Somehow or another, I've ended up with 3 big juicy grapefruit in my fruit bowl. I don't usually buy or eat grapefruit, so I really had no idea what to do with them. I considered juicing them, but honestly I find grapefruit juice just a touch too bitter to enjoy in it's unsweetened form.
So, what to do with them?
I started by googling (the source of all inspiration) 'grapefruit cake' to see what would come up. I got a lot of results for something I'd never heard of before called Hollywood Grapefruit Cake which seems to be a cake flavoured with grapefruit, and using yogurt and oil instead of butter making it nice and healthy (or rather, heathIER...). Unfortunately however, I did not have any yogurt in the fridge, boohoo.
Before I got too concerned about these 3 homeless grapefruit, it suddenly dawned on me that grapefruit is a citrus fruit just like any other, just a little more bitter. So I decided to take a rather delicious recipe for Lemon Drizzle Cake by Tana Ramsey (Gordon Ramsey's missus), and adapt it to suit this new fruit, and voila, I introduce you to: Grapefruit Drizzle Cake!
I'm going to skip right to the end, and tell you now that this cake is DELICIOUS. I was as skeptical as you, but it turned out like a cross between an orange and a lemon cake, with just a little je ne sais quoi. Give it a try, you won't be disappointed.
Grapefruit Drizzle Cake - adapted from Tana Ramsey's Lemon Drizzle Cake at www.bbcgoodfood.com
FOR THE CAKE
225g butter or margerine
225g golden caster sugar
4 eggs
finely grated zest of one grapefruit
225g self-raising flour
FOR THE DRIZZLE
juice of 1 grapefruit
85g caster sugar
First things first, preheat your oven to 160 degrees (fan) and line a loaf tin with parchment paper.
Get a big bowl, and in it whisk together the sugar and the butter or margarine until light and fluffy.
TIP: I always use margarine because a) it's just so much easier to work with and b) for everyday baking, it's a huge cost saving compared to butter.
Next, add the eggs, one at a time, mixing between each addition (adding the eggs one-by-one stops the mixture from curdling).
Add the flour and the grapefruit zest and mix until well combined.
Pour it into the loaf tin, and bake in the oven for about 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle came out clean.
TIP: Always trust your instincts when it comes to your oven! For me this sometimes takes up to 55 minutes, but your oven may be a hot-mama and bake it in 40 minutes flat. The skewer test is always the best way to check for doneness and I keep a pack of bamboo skewers (under £1 for 50 skewers) in the kitchen especially for this purpose.
Once the cake is baked, stir the sugar and the grapefruit juice together, and drizzle over the top of the cake.
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4942/lemon-drizzle-cake
Showing posts with label picnic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label picnic. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Roasted Mediterranean Vegetable Quiche
Quiche means, simultaneously, sunny picnics in the park and comforting lunch on a cold winters day. Fresh, but warming. Light, but satisfying. It doesn't much matter the filling - bacon, broccoli, onions, cheese, peppers, mushrooms, salmon, chicken (in any combination) - in quiche-form it is sure to be a delicious, melt-in-the-mouth affair.
This is also why quiche makes such a delightful packed-lunch; it doesn't really matter what you have in the fridge, as long as you have: flour, butter, eggs, milk, cheese + something to fill it with, you're guaranteed a tasty result.
I'll admit it now, it's not a quick recipe. But once you're eating flaky homemade pastry, filled with the lightest egg, and meltiest cheese, it will be worth the work.
Anything encased in pastry also offers you the major lunch-box benefit of: durability. I can stick a big slice of quiche in my backpack wrapped in foil and it arrives at the office after it's 10 mile bicycle journey, still in one piece.
And so, onto business.
Roasted Mediterranean Vegetable Quiche
First things first, let's get everything together. We'll need:
FOR THE PASTRY
85g plain white flour
85g wholemeal flour
85g butter or margarine
2tbsp cold water
Pinch salt
TIP: I tend to use a 50:50 mix of plain white and strong wholemeal flour - for some wholesome bonus points. But you can use all-pwhite, or a mix of whatever flours you have, e.g. rye, wholemeal, oats, spelt...
FOR THE FILLING
2 eggs
1/4 pint milk
2 or 3 thick slices of mature cheddar cheese
Olive oil
A selection of the following: 1/2 yellow pepper, 1/2 green pepper, 1/2 onion, 3 or 4 chestnut mushrooms, 1/4 courgette sliced, handful of cherry tomatoes, garlic clove (unpeeled).
Herbs (such as thyme, oregano, basil, rosemary or an italian mix)
Now that everything is prepared, let's cook.
Preheat the oven to 170C (fan).
Start by prepping the dough. Put the flour, (or flours if you decide to use a mix) butter, and salt into your food processor, or a large bowl. Mix on high in the food processor, or use a spoon if you're mixing by hand. Add a couple of tablespoons of cold water if the dough is too dry, you want the dough to cone together into a ball, but it shouldnt be sticky. Wrap the ball of dough in cling film and put it in the fridge to rest.
Next, start work on your roasted veggies. Chop your selection of Mediterranean veggies into chunky pieces:
Onions - place the halved onion face down and cut lengthways into 1cm wedges
Peppers - de-seed the pepper, and chop into 1inch batons.
Courgettes - halve the courgette lengthways, then place the pieces face down. Slice thickly.
Mushrooms - halve the mushrooms, place face down and chop into chunky wedges.
Cherry tomatoes - halve or leave whole.
Garlic clove - whole, unpeeled, lightly crushed.
Place the veggies in a roasting tin and toss with 1 or 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the herbs. Put the veggies in the bottom half of the oven to roast for around 15 minutes.
Remove the dough from the fridge. Flour your surface and rolling pin, and roll the dough out into a large enough round to fil your quiche dish or sandwich tin. Line the base of your dish or tin, and tidy the edges. Place a sheet of baking paper over the dough, and fill the dish with baking beans (I use dried chickpeas I happened to have in the cupboard). Place in the top half of the oven and blind bake for around 10 minutes.
Now let's make the quiche filling. Beat the eggs in a jug, and mix with the milk. Chop the slices of cheddar into dice. Place the cheddar in the bottom of your pastry shell, top wit the roasted veggies, then pour in the liquid. Place in the oven to bake for a further 15-20 minutes.
This is also why quiche makes such a delightful packed-lunch; it doesn't really matter what you have in the fridge, as long as you have: flour, butter, eggs, milk, cheese + something to fill it with, you're guaranteed a tasty result.
I'll admit it now, it's not a quick recipe. But once you're eating flaky homemade pastry, filled with the lightest egg, and meltiest cheese, it will be worth the work.
Anything encased in pastry also offers you the major lunch-box benefit of: durability. I can stick a big slice of quiche in my backpack wrapped in foil and it arrives at the office after it's 10 mile bicycle journey, still in one piece.
And so, onto business.
Roasted Mediterranean Vegetable Quiche
First things first, let's get everything together. We'll need:
FOR THE PASTRY
85g plain white flour
85g wholemeal flour
85g butter or margarine
2tbsp cold water
Pinch salt
TIP: I tend to use a 50:50 mix of plain white and strong wholemeal flour - for some wholesome bonus points. But you can use all-pwhite, or a mix of whatever flours you have, e.g. rye, wholemeal, oats, spelt...
FOR THE FILLING
2 eggs
1/4 pint milk
2 or 3 thick slices of mature cheddar cheese
Olive oil
A selection of the following: 1/2 yellow pepper, 1/2 green pepper, 1/2 onion, 3 or 4 chestnut mushrooms, 1/4 courgette sliced, handful of cherry tomatoes, garlic clove (unpeeled).
Herbs (such as thyme, oregano, basil, rosemary or an italian mix)
Now that everything is prepared, let's cook.
Preheat the oven to 170C (fan).
Start by prepping the dough. Put the flour, (or flours if you decide to use a mix) butter, and salt into your food processor, or a large bowl. Mix on high in the food processor, or use a spoon if you're mixing by hand. Add a couple of tablespoons of cold water if the dough is too dry, you want the dough to cone together into a ball, but it shouldnt be sticky. Wrap the ball of dough in cling film and put it in the fridge to rest.
Next, start work on your roasted veggies. Chop your selection of Mediterranean veggies into chunky pieces:
Onions - place the halved onion face down and cut lengthways into 1cm wedges
Peppers - de-seed the pepper, and chop into 1inch batons.
Courgettes - halve the courgette lengthways, then place the pieces face down. Slice thickly.
Mushrooms - halve the mushrooms, place face down and chop into chunky wedges.
Cherry tomatoes - halve or leave whole.
Garlic clove - whole, unpeeled, lightly crushed.
Place the veggies in a roasting tin and toss with 1 or 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the herbs. Put the veggies in the bottom half of the oven to roast for around 15 minutes.
Remove the dough from the fridge. Flour your surface and rolling pin, and roll the dough out into a large enough round to fil your quiche dish or sandwich tin. Line the base of your dish or tin, and tidy the edges. Place a sheet of baking paper over the dough, and fill the dish with baking beans (I use dried chickpeas I happened to have in the cupboard). Place in the top half of the oven and blind bake for around 10 minutes.
Now let's make the quiche filling. Beat the eggs in a jug, and mix with the milk. Chop the slices of cheddar into dice. Place the cheddar in the bottom of your pastry shell, top wit the roasted veggies, then pour in the liquid. Place in the oven to bake for a further 15-20 minutes.
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