Online worldwide cook shop selling of Silicone Bakeware Moulds, for making cakes & bakes, jellies, soap, and many other uses.
This Blog aims to show all our latest ideas, recipes, photos, competitions and news of upcoming products
1/2 standard bread dough mix (equiv. of a 1lb loaf)
1 haggis (I used ‘McSween's' - serves 2-3)
1/2 carton of Sainsbury's chopped tomatoes with olive oil & garlic (390g carton)
2 onions (mine were quite small) - sliced
3 tomatoes - sliced
2 sticks of celery (de-strung and chopped)
2 red hot chillies - sliced
+ some grated cheese - I only had cheddar (Scottish matured - of course!)
(Be very generous with the 'toppings' and it'll be a 'WOW!')
I opened up the haggis & chopped it up into a bowl, microwaving it for 4 minutes. Everything else I had chopped and ready in bowls, ready for the big rush....
I took the hot grill pan from the oven, slapped in the rolled-out pizza base, slathered on the chopped tomatoes, spread the haggis, then the rest of the toppings - with the cheese on top, and slammed it back into the HOT oven.......... Phew! NO PROBLEMO!
About 10 minutes later it was ready to serve. Lovely crispy base and the toppings looked thick, meaty, tasty, juicy and crunchy, easily enough for 4 people, with a good portion for each.
I found the original recipe for this very simple and low fat curd cheese on Allrecipes.com
Many people seemed to struggle with it a bit, so I made my own revisions based on the reviews and used vinegar in place of the original lemon juice added. It was VERY simple and easy to make. The vinegar cannot be tasted in the resulting cheese.
With all the whey pressed out, it makes quite a dense cheese that can be sliced almost a little rubbery. Almost something like the drier mozzarella you put on top of pizzas I suppose. Rolling it in crushed peppercorms made it a little more exciting. Loads of whey / buttermilk left over which I'm intending making into soda bread tomorrow
True - this IS a bit bland - but I think this would be a super easy thing to make with kids to teach them the basic principles of cheesemaking. I've seen a riacotta recipe on Foodbuzz here that I'd like to try. Similar principles but a lot more fat content due to the cream and no squeezing out all the whey.
RECIPE
2 pints whole milk (organic, unhomoginised)
1/4 cup vinegar
good pinch of salt (or two)
crushed peppercorns (to roll in)
First of all - make SURE you get unhomogenised milk. Most supermarkets keep pasturised and homoginised. That means that the milk has been treated so the cream is suspended in it and does not float to the top. You will likely need to buy organic milk to get UNHOMOGENISED.
Put the milk in a pan and bring JUST to the boil on a medium heat, stirring so it does not scorch.
Remove from the heat. Add the salt and stir, followed by the vinegar.
Within a couple of minutes, the milk will curdle and the curds have formed
The curds should be white and the remaining liquid a yellowy colour. This shows that the milk proteins have all been separated. You can purposely see the bowl of whey in the background of one of photos further up.
Line a sieve with muslin and drain the whey from the curds.
Once cooled enough to handle, twist the muslin around the cheese to squeeze out any remaining whey. Roll the resulting ball of cheese in crushed peppercorns. Can be kept refrigerated for up to a week.
Yesterday, we had a lovely family afternoon out in Bury St Edmunds in the Abbey grounds. Oliver had a ball in the super play area and chasing seagulls and squirrels !
Rather chilly and overcast - but it was nice for all three of us to spend a Sunday together. Doesn't happen very often at all, but we've been lucky to have my husband Steve around the last TWO Sundays !
Oliver did get a bit of a telling off. He was rather too excited and a bit bargy. I told him off for trying to push in front of another kid to get on the slide. Huge sulk followed and it took him a good 5 minutes or more to get himself together and join in again.
I'm not so sure this wall of logs was really meant for walking on... but it was heaving in kids !
This is one angry face - actually - it was Oliver pretending to be a wild animal on a treetop bridge. He looked pretty wild to me !
A New Year and a new beginning. It's also time for me to reflect back on the things I've done and the things I want to do.
Loads of new things to cook and bake, new experiences. The last few months have been very difficult as workload had had a massive impact on my life and limited the one on one time I've been able to give Oliver. Don't get me wrong - I'm a workaholic and will always be a workaholic, but there if more to life than work and I'm glad that the madness of Christmas rush has eased off !
Nearly 4am and I'm still not in bed. Actually - I WAS in bed, but found I was too excited to sleep. That got me up and baking macarons. Yeah - you know you are a foodie when you put macarons in the oven at 2.30am !
I'll tell you what the excitement is about another day - it's still a secret I'm afraid, but is all about macarons.
The recipe I'd like to share with you now is for CHICKEN LIVER AND BRANDY PATE. I served it for New Years Day lunch along with rye sourdough crackers, sausage rolls and homemade bread (amongst other things)
For this recipe, I used a 1lb silicone loaf mould.
Ingredients :
300g chicken livers
150g salted butter
2 > 3 tsp brandy
clove of garlic (finely chopped)
1 onion
salt and pepper to season
a sprig of fresh thyme
First of all, prepare the chicken livers by removing any sinewy or discoloured parts.
Fry in approx 50g of the butter for around 5 mins until starting to colour nicely.
Remove the livers from the pan and set aside.
Add the remaining butter and chopped onion with the garlic to the pan and the thyme leaves (removed from stalks). Sweat off the onions until transparent and then add the brandy. Cook for a minute or two more and then add all the contents to a food processor and blend until smooth.
Use some clarified butter to seal the top and refrigerate overnight.
Alternatively, make a savoury jelly to pour over the top. I used 120ml of chicken stock, to which I added a couple of bay leaves and 2 tbsp of orange juice. Sit this in a bowl with a leaf of gelatine for 5 mins. Add to a pan and bring to just below simmering point to dissolve the gelatine. Allow to cool to room temperature and then pour over the pate. I decorated the top of my pate first with a couple of orange slices and the bay leaves.
Unfortunately, due to lack of time, my pate only got about 2 hours to chill ! It really wasn't enough and tasted far better the next day.
Oh - we had these too.... apple crumble slices - same recipe as the mincemeat crumble slices (but mincemeat replaced with same weight of apples, sugar and cinnamon mix)
These photos of Oliver were taken Monday 2nd January. Had to believe it was just earlier this week. I've done so much since then !
I took him out for an afternoon at Eaton Park to run off some steam. It was glorious sunshine, but windy and bitterly cold. There was one puddle in the whole park and typically Oliver found it.
It was more like a pond than a puddle. This was one MASSIVE puddle. Thankfully, he was prepared with several layers of clothes and some new wellies. I had TRIED to put waterproof overalls on him underneath earlier, but that had resulted in a screaming match and I ended up giving up.
To start with, it was a paddle near the edge. No big deal, and loads of smiles. I got the camera out my handbag and snapped a few shots. An evil grin started spreading across his face I KNEW what was going to happen next, and no matter how much I tried to get his eye contact or yell at him - Mummy was totally ignored.
Yep - puddle jumping and lots of it. THIS was just the start. Note the thick winter jacket, the fleece underneath and the gloves. It was FREEZING cold. Passers by watched and laughed in amazement as my little monster tore around in that puddle like a total lunatic. Honestly - you would have thought it was the middle of summer !
Oliver was in that puddle for a good 30mins at least. I tried threats, I tried bribery. He wasn't coming out and belted off through the ware as fast as he could if I got remotely near. Eventually, I managed to grab him by the back of the jacket and chaos followed. He was not happy about being dragged out that puddle and it was a struggle to get him back to the car until I persuaded him that McDonalds would be shut if he wanted french fries and didn't hurry up. Total lie of course. I don't think Mc Donalds ever shuts !
His wellies were near impossible to get off as they were full to the brim with water. He was absolutely soaked to the skin. I had to strip him off. By then, Daddy had arrived and kept an eye on him wrapped up in a jacket whilst I made an emergency trip to the big superstore about 5 miles up the road to purchase a dry set of clothes as we were too far from home. Lunch at the pub (with french fries for Oliver did follow) and strangely enough there were no comments on how it wasn't Mc Donalds .
Hopefully next time Oliver does puddle jumping I'll have spare clothes in the car.
I came up with this idea a few weeks ago and never got round to trying it out until today.. This photo is a little scary. These are my colleagues - not a bunch of ex convicts :-P
The guys got ripped into these when I took them in at lunchtime and it took them a little longer to demolish one than it does a dainty macaron !
I'm sure there will be someone else out there who may adapt these and make them look pretty. Forgive me, but this initial version is unadulterated MAN FOOD. It's rustic and huge. Made for eating with grubby, unwashed hands and cramming in a big gob (huge mouth) whilst on the move. Saying that, they smelt wonderful even if they did look rather silly.
Saying that, it worked pretty well.
I'd bought a big jar of 8 huge German Brockwurst sausages from Lidl. They are like big hotdogs, (though taste a lot better) and come in a jar with brine. I'm guessing they have a higher meat content than normal hot dogs and are 75% pork These were ready cooked and can be eaten cold or reheated. They're big old hot dogs at approx 8" long.
The recipe below produced enough dough to make 6 Bockwursts Baked in Buns.
First of all, I made a batch of bread dough very late last night. My Kitchenaid did all the work with a dough hook.
500g strong white bread flour
25g olive oil
1.5tsp salt
1tbsp sugar
14g dried active yeast - or 1 x sachet fast action bread maker yeast
35g wholegrain mustard
35g grated parmesan
1.5tsp dried mixed herbs
320ml luke warm water
It using dried active yeast, dissolve sugar in the water, add the yeast and leave for about 10mins to activate.
Proceed to combine all ingredients and make the dough. Knead for 10 mins until smooth and silky - or if it's 1.30am, you may choose to get the Kitchenaid to do it for you as I did !
Put the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with clingfilm. Shove in the fridge overnight - or leave to rise until doubled in size and ready to use.
I've been working with sour dough a lot recently. That does not rise as much as regular dough. I've been shoving my sour dough in the fridge in an oiled tupperware box rather than in a big bowl.
This was how much the dough had risen IN THE FRIDGE after about 2 hours before I went to bed... I knocked it back a bit, figured it wouldn't do much more (and had no where to go) before the morning and put it back in the fridge.
This is what I found this morning ....
I guess it had been trying to escape !
I took it out the box and divided into 6 x 140g balls. Each of these was rolled out. I put a generous squirt of chilli tomato ketchup on each one and a bockwurst on top.
Then sealed them up like packages. Do not forget to make a small air / steam hole in one end. The ones I didn't burst open at the seams on baking.. Glaze with egg wash and bake at approx 180deg C fan for 20mins.
I wish I'd scattered some sesame seeds on top too.
As you can see, they cam out a beautiful golden brown and the sausages stayed snuggly warm inside the soft dough outer for a considerable amount of time. They may look a bit more presentable cut in two across the diagonal and served in a basket with some hand cut chips (fries). But whatever way - offer to a man, and it's good food to grab and go !
A rich and luxurious beef steak suet pudding. Easily enough to feed 6+
I'd never made one of these - but it's easier than it looks. A pressure cooker drastically cuts down cooking time !
Recipe
For the filling (and enough to also do a steak pie !)
1kg shin beef (cubed)
all purpose flour
2 cloves of garlic, crushed / chopped
150g pickled onions, drained and sliced
1 > 2 medium onions, finely sliced
150g sliced mushrooms
2 sticks celery (finely sliced or small diced)
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp thyme
1 tbsp black treacle
2 tsp marmite (or vegemite)
3 beef stock cubes
1 heaped tsp of english mustard
30g grated parmesan
Generously toss the cubed shin beef in flour until totally covered and fry in a little oil to brown in batches until starting to go golden on the outside. Set aside. Gently cook the garlic, celery and onion for a couple of minutes, before adding the onions, pickled onions, and mushrooms to the pan.
To approx 1pint of boiling water, dissolve the stock cubes. Stir in the pepper, thyme, treacle, mustard and parmesan. Pour over the meat / onions. Give it a good stir and cover with a tight fitting lid. Leave to gently simmer on the hob for a couple of hours, checking occasionally. More water can be added if needed, but we’re looking for a thick and luxurious gravy at the end before taking it off the heat.
Mix the dry ingredients together. Combine the ingredients together with cold water – just enough to bind and bring together. I also added a couple of tsp of dried mixed herbs
Take a pyrex glass pudding bowl and butter the inside generously.
Reserve about 1/3 of the pastry dough. Roll the rest out to about 5 or 6mm thick on a silicone work mat (stops it sticking to the work tops !) and use this to line the pudding bowl. There should be enough to allow for a small overhang. Rest / chill in the fridge for approx 20 mins.
Fill the pudding bowl to within about 30mm of the top, don't put in too much of the gravy ! Roll the remaining dough and place this over the top of the meat and seal using a pastry brush with a little water. Make sure to leave a gap of about 25mm / 1" from the top of the bowl to allow for expansion
Cover with some greaseproof paper and foil. Put a pleat in the middle to allow for expansion. I used an elastic band to hold this in place whilst I tied it with string.
Put about 3" of water in the bottom of a pressure cooker. Place a trivet on the bottom and a bowl on the top. Cook at high pressure for approx 1 hour. Alternatively, this can be steamed in around 2.1/2 hours.
Carefully remove from the pressure cooker or steamer when cooked. Remove foil and allow to sit for approx 10 mins to crisp up and retract a little before turning out. Additional reserved gravy can be poured over the top if required.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I can’t believe about 2 weeks have already passed since Oliver and I made this. The time has simply flown by ! It’s that time of year when I work so much that one day rolls into the next without me noticing. There is just SO much work to be done.......
Bed time is normally around 4am and I’m staggering back to my feet around 7am. For the most part, I cope with it - but every 10 days or so my body says no which results in a twelve hour or more straight of seriously deep sleep. I swear that during that time, I would be totally oblivious if a bomb had gone off and trying to wake me is totally pointless. Oliver will vouch for that ! Thankfully, it’s normally on a weekend when my husband is still around in the mornings.
I’ve had one of “those” nights and thankfully rather refreshed. Bright enough in fact to catch up on some well over due blog posting before I forget to post some of these entirely. After all, my mind is not what it was. I could be crazy, or senile – but thankfully it’s much more likely to be down to tiredness.
A week ago, one of Oliver’s little friends was having a birthday party at an indoor play centre. Feeling guilty that during the winter months Oliver (like me) has a non-existent social life, I decided to pull him out of nursery and take a couple of hours away from work to take him to Finlay’s party. Work could wait.... just a little while. After all, the world wasn’t going to stop turning just because I’d taken two hours out. We arrived about 15 minutes late. No big deal I suppose – and fairly normal for me at the moment given the hectic schedules I’ve been running to. Oliver was proudly carrying the little present and card we’d got for Finlay and was super excited about the party and seeing his friends.
Tears flowed.
Lots of them.
Bad Mummy had got it wrong. The party wasn’t today – we’d arrived a MONTH early ! No amount of apologies or chocolate could make it right. Yeah. Sometimes even chocolate is not enough to win over a kid..... Even a kid that loves chocolate.
I joke not – Oliver’s little face was STILL tripping him when I picked him up that night. I agreed to the request to make cake. I sort of made it up to him after work on the Saturday after work and took him (by special request) to the cafe at Goodies Farm shop too. He loves sitting in there and having some lunch, with a drawing book and a pile of crayons.
We had a good couple of hours the next day (last Sunday) too. I’d booked tickets months ago to take him to see “Roary The Racing Car”. We had ice cream in the city before going into the theatre. The seats we had were super – front row, right in the centre. Oliver loved it – but I can’t really say that I got into it. I think I fell asleep once or twice (was certainly on the cusp) although Oliver was rather unimpressed with Mummy for that !
By the time we got home, I realised that I’d lost my camera. It’s ALWAYS in my handbag, and I’d had it with us. That camera goes EVERYWHERE with me. I turned the car upside down. I phoned the cinema. I tried to back track where I’d been. ALL this week I’ve been looking for that damn camera and totally gutted that it was gone. I’d checked my handbag several times. Checked my laptop case, taken a pitch fork to the car. No camera. I didn’t think I’d ever see it again until I got a phone call from the cinema this afternoon. Yes, one of the staff had found a black camera left on the front row on Sunday.
My heart skipped a beat. I’d a load of photos on there of recipes I’ve not yet blogged. I’d photos and videos of Oliver I hadn’t downloaded. “Yeah, it’s a Samsung.”
Hell and damnation. Punch me why don’t you. “Mine’s a Panasonic.”
“Are you SURE ? Why don’t you come and get it ?”
I actually stopped to think. Maybe mine was a Samsung.... “Thanks – but mine’s a Panasonic”.
Nah. I’m sure that I’m sure I’m sure !
I rummaged in my handbag – searching for a couple of Neurofen to kill a migraine that was on the brew. They were in there somewhere. I needed them now. Even if they were lurking with fluff at the bottom I’d find them.
Rumbledethumps - what a funny word. It certainly made Oliver giggle !
He seemed to like it though and gobbled the whole lot up at warp speed. Leftovers are easily reheated the following day.
Rumbledethumps is a traditional Scottish dish similar to Colcanon. It's smooth mashed potatoes, cooked savoy cabbage and some onions that have been sweated off to transparent. Mix them all together add some butter, a good grating of nutmeg and season with salt and pepper. Dress the top with some cheddar cheese if you wish (though I used some parmesan) and shove in the oven to finish off.
No real amounts here - but I did weigh what I used tonight :
650g floury potatoes
200g cabbage
1 medium onion
I'm sure you get the idea. This is enough to serve 4 > 6 people. We like plenty for left overs the next day !
I would have liked to have had it in the oven a bit longer to get some colour on top - but when a 3yo is hungry, aesthetics are the last thing on your mind....
For the stuffed chicken thighs, I boned two per person and left the skin on.
Then stuffed the middle with 1/2 a butcher's pork sausage, some chopped fresh herbs (thyme and oregano) and a little lemon zest.
Tied up with wasteful kitchen twine (I was in far too much of a hurry to look for enough silicone rope ties scattered through various kitchen drawers !)
Roasted in my halogen oven at 200deg C on bottom rack for approx 20mins
Simple, cheap, quick and easy family meal !
Sarah-Jane Nash, November 2011 - www.siliconemoulds.com
Forgive me. This could be quite a large blog entry and photo heavy as I've got loads of photos etc this time to share. Unfortunately, the photos of my Jalousie do it no justice at all - but time and light were not in my favour....
Jalousie is a fancy name for an otherwise basic slatted / latticed tart or freeform pie. It can be as simple or as fancy as you wish. With so many lovely autumnal vegetables freshly available, it seemed silly not to put them to good use. I've come up with this amazingly delicious combination. It doesn't look overly special, but hey ho - we all have bad photo days. You'll struggle to go wrong if you choose to create your own. Whether sweet or savoury - shove all your favourite things in.....
jalousie[ˈʒælʊˌziː]
n
1. (Fine Arts & Visual Arts / Furniture) a window blind or shutter constructed from angled slats of wood, plastic, etc.
2. (Fine Arts & Visual Arts / Furniture) a window made of similarly angled slats of glass
[from Old French gelosie latticework screen, literally: jealousy, perhaps because one can look through the screen without being seen]
Jalousie shown above was served with fresh beetroot steamed in a foil packet with cumin
Recipe (serves approx 4 > 5)
I prepared this the night previous to cooking and refrigerated overnight - simply for convenience.
1 x 500g block pre-made puff pastry
2 > 3 good quality butchers sausages (omit for vegetarian option)
3 medium sized chestnut mushrooms (optional)
8 > 10 cooked chestnuts
1 small butternut squash
50g grated gruyere
some finely chopped fresh sage (if available)
Peel, de-seed and cube the butternut squash into approx 2cm chunks. I think I had around 350g of prepared raw weight. I drizzled these with olive oil and quickly roasted them on the top grill of my halogen oven at about 220deg until starting to brown. You could put them in your jalousie raw, but I wanted faster cooking time and something that could be shoved in the oven after work the next day...
Next. prepare the chestnuts. I used fresh sweet chestnuts and roasted them quickly on the top shelf of my halogen oven. I find that after cooking, cover them with a damp cloth to keep them hot and moist makes them easier to shell. I've made a rubbish little video of this... You may prefer to use canned or vaccum packed chestnuts for convenience !
Next, roll the puff pastry out on a silicone pastry rolling mat to approx 12" x 14". Using a blunt table knife, cut this down the middle into two equal pieces 6" x 14" (approx).
Start layering the ingredients - starting with thinly sliced mushrooms and chopped chestnuts. You can see I've then added the squash on top, sausages (removed from skins and rolled into balls approx 1cm dia.) before finally topping with the gruyere.
Top with the second piece of pastry and crimp round the edges. I use a fork handle and pull it up and over. This jalousie was so full, I really thought it may well burst out the seams !
If refrigerating overnight before baking, do cover with cling film to stop it drying out.
Glaze with a beaten egg before baking. I baked this at 210deg C Fan oven for about 25 mins.
----------------------------------------
It's Autumn here in the UK, and it's been bright, sunny, warmer and drier than is generally normal for this time of year. We live in East Anglia - which is also known as the "Bread Basket" of Britain. It's prime agricultural land that offers the best of UK growing conditions.
Being lucky enough to live in a rural area like this has lots of advantages. In the (almost) 10 years I've lived here, I have NEVER bought eggs from a shop. Ok, so we have chickens now, but prior to that or in winter months when they don't lay so many - it's so easy to stop by a farm or house with a stall and honesty jar by the side of the road. Simply take what you need, put your money in the jar or tin and off you go. Easy as that. Good, locally produced, seasonal fruit and vegetables on our doorsteps.
I stopped just down the road earlier this week to buy a pumpkin and also saw those pears for sale. I love the photo above - they look so appealing. What an absolute shame I cannot stand pears ! I love the fact that this way of life often allows me to get hold of some produce I'd never find in the supermarket and unbeatably fresh (as well as inexpensive).
The other direction from home, I can currently get wet walnuts, honey and duck eggs - oh - not forgetting cider vinegar and more varieties of pressed apple juice than you can dream of.
There are lots of local farmers markets. These are generally run on Saturday mornings at local villages. Most alternate, so you know which Saturday where the market is. Wymondam Farmers Market is probably my favourite and on the 3rd Saturday of the month. This time of year, I generally work Saturday mornings - so getting to one of the markets is a rare occurrence.
I was at work today, but took last Saturday morning off due to being very poorly the day before. Oliver and I took a quick trip to Wymondham market to grab some goodies on offer....
Here is Oliver - munching on a cracker given to him by the lady on the fish stall. I don't know whether it because he was looking cute or half starved that he managed to wangle a cracker, but it certainly raised a huge smile ! Of course, he had to carry his own bag. He likes to choose things. He carries the light ones and I get the heavy stuff. First stop was for vegetables (loads of teeny weeny onions, butternut squash and broccoli.
From the fish lady, we got some lovely oak hot smoked salmon and a fresh dressed crab as well as a little pot of peeled brown shrimps. An expensive treat - but made a lovely Sunday evening meal with some thinly sliced toasted sour dough.
This guy is from ChillisGalore.co.uk . I used to mail order from them a long long time ago. They make some awesome chilli sauces, jams and jellies. My dad particularly likes their limited addition Lemon Drop Chilli Jelly and I managed to bag 3 jars for him last weekend...
Beautiful selection of Artisan Breads. I generally don't tend to buy this sort of bread as I adore making it myself given any excuse.... So much of it is such an irresistible smell though at the market ! Oliver picked a huge Rosemary and Olive oil Focaccia and a good 1/4 of had GONE in his tummy before we even got it home ! I chose a couple of little savoury tarts for tea - goats cheese and red onion and I think the other was pea, spinach and feta ? Sorry - I've forgotten. They were eaten a week ago...
The cake at the front is a new creation from Dr Tim Kinnaird (pastry chef and runner up of Masterchef 2010). I brought it home for my husband - but did have a little taste. I cannot find what it is online, but it was some sort of creamy brulee type top with a chocolatey middle and alcohol soaked sponge base. I'll tweet him and maybe we'll be lucky enough to find out.
This is some of the stuff we came back with. Notice I trimmed the focaccia up at the back since Oliver had eaten huge chunks on the way home !
Oliver ADORES macarons and picked a Salt Caramel macaron from Tim which was demolished in no time at all. After spending a small fortune at the market, we went into the library down the road for a little while. I'm ashamed to say we left about 20mins later without me even having a chance to read to Oliver - attempting to do so just resulted in continuous coughing fits and an inability to breathe. He had to put up with just having a browse on his own ! I'm a bit better now since the doctors started me on some steroids at the beginning of the week.....
On getting back to the car, Oliver found some massive piles of leaves and had such a ball jumping in them and kicking them in the air. If his back had not been facing me most of the time, I'm sure I could have got some super shots ! After that was over, Oliver was BEGGING for another macaron (rolls eyes). We walked back up to the market and he snagged the very last salted caramel macaron. I did ask nicely for a bite - but was told "NO WAY MUMMY !" I'd have bought my own macaron, but believe it or not, the diet is still going strong and I'm now 2st down..
That wasn't the end of the day.... from there we ended up at Goodies Farm Shop for locally stone milled flours and some locally reared meat from their in-house butchery. A coffee in the cafe was very welcome and Oliver munched his way through a lunch of some rather nice looking sausages and chips.
Coming home, we made some of those Rye Crackers I showed you from the sour dough bread course.. Well - I put the ingredients out to sit overnight and we made the crackers the following day. Good rolling Oliver (ok - you had a LITTLE help !) These were MASSIVE !
I'm popping the recipe in here for my convenience - since I often use my own blog recipes on the Ipad in the kitchen !
Knead for 10 > 15 mins in Kitchenaid. Cover and leave overnight.
Next day, roll out balls of approx 50g as thinly as possible on to a silicone mat floured with rye flour. Prick with a fork. Brush with water and top with flaked sea salt and seeds / spices etc ( we used fennel on some and cummin on others).
Bake at 200deg C for approx 10mins
Couple of girls out riding on a stubble field one morning this week....
Some of my ponies in the field.... growing winter woolly coats. The one in the middle is Digger who you may remember was born in January this year.
Henrietta and scruffy looking Chicky (the chick we hatched a few weeks back).
Oliver (still sporting a chocolate face) and I - taking photos of yourself with a camera is never a great idea.... But here we are !
