Bertha is on the move ….. and  apparently we have a driver/deliverer ….

 

 

“If you don’t let me do your local deliveries, I will never speak to you again, so please assume that  I am your local driver/deliverer.  Just set up a system where – me –  your local driver/deliverer is available 24/7.

Love Anna xx

 

My rates of pay are on the previous email

 

Bertha

We’re going shopping ….

….. for a bloomin’ great big Cooker! High excitement for us ….. lots more food for you …. hurrah!

Losing will for life ….

I really would like to explain the reasons for the baking birds sad decline in enthusiasm today ….. but it would take too long and be too painful to relive – needless to say it involves BUREAUCRACY – and I thought I had left that behind.

Consolation came in the form of making Simnel Cakes …. home made marzipan, apricots, cranberries ….. Sticky Apricot Cake …. apples, orange, apricots (that’s 3/5 of your five a day) and chocolate chiffon cake …. light and fluffy number ….. thank goodness there’s cake!

…. What Lizzie & Bekki did next …..

By ‘eck Plum Eccles

Experts were able to identify over one hundred individual varieties of plum stones on Henry VIII’s flagship the Mary Rose, which sank in 1545 and was raised in the 1980′s – so there!!

Plum Eccles Fillin’

I LOVE LOVE LOVE eccles cakes but in the spirit of the Baking Birds pioneering culinary development I just had the fancy to try making a plum one! Needless to say, I was egged on by my baking buddy Bekki (or Bakey as I once accidentally referred to the girl in question).

 

If you go with shop bought puff pastry these little darlings are a breeze – if you want to make your own puff pastry (I don’t get out much) just find a recipe by someone you trust (I’m a Roux Brothers girl myself but I bet good old Delia has a reliable one).

 

Eccles Tummy (that’s the filling)

A punnet of plums – the red ones give the best colour and are better if they are ripe) – stoned and cut in to eight pieces. Scatter them in a roasting tray and sprinkle with a couple of tablespoons of soft brown sugar (I like the dark best)

Roast in the oven until tender but not mushy or burnt (15 – 20 mins)!

Whilst they are warm add approx 100g Dark Brown Sugar, 1 (or 2 depending on your taste) teaspoons of cinnamon and approx 200g currants, and 125g butter and mix together and leave to cool. This will keep a day or two in the fridge.

A spoonful of filling

Roll out the puff pastry not too thin and cut in to squares – size isn’t too relevant – I usually go for about 4 – 5 inch square. If they spring back I just re-roll the squares to extend them a bit. Spoon on the filling (about dessert spoonful) – too much and you’ll have a devil of a job getting the eccles to seal and they’ll burst – they taste as good but they weld themselves rather dramatically to the baking tray.

Fold corners in to middle

Now comes the folding ….

 

 

 

Don’t stretch the pastry otherwise you’ll have pebble dashed oven walls as they EXPLODE – great fun, very entertaining but not usually edible!

Then turn them seam side down and shape gently just to round them up.

Pop them in the fridge and leave them for as long as you like …. at least 30 mins.

Have a bowl of water and a shallow bowl of granulated sugar ready …. dip the eccles cakes in the water (seam side up) and then dunk in the sugar and whack them on a baking tray (I would line the tray with parchment otherwise the Eccles cakes may cling like limpets after cooking to your tray and you might require the aid of a stone mason to chip them off)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ready for t'oven

In the pre-heated oven Gas 6 after a little gentle piercing – I’m a three short slashes person but as you please ……

 for approx 30 mins – you want them golden and cooked through. Leave to rest for 5 or 10 minutes and then get them on the baking tray – DON’T make the mistake of sampling them straight out of the oven – as you’ll probably require surgery – the filling is bloomin’ hot!

 

 

 

 

 

The Plum Eccles

Serve with a nice cup of tea!

 

 

A cracking day

…. as described by lovely Anna Morgan who is using us for her photography finals and therefore we get lovely photos. Bex and I played nicely together today in the ‘Test Kitchen’ whilst Anna took her photos ….

when Anna asked if she could come and use our wee business for her project we were delighted to say yes – having checked out her website …. http://www.annamorganphotography.com/ …. you’ll see why! We didn’t mind the action shots but I think me colleague and me were a little more trying when Anna mentioned the word portrait and I think it’s fair to say we blanched …. and on this occasion it wasn’t almonds or tomatoes we were blanching. However we really like her photo of a glass of egg shells. I can’t work out why photographers seem to like eggs so much!

Pretty Pictures

We were really pleased to be asked to put on a spread for some good friends this week and they took some piccis of the food …. it looked rather splendid and we proudly present the buffet ….

Black Olive Gougeres stuffed with Feta and Green Olive

 

Salmon, Dill & Lemon Roules

 

Chorizo & Pepper Tortilla

Ginger Brulee Tarts

Parmesan & Coastal Biscuits with Basil Cream & Crispy Prosciutto

Poundbury Farmers’ Market

Eat me ….. it was cold, wet & miserable …. but the lovely people kept comin’ & eatin’ – Bekki & I like people who like food – if you’re as obssessed as us you’re our kind of peeps …. favourite quote of the day …. “you are just messing with our minds”. Thank you!

In love …. with the new beast

Bex and I marched off to Lyme Bay Auctions last week – in Bekki’s polo as we knew we weren’t going to buy anything ….. yeah right! We arrived after our usual ‘have you got any idea where we’re going question?’. It wouldn’t be a proper day out if Bekki and I didn’t get lost at least once! We only had to ask directions 3 times …. the roadside collection service peeps had no idea, the delivery driver had no idea and the ‘I don’t suppose there’s any point asking this lot at the bus stop’ people gave us sound directions! Note to self: ask the most unlikely person when seeking direction in your life.

Well, the auction was a little mine of kleptomania and baking-mad loveliness. Pots, pans, pizza shovels, crockery, tea towels, stainless steel ‘I wish we had a big kitchen’ units. So we trawled round with our catalogue looking rather grown up we thought! Up the stairs ….. round the corner ….. and then our eyes fell on this beautiful beast – big & strong, clean, shiny and that was it ….. we were in love!

In order to discuss the object of our desire we had to take to the car – shivering with cold in an auction room somewhat hampers creative thinking – to discuss the likelihood of our being able to afford the little beauty & where the hell we were gonna put it if we succeeded in buying it!

After much deliberation we decided that we couldn’t possibly afford her & carried on bidding on a couple of bit part players and then …… the bidding started …. we didn’t join in …… she sold! OUCH! ….. and we COULD HAVE had her …… AND there were 3 more ….. AND ….. we went back to the car to discuss taking up the option to have her ….. THEN ….. we got the Trout on the case to check her out on the Internet at home to aid our decision …. AND yes, dear readers, we GOT HER!!

Needless to say we couldn’t bring her home so we went off to River Cottage Canteen to soothe our nerves (and warm up) over lunch – Bekki had a crab risotto and I had a chick pea stew – brrrrrains need to food and warmth to function!

The only issue then was how to get the little darlin’ home …. simples!

crumpet definition : crumpet (crumpets plural )1 n-count Crumpets are round, flat pieces of a substance like bread or batter with small holes in them.

I swear that there I was griddlin’ me crumpets (or trumpets as the man in my life calls ‘em), on Saturday evening, and I realised some thievin’ varmint had been in my kitchen whilst me back was turned and stole the holes – see crumpet definition : crumpet (crumpets plural )1 n-count Crumpets are round, flat pieces of a substance like bread or batter with small holes in them. I looked for Bekki  as it may have been a case of crumpet envy but nope it weren’t her …. The muffins however …. big lovely fluffiness which I road tested by dunking in Heinz Tomato Soup. This led to a debate, between Bex and I, whilst at Weymouth Farmers’ Market today about Heinz spaghetti (yes), spaghetti hoops or alphabet (Bekki yes, me no), tinned ravioli (wrong), macaroni cheese (Bekki favouring the slightly cheesy feet effect, myself an emphatic NO!). Heinz sandwich spread (why not?), Spam (yes/no) and you can probably see how the conversation continued … we agreed however that there was nothing wrong with a bit of ‘gypsy’ comfort eating. Anyway, the crumpets tasted good and were teasing me by hiding their bubbles under the camouflage that was a crust – hurrah!

Crumpet recipe follows:

450g plain flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, 7 g dried active yeast, 300ml each of tepid water and milk.

Mix up the dry ingredients, bung in the liquid, beat to a smooth batter. Leave to rest (it will be exhausted after all that beating), covered in cling, in a warm place for an hour when it should be bubbly!! Place oiled non stick cooking rings (fried egg moulds are good for this or plain pastry cutters) on a lightly oiled griddle (or a frying pan would do it) and put over a medium heat. Once hot, beat the batter and pour in the hot rings (about 2/3rds full) and you should get a sizzle. These take a while to cook (up to 10 minutes). When they are ‘set’ and look slightly dry, whip them out of the rings and turn and brown on the top for a few minutes. Hey presto…. crumpets …. hopefully with holes! L