Category: Cooking

• 1 cup black beluga lentils (dry/uncooked)
• 3 cups water
• 3 lightly packed cups of chopped baby spinach
• ½ medium red onion, chopped
• ⅓ cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, rinsed
• ⅓ cup pitted and quartered Kalamata olives
• ⅓ cup chopped fresh basil or flat-leaf parsley
• Optional garnish: crumbled feta cheese

Greek dressing

• ¼ cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon tahini
• 2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• Scant ½ teaspoon fine-grain sea salt (if using regular table salt, start with ¼ teaspoon and add more to taste)
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Maybe it is the cold weather but cheese and walnut loaf has been followed up by madeleines and tomorrow will be garibaldi’s. Cheese and walnut loaf on Sunday with marmite has been requested.

275g wholemeal four, 15g yeast, 200ml water, splash olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt and sugar, 75g cheese, 50g walnuts.

230C for 8 min then turn down to 200C for 15-20 mins.

A definite winner.

Ingredients

• 375g/13oz plain flour
• pinch salt
• 225g/8oz butter, diced
• 150g/5½oz mature cheddar cheese
• 50g/1¾oz freshly grated parmesan cheese (or a similar vegetarian hard cheese)
• pinch English mustard powder
• small pinch cayenne pepper
• 2 free-range eggs, yolks only

250g dried mixed fruits

175g stoned dates

85g dried cranberries

1tbsp grated ginger

Grated zest 1 orange and juice

100ml whisky

100g butter

2 large eggs beaten

50g s-r flour

1tsp ground cinnamon

85g walnuts

Topping

100g butter

100g muscovado light sugar

50g walnuts

50g dried cranberries

1 orange

3tbsp whisky

Swarm dried fruits and stuff for 10 mins to make sticky

Beat butter sugar eggs and flour and stir in fruits.

Put in pudding basin, cover with greaseproof and foil.  

Put in large pan and half fill with boiling water and steam for 

3 hours topping up water regularly.

Sauce – melt butter and sugar, add walnuts and stir, and add rest and simmer until bubbling, rich and syrupy. Cool.

Onion, garlic, olive oil, can tomatoes, tomato puree or sun dried, pepper, sugar (pinch) and depending on meal – red wine.

Cook onion gently for 10 mins, add toms and garlic and simmer to reduce to a sauce. Also add herbs of choice or a little chilly.

Ingredients send grocery list

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3 ¹/₄ cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger (be generous)
• 1 ¹/₂ teaspoons ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon allspice (if you have it)
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (to your liking)
• ³/₄ cup granulated sugar
• ³/₄ cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon water

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, sift the dry ingredients together. 
2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars together, then add egg, maple syrup, and water. Beat until fluffy. 
3. Mix in dry ingredients about 1/2 cup at a time slowly, so the dough doesn’t get too stiff.
4. Remove from the bowl and form a big ball. Separate into quarters and refrigerate, covered, for 2 to 6 hours. 
5. When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350° F. 
6. Working with 1/4 of dough at a time, roll out the dough (I like to do this between plastic, but you can also use a floured surface), until it is about 1/8-inch thick. Use your favorite cookie cutter to cut out shapes and place them on parchment-lined cookie sheets. 
7. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes, but watch the first batch carefully! You want the cookies to get toasty and golden, not too dark.

Dough made with thyme and chopped olives.

Ingredients

• 150g/5½oz nuts, such as almonds, pecans, walnuts, Brazil nut pieces or a mixture
• 1½ tsp neutral-flavoured oil, such as light olive oil or sunflower oil
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 tsp yeast extract

It is cold wet and windy so I am roasting peppers stuffed with pine nuts, apricots and raisins; and also peppers with olive stuffing.