Not an excuse to be late for School & Blueberry Pancakes

Saturday morning, not quite sure why I promised to make Fresh Blueberry American Pancakes before school this morning. The Pink Lovely, aged 7 1/2, briefly looked pristine in her school uniform but then turned her hand to beating the mixture. Some of it stayed in the bowl, most of it went down her, but being A Domestic Goddess is never easy and best she learns this early on.  We made enormously thick pancakes which puffed up joyfully but then would not cook in the middle. Darn, I thought, this is tricky.. too little heat and they don't cook and too high and they burn. Never mind, we will eat them in the car, not my best idea as they are drizzled with maple syrup and the blueberries are oozing very hot and sticky, purple juice. Revert to kitchen table. Clock now says 08.20. Ooops! due in at 08.15am
Can one actually sneak into a full class room, with teacher in full flow, without being noticed? Not really. As I am bestowing my most winning and apologetic smile, I notice to my horror that I had forgotten to wipe The Pink Lovely's angelic little face. Now, I love the colour purple, don't get me wrong, but possibly not all round my daughter's mouth. Hands much the same colour. My brief moment of Domestic Goddess-dom evaporates and I retreat to ponder if I really am cut out to do Saturday School.
This is a SUPER EASY RECIPE, ideal for breakfast or afternoon tea.
Fresh Blueberry American Pancakes
Serve with Maple Syrup or Golden Syrup
Makes 12
150g plain flour or gluten-free Doves Farm plain flour mix
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1teaspoon baking powder
Large pinch fine sea salt
250ml buttermilk or 110ml St. Helen's Farm goats yoghurt with 110ml goats milk
1 large free range egg
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
200g fresh blueberries
sunflower oil for greasing

Put the first 5 ingredients in a mixing bowl and add half the buttermilk, the egg and the vanilla. Whisk everything together, add the remaining buttermilk and whisk until smooth. Add the blueberries and fold in. Lightly oil a frying pan and drop 2 tablespoons of the mixture per pancake. Cook each one until dark golden underneath and bubbling on top. Flip over and cook on the other side. Serve immediately.

I have to cook lunch and we are, as you know, busy saving the oceans at the moment! So, we are having Whitebait for the first time in 20 years.  Pubs in Shropshire and Herefordshire in 1970s, I recall, usually had a choice of 4 starters. These never seemed to vary which was part of the charm. Rather less exhausting than wading through a page of Pacific fusion or retro French or confused Italian starters that are so often listed nowadays on every pub menu.  Prawn cocktail (in various forms), Avocado vinaigrette on a sad piece of Iceberg lettuce, Melon and Parma ham and last but not least, Fried Whitebait with a wedge of lemon. So, reassuring, no big decisions.  I think we have too much choice nowadays not just in menus but in every shop and store. Things we didn't even know we wanted.
Whitebait was an old English term for tiny fish. They are transparent fishes that migrate into our rivers during spring and summer. They drift out to sea and feed on algae and other fish eggs.  The pinkish-white flesh is low in fat and has a fine texture with a mild and sweet flavour and edible skin. This is fast food at its best.  Choose fish that are pristine and smell fresh. Fish should not have bellies torn open. This is due to enzymes within breaking down the flesh-yuk!

Here is my recipe for Kathy who requested one yesterday
Chilli Fried Whitebait with Aioli
Serves 2 main course of 4 starter
Make Aioli first: either cheat or make the real thing! Cheat: Mix Helmans Mayonnaise with one egg yolk, plenty of crushed garlic(4-7cloves), a pinch of freshly chopped oregano leaves and season to taste. For the real thing: make mayonnaise and beat in the garlic and herbs. Transfer to a serving bowl.
In a polythene bag combine 1/2 cup flour with salt and pepper and a good sprinkling of chilli powder. Add the fish and shake the bag around so that the fish are evenly coated. Deep fry in oil until golden and crispy (about 5 minutes) and drain on some absorbent kitchen paper towels. Serve immediately with wedges of lemon, the Aioli and a big bowl of mixed salad.

The Pink Lovely's pink bicycle has been collected from the repair shop on a rather circuitous return trip from school this morning. To celebrate, we are going to Croft Castle to bike the length of the fish pools along the valley, up into the fields and down to the castle tea rooms where rewards will justly be given. Scones and tea have been requested! The word "we" is the royal "we" of course.... due to the fact that I have never successfully ridden a bicycle. Actually, never ridden a bicycle would be more accurate. I have of course ridden an elephant in Sri Lanka, a camel in Morocco, my childhood ponies and even a donkey in Greece but I have never managed to stay on a bicycle. So, when we go for a bike ride, I walk the dogs and inevitably end up pushing the bike up the near vertical path through Mortimer Forest to the gate at the top. This in itself is worthy of scones and tea and I have absolutely no guilty conscience what so ever!

Eating Small Fry and a Few Recipes

Save the Seas: Eat small fry like sardines, herrings and anchovies instead of tuna, shark and other predatory fish such as cod. According to a new report from scientists, the sea's ecosystem has been turned upside down by us guzzling down vast quantities of these fish. This I would have thought, could fairly easily have been deduced, but no, it has taken piles of money and a large team of super brains to work this out. Call me old fashioned but surely it is blindingly obvious that if you kill all the big fish that there will be an explosion of little fish. The resulting imbalance will as sure as eggs are eggs, endanger the precarious balance in our oceans. The claims of total decimation of our oceans by 2050 is pretty awful, not due to the fact that we will no longer be able to indulge in our passions for eating fish and seafood but because we will loose everything that is beautiful under the waves. Presumably, all our gorgeous coral reefs will die and the oceans will be taken over by a dreary green soup of plankton.
For this reason I am now trying out lots of new recipes using sardines, herrings and anchovies and I enclose the easiest of the recipes so far.  The Pink Lovely (aged 7) is not amused. Brain food, she calls it. Not very popular and she is hoping that this interest in small fry is only temporary! So for brief relief to her already brainy brain we are having Macaroni Cheese and Sticky Toffee Pudding for dinner tonight. Or maybe I could sneak a few anchovies and sliced tomatoes along the top of the Macaroni Cheese!
Deep-Fried Stuffed Sardines
24 fresh sardines, gutted
1/2 tablespoon butter or dairy-free spread
1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs or gluten free bread
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped very finely
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup plain or gluten free flour
2 cups vegetable or sunflower oil
Lemon wedges, to serve

Clean the sardines, rinse well and pat dry.
Melt the butter, combine with the breadcrumbs, parsley and garlic. Season.
Stuff the sardines with the mixture and close the opening by pinching it firmly. Roll the fish in a plate of  seasoned flour and deep-fry in hot oil for about 3 minutes. Serve immediately with the lemons and a delicious mixed salad.

Norwegian Sardine Pate
225g cream cheese, mashed with juice of 1/2 lemon, fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. 2 cans of sardines, drained and then mashed in a shallow bowl with a dash of hot chilli sauce and 1 tablespoon of finely chopped parsley.
Combine the ingredients until fairly smooth. Make toast and cut into fingers, spread with plenty of pate and serve them dotted with capers and sprinkled with more parsley and a dusting of cayenne pepper. Great with a mixed salad for lunch.

Both these dishes are super cheap and highly nutritious, what more could we want for a healthy and easy lunch!


Warm Fresh Anchovy and Asparagus Salad
Heat a large frying pan over medium heat and warm through a tablespoonful of olive oil per person. To this add one finely chopped clove of garlic per person and a sprinkling of dried chilli flakes. Heat for about 1 minute. Add plenty of very short asparagus tips and tender stems along with as many anchovies as you fancy. Season with fine salt and  freshly ground black pepper and sprinkle with the zest of 1/2 lemon.  Shake the pan around until all the asparagus is coated and glossy. Cook for about 5 minutes or until the asparagus is just tender but still slightly crispy. Serve warm with hot pita breads (gluten-free available in supermarkets) and a green salad.

Tapenade
1 large clove garlic, chopped
1 3/4 cups whole, pitted kalamata olives
1 can anchovy fillets, rinsed
2 tablespoons capers
1 teaspoon of both fresh thyme and chopped rosemary,
3 tablespoons lemon juice
4 tablespoons olive oil

Combine all the ingredients except the oil in a food processor and as you blend the mixture, drizzle in the oil. Blend until a smooth paste. Transfer to a bowl and serve with hot pita bread (gluten free available in super markets) and a mixed salad. Alternatively, spread the tapenade over lamb chops or over sustainably caught salmon or mackerel fillets and grill.  Serve hot with a bowl of cooked French  green beans which have been tossed in olive oil and crushed garlic and fried for a couple of minutes. Delicious.

A few verses with original spelling!

Half-term at last. Major lie-ins required after 5 weeks of early rising and the daily unfathomable miscalculations of timings that arise between 8am-8.14am, when we never quite get out of the door at the required moment. This is a total mystery to me. What happens to space and time in these 14 minutes? Slow motion? Is this part of the theory of Quantum Physics? Is there a parallel universe where we are actually on time for school and even quite possibly in the relevant classroom but we just think that we are late? I must consult a scientist!
This week we have a project afoot. The school frequently endeavours to raise large amounts of money for charity and one of our regular charities is: "The Clock Tower Fund". This charity helps families of soldiers who have been severely injured or lost their lives while serving their country. Living in Herefordshire, we do have plenty of army families at our school and so it is a charity close to our heart.  A sponsored spell has been organized and the children have to learn 40 spellings in order to achieve their sponsorship goals. Luckily, we had an influx of generous Godmothers and friends last weekend and so we have a worthy goal for which to aim. A bulletin will be released on 21st February as to her success.  Nail biting stuff... (if I did, which I don't!)
To celebrate the onset of half-term The Pink Lovely had a sleep over here with a friend. They have set up a "pop group" at school and they wanted to compose some songs for the next meeting. I left them to it.  A sheet of A4 paper was duly produced at the end of the evening and The Pink Lovely, aged 7, stood up on a chair with her Pink microphone and sang her first ever lyrics in soft and gentle Folk Music style. This was somewhat surprising as I was expecting something more akin to Lady Gaga who is currently deemed the queen of pop and worthy of imitation. This is what my little angel had written and sang..... with original spellings!

To Women and Men in the Surfis (Services)

I know ther are lots of  you in the surfis,(services)
You risk your lives helping the country,
Thanc you, Oh thank you for helping the world,
You may not see your kids very often,
and we are sorry to hear that,
The mony we rase will go to you,
to help you and care for you,
and maybe even see your children more,
Thank you, Oh thank you for helping the world.

by a little girl aged 7

It struck me right in the heart and tears trickled down for her sweetness and the joy of her generous spirit. I am indeed a lucky mother.

Moments later, composure resumed, I am madly calculating the possibilities of untold wealth in my retirement from millions of copies of my teenage daughter's first NO.1 in the "pop charts". Rock on!....

An easy menu for a relaxed St.Valentine's Day

The Pink Lovely, aged 7 is already in a state of high excitement that she will undoubtedly receive at least two St. Valentine's Cards. I saw in the post office yesterday, two for the price of one....this astonished me as I presumed that most people only send one card to their dearly beloved or  possibly to the most recent hot-date! I wondered who takes up this offer and now I know............ I have seen little envelopes with hearts on, hidden around our house and so I presume that these will be offered on a tray with a delicious, if unspeakably early breakfast! But maybe, they are for a sweetheart class mate? We shall see....
Gorgeous flowers abound and romantic dinners are enjoyed all over the world but it is not always possible to go out if you have children, so here is an easy menu to enjoy making at home.  Once the little treasures are safely asleep then you can enjoy the rest of the evening in the sure knowledge that the food is prepared and ready for a few last minute attentions with a glass of something you enjoy in your glass.  Tweeting away the other day, I was delighted to receive a request from THE FOOD BEAT to conjure up a St. Valentine's Day main course.  So I have decided on something quick and easy but slightly fun and different. An inexpensive starter and pudding to make up for an expensive main course. The menu is not too rich but it can either be prepared earlier in the day or when you get back from work. So, The Food Beat, I hope you enjoy your dinner and have a lovely evening.


Smoked Mackerel and Tomato Pots
Serves 4 (keep two for the next day!)
2 fillets (about 200g) skinned smoked mackerel in crushed peppercorns
(for a milder taste use plain smoked mackerel and season with your own quantity of  freshly ground black pepper)
12 mini vine tomatoes, halved
125ml organic or local double cream or thick Jersey cream
(you can use Elmlea light for those who prefer less fat or St. Helen's Farm goats' double cream/ soya dream for those who cannot take dairy)
A sprinkling of cayenne pepper
2 oven-proof china pots (very large ramekins or mini-gratin/pie dishes, failing this use 4 little ramekins)
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/400F/Gas6
Break up the mackerel into bite-size pieces and arrange haphazardly with the tomato halves in each  china dish. Pour the cream over the mixture and sprinkle with a dusting of cayenne. Chill until needed.
Bake the mackerel for about 20 minutes or until hot and bubbling and serve with warm breads.

Steak with Parmesan and Mushrooms
Serves 2-4
680g middle cut fillet beef
crushed black peppercorns
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
255g mixed mushrooms (wild and cultivated), sliced
2 tablespoons sherry or Madeira
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Freshly grated nutmeg
1 tablespoon full fat crème fraiche or dairy-free Tofutti Sour Supreme
1 free range egg yolk
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan or dairy-free Parmesan substitute
Trim the fillet and roll in the fresh peppercorns. Warm one tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and sauté the meat until it is browned on all sides.  This might take about 10 minutes if you like it medium rare.  Leave it to cool on a wire rack over a plate.  Add the remaining oil to the pan, add the onion and cook gently until soft. Stir in the garlic and mushrooms. Increase the heat and cook for a couple of minutes before adding the sherry.  Cook for about 5 minutes until the mushrooms are soft and the liquid has been absorbed.  Transfer the mixture to a bowl, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and leave to cool. Stir the crème fraiche or Sour Supreme into the cold mixture with the egg and parsley, cover and keep chilled until needed. Wrap the meat tightly in clingfilm and chill until 15 minutes before eating.
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/400F/Gas6
Unwrap the beef and cut into 4 even-sized pieces. Place them on a lightly greased baking tray or oven-proof dish. Spoon the mushroom mixture over the top of each one, flatten slightly and sprinkle with the grated cheese.  Cook for about 8 minutes until the tops are golden and bubbling and serve.
Any leftovers can be eaten the next day in a sandwich! Yum......

Passion Cakes with Passion Sauce
Serves 2-4
4x Heart-shaped tins/baking moulds are available from good cook shops or department stores. Line them with non-stick paper
60g ground almonds
30g Doves Farm gluten free plain flour or organic plain flour, sifted
2 large free range eggs, separated
75g caster sugar
1 teaspoon bitter almond extract
Flesh and fruit of 6 ripe passion fruit (the more wrinkled they are the riper)
Sprinkling of sifted icing sugar
Juice of 1/2 small lemon
4 tablespoons Archers Peach Schnapps or other similar liqueur
Preheat oven to 180C/160C fan/350F/Gas4
Mix the ground almonds with the flour in a bowl. In the food processor, beat the egg yolks and sugar with the almond extract until pale and thick. Scrape the mixture out of the food processor and stir into the flour.        Quickly slice open 2 of the passion fruits, scoop the filling out and into the flour mixture. Beat the egg whites into soft peaks and fold into the passion fruit mixture.  Divide between the prepared heart moulds and bake for about 15 minutes until golden and springy to touch.  Leave them to cool slightly before turning out onto a wire rack. (Store in air-tight container until needed later in the day).


Wishing absolutely everyone who reads this blog a peaceful day and a contented evening, wherever they are and what ever they are doing.

Shrewsbury hits the spot and a Tipsy Duck

I am undergoing a conversion, not of the religious kind, you will be glad to hear! but to shopping in Shrewsbury! I discovered an Aladdin's cave of sugarcraft goodies and cake decorations and could be heard squeaking with delight at the sight of a tube of edible fuchsia coloured gel, a glistening edible gold dust, sparkling edible cobalt blue glitter, all for my cakes. The Pink Lovely aged 7.5 yrs will expire with delight and excitement when they are produced for our next batch of cup cakes at half-term. So, if you love fun cake toppings then do go and find "The Icing Tip" in Shrewsbury's covered market on the top floor. However, if you don't like baking or don't have time to bake then there is nothing better that "Cake Angels" in Hereford.  They make up the most exquisite gift boxes of cup cakes, brownies and tray bakes that I have ever seen and they are all gluten, wheat and dairy free. Fabulous gifts to be delivered to your friends or family to celebrate anything or just as a big "Thank You". £1.00 from each standard order goes to The Haven Trust in Hereford which helps ladies recover from breast cancer by giving them lots of advice and therapies. There is also a Haven in Leeds and in London and they do a magnificent job in guiding so many women. This reminds me of a very funny email that the Chief Executive of the Haven sent me last week, asking me to go around my area collecting old bras from all my friends and acquaintances. These bras will be recycled and the money raised will help towards the £1000.00 cost per person to be treated by the Haven.  So, with hundreds of bras in my bag tomorrow, I set off to Hereford to deliver these aged and wondrous delights!  Friday night dawns, actually, that cannot be right, it must drawing-in or something...must be loosing my concentration and needing a large Vodka and Tonic and ice and lemon.....................(quick exit!).................Ahhhhh....OOps it is only 6pm - Oh well it is 7pm somewhere in the world.  Gorgeous Godmothers descending on Fox Barn later this evening and have not yet decided on what I should create for dinner tonight.  I have been lusting after duck for the past week, cannot get enough of it! Could this be a lack of iron and the need for red meat or could this be that I never usually buy duck and my culinary senses are starved of this sublime game bird? Having said this: I have already had duck three times this week! Duck and Pomegranate stir-fry: exceptionally good! Duck Soup and Duck and Roquefort Salad. Weird or What...but this makes up for not eating duck for 11 months, mainly due to The Big Issue, which is of course: Does one buy ready-to-cook duck from some unspeakable supermarket chiller cabinet, wrapped in layers of plastic and un-recyclable packaging for under a tenner? OR does one go to the gasp-making game counter in the local butcher, down a windy lane half-way to Leominster? I shudder as I bring out my credit card (think of the extra point rewards!) but I am sure it is better to eat a happy duck and make a yummy stock afterwards and prepare a Chinese duck and rice noodle soup with lots of coriander, chilli, lime and spring onions for the next meal.  As it happens we made some rather good damson vodka in the autumn and as I have already enjoyed a sip or two of this spirited companion, I think that I will use this liquid gold to make a sauce for the roast duck.
Recipe for Tipsy Duck
1 very large and fat duck, rubbed with olive oil so that chopped sage, thyme and bits of bay leaf , sea salt and freshly ground black pepper stick to the skin
A few peeled onion quarters and bits of carrots and chopped garlic
1 large wine glass chicken stock
Damson Vodka
Some left-over stewed plums or damson from out of the freezer

Scatter the onions and carrots over the bottom of a deep roasting dish and plonk the duck on top. Pour the stock around it and roast in a hot oven until the skin looks crispy and golden. Top up with more stock if necessary. Remove from the heat and remove excess fat, add some splashes of damson vodka and the plums or damsons. Return to the oven and cook the meat until it is just how you like it. It should really be pink so that it doesn't dry out. Remove bird and leave to sit for 15 minutes before carving. Meanwhile, boil up the goodies in the pan over a medium flame and stir in some more vodka.  Sieve the mixture into a jug, adjust the seasoning to taste and then transfer it to a gravy boat or whatever you fancy serving it in. Carve the duck and before you  have any gravy, make sure that you are not driving home that night!

Oh How Exciting!

Pop the corks, I am going to Shrewsbury! You may laugh....but it is 12 months exactly since I last went in the vain hope of finding a suitable outfit for my sister's wedding. Naturally, I came home with something entirely un-suitable and far more fun!  The quest today: hunt down the new gastro-idea; vanilla paste in a squeezey bottle, I mean how cool is that, no more scraping the pod with a murderous knife and boiling up the beans for a syrup that then gets left in a safe corner of the fridge never to be seen again.  Well not for 6 months anyway by which time it looks like something by Damian Hurst!  Next quest is to find tubes of gel colouring for cup cakes and other cake decorations, apparently, entirely natural and no nasty "e" or other additives. I have yet to discover these delights and have a feeling that once I find this market stall full on incredible edibles that there will be no turning back and I will be hooked on cup cake decoration for decades to come.  Shrewsbury is only 70 miles round trip, a mere nothing in this neck of the woods but I hesitate to go North.  I don't know why but I prefer going South or West. Cheltenham Yes. Hereford Yes. So this epic journey of discovery will be the highlight of the week and of course I will have to go to the very famous and enticing wine shop that Tanners have hidden in an Elizabethan warren of beams and exciting little corners of temptation. Their very old and delicious sherry is my favourite treat but to allow myself this extravagance, I feel that we should have a trifle for Sunday lunch this weekend. A dear friend, Fiona and myself have always had a secret passion for sherry before lunch on Sunday, this comes of having a Colonel as a father I suspect.  We have felt for the past 30 years that we were a bit vintage ourselves in our choice of aperitif but NOW, can you imagine our delight to hear that Sherry is the new "IN" aperitif in London and that Sherry Bars are opening instead of more wine bars.  Astonishing news and by all accounts (The Times, so it must be true!) these are a huge success.  Excellent Sherry has always been cheaper than excellent wine and hence the current popularity as an aperitif. So, bin the Prosecco and start buying Sherry!