Shallow Fried Zucchini Flowers & Slow Roasted Tomato Sauce

These two recipes to me, scream Winter comfort food. I have made the Slow Roasted Tomato Sauce numerous times recently. The original recipe, from the Monday Morning Cooking Club’s second book ‘The Feast Goes On’, says the sauce is enough to feed six. I find when mixed with cooked pasta (any kind will do!), I can feed three or four for dinner then still have enough leftovers for three lunches. This kind of cooking makes the organised side of me very happy. Good dinner? Check! Lunch for work sorted? Check! 

When I made this pasta dish over the June long weekend, I was secretly patting myself on the back. Not only was I going to be able to feed five people at home that weekend, I might even have some leftovers for lunch the next day. Winning, right?! 

I forgot however, to take into account that my brother, who was staying that weekend, eats enough food for like two people per meal. So, no leftovers for me. And even if there were some, the likelihood of them being eaten by said brother for breakfast (yes, breakfast) the next morning would have been quite high. 

If you do make the sauce and happen to have leftovers, it will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days. 

These two recipes served in the same evening, make for a great Italian style feast. I would cook the tomato sauce before, make and serve the zucchini flowers as they were ready then, cook some pasta, warm up the sauce and serve that as the main for the meal. 

A note on the zucchini flowers: The recipe for the batter can easily be doubled if you are cooking more. The zucchini flowers should be served immediately after cooking, as they are not quite the same when re-heated. 

Shallow Fried Zucchini Flowers

Ingredients: 

8 zucchini flowers 

1 ball buffalo mozzarella 

Handful basil leaves, shredded

¼ cup grana padano (or parmesan) cheese, grated 

Ingredients for the Batter: 

100g self raising flour

¾ cup ice cold water

Pinch of salt 

Vegetable oil, for frying 

Method: 

Wash and dry zucchini flowers, ensuring the insides of the flowers are free from any residual dirt and the stamens have been removed. 

Mix the basil and grated cheese together. Tear pieces off the buffalo mozzarella and use to stuff the flowers. Add some of the basil and grated cheese and twist the top of the flowers to seal. 

Prepare the batter only just before it is needed. 

To prepare the batter, gently whisk all the ingredients together with a fork (the mixture will be lumpy). 

Heat a shallow fry pan with some vegetable oil on medium-high heat. Coat the flowers in the batter, then place one at a time (or three or so at a time if using a larger pan), and allow to cook for 1 minute or so on each side. Ensure all of the batter has cooked. 

Place on paper towel to drain any excess oil after cooking, and serve immediately. 

Recipe Adapted from ‘Maggie’s Harvest’ by Maggie Beer (Penguin Group, 2007), pp. 182-3. 

Slow Roasted Tomato Sauce

2kg very ripe tomatoes 

x 2 large red onions

x 2 cloves garlic

200g dried black olives 

¼ cup capers, drained 

8 anchovy fillets, chopped 

Olive oil 

3 tbsp tomato paste 

½ cup grated parmesan cheese 

1 bunch basil (leaves only), chopped 

Method: 

Pre heat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Drizzle some olive oil between two large baking trays. Roughly slice the tomatoes (approximately 1 cm slices), and divide between the two trays. Slice the onion and place one onion in each tray. Divide the black olives, capers and anchovies between the two trays. Drizzle with more olive oil crush one garlic clove over each tray, then toss all the ingredients to coat. 

Reduce the oven to 170 degrees Celsius and place both baking trays in the oven. Cook for 1 ½ to 2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes. Cook until the tomatoes and onions have softened and reduced, and there is still some liquid left in the trays. 

Remove from oven and combine the two trays into one. Stir through the tomato paste, parmesan and basil. 

Serve with freshly cooked pasta, topped with a little extra basil and grated parmesan. 

Reference: ‘The Monday Morning Cooking Club: The Feast Goes On’ by Lisa Goldberg, Merelyn Frank Chalmers, Natanya Eskin, Lauren Fink, Paula Horwitz & Jacqui Israel (HarperCollins Publishers, 2014), p.74.

More Cake! Two Lovely Cakes from 'Tasty Express'

Ok. Now for the second part of my cake apology. Two cake recipes from ‘Tasty Express’.

After attending a Cook Republic workshop with Sneh Roy a little while ago, it re-inspired me to getting cooking from her lovely cookbook, ‘Tasty Express’ again. I was in the mood for cake (nothing unusual about that right?!), and couldn’t decide between the lemon cake and the rose and pistachio cake. So I made both. 

Both cakes are simple to make, yet yield great tasting cakes. It is unusual for me to make cakes without some kind of icing, and though it might seem strange to leave a cake un-iced, these two cakes are quite perfect as they are. Not that the perfect-ness of these cakes should ever have been doubted. They are Sneh’s recipes after all. 

Lemon Cake 

Ingredients: 

125g butter, softened

220g caster sugar 

Finely grated zest of 2 large lemons

3 eggs 

225 g self-raising flour 

Juice of one large lemon 

125ml milk

Method: 

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and grease and line the base of a 20cm round cake tin.

In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar and lemon zest until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Sift in the flour, and add the lemon juice. Beat for a few seconds, then add the milk and mix until just combined. 

Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and tap the tin gently to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until golden and cooked through. 

Leave the cake in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn onto a cooling rack. 

Serve warm or cooled. 

Original recipe from ‘Tasty Express’ by Sneh Roy (Ebury Press, 2014), p.192, or via Cook Republic blog.

Rose & Pistachio Cake with Fresh Raspberries 

Ingredients: 

125g butter, softened

220g caster sugar 

1 tbsp finely grated orange zest

1 tbsp rosewater

2 eggs

300g plain flour 

2 ½ tsp baking powder 

¼ tsp salt 

165ml milk 

70g Greek yoghurt 

60 g frozen raspberries 

65g pistachio kernels, chopped

Icing sugar, for dusting

Fresh raspberries and cream, to serve 

Method: 

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and grease and line the base of a 20cm round cake tin.

In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar, orange zest, and rosewater for 6 minutes on low speed. Mix until light and creamy. Add the eggs and beat well to combine. 

In a separate bowl, sift in the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the butter mixture, milk and yoghurt and fold together until just combined. Gently fold through the frozen raspberries and pistachios. 

Spoon the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 50-55 minutes or until golden and cooked through. 

Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. 

Dust with icing sugar and serve with fresh raspberries and cream. 

Original recipe from ‘Tasty Express’ by Sneh Roy (Ebury Press, 2014), p.195.

For more recipes showcasing the best of rose, check out my eBook Baking with Rose by clicking on the link below!

A Rose Pound Cake

Many apologies for my almost month long absence from here. It’s funny (or scary, rather), how quickly time can pass you by. I have a few recipes up my sleeve to share, and they all revolve around cake. So in an attempt to make up for my absence I am presenting you with not one, but three cake recipes! All is forgiven now, right?! 

The first cake (shared in this post) is a rose pound cake, and in a separate post I will share two amazing recipes from the book ‘Tasty Express’ by Sneh Roy. If any of you follow the Sneh’s blog ‘Cook Republic’, you’ll know that these cakes will be good! 

. . .

This pound cake from Trine Hahnemann’s ‘Scandinavian Baking’ is the first thing I have made from this book. I had been wanting her book for quite a while, and once I finally got my hands on it, this rose cake jumped out at me. 

The original recipe says to ground your own almond meal from whole almonds. As I have been trying to get through my (almost) life time supply of almond meal, I just used that. But feel free to use which ever is easiest for you. I also had to use rose syrup instead of rose jelly in the icing, which I think is why my icing as particularly runny! If you don’t have any rose jelly/jam, I would suggest using a rosewater based glaze icing like the one used here. 

Ingredients: 

250g butter softened, plus extra to grease the tin

200g almond meal 

250g caster sugar 

4 eggs 

150g plain flour 

2 tsp baking powder

100ml milk 

Ingredients for the Icing: 

6 tbsp rose jelly

200g icing sugar

Pink food colouring 

Unsprayed rose petals, optional 

Method: 

Pre heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease a 1.5 litre loaf tin with butter, and line the base with baking paper. 

In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. 

Sift the flour and baking powder and mix with the almond meal. Fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture with a spatula. Add the milk and mix to combine. 

Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for one hour. 

Leave to cool for 10 minutes then turn onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely. 

Make the icing by gradually adding the icing sugar to the rose jelly until the icing is smooth. Add a little pink food colouring if you want the icing to be a brighter pink. Add a little water, and whisk until the icing is smooth, and not too runny. 

Place the cake on a serving dish and spread the icing over the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides. Top with unsprayed rose petals if using. 

Original recipe from ‘Scandinavian Baking’ by Trine Hahnemann (Quadrille Publishing Ltd, 2014), p.135.

For more recipes showcasing the best of rose, check out my eBook Baking with Rose by clicking the link below!

Donna Hay’s Harissa Chicken with Gremolata

Now that the weather seems to have truly turned to Winter, warming and comforting dishes are in high demand. This recipe for Harissa Chicken by Donna Hay, fits the bill perfectly. The spiciness of the harissa warms you to your bones, while the gremolata subtly cools the kick and adds a wonderful depth of flavour to the dish. 

This dish is also quite easy to make, which is always a winner when you want warmth with minimal effort. 

The original recipe stipulates the use of mixed olives, but since my obsession with dried black olives remains unwavering, I used those. Either work well, just use whatever you like or can easily come by. 

Ingredients: 

8 x 220g chicken thigh fillets, bone in and trimmed

8 cloves garlic, unpeeled

1 cup mixed or dried olives

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 tbsp harissa paste 

1 tbsp brown sugar

1/2 cup chicken stock 

sea salt and black pepper

400g truss Roma tomatoes (still on vine if possible) 

Ingredients for Gremolata 

1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped

1/2 cup coriander leaves, chopped

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp shredded lemon zest 

2 garlic cloves, crushed 

Method: 

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Place the chicken, garlic, olives, tomato paste, harissa paste, sugar and chicken stock in a large baking dish, trying to evenly distribute the tomato and harissa pastes amongst the chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover with aluminium foil and roast for 1 hour. 

Whilst the chicken is in the oven, make the gremolata by combining the all the gremolata ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside. 

After the chicken has been roasting in the oven for 1 hour, increase the temperature to 200 degrees Celsius and remove the foil. Add the tomatoes to the baking dish and cook for a further half an hour, or until the chicken is completely cooked through.

Serve with the gremolata. 

Original recipe from ‘The New Classics’ by Donna Hay (Fourth Estate an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2013), p. 145.

Roasted Salmon with Asparagus & Pancetta

This past week I have been searching through many of the cookbooks in our collection, trying to decide and plan what recipes I will make for my cookbook challenge. I have decided to do a few savoury recipes, which as you might have noticed, I don’t post a lot of on here. 

However, in an attempt to make an effort for dinner (at least on the weekends), I am using my cookbook challenge to try something new for dinner. Granted, some of the recipes I plan to make aren’t exactly ‘new’. They are just ‘new’ for the blog. But not only is the concept of trying something completely new every weekend a little daunting, some of the recipes we have tried before a just too good not to share here. 

This salmon recipe falls into that category. It’s from Bill Granger’s book ‘Bill’s Italian Food’, and it literally takes 10-15 minutes to cook. Which is pretty amazing I think. All the ingredients are easy to come by, and in our house are pretty much always already in the pantry/fridge/freezer. The salmon fillets I used are probably smaller than the ones specified in the recipe, however we tend to buy frozen salmon and keep it for these kinds of quick meals, and we find they are the perfect size (expect sometimes for the men of the house who often eat two fillets each). 

Roasted Salmon, Asparagus and Pancetta with Caper & Basil Mayo 

Ingredients:

1 tbsp capers, drained

8 basil leaves, chopped

juice of 1/2 lemon, plus extra wedges to serve

4 tbsp mayonnaise

4 salmon fillets, skin on (approx. 175g each)

250 g asparagus

8 slices pancetta

2 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper, to season 

Method: 

Pre-heat oven to 220 degrees Celsius. Mix the capers, lemon juice, mayonnaise and basil in a small bowl. Set aside. 

In a large roasting pan, place the asparagus, pancetta and salmon (skin side up). Season with salt and pepper, drizzle with the olive oil, and cook for 10 minutes, or until the salmon is cooked through (or to your liking) and the pancetta is crisp. 

Serve with the mayonnaise and wedges of lemon. 

Original recipe from ‘Bill’s Italian Food’ by Bill Granger, (HarperCollins, 2013), p.106.

All food preparation, styling and photography by Kathryn Vincent of Kulinary Adventures of Kath.

Raspberry & Rose Sponge Cake + Raspberry & Elderflower Cordial

These two recipes, raspberry & rose sponge cake and raspberry & elderflower cordial, are current favourites. They are great served together, or separately, and would be lovely additions to an afternoon tea or celebration over the warmer months. 

The flavours raspberry and rose are clearly firm favourites for me, and this cake in particular showcases how well they go together. 

Hopefully, now I have baked and posted these few recipes using flavours and ingredients I particularly love, I can move on to some new or different flavours than those I have been baking with recently. I saw a post on Instagram yesterday from someone who was talking about how they wanted to get more into cooking and was considering taking some classes. They then realised that they had enough cookbooks to inspire them to cook, and probably didn’t need to spend the money on classes! They resolved to try a new recipe from each of their cookbooks during this year. I think this is a great idea. As our cookbook collection spans at least 144 books, I think I should have enough inspiration and recipes to keep me going for a while, without always falling back on the flavours I love the most. 

So, I am giving myself a ‘cookbook challenge’. I am going to try and make something new from each cookbook I own. Hopefully I will discover some new favourites, and hopefully this will challenge me to tackle to daily dilemma that is dinner with more enthusiasm.

A small selection of the cookbook collection.

How many cookbooks do you have in your collection? Do you use them often? Let me know in the comments! 

Raspberry & Rose Sponge Cake

Ingredients: 

Butter and plain flour, for greasing cake tins 

4 eggs 

1/2 cup caster sugar

1 cup cornflour 

1 tbsp custard powder 

1 tsp cream of tartar 

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda 

1 tsp rosewater

Ingredients for Icing and Filling: 

2 cups icing sugar 

1/2 tbsp boiling water

3 tsp rosewater

pink food colouring

1 tbsp rose syrup

1 punnet raspberries 

1 cup of thickened cream 

edible flowers (fresh or dried), to decorate 

Method: 

Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Use a little butter to grease two (20 cm) sandwich tins, then dust them with some flour. Line the base of each tin with baking paper. 

Separate the eggs, and set the yolks aside. Place the whites into the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until they form stiff peaks. Add the sugar and the rosewater, and beat until the mixture has become stiff and glossy. Add the yolks and beat until just combined. Sift in the dry ingredients, and gently fold into the egg mixture using a large metal spoon.

Divide the mixture between the two tins, and bake for 20 minutes. The cakes will be ready when they are golden in colour and spring back when touched lightly. 

Line two cooling racks with baking paper. Remove cakes from their tins, and allow to cool on the prepared racks. Allow to cool completely before icing or filling the cake. 

Sift the icing sugar into a bowl, add the water and rosewater and mix to form a smooth, slightly thick icing. If the icing is too thick add more water, too runny, more sifted icing sugar. Add a small amount of pink food colouring, and mix to create a light pink icing.

Whip the cream with the rose syrup, then roughly chop the raspberries and gently fold into the cream. Spread the cream over one of the cakes (top side down). It is easiest to ice and fill the cake on the plate you will serve it on. Top with the remaining sponge cake, and ice the cake with the icing. Decorate with edible flowers. 

This cake is best served immediately after it is assembled, however, it will keep in the fridge for a couple of days. 

Original Recipe found in Country Style Magazine, November 2014 Issue, pp.76-77 (article: ’never too late’, recipe originally by Bill Bevan).

Raspberry and Elderflower Cordial

Raspberry & Elderflower Cordial

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup elderflower cordial

1 cup water 

1 litre cloudy apple juice 

handful frozen raspberries

For Ice Cubes: 

ice cube tray

water

raspberries 

Method:

Prepare the ice cubes the day before. Place small whole raspberries, or roughly chopped larger raspberries, into an ice cube tray. Cover with water and allow to freeze overnight. 

For the cordial, in a 1.5 litre capacity jug, add the elderflower cordial, water and apple juice. Top with a handful of frozen raspberries. Leave in the fridge to chill, and once the frozen raspberries have started to defrost, mix the cordial so it becomes stained with the red colour of the raspberries. 

Once ready to serve, add the raspberry ice cubes to the glasses and pour over the cordial. 

This recipe was originally published via Liveability.

For more recipes showcasing the best of rose, check out my eBook Baking with Rose by clicking the link below!