Moroccan Chickpea Soup with Garlic and Chilli Pitta

Cut pitta bread into wedges. Mix with olive oil, garlic, chilli (fresh or flakes) and salt (all amounts to taste). Bake, 200 C for 7-8 minutes

3 tbsp olive oil

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 onion, chopped

2 1/2 tsp toasted cumin seeds

pinch sugar

400g tin chickpeas

600mls stock

400g tin chopped tomatoes

lemon juice

chopped coriander

Heat oil, add celery and onion and cook low heat 10 minutes

Add cumin, then tomatoes, chickpeas and stock

Simmer 5 minutes

Add lemon juice and coriander

Serve with pittas

From Sarah Shelton

Rachel Allen Apple Cake

Lovely moist apple cake. Had to use a 20cm diameter round tin which meant it took longer to cook but still delicious. My apples didn't sink so I poked them down into the middle after 5 minutes.

• 2 eggs
• 175 g caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 85 g butter
• 75 ml milk
• 125 g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 2 cooking apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
• 75 ml double cream, to serve

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6. Line the sides and base of a 20 x 20cm square cake tin with parchment paper.

2. Using an electric whisk,

whisk the eggs, caster sugar and vanilla extract in a large bowl until the mixture is thick and mousse-like and the whisk leaves a figure of eight pattern (this will take about 5 minutes).

3. Melt the butter in a saucepan with the milk, then pour onto the eggs, whisking all the time. Sift in the flour, cinnamon and baking powder and fold carefully into the batter so that there are no lumps of flour. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the surface.

4. Arrange the apple slices over the batter. (They will sink to the bottom.) Sprinkle over a tablespoon of sugar and bake in the oven for ten minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 180C/gas 4 and bake for a further 20–25 minutes or until well risen and golden brown.

5. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the tin. Cut into squares and serve warm with cream.

Adapted from Rachel Allen, Bake (Collins)

How to make perfect hummus

Guardian article about how to make the perfect hummus

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/aug/11/how-to-make-perfect-hummus

Toasted seeds

Mixed seeds and nuts toasted in a frying pan over a low heat. Sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds and oats with a few pine nuts, walnuts and spare peanuts.

Wholemeal bread recipe

Great recipe. Coated the top with sunflower seeds. Delicious.

Delia's Quick and easy wholemeal bread recipe.

Delia's how to make wholemeal bread instructions.

Jell-o Fruit

Photo by Coolhunter

Recipe by NotMartha

Pizza dough bread

Made some bread to use up leftover pizza dough. (Jamie Oliver's dough recipe). The dough was left out over night so I didn't expect it to make good bread.

Pre-heat the oven to 250 degrees.

Push back the dough, form into a ball. Coat with pumpkin oil. Leave to rest for 20 minutes.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Surprisingly delicious!

Rhubarb and ginger crumble

For the rhubarb:

700g / 1lb 9oz rhubarb, trimmed, sliced into 2cm pieces

2 pieces preserved stem ginger in syrup, finely chopped

2 tbsp stem ginger syrup

25g / 1oz caster sugar

For the crumble topping

175g / 6oz plain flour

50g / 2oz rolled oats

100g / 4oz unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

50g / 2oz caster sugar

50g / 2oz flaked almonds

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Tip the rhubarb into a 20cm/8in-deep pie dish and mix in the ginger, ginger syrup and sugar.

2. For the crumble, put the flour into a bowl with the oats. Rub the butter in with your fingertips to create crumbs. Stir in the sugar and almonds. Spoon half of the crumble mix on top of the rhubarb and pat down. Sprinkle over the remainder and leave it sitting loosely.

3. Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes, or until the rhubarb is tender and the topping is golden-brown.

Recipe by Lisa Allen, from BBC Food recipes

Dough: Simple Contemporary Bread

by Richard Bertinét

Recommended by Sarah Davis

Malted Walnut Seed Loaf

Tasty but weighty... need to refine my kneading technique...

500g Strong wholemeal flour

7g sachet of fast action yeast

1tsp salt

Up to 350ml water

100g mix of seeds- pumpkin, sesame, linseed, hemp seeds.

50g walnut pieces

A little sunflower oil for greasing

1. Make the dough by tipping the flour, yeast and salt into a large bowl and making a well in the middle. Pour in most of the water and use your fingers or a wooden spoon to mix the flour and water together until combined to a slightly wet, pillowy, workable dough - add a splash more water if necessary. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for at least 10 mins until smooth and elastic, adding most of the seeds and all the walnuts as you knead the dough. This can also be done in a tabletop mixer with a dough hook. Place the dough in a clean oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rise until doubled in size, then knock back and shape into a large round. Roll the round in the remaining seeds, then lift the bread onto a tray to prove for about 30 mins until doubled in size.

2. Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Bake the bread for 15 mins, then reduce the heat to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5 and continue to bake for 30 mins until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the base. Leave the bread on a cooling rack to cool completely. The loaf will stay fresh in an airtight container for 3 days or can be frozen for 1 month.

From BBC Good Food

Dad's bread recipe

Water (warm) 1.625 cups (one and five eighths; I actually put in rather more)
Skimmed milk powder 3 tablespoons (or simply use one cup of milk instead of one of water)
Sunflower oil 3 tablespoons
SOft brown sugar 5 tablespoons
Salt 2 teaspoons
Granary flour 4 cups
Fast action yeast 1 teaspoon
Vitamin C tablet 1 x 100mg ground up
Add seeds, soya flour, oat bran about 1 cup in total

My machine's cycle:
Knead 10min
Rise 1 25 min
Knead 2 20 min
Rise 2 35 min
Rise 3 70 min
Bake (121C) 60 min

(That's what it says in the book of words. I don't know what happens between rise 2 and rise 3. SOmething must of why not call it rise 2 = 105 min.)

Walnut and Honey Soda Bread

Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall recipe from the Guardian

Walnut and honey soda bread

Sweet and savoury at the same time, with an incredible depth of flavour, this quick bread is wonderful with cheese. Serves six.

200g walnuts

200g honey

500g wholemeal flour

4 tsp baking powder

10g salt

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/ gas mark 6 and lightly oil a baking sheet. Divide the walnuts into two roughly equal piles. Put one half into a food processor or a mortar, then crush to a coarse powder. Using your hands, break the other pile of walnuts into large, rough chunks. Put the honey in a pan with 300ml water and heat gently until the honey dissolves.

Put the flour, baking powder, salt and all the walnuts in a large bowl and combine. Pour in the honey water and mix to a soft dough.

Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured surface, shape it into a rough, round loaf and place on the oiled baking tray. Slice a deep cross into the top, going almost right the way through to the baking sheet.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, until well risen and golden brown. Remove, set aside to cool and serve immediately - at the very latest, eat within 24 hours.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2007/oct/27/recipes.foodanddrink

Basic white bread recipe

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2060/easy-white-bread

Caramelised red onion chutney

Just made this chutney from Allrecipes.com. Quite tasty. Worried it's a little vinegary but I'll leave it to mature and see what happens... (8/10/11- matured really well. Very tasty and good feedback from friends)

7 medium red onions

2 medium shallots

1 mediumwhite onion

1 sweet pepper (red or orange; grilled until black, peeled, seeded and diced)

1 red chilli (deseeded and diced)

270ml balsamic vinegar

50ml red wine vinegar

220g dark brown sugar

7cm stick of cinammon

2 fresh bay leaves

1 large sprig of rosemary (leaves picked and chopped)

olive oil

1.	Peel and chop the onions and shallots into chutney size pieces, add olive oil to a pan add the onions, bay leaves, cinammon and rosemary.
2.	Cook for about 20 mins on a low heat until the onions are golden,soft and sticky, add the chilli and pepper cook for a further couple of mins.
3.	Add the vinegar and sugar, simmer on a low heat until thick and chutney like.
4.	Spoon into sterilised jars. Can be left for 4-6 weeks to develop flavour.

Peanut butter cookies

http://www.popularcookierecipes.com/PeanutButter.html

Very tasty. I didn't leave the dough to firm up, I just spooned the mixture onto the baking tray.

Simple Suppers 2

More to try from

Grilled prawns with yoghurt and mint - try the paste with chicken too

Fried tomatoes (halves) and goats cheese (on top of the tomatoes) with a little garlic. Serve with bread.

Nigel Slater's simple suppers

Recipes to try from Simple Suppers (3rd Nov 2010)

Turkey and squash bake

Hand made pesto with watercress (and pasta)

Aromatic mackerel

Everyday roast chicken

Butter bean tomatoes

Large tomatoes the size of a baked potato are what I use, but a few smaller ones can be used instead. In that case I would swap the butter beans for a smaller pulse, such as haricot beans. If you have some mixture left over then put it around the base of the tomatoes in the dish, then scoop it up and serve it alongside the tomatoes. Serves 4 as a main dish.

olive oil
onion 1 medium-sized
garlic 3 cloves
bay leaf 1
beefsteak tomatoes 4
chopped tomatoes 400g can
butter beans 400g can
red-wine vinegar 1 tbsp
basil leaves 8 large

Warm a couple of glugs of olive oil in a medium-sized saucepan. Peel and finely chop the onion and let it cook in the olive oil for 10 minutes or so, until soft and pale. Peel and finely slice the garlic, then add to the onion with the bay leaf and continue cooking for 5 minutes, until all is fragrant.

Slice the tops off the beef tomatoes and reserve. Loosen the inside of each tomato with a small knife, then, using a teaspoon, scoop the seeds and flesh out without tearing the skins. Put the empty tomato shells on a baking sheet. Chop the insides of 4 of the tomatoes and add to the onion mixture together with the canned tomatoes. (You can use the insides of all the tomatoes, but you may find yourself with too much stuffing.) Season generously with salt and pepper then leave to simmer for 10-15 minutes. Set the oven at 180C/gas mark 4.

Stir the butter beans, drained of their liquid, into the mixture. Add the vinegar and basil leaves, torn or shredded. Continue cooking for a couple of minutes. Spoon the mixture into the tomatoes. Top with their lids. You will have too much mixture, so spoon it around the tomatoes. Bake for 40 minutes, until they are on the verge of collapse.

Recipe by Nigel Slater in the Guardian.

Moroccan Lamb Tagine

• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1½ tbsp paprika
• 1½ tbsp ground ginger
• 1 tbsp turmeric
• 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 x shoulder of lamb, trimmed and cut into 5cm/2in chunks (about 1.1kg/2½lb meat in total)
• 2 large onions, grated
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp argan oil
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 570ml/1 pint tomato juice
• 2 x 400g tinned chopped tomatoes
• 115g/4oz dried apricots, cut in half
• 55g/2oz dates, cut in half
• 55g/2oz sultanas or raisins
• 85g/3oz flaked almonds
• 1 tsp saffron stamens, soaked in cold water
• 600ml/1 pint lamb stock
• 1 tbsp clear honey
• 2 tbsp coriander, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
  
  
  1. Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas2.
  
  
  2. Place the cayenne, black pepper, paprika, ginger, turmeric and cinnamon into a small bowl and mix to combine. Place the lamb in a large bowl and toss together with half of the spice mix. Cover and leave overnight in the fridge.
  
  
  3. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp of argan oil in a large casserole dish. Add the grated onion and the remaining spice mix and cook over a gentle heat for 10 minutes so that the onions are soft but not coloured. Add the crushed garlic for the final 3 minutes
  
  
  4. In a separate frying pan, heat the remaining oil and brown the cubes of lamb on all sides then add the browned meat to the casserole dish. De-glaze the frying pan with ¼ pint of tomato juice and add these juices to the pan.
  
  
  5. Add the remaining tomato juice, chopped tomatoes, apricots, dates, raisins or sultanas, flaked almonds, saffron, lamb stock and honey to the casserole dish. Bring to the boil, cover with a fitted lid, place in the oven and cook for 2-2½ hours or until the meat is meltingly tender
  
  
  6. Place the lamb in a tagine or large serving dish and sprinkle over the chopped herbs. Serve.

Very tasty tagine. Tomatoey but very good.

Recipe by Anthony Worrall Thompson from BBC.

Courgette and leek frittata

Ingredients:

• 3 medium courgettes
• 1 leek
• An onion
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cups shredded mozzarella
• 1 cup of cheddar
• 3 rashers of bacon
• salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Fry up the potatoes in butter. In a separate pan fry up the leeks, bacon, courgettes and onion in a separate pan. When the potatoes are cooked, arrange them over the base of the pan and remove the rest. Layer the veg and bacon mix with the remaining potatoes and the cheddar. Whip the eggs with seasoning and pour over the top. Put a lid on the pan and cook over a medium heat until the egg is set and cheese melted.

Chevre and thyme roasted gem squash

Tomme de Chevre and thyme-roasted gem squash is a simple recipe for squash stuffed with creamy potatoes, topped with goat's cheese and baked in the oven. This is really warming comfort food - if you like stuffed marrow you will love this vegetarian stuffed squash.

Serves 4 as a starter
Ready in 1¼ hours

Ingredients

• 150ml double cream
• 100ml milk
• 1 garlic clove, bruised
• 4 fresh bay leaves
• 300g King Edward potatoes, cut into 2cm cubes
• 1 fennel, halved and sliced
• 4 gem squash
• 175g Tomme de Chevre cheese (from Waitrose or Tesco), roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh thyme leaves

Method: How to make thyme-roasted gem squash

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan°160C/gas 4. Pour the cream and milk into a saucepan, add the garlic and 2 bay leaves and season well. Add the potatoes and fennel, slowly bring to the boil, and simmer for 10 minutes, until the vegetables are just tender. Remove from the heat and lift out and set aside the bay leaves.

2. Slice the tops off the squash and remove and discard the seeds inside. Season well. Stir 100g of the goat's cheese into the cream mixture along with the thyme. Divide the filling among the squash cavities, then top each with the remaining goat's cheese and a bay leaf.

3. Wrap each squash in baking paper, then wrap tightly in a double layer of foil. Bake for 45 minutes, then remove the foil, open out the baking paper and return to the oven for 10 minutes, until bubbling. Set aside to cool slightly before serving.

A Channel 4 recipe