As mentioned in Day 40 of The Challenge This was an experiment. We have made the bloomer before, but as it requires you to roll out the dough into a rectangle the roll it up into a loaf, we decided to try it with nettle pesto spread on it. With black sesame seeds sprinkled on top it was a tasty snack but might need some tweaking. Certainly an idea to pursue though. Ingredients: 6 c flour 15 g cake of yeast 1 tsp sugar 1 1/5 -2 c lukewarm water 1/2 c pesto/nettle pesto 2 tsp salt water 2 tsp black sesame seeds 1) Dissolve yeast and sugar in the lukewarm water. Place flour in a bowl and make a well in it. Pour in the yeast and water mixture and gradually incorporate the flour into it. 2) Knead the dough for about 10 minutes to form a smooth elastic but heavy dough. Leave to rise covered with oiled cling film in a warm place for 4-5hours or until doubled in size. 3) Knock back and then knead for 5 minutes then leave to rise for 2 hours again, until doubled in size again. 4) Knead briefly, then roll out into a rectangular sheet about 1/2 cm thick. spread pesto on it up to 3 cm from the edge, then roll into a loaf. Preheat the oven to 230°C. 5) Leave to rise again for a half hour, and then seal the edges. Brush the top of the loaf with salt water and sprinkle the sesame seeds over the top. Cut slashes into the top of the loaf. 6) Bake the loaf on an oiled baking tray for 25 minutes then lower the temperature to 200°C and bake for a further 20 minutes. This was tasty, and an interesting idea, but the nettle pesto had too strong a flavour for the bread. It was better once the bread had cooled and the pesto's flavour had mellowed. The bread itself is tasty, but the pesto spread idea needs tweaking. Maybe a regular basil pesto, or a red pesto? PS: We used some of this loaf to make a savoury pesto bloomer French toast for dinner with kale and onion salad and some cheese and it worked surprisingly well. I do recommend trying this. This was the first time I've made a savoury French toast, but I will do so again! We had it with various condiments, both sweet and savoury, ranging from maple syrup and rhubarb jam to BBQ sauce and mustard, and they all worked delightfully well. If you try the bloomer, I do recommend trying out the French toast as well!

I wanted to play around with using fresh rose petals and thought a risotto might be a way of playing around with the flavours. It didn't come out quite as well as I had hoped, and the rose flavour was fainter than I had intended, but it was a tasty dinner and an interesting experiment, so I thought it worth sharing. Interestingly, the flavours came out more once I added some honey. Ingredients: 3 tbsp olive oil 1 onion, chopped 1 sweet potato, chopped 3 c fresh rose petals, mostly yellow 1 1/2 c Arborio rice 3/4 c whey 2 1/2 c rosé wine 1 c parmesan 1 tbsp honey 1) Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a saucepan and add the Arborio rice. Sauté until translucent then add the whey. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. 2) Meantime, heat the remaining oil in a frying pan and sauté onion until translucent. Add sweet potato and cook until tender. 3) Gradually add the rosé to the rice as the liquid is absorbed, and continue stirring. 4) When sweet potatoes are tender and just beginning to brown, add rose petals and cook, stirring, until they wilt. Set aside. 5) When the liquid has been absorbed into the rice and it is tender, add parmesan and stir in. Add honey and then vegetables. Serve hot. This one had mixed results. It may be that the combined whey and rosé were too acidic. Or it may be that the parmesan was too strong a flavour for the poor rose petals. Either way, initially, it was a little disappointing. Once we added the honey, it tasted nice, but not spectacular and the rose flavour was not very strong. I'd like to try rose petals in a water-based infusion next as they don't seem to be very lipophilic. In neither the oil nor the milk have they given up particularly strong flavours when fresh. Still a tasty dinner though, and as far as failures go, very definitely edible, although not what I had been aiming for.

We were having a games night with some friends recently, so I decided to make nachos, as an easy finger-food nibble. Instead of fully loading them, I mixed the tortilla chips only with the Meat Sauce and cheese, and on the side, I had several dipping sauces - guacamole, Carrot Top Pesto, sour cream and this Roast Pepper Dip. Initially, I made this one really simple, with only peppers, garlic, some Kashmiri chilli and some olive oil. The taste test proved it to be rather bland though, so I added some bits. The taste came out quite interesting and unexpected - but tasty. Ingredients: 2 red peppers 1/2 head garlic 1 tbsp olive oil 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder 1/2 tsp cacao powder 1 tsp sesame oil 1/2 tsp Black Sesame seeds Squeeze of lime juice Salt to taste 1) Roast the red peppers and the half head of garlic at 200°C for about 20-30 minutes, until they are soft and the skin of the peppers is beginning to char. 2) Leave the peppers and garlic to cool for a few minutes, then peel the peppers and remove the cores and the seeds. Squeeze the garlic out of its skin and place these and all the ingredients in a blender. Blitz until smooth. Serve with dippables. I was in a hurry before people arrived and tweaked the dip without giving it much thought, or having time to do it properly, so the dip came out a little differently than I had thought, but tasty nonetheless. It is even better a day or two later once the flavours have married. I might make it a little hotter in future, but didn't want to carpet bomb my friends' tastebuds. Then again, as it currently stands it is tasty too, so pick whatever suits your mood!

I love Scotch eggs, preferably the good kind, rather than the petrol station kind. Living in Scotland, they were ubiquitous and an easy snack. Hubby particularly liked them as an on the go breakfast. Since leaving Scotland though, I have only made them once or twice and have not been able to buy them. Since making my Quail Scotch Eggs last year though, I've been meaning to make them again, and had been wondering about the idea of vegetarian Scotch eggs. During Lent, when I am vegetarian, heading off for a ski week with Little One and Hubby, I decided to try them. I figured they would make for easy, portable food for all of us and it would give me a chance to try out an idea. What better vegetarian base than lentils? To give these a little more body and coherence, I added some potatoes too. I also wanted to try them in the air fryer, having gotten that particular kitchen toy since last making them. Multiple (vegetarian) birds with one stone (or egg) as it were. As a bonus, I had extra coating for the eggs so decided to wrap bits of mozzarella too. Ingredients: 1 tbsp vegetable oil 1 onion, minced 3 cloves garlic, crushed 1/2 tsp cumin 1 tsp tandoori powder 1/2 tsp black pepper 1/2 tsp rosemary 1 tsp thyme A pinch of allspice 2c green lentils 4-5 small potatoes, chopped 300-400 ml water 1 c breadcrumbs 4 eggs (1 ball of mozzarella, grated) Salt to taste 1) In a large-ish saucepan, heat the oil and sauté the onions until translucent. Add the garlic and spices and fry for a couple more minutes until fragrant. 2) Add the lentils, potatoes and water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and then cook, stirring regularly, until the mixture is thick enough to be able to be moulded. Beware of burning at the end as it gets thicker! 3) Meanwhile, boil the eggs for 7-8 minutes. The goal is to have eggs on the harder side of mollet, where the yolk is still the slightest bit soft, minutes away from crumbly, but not runny at all. Remove and run under cold water. Peel and set aside. 4) When the lentils have thickened up nicely, mash any remaining potato bits and allow the mixture to cool. 5) When cool enough to handle, wrap a coating of the lentil mixture around each egg (or piece of mozzarella) and then roll in the breadcrumbs. 6) Here you have a choice. I cooked my Scotch eggs in the air fryer at 180°C for about 7 minutes. Alternatively you could shallow fry them in a pan on the stove using vegetable oil at about 180°C until the outside is nicely browned. We had these cold as picnic food (aside from the ones tasted straight out of the fryer). They kept well for a couple of days and made for easy packing and eating (although a little crumbly). They were tasty and I was happy with the spicing. Not exactly like a regular Scotch egg, but then, they weren't going to be as the coating was entirely different. As the lentil mixture was quite moist, I opted not to roll it in egg before in the breadcrumbs and it worked fine. The coating didn't hold together though, so I might strain it a little next time, just to get it a little drier before frying. Something else I would tweak next time would be to boil and mash the potatoes separately. They were an afterthought, and I just chucked them in the pot, but then hunting them down to mash all the bits proved challenging and I missed a few, leading to some potato chunks being left in the final coating. Otherwise, as the first test of an idea, I am quite pleased with these! The mozzarella bits were a bit on the messy side coming out of the air fryer, but also very tasty!

As mentioned in Day 79 of The Challenge This was a hunch that I decided to follow and I am delighted I did. Both rosehips and pumpkins are in season just now and we have quite an abundance of both at the moment, so I decided to pair them up. I love traditional pumpkin pie (and will be making one soon), but wanted to try something different first. We had this with a dollop of plain yogurt and a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar. Ingredients: For the crust:(you can use a store bought crust if you want, but this is also very quick and easy, I promise! It is better if you have a half hour to let it chill before rolling it out, but it still works if you don't) 3/4 c flour 1/2 c cold butter, cut into pieces 1/4 c (approximate) milk 1 tsp of cinnamon sugar 1 small pumpkin, cut into 1.5cm thick arcs 2 c rosehip purée (made by simmering in boiling water then passing through a food mill or a sieve) 2 tbsp honey 1 tsp tandoori powder a pinch of salt 2 tsp cocoa spice 2 tsp of cinnamon sugar 1 tbsp butter, cut into pieces 1) To make crust, mix flour and salt. Cut in pieces of butter and mix together with fingertips until it forms a crumb like texture. Add water and mix with a fork, then knead into a soft dough. 2) Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. 3) Roll out the pastry and line a pie dish with it, and stab it with a fork. 4) Mix the rosehip purée with the honey, tandoori powder, salt and cocoa spice. Spread on the pastry base. 5) Arrange the pumpkin on the rosehip mix, then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar and dot with the butter. Bake at 200°C for 35-40 minutes. This came out very well and just as I had pictured, except for the pumpkin I picked. It was less sweet than many of the others we have had recently. With the non-sweet pumpkin, the tart was tasty but it couldn't seem to decide whether it was lunch or dessert. My husband declares though that pumpkin or no he would eat an entire tart of the rosehip mix. It is quite an adult flavour (Not for a kid's birthday party, nor, it would seem, for my little sister), but a subtle and satisfying interplay of flavours.

As mentioned in Day 77 of The Challenge These were experimental, and came out very well. I wanted bread to go with our lunch. But we were out of bread, so I was going to make baking powder biscuits. But I was out of butter, so I decided to make corn muffins, but then realised that I had used the last of the eggs and milk already. So I made corn muffins with what I had - Apple sauce and apple juice instead of the eggs and milk. They were a bit sweeter than normal, and a little moister, but they worked! Ingredients: 1 c flour 1 c cornmeal 2 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/4 c sugar 2 eggs 1/4 c sunflower oil 3/4 c apple juice 3/4 c apple sauce 1) Mix together the dry ingredients. Gradually add the wet ingredients, mixing well to prevent lumps. 2) Spoon into muffin cups or into a prepared cake tin. 3) Bake at 200°C for 25-30 minutes. These worked very well? They are certainly more sweet than savoury, and worked best with just butter, no jam or chutney really did justice or had its own justice done on these muffins, but they were tasty never-the-less. In future, I might use a little less apple sauce, and probably cut the sugar a little. Definitely worth a try for a bit of variety though!

I was talking to family in Hawaii recently, and it was evening for them, morning for me. They were having corn muffins with dinner, so I decided to have corn muffins for breakfast. Somehow though, on the way to go make them, I ended up deciding that they were going to be oatmeal muffins, and then I was going to add pear. Gradually, what with one thing and another, they morphed into something wholly new, adding a bit of this and a bit of that. As they came out really tasty, I thought I'd share. They are almost not sweet at all, and are very good with an added smear of richness from some butter. Ingredients: 1c flour 1/2c oats 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/2 c vegetable oil 3/4c brown sugar 1 egg 1/4 c milk 1/2 tsp almond extract 1/4 c unsweetened bakers cacao 1/4 c ground almonds Zest of 1 orange 1 large pear, coarsely grated 1) Mix together dry ingredients. Gradually add wet ingredients, mixing well after each addition. 2) Spoon into muffin cups, about 2/3 full. Bake at 180°C for 30-35 minutes. These were very tasty and made a good breakfast, but... Next time I would increase the oats, maybe decreasing the flour at the same time. I would also up the cinnamon a bit and maybe use Aloha Spiced Cacao to make the flavours pop a little more. I liked that these were minimally sweet, but I might add a small amount more sweetness next time, maybe a tablespoonful or so of honey. Hubby said they were spot on though and didn't need anything.

year, my sister, a friend and I agreed to start on a new project with the new year, making different recipes has been some discussion back and forth for a few weeks now as to what we should make for our first recipe

I was invited this week to take part in a collaboration on Instagram for International Tea day on the 21st of May and to put together an Afternoon Tea. In planning this, scones seemed almost a prerequisite. Continuing my earlier quest for scones that rise well without self-raising flour, at some altitude and without the taste of baking powder, I decided to try the use of some baking powder and some baking soda. Soda needs an acid to activate it, and without whey on hand this time, I decided to try using honey, which somewhat surprisingly is acidic. I didn't use any sugar and instead used about a tablespoon of honey, and my scones came out quite well. They didn't rise as much as I would have liked, so I will try again, increasing the quantities of soda and honey accordingly, but as a first attempt at this, they came out nicely and had a lovely flavour. Given the absence locally of clotted cream, I used Double Crème de Gruyère instead which worked delightfully. Ingredients: 1 1/2 c flour 1/2 c butter, cubed 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda 1 tbsp honey 1/3 c milk 1/3 c raisins 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1) Place dry ingredients in a bowl. Add butter and rub together with the dry ingredients until they form a crumb-like consistency. 2) Add the honey and milk and stir with a fork, forming a thick dough. Mix in raisins and press dough together without kneading. 3) Roll out on a floured surface to about 1 1/2 cm thick and cut out rounds of the desired diameter. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 180°C for about 12 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm with butter or clotted cream and jam or honey for best results. These were very tasty and had a very nice crumb. I would have liked them to rise by about another 1/2 or 1 cm, but I was quite pleased with them doubling in size. They had a taste almost of cinnamon raisin bagels and were particularly nice with homemade Plum and Apple Jam. Book Pairing: I made these while listening to Jane Austen's Mansfield Park. it is one of the few of hers that I had not previously read. My sister started reading it aloud to me a year ago on skype but we didn't get very far, so I decided to listen to it on my own instead and wrap it up. I found it thoroughly delightful, if a little frustrating in parts, and Austen's biting satire is as entertaining as ever. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

This was a somewhat experimental recipe as I have made something similar-ish in the past but not quite