Eccles Cakes

Eccles cakes?  Not something you see a lot of these days, unless you make them yourself.  What are they, you ask?  Eccles cakes - little pastries stuffed with a mix of currants and mixed peel - originated in the town of Eccles in England, and traditionally are served with cheese.  Cheese?  Mm, maybe another time.  That does remind me of my Scottish friend though, who eats apple pie with cheese!  

And I rather fear that currants and mixed peel have gone out of fashion, except in Christmas cakes.  But in saying that, I do have rather a lot of dried fruit in my pantry at the moment.  Must use up all those currants and sultanas ...

This is a recipe (yes, for Cookbook Club) from the delightful book Tried Tested and True by Liz Harfull.  This is a collection of recipes from Australian community cookbooks (my fave kind!), put together by Liz, and including delightful old photos.  This book is a real treasure!     

fruity, oozy, crispy, sugary bliss

Makes 18-19 wee pastries:

ingredients:

30g./1 big oz butter

30g./1 big oz dark brown sugar

90g./3 biiig oz currants

60g./2 biiig oz mixed peel/candied peel

1 tsp ground nutmeg - more? less? up to you    see Notes

2 sheets butter puff pastry  - yes butter puff is the best!

a little milk, to glaze the tops

2 Tbs sugar

Method:

On goes your oven to 200C/400F

Grab a couple of baking trays and line with baking paper

Butter and sugar go into a small saucepan over medium heat; stir till butter melted and sugar dissolved

Then stir in the currants, mixed peel and nutmeg, and let it cool off the heat

Cut the pastry into rounds (I used a mug) of 8cm/3.2 inch diameter

Place a teaspoonful of filling into each disc (you really don't need too much filling 'cos you don't want it to ooze everywhere)

Wet the edges of the pastry and bring the pastry over the filling

Pinch them together well, turn 'em over and pat them into lovely rounds

On to the trays they go, and pat gently to flatten slightly till you can just see the filling thru the pastry (but not breaking thru)

Brush with the milk (or an eggwash), sprinkle with sugar and make a couple (or 3) slashes on top of each with a small, sharp knife

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or till golden, and then let 'em cool on a wire rack

Store in an airtight container for a few days

Notes:

Liz suggests using fresh nutmeg, and grinding into the saucepan with the currants and mixed peel

cutting out the rounds of puff pastry

and another tray to go

fill and seal and flip and pat

pat 'em down

oops this should be the later photo!  all milky and sugary

so cute

so delicious

they did not last long!

c. Sherry M.

Upside-Down Onion Tarts

I've seen these delectable little tarts everwhere lately.  I actually made these a couple of months ago after seeing them on social media.  They've been a fave with YouTubers and vloggers/bloggers of all sorts (hellooo Lorraine from Not Quite Nigella).  So here's my version, which is a mish-mash from Karissa Eats, Barry Lewis and EmmyMade (I think).  Oh yes, and from a magazine too - possibly the Coles or Woolworths one.  Very simple and delicious, however you make it.  

Are these not just a mini tarte tatin you're asking?  Yep of course they are!  But you know those social media hacks; they just take off like wildfire and die down just as quickly.  Anyway, we really enjoyed these, whatever their genesis.  And speaking of genesis, has anyone seen that woman on YouTube who believes that dinosaurs never existed, otherwise we'd all be digging them up in our backyards!  Hehehe!!  You gotta laugh, or you'd cry.  

so crunchy and flavoursome

Serves 2 hungry people, or 4 not so hungry:

ingredients:

1 medium-large potato, thinly sliced and boiled/steamed till just tender, and left to cool down

3/4 large red onion, very finely sliced

a biiig pinch of chilli flakes (optional)

1/2 tsp garlic granules

sea salt and black pepper, to taste

a splodge of honey for each wee tart

fresh thyme leaves for sprinkling over the filling

2-3 Tbs of vintage cheddar cheese, grated   see Notes

EV olive oil, over the bottom of your baking tray

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed but only just! and cut into 4 equal squares

1 egg, beaten, for the egg wash - or use milk as I do

Method:

So firstly, line your baking tray with baking paper, and oil the bottom of the paper in 4 places (for each tart)

Set your oven to 200C/400F

Place a quarter of the onion slices, and a few slices of the potato in 4 rounds - well, chuck 'em on the tray in 4 spots is what I mean

On go the chilli, garlic, salt and pepper over each little pile

And then the honey and the thyme leaves, and the cheese

Now place a square of pastry over each tasty pile, and press down around all the sides with your fork

Then paint with the egg wash or milk, and shove into the oven for about 15 minutes or till golden

Take them out of the oven, let them sit for a few minutes, then flip them over so you see their pretty faces and

Serve with salad or veg. of your choice

Notes:

Use the cheese of your dreams - I've seen brie, or cream cheese or Boursin (a creamy, soft cheese with garlic and herbs)

You can top these with some prosciutto when serving, if you fancy!

ingredients gathered

potatoes and red onion

on goes the cheese

and the pastry bottoms - or is that tops?

golden and crispy and crunchy

very delicious

c. Sherry M.

And a final word - Mr P. took himself off to Murgon, a small town about 3 hours west of here, for the opening of a local museum he designed a couple of years ago.  It's called 55 Million Years Ago, and yes it has dinosaurs!! :=)

here he is nonchalantly leaning against the exterior wall decorated with indigenous art

In My Kitchen - October 2023

This post is a bit hurried my friends, as I am writing it before I head off to more tests, and my first cataract operation.  At least it's only day surgery.  But as I'm not sure how much vision I will have for a while, I am trying to catch up on everything before it all happens.  I know I keep saying it, but what a year!

My kitchen was pretty darn busy in September - lots of baking and cooking, and socialising.  Our housemate has now moved out to her own place after several months here with us.  My brain is still telling me she's downstairs, so it's going to take a while to get used to her absence.  We miss her!  Anyway, onwards and upwards.  Gotta send off another short story before the op.  Have a great month, dear friends.  Hoping to see you all with an IMK post!  'See' being the operative word for me :=)

In My Kitchen:

I zapped some red chillies, and bagged up some smoked chicken for the freezer

Yep, another trip to the Japanese store!

I made strawberry muffins for a friend's house clean-up working bee

that fermented hot sauce with miso is a winner!

and yes, more Herbie's spices! and a cute bookmark

I made a chicken and veg. curry which lasted us for days :=)

I bought a replica of a Viking Age bowl from Grimfrost

here's the curveball: Lady Bob by our mate Chainsaw Newton!

So that's it for this month; come and join us, global friends.  And hopefully the world will be looking very bright for me - literally! :=)

c. Sherry M.

Be a part of our friendly IMK community by adding your post here too - everybody welcome!  We'd love to see you.  Tell us about your kitchen (and kitchen garden) happenings over the past month.  Dishes you've cooked, preserves you've made, herbs and veg. in your garden, kitchen gadgets, and goings-on.  And one curveball is welcome - whatever you fancy; no need to be kitchen-related.  

The link is open from the first of the month to midnight on the thirteenth of the month, every month.

Options for adding your post to IMK:

1. Add via the Add Link button at the bottom of this post.  Instructions can be found on the sidebar of this page, under the Add your IMK link OR:

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Italian Ring Cake aka Ciambellone

Weirdly, I have come across several versions of this recipe in various cookbooks over the last couple of months.  I guess the universe was telling me to make this cake!  So I decided to go with this one from Pomegranates and Artichokes by Saghar Setareh.  I decided to jazz up the recipe with some frozen fruit added to the batter and on top of the cake before baking.  This is a very plain cake to be honest, so I was glad I added lemon juice and vanilla extract also.  This is good for dunking into coffee, says the author, and I'd have to say that's probably the best way to eat it.    

We featured this cookbook in both my cookbook clubs - Lambs' Ears which is a Facebook club, and the IRL one held at our local bookshop - The Quick Brown Fox.  What is it about foxes in this neighbourhood?:=)  I went along with our Persian friend Ms. A. and our Italian friend Ms. P. so we covered both parts of the book.  Ms. A. was of course keen on the Persian part of the book, and made a beautiful eggplant/aubergine dip called Mirza Ghasemi.  So delicious!

Did someone say cake?

Serves 8-10 (more or less):

ingredients:

4 large eggs

200g./7 oz caster sugar

zest of one lemon

220 mL/7.5 oz milk   -  see Notes

80 mL/2.7 oz vegetable oil or neutral oil - I used sunflower

2 tsp vanilla extract   (optional)

400g./14 oz plain flour or cake flour     see Notes

1/2 tsp sea salt flakes

1.5 tsp baking powder

120g./4.2 oz fresh or frozen fruit of your choice - I used frozen strawberries 'cos I had some in the freezer  - (optional)

icing sugar, for dusting

Method:

Pre-heat your oven to 180C/350F

Grab a 24cm/9.5 inch ring tin or bundt tin, and butter it very very liberally (Mr P. always does this for me), chuck in heaps of plain flour and give it all a good tossing around, then discard the excess flour

Whisk the eggs with the sugar and lemon zest  - use a hand whisk or electric hand beaters - till pale and fluffy and the sugar is dissolved

Now pour in the milk, oil and vanilla (get someone else to do it if possible) as you keep whisking away

Whisk the flour, salt and baking powder together, and add to the eggy mixture very gently till just combined

Pour into the cake tin - or if adding fruit, pour half the batter into the tin, then place about 2/3 of the fruit on top, then add the rest of the batter and smooth it out

On goes the rest of the fruit, and into your oven for 50 minutes till golden, with a crack on top, and a skewer in the middle comes out clean

Let it cool in the tin (but out of the oven) for ten minutes then transfer to a cake rack (out of the tin)

Once completely cooled, throw on some icing sugar

Will last in an airtight container on the bench for a few days, but may be best to put into the fridge if you live in the sub-tropics like we do.

Notes:

I decided this batter needed more flavour so I used 160 mL of milk and 60 mL of lemon juice, but do as you wish, my friends

I made up cake flour by using 360g./12.7 oz of plain flour and 40g./1.4 oz cornflour/cornstarch

ingredients gathered

whisk the eggs and sugar together

mixing everything together - looks like porridge :=)

throw on the fruit and into the oven

such a lovely cover on the book

cooling casually on top of the hob

a closer view

and liberally dusted with icing sugar

Here are some photos from Cookbook Club at The Quick Brown Fox.  We cook, we eat and we discuss the book of the month.  And tell tales of our lives, and discuss life, the universe and everything.

My friend Atee's eggplant dip

moi with the cookbook and the cake

Ms. Atee, moi and Theresa (bookshop owner)

Ms. Atee perusing the cookbook

c. Sherry M.

and a bonus photo of Ms. P. studiously looking into the book

Burmese Chicken, Cardamom, Lemon and Coconut Curry

We are definitely curry fans in this house.  And I am a big fan of Belinda Jeffery and her really useful, well-written cookbooks, as you know.  This recipe is from her latest - In Belinda's Kitchen.  I know I've said it before: Belinda is a lovely lady, and her recipes are easy to make, and always turn out well.

Speaking of curry, some years ago in our crazy youth, Mr P. and I cooked up a few vats of various types of curry and transported them to a big park in the CBD - at night, laid out on the rotunda, inviting lots of friends.  I think we called it Curry in a Hurry, or maybe just Curry in the Park.  (Sadly, a young student was murdered in this park some years later.)  

We made rice, and raita, and our version of a sweet, pineapple and coconut yoghurt which we called Soul of Tropic (heaven knows why).  Probably lucky we weren't arrested as the Police Headquarters is right near by, and we were rowdy as heck.  I still can't picture how we got all that hot curry to the park.  Ah, our foolish youth :=)   

chicken (and potato) curry dinner - always a hit

Serves 6-8:

ingredients:

60 mL/2 big oz of a neutral oil

2 onions (brown or red), finely sliced

6 massive cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1/4 cup fresh ginger, finely chopped  - see Notes

2-4 small red chillies, finely chopped - or blitz the ginger and chillies together in your small food processor, like I did :=)  And the garlic!

6 cardamom pods or 1/2 tsp cardamom seeds - see Notes 

2 tsp ground turmeric

1.25 Tbs sweet paprika

3 tsp Thai red curry paste

1 lemon

140 mL/5 oz coconut cream or coconut milk (low-fat is fine)

400g./14 oz tin of diced tomatoes (or just chop up a tin of regular tomatoes, in the tin with a pair of scissors)

1 tsp sea salt flakes

8-10 large chicken thighs, skin on if you fancy (I didn't), cut into large chunks - say, each thigh into 3 or 4

2-3 large potatoes, cut into chunks (no need to peel) - optional

To serve:

Mint, parsley or coriander leaves, chopped or torn

lime wedges

jasmine rice, steamed or boiled

mango chutney

cucumber, diced and mixed with yoghurt and mint

Method:

Grab a large frying pan, and heat up the oil over a low heat

Add the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli to the pan, and cook for about 20 minutes till soft and golden - give it a stir every so often

On goes your oven to 180C/360F to heat up, while you crush the cardamom pods and smash the seeds a bit if you're going that way

If using ground cardamom and seeds from a jar, just chuck 'em into the onion mixture with the turmeric, paprika and curry paste

Give it all a stir, and cook for a couple of minutes, then turn off the heat

Now peel the lemon (without the pith), chop into small chunks and discard any seeds

Into the pan go the lemon chunks, coconut cream, tomatoes and salt; stir in well then turn off the heat

Now put the chicken thigh pieces and potato chunks into a large roasting tin, throw the spicy, onion-y mixture over everything, and give it all a really good mix with your gloved hands (or a big spoon)

Whack the tin into your now-hot oven, and bake for about 1.25 to 1.5 hours, turning the chicken half-way thru if using thighs with skin on; otherwise just let it rip

Belinda says that if you have a lot of oil on top of the dish once it's cooked, just grab a paper towel and soak it up to get rid of it

Serve with the accompaniments

Notes:

Don't worry too much about measuring the amount of ginger; just chuck in however much you like

I started pounding away at my cardamom pods, then gave it up as a bad job and shoved in some ground cardamom with the seeds I had managed to recover from the pods  (You can buy cardamom seeds, or ground cardamom seeds in a small jar apparently)

Belinda didn't say what to do with the lemon zest, so I decided to freeze it for another time; maybe another curry?

ingredients gathered

zap your aromates

start cooking off the aromatics

peel and chop the lemon (throw the zest into the freezer for later use)

add the other ingredients and stir them in well

smoosh the paste all over the chicken and potatoes

smells delicious!

throw on some parsley

c. Sherry M.