Persimmon Pudding

I am sorry.  I have been very lazy about both cooking and blogging and a ticking-off from a friend last week made me get back to both.  It isn't that I haven't been cooking, just not doing anything particularly spectacular.  But let's kick off November's entries with a new dessert for me - Persimmon Pudding.  This pud is very popular in the States, where the persimmon tree is often found in people's back yards.  For this pudding, you need the Hachiya Persimmon variety, also known in Europe as kaki - NOT the Fuyu or Sharon fruit, which will never ripen to the correct jellied pulp that is needed for this pud.  Luckily, Riverford have been supplying the Hachiya variety, and careful nurturing to bring them to just the right stage of readiness (borderline suppurating foetidity) meant we were ready to try this dessert, a favourite of the peerless Alice Waters in her Berkeley, CA restaurant, Chez Panisse.  Essentially, you puree the fruit, mix it with flour, milk, eggs, nuts and spices and bake into a sticky pudding, and serve with Cognac-flavoured cream.  The easiest thing is to link to a recipe on the Bojon Gourmet blog.  A really interesting flavour, sweet, honeyed but with a hint of tannin from the fruit - if you like pumpkin pie, you'll like this one, an early nod to Thanksgiving.

Pasticcio

This'll put hairs on your chest.  A Pasticcio is essentially a greek version of an Italian meat and pasta bake.  The pasta is mixed with a ragu made from minced lamb, onions, garlic and tomatoes, and seasoned with ground cinnamon (not too much) and dried oregano.  Once thick and reduced, mix the sauce with cooked pasta - a chunky variety such as rigatoni is good, then top with a cheesy, nutmeggy white sauce and parmesan and baked until set and bubbly-brown on top.  The cinnamon gives it a really different flavour and is what edges it a couple of countries to the right from Italy to Greece - a moussaka lasagne, if you like.  Anyway, for 4, use 500g of minced lamb and a regular tin of tomatoes, and you will need around 300g of pasta, and half a pint of cheese sauce.  This makes a cheap and substantial dinner, and could be done for around the fiver mark, depending on the cost of your meat - however, I'd say go for good quality and then it might push it up to the six quid bracket.  Still great value though.

Spiced Pumpkin Pie

Well, it is Thanksgiving on Thursday, and in honour of my American friends, on both sides of the pond, I thought I'd make good ole pumpkin pie.  I also had half a pumpkin to use up, which was very convenient!  Whilst researching this recipe, I was surprised to find that most Americans use tinned pumpkin puree - what a shame, given its seasonality - indeed, ubiquity - at this time of year.  So, I baked big wedges of the beast and stripped the skin off when cool.  This gave me around 400g of pumpkin flesh, which was pureed in a food processor with 2 eggs, 75 g dark brown muscovado sugar, a scant teaspoon of cinnamon, and around 150ml of cream.  This glowing gold custard was poured into a deep pie dish lined with rich eggy shortcrust pastry, and all was baked until the custard was set and the pastry was crisp and golden.  Just lovely with a blob of whipped cream, and the simple flavours shone through.  Happy Thanksgiving, and let's all count our blessings.

Apple Tart with Amaretti Biscuits

Surely the simplest apple tart ever?  Based on a recipe from Riverford Organic's cookbook, it is a doddle.  Line a round or square tart tin with parchment paper.  Take 100g of plain flour, 40g of hard Amaretti biscuits, 70g of melted butter and 50g of caster sugar.  Whizz it all together in a food processor until it is sandy and moist.  Tip this mix into the tin and press down well into a compact an even layer.  Now top with sliced apples - the recipe stated Bramleys but I had English Cox's, so used them instead - and make a pretty pattern if you can be bothered.  Melt a tablespoon of butter and brush over the apples, then sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of caster sugar mixed with half a teaspoon of cinnamon.  Bake in a hottish oven, around 190 degrees, for half an hour or so.  The base crisps up deliciously in the oven.  Serve with custard, cream, or ice cream.  Or all three?  Only kidding!

Blueberry Apple Cake

I love 'pound cake' recipes, with equal quantities by weight of butter, sugar, flour and eggs - infinitely variable, much easier to make than a victoria or genoese sponge, and lasts longer. Just get the butter nice and soft and mix it all up, then flavour as you like. The only difference with this cake was that you rub the butter into the flour and sugar first, then remove some of the'crumble' to add to the top later. Mix in the wet ingredients - here, eggs, lemon juice and zest, grated apple and some blueberries, and then pour into a baking tin, lined with parchment. Top with the reserved crumble, into which you've added a spoonful of demerara or Bajan granulated sugar and some cinnamon, spoon over the top and bake. Lovely!

Vin d'Orange Part 2

Back at the end of January, I blogged about making Vin d'Orange, which has been sitting quietly in the fridge, waiting to be bottled. We probably should have done this a while ago, but forgot, frankly! Anyway, we got 3 x 75cl bottles out of the batch today, all safely stashed in sterilised bottles. It is pretty potent stuff. You can smell the vanilla and cinnamon, and it is the most glorious dark rosy colour. We shall crack open a bottle this weekend, will take another one on holiday in June and save the third for later in the summer for a comparative tasting. Hic!

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

English Apple Cake [#158]

Nigel's by now familiar 'pound cake' recipe, made with equal quantities of butter, sugar and SR flour - in this case, 130g of each, 2 eggs, then topped with chunks of apple tossed in lemon and cinnamon, and then this is further topped with some white breadcrumbs mixed with demerara sugar. A lovely appley, spicy, crisp pudding is the result, served with a blob of softly whipped cream. I told you it had been a good 'Nigel' night - with the duck earlier, this made for a marvellous and indulgent meal to celebrate our wedding anniversary which has just passed (23 years - blimey!) and my birthday next week (23 years - blimey!). ;0) No official online presence for this recipe, which is such a shame - as we head into the English apple season, every household should make this at least once - so easy, delicious and heartwarming - go get the book!

A Wonderfully Moist, Fresh Plum Cake [#146]

Wonderfully moist indeed, rich with ground almonds, chopped walnuts and butter, with loads of sliced plums pressed into the surface before baking. I also sprinkled the fruit with a little sugar and cinnamon, as there was a tinge of Autumn in the air today. There is loads of this, so we will be eating it the rest of the week, and possibly will freeze some. A nice, seasonal pud.