Sticky Ginger Bread Cake

Before moving to London i used to work in private catering, roaming the Highlands, Islands & Lowlands of Scotland. Working mainly in hunting lodges & large houses i met some interesting, eccentric & on occasion down right odd people. From the ageing Lady M---- who regularly carried her Pekingese dog back to front due to constantly confusing its face & backside, to the lovely but completely batty lady from Surrey who constantly tried to get my fellow cook & i to go skinny dipping with her in a freezing Scottish loch, promising us it would be bracing. I never did-promise…

One particular job i worked on was three long weeks cooking on a Scottish Island for an extremely old school couple, who firmly believed that young girls (as i was then) should not only be seen & not heard, but shouldn’t be seen out of the kitchen unless working in the laundry. The lady of the house was a complete harridan & the sort that went to an all girls’ boarding school in the fifties, thriving on cold showers & plain porridge. One afternoon she asked me to bake a ginger cake from an ancient recipe book she brought from the library (second on the left just past the billiards room) It seemed such a delicious recipe that thought i would add it to my notebook for the future. As i was just about to start the battleaxe came into the kitchen & on seeing what i was doing, frankly went bonkers- screaming across the kitchen like a banshee, setting all the dogs barking & causing total panic. (i panic easily-just ask the houseboy) Apparently it was an age-old family recipe handed down through generations & ‘not any old person’ could just have it. I have the memory of a sieve & numbers over ten bring me out in cold sweat-there was no way i was going to remember it off the top of my head. So being mature & professional i crept downstairs in the middle of the night, totally petrified as the house was huge and filled with stuffed animals & creaky floors, but too stubborn not to have the bloody recipe in my clutches & copied it down. So people, please bake this as many times as you wish & spread some love, it makes me happy to think there may be lots of ‘any old people’ out there enjoying it.

Ingredients:
• 200g treacle
• 200g golden syrup
• 200g butter
• 300g caster sugar
• 300g plain flour
• 1tsp baking powder
• 1tsp ground ginger
• 1tsp mixed spice
• 2 beaten eggs
• 150mls boiling water

Start by heating your oven to 190C, then place the treacle, syrup, butter & caster sugar into a pan & bring to the boil. Take the mixture off the heat & carefully sieve in all the dry ingredients, mix well & then beat in the eggs followed by the boiling water. Pop into the oven & turn to down to 180C. Bake for roughly 50mins & check the middle of the cake using a skewer.

Smoked Salmon & Leek Tart

It’s been a fairly relaxed week flavoured with a fascinating walk round Highgate Cemetery, meals out & catching up with friends. On Wednesday i read an interesting online article predicting food trends for 2011, it discussed various topics from taste trends (apparently it’s going to be all about clashing flavours & textures) to cooking via iphone applications-something i find myself turning to more & more. It also discussed men in the kitchen. Apparently due to the credit crunch affecting more men than women, it’s given many men more of an opportunity to get busy in the kitchen while women become the breadwinner (those of you know the houseboy & i know it's highly unlikely this would happen in our household..) This leads me on to my next topic-the houseboy...Who stepped up to give me some serious competition this week, producing a fantastic Beef Wellington. Perfectly cooked & utterly melt in the mouth is was a resounding success with our Tuesday evening guests. This was brilliantly followed up with friend Liz’s TimTam Desert, a delicious mix of TimTams (a popular Australian biscuit) vanilla ice cream, raspberries, hazelnuts & chocolate sauce. Heart stoppingly good!

So I thought I would hand over this weeks victory to the houseboy & Liz and choose a humble savoury tart as this weeks pick.

Ingredients:
• 175g Shortcrust Pastry (see recipe below)
• 100g Smoked salmon
• 400g Leeks
• 100mls Single Cream
• 50mls Milk
• 4 Eggs
• Cheese
• Seasoning

Set your oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5.
Make your pastry using the recipe below remembering to leave it to rest. Slice the leeks thinly & cook them gently in butter making sure they don't colour-you want them stay nice and pale. While they are cooking, whisk together the eggs, cream & milk. Season with pepper (you shouldn't need any salt as there is plenty in the smoked salmon) Take the leeks off the heat and let them cool while you deal with the pastry. Roll out your pastry on a light floured surface % line a 20cm well-buttered flan dish. Line the base of the pastry with baking parchment & then fill it with baking beans (or rice) & place on a baking tray-bake blind for 20 minutes. Remove the beans & parchment, return to the oven for another five minutes to cook the base. Roughly shred the salmon & mix well with the cooled leeks, add to the pastry case making sure you cover the base evenly. Pour over the egg mixture, sprinkle over a handful of freshly grated cheese-like a nice mild chedder or parmesan. Bake until set with a slight wobble in the middle. Usually 20-25 minutes.

*Shortcrust Pastry recipe:

• 110g plain flour
• 25g softened lard
• 25g softened butter
• pinch of salt

Sift together the flour & salt-keeping the sieve high over the bowl to incorporate lots of air. Cut the lard & butter in small cubes & gently begin to rub in the butter until you have a soft breadcrumb texture. Add enough cold water (roughly 1-2tbsps) to make the crumb mixture come together to form a firm dough, & then rest it in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Beetroot Chutney.

Chutney is one of my all time favourite condiments and really easy to make. My brother in law’s mother is the one who got me started, she kept sending jars of lovely of chutney to my mum in Scotland and inspired me to try my own. I think it’s also how i won the houseboy over, I gave him a jar on one of our first dates and he called me back (although i did notice it sitting in his fridge for a long time!)I’m not sure where i came across the original recipe, i have adapted along the way slightly to suit, you can do the same depending on how sweet or spicy you like it.

Ingredients:
• 1 Kilo raw beetroot
• 680g apples
• 235g caster sugar
• 1/2 pint cider vinegar
• 2 large onions -chopped
• 2 tsp grated fresh ginger
• 1/2 tsp salt


Cook the whole beetroots till tender-taking care if they are various sizes. Drain, cool, then peel & dice into cubes slightly smaller than a dice. Add to the pan along with the sugar, vinegar, onion, ginger and salt & simmer slowly until it reaches the desired consistency. This can take from 60-90minutes. One good test is to draw the back of a spoon through the mixture-if it leaves a track, then generally this means its ready. Pot into sterilised jars (see below for tip) and label with date etc. The chutney should keep for a few months, but remember to refrigerate after opening. I think these make lovely gifts, you can also decorate and personalise the labels to make them extra special.

Jar Tip:
The jars you use need to be clean and warm, there are a variety of ways to do this, but i prefer this simple method; Make sure the jars are clean by washing them in hot soapy water, then as your chutney is cooking, fill them with hot water to warm them. Empty and dry off with a clean tea towel. Bottle up neatly and make sure you use good fitting lids, paper tops are not recommended as the acid in the chutney deteriorates the paper and your chutney will dry out.

Welcome...

Hello and welcome to 'Love In a Time of Gluttony' A creative outlet for my love of cooking, eating and entertaining. Over 2011 i will be sharing a mix of recipes, ideas & recommendations, which will hopefully inspire people to get into the kitchen!