A Penne For Your Thoughts

Three Bean and Spinach Stew

2008-01-22T08:53:00.000-08:00

My internet's been down for a while which is why I've not being posting the past couple of weeks, but the recipe I'm about to share with you more than makes up for my disappearance.

Not only is it not full of sugar and chocolate, which is quite unusual for me and my sweet tooth, but it's actually really quite healthy. Don't let that fool you though, this is a really hearty, stick-to-your-ribs stew, which could stand up to even the coldest, rainiest of days.

Three Bean and Spinach Stew
from Olive Magazine- Feb '08

1 Large Onion, finely chopped
1-2 Cloves Garlic, crushed
Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Ground Cumin
400g tin Chopped Tomatoes
200g tin Kidney Beans
200g tin Cannellini Beans
100g Green Beans
100g Spinach, roughly chopped

Cook the onion and garlic in a little olive oil until softened. Add the cumin and cook for a minute. Tip in the tomatoes, plus a cup of water and simmer for 10 minutes until thickened. Add all of the beans and cook for 5 minutes. Add the spinach and cook for another 5 minutes.
Serves 4

Christmas Cake

2007-12-28T13:39:00.000-08:00

The presents have been torn open, the crackers pulled and the Christmas pudding set alight. Christmas day is over and now it's time to cut a nice, big slice of Christmas cake, sit back and relax.

I made this back when I made my Christmas pudding but it came out the oven burnt, dry and bearing no resemblance to the picture in the magazine. Despite having low expectations for it I put it in a tin and brought it out once a week to give it a generous splash of brandy. Then, on Wednesday, I got it out, cut a tiny slice of it and hesitantly took a bite, being sure it would taste something like burnt cardboard.

I was so wrong.

The brandy had made the cake go from dry and crumbly to dreamily soft. All the flavours had mellowed and melded. And even though it's so burnt round the outside you have to cut off a good half centimetre, I have to say, this cake is pretty good.

Chocolate Gingerbread

2007-12-19T14:10:00.000-08:00

This cake is no beauty, I'd be the first to admit that, but sink your teeth into a fat, sticky slab of it and I promise you'll be ready to forgive it anything.

Hidden beneath the sugary, crackly glaze is a dense, fudgy cake flavoured with cloves, cinnamon and a hefty dose of ginger. The chocolate chips add texture and make what is already a fairly delicious cake even better.

I can definitely see this becoming a Christmas tradition.

Or maybe even a weekly one.

Chocolate Gingerbread
from Nigella Lawson's Feast

Makes about 12 slabs

For the Cake:
175g unsalted butter (I used margarine)
125g dark muscovado sugar
2 tablespoons caster sugar
200g golden syrup
200g black treacle or molasses
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/4 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda (aka, baking soda)
2 tablespoons warm water
2 eggs (I used flax seeds to replace these)
250ml milk (soymilk)
275g plain flour
40g cocoa
175g chocolate chips

For the Icing:
250g icing sugar
30g unsalted butter (margarine)
1 tablespoon cocoa
60ml ginger ale

Preheat the oven to gas mark 3/170° C and tear off a big piece of baking parchment to line the bottom and sides of a roasting tin of approximately 30 x 20 x 5cm deep.

In a decent-sized saucepan, melt the butter along with the sugars, golden syrup, treacle or molasses, cloves, cinnamon and ground ginger. In a cup dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in the water. Take the saucepan off the heat and beat in the eggs, milk and bicarb in its water. Stir in the flour and cocoa and beat with a wooden spoon to mix. Fold in the chocolate chips, pour into the lined tin and bake for about 45 minutes until risen and firm. It will be slightly damp underneath the set top and that's the way you want it.

Remove to a wire rack and let cool in the tin. Once cool, get on with the icing.

Sieve the icing sugar. In a heavy-based saucepan heat the butter, cocoa and ginger ale. Once the butter's melted, whisk in the icing sugar. Lift the chocolate gingerbread out of the tin and unwrap the paper. Pour over the icing just to cover the top and cut into fat slabs when set.

Mince Pies

2007-12-10T14:15:00.000-08:00

I really love mince pies. It's not just the way they taste (though there's certainly nothing wrong with that), it's the way that suddenly, when you whip up a batch of them, it changes from being a cold and miserable winter day to being something just a little more like Christmas.

Apple and Blackberry Crumble

2007-12-03T14:16:00.000-08:00

"Catherine, you're coming round tonight aren't you?" My friend Daisy asked. "There'll be pizza."

Never one to pass up an opportunity, especially not an opportunity involving pizza, I agreed straight away.

"And we've got some blackberries too. We could make a crumble or something?"

Even if the offer of pizza hadn't been enough, that would've certainly done the trick.

(We didn't really make enough crumble topping)

Stir-up Sunday

2007-11-25T13:49:00.000-08:00

The Christmas decorations are up in all the shops, I've already received a few cards from my more organised friends, and people are asking me what I want. It seems like Christmas is really here.

Ugh, but Christmas?! I mean, where did November go? A quick check of the calendar told me that, yes, we really have got to the end of November, Christmas is just round the corner and that it's time to start baking.

Stir up Sunday is the day that you should traditionally "stir-up" your Christmas pudding. It falls on the Sunday before the first Sunday of Advent, and that's today.

ingredients

dried fruit

"the zest and juice of 1 orange"

the "stirring-up"

Tradition states that every member of the family (my mum in the above picture) should stir the pudding, in a clockwise direction, with a wooden spoon whilst making a wish.

in the pan ready to be steamed for EIGHT hours

messy kitchen

and a slightly blurry picture of the final outcome

AND, I was really excited to be tagged earlier this month by Rosie from Rosie Bakes a 'peace' of cake (thanks!). So here goes:

These are the rules:1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their Blogs. Here are seven random facts about me.

7 facts about me:
1. I'm really not very good with my words! It usually takes me forever to write blog posts because I just can't decide what to write. (I aspire to be like Nigella Lawson, or Molly from Orangette both of whom write fantastically). This was also why I did terribly at English and History at school, I just could not write essays.
2. I'm pretty tall at 5'11", but I have really, really short legs.
3. I'm a sucker for a nice pair of shoes!
4. I pretty much live off pasta because most of the time I'm too lazy to actually cook.
5. I must be a boring person because I'm finding it incredibly difficult to find 7 things to write about myself!
6. I would love to live in New Zealand someday, it's one of the most beautiful places on this earth.
7. Until I turned vegan I was a really, really fussy eater. I'm still quite fussy now but back then I would only (and I mean ONLY) eat cereal, peanut butter sandwiches, chips and baked beans. Going vegan is what made me so interested (erm...obsessed)with food.

So whom do you tag?
(I'm not sure who has done this and who hasn't but I'll try not to tag anyone who's done it before.)
Laura of Eden in the Kitchen
Amy of Iron Chef Vegan
Veglicious
And erm, I'm not really sure who else!

Bread

2007-11-06T11:25:00.000-08:00

I can't help but to love making bread. It always feels a little bit like magic, the way you start off with a sticky mess of dough, but then after kneading it for about 10 minutes it transforms into a smooth, elastic ball. And, as it that wasn't enough magic, you then leave it for an hour and when you come back it's doubled in size.

And how about the way it fills your house with that fantastic bready smell? If there's any one thing that makes a house a home it's the smell of baking bread.

Then when you take it out of the oven it's risen even more, with a big crack down the middle and you feel ridiculously proud that you turned flour, salt, water and yeast into a crusty, warm, soft loaf of bread.

Pumpkin Soup

2007-10-31T15:46:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin, coconut and chilli soup

Happy Halloween!

Halloween Baking

2007-10-27T16:11:00.000-07:00

About a month ago my friend Daisy came into school with an idea which can't be described as anything less than fantastic. Every course at the halloween party she was planning would be dessert. See? Fantastic!

So we sat together during lunch and started planning, cupcakes were definitely on the list along with crumble, cookies and even more cake. And, of course, everything had to be halloween themed. Then she asked if I wanted to help. Did I want to help? An excuse to spend an afternoon in the kitchen stirring and weighing and filling the house with the smell of chocolate and vanilla? I jumped at the opportunity.

The amazingly set table (this was all Daisy's work).

Me and Daisy sliced up some strawberries, sprinkled them with sugar then left them to go all saucy to act as blood for my Moomin cake to keep it halloween themed.

Everything I made, chocolate chip cookies, spider web cupcakes and the Moomin cake.

The PPK's chocolate chip cookies, not halloween themed but too good not too make.

Delicious crumble, with cherry filling to represent blood and guts and other gory halloweeny things. Made by Daisy's mum I think

Crunchie Bars

2007-10-09T13:21:00.000-07:00

When I was younger I was really specific about the way I ate certain foods, I would never let different foods touch, I would always leave my cereal in the milk for ages to go really soft (ok, I have to admit, I still do that) and I would always eat my crunchie in the same way. I would bite off about an inch, let the chocolate melt slowly in my mouth and then suck on the honeycomb til it dissolved, most definitely never, EVER chewing it.

I haven't had a crunchie bar in about 5 years, but on Monday Nigella Lawson made some honeycomb on her TV program, Nigella Express, and I really couldn't help making some and reliving my crunchie memories.

Honeycomb
a Nigella Lawson recipe

200g Caster Sugar
4 tbsp Golden Syrup (I used Agave because I was out of golden syrup)
1 tbsp Bicarb. of Soda

Grease a 20x20cm tin VERY WELL.
Stir the sugar and syrup together off the heat in a saucepan with a diameter of about 21cm. Heat the sugar and syrup over a low/medium heat for about 3 or 4 minutes (you can shake the pan but don't stir it) til it turns a rusty caramel colour. Whisk in the bicarb and pour it into your tin.
It takes a couple to set fully. Then smash it up (Nigella used a hammer, I just snapped it with my hands).

And if eating lumps of (pretty much) pure sugar isn't enough for you dip them in chocolate and make crunchies!

Plum and Almond Crumble

2007-10-01T06:55:00.000-07:00

There aren’t many reasons to get excited about September, it signals the end of summer, having to go back to school and about 6 months of horrible weather. But September has one redeeming feature- plums.

So when I was flicking through a magazine a few days ago and I spotted a recipe for Plum and Almond Crumble I knew I had to make it.

The crumble was really nice and crispy and underneath the fruit was so soft and juicy.

Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup

2007-09-26T11:05:00.000-07:00

I spent all summer looking forward to making this soup. I had it all planned out, a late summer afternoon, sitting in the garden, basking in the orangey glow of the setting sun with a bowl of this soup.

But summer passed and the soup remained un-made. I knew I had to make it though, I couldn’t wait around for another year for the perfect afternoon.

(the best garlic bread ever!)

So despite the miserable weather I set about making this delicious soup.

Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper Soup
from the New Covent Garden Soup Company's Book of Soups

6 medium red peppers, halved and de-seeded
8 ripe tomatoes, skinned and halved
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt and pepper
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
900ml (1½ pints) vegetable stock
Basil, to garnish

Place the peppers skin side up in a roasting tin, put the tomatoes cut side up in the same roasting tin. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and sprinkle with sugar, salt and pepper. Roast for 1 hour at 190°C/375°F/Gas Mark 5.

Heat the remaining olive oil and cook the onion and garlic very gently for 15 minutes in a covered saucepan, without colouring. Add the peppers, tomatoes and stock, cover and bring to the boil. Cool a little and then puree in a blender. Taste for seasoning and garnish with lots of fresh basil.

And I did eat it in the garden.

But I had to wear a coat.

Apple Fritters

2007-09-23T11:42:00.000-07:00

When I woke up on Friday morning the radiators were on, walking to school I could see my breath and that night I had to sleep under two blankets. I don't recall summer ever actually starting but I think it's safe to say that now it's definitely over. There is an advantage to the cold weather though, and that's all the fantastic, hot, sugary, comfort food that you wouldn't dream of eating during the summer.

(deep-frying, the only picture I got before my camera batteries ran out)

These apple fritters fall under that category. Underneath a thick, crispy, sugar-dusted layer of batter is the most dreamily soft, sweet apple. Yum.

The recipe's here

Spain and Roast Veg

2007-09-08T12:00:00.000-07:00

I had the most amazing time in Spain! Every morning there was a woman driving round the streets of the town in her van selling fresh baked bread. I'd run down from my room to get it then bring it back up and eat it on the terrace with the most fantastic views of the mountains. Bliss!

Although Spain was fantastic, and I really do miss being there, I have to admit it feels good to be back home again.

I haven't really been in the kitchen much since getting back but I did make some really (REALLY) nice rosemary roast baby potatoes.

I just used the recipe for herb roasted potatoes in VwaV but I only used rosemary. Nice and crispy!

Away for a few weeks...

2007-07-31T14:21:00.000-07:00

Well, I've got a busy few weeks ahead of me, tomorrow I'm going away to visit family and I'll be staying with them for a few days, then I get back on Sunday evening and then Monday morning I'm off to Spain with a friend, which should be fantastic. Then when I'm back from Spain I'm off to Ireland for a few days. I'll be back on the 24th of August, hopefully with lots of pictures of all the food I've been eating.

Hope you all have fantastic summers!

Raspberry Jam

2007-07-30T12:47:00.000-07:00

I've been putting off writing this post for 4 days now, ever since I made the jam. It's not that it was bad, far from it, it's just that I wasn't sure I could take any pictures or write anything that would do it justice.

It was delicious, not to sweet and really fresh tasting. And, as you can see from the picture, it's been disappearing really quickly (and that’s the second jar). It also left me feeling so full of domesticity.

Raspberry Jam
From Nigella Lawson's How to be a Domestic Goddess

250g Raspberries
250g Caster Sugar

Preheat the oven to 200°c (400°f).
Put the raspberries and sugar in separate oven proof bowls.
Cook for 20-25 minutes.
Pour the sugar over the raspberries and stir in.
Pour into a sterilized jar.
Makes 250ml

Italian Tofu

2007-07-19T16:05:00.000-07:00

It was pouring with rain yesterday so I didn't make it to the farmers market but today I finally got round to making the Italian tofu from VWaV which I've been eyeing since I got the book.

I did it in the oven (I think I left it in there too long because it was a little bit burnt round the edges), and I served it on some herbed pea puree which, although it was delicious, looked sort of like pond slime.

See what I mean?

And I felt like taking pictures of the flowers in my room so...

Sorbet

2007-07-16T14:14:00.000-07:00

Nothing beats a bowl of sorbet on a hot day. Lemon's my favourite, icy and sour and perfect for cooling you down, but as I had a cupful of lime juice in my freezer I decided to make lime sorbet instead.

It was really good, now I'm just hoping there'll be some hot weather so I have an excuse to make some more.

Apart from that I've not really been cooking much but it's the farmers market tomorrow so hopefully some nice fresh veg will give me the incentive to get into the kitchen.

Pizza and Tempeh Bacon

2007-07-04T12:41:00.000-07:00

When my friend Daisy asked me what I wanted to do when I visited her over the weekend I only had one request, make pizza.

You see, Daisy makes the most incredible pizzas ever. When I try I end up with a sauce that tastes like nothing on top of a really dense, thick crust. Daisy ends up with something that looks like this

A beautiful, thin golden brown crust with an amazing, flavourful, herby sauce. Really, really tasty! I think I'm going to have to get her to show me how she does it.

Today I made the tempeh bacon from VWaV. I always think it looks delicious when I see it on the ppk forums or on peoples blogs, and everyone seems to give it rave reviews so I decided to try it out as my first attempt cooking with tempeh.

It wasn't awful but, as I thought it might be with all that soy sauce, it was very, very salty. But, never one to give up, I think I might have another go at it soon and maybe use less soy sauce or marinate it for less time.

Apple Pie

2007-06-29T08:36:00.001-07:00

(The day before my prom, I'm trying on my dress, my best friend Sian is doing up the zip for me)
Sian: *stressing every syllable* CATH-ER-RIN-ANN!
Me: What?
Sian: I can NOT get this dress done up.
Me: Oh, it was fine yesterday...
Sian: What have you been eating then? Blocks of pure fat?
Me: Erm, no. An apple pie actually.

Yeah, I managed to eat a whole apple pie in one day.

I was trying to recreate an apple pie I had at a little cafe when I was on holiday, what I made was nice but it wasn't quite what I wanted but I wasn’t expecting to get it right first time, I’ll probably have another go at it soon.

And if you were wondering, I did get into the dress in the end, I think I was just a bit bloated the night before but when I woke up in the morning it was fine albeit a bit of a squeeze.

Farmers Market and Baking

2007-06-21T16:33:00.000-07:00

I don't usually get the chance to go to the farmers market because it's during school hours but now I've finished I've got all the time in the world to wander around stalls, picking out the juiciest, reddest looking strawberries.

I also picked up some asparagus and some cherry jam.

It was lovely to have the opportunity to buy some fresh, local, organic produce and I'll definitely be going back soon.

And now for the baking...

I made some rosemary and sea salt focaccia, it was so tasty! Then me and my friend Sarah decided to get a little creative with cupcakes (golden vanilla from VCTOTW)

We dyed the batter and icing different colours (there was green, blue, pink and purple) and favoured each different colour a different thing (orange, almond, vanilla and lemon)

This one had every flavour and colour in it.

I have to admit they didn't taste too great but when they look like this on the inside they're pretty hard to resist.

Asparagus

2007-06-15T15:23:00.000-07:00

British asparagus is, I'm told, the best in the world so I couldn't let the season go by without cooking it at least once.

It's got a gorgeous taste as it is so I kept it simple, I just griddled it til it was lovely and soft and then served it with just a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Mushroom Pie

2007-06-14T07:49:00.000-07:00

England isn't famed for it's weather, it's pretty sporadic, and this week's been no exception. Up until today the weather has been gorgeous so I made plans to have friends round for lemon tart in the garden and of course this morning I woke up to grey skies and rain.

With the weather being so miserable I wanted something a bit more hearty than lemon tart so I took the opportunity to use up some mushrooms that were probably a little past their best and I made this

Mushroom Pie.

The recipe was loosely based on the Portobello Pot Pie recipe in La Dolce Vegan, I used the pastry from the book but I didn't have most of the ingredients for the filling so I pretty much made it up as I went along.

It turned out really good. The pastry was crisp and when you broke through it the mushrooms inside were a rich brown colour and they smelt amazing.

Hello!

2007-06-14T07:34:00.000-07:00

Who: Caty
Where: South-east england
The story so far: A Penne for your Thoughts originally started out in November of last year but by March updates were few and far between. Then I found myself chained to a desk revising for exams like mad, looking forward to summer when I'd have plenty of time to cook. Now that exams are over a penne for your thoughts is back and I can't wait to get in the kitchen!