Recipe CXXX - Dorset Apple Cake

One of the advantages of being holed up in a health crisis is the opportunity to do all of those things we haven't had time to do in recent times. It's been a while since I posted a recipe; this is due to a number of things: firstly, I was gravely ill a couple of years ago, then I got a huge amount of work to do, and finally I had three kids in as many years. So please excuse the lack of posts. I hope this recipe will be the first in a revival of my blog, and I would like to thank a lady with the initials AK for the inspiration.

This one is a simple but delicious recipe; Dorset, Somerset and Devon are very well known in Britain as being the home of the apple. It's where most cider makers are based, and as there are so many apples down there (there is even the town of Appledore in Devon, just to reinforce the concept), they make this lovely cake with the local produce. 

This cake is best served warm, but when cold, tastes different but no less intense.

Ingredients:
2 cooking apples, cored, peeled and chopped, then doused in the juice of half a lemon
250g of plain flour
8ml baking powder
130g cold butter, cubed
180g light brown sugar
1 beaten egg
50ml milk, possibly a little more needed later
As much cinnamon as you dare

I also added five spice, but it's not in the original recipe.

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease a round cake tin with butter

Once you have dealt with the apple and lemon juice, put it aside for a few minutes while you do the rest.

Mix and sift the flour and baking powder, then throw in the butter. Mix well with your fingers until it has the consistency of breadcrumbs.

Add about four-fifths of the sugar, plus most of the cinnamon (and five spice if you like), plus the apples, then dump the egg on top, mixing thoroughly until it reaches a good homogeneous light-brown colour.

Then pour in the milk until it has a soft texture that falls slowly off a spoon.

Transfer everything to the cake tin and flatten it out. If the dough is of the right consistency, this should work almost without the aid of a utensil.

Sprinkle the rest of the sugar and some more cinnamon over the top, and put it in the oven for about 45 minutes.

When it's done, let it set in the cake tin for five to ten minutes, but not too much longer, because as I mentioned earlier, it's fantastic to eat when still warm.

It goes splendidly well with a cup of coffee - enjoy!

Recipe LXXXVIII - Apple and Cinnamon Sponge Cake

This is one of the easiest and least time-consuming recipes you can find. It is perfect as an offering at a party, to sell at a village fête, or like I did, take to a celebratory end-of-semester lesson. It is very tasty, and the measurements are so easy to remember that you'll never be able to forget it.

Ingredients:
180-200g fine sugar
180-200g softened butter
180-200g self-raising flour
2 eggs
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 braeburn apple, roughly chopped

Equipment:
1 baking tin with removable base (see far left in the photo)
1 electric mixer
1 set of scales
1 large bowl



Instructions:
Turn on the oven to 180°C. Cut up your butter and put it into a bowl, then put the sugar in and mix it up. Crack the eggs, and give it a go with the mixer.



Add the flour, and carry on mixing it. It will quite quickly turn into a cement-like consistency. Then add the pieces of apple, and mix them nicely in so they are in all parts of the mixture.



Take your cake mould and grease the inside, then pour in the mix, and spread it out to make a roughly flat surface.



Put it into the oven for between 30 and 45 minutes. You will know when it is ready because a knife inserted into the top will come out clean.



Don't peel the apple - the outer layer gives the cake a tangy flavour. Serve with whipped cream and a cup of tea.

Recipe LXXXIII - Venison Steaks in Brandy Sauce with Spätzle

German food. In terms of oxymorons, it ranks alongside French self-deprecation, Scandinavian beach resorts and beautiful Belgian scenery. What is Germany's greatest contribution to food? The hamburger? Not in the least. The schnitzel, maybe? That was stolen from the Czechs. The frankfurter, possibly? If you can find any meat in it. The apple strudel? Strong contender if it wasn't originally Czech too.

No, amongst all the stodge, the greatest contribution the Germans have made to food is their cakes. The Black Forest gâteau being exhibit number one. But amongst all the cream and fruit, there lies an alternative German cuisine that never raises its head above all the commercial stuff: their pasta. German pasta? Yep. And it's quite good. Spätzle is like short linguine, but unlike the Italian version, it can also be fried and is much more satisfying to the stomach. This recipe is one of my own, although I am sure variants exist.

Ingredients and instructions for the venison:
500g venison, cut into steaks or medaillons
2 tablespoons of cinnamon in a bowl with 4 tablespoons of flour (1:2 ratio, depending on your need)
10 peppercorns, black, ground
Salt the venison a little.



Put the flour, cinnamon and pepper into a flat bowl and mix until homogeneous.



Roll the venison in it, then set the meat aside (fridge) for a while, whilst you cut up the vegetables.



Ingredients for the sauce:
4 shallots or small onions
Some porcini mushrooms
Some whole black peppercorns
Some currants, sultanas or raisins
2 apples, diced
Some red berry confit (blackcurrant, redcurrant or something similar)
Some old-style mustard (seeds included)
Some thyme
A glass of brandy



Instructions:
Fry the steaks and onions/shallots in butter for a few minutes, then remove the meat. Add the whole peppercorns, and stir until they puff up. Then add the mushrooms, raisins and apples, and stir for a minute or two before you add the brandy, which will hiss and bubble with an aroma that should make small animals pass out, so put a lid on top and reduce the heat. About 5 minutes later, add a spoonful of mustard and confit, and some thyme. Keep on the lid and allow the liquids to run. You can put the venison steaks back on top, to integrate. Do not fear, the cinnamon exterior remains.



While that is going on, boil your spätzle. This takes between 10 and 12 minutes. Don't believe the packets in Germany which tell you to boil pasta for 2 minutes longer than necessary. Germans like soggy, runny pasta apparently.
As a nice touch, when you serve, why not put the spätzle all round the outside and fill up the middle with your sauce, putting your venison on top?



This goes well with a young, tart red wine from Navarra or northern Italy.

Recipe LXXX - Czech-style Braised Red Cabbage with Roast Pork, Brussels Sprouts and Carrots

On 28th December, I will be returning to my true home, the place I feel most like me, the place that loves me like a favourite aunt, Prague. I will only be there for six days, but the knowledge I will return to Base Camp is what keeps me going every day through the dark hours. The Czech Republic is one of Europe's best-kept secrets when it comes to food. I decided to recreate one of the dishes that will fill my stomach when I arrive.

Ingredients for the cabbage:
1 red cabbage
1 piece of fennel, sliced, but not too small
10 peppercorns
2 apples, chopped
1 onion, cut into rings
1 glass cherry schnapps
1 litre beef stock, warmed up
1 knob of butter
(Sultanas are also good with this dish! You are also welcome to add other things that would suit it: red onions or shallots, parsnip, pumpkin,  whatever...)


Instructions:
Take a large saucepan and melt some butter in the bottom on a medium-low heat. Add the fennel, a little salt and stir until it sweats. Then the onions and peppercorns. Finally, add the apples 2 minutes before you put in the red cabbage. Stir continuously.



Add the cabbage and continue stirring for a good 5 minutes. This allows the vegetables to get softer without burning.



Put in a good 20cl of fruit schnapps. I used cherry, as it's also a red fruit. Allow it to bubble in the bottom, then continue stirring.



Add the beef stock and put on the lid. Turn the heat right down and allow everything to run for as long as two hours, always checking the liquid level. With the right saucepan, nothing should escape, and you should end up with a truly delicious jus.



I served it with roast pork belly with crackling, roast carrots and Brussels sprouts.



To get a hard roast pork skin:
All you need to do is put the oven on at a low 150°C, cut your pork skin at each end a couple of gashes (this hardens it more easily), not forgetting to rub salt over it, baste your pork in the oil, put the pork in the baking tray with the skin facing upwards, leave some butter on top of it and allow it to melt in the oven. After 45 minutes, you can add the sliced carrots and baste the pork a little more. After an hour, turn the heat up to 200°C. For extra crackliness to the skin, spread some honey or caramel on it 10 minutes before removing it from the oven.

To get a tasty Brussels sprout:
After boiling in salt water, pour out the water and put a knob of butter in the pan. Once sizzling, add the sprouts, stirring constantly. Put in some ground black pepper and grate some nutmeg over it.

Recipe LXIII - Apple and Bacon Salad

As I haven't done a salad for a while, I thought the sunny period we had a few days ago was the ideal opportunity to make one. Salads are, for me, pretty unappetising, for two reasons. Firstly, they contain stuff that makes my lazy, feckless digestion system spring into action as if it had to catch up with lost time (a lot of which I am still owed by it), and secondly because it doesn't really fill me up. If I served a salad as main course, I would not be surprised if my guests then went to get some chips or a kebab... So if I were to make a salad, I would at least make sure it had something solid in it, otherwise what's the point of eating for enjoyment?!


Ingredients for the salad:
250g-400g bacon, >1cm thick
2 cloves of garlic
1-2 apples
A bunch of seedless grapes (I didn't use all the grapes in the photo)
A handful of field salad (lamb's lettuce)
Some hazelnuts
Ground black pepper

Ingredients for the vinaigrette:
2-5 tsps of mayonnaise
Some olive oil *
Some red wine vinegar *
Some cream *
5 stalks of chives
2-3 cloves of garlic (crushed)
Some ground black pepper and salt
* Equal amounts of olive oil and vinegar, triple the amount of cream

Instructions:
Cut up the bacon into long, thin slices, and fry them in a frying pan in olive oil or butter, put in the garlic just before the end, and set aside to cool. Alternatively, you can heat it up again just before serving.



Cut up your apples, slice the grapes in half, crush your pepper, scissor your chives. In a bowl, put the liquid ingredients (*) together with the mayonnaise and stir until it is a consistent mix.



Add the apples, chives, grapes, pepper, hazelnuts, the garlic, some pepper, and a very little salt. stir it all in, to make sure everything is saturated.



To prepare your salad bowl(s) for presentation, put in the field salad first. Then, pour the fruity vinaigrette over the top.



Then add the bacon.
You can either spread the bacon over the dish:



Or you can put it in the centre, like a kind of thin inner layer:



In any case, serve with something like boiled potatoes and eat al fresco!

Recipe XI - Russian Apple Scharlotka with a Vanilla Kick

Ingredients:
2-3 apples
Approx. 200g-250g sugar
Approx. 150g-175g flour
3 eggs
A vanilla pod
A knob of butter

Instructions:
Start by preheating the oven to about 180°C.
Put the flour, eggs and sugar into a bowl and mix them together until they form a smooth, thick paste which takes a long time to fall from the spoon. Add the content of the vanilla pod and stir it fully into the mixture.
Meanwhile, grease a round baking dish with the knob of butter and cut up two to three apples into thin slices and place them into a spiral pattern on the bottom of the dish.
Pour the mixture over the top and cook the whole thing for about 40 minutes. If, after 30 minutes, the top is going dark, check if it is ready by inserting a knife into the middle. If it comes out still sticky, it is not done yet. In this case, turn down the heat to about 160°C and leave it in for another ten minutes or so.
Dust the top with some powdered sugar.
It can be served immediately or it can wait for up to 48 hours in a cool, dry place if you need to prepare it in advance.
Sorry I don't have a photo this week - I took it straight to a party on Friday and it was gone before I could get a camera onto it!

Recipe X - Curry to spoil your guests with

When it comes to home cooking, I am not a fan of measurements. In this recipe, please take my calculations as purely approximate. My mother, her mother and her grandmother were all excellent cooks and were known for just using their instincts for balancing up the ingredients. I hope I take after them in my measuring, if not in the kind of dishes I cook.

Ingredients:
800g chicken/pork/lamb/beef cut into bitesize pieces
1-2 onions
1-2 green/red peppers
1-2 apples
4 medium-sized carrots cut into long strips
10 large button mushrooms, cut into quarters or lengthways
5 cloves of garlic, diced
50g+ sultanas and raisins
Ghee, butter or oil
A tin of diced tomatoes
300g natural yoghurt

Spices and additions:
Garam masala, cinnamon, chili powder, cardemom, cumin, fresh or dried coriander (not powdered), nutmeg, sugar - and lots of all of them! Later on in the cooking process: ground coconut and ground almonds.

Instructions:
First, salt the meat and add some of the diced garlic. Put it in the fridge for at least two hours.
Using a large frying pan with lid, take the meat, and gently fry it in the oil on a medium-low heat until the outside is sealed (to keep the juices in).
Remove the meat, and put all the powder spices (i.e. except the fresh coriander and the sugar) in the hot oil and make sure none of it sticks to the bottom of the pan. Put in the vegetables in the frying pan and sweat them for a few minutes. Re-introduce the meat, and add the sugar, apples, sultanas and raisins. Cook with lid for a further 5 minutes.
Add the tin of diced tomatoes, ground coconut, almonds, coriander and natural yoghurt. Stir in all the ingredients really well.
Cook for at least an hour on a low heat with the lid on.

Observations:
This type of dish goes excellently with both nan bread, or basmati rice. Some people would choose to use coconut cream instead of yoghurt and that is also a favourite of mine.
Enjoy!