3 Cousin Canadian Pie

The Keston Kitchen...... on location

This edition of midnight baking comes to you live and direct from Vancouver, BC.

I am in the Kitchen of Mrs Gemma Stobbe – cousin, cook, mum of two and all round domestic goddess. We are also joined by cousin number two, the gorgeous, athletic Mrs Amy Jonston-Kakebeke, who has come from her downtown apartment to the sleepy suburbs of White Rock for a dose of domesticity.

Holidays are a great time to try a little baking – mainly because you have some time and don't have to do it at midnight. But also because you can experiment with the delicious local ingredients or your new surroundings... and in Beautiful British Columbia I have struck gold. A drive into the country on Sunday yielded many fruit - we screeched the car to a halt beside a roadside stall selling huge blueberries, juicy peaches and succulent apricots. All freshly picked that morning without a pesticide or supermarket insight.

(And for Rachael and Charlotte's sake I just have to mention the corn that also grows in BC– rows of super-sweet corn as far as the eye can see. De-lish.)

Returning home with more fruit that we could eat, there was only one thing to do – bake a pie (which, I was assured, is a very Canadian dish - as well as being a classically British pud, I reminded the ex-pats).

We used a combo of BC fruit, substituted some of the sugar for maple syrup – and voila – a very Canadian pie. Or a 3 Cousin Canadian Pie, as us ladies like to call it. And I am pleased to announce that it was enjoyed equally by adults and the under-5s alike. Best served warm with some real vanilla ice cream. AWESOME – as the Canadians would say.

Oh, and as I feel duty bound to be honest on this blog, I have to confess that the home-made pastry was a bit of a nightmare. Note to self – never try to make pastry in 35 degree heat. Just buy it from the store! The end result tasted good even if it did look a little rustic. And if I had mastered the fine art of pastry this early in my baking career, where would I go from here?!

A big thank you to my two gorgeous co-chefs – for help with the pie AND for a totally awesome holiday.

Jules in BC signing off

xxx

3 Cousin Canadian Pie

Ingredients

For the filling:

3 cups of pitted and sliced fresh peaches, nectarines, apricots (or whatever juicy fruit you have in the bowl)

2 cups of fresh blueberries

1/2 cup sugar

¼ cup maple syrup

1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/3 cup flour

2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces.

(A cup is ½ a pint)

For the pastry:

Buy some – if you want an easy life! A 500g pack of short crust should do the trick.

Otherwise, Delia helpfully takes you through, step by step: http://www.deliaonline.com/how-to-cook/baking/how-to-make-shortcrust-pastry.html

Preheat the oven to fan 180C/ conventional 200C/gas 6. Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface and use to line a shallow loose-bottomed 25cm pie dish. Make sure the pastry comes above the rim - it may shrink in baking and the filling could spill. Chill for 30 minutes.

NB – if you want some decorative pastry on top of the pie, cut out some shapes with pastry cutters (or your own design with a knife if you are feeling creative – a la my maple leaf!) and chill those in the fridge too.

Prick the base of the chilled pastry case all over with a fork, then line with greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans. Bake blind for 15 minutes. (You do not need to pre-bake the pastry shapes that will be on top of the pie). Remove the paper and beans and bake for a further 5-10 minutes until the pastry is golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly before filling.

Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, mix the f ruit, lemon juice, sugar, maple syrup, flour and spices.

Spoon the filling into the pie shell and dot with the pieces of butter. Place the pastry shapes on top (if using) and brush with milk.

Bake for 5 minutes, reduce heat to 180 and bake for a further 30 minutes until the filling is tender and bubbling and the pastry is golden.

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Summer time and the baking is easy....

Lemon and Blueberry Loaf.

This cake is perfect for the summer months: it is quick and easy to prepare, so you don't have to spend warm evenings in a hot kitchen and are free to return to your gin and tonic outside while the cake bakes.

A hot summer means your baking should be light; lemons always seem to lift a cake. The burst of blueberries as you bite in adds to the fruity moistness of this loaf.

Once again, I have my old chefing pal Miss Katie Green to thank for introducing me to this recipe, which she found in the ever-inspiring Good Food magazine. This summer I have baked it to commemorate the first bbq of the summer in April, a birthday garden party in July, and then brought it to the office to celebrate a run of birthdays/leaving dos/general end-of-term levity.

I predict this beautiful summer to stretch long into september... so roll up your sleeves and enjoy.

Jules xxx

• Ingredients
• 175g softened butter , plus extra for greasing
• 500ml tub Greek yogurt (you need 100ml/3.5fl oz in the cake, the rest to serve)
• 300g jar good lemon curd (you need 2 tbsp in the cake, the rest to serve)
• 3 eggs
• zest and juice 1 lemon , plus extra zest to serve, if you like
• 200g self-raising flour
• 175g golden caster sugar
• 200g punnet of blueberries (you need 85g/3oz in the cake, the rest to serve)
• 140g icing sugar
• edible flowers , such as purple or yellow primroses, to serve (optional)
• 
• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease a 2lb loaf tin and line with a long strip of baking parchment. Put 100g yogurt, 2 tbsp lemon curd, the softened butter, eggs, lemon zest, flour and caster sugar into a large mixing bowl. Quickly mix with an electric whisk until the batter just comes together. Scrape half into the prepared tin. Weigh 85g blueberries from the punnet and sprinkle half into the tin, scrape the rest of the batter on top, then scatter the other half of the 85g berries on top. Bake for 1 hr 10 mins-1 hr 15 mins until golden, and a skewer poked into the centre comes out clean.
• Cool in the tin, then carefully lift onto a serving plate to ice. Sift the icing sugar into a bowl and stir in enough lemon juice to make a thick, smooth icing. Spread over the top of the cake, then decorate with lemon zest and edible flowers, if you like. Serve in slices with extra lemon curd, Greek yogurt and blueberries.

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I Heart Italia: Focaccia

I Heart Focaccia by Charlotte x

While skipping through The River Café Classic Italian Cookbook, feeling slightly guilty for having used it only once (an exceptionally well chosen Christmas present from Matt) I noted a recipe for focaccia with black grapes. Bread and fruit – what a fabulous combination (I can hear my stepfather’s worried tones already). And, it just so happens that Rach has a punnet of red currants sitting on top of the fridge, looking a bit needy, as if they want to be used…

30 minutes later the dough is sitting to rise and I’m looking for fennel seeds. An hour later I am putting the focaccia together – a two tier piece de resistance with blueberries in the middle (not enough red currants in the punnet) and the little red bursts of delight sitting pretty on top. Sugar, olive oil and fennel seeds are thrown on and in the oven it goes to do its business.

Taste testers Jules, Rach, Matt and Ceri step up and despite being a little crispy round the edges (the pizza wheel cutter is not happy) everyone is very encouraging and I eagerly announce the birth of the weekly fruit focaccia - quite keen I admit, but I feel certain that everyone would benefit from a weekly focaccia.

So far I have made three in total (over 9 days). Focaccia number 2 had blueberries in the middle and cherries on top with fennel seeds adding a hint of exquisite excitement. This little focaccia came with me all the way to Pembrokeshire where it was very well received. Focaccia number 3 contained raspberries and was splattered with blackberries, caraway seeds, sugar and oil.

What’s great about this is that you can easily play around with quantities, fruits, seeds, nuts, and whatever else! I now plan to work my way through the other 199 recipes in Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers’ delightful book (while turning out the weekly focaccia of course). Just spotted focaccia col formaggio (with cheese) on page 119!

Recipe – adapted from The River Café

Dough:

375g plain flour, sieved

150ml warm water

3 tablespoon golden caster sugar

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

10g dried yeast

Pinch of salt

 

The rest:

600g fruit (black grapes, red currants, cherries, blueberries, raspberries – the list goes on)

Extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons golden caster sugar

3 tablespoons fennel seed (I think caraway seeds work well also)

 

Sieve the flour into a heap on the worktop and make a well.

Dissolve the yeast in the water and mix in the sugar, salt and olive oil. Pour into the well and mix in with the flour. Knead for at least 15 minutes and then place in a bowl, covered with a damp tea towel (and preferably in a warm spot) for an hour (minimum).

Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees.

Knock back the dough and divide into two. Press out half the dough onto a baking tray (greased with olive oil). Cover with half the fruit and sprinkle with 1.5 tablespoon of sugar, 1.5 tablespoons of fennel or caraway seeds and some oil. Cover with the remaining dough, crimp the edges and repeat.

Bake for around 40 minutes, leave to cool and dish out to deserving amici.

 

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Chicken Superfood Salad

Guaranteed to make you feel healthier without having to leave the table!

After a big weekend/night out people have different foods they favour to get themselves ready to face the world once more. Bacon and eggs are a sunday brunch favourite in the Keston kitchen. Sometimes however it is an injection of veggies and vitamins that you need.

A few weeks ago me and Jules returned from a epic 6 days at Glastonbury, it was the festival's 40th birthday and the best year yet. There is a whole array of culinary delights to be sampled in between all the songs, sun, shopping, sculptures and the spectacular shows in the Arcadia field (where the Keston kitchen's Ceri is to be found at the helm) - but so much fun took its toll and we were in need of a seriously special salad once it was all over!

After we had made the return journey to London, had several baths and caught up on some sleep, I knew the Leon cook book was the place to look and went straight to page with the chicken superfood salad. I made loads to ensure there would be left overs to help us through the first day back at our desks.

Chicken (or Salmon) Superfood Salad

Serves 2

2 tablespoons Quinoa (I used red Quinoa which I got from our excellent local shop SMBS in East Dulwich, Quinoa is a yummy, nutty tasting little grain packed with twice as much protein as rice or barley and is excellent in salads, if you can't get quinoa I would probably use some couscous)

1/2 head of broccoli

300g Chicken thighs (I used chicken breast) marinated in 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 3 tablespoons of lemon juice and 1 clove of chopped garlic OR 4 X 70g fillets of salmon

2 handfuls of rocket

2 handfuls of baby spinach

2 vine ripened tomatoes, roughly chopped

120g frozen peas (boiled for a few minutes)

1 lemon

2 tablespoons olive oil

A light sprinkling of alfalfa sprouts (i couldn't find any alfalfa sprouts so chucked in a few bean sprouts which are completely different)

3 tablespoons of aioli (this should involve egg but I just used a glug of sunflower oil, a dollop of greek yogurt, a crushed clove of garlic, plenty of lemon juice, salt and pepper)

2 tablespoons toasted seeds (i used sesame seeds and poppy seeds as that is what we had in the cupboard)

Sprinkling of chopped mint and parsley

Salt and pepper

Ideally marinade your chicken over night but an hour or so will do.

Put 80 ml of water in a pan and bring to the boil. Stir in the quinoa and boil fast for 5 minutes, then turn the heat down and simmer for 5 minutes more. Turn the heat off and fluff with a fork, and leave until cooled.

Pre-heat your grill to very hot or get a griddle pan smoking.

Cut the broccoli into small florets and slice the stalks into 1cm thick circles. Drop the broccoli into a pan of rapidly boiling salted water for 3 minutes, then drain and run under the tap until cold.

Season you chicken (or salmon) before you grill it: for chicken, grill for 5 minutes, turn it over, then 5 minutes more; just 3 minutes each side for salmon slices.

While all this is going on, build your salad: toss the leaves, tomatoes, broccoli and the peas in the juice of half a lemon and the olive oil.

Lift them onto whatever you're serving them on, then scatter on the quinoa and alfalfa.

The next layer is the protein (could use feta if you are vegetarian), and top it off with aioli, seeds and herbs, with the other half of lemon, wedged on the side.

Best enjoyed in front of the TV watching the Glastonbury highlights!

Rachael xx

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Pink Drinks

Pink Drinks by Charlotte 

On a recent trip to Berlin to see our Canadian friend Shotgun Jimmie play some tunes, check out art and sample some sauerkraut, we came across a super cool bar in East Kreuzberg which offered prosecco with rhubarb juice, a perfect summer drink combining two of my favourite things.

On my return, 5 days later, I decided to look into rhubarb recipes and found several for rhubarb cordial, all sounding pretty straightforward. A couple of weeks later I was in the supermarket and rhubarb was on offer so I bought a kilogram and decided I would make some cordial for a birthday bbq that we were hosting that coming weekend. I checked the recipe and the site I was going with said it would take 2 days as it involved straining the fruit through muslin for 24 hours. Suddenly it was Saturday morning and the impending bbq was taking place at 5pm that day…

So I decided to not look at the recipe and just go for it. I chopped the rhubarb and gently boiled the fruit for 15 minutes with about 50ml of water, covered, until it was soft and falling apart. I then set up a pan with the muslin across the top –fixed with pegs and elastic bands to hold it tight and scooped in the rhubarb. I left it for 2 hours while I ran errands, leaving Jules to sort out dessert and Rach pruning the garden in 30 degree heat.

All went to plan. I returned to find that I had 450ml of sharp rhubarb juice to transform into a delicious pink cordial. I knew it required lemon juice and sugar so I added about 50ml of lemon juice and several desserts spoons of sugar, boiled it up and after a few taste tests it was there – pink, sweet and syrupy with a little sour kick at the end.

So, why make this amazing, beautiful drink?

It’s really easy and can be made in less than 24 hours

It is aesthetically very pleasing and goes very well with sparkling wine

You’re left with a mass of rhubarb that looks a bit dried out but can definitely be used to make rhubarb fool, cake or crumble.

All rhubarb recipes and suggestions welcome! Enjoy.

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Kippers & Eggs

Kippers & Eggs on Sunday. By Charlotte x

It’s Sunday morning. We wake at 8.30am feeling spritely which is not always the case.

Suddenly I remember that our kind friends Amy and Tom have given us a packet of kippers the evening before (it was buy one get one free you see).

What follows is a great Sunday morning of kippers and eggs; one poached, one fried – both pretty darn good.

3 reasons why you should eat kippers:

They taste great and are good for you

They go real well with eggs (all styles we think)

They cost less than £1 for 2!

Happy Sunday.

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Mackerel 4 ways

By Charlotte 

If you’re feeling frugal or if you just fancy a fish supper then I advise you continue reading. This post is dedicated to pre cooked packet mackerel which comes at an incredibly reasonable price, is pretty damn tasty and can be delivered in so many ways that we thought we would share 4 of our favourite dishes with y’all.

I would firstly like to mention that great cooks think alike; I came home on Tuesday with 2 packets of mackerel, ready for my evening of fish trials in the Keston Kitchen and after 5 minutes Ceri walked in and pulled out her mackerel (already in the fridge), some prawns and a haddock fillet. So, as I said, great cooks think alike. That evening 3 of the four dishes below were developed.

Dish number 1: Freestyle Mackerel Pate

This recipe was brought to my attention by our keen guest chef Miss Katie Green who often whips up this simple dish while in her Bristol kitchen. I remembered the ingredients, Googled the recipe and due to a shortage of lemons I improvised. The results were astounding, well, pretty good.

300g cooked mackerel fillets

150g Philadelphia cheese

1 tablespoon horseradish sauce

A splash of white wine

2 tablespoons capers

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Blend with a hand whisk and put into ramekins and chill.

Dish number 2: Ceri’s Mackerel Fish Pie

I was trying to watch Ceri as she made this for our dinner – which was fantastic I might add. Main comments to note, ‘lucky Rachael isn’t here as there clearly is not enough’.

1 packet of mackerel fillets (approx 180g)

1 haddock fillet, steamed

2 handfuls of prawns

50g peas

4 eggs, soft boiled

1 pint of milk

Cornflour

4 large potatoes, peeled and diced

1 onion finely diced

Wholegrain mustard

2 tablespoons capers

Cheddar cheese

Butter

Olive oil

Mixed herbs

Boil the potatoes and mash with butter, milk and the mustard. Soft boil the eggs, then peel and quarter.

Cook the onions in a saucepan in some butter and oil, throw in the fish and add the milk. Bring to the boil and thicken with some cornflour if necessary. Add in the peas and cook for a few minutes. Grate in some cheddar cheese, throw in the capers, mixed herbs and season. Transfer the filling to a casserole dish and place the quartered eggs on top.

Cover with the mashed potato and grate cheese on the top.

Bake for about 20 minutes so that it is hot through and golden.

Dish number 3: Mackerel Fishcakes

Over the last 18 months I have developed a love for fishcakes. Making them with cooked mackerel seemed like a genius plan; easy, quick, impressive.

1 packet of cooked mackerel (approx 180g)

1 small onion, finely diced

3 large potatoes, peeled and diced

Butter

Milk

Mustard (any)

1 egg

Breadcrumbs

Fresh dill (or other herbs)

Saute the onions in olive oil. Cook the potatoes and mash with butter and milk, then put in the fridge to chill. Flake the mackerel into a mixing bowl and add in the onions, mash, mustard, egg and herbs. Season with salt and pepper and put back in the fridge to chill. When cold enough mould into fishcakes, roll them in breadcrumbs and put on a plate (ready for further chilling-this makes them much easier to handle and cook). When you want to cook then gently fry them in a pan, turning once. They will need roughly 8 minutes on each side until they are hot through and golden.

Dish number 4: Summer Mackerel Salad

If you like mackerel (presumably you do if you have read this far), beetroot, green leaves, soft boiled eggs, green beans, cherry tomatoes, new potatoes, capers and cucumber then this is the one for you.

Mix together all the above ingredients and anything else you might fancy, such as broad beans, artichoke, anchovies, celery, fennel, the list goes on. Make a dressing of olive oil and balsamic vinegar (1:2 oil to vinegar) mixed with some mustard and honey and enjoy!

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