Sage and onion cornbread

This recipe is adapted from one which appeared in the Guardian Cook supplement on 3 January 2015. It’s good warm, on its own with butter, or for mopping up soups and casseroles.

• 110g plain wholemeal flour
• 100g polenta (not instant polenta)
• 4 tsps (heaped) baking powder
• 70g fresh breadcrumbs
• 1 tbsp chopped sage leaves
• 1 bunch spring onions (thinly sliced)
• 100g mature cheddar (finely grated)
• 2 large eggs (beaten)
• 240ml milk
• 120 ml olive oil (and a little more to grease the cake tin)

Line the base of a 20cm cake tin with silicone paper and paint the sides with olive oil.

Pre-heat the oven to 200C (Gas Mark 6).

Sift together the flour, polenta and baking powder. Stir in the breadcrumbs, onions, sage and cheese, until the mixture is evenly combined.

Beat together the eggs, flour and oil in a separate bowl.

Mix all the ingredients together, and spoon into the cake tin, levelling the top is necessary.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and cooked inside (if you insert a skewer and it comes out clean, it will be cooked).

Allow to cool on a wire rack. Serve warm, or store in an airtight tin for later use. Freezes well.

 

 

Onion focaccia

This is based on a recipe in ‘Muffins scones and breads’ in the Austrailan Women’s Weekly cookbook series. There is enough for 6 as an accompaniment to soup or salad. It’s fairly quick to make as it requires only one rising.

• 1&1/2  tsp dried yeast
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 220ml warm (blood heat) water
• 150g strong plain flour
• 150g wholemeal flour
• 35g Italian hard cheese (this is the ‘cheap version‘ of parmesan), finely grated
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh sage
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small red onion (finely sliced)
• Sea salt

Mix the yeast and sugar with 100ml of the warm water. Cover, and leave in a warm place for about 10 minutes until it starts to ferment.

Meanwhile sift the flours together into a large mixing bowl. When the yeast is ready, warm the flour briefly in the microwave (say, 20 seconds on high).

Mix the cheese and herbs into the flour, add the yeast mixture and 2 tbsp of the olive oil, and a further 100g of the water. Mix to a soft, but manageable, dough. If too dry add further water (if too wet, knead in some more flour). Knead for about 5 minutes.

Roll out the dough and place it so that it covers a baking tray (I used one 30cm square). Cover and leave in a warm place to rise (until it has doubled in depth).

Heat the oven to 220C (gas mark 8). Spread the onion slices over the top, and sprinkle with sea salt and the remaining olive oil.

Bake for about 25 minutes. Pleace on a wire rack to cool.

Caramelised onion and goats cheese pizza

I had some goats cheese which needed to be eaten, so I decided to make a ‘pizza’. This pizza topping is based on a Delia Smith recipe for Caramelised Balsamic and Red Onion Tarts with Goats Cheese.

I made a large rectangular pizza (27cm x 39cm), using my pizza recipe, with 300g of flour. This will feed up to 4 people.

For the topping:

• 15g butter
• 500g onions (red if you have them – peeled and sliced)
• 1 tsp finely chopped sage leaves
• 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 200g of goats cheese (the small ‘log’ sort – sliced)
• Extra sage leaves
• Black pepper

Melt the butter in a large heavy bottomed pan. Add the onions and the sage, and stir to incorporate the butter. Stir in the balsamic vinegar.

Cook, very gently, uncovered, for about 45 minutes, or until the onions are really soft. Leave to cool.

When the pizza has been rolled out and placed on its baking sheet, cover the top with the onions. Place the sliced cheese on top of the onions, decorate with sage leaves and season with black pepper.

I baked this more slowly than usual (at 190C (Gas Mark 5)) for about 20 minutes.

Small time kitchen gardening

Parsley,sage, rosemary & thyme; plus mint & chives

It’s now late September and I have large quantities of common herbs you’d expect to use in everyday cooking in my garden.

These all originated from pots of cooking herbs bought in supermarkets – often the items planted outside were pots which were way past their sell-by-date and reduced to a few stalks.

I find that most supermarket herbs do very well: sage, thyme, parsley (curly/flat), chives, mint and rosemary. The only one I have a problem with is coriander which always goes to seed rapidly.

All my herbs are in pots (many which I’ve acquired via Freecycle), planted in compost made from food/garden waste, on the edge of my patio. They can look extremely attractive (rosemary, thyme and sage all produce flowers on the bluey-pink spectrum) and are a target for butterflies.

As far as pests are concerned, slugs and snails love parsley. To avoid the problem I stuck cooper tape on the outside of the pots (they don’t don’t like the electric shock as they slither over the copper tape). I’m told that spraying the outside of the pots with WD-40 also deters these havoc reeking gastropods, as the poor things keep sliding downwards!

Chilli plant against south-facing wall

I also bought a supermarket chilli plant late last year, which by May was looking fairly sick. I re-potted it in a much larger pot, and it is now thickly covered in green chillies. I suspect this will need bring back into the house soon, but for now, I’m trying to take advantage of the early Autumn sun while the weather is still frost-free.