In pursuit of the perfect muffin - apple, rolled oats and raisins

I was casting about for ideas for a recipe for this week when my friend Christine Saxena requested my recipe for apple raisin muffins. Coffee and a freshly baked muffin is my idea of heaven but all too often you find that commercially prepared ones (even if they're sold as "freshly baked" - where in my Starbucks?) are just too much like dry fairycakes. Not the idea at all. No, to me the perfect muffin is fresh, moist and still warm and not at all cakey. Personally I like something "healthy breakfasty" in them - fruit /oats / seeds etc. I'm a real fan of American breakfasts where anything with oats or fruit in it is considered healthy and wholesome and good for you, even if it is covered in maple syrup and pecans (like lovely heavenly home-made granola) or filled with sugar (banana and honey loaf anyone?) with salty butter an optional and delectable extra. Hmmmm. I'm under no illusions about the calorific content of breakfasts like this but still, for a brief moment, you can lull yourself into the illusion that something so delicious is also good for you. And what bliss that moment is. Anyway - I digress. Muffins then. I often make them for breakfast and although this makes me sound like a nauseatingly perfect housewife it really is very little effort and the rewards (see above) are so great. This recipe is one of my favourites - I think the yoghurt and the finely grated apple distributed throughout the whole muffin make it really moist and clean-tasting. Try it!

Preheat oven to Gas Mark 5 / 190 C

In a large bowl add and combine with a fork:

175 g plain flour
115 g wholemeal plain flour
60 g rolled or quick oats (no instant oats!)
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

In a medium bowl add and combine with a wire whisk

2 large eggs, lightly beaten
120 ml milk
120 ml plain natural yoghurt
115 g melted butter
115 g dark brown sugar
85 g raisins
1 medium to large apple, peeled, cored and grated

Gradually fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients with a spatula or wooden spoon. Do NOT overmix - just do it gently until it's just combined. Spoon the batter into muffin tins lined with paper liners, fill to the top of each cup. If you like you can sprinkle a bit of brown sugar on top of each muffin (I do..). Bake for 18-24 minutes or until the tops spring back when gently touched. Do NOT overbake. Allow to stand for one to two minutes in their tin and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool down.

Bon Appetit!

A weekend of friendship and food

It was a great weekend - excellent weather on Saturday and Sunday - a rarity in England! - and lovely friends over to stay. We had our old friends Rahul and Christine and their lovely children Maxime and Maya, and new friends in the form of Rheinhard and Susan from Frankfurt. There was a lot of lolling about in the pool and leisurely reading going on, not to mention a very active game of golf in the heat, but in between we did find time to eat and drink. Saturday night we had tex-mex - enchiladas and cornbread, finished off with brownies and ice-cream - and Sunday we had a barbecue. I've always felt that men generally make too much of a fuss about a barbecue. How hard could it be, I wondered, to just get a fire going? As an 8 year old girl scout I once layed such an excellent camp fire that my scout leaders reminisced about it every camp weekend afterwards. However, it appears I have since lost my skills with this primal force - my barbecue flamed high (and burnt up half of my beloved magnolia tree) before dying. That the meal was nonetheless a success was due to the fact that a) we had another bag of charcoal so could start again, b) Christine took charge with a spraybottle of water and that c) my (electric, reliable) oven was on at full whack and thus could ensure the meat was safe to eat. In the end fun was had by all and I think we've all lived to tell the tale. Getting onto the serious business of selecting a culinary highlight I have decided on the sausage recipe. I know I know - how hard is it to barbecue a sausage? But don't switch off. This recipe helps you to make the most delicious sausages (not a hint of blackness or toughness) accompanied by a wonderful smoky barbecue sauce and also, as the sausages spend the last half hour in the oven the barbecue is free for you to burn / undercook the other meat. This recipe comes from Annie Bell's IN MY KITCHEN my favourite cookbook of the moment and one I can highly recommend.

3 tbps extra virgin olive oil
2 onions peeled, halved and finely sliced
5 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 1/2 tsp light muscovado sugar
100 ml white wine
2 x 400 g. tins chopped plum tomatoes
sea salt
1.3 kg good quality chunky sausages

Heat the olive oil in a medium-sized saucepan and saute the onions for about 10/12 minutes until they are lightly caramelised. Add the garlic and stir frequently for a minute or two and then add the sugar, stir, and finally add the wine. Simmer to reduce the liquid by half, add the tomatoes and some salt and pepper and cook for 30 minutes or so, until the sauce is reduced and thick. Spoon it into a large cast-iron roasting tray which will hold all the sausages in a single layer. Switch the oven onto about 180 fan / 190 electric. Meanwhile, barbecue the sausages for 15-25 minutes until they are nicely browned but not fully cooked. Arrange them on top of the tomato sauce and spoon some of it over. Put the tray in the oven for about 30 minutes, basting them halfway through. The sauce should be caramelised at the edges and the sausages deeply gold and sticky.

Issie's strawberry tart - by way of gill dupleix

I know I said I was going to do a recipe a week, but let's face it, there's no way I'm going to be able to stick to that. There'll be some uninspiring weeks and then there'll be good weeks where the good food is just bursting out waiting for a cook and an appetite! Anyway my great friend Issie cooked this recipe last week and, once again, it is one I distrusted initially. I detest tiramisu and am still not won over by the concept of sponge fingers. But Issie tells me to go for it and that I will be converted. She's a marvellous and adventurous cook so I print the recipe below. It is originally Gill Dupleix's (Times cookery writer) but Izz has tinkered with it and I've incorporated her tinkering. So let me know which one of you is brave enough? I'm going to try this week (end?)..

STRAWBERRY MASCARPONE

Prep: 20 min plus chilling
Serves 4 to 6

1 kg strawberries, hulled and at room temperature
500 g raspberries, chilled
6 eggs, separated
200g caster sugar
1 kg mascarpone
400ml sweet dessert wine
200g savoiardi (I suspect Izz of trying to win me round on the sponge fingers by offering an Italian improvement)

METHOD

Halve or quarter 3/4 of the strawberries and toss with 3/4 of the raspberries. Beat the 6 egg yolks and caster sugar together until smooth, then whisk in the mascarpone. Beat the 6 egg whites in a separate bowl until peaky, then fold the whites through the mascarpone cream. Dip each biscuit in the wine just long enough to coat it and arrange a layer of wine-soaked biscuits like spokes in a wheel on the base of a large but not deep serving dish. Cover with a layer of cream, and a layer of berries, making sure they're mixed (gently) so that you get a mouthful of everything. Repeat each layer, finishing with the whole berries that you haven't chopped up. Leave for 3 to 4 hours. Dust with icing sugar and serve the same day.

TIP Izz also recommends adding redcurrants and blueberries to the mix - I doubt you can go wrong there.

petra's first cooking blog

I've clearly got the blogging bug now. After petraruns.blogspot.com, which, to be fair, does not have a wide readership, i've decided to add a cooking section which may expand my audience. Sadly, I know I will still be disappointing my friend Stephen who feels that I need to add a naked picture section to my site. I think that side of the market had been cornered by others, my dear..

So onto a recipe of the week. And I'll start with one which I haven't cooked yet but have tested and which I am wild about. I am no fan of gazpacho - the whole chilled soup thing has never been my thing - but Susie Strange, a good friend, excellent cook and book club member cooked this up for us last week and it is sensational. It comes by way of her mother, from South Africa, and so we thank Rosalie Crutchley for making it all possible. Enough chit chat - now cook it!

GAZPACHO AL VINAIGRE DE JEREZ AL ESTILO DE ZALACAIN - serves 8

1.5 kg ripe tomatoes
200 g onions
1 green pepper, 1 red pepper
400 g cucumber
1 small garlic clove
200 g crustless bread
2 tablespooms sherry vinegar
350 ml olive oil
350 ml cold water
15 g. salt
60 ml mayonnaise
salt and freshly ground paper

1. Blanch and deseed the tomatoes, add the onions and put them all in a very large bowl. Remove the stalks and seeds from the peppers and add them to the bowl.
2. Skin the cucumber, slice in half lengthways and scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon and discard. Chop and add to the bowl. Chop the garlic finely, the bread more coarsely and all these ingredients to the bowl.
3. Finally, add the sherry vinegar, the olive oil, pepper and salt and leave this mixture to macerate for 12 hours.

To complete puree the whole mixture in a blender or food processor and add the mayonnaise. Press through a sieve to give a smooth texture and remove pips. Check the seasonings and chill thoroughly. Serve the soup cold and offer some of the following garnishes - chilled - on the side: bread cubes (possibly fried), chopped onion, green pepper, tomato flesh and seeded cucumber.

Enjoy!