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I made this on a whim to change up our lunch menu from soups for a day. I had a vague idea of what I was heading for, but layered as I went and am delighted with the result. The crust was a little experimental, using cottage cheese instead of milk to bind the flour-butter crumbs together. I wasn't sure how the texture or taste would hold up, but they did, really well as it turns out. The filling had a vaguely Mediterranean leaning to it, with some garlic, olive oil and lemon. Ingredients: 1 c flour 1/3 cold butter, diced 1/3-1/2 c cottage cheese pepper 1 aubergine, chopped 1 courgette, chopped 1 tomato, sliced 1 onion, sliced 4 cloves of garlic roughly crushed 1 tbsp olive oil 1 tsp thyme A squeeze of lemon juice 200g feta, crumbled 1) Place flour in a bowl and add diced butter. Rub the flour into the butter until it is all mixed together, forming a crumb like mix. Add pepper to taste. 2)Add cottage cheese and stir in, bringing all the crumbs together to form a dough. Wrap up and chill for at least 30 minutes. 3) Place aubergine and courgette in a bowl and salt generously. Leave for 10 minutes. 4) Roll out the pastry and line a tart dish with it. 5) Place aubergine and courgette in a colander and rinse thoroughly. Place in a clean bowl and toss with feta, garlic, olive oil, thyme, lemon juice and then spread evenly over the bottom of the pastry. Place tomato and onion slices over the top and bake at 180°C for 20-30 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the veg is tender. This came out how I had hoped it would and made an excellent lunch for the three of us. Salting the aubergine and courgette ahead of time drew out some of the liquid, making the tart less wet, and also added a nice aspect of seasoning. The cottage cheese crust, surprisingly baked with flecks of red in it, and was very tasty. I will be making this variant again! Overall this came out well! I hope you enjoy it too!

With pumpkins very briefly in season and available here, I am trying to take advantage. Some I am cooking with now, for tasty, warming autumnal foods, while others I am roasting and then freezing as pumpkin purée for future use. With some of this roasted pumpkin purée, I decided to make more muffins - still in a bid to stock up on breakfast foods for Little Bit before Littler Bit arrives, which require zero effort from me after the first half hour or so. I wasn't really sure where I wanted to go with these, but then as I made up a batch of British Mix Spice for another recipe, I decided to use that. Mix Spice, as it turns out, is quite similar to Pumpkin Spice, but with some differences, most notable of which is the coriander powder. I decided to try out the spice blend on the pumpkin muffins, and I am quite pleased with it. Ingredients: 3 tbsp butter 2 tbsp light brown sugar 1 tbsp white sugar 1 egg 1 c milk 1 c white flour 1 c whole wheat flour 2 tsp mix spice* 3 tsp baking powder 2 tsp dried orange peel 1 c pumpkin purée 1 c dark chocolate chips For a recipe for Mix Spice, here is the link to the one I used. 1) Cream together butter and sugars. Beat in egg and then stir in milk. 2) Gradually stir in dry ingredients, followed by pumpkin and chocolate chips. 3) Spoon into muffin cups, filling about 2/3 full. Bake at 200°C for 20-25 minutes, until a stabbing implement comes out clean (I favour knives for this, but I know some people like skewers. Stabber's choice really.) I enjoyed these, especially with a smidge of butter. Little Bit tucked in quite happily, so I think my goal of providing something easy for him succeeded! I must say though that the pumpkin flavour wasn't particularly strong. I have found that before when using my homemade pumpkin purée from roasted pumpkin, especially as contrasted with the much more pronounced flavour of tinned pumpkin, but being unable to get tinned pumpkin here, I am making do with what we have. I also chopped up dark chocolate from a bar rather than using actual chips, and some of the pieces were (deliberately-accidentally) a bit on the larger side, so the final muffins had big gooey chocolate patches in them, which was not a bad thing in the least.

After how good the Ginger and Pear Blondies were, the idea of trying a variant using rhubarb immediately came to mind when I had a load of some of the biggest rhubarb I've ever seen (thanks to my dad and this year's freak weather conditions). These were beauteous. The acidity of the rhubarb played off against the sweetness of the blondies and apple like that was its sole purpose on Earth. I'm loving the flavour possibilities of blondies! Ingredients: 1/2 c butter, melted 1 c brown sugar 1 egg 1 tsp vanilla 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/8 tsp baking soda 1 c flour 1 1/2 apples, diced 2 sticks rhubarb, diced 1/4 c milk 1) Place the diced rhubarb in a saucepan and cover with water. Simmer gently, reducing the liquid. Stir regularly! 2) In a large bowl, cream the brown sugar and butter together. Beat in egg and vanilla. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix well. 3) Stir in the apples and rhubarb. Add enough milk or whey to make the batter thick but pourable. 4) Bake in a prepared baking tin at 175°C for 30-35 minutes or until a knife comes out clean. I loved these! The flavours played well and they were moist and caramelly and beautiful! You must try these while rhubarb is still in season! Even Little bit liked them and he is not always a cake person. Maybe a little on the cakey side, but that isn't a bad thing. They were moist and caramelised and beautiful.

Fall is here! And with it all those deliciously autumnal fruits like plums! What better way to celebrate the season on still-warm days than a plum smoothie, a marriage of the end of summer with early fall? Cool but warmly spiced, this smoothie hit the right notes. I don't usually share smoothie recipes as they are so basic, but I really liked the flavours in this one and couldn't resist! Ingredients: 2 c whey 1/2 c hazelnut yogurt 1/3 c raisins 1/2 c oats, 6-8 plums, pitted and roughly chopped 1 fig, quartered 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp Aloha Spiced Cacao A pinch of fenugreek 1/4 c chia seeds Place ingredients in a blender and whiz until smooth. Serve with gingerbread and enjoy! Enjoyed by all of us, although Little Bit was too busy sucking on his gingerbread to finish his smoothie until later...

I wanted to try out an idea my sister had had recently in using syllabub - an 18th century cream and wine based dessert - instead of frosting. I chose to do a lemon cake as I find the flavours light and well balanced, and to match them up, added lemon zest to the syllabub too. I used a Gewürztraminer, a German white dessert wine, to whip into the cream as its sweeter, lighter flavour seemed appropriate. I used my mom's lemon cake recipe for these and it worked beautifully. Try it out with your favourite lemon cake! Ingredients: 3/4 c cream 2 tbsp sugar 1/2 c sweet white wine 2 tsp lemon zest 2 tsp lemon juice Blueberries to top 1) While your cupcakes (or cake) are in the oven, beat the whipped cream and sugar with a whisk until you have stiff peaks. Add in the white wine and zest and beat well. Taste and adjust sugar, zest or wine. Add lemon juice and mix well. 2) Allow the cupcakes to cool then top with syllabub and blueberries. I like frosting, but sometimes it is too rich and too sweet. I found that this hit the right notes, with some sweet, some zest and a lot of airy lightness. I want to try syllabub as a frosting replacement for other cakes too now, using different flavours. Maybe rum and chocolate next?

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.

As mentioned in Day 96 of The Challenge Persimmons are a new fruit for me. They are in season around now every year, and I just never picked any up until now. They are wonderful! Delicately sweet and fragrant they are tasty on their own, but they also pair nicely in sweet or savoury dishes. For this one I tried a new tweak to our morning porridge and it was a big hit with all of us! Ingredients: 1 persimmon, chopped 1/2-1 tbsp honey 1 tbsp lime /lemon juice 1 c oats 2 c milk 2 tsp dried coconut 1 tsp vanilla 1 tsp Aloha Spiced Cacao (or cinnamon/pumpkin pie spices) A handful of raisins 1) place persimmons in an oven proof dish or on a cookie sheet. Drizzle with honey and pour lime juice over the top. Roast at 180°C for 15-20 minutes. 2) Cook oats, milk, raisins and coconut in a saucepan at medium heat stirring intermittently and then consistently until they form a porridge. Portion the porridge into 2 bowls and top with the persimmons. Sprinkle with cocoa spice or other spice topping of your choice. We love this! We've tried a number of variations, including adding 1 tsp of vanilla extract to the porridge, with fenugreek seeds roasted with the persimmons, swapping out the lime or lemon juice, adding a drizzle of cream etc. It requires NO further sugar at the coconut, the persimmons and the honey make it quite sweet enough.

It was going to be vegetarian, but then I figured that bacon makes everything better, so threw some on

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.

As mentioned in Day 20 of The Challenge There are a number of different ways of doing this recipe, but many of those ways seem heavy on stodge and light on veg, so we tweaked a bit. It was filling but not too heavy, perfect for an early autumn supper! Ingredients: 6 big cabbage leaves 6 medium potatoes, boiled and mashed 1 c of peas 1/4 head of broccoli 2 c of spinach, blanched, or 2 cubes of defrosted frozen spinach 1/4 summer squash, chopped 3 eggs 1/2 c cheese of your choice (we used a local soft cheese) 2 TBSP of butter 2 TBSP of chutney of your choice ( we used our freshly made plum chutney) 2 tsp fresh thyme 2 tsp fresh oregano 1 tsp mustard Salt and Pepper 1) Steam the cabbage leaves for 5 minutes. Roast the squash for 10 minutes at 180°C in 1 tbsp of butter in the oven proof dish you will be using for the pie. 2) Mix mashed potatoes, peas, spinach, broccoli, cheese and eggs together in a bowl. Add the thyme, oregano, mustard, salt and pepper and mix well. 3) Add the squash to the potato mixture and make sure that the butter spreads around the whole dish. Line the pie dish with the cabbage leaves, leaving one for the top. 4) Fill the pie, spread chutney over the top and close the cabbage leaves over the pie filling. Dot the top with butter, and bake for a half hour until the top is golden brown. Serve with chutney, mustard or on its own. This was very tasty, I had meant to add carrots, but being the entertainment part of the Dinner and a Show for my baby got to me and I forgot the carrots. It also could have used a touch more salt, but other than that, this one was definitely a keeper. As with most things, I will play around with veg, add bacon occasionally, and maybe alter the seasoning, and I recommend that you do the same. Make it yours!