar and colour rush precisely to disguise the sad little sponge beneath.

The Americans have nailed it though. Their supersize version is a light, airy, sweet sponge; the soft texture melting on your tongue like candyfloss, hardly requiring a chew. On top a gluttonously thick layer of fluffy smooth icing makes you wish for a bowl of the stuff and accompanying spoon.

Hummingbird and Magnolia bakery books have been on my shelves for months and each time I’ve flicked through their appetising pages something has stopped me from attempting to recreate these regal cakes. If I’m honest I didn’t think for a second that my own version would rival the heavenly heights of those in the bakery itself.

Amazingly though the Hummingbird vanilla cupcake recipe is without a doubt the easiest and most successful cake recipe I have ever tried (I’ve tried a lot). There is no beating, creaming or sifting; just a few blasts in the blender. And resisting all my instincts to change the method to something more traditional as I went along paid off because I bet the results would have passed a comparison test in the bakery’s window.

In fact it did make me wonder how publishing the book has affected their sales.

Better still the recipe works as a larger cake. Doubling the quantity, splitting it between three tins, filling them with homemade blackcurrant jam and topping with vanilla butter cream resulted in the most well received cake I've ever produced. Seriously, this triple layered beast of a cake seemed to have magic properties, is highly addictive and has already resulted in two job offers. Try it!


Hummingbird Vanilla Cupcakes

120g plain flour
140g caster sugar
1 ½ tsp baking powder
pinch salt
40 g unsalted butter
120ml milk
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla extract

Vanilla Buttercream

250g icing sugar
80g unsalted butter
25ml milk
½ tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 170°C and line a muffin tray with 12 paper cases. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together then flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter until just combine and sandy in texture. With the mixer running add half of the milk and mix until just combined. Beat the egg, remaining milk and vanilla together and gradually pour into the mixer while it’s running and continue mixing until smooth. Pour or spoon into the paper cases and bake for about 20 minutes.

To make the buttercream sift the icing sugar into the mixer, add the butter and beat until smooth, scraping in any mixture from the sides of the bowl. Gradually add the milk and vanilla extract and continue beating until light and fluffy.

When the cakes are cool spoon the buttercream on top.

Tuna Gravadlax

Never one to read a recipe without immediately wanting to stamp my mark on it, I had the slightly dubious idea of making gravadlax from tuna instead of the traditional salmon.

Undeterred by a Google trawl which returned no similar ideas I ventured into the fishmonger, full of excitement about my culinary invention soon to take the world by storm.

Less than impressed by the idea, they quickly assured me it wouldn’t work, tuna being a very different beast to salmon.

Which is pretty obvious really, I’d realised they weren’t first cousins, but not a reason to give up entirely. They’re both oily aren’t they? And they swim, have scales, fins and gills. Bound to work.
Yet as the fishmonger sceptically wrapped up the gleaming red tuna loin my confidence in this fledgling food was definitely dented.

A few days later it turns out I needn’t have worried though because it works and not only does it work but it’s definitely worth trying out.

The flesh kept its lustrous winey hue, made even more vibrant by the leafy green shards of dill. Finer in texture than when made with salmon, the paper thin slices are unexpectedly delicate.

The colour makes it somehow exotic and it’s delicious eaten on its own, between your fingers with a drink, as you would eat carpaccio or parma ham. Otherwise I’m sure it would pair well with rye bread, drizzled in lemony crème fraiche.

Unlike with a single slab of salmon the two layers of tuna fuse together during the curing time, sandwiching the herbs you use between them. Each slice then has a thick vein of green running through the middle but I wonder what would happen with a little imagination and the addition of red chillies or strips of lemon rind.

Tuna Gravadlax

225g very fresh tuna loin
1 ½ desert spoons rock salt
1 ½ desert spoons white sugar
1 tsp dried dill
15g fresh dill
a little olive oil

In a bowl mix together the salt, sugar and dried dill.

Take a sheet of foil and spoon roughly one third of the salt mixture into the middle. Spread out to about the same size as the tuna slices and place a slice on top. Cover the tuna slice with another third of the salt mix and cover this with a layer of dill leaves. Place the second slice of tuna on top of this, followed by the remaining salt and sugar and a few more leaves of dill.

Fold the foil tightly round the tuna to form a neat parcel. Then wrap in a second layer of foil. Place on a deep plate or flat bottomed container with a second plate on top to weigh it down slightly. Leave in the fridge for two to three days turning the parcel once or twice and draining away any liquid.
Discard any liquid and unwrap the parcel. Slice as thinly as possible and serve with ribbons of beetroot and cucumber. Or freeze for up to three months. It slices even more easily if partially frozen.

Parsnip Soup

The parsnip season begins in earnest after the first frost which judging by the plummeting temperature will be soon upon us.

This pale and more intensely flavoured cousin of the carrot develops in flavour as the temperature drops below freezing. Its welcome presence on winter menus at least partly makes up for the iciness of the season.

Before potatoes made their way to European soil in the sixteenth century parsnips often filled their place, their roots even being ground to flour to make bread. As versatile as a spud they can be roast, mashed, boiled or chipped, their distinctive taste complementing a wide array of winter flavours.

Dice and add to stews for a bit of depth or grate and simply fry to make a rosti. My favourite way of using them is in a warming spiced soup or turned into home made crisps…

Parsnip Soup
(makes four large portions or six starter size)

1 medium onion
1 stick celery
3 cloves garlic
600g parsnips
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp garam masala
salt and pepper
bay leaf
chicken stock
oil for frying

Peel and roughly chop the onion and parsnips. Peel the garlic but leave whole and chop roughly chop the celery.

Heat some vegetable oil in a large sauce pan and when hot add the onions and celery. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally before adding the garlic and parsnips, stirring again and keeping over the heat for about five minutes. Add the garam masala and cumin, mix through the vegetables and cook for a minute or two more. Add the bay leaf and chicken stock to cover the vegetables, bring to the boil and simmer for twenty minutes, adding more stock if needed.

Allow to cool partially, remove the bay leaf and liquidise with a hand blender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.


Parsnip Crisps

raw parsnips
sunflower oil
salt

Peel the parsnips and still using the peeler slice them into strips lengthways. Soak the strips in a large bowl of cold water for twenty minutes or longer which will release some of the starch and mean they curl.

Heat enough sunflower oil for deep frying in a large saucepan. Drain the parsnip strips and drop into the hot oil, separating them with metal tongs. Once golden, remove to some kitchen paper and with salt.

Duck Liver Salad

Having my card declined in the local butcher was the pretty embarrassing tipping point which has since prompted a rethink of my food shopping habits. It seems that if prices continue their ever uphill march I will soon be grouping many previously affordable staples in the luxury category along with precious saffron and caviar.

Not wanting to test the worn plastic of my card on lamb fillets, steak or even a chicken I looked at ingredients I usually bypass. While both lamb and calves liver can be a minefield of unpleasant textures if not prepared or cooked properly, the same of a duck or chicken are more straightforward, delicious and importantly won’t break the bank. In a supermarket you can pick up enough for four people as a starter for less than £3 and in a few minutes turn them into a paté with just butter, brandy and garlic. It seems that in these tight times all sorts of offal is becoming more popular.

Or pan fry them and add them to a salad or pile on top of toast.


Duck Liver Salad (serves four as a starter, two as a main)

400g duck livers
150-200g salad leaves (baby spinach and lambs lettuce are ideal)
1 heaped tsp dijon mustard
4 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp red wine
salt and pepper
oil and butter for frying

Trim the livers of any obvious gristle or veins with a sharp knife and cut them in half or thirds to make chunks of roughly the same size.

Heat a little oil and butter in a heavy based frying pan until almost smoking. Fry the livers in batches for about a minute on each side, until sealed and browned, removing them to a warm plate and adding a little more oil and butter in between batches if needed.

Return all of the livers to the hot pan and add the red wine, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan. Add the balsamic vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper and simmer for a couple of minutes with a lid.

Dress the spinach and lettuce leaves with a little olive oil and lemon juice in a large bowl and then arrange on four plates. Allow the livers to rest for a few minutes, check the seasoning and then spoon on top of the salad, drizzling with the balsamic sauce.

Either serve as it is or with slices of crusty bread or toast.