Spiced Beetroot and Orange Chutney

I saw this recipe in the Xmas Good Food magazine and thought it looked nice. We also had some beetroot left from the veg box and seeing as we never ever eat it thought it would be a good thing to make. Wrong! You need 1.5kg for it and the beetroot we had only weighed a measley 500g!!! So I ordered some more (for the first time ever) and it arrived today. The finished product looks pretty nice but I haven't tasted it yet seeing as I loathe the red stuff..!

For about 4 1lb jars you need
1.5kg raw beetroot, peeled and diced into a .5cm dice
3 eating apples, peeled and grated
zest and juice of 3 oranges
3 onions, diced
700g sugar
700ml red wine vinager
2tbsp mustard seeds
1tbsp ground cloves
1tbsp ground cinnamon
1tbsp corriander seeds

Gently roast the mustard and corriander seeds in a dry frying pan until they begin to pop. Lob everything into a preserving pan and bring to a boil. Simmer over a moderate heat until the liquid has reduced and the beetroot is tender. This was supposed to take an hour but actually took more like 3. You don't want much juice left at the end, it mostly needs to have reduced down. Once the chutney is cooked put it into sterile jars and leave somewhere dark and cool to mature for about a month.

Quick lunch cous cous

Bored of sarnies and determined not to buy something at work again I threw this together this morning and the result was mighty fine.

For one portion of scrummy lunch you need:
1/3 cup cous cous
2/3 cup boiling water
handful raisins
3-4 dried apricots, chopped into little pieces
handful toasted pine nuts
1/4 tsp veggie stock
1 tsp toasted pumpkin seed oil
1/2 tsp moroccan spices
couple of large handfuls of spinach, watercress and rocket salad.

Place the cous cous in a tub with all the other ingredients minus the salad. Pour over the boiling water, mix a little and leave to soak for 10 mins. Serve warm or cold with the salad on the top. Also nice with some fried haloumi or crumbled feta on the top or with some chunks of roasted squash/carrots/parsnips in it. In the summer it's also nice with roasted veggies and peppers in it too. The combinations are endless!

Vanilla Poundcake

I suddenly realised late this afternoon that we had no cakes again for lunches so decided to rustle up something quick and easy but which would last for the week. After flicking through the Hummingbird book I decided on a simple pound cake. This is a slightly adapted recipe as I had no buttermilk, but it doesn't seem to have suffered from being made with milk alone.

You need:
330g vanilla sugar (yes really! I know it's a lot)
120g butter, softened
200g plain flour
1/4 tsp bicarb
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
120ml milk
3 eggs

Cream the butter and sugar till combined, then add the eggs one at a time. Mix well between each egg. Once this is done, add the flour, bicarb and vanilla and milk. Pour into a lined loaf tin (I used a 2lb loaf tin and also made 6 cakes from left over mix). Bake for about 30-45 mins till done. Leave to cool and then enjoy. The outside is very crunchy from all the sugar. Next time I make it I think I will reduce the sugar as it's very sweet and I think would survive with a little less in the batter.

St Clements Posset

I always make this with both orange and lemon juice and I find just lemon to be too acidic. It's like the worlds *easiest* pudding but tastes like you have slaved for hours over it :)

You need:
1 large pot double cream (600ml or thereabouts)
150g caster sugar
juice of 1 orange and 1 lemon.

Place the sugar and cream into a large pan and bring to the boil. Once it boils, turn down to a simmer and simmer for 3 minutes. Make sure you stir the cream/sugar a couple of times to make sure it doesn't catch and to dissolve the sugar.

Once the cream has been heated for long enough, pour it into a large jug with the juices and stir. Pour into little serving dishes/glasses and chill for at least 3 hours. Delish. Am toying with the idea of making lavender scented creams in the summer...