The ultimate ginger nuts

I have finally found the ultimate recipe for crispy chewy ginger nuts from this lovely lady here. Many thanks to Samantha J(182) for this recipe because I cannot describe how long I've searched for a real ginger nut recipe.

I have adapted it slightly and I also cook them for around 6 minutes rather then 15.

These take about 10 minutes to put together and around 6 minutes to cook.

Ingredients
50g butter
75g golden syrup
2 tbsp caster sugar
1-2 tsp ginger (fresh or dry, both work)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
100g self raising flour
half tsp Bicarbonate of soda

Directions

Preheat your oven to 190C.

Soften your butter and mix it with 2 tablespoons of caster sugar and 75g of golden syrup. Add your cinnamon and ginger and mix well.

Weigh out your flour and add the bicarbonate of soda. Add this to your butter mix and combine well.

Butter a large flat tin and roll your dough into small little balls (they will expand like crazy). Push down slightly with your fingers.

Pop in the oven and allow to cook for about 6-7 minutes. They seem to expand and blow up but deflate as soon as taken from the oven, so as soon as you see them deflating in the oven and turning golden I've found this is the perfect time to pull them out.

Leave them to cool on the tin, and then remove onto a rack. Enjoy with a nice cup of tea.

Traditional tomato sauce

Is there anything better in this world then a real homemade tomato sauce? I doubt it.

It all started when I decided that I was no longer content with the sauces in the supermarket, or even a homemade quick tomato sauce. So off I went to my local farm shop (more about that later, oh how I adore real farm shops) and got myself some big, red beefsteak tomatoes.

You will need about 7-9 big ripe tomatoes, a rather large pan and a day to keep an eye on your sauce.

Pour a little olive oil in your pan and heat slightly.

Place your tomatoes in the pan, and put on a very low heat. Cover half way and now leave them for about an hour. When you return, start to very gently push your tomatoes down with a spoon and leave once more. They will still be quite stiff right now, so don't force them to disintegrate. You want them to turn into sauce in their own sweet time.

Keep checking your tomatoes about once every 45 minutes and again, make sure the heat is very low so they do not burn. Keep dunking them on the head slightly with the spoon so they start to cook inside. Now take them out one by one and place on a non-absorbent board (you don't want to lose any of the wonderful juice). Peel the skins off which should be slightly cracked by now. If not possible, place back in the pan and return after a while to try again. I usually burn my fingers slightly here but no pain, no gain!

Keep and eye on your sauce and keep slowly pushing the tomatoes down until they disintegrate by themselves. Once it resembles sauce, make sure to check every 30 minutes because it will be wanting to burn at a moments notice. Continue this for about 6 hours.

Now you don't have to do this, but I find a little sugar and some sea salt really bring out the flavour in the tomatoes. About a teaspoon of sugar and a pinch of salt should do it. Throw in a little freshly ground pepper for good measure.

At around the 8 hour mark you should have a lush tomato sauce. To finish add some fresh chopped herbs (parsley, basil or oregano works remarkably well).

If you're a garlic fiend like me, slice a couple of cloves very finely. Grab a separate pan, pour a little olive oil in and heat to medium. Put your garlic in the oil for about 30 seconds or until the smell is intoxicating, but not burnt! Add this to your sauce and allow to cool fully before popping in the fridge or using.

Who else wants Key Lime pie?

I am a little obsessed with Key Lime pie lately and limes available have been big and sweet. Refreshing, zesty and cold, the sour twang of the lime balances beautifully with the sweetness of the condensed milk. Now layer that on a crunchy, buttery base and you have a dessert that is truly out of this world.

I have tried many versions of this and have finally found a perfect version in Jamie Oliver's quick recipe.

This takes no time at all to prepare, but takes at least 6 hours in the fridge to set. Don't be tempted to cut a little slice off, as hard as that is! This pie really deserves be cold and fully set.

This takes about 30 minutes to prepare, 6 hours to set in the fridge

Ingredients

For the crust

12 digestive biscuits

45g Caster sugar

140g butter

For the lime filling

4 egg yolks

1x 400ml can condensed milk

6-7 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

To serve

Fresh lime zest

For the crust

Preheat the oven to 170C and grab a small-medium sized tin. Butter your tin well and place to the side.

Crush up your biscuits in a processor or a mortar and pestle (they crush easily) and pour into a nice big bowl. Soften 140g of butter and mix it in with the digestives and 45g of caster sugar. Mix it all up well and pour it into a small-medium sized round tin, pushing the base up the sides a little.

Place in a nice hot oven for about 15 minutes, checking frequently to cook to perfection. Once browned, leave the base in its tin and place on a cooling rack for about 20 minutes or until cool.

The filling

Now you're ready to start the fun part! Crack and separate four eggs and place only the yolk in a nice big bowl. You won't need the white anymore for this recipe.

Whisk the egg yolks until nice and airy (about 4 minutes) and slowly start to pour in your condensed milk, bit by bit, whilst still whisking.

I got lucky with super sized limes from my local farm shop (and deliciously sweet) but you should need around 3-4 good sized limes for the 6-7tbsp of lime juice. Whisk the juice into the egg and milk mix and you should have a wonderfully light fragranced filling to pour straight into your base.

Once poured and levelled, take your pie and pop it back in the oven for 10-15 minutes, then cover and pop in the fridge for a few hours. Then proceed to wow everyone with this heavenly American pie!

Seasonal food in January

UK edition

Keeping up with the seasons can be time consuming, but it really is great for the environment and the best way to enjoy the most delicious (and cheapest) produce all year round.

This downloadable PNG is perfect as a quick guide, just print it out and pin it on your wall.

Follow the link to download https://rapidshare.com/files/832682521/produceinjan.png

January is a good season for root vegetables and greens with much of our exotic fruit being imported from the Tropics.

Stars of January

Veg

Beetroot, Brussels Sprouts, Celeriac, Chicory, Endive, Jerusalem Artichoke, Kale, Leeks, Potatoes, Shallots

Fruit

Bananas, Clementines, Kiwi, Lemons, Mango, Oranges, Passion fruit, Pineapple, Pomegranate, Satsumas, Tangerines

Good in January

Veg

Brocolli, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chives, Curly parsley, Mushrooms, Onions, Parsnips, Sprouting Broccoli, Swede

Fruit

Blood oranges, Cranberries, Limes, Pears

Hearty Carrot and coriander soup with creme fraiche

Healthy hearty carrot and coriander soup to help you stick to your new years resolutions.

Feel free to add any leftover veg you have around. This soup can be eaten as a main meal with some crusty buttery bread on the side.

Serves 4

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, sliced
500g carrots, sliced
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 litre of stock, 2 stock cubes (chicken or vegetable)

To serve
Seasoning
Fresh chopped coriander
1 tablespoons creme fraiche
Crusty buttered bread

Process or finely slice your onion and carrots and put 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a deep pan. Heat on medium and put your vegetables in the pan, stir with a wooden spoon and turn the heat down to very low. Half cover your pan with a lid and allow the vegetables to sweat for about 15 minutes, checking frequently.

Add one teaspoon of ground cumin and one teaspoon of ground coriander to your vegetables and mix well. Turn the heat up to medium and cook for about 5 minutes, whilst boiling a kettle.

Make about a litre of stock with 2 stock cubes, chicken or vegetable is probably best. Bring to the boil and turn down to a low simmer. Cook for about 10 minutes until all vegetables are soft.

Turn off heat and add a handful of fresh coriander. Allow to cool and blend up.

Heat back up and pour into bowls. Add 1-2 tablespoons of creme fraiche to each bowl and swirl into the soup. Season and butter some crusty bread. Enjoy.

Adapted from page 53 in the March 2011 edition of Delicious Magazine.

Green tea

Although not for everyone, Green tea has become a firm favourite now for many in the west.

It is an acquired taste but I find the reason for many people’s dislike is actually in incorrectly brewing it like normal English tea. If brewed properly with a quality asian tea, it becomes both light and refreshing.

When I can, I try to get to my local japanese store to buy my sencha. It is quite unlike anything you can usually buy in a supermarket, with a much more delicate fresh flavour. In fact, I disliked green tea until I tasted a cup of mild sencha.

A big trick is to not use boiling water for making this tea. Doing this encourages that horrid bitter flavour to come through and will completely ruin your tea. Allow the kettle to rest for a few moments after boiling and then brew your tea for about 2 minutes.

One of the greatest benefits to this tea is its apparent ability to speed up your metabolism and help with carbohydrate digestion. I find it wakes me up more then coffee, and fills me with energy. My appetite is greatly diminished and it can also cause me to start sweating, so the proof is in the pudding for me.

Another warning, do not drink this in the evening unless you plan on staying awake. Unlike many things that claim to encourage weight loss, I have found green tea to actually work.

Quick meatballs and spaghetti with cheats tomato sauce

Who doesn't like meatballs and spaghetti? Tasty and cheap, you can get the whole family involved in hand mashing and rolling up these together.

This is an incredibly simple dish that takes about half an hour to prepare with minimum fuss and clean up.

Serves 4

Ingredients

Meatballs 
500g minced beef
1 medium onion, diced
1 egg
40g (1/4 cup) grated parmesan
4 plain crackers crushed, or about 40g breadcrumbs
1 tsp dijon mustard
Handful of chopped parsley

Tomato sauce 
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves
2 tins of chopped or plum tomatoes
1 and 1/2 tablespoon caster sugar
A small handful of chopped basil or parsley (or both, yum) 

Spaghetti to serve


For a much more time intensive but delicious sauce, try out this recipe for a real tomato sauce. It takes a day to prepare, but is incomparable with a bog standard tomato sauce and lifts the whole dish up.

Directions 

For the meatballs

Preheat oven to 180C.

If you have a food processor, use it to chop up your onion and tip into a large bowl. Then blitz up in your crackers as finely as possible (or just use breadcrumbs.)

If not, dice up a medium onion finely. Put your crackers into a plastic sandwich bag and crush up well with a rolling pin. Put it all together in a large bowl.

To your crackers and onions, add 500g of minced beef, one egg and a handful of chopped fresh parsley.

Grate 40g of parmesan and add to the bowl with one teaspoon of mustard. I used dijon, but I know English mustard would be just as tasty. Get your hands right in there and mash it all up well.

Lightly oil a baking tray. Roll up into golf ball size balls and cook in the oven for about 30 minutes, checking regularly to make sure they are not burning.

For the sauce 


Finely slice or chop two cloves of garlic and fill a deep pan with 3 tablespoons of olive oil.

Turn the heat to medium until the oil is nice an hot. Open the tins of tomatoes. Put your garlic into the hot pan and cook for less then a minute. Watch it and put your tomatoes in as soon as the garlic starts to turn very lightly golden. Watch out, garlic burns quickly!

Throw in 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of caster sugar, mix and slowly bring to the boil.

Turn down heat to a low low simmer and cook the sauce until the meatballs are done, stirring the sauce regularly and turning down if needed.

When your meatballs are nearly done, add some spaghetti to a pan of boiling water for about 12 minutes, drain and rinse with boiled water and plate up into bowls.

Add a handful of chopped parsley or basil to your tomato sauce and stir in well. Season to taste.

Pour a little tomato sauce over each portion of spaghetti and place about 5-6 meatballs on top of each.