Tonight I am making biscotti. I have been trying many cakes lately, some with a greater result and some with not so great:-) Some of those lesser episodes made me want to stop but here I am! And no I am not going to give up!
Almond biscotti
Makes approx. 20 biscotti
Ingredients:
2 medium eggs
a pinch of salt
80g of ground almonds
140g of flour
1tsp baking powder
2 tsp of vanilla extract
50g of icing sugar
90g of mix of dried fruit & nut - as I had bits and bobs of all sorts I ended up adding sultanas, dried cranberries, almond flakes and blanched almonds, but ideally next time it will be just dried cranberries or sour cherries and blanched almonds.
Let's do it
Preheat the oven to 160C. In a bowl beat eggs with a pinch of salt and then add flour, ground almonds, vanilla extract, baking powder icing sugar and the mix of fruit and nuts and form a dough. It is a bit sticky so sprinkle some flour on the worktop. Roll the dough into a log - around 8cm wide and 2cm thick. Transfer onto a flat baking tray with a baking paper on. Bake for 25 minutes. Take out of the oven and let it cool for around 10-15 minutes. Then cut into slices 1cm thick with a serrated knife. Arrange in the same baking tray on the paper. Bake 5 minutes on each side. Allow to cool completely. Store in a sealed container for up to a week.
I think I fell into a time whole as I did not post anything for ages. Finally it's warmer in London and a kind of spring arrived;)
Baked salmon with crushed potatoes, green beans and black olive tapenade
Serves 2
Salmon
Two frozen salmon fillets
Butter
Oil
Slices of lemon
Preheat the oven to 200C (fan assisted). Pour a tablespoon or two of oil into a baking tray and put the fillets in. Top each fillet with a couple of small slices of butter, black pepper and slices of lemon. Bake for 35 minutes.
Crushed potatoes
250g of new potatoes/ Charlotte potatoes
Olive oil/ rapeseed oil
Salt and pepper
Chopped chives
Wash the potatoes and cut into smaller pieces, boil in salted water until tender for 15 - 18 minutes and drain. Pour over 2 tablespoons of olive oil or rapeseed oil, season and crush the potatoes with a fork.
Tapenade
This makes more tapenade than you need for your dinner but it's so delicious that can be eaten with anything! Can be stored in a sealed container in a fridge for up to two weeks.
180g black pitted olives
a juice of one small lemon
2 tbsp of capers, drained
6 anchovies fillets, rinsed
1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped finely
parsley
basil leaves
salt and pepper
2-4 tbsp of olive oil or rapeseed oil
Tip all the ingredients to a food processor and whizz briefly if you prefer a coarse texture or for longer if you prefer a smooth texture.
Serve as on the picture below:) Enjoy!
I was about to polish off the cauliflower and almond soup from last night but all of a sudden I realised that all those wonderful three breads I baked for Easter are now gone. How can have a bowl of soup without bread? So I started thinking what's the quickest bread to make? I eagerly searched on-line and here is what resulted in this quick creation. Within 40 minutes of starting the preps the bread was ready.
Very quick rye soda bread
Adapted from Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall's Rye and honey soda bread
Ingredients
250 g stoneground rye flour
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
1/4 tsp salt
80g seed mix of your choice, I added the omega sprinkle mix from Holland& Barret
100ml full fat milk
100ml natural yogurt
5tbsp agave nectar
1 tbs rapeseed oil
Let's do it
Preheat the oven to 200C (fan assisted) and grease a flat baking tray with oil and sprinkle with flour.
Mix the flour with bicarb soda, salt and the seeds.
In a separate bowl or measuring jug mix milk, yogurt, agave nectar and rapeseed oil. Pour over the dry ingredients and mix quickly but thoroughly. The dough will be sticky, so using a spatula transfer it onto the baking tray and shape into a more or less round loaf 7-8 cm high, sprinkle over some rye flour and make a halfway through cross incision. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Take out of the oven and tap the bottom of the bread, if it sounds hollow than the bread is done. Cool on a wire rack.
I love soups and I love making them too! They are a balm for my body and soul:)
This one is a particularly favourite one.
Cauliflower and almond soup
Adapted from Allegra McEvedy's Leon book, also published in the Guardian
Allegra McEvedy's recipe for cauliflower& almond soup
Serves 3-4
Ingredients
medium fresh cauliflower (700g)
25g butter
1 medium onion, peeled and thinly sliced
2 medium garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground fenugreek
1/2 tsp ground ginger
35g ground almonds
500 ml veggie stock
300ml full-fat milk
salt and pepper
To serve: chopped parsley, almond flakes, lemon wedges - 1 for each portion, bread
Let's do it
Cut the cauliflower florets of the central trunk and roughly chopped, also roughly chop the trunk.
Melt the butter in a pan with a splash of oil add the onion, garlic, spices and the chopped trunk and cook until onion starts to soften. Stir in the ground almond and ensure that all is well coated then pour the stock into the pan. Simmer for 10 minutes and add the cauliflower florets, they will not be completely covered but as they continue to cook they will be covered, stir from time to time and simmer for 20-25 minutes until the cauliflower is tender. Stir in the milk and using a hand blender blitz until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with almond flakes, freshly squeezed lemon juice from a lemon wedge, chopped parsley and bread or baguette.
Serves 1 or 2modest individuals
