This Easy Spiced Carrot and Walnut Cake is one of my favourite cakes. Great for making in advance as the flavour develops over a couple of days. The cake also becomes moister as the sugar in the cake absorbs moisture from the air. I sometimes make two at once and freeze one for later use.
Home-Made Sausages are one of the most flexible foods we have available to us. Whether it’s a comforting plate of bangers and mash, fending off the cold weather. A quick buttered sausage roll as a snack or the compulsory BBQ sausage, it’s a year round go to treat.
Who doesn’t like chocolate? Well not me, I think i’m addicted. These Chocolate Brownies never fail to please and rarely are there any leftovers. Like any cooking, use cook quality ingredients to get the best results. I’ve used 70% cocoa solids chocolate, unsalted butter, and quality cocoa powder. Don’t use drinking chocolate, it’s not the same. They do freeze, if you can resist……
100g unsalted butter (plus extra for greasing)
85g dark plain chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
4 large eggs
dash vanilla essence
350g golden caster sugar
120g plain white flour
30g cocoa powder
120g dark chocolate drops
100g walnuts, chopped
A 20 x 24cm shallow baking tin
Baking parchment
Saucepan with a heatproof bowl
Jug
Hand Whisk
Flour sieve
Spatula
Chopping board and knife
Cooling wire
Fill the saucepan about ¼ full of water and place over a low heat. You will need a heatproof bowl (Pyrex is ideal) that will sit in the pan without the base of the bowl sitting in the water.
Dice up the butter and pop it into the bowl along with the 85g of chocolate. It’s important that the water doesn’t boil and overheat the chocolate, or it will become grainy.
While the chocolate is melting lightly grease the baking tin and line with baking parchment. The lining needs to come up the sides of the tin to avoid the mixture seeping underneath.
When the chocolate and butter have melted remove the bowl from the pan and place to one side.
Crack the eggs into the jug and add the vanilla essence then whisk to lightly aerate the eggs
Fold the beaten eggs into the melted chocolate with the spatula, followed by the sugar.
Sift the flour and cocoa powder into the chocolate mixture and fold in Finally fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts and you’re ready to go.
Transfer the mixture into the lined tin scraping the sides of the bowl with the spatula. Level off the surface and pop the tin into the oven
Baking will take between 25 and 35 minutes depending on your oven and how firm you like your brownies.
To see if they are cooked, pierce the centre with a metal skewer, it should be set but still quite moist. If you like them cakier, cook for another 10 minutes.
If you have a probe thermometer aim for a 85˚c core temperature for a soft centre.
When ready place the tin on a cooling wire and leave to cool in the tin.
When completely cooled down, carefully remove from the tin and cut into portions. I cut into three on the narrow edge and ether three or four on the long side depending on hunger.
To serve as a dessert gently warm the brownies. Don’t microwave them, it makes them tough.Serve with ice cream of crème fraiche.
The walnuts can be omitted from the recipe if you wish. Add another 40g of chocolate drops in place of the walnuts for the most chocolaty, gooey brownies possible.
Enjoy Life !
John.
Hi, my name is John Webber, award winning chef and tutor, now retired to the west coast of Scotland. Welcome to our blog focusing on food, cooking, and countryside. My aim is to pass on my years of skills and knowledge together with an appreciation of the countryside.
Join us to experience the beauty of the west coast, cook some great food and be at ease in the kitchen.
If you enjoyed your visit with us, please subscribe up to our newsletter to receive regular updates of what’s new and upcoming at The Westcoaster. Subscribe Here
©John Webber. 2023
Beautifully light Helston Pudding. It’s easy to make comfort food which makes a light alternative to Christmas Pudding. I have put in a couple of minor changes to make it even more Christmassy, and served it with an orange brandy sauce.
Learn how to make the best Basil Pesto. Simple tips and tricks to get the best from this classic sauce.
Make your own Fresh Tomato Pasta Sauce, it’s easy! You simple can’t buy a ready-made sauce that compares with a homemade fresh tomato sauce. Processing spoils the fresh flavour of the sauce and adds in preservatives. And the best thing- as I said, it’s dead easy to make.
The ideal is to make this in season with home grown ripe tomatoes. I have used my San Marzano Tomatoes from the polytunnel. As they have more flesh and less seeds than a traditional tomato. But don’t despair, normal main crop tomatoes will do fine.
If you don’t have home grown tomatoes, don’t use shop bought unless you have a good farm shop close by. You can used tinned, but buy the best. I use Muti Tomatoes ether tinned whole or as Poppa which is produced purposely for making sauces.
So, if you need to remove the tomato skins, here’s how to do it.
Using the tip of a small knife carefully remove the core of the tomato about 1.5 cm deep. The turn the tomato over and make a small shallow cut through the skin. Repeat this will all the tomatoes to be peeled
Fill a medium sized saucepan two thirds full of water and bring to the boil.
Have a large bowl of cold water ready with plenty of ice added.
Take your slotted spoon or spider and lower two tomatoes into the water and cook for 10 seconds. When the time is up lift the tomatoes out the boiling water directly into the iced water.
Let the tomatoes cool for a few moments then lift them out onto a plastic tray to drain. Test one of the fruits to see if the skin will peel off easily. If its stubborn give the next two tomatoes 12 seconds cooking, but don’t go over that time.
If the skin is mushy and just slides straight off reduce the cooking time by a couple of seconds. Once you are happy, repeat the process with all the tomatoes to be skinned.
After the first have a dozen tomatoes, all that steam and dripping water you will be wishing you had a Moulin!!
My personal recommendation for making soups and sauces is to obtain a food mill known in kitchens as a Moulin. It’s one of my favourite pieces of kitchen equipment. They have been around even longer than me. And have been tried and tested in thousands of kitchens across the world. Basically, it’s a mechanical sieve with different plates supplied that dictate the finish of the food you are processing. Pop the food in, turn the handle and the finished product if squeezed out of the bottom. If you’re old enough to remember these were popular for making baby food years ago.
They can be bought in various sizes but a size of 200cm to 250cm will be fine for most people. If you are a lover of mashed potato a moulin is a must. Go for a slightly larger size.
I know you’re thinking why bother? Well by using the moulin it not only gives me my finished sauce consistency. It also filters out the skins and any hard pieces of tomato or basil stalks. This saves all the bother of skinning the tomatoes before cooking.
Whatever you do, don’t use a blender, it adds air to the sauce and changes the flavour closer to a processed sauce.
A wide shallow pan (not aluminium)
Spatula
Chopping board and knife
Medium bowl
Potato masher or Similar
Food mill (moulin) if available
Slotted spoon or spider
Med sized saucepan
Large bowl of cold water and ice
Plastic tray
800g ripe tomatoes
2 plump cloves of garlic
4tbsp olive oil
½ tsp sea salt
Large bunch of fresh basil
Black mill pepper
Optional pinch oregano
Peel the garlic then cut in half longways, removing any green shoots visible. Finely chop the garlic (don’t crush) and add to the cold pan with the olive oil.
It’s important to chop and not crush the garlic. Crushing the cloves will expand the flavour of the garlic where it will begin to overtake the tomatoes. We need the garlic to enhance the tomatoes not to dominate them.
Slice the tomatoes into wedges and place into a bowl.
Place the pan over a low heat and watch the garlic begin to sizzle in the oil. We are going to gently cook the garlic in the oil for three to four minutes to release the flavour. It’s crucial that the garlic does not burn, or your sauce will be spoilt. Even if you think you may have just lightly burnt it, throw it away and start again, before adding the tomatoes.
When the garlic is ready, add the tomatoes and bring to the simmer over a medium heat. Add the salt and a couple of turns of mill pepper, then pop on the lid.
Cook the sauce for fifteen minutes then remove the lid and crush the tomatoes with a potato masher. Don’t overdo it yet, we just want to extract all the juices from the flesh.
Add the bunch of basil, stalks and all and mix in. A pinch of oregano can also be added if wished. Continue simmering the sauce for about 15 minutes or so until it thickens.
If you are using a moulin, set it over a bowl with the large or medium plate fitted. The basil can me removed if you like a pure tomato sauce, but I leave it in. You will get bits of basil floating around in the sauce, But I don’t mind that. Pour the sauce into the moulin and turn the handle clockwise. Use a spoon the move the contents around a little every 6 to 8 turns of the handle.
Once all the sauce is though remember to catch any sauce sticking to the bottom of the plate. Turn the moulin over and give it a scrape off. All the skins, and stalks will be held in the moulin and can be thrown away.
If you are not using a moulin remove the basil. Take the pan off the heat and break the sauce down with the potato masher until you are happy with the consistency.
Whichever method you use all that’s left is to check the seasoning. Ether reheat the sauce to use at once or cool the sauce over iced water before storing in the fridge. You can also freeze the sauce; I think it loses a bit of freshness, but still better than from a jar. It’s a great way of using up an excess of tomatoes from the garden
Your tomatoes are just not up to the job. If when you cut them open they have a pale colour below the skin it’s a sign they have been artificial ripened and will lack flavour. Add some good quality tinned tomato (see above) to the sauce to help the flavour.
Try adding a pinch of dried chilli flakes and just a dash of Worcester sauce. But don’t overdo it!
Absolutely, It’s great with vegetable dishes or used as a quick base for a curry.
If you want to use it with meats like chicken, try this.
Add one finely chopped red onion into the pan with the garlic. Use half the oil and cook the onions for five minutes over a low heat.
Add the tomatoes with 35g of butter a pinch of dried chilli flakes and just a small amount of basil.
Cook as before but use the medium plate on the moulin to give a smoother sauce.
Enjoy Life!
John.
Hi, my name is John Webber, award winning chef and tutor, now retired to the west coast of Scotland. Welcome to our blog focusing on food, cooking, and countryside. My aim is to pass on my years of skills and knowledge together with an appreciation of the countryside.
Join us to experience the beauty of the west coast, cook some great food and be at ease in the kitchen.
If you enjoyed your visit with us, please subscribe up to our newsletter to receive regular updates of what’s new and upcoming at The Westcoaster. Subscribe Here
©John Webber. 2023
Easy to make Tomato and Chilli Jam. One taste and your hooked! Great with meats and shellfish. The possibilities are endless
Want to know how to make Blackberry Jelly? It’s not that difficult, and so satisfying to make the best of the (free) autumn harvest.
Courgette and Tomato Tarts, with feta cheese and Basil. It’s mid-summer, the tomatoes are ripening, and the courgettes are going wild. These Courgette and Tomato Tarts are an ideal way of using up this seasonal bounty. And impressing your guests.
I have been making this starter for years and it has always been a favourite of my guests. Light, crispy and full of flavour it’s easy to make. And the best part is to serve it, you just pop it into the oven.
In fact, some years ago my team served this to 300 people for a charity dinner. With each of five chefs producing a course. It was quite a bit of work to prepare the tarts. But when it came to the time to serve the course it was the quickest and easiest of the entire meal.
Before you start look up our pages on Blanching Tomatoes, Chive Oil, and Making your Own Pesto at Home
Chopping board and knife.
Baking sheet.
Frying pan.
Small saucepan.
Baking sheet.
Fish slice.
Small bowl.
Small fine sieve.
Baking paper.
4 sheets filo pastry.
50g unsalted Butter.
3 slices garlic.
1 sprig thyme.
4 med courgettes.
Olive oil.
1 clove garlic (bruised).
1 sprig thyme.
4 ripe tomatoes.
4tsp pesto sauce.
170g feta cheese.
2tsp Pine kernels.
Basil leaves.
Sea salt.
Mill pepper.
chive oil to serve
Place the butter into a small pan with the bruised garlic and thyme then put it on to melt. We don’t want to toast the butter, just melt it enough to separate the milk and fat. When you see the butter begin to clear, stain it into a warm bowl leaving the milky part in the pan. This can be discarded.
Take the pastry and carefully unwrap it. Then cover the pastry with a tea towel to avoid it drying out. Lift off a sheet of pastry and place it on a flat surface. Brush lightly with the melted butter then cover with a second sheet of pastry.
Repeat the process until you have a sheet of pastry three layers thick and with butter. You can if you wish use olive oil instead of the butter, however you will need to cook the flans as soon as they are made. The butter will cool on the pastry and form a waterproof layer to protect the pastry. This allows us to make the flans in the morning. Pop them into the fridge, then cook them at night. How easy is that!
Cut out disks of pastry using a saucer or small plate about 10cm diameter cutting around with the point of a sharp knife. Arrange the disks on squares of baking paper on a tray that will fit in the fridge and put aside.
Remove the skin of the tomatoes. Blanch, peel, and de-seed the tomatoes. Cut the flesh into 8mm dice and set aside
Top, tail and wash the courgettes then slice into 4mm thick slices. Pour some of the olive oil into a large shallow pan over a medium heat. Half cook the slices by tossing in the hot oil with a clove of garlic and sprig of thyme for flavour. Spread the cooked courgette on to a tray and allow to cool.
Arrange the courgette on the filo discs in concentric circles starting 5mm in from the edge. Overlapping each slice slightly until the disc is covered. Don’t be tempted to season the tarts yet, the salt will make them weep.
Lay a tablespoon of tomato in the centre of each tart. Set a teaspoon of pesto on the tomato then cover with the remaining diced tomato. This will protect the pesto from the heat of the oven, while adding a little punch to the flavour.
Drain the feta and dry off with kitchen paper, then cut the cheese into 6mm dice. Divide the cheese between the flans and sprinkle with pine kernels. Again, if you want you can change the cheese, but I find feta to be ideal. In the oven it gently toasts without running and it’s salty tang gives the tarts a bit of a kick.
To serve. Lift the flan’s on their paper squares onto a baking sheet. Lightly season then bake in a 200˚c oven for about 10 mins when they should be crisp and golden. The edges of the pastry will souffle up to form a border around the courgettes. Lift each flan onto a serving plate, sprinkle with freshly cut basil and pour a little chive oil around.
This is one of the most flexible dishes I know. Serve it as a starter, light lunch, or replacement fish course. I have even tiny ones to use as a canape in the past. I would love to know how you get on.
Enjoy life!
John.
Hi, my name is John Webber, award winning chef and tutor, now retired to the west coast of Scotland. Welcome to our blog focusing on food, cooking, and countryside. My aim is to pass on my years of skills and knowledge together with an appreciation of the countryside.
Join us to experience the beauty of the west coast, cook some great food and be at ease in the kitchen.
If you enjoyed your visit with us, please subscribe up to our newsletter to receive regular updates of what’s new and upcoming at The Westcoaster. Subscribe Here
©John Webber. 2023
Homemade Focaccia bread is a joy and very versatile. It’s sure to become a family favourite, and a great accompaniment to a BBQ or picnic.
Rich, and delicious, Walnut Bread is a perfect bread to serve with cheese at a casual lunch. Or as part of a dinner party meal. Savoury yet sweet it’s very moreish and is just as good lightly toasted and served with butter.
Making Bread at Home is one of those fundamental skills everyone should master. And get the whole family involved, kids love bread making. Bashing the dough around, watching it grow and seeing it bake. That gives them a better understanding of what bread and real food is. It’s not that flour-based sponge wrapped in plastic that keeps forever. If that’s your idea of bread, you might as well eat the cardboard box you brought your shopping home in.
The wonderful thing about bread making is that it can be as simple or complex as you care to make it.
Let’s take a in depth look at some of the products and processes involved. Some of this is quite chefy, and I make no apology for that. You don’t need to absorb it all. Use the information to make sense of a recipe and gain an understanding of what’s happening, or why it’s not happening
Read this in conjunction with the bread recipes on our site and be sure to read our pages on Demystifying Perfect Pastry to compare the processes. Also be sure to read A Guide to Flour Types and Uses to understand the flour you are using, and What is Yeast to get the best from its powers.
I would also recommend having a look at breadopeadia.com for more tips on bread making.
In it’s basic form all we need to make bread is flour, water and yeast. Let’s work through the processes need to make our bread.
If you’re not sure how warm your water should be, here’s a simple baker’s trick.
Take the temperature you want your dough to be, let’s say 26˚c then double it, that’s 52˚c.
Take the temperature of the flour you are using. Let’s say it’s been in the larder and is only 18˚c.
Take that from the target temperature, and that’s the water temperature you need- 52˚c-18˚c =34˚c.
The straight dough method is the simplest. We simply add all the ingredients straight into the flour. It’s important we remember to keep the salt and sugar away from the yeast
The second method is to make a ferment. Here we mix the yeast with some of the flour to be used and leave it to naturally ferment and multiply. This gives the yeast a boost and a head start, perfect when making rich products like sweet buns.
When yeast starts to ferment, a complicated series of enzyme changes takes place. This causes the production of carbon dioxide and alcohol. This also allows the gluten of the dough to become softened and more elastic over time.
This is great for beginners. Dissolve the salt and sugar if using in the water. Crumble or mix in your yeast then work in the water followed by your oil or melted butter. You can then move on to kneading the dough and leaving it to prove.
If time is not an issue this is a good way to insure as much of the protein in the flour forms gluten.
Autolyse is a French term relating to allowing the gluten to form naturally in the dough. Both moisture and time are needed to hydrate the dough. Often with the all in one method very little time is given before kneading. The idea was formed in the 1970s to combat the trend of overly aggressive production of bread. This spoilt the flavour and natural colour of the bread.
Measure out any salt or sugar needed and put to one side. Measure the cold water for the dough then add the yeast and mix into the flour. Form into a dough then cover the bowl and leave the dough to stand for twenty to thirty minutes. When the dough has had its rest, work in the reserved salt/sugar and any fats to be used. The theory is that by allowing gluten to form within the dough before the kneading starts, we need to knead less. This means less work, and produces a better quality of loaf.
Now we have a slightly sticky dough formed in the bowl the tendency is to want to dive in and begin to knead the dough. This is the part a lot of people love. The chance to take out all that pent up aggression on a ball of dough and improve the bread as well. But does it?
Kneading the dough has two advantages. The kneading fully mixing all the ingredients together producing a smooth dough. The kneading process also stretches the strands of gluten formed in the dough and makes then more elastic. Over kneading, however, will make a tough, stiff dough that will lack volume. Under kneading will give us a weak dough that will be unable to stretch enough in baking. The loaf will rise in the oven, then collapse giving us a flat uneven loaf.
I have my own method of kneading I use. I find this works well without feeling like you have done a round in the gym afterwards.
Stand with the right foot a little ahead of the left. (If your left-handed, reverse this) Keep your right hand straight with the palm turned downwards. Place the base of your hand on the dough and rock forward onto the right foot. This will push the dough and stretch it forward. Roll the hand counter clockwise to turn the dough 90˚and pull it back towards you going back onto the left foot. Now rock forward repeating the stretching movement until the dough is smooth and elastic.
By using this method we are using our upper body weight to do the work and not relying on our arm muscles to do the work.
We now need to the yeast time to work. The yeast cells will begin to feed on the carbohydrates in the flour. As they do this, they will produce waste gas (carbon dioxide). The yeast also divides and multiplies increasing the amount of yeast available in the dough.
It’s the carbon dioxide gas that’s the key to a light loaf. As the gas is heated within the bread it expands and forces the dough out and up to form the finished loaf. The kneading process has produced the elasticity the bread needs to swell in the oven without breaking.
The common measure of when a dough has proven is that it has doubled in size. What’s important here is your perception of WARM. The ideal proving dough temperature is just below blood heat. Anywhere the dough is placed to prove should only be just warm. So many people put the dough next to the oven or radiator because of what THEY feel to be warm, not what the dough needs.
In the hotel we would bake the bread twice a day, but only make it once. The breakfast person would mix the dough in the morning. The dough needed for lunch was removed and left in a cool place to prove. The balance would be stored in our cold room at about 3˚c. In the late afternoon the dough was brought back out, perfectly proved. We would then form our rolls to be baked later and served with dinner.
As I have mentioned the yeast feeds on the carbohydrates in the dough to produce the gas we need. The yeast cells can only feed on the food they are in contact with. So once all the food source has been used, gas production will stop and the proving stall. In conduction with this the yeast will stop multiplying within the dough.
To give the proving a boost we lightly knead the dough again. The objective where is not to toughen the gluten anymore but simply to expose the yeast to a new food source. As the yeast now has a foothold in the dough. It’s also a suitable time to introduce any products (spices, butter, dried fruits) that might have affected the yeast earlier.
It’s now time to shape the dough into the finished item/s. As soon as the dough has been knocked back divide if necessary and form into your loaves or rolls.
For rolls form a ball with the flat of your hand by moving the hand in a circle. As you feel the dough forming a smooth surface against your skin. Start to bring your fingers in, so the dough forms a ball against the cup of your hand and the table. Lay these onto a floured baking sheet.
For a loaf, flatten the dough out, then roll the dough over itself to form a loaf shape. This can then ether be placed on a floured baking sheet or in a baking tin.
I find the best way of proving loaves of bread if you don’t have a proving draw is to use a bin bag. A clear one is best as you can see how the dough is progressing.
Open the bag right up and lay it on the table. Spray a mist of water into the bag then place the baking tray inside the bag. Grip the top of the open end with both hands then give a quick upward flick. Bring your hands down quickly and fold the end of the bag under the tray. This should create a balloon of air trapped in the bag with the tray inside. The dough will now create its own heat inside the bag proving the bread in perfect moist heat to avoid a skin forming.
Some chefs in a hurry will waft the steam from a kettle into the bag to speed up the process. If you have a really cold kitchen, it a good one to keep up your sleeve.
At last, to the baking. What type of oven you use is personal preference. Commercial bread ovens tend to be of a letterbox shape.in these ovens, not only can the baking temperature be set but also how much of that heat comes from the top or the bottom. We also have an option to inject steam into the oven at the start of baking. This gives us total control of the baking. But if your oven at home is not as flexible a fan assisted oven is your best bet.
In general yeast good need, a high baking temperature. Bread rolls about 220˚c loaves of bread at bit cooler at about 195-200˚c. Rich buns containing a lot of sugar will be a bit cooler to avoid the sugar burning.
In order to get a good crust, the bread needs to start cooking in a steamy atmosphere. This hot steam forms the crust and produces gelatine on the surface to give the bread a nice shine. For that reason, a full oven always bakes better than a half empty one. A good dodge is to put a tray in the base of the oven as it warms up. When you put the bread into bake, throw a few ice cubes into the tray. The ice will form stream at first but then dry out to finish the bread off in a dry atmosphere.
With small crusty rolls spraying a mist of water with a little sugar dissolved will give a good glaze. This is done halfway through baking. However, this will only work if your oven can maintain its temperature with the door been opened. If not better to keep the door closed.
This is basically a cast iron casserole with a shaped lid. The lid can become to cooking container or visa versa. The thickness of the metal means its less sensitive to the oven door been opened. And steam is retained inside the pot to help the crust. For a complete explanation look up theperfectloaf.com
Baking in a Dutch Oven can be done boy scout style outdoors but can also used indoors. This can be a very good way of baking a loaf when it difficult to keep and steam in your oven. If when you open the oven door you are greeted with a waft of steam and your glassed mist over, you’re ok. If not try out the Dutch oven.
This is the traditional method of checking if your bread is ready.
After the recommended cooking time lift the bread using a tea towel or oven cloth. Tap the base of the bread and listen. The cooked bread should make a hollow sound. If the sound is a dull thud the centre is still wet and unrisen.
The second option is to use a probe thermometer. Lighter breads like Focaccia should be between 83˚c – 91˚c in the centre. Heaver rich breads should be between 88˚c – 91˚c in the centre.
To cool your bread, place it on a cooling wire to allow air to circulate freely around the loaf. Always remove your loaves from baking tins if used or the bread will sweat, and the crust become leathery. A good deal of restraint will be needed here. Nothing is as nice as freshly bread and good butter.
Finally, make sure your bread is completely cool before wrapping. Or again the crust will be spoilt.
Well, that’s about it. Use this information to help you make a better loaf. Come and go as you need, but don’t get overly wound up on all the details. It’s important that making your own bread remains fun, and the kids love it. You might need to book the cleaners in afterwards though…..
Enjoy Life!
John.
©John Webber. 2023
Pea and wild garlic houmous. A versatile taste of spring, fresh and light.
Yet easy to make.
An indulgent dinner party desserts to impress your friends.And what’s even better, you can make both components the day before.