An Amazing Loaf Of Bread

This recipe is NOT one of mine – but I am totally bowled over by it. It is delicious, infinitely adaptable, has incredible keeping qualities (just consider any adaptations). It is so satisfying and a little slice can be wrapped in a napkin and tucked into a pocket to keep you going all day with put having to resort to poorly made, ill thought through snacks that claim much but are made without knowledge or consideration.

This couldn’t be easier ……

…..make it yourself……

….. you’ll save more than money …

….. reclaim yumminess one recipe at a time!

This is from ‘My New Roots’ By Sarah Britton. The book is full of great recipes that you’ll use every day 🙂

1 cup/140g sunflower seeds

1/2 cup 90g linseeds

1/2 cup 70g almonds

1 1/2 cups 150g gluten free oats

2 tbsp chia seeds

4 tbsp psyllium husks

1 tsp sea salt

1 tbsp maple syrup

3 tbsp coconut oil

Use a 500g or 1lb silicon loaf pan. If its not silicon then use a strip of parchment along the base to make removal easier later.

This can be made in the loaf tin/pan.

In a bowl (or the loaf pan)  mix the dry ingredients

Whisk the wet in a jug and then stir into the dry.

Allow to stand on the side for the minimum of 3 hours and up to 12.

Preheat the oven to Gas 4/ 180•C / 350•F

Bake for 20 minutes on the middle self (I had to bake mine for twice as long as I made additions and adaptations – so just bear that in mind)

Tip the half baked loaf onto a metal tray and put it back into the oven for another 40 minutes. Until the loaf starts to sound hollow when tapped.

It should totally be left to go cold before you slice it like the inventor says … But i couldn’t resist a warm slice with fresh sliced pear and a drizzle of tahini … I know, I’m so predictable!

The adaptation on this loaf was 1 tbsp vanilla powder (make this by grinding a vanilla pod in a coffee grinder) 3 tbsp date syrup 3 tbsp of fennel seeds, 3 tbsp blueberries. 3 tbsp cranberries, 3 tbsp mulberries, 3 tbsp dried sour cherries, 3 tbsp golden raisins and I used hazelnuts

The adaptation on this loaf was 1 tbsp sesame seeds 3 tbsp of caraway seeds, a cup of green olives, a cup of sun dried tomatoes 1 tbsp oregano.

 

Come and see me on Saturdays’ at Bermondsey Square Farmers Market in Southwark. It’s just off Tower Bridge Road, a short walk from The White Cube, Southbank and Borough Market.

email me scarletrositafood@gmail.com

phone or text 0792 310 9170

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Barely Baked Superfood Sweet Biscuit

I know it’s not a very inspiring title but I really didn’t know how to describe these chewy, sweet, satisfying ‘biscuits’. The combination of ingredients is perhaps not what a classic biscuit would have, nor is the method, but these are super quick, very easy to make, taste really lovely and you can feed them to just about everyone as they as so ‘allergen low’.

I used to love to cook with my daughters and their friends (much to other parents horror. We’d make everything from bread to cinder toffee – heyho they all lived). And even if you have tiny, barely walking toddlers I’d urge you to make these. The dough is entirely edible and a treat and you are getting some great stuff into your bubba’s body.

Another great one to make with small children (as long as they are not intolerant or allergic to sesame or gluten) is to mix equal quantities of tahini and malt extract (or honey if your child is coeliac). It makes an edible play dough rich in calcium and other nutrients you won’t find in shop bought confectionary.

I highly recommend investing in small bags of the superfoods – you only ever use a teaspoon at a time and so it lasts ages. But the good they do you is beyond the money you pay. If you don’t want to buy them or you don’t want to buy all of them, either substitute one for the other – add more of the one you have bought or leave them out completely. Perhaps add a teaspoon of a good vanilla extract instead.

So – give these a try and let me know what you think and how you get on 🙂 (and if you are confused or worried I’m happy to help if I can)

Dough Ingredients:

100g dried apricots, prunes or figs

100g organic sunflower seeds

40 g shelled hemp seeds

6 tsp xylitol or coconut palm sugar

1 tsp baobab powder

1 tsp suma powder

1 tsp camu-camu powder

1 tsp maca root powder

1/2 tsp kelp powder

1/2 tsp barley grass powder

1/2 tsp good quality sea salt (or else leave it out)

120ml filtered water

For rolling:

1 tbsp lucuma powder

Place all the dough ingredients, bar the water, into your food processor with the ‘S’ blade. Process until it is as fine as it will go – about 5 minutes.

At this point start to dribble in the water through the chute as the machine is running until the mix forms a pliable, firm-ish ball.

Tip it onto a clean work surface dusted with the lucuma. Roll the ball so its all covered with the Lucuma (or Maca Root Powder if you prefer – its absolutely my favourite – I stir it into warmed almond milk for a treat).

It’s at this point that you can leave the children to play with it, let them make shapes, figures, letters, numbers, eat it raw, roll it into snakes. Bake them as they make them.

Or roll it will a pin to 1/2 cm thick. Stamp out the shapes you like best and pop them onto a parchment lined tray.

If you have a dehydrator then you need to dry them at 38•C for about 6 hours. Or pop them onto your oven at the lowest setting and allow them to dry for 3 hours.

I made a Purple Caramel Jam to top them with

60g inca berries or golden sultanas

150g agave or maple syrup

2 tsp acai powder

1 tsp purple corn extract

1 tsp raw coconut oil

Just blast these in the food processor straight after the dough is made – no need to wash the bowl.

Stores in a jar for a good 6 weeks.

– but they are far more delicious with a smear of cashew nut butter of dark tahini (I love this stuff)

Enjoy

Come and see me on Saturdays’ at Bermondsey Square Farmers Market in Southwark. It’s just off Tower Bridge Road, a short walk from The White Cube, Southbank and Borough Market.

email me scarletrositafood@gmail.com

phone or text 0792 310 9170

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/ScarletRosita

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Scapece (Zucchini)

This is a treat we would have right at the start of the summer. My Mum would only ever make it with the first zucchini/corgettes of the summer – before the seeds have a chance to thicken. I have made it as she used to with malt vinegar.

We would eat them after a day of steeping, simply on bread with a pinch of salt.

Sunflower or Extra-virgin olive oil enough to fill the pan you use to 1 cm depth
8 first of the season (young) zucchini
12 leaves fresh mint, torn in 2
4 cloves garlic, in thick slices
malt vinegar (coeliacs please use red or white wine vinegar)
Salt

Wash the fruit and cut off the stem. Then slice into a 1cm thick (not too thin not too thick)

Heat the oil in your chosen pan for frying.
Once it is hot add the zucchini to make a single layer in the pan. If you prefer you can do this in a larger pan deeper in oil 🙂

Fry until turning golden, then turn each slice to colour on the other side.
Allow the zucchini to cool on some kitchen paper.

Into a bowl or jar make the marinade of garlic, mint and the vinegar.

Do not add the salt at this stage.
Add in the zucchini, cover with a lid or cling film.
Leave in a cool spot (not the fridge though) and eat up over the next 3 days.

🙂

Lovely

🙂

Elder Strawberry Jam

I know I am lucky – but I temper that thought with the knowledge that I am the one that works the garden. It’s just me, mother nature and the magical sprites and fairies that populate the garden for good or bad depending on their mood.

All the fruit and elderflowers are from my garden. I am a bit fussy about my strawberries.

In the UK at the moment the only strawberry that is easily available to buy is Elsanta – which is a prolific fruiter but the berries are very low in flavour, scent – just not very good. Try the other varieties (I can’t remember the names of all the varieties I have but I have 4 types to spread the season over a few weeks) Do not shy away from the little wild/alpine strawberry, they are great for taste 🙂

This time I had my lovely Daughter No1 to help me – I’m hoping the love of ‘jamming’ has found it’s way into her soul too.

This is the BEST jam you can have. Quintessentially British and the flavour is outstanding.

It is essential that you do not cook this any further than stated as you will get a firm set and then all the nuances of fresh strawberries will be lost. That sort of jam can be bought at any supermarket for 40 p a jar.

This is something very special -easy to make and will set you on the path of ‘getting’ why it is you would want to make your own jams and chutneys.

I make this in my jam pan, if you only have a 4 litre (pasta) pan then halve the amounts.

Elder Strawberry Jam

2 kg / 4 lb granulated sugar
1.5 kg strawberries (washed and hulled – in that order)
100 ml lemon juice
10 heads of elderflowers (rinsed in cold water – if you have any black flies then either wipe them off but if you are a Vegan then just cut that part of the stem off and pop it back into the garden)
100 ml pectin ( or the cores of 6 apples tied in a muslin bag)

You will need about 10 1lb/480g glass jars.

Wash the jars in soapy water a rinse throughly. You can leave these to dry and then place on a baking sheet and pop into a cold oven. Turn it on to 250˚F/130˚C/Gas 1/2 until the jam is made (about 20 minutes)

I sterilise my jars by standing them onto a large tray and filling them to the brim with boiling water (be careful if you do this because the jars can crack – although I have NEVER had a jar crack). Once the water is boiling pour the water into the jar to fill only 1/6th of the way full – this will allow the glass to begin to temper and you should not have any problems. Allow the jar to stand for 5 minutes and then reboil the kettle and fill the jar with the boiling water.

Pop the lids into a pan of boiling water and allow to simmer away until you need them – don’t do this with plastic lids – they will need to be sterilised in a baby bottle fluid like Milton.

*If the jar has a flaw or is cracked it will now shatter – but it would shatter anyway once in the oven or when you have added the hot jam. Best to get it over with whilst it only contains a little hot water on the side where you can see where the glass has gone!

Pop the fruit into the pan and crush lightly with a fork, a masher, the end of a rolling pin or your hand – just to the the juices flowing.

Add the sugar and stir. Add the bag of apple cores at this point if you are using them.

Turn the heat onto very low and allow the sugar to dissolve (maybe 5 minutes). You will know when it is dissolved as it will not sound scratchy when you stir it.

Add the lemon juice and elderflower heads.

Turn the heat up and pop in the thermometer (if you are using one). Bring to a rapid boil for about 20 minutes (or until it reaches 130˚C).

Turn off the heat and remove the elderflower heads (and apples cores if you have used them). Give it a good stir and use a ladle to carefully remove any remaining foam. (Most will disappear once you have stirred it).

Add in the pectin and stir.

Empty the jars of the now tepid water. Fill with the hot jam. While still not pop on the lid and turn to just seal.

After 10 minutes (using a cloth to hold the jar) tighten the lid. After an hour fully tighten the lids down

Scrummy on a fresh scone, toast, filling a cake or even on yogurt 🙂

Old School Coconut & Raspberry Cake (Get the tea pot – don’t ask – just get the teapot)

I am a little limited with what I can post as I don’t have any sort of camera – they were all in the bag!

So it’s a fine excuse to give you this recipe. Absolutely one of my favourites. Never is anything like the stuff you buy when you are out and about and you will want more than the one slice – for sure!

😀

Old School Coconut & Raspberry Cake

270 g / 9oz butter
270 g / 9oz Caster sugar
270 g / 9oz Desiccated Coconut
3 large Eggs
480 g / 1 lb Plain Flour
4 tsp baking powder
300 ml / 10 fl oz dairy milk

For the topping;
240 g / 8oz Raspberry Conserve
60 g / 2 oz shredded coconut

Set oven to 350˚F/180˚C/Gas 4.
Parchment paper line or grease and flour a 20 cm cake tin.
Rub the butter into flour.
Beat together the egg and milk mixture.
Then stir together the eggs mix into all the dry ingredients.
Pour into tin.
Bake at for 50-60 minutes. You may need to cover it with a piece of paper for the last 10 minutes if it looks like it is getting too brown.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes before lifting from the tin.
Turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Spread the coconut onto a baking sheet and pop into the oven for maybe 5 minutes (depends how old and dry it is). Stay by the oven as when it starts to brown it will turn quickly.
As soon as you smell it, check it and if it is just turning golden remove it from the oven.
*Once the cake is cooled completely

Spread the top with the raspberry conserve and sprinkle with the coconut. This cake improves with keeping over a period of 2-5 days.

I do sometimes miss that last very important step and we get to eat it warm and fragrant and so delicious.

Conference Pear Chutney

<a href=”https://scarletrosita.wordpress.com/?
First to say, it is so cold in this kitchen on this typical November morning of bright blue skies and frost that I am wearing my gloves as I make my first pot of tea.
Okay, that said, today will be the day for another batch of Conference Pear Chutney. I am very lucky that the tree in the garden consistently provides me with a very generous supply every year, and they are my favourite.

Pears and jars washed

I have a love of preserving that is entirely down to my Mum and Dad. As Southern Italian farmers it is in their DNA (and so mine) that any excess be preserved. I can remember being very small, maybe 3 years old sitting at the kitchen table with my Mamma feeding tomatoes into long necked glass bottles (with the essential leaf of basil,) that she would then take outside to a massive vat of boiling water to be cooked for several hours. And then playing in the garden around the fire only to jump out of my skin at the occasional bang as one bottle would have a little air trapped in it and so explode. This way we would have tomatoes for sauce in the winter.
My first attempts at any thing like this was when I was about 11 years old and I made my first batches of Marmalade from the local markets end of the day sell off. A long way from the stuff bought in jars from the High Street’s International Supermarket, but far nicer and I was hooked.
Every year I make a variety of preserves and I hope to hand the love of it down to my daughters.

Anyway, this is my basic recipe, I encourage you to add and subtract ingredients as fits your palette, but have in mind that if you remove an ingredient, lets say the ginger, you may want to add another ingredient, perhaps another spice, so that the chutney will still have a good balance.

You will need to sterilize some jars so I am putting this before the recipe so you will have read it before you get all over keen and start chutney-ing-up what you have in the fruit bowl. Dull but essential to remove any bacteria, yeasts or fungi. Otherwise the chutney will spoil and that would be a shame and a waste.

Do NOT add cold food to hot jars, or hot food to cold jars otherwise the jar will shatter which is too dramatic.
Give the jars and lids a good wash in hot soapy water and rinse.
Boil the lids for 5 minutes in a pan of water (not the plastic ones) or else you can soak them in a dilute solution of something like ‘Milton’
Arrange your jars on a baking sheet but do not let them touch.
Make the chutney or jam 🙂
About 30 minutes before the chutney is done get back to the jars.
Pop them into the oven.
Turn the oven to 350°F/180°C/Gas 4 – no higher or the glass may crack or shatter.
Close the oven door and leave for a 25 minutes.
Set the tray of jars on a rack on the side.
Turn the heat off from under the chutney and let it stop bubbling.
Fill the hot jars with the hot chutney, I recommend adding a ladle of chutney to each jar in turn before attempting to fill the jar completely, that way if one is going to ‘pop’ it can do so and you only have a spoon of chutney wasted.
If you want to use the waxed disc now is the time to add them and then cover each jar with its own lid.
NEVER add cold food to hot jars, or hot food to cold jars-otherwise you will have a drama!
Leave chutney for about 10 minutes before tightening the screw tops on.

Conference Pear Chutney
Ingredients
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp coarse ground black pepper
1 large red onion
225 g or 8oz sultanas
225 g or 8oz raisins
170 g or 6oz demerara sugar
140 g or 5oz malt vinegar
110 g or 2oz balsamic vinegar
100 g or 3½oz crystalised ginger, finely sliced
1Kg 350 g or 3lb pears cored and cut into wedges
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated
2 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp paprika
½ tsp chilli flakes

Peel, core and chop the onion and pears.
Put all of the ingredients into a large pan on a low heat
Stir carefully with a wooden spoon, turning it all over and letting the sugar have a chance to melt down before you start to boil it.
Bring to the boil and give it one good stir. Reduce to a simmer and allow it to cook for 50 – 60 minutes, (this depends on your cooker) but you are wanting it to be thickened and dark looking.
Ladle into hot, clean, sterilized jars, cover and seal.
Label when fully cool.

Yields approximately 2.5 Kg or 6 lb of Chutney

I do love to use this Chutney in a number of ways,

but here as in these sausage rolls,

is a match made in heaven.

Can you see how happy the chutney and sausage meat are together  😀

I have made a Limited Edition Christmas Chutney. They will cost £5 per 500g/1lb jar.
You can order a jar or two from me directly, please email me at scarletrositafood@btinternet.com or contact me via my Facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/ScarletRosita