Baby flapjacks

Ingredients 50ml coconut oil, 1 banana, 150g oats, 75g mixed seeds (I like pumpkin, linseed, poppyseed, sunflower and flax seeds) 1 tsp vanilla essence, 50g dried fruit (I like cranberries & apricots but figs, raisins & dates are also great.)

Makes: 12 Preparation: 45 minutes

I adore flapjacks and granola for the same reason - the smell and flavour of those gorgeous toasted oats. Absolutely mouthwatering.
As a follow on from my baby breakfast muffins, which are sugar free and very low in fat, these flapjacks are also baby friendly in that unlike traditional flapjacks which are full of butter and syrup, these are bound by banana and coconut oil and stuffed full of glorious seeds and dried fruit instead of things that will make your kids hyper and unhealthy. So if you or your kidlets fancy a sweet treat that travels well then these will not disappoint.

1) Culinary coconut oil is usually solid at room temperature, so melt it gently in a pan to return it to liquid form and stir in the vanilla essence.

2) Mash the banana with a fork, or puree in a food processor and whisk into the oil until it has been fully incorporated. If you have an extra sweet tooth you can add a little honey too but it really doesn't need it if your banana is ripe.

3) Stir in the oats, dried fruit and seeds and allow to rest whilst the oven pre-heats to gas mark 5.

4) Rub a little of the coconut oil around your baking tray to grease it, then press the mixture firmly into the tray ensuring that it is packed as tightly as possible to allow it to bind fully in the oven and not fall apart when cut into bars.

5) Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown, then carefully turn out onto a cooling rack (it should just slide off the tray but if you've used a deep one, try putting the cooling rack over the top and just flipping it over) and slice into bars whilst still warm. Once cool they can be eaten or stored for up to a week.

Yorkshire Brack

Ingredients 150ml black tea (I use Earl Grey), 225g self-raising flour, 175g golden caster sugar, 400g dried fruit (I use chopped figs, sultanas and raisins), 1 large egg.

Preparation: 2 1/4 hours (an hour for soaking, an hour for baking)

When I was a little girl, at Christmas my family would always have a slice of cheese with Christmas cake and for the rest of the year, a slice of cheese with everyday brack. It's a very Yorkshire thing to do so in honour of Yorkshire day, here is my favourite Yorkshire recipe. A fat-free cake that is so quick and easy to make that it really has no business being as impressive as it is to eat. The fruit also never sinks as it can sometimes do in fruit cake. But that's Yorkshire for you. As they say, "if it isn't Yorkshire, it's shite."

1) Leave the tea leaves to infuse for 10 minutes, then pour through a strainer into a bowl of dried fruit. Soak the dried fruit for an hour.

2) Beat the egg and sift in the flour and sugar. Pour in the dried fruit and tea and stir through until a smooth batter has formed. If the mixture is a little dry, add a touch of milk.

3) Smooth into a loaf or cake tin and pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees. Bake for 1 hour, or until a skewer comes out clean.

4) Serve each piece with a good slice of cheddar.

Goats cheese, fig & walnut bites

Ingredients Goat's cheese, fig, walnuts

Preparation: 5 minutes

The combination of figs, goats cheese and walnuts is no stranger to this blog. from a simple salad to linguine with fig and walnut pesto and crumbled goats cheese, it's a holy trinity of vegetarian perfection. In honour of the glorious British Summer, I give you this picnic treat.

1) Slice the figs and halve each slice.

2) If your goats cheese has a rind, peel this away, then poke a hollow into the goats cheese with your thumb, press the fig into it and roll the goats cheese around it in the palm of your hand.

3) Finely chop the walnuts (or pulse in the blender if your knife skills are not so strong) then roll the goats cheese balls in the walnuts until they are coated in the crispness. Serve!

Toasted goats cheese with fig pesto

Ingredients 2 dried/fresh figs, 1/2 orange, 75g hazelnuts, 150g basil leaves, olive oil, goats cheese, rocket

Serves: 2 Preparation: 15 minutes

In my previous post, I brought you paprika pesto - earthy and comforting it's the exact opposite of my fig pesto which sets the tongue tingling with flavour stimulation. My personal favourite pesto is Genovese style, with the addition of black kamalata olives to add a juicy richness, but I can honestly say that this fig pesto goes to another level and will blow your mind. Some rich cheese and soft bread and you've got yourself the perfect summer lunch. I have always used fresh figs when making this, but as they're out of season, I tried using sticky, sweet, meltingly soft dried figs and it gave this a delicious, autumnal twist.

1) Add a good handful of fresh basil leaves to a mortar bowl and grind to a fine pulp.

2) Add a pinch of coarse sea salt, the hazelnuts and grind thoroughly.

3) Add a squeeze of orange juice, the olive oil and finely diced figs and stir to combine.

4) Spoon onto the goats cheese and toast under the grill for 3-4 minutes, serve with rocket as a salad or spread onto fresh bread.

Fig, olive & goats cheese pizza

Ingredients 200g very strong white bread flour      (grade 00), 1/4 tbs salt, 1/2 a sachet    of yeast, 1/4 tsp honey, 1 tbs olive    oil, 130ml warm water, 100ml passata tomatoes, smoked garlic, 100g goats cheese, 2 figs, 100g kamalata olives, balsamic vinegar.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 30 minutes


It's no secret that I love figs and goats cheese - I have posted recipes for tarts, salads, toasted sandwiches, stuffed mushrooms, stuffed marrows, linguine and canapes (vegetarian and non) - all of which using the fig and goats cheese combination. There's a reason for this - it's quite frankly sex on a plate! This pizza is one of my favourites and because it just contains a little cheese and a thin crust it's relatively healthy as pizzas go. Try it topped with rocket and a little balsamic glaze.

1) For a quick pizza dough: sift the flour and salt together and pour onto a clean work surface. Make a well in the centre and after dissolving the yeast, oil and honey in warm water, pour into the centre and mix with a fork until it is gradually combined. Dust your hands with flour and kneed until a smooth, elastic dough has formed. Set aside somewhere warm in a covered bowl to rise a little.


2) To make the pizza sauce I minced the smoked garlic (my new favourite ingredient!) into the passata tomatoes and added a little honey and balsamic vinegar to contrast with the goats cheese. Simmer for 5-10 minutes on a low heat.


3) Roll out the pizza dough on a floured surface (as you'll see from the picture I rolled mine into a heart shape. A subtle indication of how much I love fig and goats cheese perhaps!?) until you have about a half centimetre thickness, then spoon the pizza sauce onto it and smooth it out.


4) Top with pitted kamalata olives, relatively thin wedges of fig (I cut in half, then cut each half into thirds) and rough chunks of goats cheese.


5) Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes at 220 degrees and serve.

Fig jam

Ingredients   7 figs, 3 cups jam sugar, water, 1 tsp red wine

Serves: 1 pint jam Preparation: 20 minutes


One of my favourite things to do is make jam. I like the fragrant steam that fills my kitchen, I find stirring and sieving and pouring very soothing and of course I am a fan of making anything which involves toast. Fig jam has a rich, heady flavour that is perfect to drizzle over goats cheese and a beautiful colour.


1) Slice the stalks from the figs and cut each fig into vertical quarters. If you would like textured, seedy jam then remove the skin - if like the picture above you prefer seedless jam then leave the skins intact. Put a spoon in the fridge.


2) Add into a saucepan with a pint of water and stir through on a medium heat, crushing the fruit with your wooden spoon to release as much juice and flavour as possible.


3) It will take about 15 minutes for the water to become infused - at this point remove the pan from the heat and if you're looking for seedless jam, pass the fruit through a sieve before returning it to the hob.


4) Turn the heat up high and add the sugar and a teaspoon of red wine. Stir through and allow the liquid to froth up to a rolling boil that can not be stirred back down. Remove from the heat and drip a little into the cold spoon. If it sets within a few seconds then the jam is ready. Return to the heat and allow it to froth up again for another 30 seconds until it sets in the spoon.


5) Transfer from the pan to a pouring jug or use a pouring ladle to transfer to hot, sterilised jars. Put the lids on (be careful not to burn yourself on the hot jars!) and set aside to cool to room temperature before putting in the fridge.


6) Once opened, this will keep for about a month and is best served with goats cheese on crusty ciabatta.

Fig, feta & pistachio stuffed mushrooms

Ingredients Mushroom, fig, feta, pistachio

Serves: 1 Preparation: 10 minutes


1) Wash the mushroom and stuff with crumbled feta and crushed pistachios.


2) Top with quarters of feta and bake for 5 minutes

Fig, feta & olive pesto stuffed marrow

Ingredients 1 Marrow, feta, 1 fig, balsamic glaze, Basil oil, 30g basil, 30g kamalata   olives,1/2 clove garlic, 30g parmigiano, salt.

If you let a courgette keep growing you end up with a marrow - a juicy, fresh and delicious marrow that is perfect for stuffing with something rich and flavoursome.


1) Wash the marrow thoroughly and cut off the ends. Slice the marrow in half lengthways and then depending on the length of the marrow cut in half sideways. The average marrow will give you four pieces suitable for stuffing.


2) Using a spoon or a flexible filleting knife, remove the core where you may see seeds developing like a melon. For future reference, these seeds are edible, but the flesh you remove from the marrow centre can be discarded for this recipe.


3) Put the marrow pieces on a baking tray and roast them at 200 degrees for 30 minutes.



4) Genovese style pesto is incredibly fine and involves pulverising the basil literally one leaf at a time in your mortar and pestle - if you don't have the patience then you could use a blender but nothing will release the basil juice and create that silky Genovese texture like the traditional method. 


5) Once the basil is crushed to a fine pulp, add finely diced kamalata olives, minced garlic and parmeggian. Add a glug of basil oil until it has reached the desired consistency.


6) Rub a teaspoon of pesto onto each piece of marrow and crumble with feta and quarters of fig. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes and serve, drizzled with balsamic glaze.

Roast aubergine & fig salad

Ingredients   100g Rasperries, 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon basil oil, 30g basil, 2 figs, 3 baby aubergines, rocket, 30g goats cheese.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 20 minutes


I don't think I will ever get tired of the fig and goats cheese combination. If ever two ingredients were made for each other, it was these! If you haven't already - try my F&GC tart, F&GC linguine or F&GC parcels.
This salad has a zingy, tangy basil & raspberry vinaigrette dressing which brings out the sweetness of the fig, the tartness of the goats cheese and the warm, salty aubergine and peppery rocket bind it all together. The perfect autumn salad.


1) Remove the stalk and cut the baby aubergines in half, lengthways. Set them skin side down in an ovenproof dish and sprinkle with salt to draw out the bitter juices. Drizzle with a generous slosh of oil and bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 20 minutes.


2) Grind the basil leaves in a mortar and pestle until as much liquid has been extracted from the leaves as possible. Add the raspberries and grind to a fine pulp and parse through a sieve to extract the basil and raspberry juice.


3) Add a tablespoon of basil oil, a tablespoon of red wine vinegar and whisk until combined.


4) Toss the rocket with a little of the dressing and arrange the roast aubergine and figs on top of the salad leaves. Crumble the goats cheese over the top and drizzle with salad dressing.

Fig & goats cheese parcels

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Ingredients Fig, courgette, goats cheese

1) Cut the figs into quarters and slice chunks of goats cheese.

2) Peel fine strips of courgette with a vegetable peeler and wrap them around the figs and cheese.

3) Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes.

Fig and bacon rolls

Ingredients Figs, courgette, bacon

1) Slice the figs into quarters and peel long strips of courgette with a vegetable peeler.

2) Lay a strip of bacon over a strip of courgette and roll a piece of fig inside it.

3) Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes.

Fig and goats cheese linguine

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Ingredients Linguine, basil oil, 200g spinach leaves, cherry tomatoes, figs, goats cheese, balsamic glaze

1) Put the linguine into hot, salted water for 10-12 minutes to cook

2) In a seperate pan stir the spinach leaves and a handful of halved cherry tomatoes into a tablespoon of basil on a low heat until the leaves are coated with oil. As the tomatoes cook, crush them with the flat of the spoon to release the juice.

3) Strain the linguine and add it to the spinach and tomatoes. Slice some fig into the pan and stir through until the pasta has fully integrated.

4) Serve with crumbled goats cheese and a drizzle of balsamic glaze.

Fig, goats cheese & artichoke tart

Ingredients Eggs, marscapone, basil, artichoke, lemon, basil oil, dried fig, pine nuts, goats cheese, 4oz plain flour, 2oz butter.

1) To make the shortcrust pastry measure 4oz of plain flour and 2oz of cold butter. Cut the butter into small cubes and drop along with the flour into a food processor until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Drip in 2-3 tablespoons of cold water until the mixture quickly forms a ball. Wrap this in clingfilm and put in the fridge for 15 minutes. Roll out and cut circles of pastry. Press firmly into a Yorkshire pudding tin and blind bake for 5 minutes in the oven and set aside to cool.

2) To prepare the artichoke vinaigrette: Break the stem of the artichoke as close to the base as you can, then put the artichoke head first into a pan of hot, salted water and keep it submerged with an upturned pan lid (or plate). It will take 20-30 minutes to cook until tender - test the base with a knife - if it goes in smoothly it's ready! Slice the artichoke leaves and mix into equal parts of basil oil, lemon juice and sprinkle with chopped basil.

3) Slice the dried fig and goats cheese and layer, along with the basil leaves and artichoke into the pastry case.

4) Whisk together 1 egg and 1 tablespoon of marscapone. Spoon over the tart, top with pine nuts and bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes.