Picnic loaf (pan bagnat)

I have fancied trying this for a while, and a shared picnic gave me the opportunity. I used this recipe from Delicious mag but it's really simple and flexible! A large round loaf, some grilled veg, cheese and herbs, and some time.

The base is a crusty white "boule" loaf - mine was from Waitrose, 400g. It would have been handy for it to be a bit taller, but there wasn't any choice. It still worked. I cut a lid off and then scooped out the insides. The recipe said to leave 2-3cm of bread at the crust, but this was too much and I would leave a thinner border next time; it was quite bready to eat and I had leftover veg and cheese that wouldn't fit in. The bread can't be too thin or else it will fall apart, but I think it would be fine with 1-2cm. Also, I think my bread was fresh (instore bakery) on the day I constructed the loaf, rather than day old as specified, but I did the cutting and scooping and left it under a teatowel while I did the veg, so it did dry out a bit.

For the veg I used 2 medium courgettes sliced diagonally (0.5cm), 4 portobello mushrooms, and average sized red and yellow peppers cut into sixths. The grilling was the most time consuming element, but it was worth tending to them to get good and even browning. I marinated the grilled veg in oil, red wine vinegar, garlic and fresh basil, as per the recipe, for a couple of hours.

I spread tapenade into the bread bowl before layering up the marinated veg with some sliced ball mozzarella and more fresh basil, pressing everything well into the outside edges underneath the lip. Even packing it in, I still had enough leftover veg and cheese for lunch the next day! You could probably spin out a single mozzarella ball to do this recipe if you sliced it thinly enough.

The finished loaf was wrapped tightly in clingfilm and left under a baking tray weighted with six tins of beans (~3kg), a bit more than suggested in the recipe. After being pressed for a couple of hours I sliced it into 6 wedges (not 8) and left it in the fridge overnight. It was well recieved at the picnic and I'd make it again for a similar occasion .

Variations I would try:

• include olives, capers, sun-dried tomatoes, peppadew peppers or artichoke hearts (easy to make a tasty vegan version with some of these and no cheese)
• add salami or other flavourful meat
• try goat's cheese or feta
• swap tapenade for pesto
• individual versions in bread rolls

Slow-cooker pork and sweet potato

A recipe from Ultimate Slow Cooker which I adapted to suit available ingredients.

Ingredients (2 generous servings / 2 moderate servings and a littl'un):
300-350g pork shoulder, large dice
1 large sweet potato, peeled, 2cm dice
1 bramley apple, peeled and cored, 2-3cm dice
1 medium to large onion, 1cm dice
400g can chopped tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 stock cube of choice
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch chilli flakes (optional)
salt, pepper, oil as needed

Method:
Brown the meat and remove from pan/slow cooker inner
Soften onion and garlic with spices.
Add crumbled stock cube, sweet potato, apple, and return pork to pan, mix well to distribute.
Add chopped tomatoes to cover.

Cook on high for 3-4 hours or longer on medium.

Even without the made-up stock cube as per the recipe, there was plenty of liquid. I ladled some out to put in the long-grain rice I cooked to go with it. Super tasty!

Squashage rolls

I take zero credit for this recipe - it's thanks to my friend Flo, who's a whizz at finding ways to use up squash :)  I baked them for a cake sale and they got rave reviews, so this is to help out those who wanted the recipe.


1 large butternut squash (1.5kg), halved and de-seeded
1 onion, finely chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, to taste, finely chopped or crushed
small handful fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
125g mascarpone
1 medium egg plus another to brush on pastry
salt and pepper
500g pack puff pastry
oil for roasting and frying the onion

Oil the cut surfaces of the squash and roast at 150°C until tender. Allow to cool while you sweat off the onion and add the garlic, sage and seasoning.

Peel the cooled squash (I find it easier this way), mash half to two-thirds of it, and chop the rest.

Mix , taste and season as needed. If your squash was quite wet you might not need all the egg - a softer mix is harder to work with. You could add breadcrumbs if it's too sloppy.

Roll out the pastry to the desired size (I did it in four lots to keep things manageable) - you need to make a longish sausage that you can then cut into individual rolls. If the mixture is too soft then it's this bit will be difficult. As you can see from the pic, my rolls were full and quite narrow, and I think wider would have been better. You could also try cutting the pastry and then adding the filling.

Use beaten egg to seal the pastry and glaze the top, then bake at 200-220°C for 20-25 mins until golden brown.

Any leftover mix  can be cooked in dollops on a non-stick baking mat and used a bit like felafel, e.g. with salad, in a pitta, etc. If it's quite soft it makes an awesome toastie filling!

Parsnip cake

A Moosewood recipe, originally entitled Anna's Country Spice Cake. I have metricated the (American) recipe and added my own topping - orange-cinnamon icing with caramelised walnuts. You could sub carrots for the parsnips.

It's possible to make this vegan by subbing the eggs with aquafaba.

Mix together 120ml (=100g) vegetable oil, 165g brown sugar, 2 eggs [6 tbsp aquafaba] and the zest of a large orange. When well combined, stir in 300g grated parsnip (equated to one large one, minus the toughest bit of core) and 120g chopped/crushed tinned pineapple (half a tin of chunks, drained then chopped roughly).

Sift together 225g self raising flour, extra 1tsp baking powder, a pinch of salt, and then cinnamon, ginger and cloves to taste (suggest 1.5tsp cinnamon, 1tsp ginger, 0.5tsp cloves). Stir into wet mix, then fold in dried fruit and nuts to your preference (cranberries work really well, also sultanas, and walnuts).

Bake in a 20cm square tin (greased & lined) for approx 1 hour at 160°C (fan) or until risen and springy.

To decorate: make up icing sugar to the desired consistency with orange juice, and add orange zest and cinnamon. This could be just a drizzle or enough for a full-on topping, as you like. Optionally, sprinkle with chopped walnuts, and for an extra touch use caramelised ones (55g sugar, 15g butter, melt and coat (chopped) nuts, then separate on a silicone mat before they solidify, or deliberately allow to set together then bash/chop into pieces of brittle).

I made this again for a bake sale and topped it with a pack of Violife 'cream cheese' blended with icing sugar and orange zest to taste. I caramelised some pecans using sunflower spread and caster sugar - they're a bit grainy but it works!

Cowboy cookies (oat & choc chip)

A recipe from the Moosewood book of desserts, that shamefully I don't dip into that often because I bought it in the US and it's based on cups, which are inherently annoying and inaccurate for dry goods. There's also all of the subtle differences in types of flour and sugar, which can be significant for baking. This is one of the recipes that I have converted to weight - soft, slightly cakey cookies that take additions well, and have a vague air of healthiness with the oats. Depending what you add, they can be quite trail mix-ish.

Cowboy Cookies (the reason for the name is lost in the mists of time...)

Makes about 50 good-size cookies, so I often halve the quantities.

225g soft butter
100g caster sugar
85g brown sugar
2 large eggs
1tsp vanilla extract
280g plain flour
0.5tsp salt
0.5tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
280g porridge oats
360g (!) chocolate chips, chunks or other additions such as raisins, nuts or seeds.
Milk if needed

Cream butter and sugar, then add in eggs and vanilla and beat well. Combine flour, salt and raising agents, and mix in with butter/sugar/egg, then stir in oats. Makes a very stiff mixture so add milk to loosen if needed before folding in the chocolate or other ingredients.

Drop rough blobs of mixture onto a silicon mat or greased tray, with space to spread. Bake for 12 mins (160°C fan) until golden at the edges.

Cheese & mustard scones

Adapted from a Be-Ro recipe as I was trying to use up some buttermilk (bought for the cornmeal dumplings that go with Feijoada).

Rub 25g butter into 175g seasoned self-raising flour, and stir in 75g grated cheese (I used Emmental).
Mix a good tablespoon of wholegrain mustard into a "large egg" worth of buttermilk (I estimated this by eye, but conveniently it was more or less how much buttermilk I had left...), adding a little milk if needed to bring the mix together to a soft dough.

Roll into a thick round and cut into 8 wedges. Brush the tops with milk and sprinkle with parmesan or another cheese. Bake for 10-15 mins at 180°C until they are browning at the edges. Try not to scoff them all while they are warm and springy...

More family dinners: leek & ham gratin, cod & chorizo stew

Thought I'd try something different: leek and ham gratin with rosti topping (Delicious mag). Was OK, but not brilliant.

1) I misread the instructions which say to chop the leeks in thirds. I just cut them into rings.
2) the additional surface area to the cut leeks then soaked up all the butter so there was nothing to make the white sauce with.
3) maybe my cloves were a bit strong, but the sauce was quite heavily garlicky!
4) the rosti topping was really dry - I was a bit stingy with the butter as I'd used more of it earlier.

I think I'd try it again but with a mash topping. The rosti were a faff that didn't turn out to be worth it.



Thought I'd try something else different: cod and chorizo stew (BBC Good Food). Ding - winner!

The only thing I did differently was to add a bit more paprika when cooking the onion & chorizo, and add a dollop of sun dried tomato paste. It all worked brilliantly. Would try it again, especially with a cheaper fish like basa. Family had potatoes and I had cous cous (not enough potatoes...) - both worked.