Lovely with a cuppa chai.
Showing posts with label apples. Show all posts
Showing posts with label apples. Show all posts
Sunday, 21 September 2014
Vegan Apple Raisin and Chocolate Loaf
I've had a really busy busy weekend, that i have barely had a moment to myself and Monday is nearly here, so forgive me for this short post as I want to make the most of what is left of my Sunday.
Here is a Apple Raisin and Chocolate Loaf Cake made with local eating apples. I've been eating apples every single day this week for lunch, but wanted to put some in cake too, this was the result.
Lovely with a cuppa chai.
One recipe that I am looking forward to making again with seasonal Welsh apples is this Apple Butter, it was absolutely delicious. This time round I will call it Welsh Apple Butter!
Lovely with a cuppa chai.
Thursday, 22 October 2009
Say 'Aye to apples and abundance
Once upon a time, the U.K boasted 6000 different apple varieties, now there are about 2000.
In the last twenty years many British orchards have either been given over for development or degenerated into disarray with apples being left to rot on trees. I have been told that in Scotland these days there are more than 50 varieties of apples (I am sure it must be higher), including the Bloody Ploughman, Golden Monday, King of the Pippins, Lass O Gowrie, Love Beauty, and Scotch Dumpling. Some of the better-known Scottish varieties are Charles Ross, James Grieve (which I planted on my allotment plot early this year), Laxtons’ Fortune and Ribston Pippin.
On my travels to work, I drive past two apple trees burgeoning with apples. This fills me up with both anger and disappointment. Anger at the waste of such beautiful and edible fruit just going to rot; and disappointment, that I cannot stop and harvest them. Unfortunately both these trees are located where you cannot exactly park, unless of course you have broken down in your car. Then it occurred to me have any Abundance groups been set up in Scotland, such as the one started off by Stephen and a friend in Sheffield, England in 2007. I became aware of Abundance groups when I watched Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstalls River Cottage last year. Hugh is more than a talented cook. I have been following him since his appearance on TV Dinners. He was also one of the first TV chefs who emphasized seasonality of both fruit and vegetables, whereas other celebrity chefs where just showcasing their skills, techniques and new recipes from their latest book. On this particular episode of River Cottage we were introduced to Stephen and some volunteers, and the principle behind the Abundance project in Sheffield: to harvest the unwanted fruit and redistribute it for free to community groups who find it hard to access fresh local organic food. The benefits of such a project were huge. It benefited those who have too much fruit and those who have none and would love some free fruit. The project also teaches people with new skills such as pruning, these pruning skills ensured the trees provided a better yield of fruit for the future and were free from disease. It builds friendships with people who probably would never had met, working in the open fresh air also has health benefits. Abundance builds on the idea of community. Such a project had my full support. It would have been something I would have happily got involved in, had I not had an allotment and a full-time job. Around this time I decided to check if there was anything similar in Scotland, there was nothing. I also checked a few months ago when I set up my blog and there still was nothing then. Then yesterday I decided to do another search on the Internet for Scottish Abundance groups and guess what hurrah I found one based in Edinburgh. Abundance Edinburgh have done some fabulous work in their short time. Here you will also find a comprehensive guide to identifying apples some grown in Scotland, plus the above image which I have borrowed from the site too (hope they don't mind).
Whilst reading this site I also learned about The Commonwealth Orchard project initiated by a man called John Hancox. We have so many individuals on the ground doing great work with grassroots community groups, encouraging people to get planting heritage varieties and eating local produce, that we should praise them, for both inspiring and reminding us that real food comes Au natural with blemishes; not packaged and GM perfect.
Anyway, here is another flapjack recipe with a Scottish twist of shortbread. These flapjacks are a little special, as they are not just good as a snack or for lunch boxes, but also great served warm as a dessert with some vanilla ice-cream. The apple filling is almost like toffee butter.
Cinnamon Apple shortbread flapjacks
Makes 8
Ingredients
4 small Cox’s apples
Juice of 1 lemon
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon caster sugar
Shortbread base
175 unsalted butter
175g plain flour
74g caster sugar
75g ground almonds
Oat topping
100g unsalted butter
100g porridge oats
65g light muscovado sugar
65g plain flour
Method
Preheat oven gas mark 4.
Prepare the shortbread base: combine the flour and butter until it resembles breadcrumbs then add in sugar, ground almond and stir to combine. Tip into your baking tin (my measured) and work quickly with your fingertips, pres the mixture evenly into the base of the tin. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for about 30-40 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
In the meantime: Grate the apples discarding the core (I like to keep on the skin, but you can peel it if you wish). Put into a bowl with the lemon juice, cinnamon and sugar and stir. Leave aside.
Prepare the topping: Place the butter and flour together and combine together, then add the oats and sugar and combine until all ingredients are well incorporated.
Spread the grated apple over on the shortbread base, then evenly top with the oat mixture. Press down if necessary. Then bake in the oven for 40 – 45 minutes until golden brown. Cool before removing from the tray then cut into slices. Adapted from Ainsley Harriott’s Feel Good Cookbook
In the last twenty years many British orchards have either been given over for development or degenerated into disarray with apples being left to rot on trees. I have been told that in Scotland these days there are more than 50 varieties of apples (I am sure it must be higher), including the Bloody Ploughman, Golden Monday, King of the Pippins, Lass O Gowrie, Love Beauty, and Scotch Dumpling. Some of the better-known Scottish varieties are Charles Ross, James Grieve (which I planted on my allotment plot early this year), Laxtons’ Fortune and Ribston Pippin.On my travels to work, I drive past two apple trees burgeoning with apples. This fills me up with both anger and disappointment. Anger at the waste of such beautiful and edible fruit just going to rot; and disappointment, that I cannot stop and harvest them. Unfortunately both these trees are located where you cannot exactly park, unless of course you have broken down in your car. Then it occurred to me have any Abundance groups been set up in Scotland, such as the one started off by Stephen and a friend in Sheffield, England in 2007. I became aware of Abundance groups when I watched Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstalls River Cottage last year. Hugh is more than a talented cook. I have been following him since his appearance on TV Dinners. He was also one of the first TV chefs who emphasized seasonality of both fruit and vegetables, whereas other celebrity chefs where just showcasing their skills, techniques and new recipes from their latest book. On this particular episode of River Cottage we were introduced to Stephen and some volunteers, and the principle behind the Abundance project in Sheffield: to harvest the unwanted fruit and redistribute it for free to community groups who find it hard to access fresh local organic food. The benefits of such a project were huge. It benefited those who have too much fruit and those who have none and would love some free fruit. The project also teaches people with new skills such as pruning, these pruning skills ensured the trees provided a better yield of fruit for the future and were free from disease. It builds friendships with people who probably would never had met, working in the open fresh air also has health benefits. Abundance builds on the idea of community. Such a project had my full support. It would have been something I would have happily got involved in, had I not had an allotment and a full-time job. Around this time I decided to check if there was anything similar in Scotland, there was nothing. I also checked a few months ago when I set up my blog and there still was nothing then. Then yesterday I decided to do another search on the Internet for Scottish Abundance groups and guess what hurrah I found one based in Edinburgh. Abundance Edinburgh have done some fabulous work in their short time. Here you will also find a comprehensive guide to identifying apples some grown in Scotland, plus the above image which I have borrowed from the site too (hope they don't mind).
Whilst reading this site I also learned about The Commonwealth Orchard project initiated by a man called John Hancox. We have so many individuals on the ground doing great work with grassroots community groups, encouraging people to get planting heritage varieties and eating local produce, that we should praise them, for both inspiring and reminding us that real food comes Au natural with blemishes; not packaged and GM perfect.
Anyway, here is another flapjack recipe with a Scottish twist of shortbread. These flapjacks are a little special, as they are not just good as a snack or for lunch boxes, but also great served warm as a dessert with some vanilla ice-cream. The apple filling is almost like toffee butter.Cinnamon Apple shortbread flapjacks
Makes 8
Ingredients
4 small Cox’s apples
Juice of 1 lemon
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon caster sugar
Shortbread base
175 unsalted butter
175g plain flour
74g caster sugar
75g ground almonds
Oat topping
100g unsalted butter
100g porridge oats
65g light muscovado sugar
65g plain flour
Method
Preheat oven gas mark 4.
Prepare the shortbread base: combine the flour and butter until it resembles breadcrumbs then add in sugar, ground almond and stir to combine. Tip into your baking tin (my measured) and work quickly with your fingertips, pres the mixture evenly into the base of the tin. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for about 30-40 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
In the meantime: Grate the apples discarding the core (I like to keep on the skin, but you can peel it if you wish). Put into a bowl with the lemon juice, cinnamon and sugar and stir. Leave aside.
Prepare the topping: Place the butter and flour together and combine together, then add the oats and sugar and combine until all ingredients are well incorporated.
Spread the grated apple over on the shortbread base, then evenly top with the oat mixture. Press down if necessary. Then bake in the oven for 40 – 45 minutes until golden brown. Cool before removing from the tray then cut into slices. Adapted from Ainsley Harriott’s Feel Good Cookbook
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
‘Tis the Apple Season
I was reading an article in one of the local free newspapers this morning about a woman probably in her mid 50s talking of her childhood memories around apples. She wrote, whilst she was growing up, the autumn crop of British apples was an event she and her family looked forward to. Her granny had several apple trees in her garden and would carefully wrap them in newspaper and put them away in a dark storage so that there were be some fresh apples on the table for Christmas. How times have changed, as a nation we no longer celebrate the seasonality of food.
Did you know that only 35% of apples eaten in the U.K are grown here. One reason for this is cost, the other, apparently is our insistence on buying perfect, out of season varieties, such as the banal Red Delicious in preference to misshapen but flavoursome local Cox’s Pippin.
In 2005, Friends of the Earth (FoE) found that many of Britain's supermarket were failing British apple growers by importing the vast majority of its apples especially at the height of the UK apple season. The survey also revealed a poor show for UK apple sourcing overall, with nearly two thirds of apple lines on supermarket shelves sourced from overseas. Some apples had traveled more than halfway around the world to reach UK supermarkets. In my lunch hour, I walked over to the local supermarket to see if there was any substance to FoE claims. I noted most of the apples were from overseas, imported from countries like New Zealand, France, and Belgium. I do understand our need to import some fruit and vegetables from abroad as the climate in the U.K is not conducive to some fruit and vegetables, but apples – at the height of the apple season, oh please. Fortunately, the one place you will see local apples appearing are at farmers markets.
Here's a list of some varieties apples grown in the U.K: Blenheim Orange, Bloody Ploughman Charles Ross, Crispin, Discovery, Egremont Russett, Gala, Ida Red, Kidd’s Orange Red, Love Beauty, Scotch Dumpling and Spartan.
Apples are perhaps the most versatile of fruits. Apples are sweet or sour essentials in salads, slaws and soups and provide a saucy counterpoint to any entrée. Apples are a key to classics in compotes, chutneys and stuffings, along with homemade delights such as this flapjack. For these flapjacks I have used Cox’s apples which grow between September to January. The Cox apple is perhaps the most well known dessert apple, with a rich, slightly sweet and almost nutty flavour. The skin is occasionally russet, with autumnal reds and yellows over green. It is picked in late September but needs to be allowed to mature off the tree before eating.
Two Timing Apple Flapjacks
Makes 8 - 10
Ingredients
170g butter
2 eating apples, peeled, cored and grated. I used crisp British Cox apples
30g sultanas
140g soft light brown sugar
60g self-raising flour
180g rolled oats
Method
Preheat the oven to gas mark 4. Grease a tin, my measured 11 x 7 inches. Melt the butter. Stir in the flour, oats, sugar and combine then add sultanas and apple. Spread the mixture into the prepared tin. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 – 40 minutes until golden brown. Cool before cutting into slices. If you want to know some really interesting facts about apples, follow this link where Johanna of the Green Giraffe has done some fine research and put together some fantastic information that will make your mind boggle.
Did you know that only 35% of apples eaten in the U.K are grown here. One reason for this is cost, the other, apparently is our insistence on buying perfect, out of season varieties, such as the banal Red Delicious in preference to misshapen but flavoursome local Cox’s Pippin.
In 2005, Friends of the Earth (FoE) found that many of Britain's supermarket were failing British apple growers by importing the vast majority of its apples especially at the height of the UK apple season. The survey also revealed a poor show for UK apple sourcing overall, with nearly two thirds of apple lines on supermarket shelves sourced from overseas. Some apples had traveled more than halfway around the world to reach UK supermarkets. In my lunch hour, I walked over to the local supermarket to see if there was any substance to FoE claims. I noted most of the apples were from overseas, imported from countries like New Zealand, France, and Belgium. I do understand our need to import some fruit and vegetables from abroad as the climate in the U.K is not conducive to some fruit and vegetables, but apples – at the height of the apple season, oh please. Fortunately, the one place you will see local apples appearing are at farmers markets.
Here's a list of some varieties apples grown in the U.K: Blenheim Orange, Bloody Ploughman Charles Ross, Crispin, Discovery, Egremont Russett, Gala, Ida Red, Kidd’s Orange Red, Love Beauty, Scotch Dumpling and Spartan.
Apples are perhaps the most versatile of fruits. Apples are sweet or sour essentials in salads, slaws and soups and provide a saucy counterpoint to any entrée. Apples are a key to classics in compotes, chutneys and stuffings, along with homemade delights such as this flapjack. For these flapjacks I have used Cox’s apples which grow between September to January. The Cox apple is perhaps the most well known dessert apple, with a rich, slightly sweet and almost nutty flavour. The skin is occasionally russet, with autumnal reds and yellows over green. It is picked in late September but needs to be allowed to mature off the tree before eating.As for the health qualities of apples, did you know it contains quercetin. No, to be honest nor did I. In fact I didn’t even know what quercetin was until today. These destroy damaging free radicals that circulate in the blood stream, particularly during exercise; causing muscle and cell damage that make you feel tired. A recently study showed that increasing your quercetin intake increases energy levels, well that’s good to know, I guess it supports the saying ‘an apple a day keep the doctor away’.
Two Timing Apple FlapjacksMakes 8 - 10
Ingredients
170g butter
2 eating apples, peeled, cored and grated. I used crisp British Cox apples
30g sultanas
140g soft light brown sugar
60g self-raising flour
180g rolled oats
Method
Preheat the oven to gas mark 4. Grease a tin, my measured 11 x 7 inches. Melt the butter. Stir in the flour, oats, sugar and combine then add sultanas and apple. Spread the mixture into the prepared tin. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 – 40 minutes until golden brown. Cool before cutting into slices. If you want to know some really interesting facts about apples, follow this link where Johanna of the Green Giraffe has done some fine research and put together some fantastic information that will make your mind boggle.
Monday, 5 January 2009
Hanging apples in an apple tree
D has been feeling sorry for the garden birds and has been buying apples, stringing them up and throwing them in the tree. I came back from work after working the early shift and there they were, hanging off the apple tree like big red Christmas baubles, with a Waxwing beak in practically in every one of them. The birds have certainly been appreciating this, as they have been coming back since there arrival in mid December 2008.
We have a small garden, but what we do have in our small garden is a very big cooking apple tree, which has rewarded us over the past three years or so with lots of delicious apple crumble, apple pie, apple ice-cream or simply baked with butter and raisins.
Towards the end of Autumn, the apple tree is laden with cooking apples, that we struggle to normally reach, but this year a week long of strong winds knocked most of the apples to the ground, some we rescued to be turned into delicious delights, others we gave away to neighbours and friends at work, some had rotted from all the rain downpour this year, that they had to be put into the compost bin. So there were barely any left on the tree for the birds over the winter season.
I was never into bird watching, but the apple tree changed all that. It has also attracted a lot of bird life: Collared Doves, Woodpecker, as well as a Hawk preying on one of the littler birds and succeeding. That’s nature.
Recently, a gang of punky red head birds called Waxwings arrived which got us really excited. The Waxwings came in their hoards and chased away our Fieldfair, who used to be the only one eating the apples (for two years until now). When the fieldfair feels brave and comes back, it ends up chasing away the blackbirds, the blackbirds chase the smaller birds: wrens and sparrows. The blue tits and coal tits come when there are no other birds around and hang of the bird feeder and fat balls. The magpies come and go when they want to be territorial, but always entertain when they arrive.
And how can I forget Ds little red robin. Robin dominates the bird table, bird bath – in fact the whole garden and certainly lets D knows it’s there. Robin has perhaps had the most special treatment of all the birds, with worms, maggots and not too long ago slice of our wedding cake being on the menu.
Anyway, thoughts towards food… I had some left over yellow spiced lentils from yesterdays dish of Cabbage Dolmades, that I decided to turn them into a pasty for tomorrows lunch.
We have a small garden, but what we do have in our small garden is a very big cooking apple tree, which has rewarded us over the past three years or so with lots of delicious apple crumble, apple pie, apple ice-cream or simply baked with butter and raisins.
Towards the end of Autumn, the apple tree is laden with cooking apples, that we struggle to normally reach, but this year a week long of strong winds knocked most of the apples to the ground, some we rescued to be turned into delicious delights, others we gave away to neighbours and friends at work, some had rotted from all the rain downpour this year, that they had to be put into the compost bin. So there were barely any left on the tree for the birds over the winter season.
I was never into bird watching, but the apple tree changed all that. It has also attracted a lot of bird life: Collared Doves, Woodpecker, as well as a Hawk preying on one of the littler birds and succeeding. That’s nature.
Recently, a gang of punky red head birds called Waxwings arrived which got us really excited. The Waxwings came in their hoards and chased away our Fieldfair, who used to be the only one eating the apples (for two years until now). When the fieldfair feels brave and comes back, it ends up chasing away the blackbirds, the blackbirds chase the smaller birds: wrens and sparrows. The blue tits and coal tits come when there are no other birds around and hang of the bird feeder and fat balls. The magpies come and go when they want to be territorial, but always entertain when they arrive.
And how can I forget Ds little red robin. Robin dominates the bird table, bird bath – in fact the whole garden and certainly lets D knows it’s there. Robin has perhaps had the most special treatment of all the birds, with worms, maggots and not too long ago slice of our wedding cake being on the menu.
Anyway, thoughts towards food… I had some left over yellow spiced lentils from yesterdays dish of Cabbage Dolmades, that I decided to turn them into a pasty for tomorrows lunch.
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