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.

Caponata

Ingredients 50g sultanas, 50g olives, 1 aubergine, 10-15 cherry tomatoes, 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp muscovado sugar, 1 onion or 1 stick celery, olive oil, 1 piece dark chocolate.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 1 hour

Caponata is a hot Sicilian aubergine salad, one of those marvellous Italian dishes which is equally lovely alone as antipasti or tossed with rice or pasta to make a meal. I particularly like this with butter beans to form a sort of stew. This combination of sultanas, olives and balsamic vinegar is the perfect balance of sweet and savoury flavours, soaked up beautifully by the melt-in-the-mouth perfection of aubergine. The leftovers are marvellous spread onto bread for lunch the next day.

1) Slice the aubergine into cubes, toss with a tsp of salt and add to a colander to rest for at least half an hour to allow the bitter juices to drain away. I like to set the colander on top of a bowl so that I can check the progress - from one aubergine you will get at least 50ml of liquid!

2) Peel and finely slice the onions, or finely dice the celery and add to a pan with a glug of olive oil. Sizzle for at least 10 minutes to allow them to soften completely, then add the brown sugar, sultanas and balsamic vinegar. Turn off the heat and leave to rest so that the sultanas soak up the wonderful flavours and become plump and juicy.

3) In a separate pan, Fry off the aubergines in a little oil until they are completely soft and the skin has turned a dark and vibrant purple. Transfer to the pan of onions/celery and sultanas and turn on the heat.

4) Pit the olives and blitz in a blender (or if you can't get hold of good olives - for goodness sake don't bother buying unpitted ones, they're like hunks of rubber! - a good olive tapenade will suffice), quarter the tomatoes then add both to the pan. Stir gently so as not to break the tomatoes down too much, just bring everything together.

5) Whether serving hot, or cold, grate a little good quality dark chocolate to season (I used 85% here but if your tastes are not quite so pure, 70% will be bitter enough).

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.

Banana nut flapjacks

Ingredients 1 banana, 1/4 cup oats, 1/4 cup sultanas, 1/4 cup toasted almond flakes, 1 tbsp dessicated coconut, pinch cinnamon.

Serves: 8 Preparation: 20 minutes

These totally tropical vegan flapjacks are ridiculously quick and simple and consist literally of oats, bananas, nuts and whatever else you want to bulk them up with. I chose sultanas and coconut but you could substitute different nuts and different dried fruits - or add in some spices or even chocolate chips. My next recipe (for the world's best banana and peanut butter cookies) which will cause you to WEEP for joy when you try them was derived from this concept.

1) Mash the banana with a fork and add in the other ingredients

2) Using a tablespoon, portion out the flapjacks and drop onto baking parchment. I think these work best as rough cookie shapes because they crisp up better, but you could spoon onto a tray and cut out flapjack bars.

3) Bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 200 degrees

Cinnamon, orange & sultana scones

Ingredients 225g self raising flour, 50g butter, 50g sugar, juice and zest of 2 oranges, 20g sultanas, 1 tbsp cinnamon.

Serves: 10 Preparation: 30 minutes

I adore making scones. If someone calls to tell me they're coming over for a cuppa, it's the work of but 15 minutes to prepare the pastry and pop them in the oven. These orange and sultana scones are something that I have been planning to make for some time - the scent of cinnamon and orange that fills the house is incredible and the plump spice infused sultanas make a wonderful contrast to the light, crumbling pastry. I served these with a little butter and marscapone whipped with orange juice and sugar.

1) Juice and zest the oranges and leave the sultanas to soak in the orange juice for at least 10 minutes.

2) Sift the flour, cinnamon and sugar together, then rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

3) Mix the orange juice and sultanas in with the dry ingredients until a dough has formed. It's best to work scones with cool hands so if yours are warm, run them under the cold tap first (and dry them) before working it.

4) Roll out the pastry on a floured surface and then fold it in half and roll again. Cut out rounds of pastry with a scalloped cutter and brush with a little milk to help the surface colour.

5) Bake at 200 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Moroccan roast vegetable salad

Ingredients 1 sweet potato, 1 carrot, 1 tsp garam marsala, 1 tsp coriander, olive oil, 2 oranges, 1/4 cup sultanas, 1 cup wild rice, Quorn "chicken" pieces

 
Serves: 2 Preparation: 1 hour

Well my little toasties, it has been quite some time since I have updated this blog. Everything Goes With Toast will be 2 years old in March, which is coincidentally the same month I will be giving birth to my Starchild, and the same month David Bowie releases his first album in 10 years. A month of excitement all round! Due to the whirlwind of pregnancy I have neglected this horribly, but I hope this lovely Eastern spiced rice salad will make up for it.

1) Peel the carrot and cut into chunks, then cut the sweet potato into equal sized chunks. Add to a casserole dish along with the juice and zest of 1 orange, a teaspoon of garam marsala and a teaspoon of olive oil. Put the lid on the dish and shake thoroughly to coat the vegetables, then roast at 180 degrees for 30 minutes, shaking again after 15 minutes.

2) Add the Quorn pieces and shake to coat with flavour. Roast for a further 30 minutes.

3) Juice the other orange and put the sultanas into the juice to plump up. Set aside.

4) Rinse the rice and put on to boil. When the rice is cooked, strain the water away and add the sultanas and orange juice.

5) Add the coriander to the casserole dish and shake to coat the Quorn and vegetables, then serve the vegetables with the rice.

Lemon & sultana scotch pancakes

Ingredients 100g Self Raising Flour, 50g Caster Sugar, 1 egg, juice of 1 lemon, 2 tbsp sultanas

Serves: 6 preparation: 30 minutes

Before I learned to make Scotch pancakes in my teens, I remember my father buying lemon and raison ones from the supermarket. The few which were not tragically burned (my father cannot be trusted with a toaster), tasted lovely - but you will never know the true wonder of these fluffy, thick, amazing pancakes unless you make them fresh. I use sultanas, as I love the plump juiciness, and fresh lemon juice instead of the delicate lemon zest that a typical recipe will recommend. Give them a try!

1) Soak the sultanas in the juice of 1 lemon whilst you crack the egg into a bowl and whisk thoroughly.

2) Sift in the flour and sugar along with the lemon juice and sultanas and whisk into a batter. Leave to rest for at least 10 minutes, ideally an hour.

3) Stir through and ladle a spoon full of batter into a hot pan. Using a spatula, work round the edges, then when bubbles begin to appear in the surface of the pancake batter, flip over.

4) Each side should cook in about 2 minutes, giving you light, fluffy pancakes. These can be eaten immediately or toasted later. Best served with butter.

Raisin bran loaf

Ingredients      1 cup Bran Flakes, 1 cup sultanas,      1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 cup milk, 1 cup self raising flour.

Serves: 1 Preparation: 1 hour (plus overnight)


I have never posted a recipe on this blog that I did not create myself or adapt from a classic recipe so this is a first for me! My dear friend Paul, who climbs mountains on foot or by bike and other impressively healthy things is rather addicted to this scrumptious low-fat bread and gave me his recipe to try. Initially I was intrigued by the retro notion of creating bread from cereal - it seemed like WW2 rationing but I genuinely couldn't believe how delicious the bran and raisin combination was.


1) Add the bran flakes and sultanas into a bowl and cover with the milk. Leave to soak overnight, ensuring the bran flakes are submerged in liquid.


2) Stir the flour and sugar into the bowl until the mixture forms a rustic dough. 


3) Transfer into a cake or loaf tin and bake in the oven for 45 - 50 minutes at  180 degrees.


4) Allow to cool before serving and keep well wrapped to retain the moisture. Like making banana loaf or malt loaf I recommend putting it straight into the freezer from the oven for 5 minutes. This recipe also works well with a combination of dried fruits and mixed peel. I made a second batch with dried figs, ginger and cherries with a little cinnamon and it was spectacular!

Chai tea loaf, pancetta, pear & leek stuffing

Ingredients Chai tea loaf, 1 pear, 1/4 leek, 100g pancetta, 1 egg, butter.

For Christmas lunch this year, I thought I would sex up the turkey stuffing to mirror the spices I put in the brine bath. My Chai tea loaf is magnificently spicy but decadently sweet so I added savoury notes with the leek and pancetta and juiciness with the pear. Once it soaks up the turkey juices it is truly magnificent.


1) Crumble the tea loaf into rough breadcrumbs and set aside.


2) Peel and dice the pear and sautee in a little butter until soft.


3) Finely dice the leek and add it to the pear along with the pancetta.


4) Stir through the tea loaf crumbs and add a whisked egg. Pack it tightly into the turkey cavity and roast along with the bird.

Chai tea loaf

Ingredients     75g raisins, 75g sultanas, 75g currants, 300ml chai tea, 250g self-raising flour, 200g brown sugar, 1 egg, cinnamon, allspice, butter,

Serves: 8 Preparation: 1 hour 30 minutes (plus overnight)


Teapigs make, without a doubt the best tea I have ever tasted - unlike most tea it comes in tea temples (little silk bags, not paper) and contains real tea-leaves (not dust). Gorgeous tea also makes gorgeous tea loaf so give Teapigs a try. Annoyingly I forgot to take a picture of this before I started tearing it up to make Christmas turkey stuffing with so here... this is the biggest remaining piece!!!


1) Soak the raisins, sultanas and currants overnight in 300ml of chai tea.

2) Add the flour, sugar, a beaten egg a teaspoon of cinnamon and allspice into a bowl and mix thoroughly. Pour in the tea and fruit and mix with a spatula until the batter is smooth.

3) Pour into a greased loaf tin and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes (or until a skewer comes out clean).

Mince pies

Ingredients450g plain flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 240g unsalted butter, 1 tbsp caster sugar, 140ml orange juice, zest of 2 oranges, 3 roses, 250g cranberries, 100g sultanas, 100g raisins, 2 apples, 1 tbsp allspice, 1 tsp cinnamon, 100ml brandy, 20g brown sugar.

Serves: 24 Preparation: 2 hours (plus overnight)


I love mince pies - the crumbly texture of all butter pastry with a hint of orange, the heady, boozy fruit in the centre and that dollop of thick cream. Mmmm. Nothing is more Christmassy and they're so easy to make.


To make the mincemeat: 


1) Pour the sultanas and raisins into a bowl and cover with brandy. Leave to soak overnight.


2) Wash the roses thoroughly, remove the petals and cover the petals with the brown sugar. Leave overnight.


3) The next day, peel, core and dice the apples, then add to a pan with the cranberries, rose petals and sugar. Add a little water and allow the mixture to come to the boil. After about 5 minutes the fruit should be macerated and most of the liquid evaporated. Add the brandy, sultanas and raisins, allspice and cinnamon.


To make the pastry:


4) Cut the butter into small cubes and add to a food processor with the flour and sugar. Pulse until it becomes the consistency of breadcrumbs.


5) I like to use clementines for this because they're the Christmassiest oranges! Zest two, then squeeze the juice of about 5, giving you about 140ml of juice. Add the zest of the oranges into the food processor, then the juice in a steady stream until the pastry begins to form a ball.


6) Remove from the blender - if it's sticky, add a little more flour - roll up in clingfilm and put in the fridge for an hour to firm up.


7) Roll out the pastry (you shouldn't need a floured surface - if the pastry is sticky then you have used too much liquid) to about 1/2 a centimetre thickness and cut out circles of dough. I like to use a large circle on the bottom and a smaller circle for the top but you could use a dough shape like a star or a tree if you like for the top.


8) Press the large circles of dough firmly into your baking tin and add about a teaspoon and a half of the mincemeat. Add the tops and bake for 20 - 25 minutes at 200 degrees.


I like to eat these hot, served with a generous dollop of champagne cream.

Caramel apple Charlotte

Ingredients 3 apples, sultanas, bread, butter, sugar, double cream, 3 eggs, milk, vanilla essence.

When I made the Caramel apple pie I had some caramel left over which I allowed to almost set in the fridge. It's perfect for this meltingly gorgeous pudding.


1) Remove the crusts from 3 slices of bread and cut one of them in half. Press the bread with your hand or a rolling pin and then butter one side of each.


2) Press the first piece butter side down into your oven-proof pudding bowl, line the two half pieces butter side out around the edges, ensuring that they are pressed into the base enough for them to form a seal for the filling. Set aside the final piece.


3) Peel and dice 3 apples. Using a warm tablespoon, put a layer of caramel into the bottom of the bread case. Add apples and sultanas then continue to layer with apples and sultanas and more caramel. Add the last piece of bread butter side up and ensure it's pressed firmly against the edges.


4) Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.


5) To make the custard, simmer 200ml milk with a teaspoon of vanilla essence on a low heat. Add 20g caster sugar and whisk through. Add 3 egg yolks and continue to whisk on a low heat until the custard is thick enough to coat a spoon.

Peshwari Naan

Ingredients 250g wholemeal flour, 2 tsp caster sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 150ml Rachel's Organic coconut yoghurt, 2 tbsp butter, 35g sultanas.

1) Sift together the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder, stir in the melted butter and the coconut yoghurt.


2) Kneed for 10 minutes, adding extra flour if it's too sticky.


3) Leave the dough in a covered, oiled bowl somewhere warm for an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.


4) Knock the dough back and separate into 5 balls.


5) Roll out each dough ball and fold each in half - pinch the edges together with water and grill on a pizza stone/hot baking tray until brown spots form.

Chilli chai teacakes

Ingredients 225 strong white bread flour, 225      strong wholemeal flour, 55g butter  cut into small pieces, 7g yeast, 30g   caster sugar, 170g dried fruits,  300ml milk, salt, 2 teapigs chilli chai teabags.

Teapigs make, without a doubt the best tea I have ever tasted - unlike most tea it comes in tea temples (little silk bags, not paper) and contains real tea-leaves (not dust). Gorgeous tea also makes gorgeous teacakes so give Teapigs a try.


1) Warm 300ml milk and add 2 chilli chai tea temples to infuse in the milk.


2) Sift together the 2 flours, yeast and a pinch of salt and rub in the butter.


3) Stir through the dried fruits (I used cranberry, sultana and raisins) and make a well in the centre of the bowl. Pour in the tea infused milk and mix through until a dough is formed.


4) Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until it is smooth, then set to rest somewhere warm in a covered bowl for 2 hours (or until the dough has doubled in size)


5) Knock back the dough and knead again for a further 5 minutes on a floured surface before separating into 8 dough balls. Leave to rise for an hour before baking for 15 minutes.


These teacakes will keep for 2-3 days but are best toasted and eaten the same day.

Earl Grey tea loaf

Ingredients    75g raisins, 75g sultanas, 75g currants, 300ml Earl Grey, 250g    self- raising flour, 200g brown sugar, 1 egg, cinnamon, nutmeg, butter,

Teapigs make, without a doubt the best tea I have ever tasted - unlike most tea it comes in tea temples (little silk bags, not paper) and contains real tea-leaves (not dust). Gorgeous tea also makes gorgeous tea loaf so give Teapigs a try.


1) Soak the raisins, sultanas and currants overnight in 300ml of Earl Grey tea.


2) Add the flour, sugar, a beaten egg a teaspoon of cinnamon and freshly grated nutmeg into a bowl and mix thoroughly. Pour in the tea and fruit and mix with a spatula until the batter is smooth.


3) Pour into a greased loaf tin and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes (or until a skewer comes out clean).

Spicy lentil soup

Ingredients 2 carrots, red lentils, saffron, 4 red chillis, coconut milk, vegetable stock, sultanas, 2 oranges, coriander, cumin, 1 white onion, salt, butter, ginger

1) Soak the lentils in cold, salted water for 8-10 hours, then strain, rinse and set aside.

2) Peel the carrots and ginger and finely dice along with half an onion and 4 chillis. Melt a knob of butter in a stock pot and add the diced vegetables.

3) As the butter sizzles, squeeze the juice of 2 oranges and stir through. Pour in a pint of vegetable stock and add the lentils.

4) Add saffron, cumin, salt and coriander to taste and stir through

5) Add a generous dash of coconut milk and simmer until the vegetables are soft. Pulse in a blender and serve with sultanas soaked in orange juice and a little orange zest. I also like to add dried chilli flakes for extra spice.

Moroccan spiced pastries

Ingredients 1 Potato, 1 carrot, spinach, feta, sultanas, Quorn chicken-style pieces, cumin, onion powder, cinnamon, turmeric, cumin, black pepper, coriander, butter, Jus-Rol™ puff pastry

1) Ordinarily I make my own pastry but it was 2 for 1 on Jus-Rol™ in Tesco so I cheated today. To make puff pastry yourself - I swear by Gordon Ramsey's recipe.

2) Peel and cube the potatoes and carrots and parboil them in a pan for 10 minutes

3) Grind cumin, turmeric, coriander, black peppercorns, onion powder and cinnamon in a mortar and pestle, melt a tablespoon of butter in a mixing bowl and stir in the spices. 

4) Roughly chop the spinach leaves and stir them into the spiced butter along with the sultanas and Quorn chicken pieces.

5) Strain the parboiled potatoes and carrots and add to the other ingredients.

6) Cut strips of pastry and spoon the mixture into the centre. Top with feta and roll the pastry over, pinching the ends together to seal the parcel.

7) Dust with flour and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

8) Serve - these go perfectly with hummus!