Sticky ginger and banana bread

I had wanted to post this in time for Bonfire Night as the warming ginger in this cake seems to make it perfect for eating next to a bonfire, preferably with a mug of mulled wine in the other hand. Even though it's a little late, it's still perfect for perking you up in colder weather.

This started life as a Jamie Oliver recipe, but has since swayed quite a lot off course. Jamie's recipe is here, for my version, I added a couple of bananas I had lying around (they were actually snuggled up to the last of our green tomatoes in the hope that they might turn red) and cut down on the vast quantities of sugar and golden syrup. However, the finished result is still sticky and sweet and full of gingery kick. It's also firm enough to travel well as a little snack for the office, which is always good.


I also wanted to share a neat trick that I discovered recently. If you don't have a cake tester (who does?) then a strand of spaghetti works really well. Instead of huge dents left by testing with a knife, and I usually end up testing a few times, you get a barely discernible hole. Genius!

Ingredients

8 pieces stem ginger
4 tbsp stem ginger syrup
150g butter, softened
100g golden syrup
50g dark muscavado sugar
2 eggs
200g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp soft brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 180C.
Put the stem ginger into a food processor and whizz until it's a paste.
Add the syrup, softened butter, golden syrup and sugar and blend until thick and fluffy.
Add the eggs and blend again until well combined and smooth.
Sift in the flour, baking poweder, ground ginger and cinamon and blend until a thick better forms.
Pour into a greased and lined loaf tin, smooth the mixture with a spatula and sprinkle over the sugar.
Bake in the oven for 50 minutes, or until risend and golden and a cake tester comes out clean.

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Cauliflower Risotto

We culled our tomatoes plants this weekend and brought them inside in the hope that a little warmth might turn a few red. It felt like the true end of summer, winter coats and scarves are now being pulled on and the winter veg has started arriving. Bags of dark green curly kale, cauliflower, broccoli and squashes all turned up in our veg box this week.

One of the things I love about getting a veg box is the monotony. Believe it or not, receiving cauliflower for the third week in a row forces you to get creative and try new things. Last year it was toasted cauliflower florets with crème fraîche and pasta or silky smooth soups livened up with cannellini beans. This year, I have a feeling this will be our staple. A Jamie Oliver recipe from his jaunt around Italy. A rich, creamy risotto, packed with little cauliflower florets and a crispy anchovy breadcrumbs sprinkled over. Not only will this make you love cauliflower, you will want to go out and but more cauliflower so that you can make it again.

Not much different from a classic risotto, all you do is cook the florets in the hot stock and add them towards the end, breaking them into the risotto as you go finishing with plenty of butter and a little parmesan. For the crunchy chilli pangrattato, simply whizz stale bread with a tin of anchovies and a little chili, then fry until golden. The full recipe is here. Read more...

Chickpea, Sausage and Kale Stew

I cooked this stew in about 20 minutes flat, with a spoonful of yoghurt this was a perfect Saturday lunch, eaten hungrily from the bowl after a morning of gardening. If you’ve some crusty bread, then by all means use it to soak up the smoky juices, otherwise a spoon is all you need.

I often slice open sausages, remove the skin and tear off little chunks, they’re the perfect size for sauces and stews and go crisp and golden in the heat. A decent sprinkling of paprika evokes the spicy smoky flavour of chorizo in it’s absence. Add the usual onion and garlic, a tin of chickpeas and a tin of chopped tomatoes. Wait until this is bubbling ferociously before adding some shredded kale to preserve the vibrant green colour. Then, cook the whole thing for 10 or 15 minutes until the kale is tender and the tomato sauce thickened (you may need to add a little extra water). Simple as that and you’re left with a healthy, hearty pot perfect for a biting October day. For a proper soup, add some vegetable stock to thin it out.
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Courgette and Barley Salad

I bought a bag of barley last year with high hopes of making hearty soups and comforting stews in the winter months. A year later and there was still half a bag languishing in the back of the cupboard. We've still got some courgettes in the fridge, and I decided to try using the cooked barley in a filling, healthy salad. Think of cooked barley like bulghar wheat, it has a chewy, nutty texture that works perfectly with lots of fresh herbs and veggies. I've also got it on my list to try as an alternative to arborio rice for a healthier version of a risotto.

This is a simple salad of fried courgettes, mint, spring onion and goats' cheese, what really makes it is stirring the cheese into the hot barley to create a creamy cheesy sauce. This keeps well and the flavours develop over time, so perfect for making in advance although I would allow it to come to room temperature before serving and sprinkle over a few extra chopped herbs.

Ingredients

300g pearl barley, cooked in vegetable stock

1 tbsp olive oil
3 medium courgettes, chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped
1 small bunch parsley, roughly chopped
1 small bunch mint, roughly chopped
1/2 lemon, juice
4tbsp olive oil
4 spring onions, sliced
200g feta or goats cheese

• Heat the olive oil in pan and fry the courgettes until golden, add a squeeze of lemon and season well.
• Stir the courgettes and the remaining ingredients into the hot, cooked barley. Stir well and season to taste.

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Apple and olive oil cake

I've been lusting after the Ottolenghi Cookbook for a while and I finally got it for my birthday a few weeks ago. A weekend lusting after the cakes and beautiful salads ensued as I littered it with post-it notes for 'must try' recipes.

For those of you not familiar with the London restaurant, this book is all about big and beautiful salads, using ingredients in new and delicious ways as well as the most fabulous cakes and pastries - the best of both worlds then...(see this post for 101 Cookbook's take on Ottolenghi and another recipe). Yotam Ottolenghi also has a regular column in the Guardian on Saturday - Yotam Ottolenghi's inventive, modern vegetarian recipes.

Everyone who has this book has recommended the apple and olive oil cake so it was top of my to-do list. A light and airy cake packed full of apples, lemon zest and olive oil. The olive oil is not overpowering at all but adds a wonderful complex flavour. And, it just keeps getting better, the whole thing is sandwiched together with luscious maple syrup icing (I used golden syrup) - a delicious butterscotch take on the classic cream cheese icing.

This cake was devoured in a matter of days to a chorus of quiet 'mmms...' Need I say more?Make this cake and make it soon.

Ingredients

280g plain flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/4tsp bicarbonate of soda
120ml olive oil
160g caster sugar
2tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
3 Bramley apples, peeled cored and chopped into 1cm dice
grated zest of 1 lemon
2 egg whites

Icing
100g unsalted butter, at room temperature
100g light muscavado sugar
85ml maple syrup (or golden syrup)
220g cream cheese, at room temperature

• Preheat the oven to 170C
• Sift the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl.
• Meanwhile, whisk the olive oil, vanilla and sugar (preferably with an electric whisk) together until voluminous and smooth. Next whisk in the eggs, one at a time.
• Stir in the apples and lemon zest and then the flour.
• Whisk the egg whites until stiff and fold carefully into the cake batter.
• Grease and line two sandwich tins and bake for 45mins until a cake batter comes out clean.
• Once cooked, allow the cakes to cool completely before icing.
• To make the icing, beat together the butter and maple syrup and sugar until light and airy. Beat in the cream cheese until totally smooth.
• Use the icing to the sandwich the cakes and smooth the remaining on top.

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