It's one of my favourite flavour seasons of the year now . . . Aspagarus season! The shops are slowly beginning to stock fresh British Asparagus, which I believe is the most delicious tasting asparagus in the world!!

 

Of course there is asparagus readily available all year round . . . but it more often than not comes from Peru.  Nothing against Peru . . . but . . . do you really want to eat asparagus that's been grown half a world away, sprayed with something to keep lasting longer . . . and pasted onto our grocery shop shelves some what . . . multiple days or even weeks later???

 

I think NOT!  Yuck!!  I turn my nose up at that tasteless foreign stuff all year round . . . I'm waiting for Spring  when our English Asparagus comes into season, I'm ready to line up and partake as often as I can.  It is a short season and I want to indulge myself as much as I can during those few weeks in May and June when it's available!

 

I love it steamed, until it's crispy tender and still nicely green . . . dipped into melted lemon butter, or hollandaise sauce . . . it's also a real treat used as soldiers instead of toast with your soft boiled eggs.  It makes beautiful pasta dishes, even more gorgeously delicious . . . goes wonderfully with chicken . . .



It's absolutely  breathtakingly delish in  salads . . . or wrapped in pancetta and grilled.  It makes fabulously tasty spring tarts and is wonderful with poached or scrambled eggs.  In fact it's just wonderful when paired with eggs, full stop!



But how I really love it . . . is when it's roasted in a hot oven.  I simply toss with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and then spread it out onto a baking sheet.  I roast it for 8 to 10 minutes in a hot oven.  As soon as it comes out of  the oven I spritz it with some white balsamic vinegar and sprinkle it with a few shavings of Parmesan cheese.  Oh, my . . . but it is some good done that way.

 

Today I've simply steamed it and then layered it in a delicious open faced sandwich for two.  Layered on a crisp ciabatta roll, which has been spread with some pesto mayonnaise, along with some ham, sliced tomatoes and lotsa cheese, this went down a real treat.

 

I just love knife and fork sandwiches don't you???

 

 *Open Faced Asparagus Melts*
Makes 2
Printable Recipe

A delicious open faced grilled sandwich, filled with the lovely flavours of delicious fresh Spring asparagus!

16 good sized spears of fresh asparagus
3 TBS fat free mayonnaise
1 TBS ready made Green Pesto
1 ciabatta roll, cut in half, with the top half trimmed
so that it will lie flat
2 slices of baked ham
4 thick slices of ripe tomato
2 TBS of grated low fat mozarella cheese
2 TBSl of grated emmenthaler cheese
2 TBS grated Parmesan cheese
fresh ground black pepper to taste

Trim the asparagus.  Snap off any woody ends and trim off the little pointy bits along the stem.  (These can be bitter.) Wash well.  Steam, covered for 2 minutes, until crispy tender.

Preheat the grill.  (Broiler)

Combine the mayonnaise and pesto in a small bowl.  Spread 2 TBS of the mixture onto each ciabatta half.  Place onto a baking sheet.  Pop under the grill for a vew minutes until the pesto mayo is bubbling.  Remove from the oven and then layer each slice with one piece of  ham and half of the asparagus.  Place two slices of tomato on top of each.  Sprinkle each with 1 TBS of each of the cheeses and season with a grating of black pepper.

Grill for a few minutes longer, until the cheese is melted and just turning golden brown.

 

I'll let you in on another really tasty, simple way to prepare it.  Wash and dry your asparagus really well.  Trim off the woody ends and those bitter little points.  Roll it in low fat mayonnaise to coat . . . and then roll it in grated Parmesan Cheese.  Place on a buttered sheet of parchment paper you've placed on a baking tray and roast it at a hot temperature (200*C/400*F/ gas 6) for about 8 to 10 minutes (depending on the thickness of the spears) until the cheese is melted, the spears are tender and the whole thing is scrummy, Scrummy, SCRUMMY!

 

I just love Rhubarb Season and our rhubarb plants are going crazy at the moment!  I am love, love, LOVING it!

 

I picked up some Spanish strawberries today.  (I know naughty me.)  They looked really, really good though and mine are only blossoming . . . sooo tooo early for English ones.  I was really wanting a Strawberry and Rhubarb Crumble though, and just what's a gal to do!

 

This is easily my most favourite of all crumbles.  Todd . . . he likes Apple Crumble best of all . . . for me though, it's this one.

 

You get the slight tartness from the rhubarb and then that sweetness of the strawberries . . . and all topped off with a buttery/oaty/nutty crumble topping!



Soft and succulent fruit . . . oooozing with flavour!!!
Toasty nutty topping . . . oooozing with crunch!!!
Rich cream dribbling into all those lovely crevices . . .

 

It's pretty hard to resist something that is so so so sooooooooo GOOD!

 

Seriously.  I was very naughty with this, and I think I'm going in to polish off the leftovers for breakfast.

 

If I'm not up for air by noon . . . you better send in a search party . . .

 

 *Strawberry, Rhubarb, Oat and Walnut Crumble*
Serves 8 to 12
Printable Recipe

This is worth waiting all year for.  Delicious, delicious, DELICIOUS!

For the Crumble Topping:
3.75 ounces plain flour (3/4 cup)
2 ounces rolled oats (1/2 cup)
3.75 ounces soft light brown sugar (1/2 cup packed)
3 ounces of chopped toasted walnuts ( generous 1/2 cup)
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
2 ounces butter, melted (1/4 cup)

For the filling:
7 ounces granulated sugar (1 cup)
2 TBS cornflour
16 ounces rhubarb, cut into 1 inch pieces (a generous 6 cups)
16 ounces strawberries, cut in half (a generous 6 cups)
1 TBS pure vanilla extract

Pouring cream to serve

Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5.  Butter a large glass baking dish and set aside.

Make the crumble first.  Mix the flour, oats, sugar, salt and walnuts together in a bowl.  Pour the melted butter over top.  Stir and press together to make a few clumps.  Put in the freezer while you make the filling.

Stir together the cornflour and sugar, mixing it together well.  Add the fruit and vanilla.  Toss together gently to coat.  Pour into the prepared baking dish.  Remove the crumble from the freezer and sprinkle over the top.

Bake for 45 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown and the filling is bubbling around the edges.  Cool for about 20 minutes before serving.

Spoon out into bowls to serve and pass the cream!

Note:  This is best eaten on the day.  You can halve the recipe quite successfully if you don't want to make that much.  Chill any leftovers, wrapped in the refrigerator.  They're quite nice eaten for breakfast the morning after.  *blush*

Well, folks, what with having an early spring and such a lovely March, quite a bit of the rhubarb in our garden is ready to begin harvesting now. Not bundles and bundles of it, but enough for me to indulge in a few rhubarb treats.



I love rhubarb season. I love rhubarb!! When I was a child, during rhubarb season, my mother used to give us each a stick of rhubarb and a small bowl of sugar. We would sit there sticking the end of the rhubarb into the sugar and biting it off on the sugared end. Oh boy. Was that ever mouth puckering good! You got the super sour tang of the rhubarb and a blast of sweet from the sugar. It was like a natural, "chemical free" pixie stick!



The other week I made a rhubarb pie and it was sooooo good. This weekend I decided to make a Rhubarb Clafoutis. Traditionally made with cherries, this is a French Dessert. It's like a batter pudding made with eggs, ground almonds, a bit of flour, sugar, fruit and cream. Technically a clafoutis made with fruit other than cherries it called a Flaugnarde, but why split hairs . . . this is a clafoutis.



Rich and sweet . . . with tender pieces of honey roasted rhubarb and lovely flecks of vanilla seeds througout, this is a fantastically scrummy dessert.



Of course Todd had to have his with some cream drizzled over top, and why not . . .


A little bit of an indulgence once in a while is a good thing. (So is the smell of your fingers after playing with the vanilla seeds. There's no calories in smell right??? Ok . . . so I did have an eensy peensy taste.)




*Rhubarb Clafoutis*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe

Tender Spring Rhubarb is showcased in a very tasty dessert. The pinker rhubarb looks very nice done this way.

400g rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 2 inch lengths (3/4 ld)
1 vanilla pod
25g of butter (scant 2 TBS)
1 TBS runny honey (Acacia is nice)
50g of ground almonds (generous 1/2 cup)
2 TBS plain flour (all purpose)
100g caster sugar (1/2 cup fine white sugar)
2 medium free range eggs
2 medium free range egg yolks
250ml of double cream (a generous cup of heavy cream, a scant 9 fluid ounces)
icing sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Arrange the rhubarb in a single layer in a shallow 1 litre baking dish. Split the vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds with the back of a knife. Dot the seeds over the rhubarb pieces. Dot with the butter as well and then drizzle the honey over top. Bake for 15 minutes in the heated oven, until tender.

Beat together the almonds, flour, sugar, eggs, egg yolks and cream, until you have a smooth mixture. Remove the roasted rhubarb from the oven. Pour the egg mixture over top. Bake for an additional 25 to 30 minutes until puffed and golden. Dust with icing sugar and serve immediately. Delicious!

This is the cookery book I cut my teeth on, way back in the olden days as a young Bride. I was only 19, not all that experienced . . . and this was pretty much my cookery bible. Everything you needed to know about baking cakes, pies, cookies, quick breads, etc. and simple and easy meals was within it's pages. They became quite dog-eared and spattered through the years . . . which is the sign of a good cookbook.



Of course I have more than added to my cookbook collection through the years, but this is still one of my "go-to's" when I want to bake or cook something basic, simple . . . and delicious, without artiface or faffing about.



The rhubarb in our garden is beginning to ripen nicely now. We planted extra in the autumn, so we will have lots and lots this year. We both just adore rhubarb and in my opinion, you can never have enough rhubarb!! (Did you know it's actually a vegetable and not a fruit?? Tis true!)



One thing I love to do with it is to bake at least one or two rhubarb pies during the season. One that I bake is a Rhubarb Custard Pie, which is very, very good. Rich and custardy, and quite a favourite of ours to say the least.



Other times though I just want a basic, two crust, simple . . . rhubarb pie. No frills. Nothing fancy. Just sweetened fruit between two crusts.



I think when it comes right down to it . . . I'm a kind of a basic and simple girl . . . with a kind of a basic and simple husband, and this pie suits us to the "T."



*Old Fashioned Rhubarb Pie*
Makes one 9-inch double crust pie
Printable Recipe

Nothing fancy here, just plain old fashioned goodness.

Sufficient pastry for a 9-inch two crust pie
4 cups diced fresh rhubarb (1 inch pieces) (6 to 8 stalks, depending on their thickness)
1 1/4 to 1 3/4 cups of sugar (240g to 335g) depending on how tart your rhubarb is
1/3 cup all purpose flour, sifted (about 34g)
1/8 tsp salt
1 TBS butter
milk and sugar for glazing

Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6.

Prepare the pastry, divide in half and roll half of it out large enough to line a 9 inch pie plate. Keep the remainder covered. Set aside.

Mix together the flour, salt and sugar. Place half of the rhubarb into the lined pie plate. Sprinkle half of the flour/sugar mixture over top. Add the remainder of the rhubarb. Top with the remaining sugar. Dot with butter.

Roll out the remaining pastry into a round large enough to cover the rhubarb with lots of overhang. Seal around the edges of the pie, trim and flute. Cut a few slashes in the top of the pie to vent for steam. Brush the top with milk and dust with sugar.

Place onto a baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is cooked and bubbling. Allow to cool to at least warm before cutting into wedges to serve.

I like mine warm with vanilla icecream, and Todd, of course . . . likes his with custard.



*Basic Pastry for a Double Crusted Pie*
Makes enough for one 9 inch pie
Printable Recipe

2 cups sifted aall purpose flour (199g)
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup vegetable shortening (6 ounces, Trex or White Flora)
4 to 5 TBS cold water
Additional flour for rolling

Blend or sift together the flour and the salt. Drop in the shortening and cut into the flour with a pastry blender, or using two round bladed knives in a cutting motion. You should end up with some crumbs about the size of small peas, and some smaller. Add the water one TBS at a time, using a fork to mix it lightly together, and adding water only until all the flour is dampened. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured suface and shape into two balls.

Dust a rolling pin with flour and roll each ball lightly, from the centre to the edge each time, until the pastry is about 1 inch larger than an inverted pie plate.

To line a pie plate, fold the rolled pastry in half and trasnfer it to the pie plate. Unfold and ease loosely into place, being very careful not to stretch the pasty. Trim off any extra with a sharp knife or kitchen scissors.

Baked Pie Shells: Flute the edge of the pastry in your preferred way. Prick with a fork at 1 inch intervals and then bake in a preheated 230*C/450*F/ gas mark 7 oven for 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool before adding the cooked filling. This recipe will make two single crust baked pie shells.

Unbaked Pie Shells: Prepare as above but do not prick the pastry. Add the uncooked filling and bake as directed in the filling recipe. This recipe will make two unbaked pie shells.

Double Crust Pies: Add filling to the pastry lined pie plate and moisten the edge. Roll out the top crust and place on top of the filling. Flute and crimp edges, trimming off any excess. Cut a few vents in the top to allow steam to escape. Bake as directed in the filling recipe.

Tips: Avoid stretching the pastry, especially during rolling and when fitting pastry into the pie plate. Stretched pastry will shrink during baking. Avoid overhandling and over rolling the pastry. This causes it to toughen.

Even though we have had a fairly mild winter this year . . . I still find myself longing for the salad days of summer . . . there are some days when stodge just doesn't cut the mustard. I want lettuce, and I want it now!



I love fresh salads made with lovely fresh tomatoes and other salad vegetables, but in truth . . . the tomatoes at this time of year are decidedly anemic looking and tasting! There is no salvaging them!!



Instead I choose to use fresh fruit. It adds beautiful colour, texture and flavours to my salad. eating apples and pears . . . the fruits of winter . . . along with some sweetly chewy dried cranberries, little jewels of colour . . .



Tossed together with some lovely cos lettuce . . . crisp and crunchy and slightly bitter . . . just perfect with the sweetness of the fruit . . .



Crunchy salty roasted cashew nuts . . . Creamy sweet nutty emmenthal cheese . . .
And a sweet and sour lemon and poppy seed dressing . . . homemade of course! You get the tartness of the lemon combined with the sweetness of sugar . . . a little bite from some grated onion and the crunch of poppy seeds.



Oh, my . . . this is some good, and does the trick. I am happy . . . for now . . .



*Winter Fruit Salad with a Lemon and Poppy Seed Dressing*
Serves 6 to 8
Printable Recipe

A perfect blend of crunchy cos lettuce, sweet apples, pears and cranberries, salty cashew nuts and nutty emmenthal cheese, swathed in a tangy lemon and poppy seed dressing. Delicious!

1 pound of cos lettuce hearts, washed, dried and torn into bits
(Romaine lettuce, 16 ounces)
6 ounces emmenthal cheese, shaved with a vegetable peeler (Swiss cheese)
150g of roasted salted cashew nuts (1 cup)
75g of sweetened dried cranberries (1/2 cup)
1 large eating apple, washed, cored and thinly sliced
1 large ripe pear, washed, cored and thinly sliced

For the Dressing:
95g of white sugar (1/2 cup)
125ml fresh lemon juice (1/2 cup)
2 tsp finely grated onion
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp salt
150ml of salad oil (2/3 cup)
1 TBS poppy seeds
(This will make more dressing than you need, but you can store it in the refrigerator and
use it for other salads.)

To make the dressing, shake all of the dressing ingredients together in a large jar until emulsified. Set aside.

Toss the lettuce, cheese, nuts, cranberries, apple slices and pear slices together in a bowl. Divide amongst chilled serving plates. Give the dressing a good shake again and drizzle some of the dressing over the salads. Pass remaining dressing so that people can top it up as need be on their own salads.

Do you know what time of year it is now??? It's FRUIT FLY season!! Yeppers!! Fruit fly season and this past week has seen my kitchen inundated with the little dears, so much so that I decided to take all my apples the other day and make applesauce with them. (I also put out fruit fly traps. I'll tell you all about them at the end of this post!)



I had a lot of apples, and I got a lot of applesauce. Basically I just peel the apples and then cook them with a tiny bit of water over low heat until they are all soft and mushy. Sometimes I add a bit of sugar and spice, depending on what I am going to use it for. This was a real mixture of apples, I think I had four different kinds . . . so it's a real mishmash!



I froze most of it, but I kept back some to make this very delicious cake with. You will love this cake, and it's just perfect for this time of year. A deliciously moist cake, filled with applesauce and spice and covered with a tasty toffee glaze . . . so it's just like a spicy, moist, moreish candy apple!



My pictures are not the greatest . . . not only is it fruit fly season, but the season of good natural lighting has disappeared . . . so my pictures are not so good . . . and I overcooked the glaze a bit so there are a few lumps and bumps in it, which while they did not detract from the cake's overall deliciousness . . . they don't look soooooo good!



Oh, it is soooooo scrummy yummy . . . and as you can tell from that little black snout . . . it is clearly Miztie approved! (Spaniels are such loveable little piggies!)



*Candy Apple Cake*
Serves 10 to 12
Printable Recipe

This is a lovely cake that the whole family will enjoy. Deliciously moist and full of the wonderful flavour of spice, studded with soft raisins and crunchy walnuts, this truly is a joy to bake and to eat. The smell of this when it is baking is truly heavenly!

9 ounces plain flour (2 1/2 cups)
7 ounces caster sugar (1 cup)
16 fluid ounces unsweetened applesauce (2 cups)
4 ounces vegetable shortening such as Trex, White Flora or Crisco (1/2 cup)
4 fluid ounces water (1/2 cup)
2 large free range eggs, beaten
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground allspice
½ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
4 ounces chopped toasted walnuts (1 cup)
5 ounces raisins, (1 scant cup)

FOR THE GLAZE:
170g of soft light brown sugar (1 cup, Packed)
2 ounces butter
85ml of double cream (about 1/3 cup)

Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Lightly grease and flour a 9 inch bundt pan and set aside.

Sift together the flour, soda, baking powder, salt, spices and sugar into a large bowl. Drop in the shortening, applesauce, water and eggs. Beat it all together with an electric mixer until it is all smooth, beating well. Fold in the sultanas and walnuts. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for approximately 50 to 60 minutes or until lightly browned and the top springs back when lightly touched. Alternately you may use a toothpick to see if it is done, which when inserted will come out clean.

Remove from the oven and place in the pan on a wire rack to cool for ten minutes. Invert onto a cake plate and dump out. Allow to finish cooling completely.

To make the glaze, combine the butter and brown sugar in a saucepan. Heat over low heat to melt the butter and sugar together. It should not feel gritty. Whisk in the cream and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat. Spoon over the cake.


Take a small bowl. Put about 2 ounces of apple cider vinegar into it. Cover the top tightly with plastic cling film. Punch a few holes into the top with the tip of a knife and set it near to where you are having the fruit fly problem. (It also helps to put away any fruit until they disappear.) The little beasties are very attracted to the vinegar and get in under the plastic cling film through the little holes and then cannot get out. It works a charm!



Baking in The Cottage today, a delicious Chicken Caesar Salad Pizza!