Meredith's Zucchini Cake [#251]

This week's cake comes from Rachel Allen's book, 'Bake'. At first, one might think "eeuch" at the idea of a cake with courgette in, but it is no more odd than using carrot or beetroot, and is a well-established favourite in the States and in Australia. It makes for a moist and lightly spiced cake, with chopped walnuts added for texture, and a little cinnamon, clove and nutmeg to warm proceedings up. The recipe makes a lot - I got two cakes out of the mix but one will be safely stashed in the freezer. Can't find an online version of this, so let me know if you want the recipe and I'll email it separately

Tomatoes baked with Thyme, Cream and Parmesan [#247]

I have lots of versions of this, but based this one on a Rachel Allan recipe - pure comfort food, as she says, and delicious served with a bowl of tiny steamed Jersey Royals, and some wonderful red oak leaf lollo rosso and cucumber salad to mop up the copious juices. Simply slice ripe tomatoes in half, around their equator. Place in a baking dish and top each half with a teaspoon of creme fraiche, a pinch of chopped thyme and a good sprinkle of grated Parmesan. Bake in a moderately hot oven for 20 minutes until the tomatoes are soft and the cream and cheese has formed a scrumptious golden, bubbling topping. These are also yummy stirred through pasta, or simply on top of some hot toast.

Rhubarb and Cinnamon Cobbler [#244]

I HAD planned to make a rhubarb cinnamon cake, but couldn't be bothered. You know how it is? So, instead I made Rachel's cobbler, with a few tweaks. A cobbler is basically a scone topping, made light and fluffy with buttermilk or yoghurt (which I used) and quite a wet mix that spreads out, to resemble cobbled streets. I had some wonderful outdoor rhubarb in the veg box, so instead of the usual ginger or orange, I mixed a little cinnamon into the light brown sugar that sweetened the fruit, and was rewarded with a deep, dark fruit layer to accompany the sweet scone topping. Yum! So, the blog is back on! Thanks for sticking with me

Rhubarb Crumble [#243]

I know, this is hardly a challenge, but I do love a good crumble and the rhubard is so fab at the moment. I also wanted to share Rachel Allan's topping, which ALWAYS works. Why should something as simple as a crumble topping cause problems? Well, in the past, I've found that various recipes disappoint, primarily because they don't get the proportions of ingredients right and end up doughy and clarty on cooking. Rachel uses 75g each of butter and soft brown sugar, and 150g of plain flour - and that's it. Nothing else, no fancy schmamcy sugars, ground nuts etc and certainly no baking powder. These proportions produce - for me anyway - the perfect crumble topping, short, crisp all the way through, and a delicious accompaniment to the slightly tart rhubarb with orange, and a proper custard. Lovely job!

Chorizo, Butternut and Feta Frittata [#234]

So, we were meant to be eating the leftover Asian Ribs tonight. Who was I kidding? So, a lovely baked frittata from Rachel Allan instead, with some crusty bread. I slightly over-baked it, as I was distracted whilst reading about.....food! Delicious though, with a lovely blend of salty, spicy and sweet.

Chocolate and Hazelnut Toffee Tart [#215]

A stonker from Rachel Allen. If you like millionaire's shortbread, then you'll love this - a fully baked shortcrust pastry base, spread with a hazelnut toffee sauce (soft brown sugar, butter and cream, bubbled together for 3-4 minutes, then chopped toasted hazelnuts folded in). Once this sets, spread with a ganache of dark chocolate and more cream, and leave to set. Do they eat this in Heaven? Or perhaps Hell? It makes a difference, you know, 'cos I ain't going to whichever doesn't serve it.........

Winter Vegetable Broth with Chorizo and Haricot Beans [#203]

The snow is lying nearly a foot deep around Oxford tonight, in common with the rest of the country. We want carbs and plenty of them to keep the cold out. This lovely fragrant broth from Rachel Allen was just the ticket and used up the remaining chicken stock from the chicken pie earlier. Finely diced carrot and onion (no leeks sadly, they are all frozen in the ground), a little diced red pepper and a potato, and around 70g or so of diced chorizo. Simmered with 900ml of stock, with a drained tin of haricot beans added towards the end. I also threw in a handful of baby spinach. Just before serving stir through masses of chopped coriander, which really lifts the flavour. Plenty for lunch tomorrow. Yum! However, we still weren't full so followed with Potato, onion and cheese bake.......see next entry.

Cool Campari and Lime Gin & Tonic [#201]

And we're off! This is from Rachel Allen, and it seems fitting that the first recipe of this year's challenge contains Campari, which is my (very public) addiction. This was a gorgeous drink, served with masses of crushed ice to accompany some very good Marks and Sparks Asian-style vegetable canapes. It consisted of (for 2), the juice of 2 limes, 3 measures of gin and a measure of Campari, shaken on ice, and then poured into the crushed ice-filled glass. Add one of the spent lime halves per glass. 'Spent' - such a nice word in these circumstances, implying, as it does, satisfied exhaustion after a time of excess - how appropriate.

This won't be the only Rachel recipe this month, as I have my eye on her Winter Vegetable and Chorizo Soup, but is a very nice one to start with. Chin-chin!

The Kitchen Diaries Challenge 2010 - the books being used

Well, I loved last year's challenge so much. Cooking from Nigel Slater's 'Kitchen Diaries' was a marvellous experience, and one that forced me to look at new recipes, techniques and ingredients. It was the perfect book to chose, being seasonal and extremely varied. Finding another single book to match the experience in 2010 was impossible. So, this year, I have chosen 12 books instead. Every month, I will cook at least one recipe from each of these books - 12 a month, and 144 in total for the year - at least - I might cook more!

So which books have I chosen?

I focused on everyday cooking, but to stretch myself and increase my knowledge, I have also selected some books from other cuisines - Japanese, Indian, etc. Here they are! (with links to them at Amazon)

1. 'Tender' - Nigel Slater (well, I couldn't abandon Nigel altogether, could I!)
2. 'Harumi's Japanese Cooking' - Harumi Kurihara
3. 'China Modern' - Ching-He Huang
4. 'Home Cook' - Alastair Hendy
5. 'Everyday' - Bill Granger
6. 'Indian Everyday' -Anjum Anand
7. 'Favourite Food at Home' - Rachel Allen
8. 'Off the Shelf' - Donna Hay
9. 'Marcella Cucina' - Marcella Hazan
10. 'Fish' - Mitch Tonks
11. 'In the Mood for Food' - Jo Pratt
12. 'Top 200 Low Fat Recipes' - Judith Wills

This list is a blend of my favourite authors (Slater, Hendy, Granger, Allen, Pratt), the challenging (Tonks, Hazan), the exotic (Kurihara, Anand, Huang) and the healthy (Hay and Wills). Together, they will give me loads of choice for everyday cooking, and the more challenging stuff at the weekend, along with the realistic and healthy. Some are old friends and may even be out of print now, although Amazon seemed to have them all in stock one way or another, along with the new and relatively untested.

I hope you enjoy hearing about them as much as I know I will enjoy cooking from them!