Why bother to write about such simple dish? Well, not only is this raw food, packed with beetroot nutrients and therefore good for you but, it is simply delicious!

Vegan

Vegetarian

Gluten free

Raw food

Ingredients – for 2 as an accompaniment or light lunch

• 1 medium beetroot – peeled and coarsely grated
• ½ small onion – finely chopped
• small handful of raisins
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar – use organic ‘with mother’ if possible
• 1 tablespoonful extra virgin olive oil

method

What can I say – just mix together and serve.

A note – I had never heard of cider vinegar ‘with mother’.  In fact, ‘with mother’ simply means that the vinegar is unpasteurized and unfiltered with health benefits.

Look out for a separate section on this blog dealing with food nutrition  – coming soon!

Vegetarian

Vegan (if no cheese is used)

Gluten free (if gluten free pasta used)

This is the simplest and tastiest way to enjoy pasta and just great comfort food. It is also just about the cheapest meal ever. As with all simple meals, it is important to choose the best available ingredients as each one plays a key part in the flavour.

Ingredients

• 400g tin of plum tomatoes – chopped will do but plum have more flavour
• six or seven cloves or garlic – as much as you like, chopped or squeezed
• liberal splodge of extra virgin olive oil
• herbs – fresh or dried basil/oregano. How much is up to you
• pinch of salt
• grind of black pepper
• grated cheese – I like grana padano but cheddar works well too. It is fine without cheese but, for me, cheese is my downfall (along with alcohol…..)

Yes, accompanied by a robust red Sicilian wine, makes this into a feast

Method

• Pour a goodly splosh of olive oil into a pan.
• Add garlic and gently heat for a minute or so. Don’t burn the garlic.
• Tip in the tomatoes and stir
• Add herbs, salt and pepper. Cook on a low heat for 20 minutes.
• Boil pasta as per instructions – usually around 8 minutes to al dente.
• Drain pasta and add to sauce.

Serve, maybe adding fresh basil leaves (if you want to be posh) with grated cheese in a bowl for those who wish it.

Just so good! You will wonder why you don’t have this more often or possibly you might just start looking at properties in Tuscany.

Dairy free – uses oil but no butter

Gluten free option if Gluten free flour is used – still works well

This recipe originates from the BBC Good Food series with one earth shattering difference. The secret is that all the ingredients are just added to a bowl with one final mix with a fork before tipping your aggregate into a loaf tin ready for the oven. No separate creaming, mixing, beating or swearing – just add ingredients from the list in any order to a bowl!

The cake

• 175g muscovado sugar – light or dark all work, dark brown sugar gives a lovely treacle taste
• 175ml sunflower oil
• 3 large eggs
• 140g grated carrots
• 100g raisins
• grated zest of a large orange
• 175g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp grated nutmeg

The Icing

I think this is essential to the success of this cake. (However, we eat this one in the photo before giving it a chance to be iced).

• Juice from half an orange, the one used for zesting
• Zest from a complete orange
• Icing sugar

Method

• Add all cake ingredients to a bowl and mix with a fork. This does not sound promising, I know. Rest assured, it’s a piece of cake!
• Pour your concrete substitute into a loaf tin lined with baking parchment
• Bake at 180°C for 40-45mins
• Cool on a rack. Make icing by adding icing sugar to juice and zest, beating with a knife. Keep adding sugar until the mixture stiffens. Spread on cake
• Eat and enjoy perfection.

We have been trying to follow a 2/5 diet, two days of (relative) fasting and five days of moderate eating. The idea is to gradually lose a little weight. It’s OK but, for me, at least, the day after fasting has to be watched as binge eating is a temptation. The worst aspect, however, is snacking in the evening. Just a biscuit and cheese, square of chocolate, maybe some nuts…

One solution that seems to work for both fasting days and modest eating days, is to complement a simple meal with pickles. Baked potato, sardines on toast, cheese or cooked meats become gourmet delights when accompanied by pickles but, how healthy are they?

It turns out that many fermented foods contain probiotics, bacteria that are beneficial to health and wellbeing by increasing the good bacteria in the stomach. I immediately thought of fermented products such as wine, cider and beer – all close to my heart and possibly my downfall. No, sadly it is not alcohol the health experts are raving about. It is a range of fermented foods including those tasty pickles that spice up a simple meal.

We have a lot more to learn about pickles, including how to make them – something we shall be sharing on this blog in the future. We have learned that the high temperatures used for pasteurising products can negate any health benefits, so we have to shop wisely. We found that some high street brands of pickles had been treated in this way, so seek out good supermarkets, specialist shops, delis and those great Polish stores for a good source of unpasteurized pickles.

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The selection included in the photo include:

Jalapeño chillis (Waitrose)

Cornichons and onions (Waitrose)

Celeriac salad, Wyborny from a Polish shop (Rolnik)

Grated beetroot, Buraczki Obiadowe, also from the Polish shop (Edmal)

Pickled cucumber – home made

Tomato and onion salad – home made

Fermented foods, other than pickles, include un-pasteurised sauerkrauts and yoghurts.

Vegetarian

Gluten free

This cake, rather than bread, rarely has time to cool before it is consumed. It is simply the best banana cake that I have ever tasted. Try it – eat it – enjoy a heaven-sent treat.

Ingredients

• 2 bananas – mature, shall we say, mashed on a plate
• Half a pack of butter
• 120g soft brown sugar
• 1 egg
• Splash of milk
• Pinch bicarbonate of soda
• 190g self raising gluten-free flour

Method

• Beat the sugar and butter.
• Add the egg, mix
• Add the banana’s, bicarb & milk. Mix
• Add the flour
• Turn into a lined loaf tin, bake for 35 mins on 170

Amanda says….

The original recipe says 150g sugar but with the banana its super sweet so I have found 120g works for me.

Bill says…

This is not a fussy recipe. You can put all ingredients into a bowl and then blend. I like 135g sugar. Mind you, I have  yet to mak

e it as good as Amanda’s so maybe….

One of the high points in a bleak English January is the arrival of Seville oranges in the shops. These orange orbs are packed with Spanish sunshine and flavor, just waiting to be liberated into the best marmalade ever. The recipe I use is based on one from ‘The Fabulous Baker Brothers’. It may seem odd at first sight that artisan bread makers have a recipe for marmalade but they believe that handmade bread deserves a good marmalade. It is simple to make…..

Vegan

Vegetarian

Gluten free

Ingredients

It is best to make a small batch at a time, so 5 or 6 oranges will make about 5 jars of the good stuff.

• 5 or 6 Seville oranges – organic ones are available
• 3kg preserving sugar
• I lemon – just the juice
• 2l of water

You will need a large pan. Mine was well used by my mum for jam making so I think she would be delighted that it continues to be used in the family.

Essential too, is a square of muslin and a bit of string.

At least six clean jars/lids will be needed and these should be sterilized in the oven when you start making the marmalade.

Method

The photos explain better than words.

• Cut four slits in each orange but not right through the ends. Later, this will help to allow them to be squeezed.
• Place into the pan, add water bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes.
• The oranges should be soft enough to squeeze. Kitchen tongs are good for this but a wooden spoon might do. The idea is to compress the fruit like a bellows, letting the juice out. Remove each squeezed orange and place into a bowl to cool a little, reserving the juicy water for later.
• When cool enough – tongs let you get on with this while the oranges are still hot – scrape out the flesh and seeds, placing them into a muslin cloth. (It makes life easier if a bowl is lined with the cloth). Place the peel in a separate bowl ready for chopping
• The pectin for setting the marmalade is naturally contained in the pips, flesh and pith so enclose them in the bag and tie, placing back into the reserved fruity water.
• Stir in the sugar, adding the lemon juice and bring to the boil. It is going to be simmering for at least 30 minutes before you need to test for setting.
• Meanwhile, chop the peel into strips as chunky as you want. A food processor will do the job but I like hand-crafted chunks.
• Place a white plate in the freezer, ready to test the marmalade.
• Keep stirring, from time-to-time and add the chopped peel when the 30 minutes simmering is up.
• You will see the liquid progressively darken to a rich brown. Test by dribbling a teaspoon of liquid onto the plate. When it cools, run your finger through. If the sides hold up like a jelly, then it is ready. If it doesn’t, try again at 10 minute intervals until it does.
• Remove from the heat and let it cool for 15 minutes before filling sterilized jars. I use a soup ladle for this but there are specialized utensils that make it easier. Ensure lids are tightened. It will last for a year – if you don’t eat it first!

This recipe can be used to make savoury cheese scones or adapted for sweeter fruit scones. As the wet components are the same for both types. It is also easy to make a batch of both savoury and sweet scones.

The wet components:

150ml natural yoghurt

2 eggs

Mix these together in a bowl and put to one side while the dry components are prepared.

for savoury Cheese scones:

300 gm self-raising gluten free flour

I teaspoon of baking powder.

Pinch of salt (if you must)

100gm grated cheese – Cheddar is fine but other hard cheeses work well

Mix together and add to the egg and yogurt to make a dough. This can be rolled out and cut into rounds or simple made into balls. Bake in the oven at 250C for

For fruit scones:

300 gm self raising gluten free flour

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1 tablespoon caster sugar

100gm butter

50gm raisons

Mix together and add to wet mix to make dough as above.

You can see where we are going with this. To make both types in one batch, make the wet component and use half quantities of other stuff. Half and half – lovely!