Orange and Coconut Crumble

I picked up a couple of bags of nice looking naval oranges at the shops the other day, and after eating as many as we wanted to eat fresh, I decided to make something delicious and yet unusual with them. I had in mind to make a crumble . . . and why not?



We use all sorts of fruits to make tasty crumbles with . . . apples, pears, rhubarb, plums, blueberries, gooseberries and so on . . . why not oranges? Juicy and sweet, I thought they'd make a fabulous crumble . . .



Especially with a buttery crispy topping shot full of flaked coconut. Oranges and coconut . . . ambrosia!



I was going to add some macadamia nuts to the topping as well . . . but alas, I had none in the cupboard. Do try it if you want though. I'd add about 1/2 cup chopped nuts. It would be a fabulous addition I think!



Each mouthful of this was sweetly orangy, buttery crispy and moreishly scrummy! I dare to say it's quite healthy as well as there is not a lot of fat in it really.



Oranges . . . chock full of Vitamin C and fibre . . . and not just for juicing or eating out of hand anymore! I do hope you'll try this. ☺



*Orange and Coconut Crumble*
Serves 6 to 8
Printable Recipe

Deliciously different. You are going to love this!

For the fruit filling:
6 large navel oranges
2 ounces orange juice (1/4 cup)
1 1/2 TBS of quick cooking tapioca (or an equal amount of corn flour)
1 TBS Grand Marnier (Orange flavoured Liqueur)
Butter

For the topping:
3 ounces of plain flour (2/3 cup)
2.5 ounces sugar (about 2/3 cup)
1/2 tsp salt
2 ounces chilled butter, cut into bits (1/4 cup)
2 ounces flaked sweetened coconut (2/3 cup)

Single cream to serve

Peel and section the oranges over a large bowl, reserving 1/4 cup of the juices. (Don't throw away the peels. I'll show you what to do with them tomorrow!) Stir in the tapioca and Grand Marnier. Let stand for about half an hour before proceeding, giving it a stir every now and then.

Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Lightly butter an 11 by 7 inch dish. Pour in the orange mixture. Set aside.

Whisk the flour, sugar and salt for the topping together in a bowl. Rub in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. Stir in the coconut and then sprinkle evenly over top of the fruit.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is golden brown. Serve warm, spooned out into bowls along with some cream for pouring.

Lemon and Jam Slices

 I had some lemons that I needed to use up today. I always buy too many. I just love the sight of a bowl of lemons on the counter top.  They  just look so cheerful to me, and homey.  A little spot of sunshine on a dark and drizzly January day . . . lemons to me are the the perfect pick me up!

 

I decided to make some of my favourite slices . . . Lemon and Jam slices.  Or Squares if you would rather call them that.  I like to call them slices . . . sounds even more delicious when you call them slices.  A rose by any other name and all that . . .



I love these slices because they encompass three of my favourite things . . . a buttery, crisp baked shortbread crust on the bottom . . . sweet strawberry preserves in the middle . . . a tangy lemoncurd like topping . . .

 

Oh my . . . but these are heavenly bliss.  I love to enjoy them in the middle of the afternoon along with a hot drink.  They're so good.  These are the type of slices that you have  a hard time walking past without picking at them . . . and I confess . . . I can never wait until they completely cool before I dig into them.



You're supposed to wait until they are completely cold to cut them . . . but they are awfully good warm . . . just sayin is all.  They bring out the glutton in me.  The tang of the lemon is soooo very good with the sweet fruitiness of the jam . . . and that buttery crust.



Of course you could use another flavour of jam if you wished.  I just particularly love them made with strawberry jam.  Cherry, raspberry or apricot are all rather good too . . . and then there is wild blueberry preserves, another favourite of mine.

 

I confess . . . I sometimes use limes and ginger jam.  Those are awfully good too, especially if you add a little bit of ground ginger to the base.  Mmmm . . . mmm . . . good.  Are you not tempted???



 *Lemon and Jam Slices*
Makes  15 squares
Printable Recipe

 A butter, almost shortbread type of base, topped with sweet strawberry jam and a tangy lemon topping baked on top.  Delicious.

For the base:
200g of plain flour (2 cups)
225g of cold unsalted butter (1 cup, or 2 sticks)
42g sifted icing sugar (1/3 cup)
1/4 tsp fine sea salt

For the jam:
6 heaped dessert spoons (about 3/4 cup)

For the Lemon topping:
281g of granulated sugar
the finely grated zest of one un-waxed lemon
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 TBS plain flour
3 large free range eggs
the juice of 2 1/2 lemons (1/3 cup)

Icing sugar to dust


Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.  Butter an 11 by 7 inch baking dish,  Dust with flour, shaking out any excess.  Set aside.  (Alternately you can line with foil and butter and dust the foil, leaving an overhang to lift the slices out when done.)

Whisk the flour, icing sugar and salt together in a large bowl.  Cut the butter into cubes and drop it in.  Rub it into the flour mixture with your fingertips until you have coarse crumbs.  Press this mixture into the prepared baking tin.    Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, just until it is firm.  Remove from the oven.

Whisk together the granulated sugar, lemon zest, baking powder and flour for the lemon topping.  Beat in the eggs and lemon juice until smooth.  Set aside.

Stir the jam together in a bowl with a fork to loosen it.  Spread this over the warm base.  Pour the lemon mixture over top and return the pan to the oven.  Bake for an additional  25 to 30 minutes, until it is set and lightly browned.  Remove from the oven and set the pan on a wire rack to cool completely before removing from the pan.  Dust with icing sugar.  Cut  into squares to serve.

A Gratin of Sprouts and Bacon

  

  

 I don't remember ever having Brussels Sprouts when I was a child.   They just were not a vegetable that was readily available back then. We basically only had peas and carrots and green beans and sometimes corn.  I can remember discovering sprouts as an adult and falling completely and totally in love with them, and with cauliflower and broccoli too.  I am a real brassica lover!    

  

I got a huge bag of sprouts in my Christmas Vegetable Box and of course we did not use them all and so I sat here looking at them the other day and thought to myself, I better use them up before they go off and so I thought I would make a sort of gratin with them.  

  

I did a search on line to see if I could find any suggestions and found what looked a lovely recipe on the BBC food web page by Sophie Grigson.  I like Sophie's recipes and so I thought I would use it as a basis for what I wanted to do myself . . .     

 

So I loosely followed it,  cutting the amounts in half and then using pancetta lardons and more bread crumbs on top and grating the cheese coarser.  I also changed the way I put things together and added a bit of butter to the bread crumbs, because I thought it would make them extra tasty . . . and it did.  

 In any case it was absolutely flippin delicious!  It made a fabulous side dish and in all truth I could have quite happily dined on it alone and nothing else!  Yes, I do love my sprouts!  And when you mix them with bacon, cream and cheese, I love them even more!  

   

*A Gratin of Sprouts & Bacon*

Serves 4 

Printable Recipe  

This is a recipe of Sophie Grigson's I adapted from the BBC Food webpage.  It's delicious.  

1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed

1 TBS butter

2 tsp sunflower oil

75g of pancetta lardons (about 1/2 cup)

a handful of flaked almonds

200ml of double cream (7 fluid ounces)

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

3 TBS fresh soft bread crumbs

2 further tsp melted butter

3 TBS coarsely grated Parmesan Cheese

fine sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper to taste    

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to the boil.   Add the sprouts and cook for about 4 minutes until crispy tender.  Drain well and set aside.  

Heat the butter and oil in a skillet.   Add the pancetta lardons and cook until they are beginning to turn golden brown.   Toss in the almonds and allow them to brown lightly.   Cut the sprouts in half and add them to the pan and cook them for a few minutes longer.  Butter a large shallow casserole dish and dump the sprout mixture in.  Season to taste with some salt and pepper.  Whisk together the cream and lemon juice and pour this over top of the sprouts.  

Melt the 2 tsp butter in the skillet and add the bread crumbs.  Toss to coat and cook for a few mintues until they begin to crisp up a bit.  Remove from the heat and mix together with the Parmesan Cheese.  Sprinkle this mixture eveny over top of the sprouts in the gratin dish.    

Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6.   Once it is heated place the gratin dish inside and roast the sprouts for 15 to 18 minutes until the cream is all bubbling up and the crumbs are golden brown.   Serve hot.

Note - As with most things these are even tastier the day after and reheated!

Roasted Roots and Wheatberries with a Lemon Vinaigrette

I do the same thing every year.  I buy in far too much veg for the holidays and then am left with a surplus which I am trying to use up at the beginning of the new year.   It's usually a whole lot, but not a whole lot of anything, if you know what I mean.



When I looked into my vegetable drawer yesterday I saw a whole lot of normal carrots, a couple of white carrots (Yes, I did say white.   Apparently that's a variety.  I got them in a veg box in December) a few purple carrots (see my last explanation) an acorn squash, a small to medium sized white turnip.a bunch of fresh thyme and a few other odds and sods . . . most not in quantities large enough to cook any one thing, with the exception of the orange carrots. 

 

 I peeled and chopped them into large pieces and added a chopped red onion and then I roasted them in a hot oven along with some garlic, a good grinding of black pepper, a few sea salt flakes, some olive oil and a few springs of that fresh thyme . . .



Then . . . I roasted them in that hot oven for about 20 minutes, stirring them now and then  . . . until they were all nice and cooked through and beginning to caramelize.  There is nothing so tasty as caramelized oven roasted root vegetables . . . and while they were making their magic, I cooked some wheatberries in some vegetable stock until tender . . .



And then . . . I tossed them all together in a bowl . . . the cooked wheatberries and the roasted vegetables and I added a deliciously tangy lemon vinaigrette . . . made with a couple of the lemons from my fruit bowl on the counter . . .



After that I added a few broken up and toasted English Walnuts . . . again leftover from our Christmas Celebrations . . . and a handful of dried cranberries, just for some chewy sweetness and texture . . . and I mixed, them all together, yes I did, and sprinkled some flat leaf parsley over top, leftover again, from Christmas . . . and then . . .  do you know what we did???



We ate it.   With large lumps of buttered crusty bread and some leftover stilton crumbled over top.   And do you know what else???

It was very, very . . . very good.

*Roasted Roots and Wheatberries with a Lemon Vinaigrette*

Serves 6 to 8

Printable Recipe  

I like to cook my wheatberries in vegetable stock to give them more flavour.   You get the nutty chewiness of the wheatberries along with the sweetness of the roasted and slightly caramlized vegetables . . . doused in a tangy lemon and parsley vinaigrette.   This is delicious and pretty and looks fab on the buffet table!  (Not to mention it's a great use for all that leftover extra veg you got in over Christmas!) 

300g wheat berries (1 1/2 cups)

2 litres of vegetable stock (I use swiss marigold powder. 2 quarts of liquic)

1 large red onion, peeled and cut into cubes

2 pounds of assorted root vegetables (carrots, swede, turnips, squash, celeriac, parsnips, jerusalem artichokes in any combination)
peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

olive oil to drizzle

a handful of fresh thyme sprigs

fresh ground sea salt and black pepper 

For the dressing:

the freshly squeezed juice of two lemons (about 60ml of 1/4 cup)

125ml of extra virgin olive oil

fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 TBS  finely minced 

To finish:

a small handful of flat leaf parsley, coarsely chopped

60g of dried cherries or dried cranberries, coarely chopped (1/2 cup)

58g of chopped toasted English walnuts (optional, 1/2 cup)    

 

  

Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F. gas mark 7.   Toss the diced vegetables on a baking sheet with about 2 TBS of olive oil, some salt and black pepper and the sprigs of thyme.  Roast in the heated oven, on the bottom rack for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring them once or twice.  They should be cooked through and beginning to slightly caramelize.

While the vegetables are cooking bring the vegetable stock to the boil.   Add the wheat berries and cook, until tender, but still chewy, about 30 to 35 minutes.

While the vegetables and wheat berries are cooking, measure the lemon juice into a large shallow salad bowl.   Toss iin the minced shallot and seasoning.   Allow to stand for about 10 minutes, then whisk in the oil. 

Once cooked, drain the wheat berries and toss them into the dressing, whisking it first.  Add the roasted root vegetables, discarding any thyme branches.  Stir in the cherries or cranberries and the nuts, if using.   Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.  Toss in the parsley and serve.

You may serve this warm or at room temperature.  You can make it several days in advance, in which case you should store it in the refrigerator and then bring it to room temperature prior to serving.  Do not add the nuts or parsley until just before serving.  A bit of feta, blue cheese or stilton crumbled over top makes a nice addition!

Chicken, Bacon & Leek Casserole

 I love food this time of year . . . I know I say that all year round, but this is the time of year that we really start to get stuck into comfort foods . . . winter warmers . . . rich soups, stews, casseroles and bakes.



Food that, with the exception of a few small prep details, pretty much cooks itself.  Simple and wholesome ingredients, but let me tell you . . . more often than not there it nothing simple at all about the flavours!  Most pack a very delicious punch!



I've always been the kind of person that has been able to put things together and come up with something satisfyingly delicious . . . things like this Chicken, Bacon and Leek Casserole I am showing you here today.



It's simple.   It uses stuff you most likely have in your fridge, larder and freezer right now.  It tastes fabulously delicious, and it basically cooks itself.  I like to serve it with some fluffy mash. 




The Toddster is a real mash lover.  I like to cook some greens on the side as well, just for some colour and vitamins.  Today it was sprout tops.  I do hope you will give it a try., and when you do that you'll come back and tell me how much you loved it!  It may not look very exciting, but dull this isn't!

*Chicken, Bacon & Leek Casserole*

Serves 4  

Printable Recipe  

This may look a bit like a mess, but it's delicious!  It's one of those warming meals that pretty much cooks themselves!  I like to serve it with some mash or rice.

2 TBS olive oil

8 boneless, skinless chicken thigh portions, cut into cubes

(Discard any fat)

2 medium leeks, trimmed, washed and thinly sliced

4 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, chopped

1 tsp summer savoury

1 tsp dried thyme leaves

2 stalks of celery

1 large carrot, peeled and sliced

1 medium parsnip, peeled and sliced

pinch of garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

125ml of dry white wine

450ml of chicken stock

1 dessertspoon (heaped) of flour, shaken with a bit of water in a jar until smooth 

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.

Heat the oil over medium heat in a medium sized flame and oven proof casserole dish.   Add the bacon and chicken and cook, stirring occasionally until golden.  Stir in the leeks, carrots, celery and parsnips.  Cook for several minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the summer savoury and thyme, along with some salt and pepper to taste.    Grind over a bit of garlic powder. 

Add the wine and chicken stock.  Bring to the boil.   Reduce to a simmer and stir in the flour/water mixture.  Cook stirring until the mixture begins to thicken.  Cover tightly and then transfer the casserole to the oven.   Bake, covered, for about 45 minutes.  Uncover and bake for 15 minutes longer, until the chicken and vegetables are very tender.

Serve hot with some mashed potatoes and crusty rolls.