cinnamon plums and french toast

It´s Saturday morning and I wake up to the raindrops smattering on the windowsill. As soon as I open my eyes, my first thought is that there is a large Congress going on in the city. Should I go? I´ve been invited to take part and also to this evenings festivities. Yaaawn! It´s warm and cozy in the bed and I love the fact that I don´t have to get up and run if I don´t want to. I´m stretching and yawning again, don´t know when I did it last time. I have a strange theory about me being too tense to yawn, so for a moment I feel happy for being able to yawn. Are you yawning yet? Because there are theories about yawning being contagious ;) I think I just set a record in using the word yawn ...let´s see...seven times in six sentences.

The fact that it will be food involved in tonight's meeting is rather tempting, notwithstanding that one of the guests lecturing is quite a wellknown homeopath from Norway and he will be presenting a case that interests me.

I´m looking out of the window again and see that the trees outside my house are starting to look a bit...stripped. They still wear most of their leaves but there is more yellow then green ones left. They hold on for their lives but the wind has been quite strong last night and many of them just let go... I am saying myself a loud Good morning and still in bed I start thinking about breakfast.

A bright smile is spreading on my face as I remember that I have bought some plums and a smallish baguette last night to make Nigella´s Cinnamon Plums With French Toast.

As soon as I got up and took a look at the recipe I realised that I´ve done it again. What´s wrong with me not reading through recipes carefully enough? First ingredient on the list was cranberry juice and - of course - I didn´t have any. It´s not that common in Sweden unless you have urinary tract infection, so it is nothing I have lying around in my fridge. I remembered that I had some verjuice left from poaching peaches for another of my favourite breakfasts, and I just made up my own recipe from there. Don´t have the measurements exactly, but then it´s nothing complicated either. I thought it was way too much sugar in the original recipe, I prefer to taste the flavour of the plums, so I used less. Nigella uses brioches for the toast, and that I can´t find here either, so I used plain white baguette.

I don´t know what Nigella´s version would have been like, but I must say I was very contented with my concoction :)

Cinnamon Plums With French Toast

Adapted from Nigella Lawson At My Table

NYT 11-10-04

1 large serving or 2 small ones

For the plums:

4 large plums

1 stick of cinnamon, about 4 cm

100 ml verjuice

about 2-3 tbsp brown sugar

100-200 ml water

For the French Toast:

1 egg

2 tbsp milk

a dash of cinnamon

1 tsp sugar

butter

6 slices of baguette, sliced diagonally

If you would like to make Nigella´s version, here is the original recipe:

serves 5-6

For the Plums:

2 cups cranberry juice

1 cup sugar

1 cinnamon stick

2 pounds plums, halved and pitted

For the French toast:

2 large eggs

1/4 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons butter

6 half-inch slices brioche

1. In a wide saucepan, combine cranberry juice and sugar. Place over low heat, and stir until sugar is dissolved. Add cinnamon stick, and raise heat to bring to a boil; boil for about 2 minutes.

2. Add plums, and reduce heat to low. Simmer until plums are tender but not disintegrating, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and set aside. (Plums may be served warm or at room temperature; reheat if desired.)

3. In a large bowl, whisk together egg, milk, ground cinnamon and sugar. Place a large skillet over medium-low heat, and add butter, spreading it in the pan. Dip three slices of brioche in the egg mixture, so they absorb the liquid but don't fall to pieces. Place in skillet and cook until golden brown on both sides, about 2 minutes a side. Transfer to a plate and keep warm. Repeat with remaining three slices brioche.

4. Place a portion of French toast on each plate with a serving of plum halves and their syrup.

prawn and pumpkin curry and breakfast bars

Today it was Nigella Express day. I had her Red Prawn and Mango Curry and with my afternoon cuppa I had a Breakfast Bar.
Breakfast Bars in the afternoon...I know, but I had a cinnamon bun with my 10 o´clock tea and I tried to maintain some balance. This week I felt like compensating. I am a bit low at the moment, I don´t know if it´s the autumn light and the damp, slightly foggy mornings or if it´s just sheer loneliness. Usually I handle it quite well, but then sometimes when I relax it just sneaks in under my skin and makes me feel uncomfortable and itchy. Nothing serious though, forgive me for whingeing, it will pass after demolishing a few packets of pralines, perhaps a big lemon cake and a few nice books.

Talking about books, I ordered four books from Amazon two nights ago. I have been salivating for Jake Tilson´s The Tale of 12 Kitchens ever since it was published sometimes last autumn. Then I found a novel called Pomegranate Soup about a Persian family that moves to Ireland and opens a cafe. Every story starts with a recipe and this way the recipes become more personal. I hope. I also hope they will be inspiring and that it will be a good read. Third book is Chocolate and Zucchini, not a new one either, but now was the time for me. Also a book with stories from the life of a Parisienne and 80 recipes. Forth book...eeh...what was the forth book? Oh, yes, A nice cup of tea and a sit down. As I love tea and everything about and around tea, I thought this sounded like the perfect autumn book to read with a nice hot cuppa.

Back to the curry then. It was very nice but it reminded me of Nigella´s Sweet Potato and Chickpea curry from "At my table". (Articles published by the NYT) I found it a bit too much with both pumpkin, sweet potatoes and mangoes. Also the mango I found was a bit unripe, so every time a got mango in my mouth, I made funny faces. You would think that the sweet and sour tastes were melting together nicely, but not with my mango, not. Next time I won´t even consider using a mango, sour or not, I just didn´t think it added anything special to this curry. Recipe you find at Pistachio´s kitchen, also a proper write up about this dish. (Seems like I´m a copycat, huh? You could say that, but I choose to express it as "inspiration";))


Now, about the Breakfast Bars, they were really nice. I don´t know what I expected, not much actually, but they were very nice. It´s not like I could eat few of them with a cup of tea for breakfast and that´s it, but I rather eat it when I feel like munching on something and want to have a healthier variant. Nice and almost crunchy the day of the baking, perhaps next day too, after that they got a bit soft. I don´t find the right word here, not soft, but they were not crunchy anymore...


They are very easy to make, you just mix all the dry ingredients and then add the warmed condensed milk with a spatula. Spread the mixture in the pan and press down to even the surface. Bake for 1 hour, then remove from the oven and cool for about 15 minutes. Cut into 16 bars and leave to cool completely in the tin.





Breakfast Bars
16 bars

1 x 397g can condensed milk
250g rolled oats (not instant)
75g shredded coconut
100g dried cranberries (I only had fresh ones)
125g mixed seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, sesame)
125g natural unsalted peanuts (don´t like peanuts so I substituted walnuts)

Preheat the oven to 130c/gas mark 1/2 and oil a 23x33x4cm baking tin

lamb tagine express

I hope I didn´t fool you to believe it is one of Nigella´s new dishes;)

I found this recipe on Almost Turkish Recipes and what made me interested was the mode of preparation. (Do check out Burcu´s blog, you´ll find many good recipes there.)

This is a dish cooked in a pressure cooker, which means that after working the steam up (let´s say about 15 minutes) cooking time is only 15 more minutes and voila, you have a delicious lamb stew on the table!

I love lamb, as you can see by looking at the labels, but tagine takes a long time to cook (I see how the title of the post tagine express is a paradox, as tagine is a slow cooked dish), and it´s not often I have that time. I remembered that I had a pressure cooker somewhere on the attic, a wedding gift I received - but never used - for about 17 years ago... I have always felt a bit intimidated by pressure cookers as I´ve heard terrible stories about them exploding when I was a child.

When I finally put the pot on and heard the well-known sound of the steam, it brought back memories. My mother used to cook a lot in her pressure cooker in the 70´ies and 80´ies, and I was suddenly transferred into my childhoods kitchen on a Sunday morning. I must admit I ran out of the kitchen every time the sound from the pc changed and was only peaking in from behind the door...but it went well and I definitely have the intention to start using this wonderful pot again.

I was thinking about trying this recipe and then if it works, adapt favourite tagine recipes for the pressure cooker.

Middle Eastern Lamb Stew

(yields: 3 pers if served with pita, but I imagine it would be enough for 4 if served with couscous)

500g boneless lamb, cut into 2,5cm cubes

2 medium onions, chopped

2 medium Chinese eggplants, peeled lengthwise in stripes and diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 medium tomatoes, diced

3/4 cup vegetable broth

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp crushed hot pepper

salt and pepper

2-3 cups plain yogurt

2 tbsp fresh mint leaves, very finely chopped

*Heat the oil in big pot and brown the meat on all sides.

*Add onion, garlic, and eggplants. Cook until onion is soft.

*Add the remaining ingredients (except for yogurt and mint leaves). Season to taste.

*Cover pressure cooker and first bring to full pressure over high heat and then reduce heat to low. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove from burner and release the pressure.

*In a bowl mix yogurt and mint leaves.

*Serve the stew with minty yogurt on the side or on the top.

There were no oohs and ahhhs when I took the first mouthful of stew, no flavour explosions, wasn´t too exotic, but then I tried it with the peppermint yogurt and it really did the difference (as Burcu stated on her blog). This is not a dish I would choose if I had a Middle Eastern theme for guests, but this is something I would cook for family and close friends a cold and foggy autumn evening, and that says a lot.

metro soup

This morning on my way to work, sitting on the tram, I was too tired to read my book, so I just listened to music and picked up a Metro. It´s a free newspaper, if I´m not totally wrong you can read it in all larger cities around the world. I´m a bit like an ostrich, with my head in the sand, I don´t like to start my day with bad news, so I just took a quick look at the fashion and music articles and by an accident I noticed a recipe for "Carrot Soup" by Weight Watcher´s.

I have always thought they must be boring recipes, but I noticed the word carrot, and I know I had loads of carrots waiting to be used up, so I gave it a shot. I was surprised, because it´s easy peasy but flavourful, I´m guess the garlic added that final twist to the otherwise sweetish soup.

So, here´s the recipe, I do recommend it to all working girls :)



Metro Soup
(1 hungry working girl)

3 carrots
1 medium parsnip
1/2 l vegetable broth
1 clove of garlic (a small one if you eat the soup at work)
salt
1 tbs parsley
1 smallish broccoli

Peel and chop parsnip and carrots and cook until soft. Whizz it in the blender, pour it back into the pot and bring it to the boil. Season with salt, parsley and mashed garlic.
Serve soup with the separately cooked broccoli and bread if you like. And as I´m not watching my weight, I served it with a dollop of Creme Fraiche. Yum!
Oh, for those of you interested, it says that uhhh...point per serving:0. (It would be without the bread and Creme Fraiche :D)

dense chocolate loaf cake and blueberry tea

After not wanting chocolate for about two-three years, suddenly a huge craving set in. Now I eat chocolate in every shape and colour, and this rainy afternoon I felt the urge to bake something chocolaty for tea.

Since it was already rather late, I didn´t chose any fancy recipe, I just needed a chocolate fix, so I picked Nigella´s Dense Chocolate Loaf from the Kitchen Goddess. There were other recipes with cocoa powder (Tessa´s chocolate bread) but this one felt more like the real thing with melted chocolate in the mixture.

It started with me noticing that I was out of butter, so after a quick tour down to the grocer I was ready to start. Or at least, so I thought. But then, I realized that the muscovado I had at home won´t be enough! Hehe, I really was in need of a cuppa, I should have just sat down and read the recipe first and then see if I had everything at home...but I didn´t.

I was too lazy to go shopping again, so I used about 80 g´s of lavender sugar and 3/4 tsp of dried lavender. I have never used it before, though I made the lavender sugar more than half a year ago, so I was a bit careful, as I didn´t want to end up with soap.

Well, I didn´t. Within an hour I was having my first, still hot slice of chocolate cake and a cup of Earl Grey. Nigella says that this loaf becomes better after a few days, so it just makes it perfect for one person, as I don´t think I´ll finish it in one day :) ...I hope I won´t.

I liked the introductory chat and the way Ms Lawson describes the finished product as sunken in the middle, but that´s the way it should be, since the cake is so dense and moist. It was very reassuring for me, because otherwise I have a tendency to whinge over my insufficiency in the kitchen, as soon as my cakes, cookies or slices look too "homebaked"...

The overall verdict is that this is the perfect cake, easy and satisfying when you have a big craving but little time. There aren´t any peculiar ingredients involved, you should have everything in your pantry. Oh, except for the butter, of course, that could be a tricky ingredient;)

Dense Chocolate Loaf Cake

225 grams soft unsalted butter

375 grams dark brown sugar

2 large eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

100g best dark chocolate,melted

200g plain flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

25oml boiling water

23x13x7 cm loaf tin

Preheat the oven to 190C/gas mark5 , put in a baking sheet in case of sticky drips later; and grease and line the loaf pan. The lining is important as this is a very damp cake: use parchment or one of those loaf-pan-shaped paper liners.

Cream the butter and sugar, either with a wooden spoon or with an electric hand-held mixer, then add the eggs and vanilla, beating in well. Next, fold in the melted and now slightly cooled chocolate, taking care to blend well but being careful not to overbeat. You want the ingredients combined: you don't want a light airy mass.

Then gently add the flour, to which you've added the baking soda, alternately spoon by spoon, with the boiling water until you have a smooth and fairly liquid batter. Pour into the lined loaf pan, and bake for 30 minutes. Turn the oven down to 170C/gas mark 3 and continue to cook for another 15 minutes. The cake will still be a bit squidgy inside, so an inserted cake tester or skewer won't come out completely clean.Place the loaf pan on a rack, and leave to get completely cold before turning it out.

(I often leave it for a day or so; like gingerbread, it improves.) Don't worry if is sinks in the middle; indeed, it will do so because it's such a dense and damp cake.

On the weekends I try to go for a walk in the forest and just relax, let go of the problems of the week that has passed and charge my batteries. Also I like to pick flowers, berries, mushrooms or whatever I find useful. This weekend I gathered some blueberry leaves to dry for tea. When I was a child we drank blueberry tea all winter long, it didn´t cost us anything (we were actually quite poor) it was naturally caffeine free, and it had obvious health effects. (My father always loved the forest, the nature, the animals and I carried this on with an interest in natural and herbal medicine)

So next time, have a cup of blueberry leaf tea with your cake ;)

In folk medicine, blueberry leaf has been used to treat a number of conditions including urinary tract infections, diarrhea and diabetes. Limited evidence from a few animal studies shows that it may have a decreasing effect on blood sugar. In at least one study, an extract of blueberry leaves may also have lowered cholesterol levels in laboratory animals. It has been shown in clinical studies to decrease some of the retinal damage caused by diabetes or high blood pressure. Additionally, blueberry may help to make the walls of blood vessels stronger by increasing collagen linkages. If you are lucky to find some leaves with berries on, than you have a tea rich in antioxidants .

This is a bad pic but the tea has a wonderful red color and tastes refreshing.