Squashy Marshmallows

This is not one for children to attempt on their own as it involves boiling sugar but the finished marshmallows are so much yummier than commercial ones, they're really worth having a go. The liquid glucose is not strictly necessary but is an insurance against the sugar crystalising and you having to start all over again.

Makes 100
30g icing sugar
30g cornflour
9 sheets gelatine
450g granulated sugar
1 tbsp liquid glucose
2 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract

1 Line a 20cm x 30cm tin with baking paper.

2 Sift together the icing sugar and cornflour and sprinkle half into the tin.

3 Put the gelatine into a large glass jug with 150ml water and set aside.

4 Put the sugar, glucose and 200ml of water into a pan and bring gently to the boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Boil vigorously for 10 minutes without stirring until the syrup reaches 125C on a thermometer.

5 Meanwhile, whisk the egg whites until stiff.

6 Take the syrup off the heat and let the bubbles subside. Carefully pour the syrup into the gelatine jug and mix well.

7 With the beaters switched on, steadily pour in the hot syrup and the vanilla. The mixture will slacked but keep whisking on full speed (5 - 10 minutes) and once it's nicely thickened, pour into the prepared tin. Leave to set for a couple of hours.

8 Peel off the parchment and cut into squers, rolling them in the reserved icing sugar mixture. Store in an airtight container.

Summer School - Buttermilk Pancakes

Given a choice between two pages from a writing workbook or to cook a dish and write up a recipe every day, Fabio has chosen the second option. Say hello, to the Landcroft House cookery school for seven year olds. So far, we have made toad in the hole, fruit smoothies, chorizo omlettes, chocolate chip cookies and fresh pesto (not used any knives yet...)
Today, buttermilk pancakes for breakfast

Makes a lot
You could halve the recipe but then you're left with half a pot of buttermilk you'll never use. Any leftover pancakes can be toasted tomorrow.
250g self raising flour
3 tbsp caster sugar
2 tsp baking powder
100ml milk
2 eggs
284ml buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp melted butter
sunflower oil
butter and maple syrup, to serve

1 In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar and baking powder.

2 Pour the milk into a jug, crack in the eggs and beat well. Whisk in the buttermilk, vanilla and butter then mix into the dry ingredients to make a smooth batter.

3 Pour a tiny bit of oil into a large, non-stick frying pan and cook spoonfuls for a minute or 2 on each side until puffed and golden brown. Eat with butter and maple syrup - also good with a handful of blueberries or some sausages.

Limoncello

The 4 litres of limoncello I made in July ready for Christmas have now mostly been drunk. To be honest it only takes three weeks to make so I was a bit ahead of myself really and anyway I needed the bottles emptying so they could be ready again for this new batch.
I work on an equal quantities method (equal sugar to water for the syrup then equal syrup to vodka) but you can adjust yours, even each bottle, depending on how you like it and who you're giving it too. I serve mine with Prosecco, Kir Royale style before lunch and with ice after dinner.
Makes 2 litres
1 litre of basic vodka
5 unwaxed (preferably organic) lemons
500g caster sugar
500g boiling water

1 Peel the lemons using a swivel-style peeler. Scrape off any white pith, turn the radio on and sit comfortably at the kitchen table as this bit does take ages but it's very important as the pith will make the limoncello taste bitter.

2 Place the peel in a 2 litre kilner jar and pour in the vodka. Leave in a cupboard for a week, shaking the jar every day.

3 Put the sugar in a heatproof bowl and pour over the boiling water, stir until the sugar dissolves then leave until completely cool.

4 Stir the syrup into the vodka, seal the lid and leave for at least another two weeks, again shaking every day or two if you remember. Taste the limoncello at this stage and sweeten with more syrup or top up more vodka as suits your taste then strain into bottles. Pop one in the fridge and keep the rest on the shelf or give as gifts.

Chocolate Birthday Cake

Suddenly Baby turned one this week. Don't know how it happened so quickly but there we are. As she doesn't have any friends yet, she had to have her cake in the middle of Scrap's Hallowe'en party, in amongst the bats and the eyeball jellies. Not that she noticed.
This is a good chocolate cake for kids as it's very light and not actually very chocolatey and I find that it suits those below five better that way. It's basically a big red velvet cupcake but a lot easier and without all the unnecessary red food colouring.

Serves 18 - 20
300g caster sugar
120g butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
280ml carton of buttermilk
25g cocoa powder
300ml plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
3 tbsp wine vinegar
sprinkles, to decorate
FOR THE FROSTING
600g icing sugar
150g butter
200g soft cheese
75g milk chocolate, chopped

1 Preheat the oven to 170C / Gas 3. Using an electric whisk, beat the sugar and butter together until soft and pale - this takes a while and once you've had enough of whisking add the eggs one at a time followed by the vanilla and buttermilk then cocoa and flour. Add the bicarb and vinegar and whisk again for a couple of minutes until light and voluminous.

2 Divide between three buttered and lined 20cm cake tins and bake for 25 minutes. Lift onto wire racks and leave to cool.

3 Whisk together the icing sugar and butter - I find it easier to add the icing sugar a bit at a time so the whole kitchen doesn't get coated in a fine layer of dust. Once it's well beaten, add the soft cheese and whisk again - don't over beat at this stage or the icing can start to over-soften.

4 Take a third of the mixture and stir in the chopped ch0colate, use this to sandwhich the cakes toegther then swirl the rest of the icing all over. Decorate with sprinkles (I cut a heart out of a piece of paper and used as a template) and leave to set. Happy Birthday!

Sweet Potato & Goats Cheese Tarts

These are nice - they're easy to make, they're packed with goodness and they taste yum. Eat hot from the oven or wrap and pack in your bag.
Makes 6
2 small sweet potatoes
375g sheet ready rolled puff pastry
2 tbsp sun dried tomato paste or red pesto
handful baby tomatoes, halved
100g goats cheese, crumbled
2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
drizzle of olive oil

Preheat the oven to 200C / Gas 6. Bake the sweet potatoes for 30 minutes or so until just about cooked through but not soft. Peel and slice.

Meanwhile, cut the pastry into six rectangles. Spread the the pastry with the sun dried tomato paste and top with the sliced sweet potato. Scatter with the tomatoes, cheese, pumpkin seeds and finally a drizzle of oil. Bake for 20 minutes until puffed and dark golden.

Ring, ring!, ring, ring!

"Hello? Is that Landcroft House?"

"Yes caller, hello. How can we help you?"

"Well hi. It's Skream, aka Oliver Jones, dubstep legend and one third of the brilliant Magnetic Man here..."

"Oh hi, Skream. How are you?"

"I'm really good thank you, how are you?"

"Oh we're great, thanks. Actually, can you help us out a minute?"

"Sure, yeah, no problem. What's up?"

"Oh nothing major, we were just wondering what you thought was the greatest record ever made?"

"Oh wow. OK. That's a tough question..."

"Yeah - sorry about that."

"Well (pauses for a bit)... I think it's probably Prince, Controversy."

"Wow. Good answer. Why that one?"

"I suppose it's because I think that’s the greatest party record ever made and it has this series of the most amazing chord changes. It's just brilliant. And Erotic City too. I’m so into Prince, he made such great records and he just works whatever mood you’re in, which is pretty unusual. Will that do?"

"That'll do brilliantly. Thanks Skream."

"No problem. Bye, Landcroft House."

"Bye Skream, bye..."

Line clicks and goes dead...

The Bellenden Bun Fight

Your local charity bake-off is back! You have exactly two weeks to get your jams, jellies, biscuits and scones up to scratch. This season's Classic Cake category is The Lemon Drizzle. We have brilliant prizes courtesy of our friends at delicious and yours truly is in charge of the judging panel! Hurrah!
More details here.

Hannah Jones' Prize-Winning Chocolate Ginger Biscuits

225g soft unsalted butter

110g caster sugar

275g plain flour

25g crystallised ginger

200g bar dark chocolate

Preheat oven to 170C. Cream the butter, then add in the sugar and beat until pale and soft. Chop the ginger into small pieces and mix it with the flour. Add the ginger and flour to the sugar and butter and mix until you have a dough.

Break off walnut-sized balls and roll in your hands until smooth. Place on a baking tray and press into them with the back of a fork to pattern 'n' flatten. Bake for around 15 minutes or until they are nice and golden brown. Near the end of the cooking time, watch them obsessively so you don't miss the optimum colour, as biscuits are sly and will burn on you in a second.

Take them out of the oven and immediately transfer them from the tray to a wire rack. When they're cold, melt the chocolate in a bowl. You will have far more chocolate than you need, but melting a large quantity makes it much easier to coat the biscuits smoothly. Dip the biscuits halfway into the chocolate, gently combing off any drips or runners with a teaspoon. Leave on greaseproof paper until the chocolate has set.

Hello Old Thing, Hello New Thing: 45

Griffin: Yours Till Forever (Capitol, 1970)
Sunshine psyche-pop delightfulness recorded with a cast of, well, about twenty in LA forty years ago this summer. Griffin never did make any sort of mark - if you could see the picture of them in front of me you'd understand why - but this is a truly lovely record. Of course, that might be because it was written by Kenny Nolan who went onto write this. I should imagine the royalties on that are a bit more yacht-shaped than the Griffin ones. More of this sort of thing here.

Peter Broderick: Guilt's Tune (Bella Union, 2010)
I thought I had put a Peter Broderick track up here some years ago on account of how he makes the sort of music that tickles the very essence of my being. But no. What an oversight. Anyhow, Mr B has a fantastic new record out, like, sort of now, though you'd be hard pressed to discover that just by looking at either his own website or, indeed, that of his label. Still, never mind, it's here too though only on vinyl. No, hang on, it's here on CD. Anyway, it's bloody lovely. Buy it.

Jellied Ham

My grandma used to have us screaming from the kitchen when she made this using a whole pig's head. I kid myself I can remember back to my childhood and what it tasted like though in reality, I'm sure I never was brave enough to even try it. She had enough natural gelatine from the head to make her 'jelly meat' set very firmly but I add a few extra leaves to make sure I get a good wobble. Following her lead, I set it in a bowl and scoop it out rather than in a classic terrine which is turned out and carefully sliced but you can do that, if you prefer.

Serves 4
1.5kg unsmoked gammon knuckle
1 celery stalk, sliced
1 carrot, sliced
1 onion, sliced
few parsley stalks
few peppercorns/star anise/cloves/whatever whole spices you like
sprig of rosemary/thyme/bay leaf
4 sheets of leaf gelatine
5 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tbsp capers
2 bunches of parsley, finely chopped

Place the gammon and the flavourings in a large pan, cover with water, bring to the boil and simmer for 2 - 21/2 hours until the meat is fully cooked through, skimming the surface from time to time to help keep the stock clear.

Strain through a colander into a large bowl. Set the gammon on a board and leave to cool. Line a fine sieve with some muslin and pour through the stock. If it's a little cloudy, rinse out the muslin and pass it through again. Pour 750 ml into a pan (use the remainder of the stock and bit of the gammon for a classic pea soup) and bring to the boil then turn off the heat, stir in the vinegar and leave to cool a little.

Soak the gelatine in cold water for 5 minutes.

Cut the fat away from the gammon then tear or chop the meat into small pieces. Place in a serving bowl with the capers and parsley.

Squeeze the water out of the gelatine and stir into the hot but not boiling stock. Once dissolved, pour over the ham. Mix gently together, leave to cool then cover and chill overnight. Serve with stacks of hot, buttered toast.

This New Record Is Quite Nice

David Rotheray with Kathryn Williams: Crows, Ravens and Rooks (Proper Records, 2010)

Here's an unexpectedly lovely song. Mr Rotheray (steady ladies, he's [probably] married [or, at the very least, seeing someone]) used to be in Beautiful South - a band who never really troubled my consciousness much, tbh - and has returned from, frankly, Christ knows where, with an actual folk music album that features not only the lovely Kathryn, but Alasdair Roberts, Eliza Carthy and a "host" of others, all singing what are, from what I can make out, decidedly nice tunes. Having said that, what do I know? Anyhow, all this is out in the middle of August, which is great news, eh?

Preserved Lemons

It's Scrap's school summer fair tomorrow and somehow, I am in charge of the cafe. We've got a barbecue, home-made scones and cakes, organic strawberries and cream and a very carefully planned rota. The stand I always wish I could work on (apart from whack-the-rat) is the home produce - this year, as well as my usual cheat's jam, and Scrap's elderflower cordial, I've made them some preserved lemons, small jars each with one whole lemon in. They take a least a month to soften so give yourself a bit more time than I did, if you've got a deadline.

Place a tablespoon of coarse sea salt in some small, sterilized jars. Quarter the lemons but don't cut through the base so they remain joined. Sprinkle a tablespoon of salt into each lemon then press it back into shape. Push a lemon into each jar and tuck in some dried herbs and whole spices. Top up with freshly squeezed lemon juice (I had plenty left over from making Limoncello, I'll post the recipe next week). Leave for 6 weeks, turning every once in a while.

Baby's Oatcakes

8 months old and still no teeth, Baby's gums are giving her gip. Oatcakes take minutes to make and are good for gnawing. Add salt, fennel seeds, chilli flakes, cumin seeds or grated Parmesan for the grown ups.
Whizz together 120g oats, 100g plain flour and 80g unsalted butter. When well blended add 4 tablespoons of cold water to make a firm dough. Roll out fairly thinly and bake at 180C / Gas 4 for 10 minutes or so. Cool then keep in an air tight box.

This Old Record Is Actually Quite Nice

Jamme: Strawberry Jam Man (Warlok Records, 1970)
Lyrically, this is a classic of the, "you might like to do this, but I like to do this" genre (other examples to follow, maybe). Other folks might like to swim, say, or climb a tree. But our man here likes to eat strawberry jam. Every day, if possible. Produced by The Mamas and The Papas' John Philips, this is multi-harmonied, jingle-jangle heavy, silken-neckerchief-wearing, over-dubbed fuzz-guitar super-pop of the very highest order. Jamme were turned over and left for dead in the usual way, but age cannot wither a top tune and, oh my goodness, this is a top tune.

Lots more of this sort of thing here.

Portuguese Pork And Clams

We eat here a lot and one or other of us always orders the pork and clams. This is my home-made attempt at it and it's not bad but not quite as good as theirs. But they are from Portugal and I am from Derby, so what can you expect?

Serves 4
500g pork fillet, diced
1 smallish glass of rose or white wine
2 garlic cloves, halved
2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
500g live clams
large bunch of parsley, chopped

In a large non-reactive bowl, mix together the pork, wine, halved garlic cloves and paprika. Mix well together, cover and chill for 2 - 8 hours. Drain the pork, keeping the marinating liquid, and pat dry with kitchen paper.

Heat the oil in a saute pan and cook the pork over a high heat until nicely browned and cooked through. Remove with slotted spoon. Add the onion and chopped garlic to the pan and cook for a few minutes until softened.

Return the pork to the pan, add the marinade (ditch the halved garlic cloves) and bring to a simmer. Scatter over the clams, cover and cook for a few minutes until all the shells have opened, Stir through the parsley and serve swiftly.

So, What Are You Listening To Right Now?

Oh, I know the answer to this one!

Janelle Monáe: Neon Valley Street (Bad Boy Records, 2010)
I have checked the stats, worked out the angles and crunched the numbers. The results are in. There is precisely nothing not to love about this record. Jonelle appears to be that rare beast, an actual star. Amazing.



Alondra Bentley: Sunglasses (Absolute Beginners, 2010)
Alondra was born in England but she's lived in Spain since she was a child. How nice. I'd quite like to live in Spain, but that's mainly for the meat products, tbh. Anyway, all the songs on the CD a nice person sent to me were recorded in Cadiz, which is good, isn't it? Rather charming and romantic. Anyway, the album is lovely too. So there.

Elderflower and Lemongrass Cordial

Me and Scrap picked a little bunch of elderflowers on our walk in the woods yesterday and thought we'd have a try at some home-made pop. There are tons of recipes, all roughly the same, showing how to make your own cordial but I followed this friendly version and just added a couple of bruised lemongrass stalks.

We made enough to fill 8 bottles, so that's one for him, one for me, one for his teacher Mr Gray, and the rest for the school summer fair. Don't think there's much chance of us waiting a month before we drink it though.....Scrap's already got the fizzy water ready and I'm thinking about a little splash in the bottom of a cool glass of Prosecco.

Poached Sea Trout

Apparently, they're only around for about three weeks and they were on special offer at £13.50 a kilo instead of the usual £20 and although I already had a whole shoulder of lamb, a large free range chicken and a lot of sausages tucked under the buggy, I bought one (£12.10). And a pot of Moxon's home-made extra-virgin rapeseed oil mayonnaise to go with it.
Generally, I'm not keen on trout, it's a dirty, muddy-tasting fish but the sea trout is like a softer, more delicate salmon so I thought I'd cook it the same way and poach it whole. Old-fashioned I know but gorgeous served chilled with a proper spring salad of asparagus and young watercress. Any leftover fish (and we did have some) can be mashed into mayonnaise with a bit of soft cheese and spread onto hot granary toast for tea.
Serves 4
1 whole sea trout, (or salmon) cleaned
1 onion, sliced
1 carrot sliced
1 celery stalk, sliced
few parsley stalks
1 chilli
1 bay leaf (fresh or dried)
a few allspice berries
2 tsp sea salt
lemon wedges and mayonnaise, to serve
Place the fish in a roasting tin (or fish kettle if you have one). Scatter over the onion, carrot, celery, parsley stalks, chilli, bay leaf, berries and salt. Just cover with cold water, set it over two rings of your hob and bring to the boil. Simmer for 2 minutes then turn off the heat and leave to cool completely. Skin and de-bone then chill until ready to serve. A lovely weekend lunch!

This Old Record Is Also Quite Nice

Maffitt / Davies: Kingswood Manor (EMI, 1968)
A chap from Iowa, born in 1940. A chap from New York born in 1942. Put them together and it could be dynamite. Well, actually it was dynamite, for quite some time, though, sadly, the vast majority of the world never took any notice. However, we can help, if only through the medium of having a listen, deciding that, you know what, as groovily psychedelic American folk-pop goes this is really rather good, then doing something alarming and marvellous like buying it (yes, you're right, that is the wrong cover).

Kingswood Manor was written by the rather brilliant Hoyt Axton and is a meditation on addiction, depression and madness. A doctor arrives with a handful of "little pills" and promises he's come, "to rescue me from the maddening, saddening gloom, in the paisley rubber room...". With the down-tuned guitars, flattened harmonies and general air of pie-eyed craziness it reminds me of David Crosby's Laughing which is about as glowing a recommendation as I can muster, tbh.

Hello Old Thing, Hello New Thing: 44

Bojoura: Hampstead Incident (Polydor, 1968)
Reasons to like Bojoura. She's married to the drummer from Focus. She covered The Box Tops' The Letter in 1974. She's a leading light of what (I discovered today) is called Nederbeat. She is of Bulgarian descent. Not enough pop stars are of Bulgarian descent. Anyway, this is a Donovan cover which means two extra points to begin with. Plus it has a harpsichord on it, so, really, that's win/win, isn't it? I've yanked this wholesale from this fine record here.


Klashnekoff: Keep It Moving (Abstract Urban, 2010)
From Hackney, if you will, H-Town, the belly of the East, Klashnekoff has *looks over horn-rimmed half-moons at press release*, been in the game since 2004 and is much liked by by Rio Ferdinand and Arctic Monkeys. Well, that's nice, isn't it. Apparently, that gum-ball Pete Doherty (remember him?) is also a fan, so he'll be extra pleased to get a mention on this really rather good track from 'Nekoff's top-drawer third album, Back To The Sagas.

Baby-Friendly Frittata

We're at the 'stuff everything you can grab into your mouth' stage with baby this week. The lovingly steamed butternut puree rarely gets close to her mouth before she's yanked the spoon off me and shoved it into her ear. Despite my best efforts with a damp flannel, she trundles through East Dulwich with her wispy hair plastered to her head in various veggie shades of green and orange. So now I'm introducing food she can hold herself and gum away at without causing too much destruction. Frittata seemed to be a good place start (its easy to sweep up) and Scrap went for it too and with a few sticky chipolatas on the side, he didn't notice the complete lack of seasoning.
Serves 2 - 3
1 large baking potato, peeled and cubed
handful of fine green beans, halved
4 Clarence Court eggs
1 tbsp olive oil
chunk of Cheddar, diced

Add the potato to a small pan of cold water and bring to the boil. When almost done, add the beans and cook for 4 minutes until just tender then drain.

Beat the eggs in a large bowl and stir in the drained veg. Heat the oil in a small non-stick pan and pour in the mixture. Scatter over the cheese and cook very slowly until set almost all the way through.

Pop the pan under a medium, preheated grill for a few minutes until golden and completely cooked through. Cut into fingers or wedges and serve warm or cold.