Muscovado Baked Beans

Will this winter never end? Will the snow never go away? Will the temperature ever rise above zero again?

I've never felt so desperate for spring to arrive as this year. Even on days like today where the air is crisp, the sun bright and the buds beginning to emerge - you know, the very best kind of winter day that reaffirms all you believe about living and loving the seasons, I am desperate. I have to brace myself to even leave the house now because I am dog tired of thick snow, extreme cold, black ice, wearing layers and seeing my own breath.

The only thing to do in the face of such despair is cook. So back to winter warmers, I've been hunting through my vast cookbook collection and through piles of newspaper clippings and recipes written on scraps of paper to find something that I have not made in a while, something to simultaneously warm our bones against the onslaught of this endless Scottish winter and properly cheer me up.

Muscovado Baked Bean Crumble (a mouthful in more than one way)

A good glug of olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 large cloves of garlic, crushed
2 tsp paprika
2x 400g tin haricot beans (or 250g dried beans, soaked and cooked according to pack instructions)
1x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
3 tbsp dark muscovado sugar
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tbsp dijon mustard












(optional 2 tbsp plum chutney)
150ml beer (I used corona)
A few sprigs of fresh thyme
Salt and freshly ground pepper

For the crumble topping:
100g cold butter
100g flour
75g porridge oats
100g strong cheddar cheese

Pre-heat oven to 200C.
To make the beans:
Heat olive oil in a heavy based pan and saute the onion and garlic till soft.
Add paprika, beans and tomatoes. Stir well then add the sugar, ketchup, mustard and chutney if using. Stir well then add beer to thin the sauce a little. Season with thyme, a few grinds of black pepper and a hefty pinch of salt. Allow to simmer gently for around 20 minutes to allow the flavours to combine. Add a little water if required.

For the crumble:
Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, then stir in the oats and cheese.

To assemble:
Put the beans into an ovenproof dish and top with the crumble mixture.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until golden and burbling.

Banana Yogurt Muffins

I've been on the most wonderful hillwalking trip to the Lake District for the weekend, eating rich food and hanging out with my girlfriends. Gorgeous though it was, I've come home totally exhausted and planning to eat less, drink less wine, run harder and generally get back to basics with food. 

To this end, as well as organising lots of long runs and quiet nights, (it should last a week or so!) I am trying out healthier breakfast and snack recipes. I'd rather go hungry than find myself eating healthy food that tastes of nothing so need to find ways of getting the health benefits while making food that really tastes great. These muffins are unbelievably morish (maybe not such a good thing) but have a healthy dose of bran and natural yogurt.

Banana Muffins with yogurt and bran

250g plain flour

2tsp baking powder

1tsp bicarbonate of soda

100g caster sugar

75g bran

3 small overripe bananas

4tbsp vegetable oil

4 tbsp natural yogurt

100ml milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 180C. Fill a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases.

Put the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate, sugar and bran into a bowl and mix well.
In another bowl, mash the bananas together with the oil, yogurt, milk and vanilla. Whisk together well.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir together until only just combined. Fill the muffin cups and bake for 15-20 minutes until risen and golden.

Yorkshire Pudding with Goat Cheese and Chutney

This week I've been trying out new recipes to showcase my sister's fantastic chutneys. (www.mcquadechutneys.com just in case I have not already mentioned it/emailed it/expunged at length on how fantastic she is.)

Similar to American popovers,these Yorkshire puddings are usually served alongside a sunday roast and are often made in a single large tin with the fat and juices from the roasting joint of meat.

I've removed the meat juices, replaced the fat with olive oil and added some goat cheese (don't tell anyone from Yorkshire) to the batter resulting in a rich cheesy golden crust with a meltingly tender centre. They are the perfect foil for the smoky undertones of whisky peach chutney or the rich sweetness of fig and ginger. (Oh and my kids ate two dozen of them variously flavoured with goat cheese, parmesan and cheddar as after-school snacks this week - a huge hit!)

Yorkshire Pudding with goat cheese and chutney

300ml of milk  

4 eggs

salt and black pepper

220g flour 

A couple of tablespoons of olive oil

6oz young goat cheese

Set the oven to 220° C.

Beat together the milk, eggs, salt and pepper.

Add the flour, give a good whisk and let the mixture stand for at least half an hour.

Drizzle a little oil into each of the holes in a 12 muffin tin (or 24 hole mini-muffin tin for canape sized yorkies.)

Put the tin in the oven.

When the oil is very hot and sizzling, add the Yorkshire pudding mixture in each tin, filling them about two thirds full.

On top of the batter, add a large teaspoon of goat cheese to the centre of each yorkshire pud.

Return it to the oven and let them cook for 20 minutes until beautifully puffed up and golden.

Serve while hot with good chutney.

The Quickest Ever Canapes -a book group special

I met with the girls in my book group last night. They are a discerning bunch and whoever hosts our monthly catch-up always tries to provide interesting food as part of the evening's entertainment.

So, my turn last night but between working a ten hour day, feeding the kids and trying to make the house presentable to adults, I didn't have much time to prepare unusual and stylish nibbles to accompany wine and book chat. Instead I had to fall back on a favourite quick but gorgeous d-i-y canape.

If you have time and inclination, make your own blinis, otherwise, buy them in and use all your creative skills assembling a platter of blinis, salmon and creme fraiche for everyone to help themselves to.

Lemon Vodka-Creme Fraiche Blinis
300ml creme fraiche
3tbsp lemon vodka
Zest of one lemon, finely grated
1 tbsp capers, chopped

Whisk together the creme fraiche and vodka then stir through the lemon zest and capers

To serve:
Smoked Salmon
Blinis - either home made or shop-bought

Banana Oatmeal Pancakes

I love these - (reasonably) healthy pancakes. I can't bring myself to eat porridge for breakfast. Well maybe once a year on a really cold day when I have flu and want to stay in bed. Aside from that I have to get my health fix by sneaking it into other recipes. Oatmeal is full of nutrients, it is thought to have cancer fighting properties as well as reducing the liklihood of heart disease. Basically something really should eat whether we like it or not.

So another day... another pancake recipe. With bananas, oatmeal and a hint of vanilla whisked in to this batter, these are rich, filling and incredibly morish. 
These go down well with kids with a tablespoon of peanut butter whisked into the batter or served with peanut butter instead of honey. Roll on Pancake Tuesday.... although I have not quite decided what we'll be eating that day! 

Banana Oatmeal Pancakes with orange blossom honey drizzle


1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg 
1 tbsp sugar
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla extract
Milk to mix
A little oil 
Orange blossom honey to serve

Whisk together flour, oats, bicarbonate, baking powder, egg, sugar, bananas and vanilla. 
Add enough milk to make a thick pourable liquid.  
Heat a griddle or heavy frying pan on a medium heat. 
Lightly oil the pan.
Pour a couple of tablespoons of batter per pancake onto the pan. You may be able to fit three or four small pancakes on the surface.
When the surface of the pancakes have become covered in bubbles, flip them over using a palette knife and cook on the other side.
Once cooked on both sides, remove to a warm plate and cover with a tea-towel until ready to serve.
After each round of pancakes, lightly oil the griddle or pan once more.
Serve with a drizzle of orange blossom (or other) honey.

Blueberry Scotch Pancakes with Maple Butter

Pancake Tuesday approaches. In typically British style, there is no mardi gras or carnival to celebrate the season, just a big build up to a single day with a different sort of dessert! Although typically as soon as the reminders appear in the shops, you know the sort of thing - lemons and sugar by the till,  golden syrup in Warhol-esque towers in the middle of aisles, my boys start craving pancakes three times a day.

So Pancake Tuesday is still almost a week away and we have already exhausted our supplies of flour, baking powder and syrup having had pancakes for breakfast, after school snack and (just once so far) for dinner. We are now aiming to try a new pancake every day until next tuesday. Our latest incarnation is fruit filled and topped with the most gloriously morish butter.

Blueberry Scotch Pancakes
1 cup plain flour
1 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 egg
1 tbsp maple syrup
milk to mix
2 tbsp blueberries
a smidgen of vegetable oil 

Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and bicarbonate together.
Whisk together the egg and maple syrup.
Stir the wet ingredients into the dry then add enough milk to make a thick but pourable liquid.
Heat a griddle or heavy frying pan. Lightly oil the pan.
Pour a couple of tablespoons of batter per pancake onto the pan.
When the surface of the pancakes have become covered in bubbles, flip them over using a palette knife and cook on the other side. 
Once cooked on both sides, remove to a warm plate and cover with a tea-towel until ready to serve.
Lightly oil the pan in between rounds of pancakes.
Serve a stack of blueberry pancakes with a dollop of maple butter.(below)

Maple Butter
4tbsp butter
4 tbsp maple syrup
Whisk together till blended.

Spicy Hummus with Crispy Lamb

Middle Eastern and North African food is a wee passion in my kitchen. Whenever I search for dinner ideas, I return again and again to the books that experiment with flavours of the east: Claudia Roden's 'Arabesque', Sam Tamimi and Yotam Ottolenghi's 'Ottolenghi: The Cookbook' and Sam and Sam Clark's Moro books among others. For me the attraction is in the aromatic spices, slow cooking and liberal use of beans and seeds.

Hummus is one of my favourite foods of all time, we eat our way through an astonishing amount of hummus each week, served with salad on flatbreads for lunch, as afterschool snack with carrots and sugarsnaps, or as late night snack with pitta bread and a glass of wine.

No matter how good some of the shop bought versions are, it never tastes as good as when you make it yourself. Hummus itself takes five minutes to throw together but this recipe transforms it from a simple dip into a more luxurious starter or supper.

For a vegetarian version, liberally sprinkle with toasted pine nuts, or with chickpeas cooked in place of the lamb.
Spicy Hummus with Crispy Lamb

For the hummus:
400g tin chickpeas, drained
1 lemon, juice and zest
2 tbsp tahini
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
100ml olive oil
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne powder
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp plain greek yogurt

For the crispy lamb:
100g minced lamb
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp harrisa or chilli paste
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp smoked paprika (optional)
drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Blend all the hummus ingredients together in a food processor until smooth.
Spread thinly across a large plate.
Heat the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan and saute the minced lamb till browned. Add the harissa, cumin, coriander and cinnamon and cook gently for around 5 minutes until the lamb starts to become a little crispy.
Scatter the lamb over the hummus and sprinkle the smoked paprika over everything. Just before serving anoint with a little drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and serve with flatbreads.