Blondes V's Brunettes - Vanilla Blondies

As a proud brunette myself I am usually very defensive of my colouring and will always claim brunettes are best, but on this occasion I will have to take a step down on my beliefs after making these gorgeous, rather addictive Vanessa Kimbell Vanilla Blondies. Now I really don't want to keep blogging Vanessa's recipes, as I want everyone to buy her amazing book for themselves, but I just had to tell the World how much I loved these naughty, addictive little bundles of blonde naughtiness.

If you can imagine the most crystalized fudge, with a salty peanut hit, then you will be half way to realising just how amazing these are, the combination of sweet and salty has to be by far my favourite taste sensation of the moment. You get a crunchy cake outside and inside the gooey, chewy, sweet fudge centre, it truly is a party in your mouth.

On this occasion, Blondes really do have more fun !

Buon appetito

http://writingacookerybook.blogspot.com/

Serves 16

300g plain flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

250g unsalted butter

400g Vanilla Sugar (You can buy this from Waitrose, but Vanessa has a recipe in her book Prepped that I used to make my Blondies - http://writingacookerybook.blogspot.com/2011/06/vanilla-sugar.html)

2 eggs, beaten

225g salted peanuts (you can also use pecans with a pinch of sea salt)

Preheat the oven to 175c / gas mark 3

Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl and combine.

In a saucepan, melt the butter and bring it briefly to the boil and stir in the sugar. It won't all dissolve but becomes all gloopy.

Pour the butter-sugar mixture into the flour and mix with a wooden spoon until combined. Stir in the eggs, mix well and then add the peanuts (pecans and salt). Pour into a large 24cm x 30 cm baking tray and spread.

Bake in the oven for 25 - 30 minutes, but check after 25 minutes. The tops of the blondies should be just golden brown and lightly spring back. If it does need a little longer, keep a really close eye on them, if you over cook them at this stage they will lose their gorgeous fudginess and you really do not want that to happen! Its the best part. It will firm up as it cools down. Cool in the tray and don't be in a rush to cut them into squares, it does need to be completely cooled to firm up.

I am thinking about reducing the amount of peanuts next time and adding chunks of white chocolate, I'll let you now how it works out.

Lavender Shortbread

I love cookery books, this is no secret, it is also no secret that I have a rather large collection of them, some I have brought and have been disappointed by, some I have brought and cooked loads of recipes from, but I now have a book that I want to cook every single recipe from and that book is Prepped by Vanessa Kimbell.

This cookery book is so wonderfully written, so beautifully photographed and just so inspiring, by just doing a little "Prep" you can have on hand the most delicious syrups and sugars to create the most wonderful dishes. The best part is, that even doing the "Prep" is fun and its so lovely having jars full of gorgeous sugars or bottle's of yummy syrups ready to hand, looking gorgeous in your kitchen, ready to use. They would also make fantastic gifts for foodie friends.

I think one of the things I love most about this book has to be the originality of the recipes, so many books are the same old tired stuff, but this book is so crammed full of new exciting recipes that I just didn't know which one to cook first.

I haven't put this book down since I got it, I read it in bed, I read it as soon as I sit down with a cup of tea and today I made the yummiest Lavender Shortbread. The recipe was simple, easy to follow and turned out exactly like the ones in the photo in the book, you can't ask for more than that can you.

If I could only keep a couple of my cookery books from my collection this would be one of them and if you only ever buy yourself one cookery book this year, make it this one.

Buon appetito

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1905862563/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1Z10KH47CTAYJT7ZDRE8&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467128533&pf_rd_i=468294

Makes 35 Biscuits

200g Lavender Sugar (I luckily had made mine a couple of weeks ago)

500g butter

750g plain flour

Preheat the oven to 150c /gas mark 2.

Sieve the Lavender from the sugar and tip the spare petals back into the sugar jar (I didn't do this, I left mine in, but thats just down to personal taste & laziness). Cream the sugar with the butter until white and fluffy. This makes the shortbread lovely and light. Add the flour and mix well before turning out onto a work surface, which I floured lightly so the dough didn't stick. If the mix is too crumbly and won't come together, add a teaspoon of water and remix. I measured very carefully and found that the dough was perfect and didn't need any water. Roll out to about 1.5cm and cut the dough into the shapes you require.

Place the shortbread on a baking tray (I also used greaseproof paper just incase they stuck) and bake for 18 - 20 minutes. Be warned: the colour at the end of cooking changes rapidly, so keep a close eye on it.

Place on a wire rack to cool and sprinkle with a little more lavender sugar to serve.

Here is my recipe for Lavender Sugar :

http://dianastaveley.blogspot.com/2011/06/lavender-sugar.html

Here is Vanessa's:

1kg caster sugar

8 heaped tablespoons dried culinary lavender

Combine the lavender and sugar in a 1.5 litre airtight jar. There should be space left at the top to allow the jar, when shaken to disperse the lavender evenly.

Over the next two weeks give the jar a little shake from time to time. Ideally, leave the sugar for 6 weeks for maximum strength, but even after 2 weeks there is usually enough flavour to cook with. You can top up this jar twice, then start a fresh one.

Vanessa also suggests making Vanilla or Cardamon Shortbread as an alternative, but you will just have to buy the book to see how to make these!

Nectarine Salad with Goat's Cheese Toast

I think I may of found my Summer staple, the dish that I could live on all Summer, its simple and versatile, has all my favourite foods in and is so delicious. This is one of those dishes that as soon as you have finished it, you want more! Its perfect for a brunch, side dish, starter and how I like to enjoy it the most, as a simple supper with a glass of crisp white wine.

I have packed Hubby & Olly of to Oxted Cinema to watch the Formula 1, a little treat for Hubby's birthday and I have just made this dish for my lunch, it was also my supper last night, as you can see, I am truly addicted.

The combination of sweet nectarines with the coriander and chilli are out of this World, the goat's cheese toast with fresh ground black pepper are the perfect accompaniment. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did and as nectarines are in season right now, ripe and juicy in the shops, what could be a better way to enjoy them.

Buon appetito

Serves 4

Juice of 1 lemon or 2 limes

2 teaspoons clear honey

1 mild red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

4 ripe nectarines

8 slices baguette

200g goat's cheese (a log-shaped one)

handful of coriander leaves

Mix the lemon or lime juice, honey and chilli in a bowl with a little salt. Halve, stone and chop the nectarines, then them toss in the dressing.

Toast the baguette on both sides. Cut the goat's cheese into 8 slices and top each toast with a slice, grind over some gorgeous fragrant black ground pepper.

Lift the nectarines into a serving bowl with a slotted spoon and stir through the coriander. Tip the dressing into a small jug and serve alongside the nectarines and goat's cheese toasts.

Enjoy when ever you want, how your want and with a lovely glass of wine or bubbly.

Happy Birthday Marmalade

It was my Hubby's birthday yesterday and if you regularly read my blog or know me, you will know that my Hubby is the most important person to me in the World, he is my best friend and I love him to bits.

Last year for his birthday I set myself the rather daunting task of making him a three tier chocolate cake, this year because we were going out for dinner and didn't need a cake, I thought that I would make him some of his much loved marmalade. Oh I do like to set myself up, I didn't realise just how time consuming and back breaking it would be, but it was worth it to see his face and to be able to make him breakfast in bed with his very own homemade marmalade, made by his Wife's loving hands made me very happy.

Hubby had a lovely birthday, we had a gorgeous meal at Toby Tobin's restaurant The Dinning Room in Reigate and sat opposite us was Phil Tufnell the ex-cricketer, who was actually being served by Toby Tobin. What was funny was Hubby setting me up telling me to check how much wine we had left in the ice bucket, then realising it wasn't ours but Phil Tufnell's !!! Really wouldn't want to come between him and his wine. Lucky for me he didn't notice and Hubby found it all rather hilarious.

Anyway his birthday isn't over yet, we have a weekend alone to look forward to, nice meals out and on Sunday I have brought him tickets to go a see the Formula 1 at Silverstone, on the big screen at Oxted Cinema with Olly, beer and snacks included. I'm sure they will have a ball and I don't have to sit through it thankfully.

As I said, making marmalade was time consuming and a bit of a fuss, but very rewarding and the taste makes it all worth while. I am already planning to make grapefruit marmalade and I am also thinking up other ways to jazz it up a bit, maybe some vodka, whisky, that sort of thing.

Buon appetito

Below is the link for last years mammoth birthday task:

http://dianastaveley.blogspot.com/2010/07/fabulously-simple-chocolate-fudge-cake.html

Ingredients

• 6-8 small oranges, weighing about 550g

• juice of 1 lemon

• 1.4 litres water

• 1.1 kg granulated sugar

Method

1. To sterilize jam jars, place them in a large saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer briskly for 10-15 minutes. Remove from the water with tongs and place upside down on a clean surface to dry.

2. Slice the oranges in half. Using a metal spoon, scoop out the flesh over a bowl to collect any juice, leaving the pith behind. Reserve the shells.

3. Put the flesh, juice and pips in a food processor and blend until smooth.

4. Push the purée through a sieve into a preserving pan or large heavy-based saucepan.

5. Now scoop out as much of the pith from the shells as possible. Slice the rind into very thin matchstick strips and add these to the sieved flesh in the pan.

6. Pour in the lemon juice and water.

7. Bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until the rind is very soft and the mixture has reduced by half.

8. Over a low heat, add the sugar and stir until it has dissolved. Boil for about 10 minutes, skimming off any froth on the surface.

9. After 10 minutes, spoon a little of the marmalade onto a cold plate and place in the fridge. If it sets to a jelly the marmalade is cooked. If necessary, cook for a further 5-10 minutes and test again.

10. Allow the marmalade to cool slightly, then pour into the sterilized jars.

Summery Chorizo Stew

If nothing else a typical English Summer always includes, long hot barmy days, followed by very warm & wet ones and yesterday was just that. The day started off with a low mist hanging over the lake outside our house, this soon lifted and a glorious day was revealed, by the end of the day, there were heavy downpours, so I was really pleased that I had planned to cook this stew for dinner and not let Hubby continue with his obsession of cooking everything we eat on his new BBQ !!!

Normally a stew would be far to heavy for this time of the year, also most stews take hours to cook and having the oven on for that long, is just to much for a Summer dinner. This stew takes about 20 minutes in one pan on the stove top, so quick and easy, I suppose I could of let Hubby cook it on his BBQ, but hey, the poor thing needs a break !

The stew is light, strong on flavour and with the fresh herbs scattered over the top has a lovely fresh Summer taste, we loved it and served with buttery crusty rolls to dip into all the lovely stew juices was just perfect.

Buon appetito

Serves 2

1 tablespoon olive oil

100g cooking chorizo, chopped

1 red onion, sliced into thin wedges

390g carton chopped tomatoes with chilli

200ml fresh chicken stock, hot

250g pack of Merchant Gourmet Ready to Eat Wholesome Grains (from Sainsburys/Waitrose)

100g ready-roasted peppers, sliced

Small bunch of fresh mint, coriander & chives, chopped

Garlic bread or crusty bread/rolls to serve

Heat the oil in a saute pan (I used my large frying pan) over a medium-high heat, add the chorizo and fry for a couple of minutes until it starts to crisp and release its juices. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a bowl.

Add the onion to the pan, lower the heat and soften for 5 minutes.

Pour in the chopped tomatoes and stock. Season well, bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the chorizo, the grains and peppers, to the pan, cover with a lid and simmer for a couple more minutes, or until warmed through.

Spoon into bowls, scatter generously with the chopped herbs and serve with the warm garlic bread .

I doubled this recipe, but left it here as it is, so that its easier for My Brood to cook for their loved ones.

Recipe from Delicious Magazine August 2011