Seville Orange Marmalage

Seville Orange Marmalade on toast

January is the time of year that bitter Seville oranges arrive in the shops. These sour tasting oranges are perfect for marmalade making. They contain lots of pectin, the essential component needed to set a jam, and the bitter taste is a perfect balance all the sugar used to preserve the fruit.

To make marmalade, you can use preserving sugar which has added pectin to help the jam set more easily. Alternatively, you can use normal sugar (which is a lot cheaper) and boil the marmalade for longer. I used unrefined caster sugar and it worked a treat.

Ingredients

• 900g Seville oranges
• 2 lemons
• 1.7l water
• 1.7l unrefined golden caster sugar

Method

1. Scrub the oranges well to clean them. Then, using a sharp knife, cut the peel into quarter segments. These will form the ‘bits’ of orange in the final marmalade
2. Squeeze the juice from the oranges and lemons into a large bowl while keeping the pips separate.
3. Tie up the pips and orange pith in a piece of muslin or a clean J cloth – I used a J cloth and a rubber band keep the top from unravelling. You don’t want the pips to float free as they’re annoying to fish out of the mix later on
4. Cut the orange peel into small pieces as finely as you like – or have a mixture of fine and chunky pieces
5. Add the muslin/J cloth bag to the orange juice with the water and then add the sliced peel on top. The peel will help to keep the bag under the surface of the liquid. Leave to soak for 24 hours to help soften the peel
6. Transfer the mixture to a large saucepan/pot and simmer gently until the peel is soft and translucent – about 20 mins. Meanwhile gently warm the sugar in the oven. Warm sugar will prevent the temperature of the marmalade dropping too much when added
7. Put a small plate into the freezer for testing the set of the marmalade
8. Remove the muslin bag to a sieve and squeeze as much of the liquid as possible back into the saucepan – this contains the pectin that will set the marmalade and you need as much of it as possible. Now add all the sugar and stir to dissolve
9. Boil rapidly for 20 minutes when the sugar has dissolved
10. Remove the pot form the heat and test to see if its set. Add a teaspoon of the mixture to the small plate and pop it back in the freezer for a couple of minutes. If it forms a wrinkled skin when pushed with the spoon its ready
11. Add a knob of butter to dissolve the light coloured deposit that forms on the surface. Transfer to sterilised jar and seal. Leave to cool for 24 hours and label!

Tips:

• if the marmalade isn’t set after 20 minutes just keep boiling it and test again every 5 minutes
• If it still won’t set, try adding the juice of a whole lemon and boil some more

Tomato and red pepper soup

Tomato and pepper soup

Tomato soup is always very comforting and this version is particularly good served cold on hot days.

Adding peppers gives this recipe a more interesting Moorish flavour and the paprika adds a smoky depth.

Normally, an authentic Gazpacho is made from blended vegetables and isn’t cooked. This recipe is a bit different as I’ve cooked the ingredients and it can be eaten hot or cold.

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 2 red peppers, finely diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 400ml can tinned tomatoes
• 1.5 tsp paprika
• 1 red chilli, de-seeded and diced
• 1 vegetable stock cube dissolved in 750ml hot water
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Method

• Gently fry the onion and peppers in the olive oil until they are soft (about 15 min)
• Add the garlic, chilli and tomato paste and fry for a further 2 mins
• Add the tinned tomatoes and the vegetable stock and simmer for about 15 min
• Remove form the heat and blend the ingredients together – I like this purée to be a bit rough with a few of the solid ingredients still whole to give a bit of texture. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve hot or cold with a dollop of natural yogurt and some freshly chopped coriander

Homemade tagliatelle with summer vegetables

Its not often that I make fresh pasta. It seems so much easier to use a packet of dried pasta from the cupboard but making fresh pasta is very easy, doesn’t take long at all and tastes so much better.

There are so many different types of pasta to choose from – long and thin like tagliatelle, linguine, long and fat like pappardelle, short and round like penne or filled dumplings like ravioli. When making it fresh tagliatelle is straight forward and goes with lots of different ‘sauces’. This light vegetable mix could easily be replaced with a meat-based sauce for a heartier meal.

This recipe makes enough for 2 servings of pasta.

Ingredients

For the pasta

• 100g type ’00’ flour
• 1 large egg
• pinch salt

For the vegetables

• handful of broccoli florets cut into small pieces
• handful of french beans cut in half
• handful asparagus tips
• salt and pepper
• fresh chilli, cut finely, to taste
• 2 cloves of garlic finely sliced
• olive oil

Method

1. Put the flour in a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the add and salt to the well and mix with a fork to form a dough. It may look like there isn’t enough water for the dough to form but it will, just persevere . If it really doesn’t you can add a tablespoon of warm water and this should do the trick. You’ll find it easier to do the last bit of mixing by hand
2. Put the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5-10min until the texture is smooth and it feels elastic. Cover with cling film and leave to rest for 30 min
3. Using a pasta machine roll the dough out until you have very thin sheets (I cut the dough in half and put one half through the machine at a time). Put the dough through the lowest setting 3 times, folding the sides of the dough into the centre when its through the machine, turning 90 degrees and putting through the machine again. Then put it through each of the other settings once each time. If you have a tagliatelle attachment then you can use this to make the tagliatelle otherwise cut by hand
4. Alternatively, you can hand roll the dough until its thinner than the height of penny piece. Again, halving the dough and working one half at a time is easiest. When you have a flat sheet about 30cm in length you can fold the ends into the middle and cut into strips about 1cm in width. Folding should help you to cut the whole length of the sheet in one go. You can then put your knife under the middle of the cut sheet, lift it up and the strands should unwrap either side.
5. Transfer the pasta to a baking tray and sprinkle with semolina or polenta. This will stop the strands from sticking to each other and comes away easily when you boil the pasta. Leave the pasta while you prepare the vegetables
6. Boil all the green vegetables in well salted water for about 5 minutes. While doing this, heat the olive oil in a frying pan and add the garlic and chilli to taste. Drain the vegetables and stir fry for a few minutes to coat in the garlic and oil mixture. Season with salt and pepper
7. Boil the pasta in salted water (you can use the same water you cooked the veg in) for a couple of minutes. You’ll have to check to see if its done – it should be ‘al dente’ and have a bit of bite. Combine the pasta with vegetables in the frying pan and mix well and check the seasoning. Serve up and enjoy!

Mushroom and Chickpea Burger

I had some mushrooms in the fridge and really needed to use them up but I didn’t want to make a risotto. I wanted to make something lighter and I came across this recipe on the ‘More to Mushroom‘ blog. Its a great recipe for a Summer lunch or dinner and is quick and easy to make. Its also quite yummy!  I’ve adapted it slightly by adding extra herbs and using a mixture of mushrooms.

Ingredients

For the burger

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 250g chestnut and button mushrooms, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 bunch spring onions, sliced
• 1 tbsp medium curry powder
• Fennel seeds
• Origano, good pinch
• Zest and juice of ½ lemon
• 400g can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 50g fresh breadcrumbs
• salt
• pepper

For the dressing

• 6 tbsp low fat Greek yogurt
• Pinch of ground cumin
• Ciabatta rolls or pitta bread, toasted and halved with a light drizzle of olive oil
• 1 beef tomatoes, sliced
• Handful of rocket leaves

Method

1. Heat 1 tsp oil in a non-stick frying pan and cook the mushroom, garlic and spring onion for 5 mins
2. Mix in the curry powder, lemon zest and juice, salt, pepper, Fennel seeds, origano with the mushrooms and cook for 5 mins or until mixture looks quite dry. Spread out on a backing tray and leave to cool slightly
3. Put the chickpeas into a blender and whizz until they are roughly blitzed but not so much that they form a puree
4. Add the mushroom mix and the breadcrumbs and shape into 4 large burgers or a number of smaller ones.
5. Fry in the remaining oil for 3-4 mins on each side until crisp and browned

To serve

1. Mix the yogurt with the cumin
2. Plate up the burgers onto the bread/pitta with a spoonfull of yogurt, a slice of tomato and a handfull of rocket leaves

Beetroot and onion tarte tatin

I have to admit that I’m a late convert to beetroot. I never particularly appreciated it. But recently I learned to like its sweet but earthy taste. For this recipe, I happened to have a packet of cooked beetroot and some puff pastry in the fridge that I wanted to use. What better than a tarte tatin? Easy to make and always looks (and tastes) good.

• 3 medium sized beetroots, cooked and sliced into circles
• 2 medium sized onions, sliced and sautéed until soft
• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• knob of butter
• 1 roll of all-butter puff pastry
• good pinch of dried oregano or thyme (or both!)
• Feta or goat’s cheese
• salt and black pepper

Method

1. Cook the sliced onions over a low heat for about 20-30min in the butter and olive oil until they are soft, translucent and very sweet. Add a good pinch of salt and pepper and the dried herbs. Transfer to a dish while you continue with the beetroot
2. Over a medium heat, cook the beetroot in a little olive oil and add the balsamic vinegar
3. Arrange the beetroot in the tin so that they cover the whole of the bottom of the tin, spoon over the onions and then add the puff pastry over the top, fitting it snuggly into the tin
4. Bake at 200˚C for about 20min until the top is golden brown
5. To serve, run a knife around the edge of the tarte to loosen it, put a serving plate over the top and quickly turn the tarte out onto the plate
6. You can serve hot or cold with some creamy goat’s cheese crumbled over the top or some salty feta