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We have been having a fabulous summer in England. One of those warm dry summers that appears about once every 20 years. The last like this was in 2003. It’s a little warm for some but it’s better than that August that I remember wearing a coat to the office or even last summer when I never bothered to put my cashmere sweaters away.

One consequence of such a glorious summer is, of course, still more courgettes (zucchini). Here is yet another courgette recipe. This one involves a lot of herbs to form a basis for pilau (pilaf you Americans) and then making it into a main course by breaking in some eggs. There is a lot of prep; you will be chopping and grating, but it does cook up in one pot. Some faff with ‘in and out’ of the oven to finish off but it was worth the work.

Here’s link to all my courgette recipes: 50 Ways to Use your Squash

A couple of very useful tools for this recipe: a handheld mandolin, a mezzaluna and a large shallow enamelled cast iron skillet with a lid – le Creuset or similar. This recipe makes a nice lunch for four, maybe not enough protein for some. I make it and do the eggs separately so that the leftovers keep nicely. Easy to make a vegan version of this recipe with a couple of little tweaks and substitutions.

Let’s get cooking.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 80 grams (3 ounces) mixed green leaves by preference sharper such as watercress, rocket and spinach
• 1 green chilli, sliced with seeds left inside(handle with care, see below)
• 2 medium courgettes, coarsely grated
• 3 tablespoons of chopped coriander (cilantro) (1 tablespoon dried)
• 50 grams (2 ounces) unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 bunch of spring onions (scallions), trimmed, finely sliced
• 1 tablespoon dried coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons nigella seeds
• 40 grams (1/3 cup) raisins
• 300 grams (1 1/4 cup) basmati rice
• 650 mls (2 3/4) vegetable stock (watch out here if you’re doing a vegan version, not all stock cubes are suitable)
• 4 eggs
• 10 grams flaked almonds
• greek yoghurt (full fat) and extra coriander to serve

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.
2. Rough tear the green leaves into a bowl.
3. Put on gloves or coat your hands in olive oil, then carefully remove the top of the green chilli, cut in half and then slice as thin as you can. Add to the bowl of green leaves. Wash your hands. Be very careful not to touch your face.
4. Grate the courgettes, add to the vegetable bowl.
5. Chop the coriander with the mezzaluna (I find it very therapeutic, back and forth, back and forth, etc) Here’s a very short video on ‘how to mezzaluna’. Throw the chopped coriander in with the greens.
6. Get your large shallow oven proof skillet on the hob. Melt the butter, add the olive oil. If you’re doing a vegan version omit the butter. Why combine butter and olive oil? Partly for taste but also because the butter keeps the oil from splattering. Using a knife or your hand held mandolin, finely slice your spring onions into the butter & oil.
7. Soften the spring onions for just a minute or so, then throw in the raisins, nigella seeds and the dried herbs (coriander, cumin, cardamom). Cook for another minute, stirring constantly.
8. Add the bowl of green leaves and vegetables. Cook over medium heat, up to ten minutes, allowing the vegetables to shed some water and reduce in volume. Grind over some salt and pepper.
9. Add the rice, stirring to coat and incorporate with the vegetables. Add the vegetable stock (I use Knorr jelly bouillon but then I make a lot of soup and stew). Stock cubes or stock pots are good. Check for ‘vegan friendly’ if you’re trying for a vegan version.
10. Bring the mixture to a bubble, put the lid on and slide it in to the oven. Leave undisturbed for 25 minutes.
11. Remove from the oven, take the lid off. Make four spaces for the eggs in the mixture. Break in the eggs, sprinkle the slivered almonds over the top and return to the oven for about 10 minutes. Leave for longer depending on how firm you like your eggs.
12. Serve with greek yoghurt and extra chopped coriander. Enjoy!

Thank you for reading the blog and trying the recipes. I promise the next recipe will be on something other than courgettes!

Every recipe has a story. Readers will know that I volunteer weekly at Smartworks (pre-Corona virus hiatus any way). I bring baked goods every Wednesday for the staff, the clients and my fellow volunteers. We have a Wednesday team that does ‘wardrobe’. We have the pleasure of sorting, sizing, hanging and steaming the many wonderful donations from private donors and corporate partners.

Occasionally, I ask the Smartworks team for baking ‘requests’. And one of the Wednesday team, the lovely Daryl, asked for chocolate cheesecake muffins. Never made them before so perused blogs and internet recipe sites. They are an American thing (Daryl, like me, is an American in the UK) but I was looking for a recipe that used weight and metric measurements. Follow Daryl on Instagram here. I can convert from volume to weight but American recipes can call for ingredients that I don’t like to use and tend to be too sweet. I found a recipe here on Allrecipes.co.uk that served as a good base although I tweaked the sugar and the prep instructions a bit.

And thus a classic recipe was added to my repertoire. These muffins are vote winners and relationship builders any place you take them. A couple of bonuses – can be whipped together in a hour or so. And I get to use the 24 cup muffin tin I brought home from America. The recipe makes 18 to 24 nice sized muffins; you could halve it or you could make 12 big ones and then some mini ones. Adjust the baking temperature and time down if you decide to make small ones.

A few tips: first use Philadelphia cream cheese if you can find it. I don’t know what they put in that stuff but it gives the best texture. It also works with Waitrose basic cream cheese and really expensive organic stuff but Philly is easiest to work with. Second, if you’re a regular reader you know my views on chocolate. Use the best quality cocoa powder and chocolate chips you can afford. it makes a difference. Finally, I use a piping bag to fill the muffin tins. Once you get the hang of it – it’s a time saver and it keeps your tin tidy.

Everyone say ‘thank you Daryl’ now and move on to the recipe.

Recipe

Ingredients

Cream cheese filling

• 225g cream cheese
• 1 egg
• 50 grams caster (granulated) sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Chocolate batter

• 200 grams plain flour
• 175 grams caster sugar
• 60 grams unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 250ml water
• 75ml vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon plain vinegar (distilled malt or white vinegar)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

170 grams dark chocolate chips.

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan). Prep your muffin tins (makes 18 to 24) I use paper liners in my muffin tins and give them a quick spray of coconut oil. You can go without the spray oil but I would not do these in an unlined tin even if you grease and flour.
2. Beat together the ingredients for the cream cheese filling. Put to one side.
3. Sift together the dry ingredients for the chocolate batter: flour, sugar, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt.
4. Combine the water, vegetable oil, vinegar and vanilla extract. Mix into the dry ingredients. The batter will appear very thin.
5. Fill a piping bag with the chocolate batter and carefully pipe each muffin tin about one third full. There’s usually too much batter for one bag so use a second one or clip the first one closed with a binder clip (you know those annoying black clips that we used for paper documents). See this video of me filling the tins. I’m working on doing better videos – with narration for one. Bear with me.
6. Fill another piping bag with the cream cheese filling. Pipe a couple of tablespoons on the top of each chocolate batter base. I do one squeeze of the bag all the way around and then circle back to those that look less full.
7. We haven’t forgotten the chocolate bits. Drop 6 or so in the cream cheese filling of each muffin tin. I know this seems fiddly and it’s fine if one or two end up in the chocolate part but it’s the best way to evenly distribute them
8. Put your tin or tins in the oven for 30 minutes, then test for doneness.
9. Remove from the oven and let the muffins cool in the tins for 5 minutes, then remove. If you let them cool completely in the muffin tins the edges can harden.

Enjoy! Thanking you for subscribing, for reading the blog and for baking the recipes. It’s a labour of love – I have no hope of monetisation but it’s fun for me. Please send requests, comments, etc.

Happy Baking.

An omelette Arnold Bennett is one of the most decadent (and fun) things you can do with eggs. There are various recipes available – ranging from the brain melting versions including hollandaise sauce to ‘simple’ ones that don’t actually making anything like an omelette Arnold Bennett. I hope my recipe below strikes the right balance between authenticity and complexity. It arrives at a beautiful balance between eggs, smoked fish and velvety sauce.

The omelette Arnold Bennett was invented by the chef at the Savoy Hotel in London. There was a long staying guest (the author Arnold Bennett) who was bored with the breakfast menu in particular and asked the chef to do ‘something different’. Anyone who travels on business will be familiar with this feeling. And the result was this wonderful omelette.

I went on an egg course with my friend Lisa and the culmination of the day was the teacher making an omelette Arnold Bennett. Of course, we were so stuffed full of gorgeous eggs by that point that we could only eat a couple of bites – but I marked it down as a real keeper.

This omelette makes a lovely light supper. I confess its too much work for me to be an actual breakfast dish (unless I’m having breakfast at the Savoy). There are several distinct steps to making this dish and it’s not an ‘easy’ dish but the skills are not that difficult. Approach it methodically and it’s yours.

An overview of the process;

• poaching the fish
• make the bechamel sauce
• enrich the bechamel sauce
• cook the egg base
• assemble the omelette
• grill the top.

Most of the ingredients are easy to find. The best smoked fish to use is haddock that is undyed (not undead, just not dyed bright yellow). If you can only find the bright yellow it’s okay. It doesn’t taste any difference, but it will make your sauce more yellow than cream coloured. I use the best eggs I can buy – usually Duchy Organic free range large eggs. The eggs are the star in this dish – augmented by the sauce and poached fish but eggs are king.

Recipe

2 generous servings.

Ingredients

• 200 mls of milk (whole or semi-skimmed)
• 1 bay leaf
• 5 whole cloves
• 10 whole black peppercorns
• 2 shallots or 1 small onion
• 200 grams of smoked haddock
  ********
• 30 grams butter
• 30 grams flour
• Milk from the poaching
• 2 large egg yolks (in addition to the 4 eggs below)
• 1 tablespoon of heavy cream
• 30 grams of mature cheddar cheese
  *****
• Butter for the omelette pan
• 4 large eggs

Instructions

Poaching the fish

1. Put the milk in a shallow pan over very gentle heat.
2. Peel the onion and cut off the top and bottom. Add to the milk with the cloves, peppercorns and bay leaf.
3. Heat the milk to just below boiling. Gently lower the haddock into milk (skin side down). Poach until it starts to flake – 4 to 5 minutes.
4. Remove the fish with a slotted spoon to a plate. Strain the milk to remove the onion and aromatics. After the fish cools, break it into pieces. Get ready to make the sauce.
   
   

Making the sauce

1. Melt the butter in a small deep saucepan. Whisk in the flour and foam until it is golden brown. This cooks off the raw taste of the flour.
2. Add several grinds of salt and pepper.
3. Whisk in the milk over the heat. Beat vigorously to get rid of any lumps and have a smooth sauce. The sauce should be thickened but still liquid. Remove from the heat.
4. Beat the two egg yolks with a tablespoon of heavy cream.
5. Start to add the sauce to the egg yolk mixture, one or two tablespoons at a time. After the first 3 or 4 additions you can add more sauce each time whisking until smooth. Put to one side.
6. Pat yourself on the back and take a deep breath. The sauce was the tricky part.
   

Making the omelette

1. Break the eggs into a bowl and beat with a fork.
2. Find a omelette pan than you can put under your grill. Put the pan on the heat and add a generous knob of butter and melt. When the butter starts to foam, add the eggs.
3. Stir them continuously, tilting the pan from side to side until the bottom is well set and the top is soft and creamy.
4. Heat the grill.
5. Sprinkle the cheese over the top of omelette.
6. Stir the flaked fish into the sauce and pour it over the top of omelette.
7. Place the omelette under the grill for a few minutes until the top turns golden brown.

Serve with crusty bread, green salad and glass of crisp white wine.

I’ve been cooking since I was young and there have been different influences that have shaped how and what I cook. I cook for the joy of feeding people I love and for the pleasure of using skills I have developed.

Julia Child has probably been one of the biggest influences on my cooking. If you want to improve as a cook, ‘Mastering the Art of French Cooking’ (MTAOFC) is a must. It has no colour pictures and there is the odd line drawing say of a vegetable or some other item of food, if you’re lucky. It is the perfect artefact of the analogue age.

There is a lovely film called ‘Julie & Julia’ that tells the story of how Julia became an exceptional cook via her passion for food and the Cordon Bleu school. How she came to change cooking in America is beautifully told (with expected artistic license). Or you can read Julia’s own book ‘My Life in France’.

Julia was a perfectionist. She deconstructed classic French dish after French dish, learned how to make each, broke it down into steps and then wrote those steps down in MTAOFC. Julia’s recipes work. If you have the proper ingredients and carefully execute the steps – the results are wonderful. Any difficult skill or technique is explained.

I’m a word person (duh – blogger) so I’m good with the explanations. You might not be – but you can search any recommended technique and you’ll find a video on Youtube. Here’s one on how to bone a duck. Not recommended for vegetarians. Veggies and vegans – check out this one on making apple matchsticks.

Julia did fail the Cordon Bleu final exam on the first attempt but rallied and passed the second time. Working with MTAOFC you will absorb classic French techniques. And you will eat a lot of butter and cream. And bacon. Lots and lots. But Julia ate this stuff everyday, was a happy woman and lived to be 91.

Cooking ‘like Julia’ from her cookbook made me a much better cook. Many of most significant recipes have you cooking the elements separately and combining them at the point of serving. However, the impact of this approach is to call down devastation on the kitchen. You may need a dedicated assistant to help with the washing up or wash up at every pause in the recipe. Thank goodness for the Davinator.

Our favourite from MTAOFC is ‘coq au vin’ or chicken in red wine sauce. Sounds simple doesn’t it? You will find many many versions of this dish in France and many recipes on the Internet. Here’s a link to an updated version of Julia’s classic from ‘The Endless Meal’. I cook from the book but this is a good internet alternative.

Below are the ’10 Commandments of Coq au Vin’. I was inspired to write these after an early attempt at Coq au Vin. They are irreverent but I’m not mocking religion. We all worship different gods. My worship is probably bad for your cholesterol but your taste buds will be happy.

The Ten Commandments of Coq au Vin

1. I am Cordon Bleu, the Lord of French Cooking, who brought thee and thine out of the land of happy meals, ready meals, instant noodles and supersize me’. Julia Child is my prophet. Thou shalt have no other cookbooks or recipes before me.

2. Thou shall not make for thyself any ‘shortcuts’ when following my commandments. Thou shalt not omit to cartouche thy pots with buttered parchment paper. Thy shall peel as many tiny pearl onions as is commanded and caramelise them thyself. In all ways, thou shalt observe my guidance. For I, the Lord of French Cooking, shall visit the iniquity of the chef upon thee and thy dinner party guests even unto the dessert and petits fours for those who do not keep my laws.

3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord of French Cooking in vain. Thou shalt never say ‘Gordon Ramsay’, ‘Jamie Oliver’ or ‘Nigella Lawson’ and thou shalt not keep any of the works of these heathen in thy kitchen. For they are examples of false prophets and they and their followers are the unholy ones.

4. Thy shall sacrifice an entire day and a night to making of thy Coq au Vin. Thou shalt cause the coq to marinade for 24 hours from the eve of the Sabbath and then dedicate thyself to the making of the coq au vin from just after lunch on the seventh day until thy dinner party guests arrive that evening.

5. Honour my disciples Paul Bocuse and Michel Roux and all those that follow my true ways for they are thy teachers and can show thee the path of righteousness. Worship at the many shrines to me that thy shall find in France.

6. Thou shall procure a true French coq from Bresse, the only A.O.C (appellation de origine controlee) chicken (if possible) and the true pearl onions even if thou must worship at the shrine of natoora.co.uk or Whole Foods or another importer of gourmet produce.

7. Thou shalt sacrifice two good bottles of the true Burgundy that have ageth at least five years. These need not be a grand cru nor a premiere cru, a village appellation shall suffice. However, if thou truly honour the God of Cordon Bleu thou would happily give up thy Romanee Conti to worship him.

8. Thou shalt not retain the vegetables that are stewed with the coq in the sauce once the coq in sauce hath passed through the high heat of the oven. For these vegetables have served the Lord of Cordon Bleu with honour and their continuing presence would disturb the smooth deep brown of the ultimate sauce.

9. Thou shall degrease thy sauce. Indeed, if thou arriveth near the end of the creation of the coq au vin and there is a clean saucepan, spoon or kitchen implement – thy must pause to reflect if any steps have been omitted. For the scrubbing of pots, surfaces and implements is pleasing to the Lord of Cordon Bleu.

10. Thou shall use butter (unsalted French butter) with reckless abandon for it is pleasing to me. Thou shalt never use the words ‘too much butter’ for this is heresy and thee and all thy generations shall suffer if thou utter it.

A couple of tips for Americans:

• if you can’t get Burgundy at a reasonable price, then reasonably dry Pinot noir of decent quality. This is not the dish for any old cooking wine.
• get a fat roasting chicken if you can’t get a capon.
• eat the butter, you know you want to.

Thanks for reading the blog, for comments, for following and sharing.

I’ve been working on my sourdough bread recently and try to strengthen my starter (named Liz by the way after a baker and teacher who has inspired me. I also like to take a treat for the team and clients at Smartworks where I volunteer on Wednesday. These two things came together and resulted in some of the best cookies I’ve ever made.

When you’re trying to strengthen your sourdough starter, you feed your starter everyday. This means you have discard. On the one hand, it’s only flour and water, on the other hand, I don’t like to throw stuff away. I was searching for things to make with the discard and found the basis for this recipe. I did misread the quantity in the original – it said ‘makes 20 cookies’. Accurate but those would be 20 giant American cookies, not cookies sized for normal humans. Even too big for the Davinator.

In my test bake, I rashly doubled the recipe and so I had enough dough for 40 giant cookies. I recalibrated the size (made them smaller) but of course that meant we had a lot of cookies. It rained cookies on friends and family.

The recipe below is adjusted to make 40 cookies for ordinary humans. You might not be a sourdough baker today. But these cookies are so good it’s worth making sourdough starter just for these bad boys.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 113 grams plain white flour
• 1 tsp baking soda (4 grams)
• 1 tsp salt (6 grams)
• 55 grams unsalted butter, melted
• 86 grams vegetable oil (corn or sunflower)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 175 grams brown sugar (any type)
• 110 grams caster sugar
• 70 grams sourdough starter discard (can be straight from the fridge)
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 280 grams rolled oats (not instant oatmeal)
• 60 grams dried cranberries or raisins
• 100 grams chopped walnuts
• 100 grams good quality chocolate chips (any variety – milk, dark, white as you like)

Method

Preheat your oven to 190C (170C fan). Cover several baking sheets with parchment paper.

1. Whisk flour, salt and baking soda (SODA) together in a bowl set to one side.
2. Chop your walnuts. You make want to rough chop your dried fruit as well depending on the size. Combine with the chocolate chips and set aside.
3. Melt the butter (microwave works well) and allow to cool for a few minutes. (Make a cup of tea or play a round of Angry Birds).
4. Stir the cinnamon into the butter. Follow with the brown sugar, caster sugar and oil – whisk until well combined. The mixture should be close to room temperature by now.
5. Add the sourdough starter, the egg, the yolk and the vanilla – whisk again until well combined.
6. Using a wooden spoon, spatula or a dough whisk (see photo below) stir in the flour mixture.
7. Follow by folding in the oats, fruit, nuts and chocolate. The mixture should be thick and stiff. Resist the temptation to eat it raw immediately. It looks yummy but it’s even better after baking.
8. Measure out your dough balls. I use a small trigger scoop (see photo below). You want about 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons by volume for each dough ball.
9. Drop the dough on to the baking sheets, leaving about 5 cms between each cookie. Flatten slightly with your fingers or a spoon. The cookies will spread when baking.
10. Bake one sheet at a time for 8 to 10 minutes. The centre should be soft but not wet and the edges crisp and starting to brown.
11. Cool on cookie sheet for five minutes then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Let them cool please, don’t burn your mouth like someone I know did. These cookies keep well for five days or more in the fridge. I stored mine in a cardboard box with parchment paper. Avoid a sealed ziplock or a plastic container as the cookies are very moist and will get soggy, I think.

Happy baking. Please comment, share and send requests and photos of your baking.

Rye bread is not difficult to make. Nor is sourdough. You need time and patience and the correct ingredients. You also need bread consumers that like both rye bread and sourdough. A sourdough rye loaf might go over like a lead balloon with anyone who’s been brought up on sliced white loaf. However, if you have fans of rye and sourdough or adventurous eaters, bake away, I say.

This blog post does not have instructions on making or maintaining a sourdough starter. There are specialist blogs on that topic. I will confess to keeping 3 different starters in the fridge; white, whole wheat and rye. Mine are mature and I feed them once a week. I try to use at least one starter every week which means we eat a variety of sourdough breads and prefer the taste. Here is a link to the King Arthur Flour sourdough instructions.

The Davinator also loves rye bread – thus the sourdough rye recipes that follow. Plenty of recipes do not specify or require rye starter for rye bread. I’ve experimented a bit and I think it gives a better depth of flavour, particularly for breads that use a combination of white and rye flours. The first of two recipes is below. Its very reliable but patience is a key ingredient. Sourdough rises at its own pace. Leave it overnight for the first prove. You won’t be tempted.

Raisin & rye sourdough recipe

Ingredients

(For starter sponge)

100 grams of rye sourdough starter

150 grams of rye flour

200 mls cold water

(Remaining ingredients)

200 grams rye flour

6 grams of salt

200 grams of raisins

150 mls hot water

Instructions

1. Combine sourdough starter, 150 grams of rye flour and 200 mls of cold water in a larger bowl than you think you need. Mix thoroughly, then scrape down the sides of the bowl. Cover with a shower cap. Leave to rise overnight. An overnight rise means you don’t need to find a warm draft free spot to accelerate the rise.
2. Wait.
3. Prep a large loaf pan (2 pounds or 900 grams). Either line with parchment or vegetable oil. I’m a fan of parchment but both work.
4. Boil your kettle. Put 150 mls of hot water in a measuring cup. Now make a cup of tea while your hot water cools slightly. When you can drink the tea (even with milk) it’s time to go to step 5.
5. Combine the remaining rye flour, salt and raisins and stir well. Dump the dry ingredients on top of the sponge. Pour the hot water over the top and stir quickly to combine the ingredients.
6. Spoon the dough into your loaf pan. Smooth the top with a scraper. Cover loosely with a shower cap.
7. Allow the dough to rise for two hours.
8. Pre-heat the oven to 240c degrees and put a shallow roasting pan on the bottom.
9. When oven comes up to heat, place the dough in the oven, lower the heat to 220c and pour 200 mls of water into the roasting pan.
10. Bake for 30 minutes. If you test with a thermometer, it should be over 90c. Or the loaf will feel hollow when tapped.

A few thoughts on this recipe: use the darkest rye flour you can find. It makes for great flavour. And like all ‘true rye’ recipes, there’s no kneading. The hot water step is important. It seems fiddly but if you don’t do it, your bread goes mad and overflows the pan during the second rise.

It’s worthwhile having a good book or two on bread. It helps with various forms of bread anxiety. One of my favourites in Emmanuel Hadjiandreou ‘How to Make Sourdough’.

What is your favourite?