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TheCatWomans autumnal treats

TheCatWoman

I just looked back over my curry thread and thought I'd start another one, including the potato and rye bread recipe I was asked, for and some soups and preserves.

POTATO AND RYE BREAD

500g mashed potato along with 500ml of potato cooking water.

100g Rye flakes

300g of wholemeal rye flour, you an use white but you might need to add a bit more to stop the dough being too wet

2 and a quarter tsps of fast action yeast

500g strong white bread four

100ml of golden or maple syrup

1tsps salt

quarter tsps of ground cumin (opt)

Mix mashed potato with it cooking liquid and then str in the rye flakes and rye flour.

Rest for 3 hours

Mix the yeast with a handful of the white bread flour and stir into the dough along with 50ml of warm water,

Mix well and cover and leave in a warm place overnight.

Next day, add the syrup, salt and cumin, if using with enough white bread four to make  a firm dough.

Kneed for 10 mins

Divide into two and shape into round or oval loaves, place on baking sheets, cover and allow to prove for 30 mins.

Heat your oven to 200,C or gas 6, place loaves inside and bake for 50-60 mins. When you think they're done, turn them upside down and knock gently on the bottom, if the loaf sounds hollow they're cooked if you get a dull thunk put them back in for another 10 mins and repeat.

This a lovely bread and well worth the faff, it freezes well too. BUT, I find it a bit vigorous and either make 3 loaves or split the dough and make a loaf or two and some rolls, otherwise you get a couple of real monster sized loaves. It's much lighter in texture than it sounds too. It goes very well with the following two soups.

CARROT SOUP

1kg of carrots, peeled and sliced in four and then into dice

2 medium sized onions, peeled and chopped

a big pinch of thyme, fresh or dried

1 big bayleaf

2 tsps of stock powder or stock cubes, I use marigold vegetable stock powder, but you could use chicken stock cubes or whatever you usually use, just not beef as its to heavy for this soup.

1 litre of water, at least.

couple of tblsps of vegetable oil

salt and pepper.

parsley and hemp oil, optional

Put the oil in a large fairly heavy pan and heat up and gently fry the onions and carrots with the thyme and bayleaf, until the onion are translucent and the carrots don't looke quite so raw.

Add the water to cover the carrots by an inch or two, add the stock and give it a good stir, bring to the boil and turn it down to a simmer, give the liquid a taste and add salt to taste and a good grind of black pepper. Cover and allow it to cook until the carrots are soft enough to eat comfortably.

Turn off the heat and allow it to cool a bit and remove the bayleaf.

I use a stick blender for this, but any liquidiser or food processor will do, or even a vegetable mouli if you want to really old school, give it whizz until its smooth, ruturn to the pan. You may want to add more water if its too thick at this point, heat it up and serve it with a sprinkle of fresh parsley and a couple of tsps of hemp oil if using. This will freeze well too and defrost in the microwave.

Parents

  • GOAN CARROT, TOMATO AND LENTIL SOUP

    I made this recipe up from reading the ingredients list from a pot of lovely but expensive fresh soup from the supermarket.

    1 large onion, peeled and chopped

    500g of carrots, peeled and chopped

    1 tsp each of crushed garlic and ginger

    100g of red lentils

    1 stick of celery, chopped

    1 tin of tomatoes

    1 tsp each of cumin seeds, paprika, turmeric,  and ground corriander

    2 tps kashmiri chilli powder

    Salt

    4tblsps plain, natural yogurt, dairy of non dairy, whatever you choose.

    1tblsp vegetable oil

    a small bunch of fresh corriander, you could use parsley instead if you don't like fresh corriander

    Water

    Heat the oil in a large pan and saute the onions, carrots, celery, cumin seeds and ginger and garlic, I cheat and use a a ready made ginger and garlic paste, so if you use this use 2 tpsps.

    Cook until onions are transucent, turn down the heat and add the  rest of the dried spices and about 1 tsp of salt, give it a good stir and let the spices coat the vegetables.

    Add the lentils and tomatoes and stir them in well, add enough water to cover everything by a good couple of inches and simmer until carrots are cooked, about 45 mins as the tomatoes slow the the cooking of the carrots and lentil. You will need to check that the lentils haven't absorbed all the water a couple of times too, add more if it looks dry.

    Cool for a bit and add the yogurt and fresh herbs and give it a good whizz, return to the pan and heat through, taste and adjust the seasoning.

    I've kept the spice levels fairly low in this soup, it should have a spicy kick, but not blow your head off. Next time you make it you can add more or less of the spices as you choose. This soup freezes well and is nice with the Potato and Rye bread above. 

  • in reply to TheCatWoman

    BLACKBERRY AND APPLE JAM

    2lbs of blackberries

    1lb of cooking apples, or sharp ones for those who don't live in the UK, peeled, cored and chopped

    Juice of one lemon

    3lbs white sugar

    quarter pint of water

    This is a two part process if you want a seedless jam.

    It makes about 5-6lbs of jam, I use old jars I've collected, wash them and sterilise them in the oven for 15 mins gas 3, 100.C. I always put extra jars in, just in case.

    Put your blackberries in a very large pan with the water and cook until they're soft and mushy.

    Line a sieve with a muslin cloth and pour in the blackberries and leave to strain over night. The next morning, give the muslin a really good squeeze to get as much juice out as you can, or you can rub the mixture through a sieve.

    Place the blackberry mix in a very large pan, along with the apples and lemon juice. If you don't mind a seeded jam you can just put the apples and blackberries in together and ignore the seperating and squeezing. 

    Cook until the apples are soft, turn the heat up and add the sugar and give it a really good and long stir until the bottom of the pan no longer feels gritty. 

    You may want to turn the heat down at this point as spitting hot sugary liquids are painful and potentially dangerous!

    Try and keep it at a rolling boil stiring often until it reaches the jam setting on a sugar thermometer. Or you can do it the old fashioned way. Put a small plate in the freezer and get it cold, drop a tsp of the hot soon to be jam on the plate and leave it cool for a couple of minutes and then gently push it, if the little blob, wrinkles and looks like jam then remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool for a bit. If not then keep boiling and repeating the blob on a cold plate process until it does wrinkle and looks like jam. 

    Skim any scummy bits off the top of the jam with a metal spoon and discard, then pot the jam, this can be a bit tricky so either use a small jug to pour it or get a jam funnel, which is a strangely useful piece of kit and not just for potting up jam and preserves, but for decanting things like rice into a container.

    Put the lids on the jam, I wash the lids and dry them throughly, not putting them in the oven. NEVER PUT ANYTHING WET INTO THE JAM AFTER THE SUGAR HAS GONE IN or it will go mouldy, that includes spoons. Out the lids loosly on the jar and do up tight when they're completely cool. Label and store for as long as want to, or eat some straight away.

  • in reply to TheCatWoman

    MIXED SPICE

    So much nicer than the sweepings usually found in jars of mixed spice.

    1 tblsp of ground nutmeg

    1tblsp of ground cinnemon

    1 dsrt spoon of ground ginger

    1 tsp of ground cardamon

    1/2 tsp of ground cloves

    Put them all in a bowl and give them a good but gentle stir or you'll spend the rest of the day sneezing, and store in a clean dry jar, lasts about a year.

Reply
  • in reply to TheCatWoman

    MIXED SPICE

    So much nicer than the sweepings usually found in jars of mixed spice.

    1 tblsp of ground nutmeg

    1tblsp of ground cinnemon

    1 dsrt spoon of ground ginger

    1 tsp of ground cardamon

    1/2 tsp of ground cloves

    Put them all in a bowl and give them a good but gentle stir or you'll spend the rest of the day sneezing, and store in a clean dry jar, lasts about a year.

Children
  • in reply to TheCatWoman

    BREAD PUDDING

    1lb of slightly stale bread, homemade wholemeal is best.

    3oz demerara or soft brown sugar

    6oz mixed dried fruit, either a ready bought packet or something you've done yourself.

    3oz melted butter or margerine

    1 large egg

    1tsp mixed spice

    In a fairly large bowl place the bread and pour about 1/4 pint of cold water over it, trying to make sure all the bread is dampened.

    Cover and leave fr a couple of hours, turning it and add a little more water until the bread is fully damp.

    Take handfuls or slices of the bread and squeeze the water out, it will be squishy, until all the bread has been squeezed out. Put in a clean bowl, or empty the water out of the old ones and use that, if your a mucky person who dislikes washing up, like me.

    Break up any big pieces of bread until it's in large crumbs, add all the dry ingredients and give it a good stir, so as everything's combined, then add the butter and mix that in, then the egg and stir again.

    Turn the mixture out into something like a lasagne dish, or that sort of size, then bake in the oven at 170.C or gas 4-5 for about 50 mins, maybe a little longer depending on how hot your oven is. It should feel firm but soft to the touch and spring back if poked. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the dish. Again this is a good pudding with custard, cream or ice cream, or as normal cake. It keeps well in a tin, although my son has a rule that no bread pudding can ever leave Wales and must be eaten on the train home. It's a good thing for packed lunches.

  • in reply to TheCatWoman

    APPLE CAKE

    I don't remember a time when I've not been eating this cake, my mum and nan both used to make it, I've adapted it slightly.

    1lb bramley or other sharp apple such as granny smiths. Peeled cored and chopped into chunks about the size of your index finger nail.

    8oz wholemeal self raising flour

    4oz demerara or soft brown sugar

    2 medium eggs

    3oz butter or baking margerine

    1 heaped tsp of mixed spice

    one 7" greased and lined round cake tin

    Oven at 180,C or gas 5

    In a mixing bowl place the flour and spice and rub the butter in, when it looks like breadcrumbs, add the sugar and spice and give it a good stir, then add the eggs and beat them in using a large fork. The mixture will look a bit weird, it should resemble a loose scone dough, neither a batter or a dough. Mix in the apples and put in the tin and bake for about 45 mins or until a skewer poked in comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 mins then turn out onto a wire rack to cool, or if you want to serve it warm with cream or custard.