A crumble for warmer weather: Rhubarb and Strawberry Crumble (or 'Crisp' if you prefer) with Toasted Oats and Hazelnuts

It is probably wrong to associate crumbles with colder weather, but I tend to do so, as they are the type of pud that is substantial, 'sticks to your ribs' and if your accompaniment of choice is custard then your bones get warmed up as a result. However as the year moves on to something a little more spring like, I was looking for something that I considered a little lighter, and that would be more likely to be accompanied by a splosh of cream than a dollop of custard, (not that there is anything ever wrong with said 'dollop').

Regular readers to this blog will know that I am a huge Tamasin Day Lewis fan and this recipe is from her latest cookbook, 'Food you can't say no to'. It is a lovely book, as are all her others, and the way she writes so eloquently on food, on memory and the joy of eating is wonderful to read and inspires the budding cook to get into the kitchen.

I made very little changes to the original recipe, save that I had some rhubarb in the freezer which I had cooked and frozen several months ago, and I upped the amount of strawberries, for two reasons. One, Lola. If Lola could be a fruit, she would be a strawberry, and secondly, the strawberries that I bought (and I don't like buying them at this time of year because they're often dreadful) I couldn't see myself doing anything with the remaining few, so I lobbed them in. I also wanted a more uniform crumble - the original recipe suggests layering the crumble somewhat, so crumble, followed by toasted oats, followed by some of the hazelnuts, coarsely chopped. Finn in particular isn't keen on nuts as such, so I wanted to have the crumble more 'uniform' by combining all the crumble ingredients and blitzing all of the hazelnuts.

Despite the fact that rhubarb and custard should be together, I think this is better accompanied with a little cream. Or a lot...

Rhubarb and Strawberry Crisp with Toasted Oats and Hazelnuts, taken from 'Food you can't say no to' by Tamasin Day Lewis.

Serves Mum, Dad, Lola and Finn twice

Ingredients:

675g rhubarb, cleaned and chunked

4 tbsp vanilla caster sugar, or to taste (I confess, I used caster sugar with a couple of drops of vanilla extract)

450g strawberries, hulled, halved if large (I used 500g strawberries)

For the crumble:

Large handful of (jumbo) porridge oats

90g hazelnuts, toasted and skinned and blitzed

180g plain flour

120g chilled butter, cubed

60g light muscavado sugar

60g granulated sugar

Method:

Combine the chunked rhubarb, the strawberries the sugar and vanilla carefully to encourage the flavours to combine. Leave whilst you prepare the crumble topping.

In a small frying pan, toast off the oats until they are golden brown. Tip onto a plate and set aside. Then toast off the hazelnuts, taking care that they don't burn.

Rub together the butter and flour until it resembles breadcrumbs, then add the sugars. Finally add the toasted hazelnuts and oats and stir to combine.

Stir the fruit again and then transfer it to the dish you wish to bake the crumble in (I just combined my fruit in the dish I wished to use for the crumble in the first place). Top the fruit evenly with the crumble mixture.

Baked for around 45 minutes, or until crisp and bubbling. Remove from the oven and leave for 5 -10 minutes or so because it will be really, really hot. Serve with cream.

Slightly Spanish - Chicken, tomato, fennel and paprika 'casserole'

Yes, here I am pretending to be somewhere other than my little ol' kitchen in the rainy ol' UK! Yes, I know the weather is improving slightly and April is not necessarily the time for a stodgy casserole (although if I give it too much thought, I could eat stodge the majority of the year!) but this, whilst casserole-y in it's own way, is light enough to be eaten when it isn't freezing cold outside. It's tasty, tangy and fresh. I paired it with some garlicky new potatoes and with a glass of Rioja, I could have been sat on the terrace in my finca, watching the Spanish sun go down. Well, in my own mind anyway.

The recipe is adapted from the one by the clever Bill Granger in his 'Everyday' book. If you haven't encountered his delicious food and gorgeous recipe books, then I urge you to do so. They simply make you smiley about life and contain mouthwatering, gorgeous recipes that are fresh and simple. I am even kidded into thinking they're healthy! My changes were that I used breasts rather than thighs, as this was what I had in the freezer. I omitted the honey. My reasoning was that I just didn't fancy it and I don't think Lola and Finn would have done either. The only other alteration I made was that I indulged my parsley obsession by chopping in finely the stalks of the parsley that I planned to use later on in the finished dish.

Enjoy!

Chicken, tomato, fennel and paprika casserole, adapted from 'Everyday' by Bill Granger

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
4 skinless chicken breasts
1 onion, sliced
1 large fennel bulb, trimmed and thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 teaspoon crushed fennel seeds

2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon saffron threads, soaked in 1 tablespoon water
wide strip of orange rind
400 g (14 oz) tin chopped tomatoes
500 ml (17 fl oz / 2 cups) chicken stock
1 red pepper, roasted and thinly sliced (I used the roasted peppers you can get in a jar)
2 teaspoons honey (optional)
Sea salt

Parsley, to garnish

Freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Heat the oil in a large heavy based pan over medium to high heat. Add the chicken (in batches, if necessary) and brown for 2 - 3 minutes on each side.

Remove from the pan and set aside.

Drain most of the oil from the pan, leaving just about 1 tablespoon.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the onion and fennel to the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally,
for 7 - 8 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft. (I added the fennel first, then the onion)

Add the garlic, fennel seeds and paprika and cook, stirring, for another minute.

Add the saffron with its liquid, the orange rind, tomatoes, stock, parsley stalks and pepper to the pan and stir well.

Return the chicken pieces to the pan, bring to the boil and then reduce the heat to low.

Cover and simmer for 20 - 30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and tender.

Skim any oil from the top of the casserole.

Stir in the honey, if using, and season with salt and pepper.

I served this with new potatoes and a sprinkling of parsley, and it was glorious!

Pudding Heaven - Banana Fritters with Salted Caramel Sauce

In an earlier life I worked in a chippy come sandwich shop which did a roaring trade during the Summer months in the seaside town where I grew up. And whilst it was mostly dull and convinced me a life in catering was really not for me, it did have some memorable moments like 'U can't touch this' by M C Hammer blaring out of the radio almost non stop it seemed, grating part of my finger into the cheese used for the sandwiches (I didn't realise I could bleed so profusely) and, in the slower times, the battering experiment, which basically entailed looking at what there was left to sell, covering it in the batter used for the fish, frying it off and sampling, almost Masterchef stylee. Amongst frying failures were tuna sandwiches, segments of orange, and tomatoes (not nice) and amongst the successes were Mars Bars (we may have been doing this long before the Scots ever happened upon it) sausages, corned beef sandwiches and bananas. Battered bananas. Amazing.

So, wind forward 20 years or so (!) and after last year's 'pudding of the holiday', banana fritters with vanilla ice cream from a wonderful Italian restaurant in Paphos, plus ny recent clearing of the plate of banana fritters at a Chinese 'all you can eat' buffet, I decided that now was the time to recreate the dish of my teenage years.

The recipe I used is a tweaking of Gino D'Acampo's recipe in his fantastic book 'Buomissimo', of which every recipe I have tried has been soooo good, but then I adore Italian food. This pudding is not the thing you make in advance, (though you can make the sauce earlier) but the battering and frying has to be done in real time. I am sure your eager diners will be patient and though your kitchen might be a bit oil splattered afterwards, it will be totally worth it.

Banana Fritters with Salted Caramel Sauce, adapted from 'Buonissimo' by Gino D'Acampo

Serves Mum, Dad, Lola and Finn with lots of caramel sauce leftover (perfect for drizzling on vanilla ice cream)

Ingredients:

For the salted caramel sauce:

90g salted butter

200g soft brown sugar

120ml double cream

a small pinch of sea salt crystals (optional)

For the fritters:

125g self raising flour

1 egg

190ml fizzy water (From an unopened bottle; fizz is key!)

3 - 4 bananas depending on size of bananas, appetite, etc.

Plus vegetable oil for deep frying

Icing sugar for dusting

Method:

To make the caramel sauce, place the butter and sugar in a saucepan and heat gently until the butter has melted and the sugar has amalgamated into the melted butter. Add the cream and combine. It might splutter, so be careful. Bring the mixture to the boil and reduce the heat and simmer until you have a smooth sauce. Set aside. When cool enough, taste. If you want the texture of some salt crystals then sprinkle some in just before you serve the sauce.

For the batter, sift the flour into a bowl, add the egg and the fizzy water. Stir until the liquid is smooth and there are no lumps.

Heat the oil in a pan which is deep enough to combine the amount of oil required and the splattering that will occur. (I had about an inch of oil in my small frying pan). Test the temperature of the oil by dropping a cube of bread in the oil or drip a little of the batter in. It should fizz and brown quite quickly.

Chop the bananas into pieces and coat the pieces in the batter a few at a time. Place the battered bananas into the oil very carefully (use a slotted spoon). Don't overcrowd the pan. The fritters should cook within a couple of minutes when they should be golden brown, crispy and warmed through.

Drain the pieces on kitchen paper whilst you repeat the process with the remaining bananas.

Serve the bananas immediately, wth a dusting of icing sugar, and a generous drizzle (or dollop if you prefer) of the caramel sauce and some vanilla ice cream. Salty, sweet, hot and cold in one mouthful. Pudding heaven!

Easy Pudding! Strawberry and Orange 'Tiramisu'

Well, easy if you have the ingredients I suppose. Ordinarily I wouldn't have, as I don't buy strawberries at this time of year, mainly as they are flown in, are not necessarily of great quality, and to be honest, nothing really surpasses the ones that Lola, Finn and I pick from the garden when they are ruby red and bang in season. However, Lola does not understand seasonality and Lola loves strawberries, so when she spied some at the entrance to the supermarket she was quite insistent. I noticed they were reduced heavily, as they were on their way out of date, and when the alternative to a little treat for Lola would be one of those horrible swizzley lollies she is into, then these strawberries suddenly became an attractive purchase.

I had a recipe for a strawberry tiramisu which used limoncello to soak the boudoir fingers but alas, no limoncello in the house. I did have Triple Sec however (an indication here of my cocktail 'habit') and I have been to Spain enough times to know that they often combine strawberry and orange so I figured a little experimentation was in order.

I soaked Lola and Finn's biscuits in orange juice. Just sayin'.

This is a fresh tasting, easy to assemble pudding that isn't too faffy. I know of some who aren't necessarily bowled over by an authentic tiramisu, and whilst this really is a bit of an imposter, the combination of booze, fruit, cream and sponge is really rather good.

Strawberry and Orange Tiramisu

Ingredients:

250g strawberries, sliced

4 - 5 tbsp icing sugar (plus a little extra for dusting)

- 5 tbsp Triple Sec (or Grand Marnier or Cointreau, or orange juice)

100g natural yoghurt

250g mascarpone

8 - 10 sponge finger biscuits

Method:

Place the strawberries in a bowl. sprinkle with icing sugar and 2 tablespoons of liqueur. Leave to marinate for about 10 minutes.

Drain the strawberries in a sieve, reserving the juices for later.

combine the yoghurt and the mascarpone, then mix in the juices from the strawberries. Taste. If you want it sweeter, add a little more icing sugar.

Sprinkle the remaining liqueur over the sponge fingers, letting them soak briefly before removing.

Place a layer of strawberries on a plate. Top with the mascarpone mixture, then top with sponge fingers, more mascarpone and then finish with more strawberries on top. Dust off with a little icing sugar if you like.

Delish, and it looks kinda pretty too.

Getting that Easter feeling: Hot Cross Muffin Buns

Unfortunately, I remember when you could only get hot cross buns at Easter. Now you seem to be able to get them all the time and I think that is the reason why I have never really entertained making them. Far too easy to buy. But Lola's curiosity at the reasons behind the hot cross bun and the significance of Easter sort of made me think twice about making some, and it was quite satisfying to make them. Lola and Finn got involved at each suitable opportunity, and it became a joint operation, culminating in a cup of tea and warm hot cross bun as ample reward for our labours.

The only muffin thing about these is the tins they are made in, and I like the idea of creating individual ones, surrounded in a robe of greaseproof paper. You could play with the spicing; I went down the mixed spice route this time, but other journeys will see me adding cinnamon and nutmeg, and 'fruitier' fruit. I used up some sorry looking dried fruit which was leftover from Christmas cake making which I plumped up with the juice of a lemon (the lemon which loses its zest to the dough mixture, as you will see in the recipe) but I would definitely invest in some of that real luxury dried fruit mix that you can get now, all luscious with dried cherries and candied peel. Their inclusion would elevate this muffin to heady heights indeed.

This recipe is slightly tweaked from that which is from 'GoodFood' magazine, (or more specifically, 'GoodFood Cupcakes and Small Bakes' a thankfully tiny size book with lots of wonderful recipes which I can hide in a little nook on the cookbook shelves, so it doesn't look so obvious that I have bought yet another cookery book.

Hot Cross Muffin Buns, slightly adapted from 'GoodFood Cupcakes and Small Bakes'

Ingredients:

Makes 18

900g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting

1 tsp salt

100g butter, cut into pieces (I used salted on this occasion)

2 x 7g sachets fast action yeast

4 tsp mixed spice

100g caster sugar

Finely grated zest of two lemons (reserve the juice for plumping up your dried fruit)

500ml tepid milk, plus extra to glaze

400g mixed dried fruit

For the crosses and glaze:

5 tbsp plain flour

5 - 7 tbsp cold water

Golden syrup, to glaze

Method:

Put the flour and salt in a bowl and add the butter. Rub the butter in to form breadcrumbs.

Add the yeast, spice, sugar and lemon zest, then mix in the milk. Knead for 10 minutes, then leave to rise, covered, until doubled in size.

Meantime, weigh out your dried fruit and put it in a bowl. If it is looking a little dry, squeeze the lemon juice, left from the zested lemons, into the fruit and stir to combine. Leave to macerate.

When the dough has risen, knock it back slightly and either put onto a floured surface or put back in the mixer with the dough hook. Whichever way you choose, add the fruit and incorporate as evenly as possible into the dough.

Divide the mixture into 18 balls, or get an assistant to do it. Your daughter maybe. Mine were probably the size of a small to medium apple.

Cut out squares of greaseproof paper, big enough to fit into the muffin tin with some overhang.

Place the greaseproof paper squares into each muffin 'hole' and then put in a ball of the dough. Repeat.

Allow the dough balls to rise again, about 30 - 45 minutes, then preheat the oven to 180c.

Brush the tops with milk, then mix the flour and the water to form the paste for making the crosses. I piped my crosses over the buns with a little piping bottle.

Bake for about 15 minutes or so until golden. Remove from the oven and brush with the golden syrup whilst still warm.

Happy Easter!