The 9th bite of Christmas is Buttermilk Buckwheat Blini #12BitesOfChristmas

Pin It

The 9th bite of Christmas elicits cries of Твоё здоровье! [Tvoyo zdorov'ye!]

Твоё здоровье!

Blini - bite-sized buckwheat buttermilk pancakes - are one of those things that need to be cooked at home, and eaten more or less straight from the frying pan. An amazing alchemy transforms a little flour, milk, egg and not much more into little puffs of air, barely contain within a cake of buckwheat bubbles. Make sure you weigh them down with a decent topping or they might just float away!

So light, they practically levitate - mind they don't float away!!!

Makes about 35 – 45 depending on how big or little you make them.

150ml fresh milk

100mls buttermilk

50g buckwheat flour

50g wholemeal wheat flour

50g strong white flour (bread flour)

1 teaspoon fast action dried yeast

1 teaspoon honey

2 eggs, at room temperature (separated)

½ teaspoon of fine table salt

A little olive oil or butter for cooking

... and whatever topping you decide to adorn them with.

Start the batter a couple of hours before you need it.

These little pancakes can be cooked in advance then reheated in a low oven or in a frying pan.

Heat the fresh milk and buttermilk together in a pan to about 35°C (approximately 95°F) – if you don’t have a thermometer, this is when the milk feels neither hot nor cold if you stick a (clean) finger in to test it.

Next, mix the buckwheat, wholemeal, and strong flours together in a mixing bowl, and add the yeast, stir in the milk and the honey and mix well to combine. Add the egg yolks and salt and again mix to combine. Cover and leave the yeast to perform its alchemy for about an hour or until the mixture has thickened slightly and is surfaced with bubbles.

Whisk the egg whites in a bowl to a soft peak (when you lift the whisk from the bowl, it should draw the mixture into soft mountains that flop over gently at the top). Fold* the whisked egg whites gently into the mixture, until well-combined (*see note at the end of this post). Then heat a little olive oil or butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat. When the pan is hot enough, carefully wipe away any excess fat with a wad of kitchen paper, setting it aside to wipe the pan out between batches.

Drop spoonfuls of the batter into the hot pan, adjusting the temperature if necessary to stop them burning. I use a tablespoon, barely filling it to the top of the bowl. Make them larger if you wish.

Clockwise from top left: From raw batter to little pillows of air getting a tan

Once the top of the pancakes are pitted with a rash of burst bubbles, turn them over and continue cooking for a further minute. Once cooked, place on a heat proof dish and keep warm in a gentle oven until ready to serve, or leave to go cold for reheating later.

When ready to serve, slather with a little sour cream or cream cheese, top with a little hot-smoked or cold-smoked fish and some dill/chives/caviar. Or top with whatever you normally put on pancakes – sweet or savoury.

Eat several, reflecting as you chew, that life isn’t half bad.

Твоё здоровье!

*To fold egg white into the mixture first of all stir about one-third of the egg white into the mixture to slacken it a little then taking a spatula or a large metal spoon in your dominant hand, cut through the centre of the batter. Move the spatula or spoon across the bottom of the bowl, and back up the side and across the top bringing some of the mixture from bottom to top. Give the bowl a quarter turn and repeat. Keep folding the mixture and turning the bowl until the ingredients are incorporated into the batter. Folding avoids overworking the batter keeping it light and airy.

This one's for Santa...

Pin It

For the third bite of Christmas the treat I've made for thee is... Julia Yates' Parkin #12BitesOfChristmas

Pin It

For the third bite of Christmas the treat I've made for thee is...

Sticky, spicy, special, and full of laughter and stories

This is a recipe from a lovely English lady I knew, Julia Yates, whose kitchen always smelled of something good. Julia made a supply of her special Parkin every Christmas and served this sticky, spicy treat with tea or something stronger, and always with a kind heart, stories and lots of laughter. Sadly Julia passed away a few years ago but her recipe still lives on.

Julia Yates’ Parkin

For 24 servings you will need…

350g plain flour

350g medium oatmeal or rolled oats

275g soft dark brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground ginger

15g baking powder

10g bicarbonate of soda

5g table salt

150g golden syrup

150g dark treacle (or molasses)

275g butter

2 large eggs

Optional extras

I added a lump of stem ginger, finely chopped, with about a tablespoon of its syrup to add to the gingeriness.

Lightly butter and base line a 30cm X 23cm baking tin and pre-heat the oven to 150°C.

Mix together the first 7 (dry) ingredients in a large bowl.

Melt...

In a medium saucepan, over a low heat melt together the golden syrup, treacle and butter.

Add the 2 eggs to the dry ingredients and mix well. Then add in the contents of the saucepan and mix until combined. Transfer to the prepared baking tin and level the surface. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 40 minutes. The cake is ready when a cocktail stick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Don't worry if it doesn't rise very much. It is meant to be sticky and brownie-like in texture.

Leave to cool in the tin, then cut into squares and store in an airtight container. Now the difficult bit - ignore for at least 3 days - longer if possible. During this time a wonderful alchemy takes place and the flavours become richer and deeper, though I understand perfectly if you can’t resist!

Pin It

Chocolate Orange Mincemeat – shouts Christmas louder than a chorus of drunken carollers

Pin It

For me, chocolate and orange are the two flavours that sing out louder than a chorus of drunken carollers “Christmas is Here! Christmas is Here! “ And guess what? They absolutely love each other’s company.

This year I went through my (now dog-earred) copy of The Flavour Thesaurus and picked out other flavours that adore chocolate and like to hang out with each other as well.  

Don't be put off by the list of ingredients - it's mostly an assembly job.

See? Assembly job!

For approximately 4 jars of mincemeat, you will need...
... to pre-heat the oven to 180°C   

300g sultanas

100g ready-to-eat prunes (e.g. no stone), finely chopped

100g dried sour cherries (or dried cranberries), finely chopped

300g ready-to-eat dried apricots, finely chopped

100g mixed peel (this is finely chopped candied peel of oranges and lemons)

100g walnuts, finely chopped

220g dark brown sugar

200g grated apple (I used Granny Smiths)

125g butter, cut into cubes

finely grated zest and juice of 1 large orange

finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (or ground nutmeg)

5 coriander seeds, crushed (or ¼ teaspoon ground coriander)
3 allspice berries, crushed (or ground allspice, but not mixed spice)

2 whole cloves, crushed

2 teaspoons cocoa powder, sifted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 tablespoons Cointreau (or other orange liqueur) + an additional 2 tablespoons to stir in at the end 

Method

Mix all the ingredients together in a large oven-proof dish with a lid. Cover and place in the preheated oven and cook gently for 3 hours, stirring every half hour or so (set a timer... )

When the cooking time has elapsed, remove from the oven and allow to cool, stirring briefly every half hour until cold. This keeps the butter evenly distributed throughout the mixture.

Finally, stir the remaining 2 tablespoons of Cointreau (or other orange liqueur) into the cooled mixture before sealing in clean, dry jars.

It will keep well for up to a year in a cool dark place or in the fridge - but I can’t really see the point in that!

With these fairy-size piece, you can eat three without a hint of guilt!

For the fairy-sized mince pies in the photos, stamp out rounds of short crust pastry using a 5cm (2 inch) scone cutter and use them to line a mini-muffin tin. Fill them to the top with the cooked, cooled mixture. Bake for about 10 minutes at 180°C. 

For regular-sized mince pies, use a 7.5cm cutter (2½ inch) for the base and a 6cm cutter (2¼ inch) for the lids. Fill, seal and bake for 20 – 25 minutes at 165°C or until a pale golden brown. Remember to poke two holes in the top of each with a sharp knife to let the steam out and stop them bursting open.

I prefer my mince pies warm from the oven (the microwave is death to pastry) with a swirl of fresh cream. A touch of Cointreau in the cream is optional.

It's snowing!

Pin It

Pecan and Sour Cherry Mincemeat (and pies) - so good they ought to be banned !

Pin It

So delicious it ought to be banned!

More than a Ho Ho Ho! from a fat man in a red suit… more than a chorus of The Holly and The Ivy… Mince Pies shout “Hey everyone, Christmas is here. Par-ty!” I love them.

These little pies-with-personality have evolved a bit since they first arrived in England, brought back by returning Crusaders. Originally they contained meat, along with the dried fruits and spices we still use today.

The first written record appears in 1557 – the same year they became an endangered species. The puritan, Oliver Cromwell, decided at this point to put a damper on Christmas  - which he felt had become associated with drunkeness and gluttony. He abolished all fun and feasting associated with the event, outlawing (so legend has it) the mince pie. Christmas festivity was restored with return of the monarchy in 1660. Phew!

By Victorian times, meat had more or less vanished from the pie (although some still include beef suet to this day).

Santa is rather partial to a mince pie or two, and you are supposed to make a wish on biting into your first. Also, apparently it is bad luck to refuse the first offered to you – but I don’t think I’ve ever refused a (homemade) mince pie so that’s not something I need to fret about.

This year, the recipe is a little different to my usual one. I was in my mother’s house when a mince pie craving struck and there were a couple of interesting substitutions as she didn’t have all the ingredients. I think I like this mixture even better.

Add some zest...

For about 4 jars of Pecan and Sour Cherry mincemeat (1.5kg in total) you will need...

... to pre-heat the oven to 100°C

300g sultanas, raisins or currents (or a mixture of all 3)

300g ready-to-eat dried apricots, finely diced

100g dried sour cherries

220g honey

100g mixed peel

50g pecans, finely chopped

50g slivered almonds

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 whole cloves – crushed to a powder

200g apple, grated

125g butter, cut into cubes

grated peel and juice of 1 large orange

grated peel and juice of 1 lemon

6 tablespoons Metaxa (or Brandy, or Whiskey)

an additional 2 tablespoons of Metaxa (or whatever alcohol you choose), to stir in at the end

Measure. Mix. Mmmmm...

Mix all the ingredients together in a large oven proof dish (with a lid). Cover and place in the preheated oven and cook gently for 3 hours, stirring every half hour or so.

When the cooking time has elapsed, remove from the oven and allow to cool, stirring briefly every half hour until cold.

Finally, stir the remaining 2 tablespoons of Metaxa (or Brandy, or Whiskey) into the cold mixture before sealing in clean, dry jars.

I usually have a jar or so left over (for non-seasonal mince pie cravings). I find it keeps well for up to a year in a cool dark place or in the fridge (if my sisters don't discover it).

Merry Mincepies Everyone!

-----

To make the pies, pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Line a bun tin with shortcrust pastry. Fill with mincemeat. Cover with a pastry lid and seal the edges before punturing to allow steam to escape while cooking. My sister skips the top layer of pastry, preferring to bury the mincemeat in a layer of chopped almonds. Delicious!

(For filo pastry pies, cut into squares a little larger than the hollows of the bun tin. Brush with melted butter and add another layer, slightly off-set. Repeat with a third layer to form a rough star shape. Press into the hollows of the bun tin and fill with Christmas mincemeat. Leave the pies open or twist the edges together to make little purses.

For puff pastry pies, I cut squares, leaving enough overhang to draw the corners together in the middle before sealing the edges.)

Bake for about 20 - 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool a little before serving with a dusting of snowy icing sugar and a swirl of whipped cream. 

-----

Wishing you a delicious Christmas and a tasty 2014 !

Pin It