Lemon Drizzle Cake

This is a lovely cake for those of us who like quite plain cakes, in other words no cream and other frou frous.  Perfect for afternoon tea…although you may want more than one slice, and that just might spoil your dinner!

I make this using a food processor, and this is how it goes …

LEMON DRIZZLE CAKE

Makes a cake for 8-10 servings and is best eaten freshly baked, although it will keep for 1 week under refrigeration in an airtight container.  Freezes up to 3 months.

Ingredients

2 large eggs

175g (6oz) sugar

150g (5oz) soft butter

Grated zest of 1 lemon

175g (6 oz) self-raising flour, sifted***

125ml (4fl oz) milk

A pinch of sea salt

For the lemon syrup

150g (5oz) icing sugar

50ml (2 fl oz) fresh lemon juice (about 1-1/2 lemons)

*** Re Self-raising flour (For American readers) – self-raising flour is simply flour to which raising agent has already been added.  There are several ‘recipes’  for making your own self-raising flour.  Here is one: For every 225g (8 oz) of plain /all purpose flour add 2 level teaspoons of baking powder.  Sift together 3-4 times to thoroughly mix.  Can be stored in an airtight container.

You will also need a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf tin for this recipe, together with a small amount of baking parchment or greaseproof paper

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Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180C / 350F / gas mark 4.

Line the bottom of a well greased loaf tin with baking parchment.

Put the eggs and sugar in the bowl of the food processor and process for 2 minutes, scraping the sides down once with a rubber spatula.  Take off the lid and drop spoonfuls of the soft butter on top of this mixture, together with the lemon zest, then pulse until it disappears.  The mixture should now resemble mayonnaise.

Add the flour, milk and salt, cover and pulse just until the mixture is smooth in texture and even in colour, scraping the sides down with a rubber spatula if necessary.  Don’t over-beat or the cake will be tough.

Spoon the cake mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 45 minutes, until golden brown on top and firm to the touch.

Remove from the oven and stand the tin on a cooling rack.

To make the syrup: Gently heat the sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan, stirring until a clear syrup is formed – about 3 minutes.  Do not boil.

Prick the warm cake all over with a fork, then gently pour the syrup over it, until it has been completely absorbed.

Leave until cool, then carefully ease the cake from the baking tin and remove the baking parchment.

Just before serving, sift a little more icing sugar on the top.

Serve in generous slices!

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Fluffy rice

For fluffier rice, tip your chosen quantity of uncooked rice into a bowl of cool water.  Swirl it around and watch the water go cloudy – this is the excess starch.  Drain and repeat the process until the water is clear. 

Cook as usual.

Sausages with salami and lentils

This is a hearty, comforting and full-of-flavour rustic meal – perfect for cold winter nights.  Easy to make, and the ingredients won’t burn a hole in your pocket.  What more could you ask?

Sausages with salami and lentils

Serves 4  / Prep: 20 mins  / Cooking time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

2 onions – peel, cut in half then cut each half into four or five pieces, cutting from root to tip

2 tbsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves

200g salami (or chorizo), in one piece

8 fat sausages (about 1 kg)

500g chopped / crushed tomatoes or tomato passata

150g green or brown lentils

500ml water

3 sprigs of fresh rosemary (= about a tablespoon of fresh leaves or a teaspoon of dried)***

Crushed black pepper

***Rosemary is a herb that I love and goes very well with pork so I tend to put in a little more than this.  The amount I’ve noted above is a suggestion that won’t be overpowering – add more next time if, like me, you feel you’d prefer it.

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Method:

Put the oil in a heavy-based casserole and brown the sausages.  You want them to colour on the outside; they will do most of their cooking once they are in the sauce.  Remove and set aside.

Add the onion slices to the pan and let them cook over a moderate heat until tender.

Meanwhile, peel the garlic, slice it thinly and add it to the onions.  You’ll need to stir them regularly so that the garlic doesn’t burn.

Peel the thin skin from the salami and cut the inside into fat matchsticks.  Add this to the softening onions and leave for a couple of minutes, during which time the salami will darken slightly.

Tip the crushed tomatoes (or passata) into the onions, add the washed lentils and stir in 500ml water.  Bring to the boil.  Tuck the sausages into the casserole, together with the sprigs of rosemary.

Cover the pot with a lid and leave to simmer gently for about half an hour, until the lentils are tender.  Stir the lentils and seaso0n with black pepper.  You may find it needs little or no salt.

(This is one of those very forgiving dishes where timing is not crucial.  You can leave this very gently bubbling on the stove for a little longer – just keep the pot covered and keep an eye on it to be sure that it isn’t drying out).

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Gravy – two options

There are two methods for making gravy – either will work for roast turkey, so here are both options.

Method 1: De-glazing the pan

At the end of cooking, once the bird is removed, tilt your roasting pan slightly.  You’ll see the fat sitting in a layer above the precious meat juices.  Pour or spoon off most of this fat, leaving about two tablespoons.  Use a wooden spoon to scrape the sides and base of the pan to release as much of the stuck on goodness as you can.  With the pan over a fairly low heat start to briskly whisk in a rounded tablespoon of plain (all purpose) flour.  When you have a smooth paste, start to add hot turkey stock, a little at a time.  You’ll find that once you have added some liquid any stubborn bits will come away from the pan and you have effectively de-glazed it.  You can either continue in the same pan, or transfer you liquid to a small saucepan if you find that easier (I usually do).  Now continue to add hot stock and maybe a glass of wine until you have the consistency that you are happy with.  How thick or thin you like your gravy is entirely up to you.  In general terms, 1 pint of liquid is good for each rounded tablespoon of flour.  Leaving the gravy on a gentle heat will reduce its bulk and make it thicker.  If it’s too thick for your liking add a little more liquid.  I’d advise checking seasoning and adding more only at the end of this process as it’s way too easy to mis-judge the intensity of those cooking juices and end up with salty gravy.  (This can be ‘repaired’ …see my page here).

Method 2: De-glaze and use beurre manie to thicken

As above, at the end of cooking, once the bird is removed, tilt your roasting pan slightly.  You’ll see the fat sitting in a layer above the precious meat juices.  Pour or spoon off most of this fat, leaving about two tablespoons.  Use a wooden spoon to scrape the sides and base of the pan to release as much of the stuck on goodness as you can.  Now start to add you hot stock, scraping any remaining goodness from the sides and base.  Once the sauce is bubbling, add beurre manie to thicken.  (I never bother with gravy browning …. what is that stuff anyway?!)  Again, don’t add seasoning until you have checked what your gravy tastes like.

These two methods produce tasty gravy for all roasts – just use a stock that is appropriate to your joint of meat.

Turkey Roasting Times

The safest way to cook turkey and stuffing is to cook them separately as a stuffed bird may not cook as evenly.  Cook the stuffing in a separate little casserole dish therefore. 

If you’re going to ignore me (!) and stuff the bird anyway, you’ll need to calculate cooking times by weighing your bird after it’s stuffed – you might well have to use bathroom scales in order to do this.  There is a cooking chart below but as an example, for an 8 – 12 pound bird allow 20 minutes per pound (40 minutes per kg) at 170C (325F), gas mark 3. 

Remember that if you are usng a fan oven, cooking temperatures are generally lower (usually 20C lower than in the conventional oven…consult your manufacturer’s manual).  

If you don’t have a meat thermometer, the way to test whether the bird is cooked is to pop a knife into the area between the turkey body and leg (drumstick).  If the juices coming out look clear and not pink or bloody then the bird is done.  

If it isn’t ready yet, return it to the oven for 20 minutes and test again.

A good meat thermomter will show when the meat is cooked.  Latest guidlines state that the minimum safe temperature is 165F. Check the temperature by placing the thermometer probe in the thickest part of the inner thigh.

The folowing chart is for a whole turkey cooked at 325F / 170C. In all cases the temperature of the meat (if you have a meat thermometer) will be 160 – 170 degrees.

4 – 8 lbs……….325F / 170 C ………2 – 3 hours

8 – 12 lbs……..325F / 170C ……….3 – 4 hours

12 – 16 lbs…….325F / 170C ………4 – 5 hours

16 – 20 lbs…….325F / 170C ………5 – 6  hours

20 – 24 lbs …… 325F / 170C ……..6 – 7 hours

There are some great recipes available for cooking the turkey.  If you don’t have one don’t be scared by the whole prospect of doing one just because it’s The Big Day. 

For the novice cook – remove the bag of giblets from the body cavity (these make wonderful stock but now may not be the time to be telling you that)!  Now just think of the turkey as a large chicken that you have to roast.   Maybe loosely pop some pieces of raw onion,  and herbs (say, thyme) in the body cavity, rub the outside of the body with butter, season with salt, pepper and perhaps a further sprinkling of herbs and then put the bird in the roasting tin (I tend to roast my birds on a base of root vegetables – onions, carrots etc).  Cover loosely with foil to stop the breast burning.  Cook for the required time (chart above), removing the foil for the last 20 minutes to allow the bird to brown. 

All roast meat benefits from ‘resting’ for a period after being taken from the oven.  This allows some of its juices to be re-absorbed back into the meat. Turkey is no exception. If you can manage to tip the bird to drain any juices from the body cavity into the roasting tin then do so (enlist someone’s help if you can).  Put the bird on a warm plate, cover loosely with foil and let it sit while you finish off things like the roast potatoes and gravy.  You can leave it like this for 30-60 minutes.  

There are some helpful notes here and charts here. 

Happy Christmas!

Turkey giblet stock

Don’t throw away that unpromising bag of turkey giblets that is often tucked away inside the turkey.  These ‘spare bits’ of bird (for want of a better way of describing them) make great stock -way better than anything that is commercially made and the smell that fills the kitchen as they cook is just wonderful. 

Here is a recipe for turkey stock:

Ingredients

Turkey giblets – everything in that little bag tucked inside the bird’s cavity (this includes the neck and liver)

1 onion, sliced in half

1 carrot, cut in half lengthways

1 celery stalk (plus a few leaves), cut into large chunks

A few parsley stalks

1 bay leaf

6 whole black peppercorns

Sea salt

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Method

Remove the giblets from their bag and rinse them under a running tap.  Pop them in a saucepan with the onions and cover with 900 ml /1-1/2 pints of water.  Bring to simmering point then remove any scrum on the surface of the water with a slotted spoon.   Add all the other ingredients then half cover the pan with a lid and allow it all to simmer gently for 1-1/2 to 2 hours. 

At the end of cooking time, strain the stock into a jug or bowl. 

You can prepare this in advance and keep it, covered, in the fridge for a couple of days until ready for use.

Bird? What bird?

What size of bird (turkey) should you buy for you and your guests?  Aim on 1 pound of turkey for each adult guest (1-1/2 if you’re aiming to have leftovers).  Many people just go ahead and buy a great behemoth of a bird, regardless of this calculation – it’s no wonder they get sick of the sight of the thing by day two!  (A simple ‘What size turkey to buy’ chart is posted at the end of this article for quick reference).

If you only have a small group to cater for, you may like to consider an alternative.  Nowadays you can buy just a ‘turkey crown’ – this is literally just the turkey breast meat, so if you don’t like the brown meat anyway, this may suit you better.  Disadvantages: You’re unlikely to find it complete with giblets so you won’t easily be able to make your own turkey stock for the gravy (normally well worth doing), it won’t look as impressive if you usually take the bird to the table to carve (!) and it won’t cook in the same way.  Nevertheless, it’s a simpler option for a smaller family get together.

Steering away from turkey entirely, did you know that a growing number of people in the UK are opting for chicken on Christmas Day?  There is absolutely no reason why you can’t still do all the traditional trimmings  like ‘pigs in blankets’ to serve alongside the humble chicken. 

If your group is too big for a single chicken but too small to warrant an entire turkey, there is a kind of half-way-house option of a capon.   A capon is basically a castrated cockerel, the meat of which is succulent and tender.  They are, unfortunately, hard to find and big poultry producers use hormones to induce caponization (never something I’m happy with).  If you’re lucky enough to find a small supplier, and like me you’re bothered by hormones in food, check whether the bird has been surgically or chemically castrated.  You may find capons available through small, quality butchers or farm shops.

If you pick the ‘chicken option’ don’t feel you are cheating your family by the way.  I, for one, far prefer the flavour of chicken to the rather bland and often dry turkey.

Moving away from chicken and turkey, on continental Europe goose is the traditional choice in many countries.  It’s moist, tasty and has the added advantage of rendering a supply of fat to use for delicious roast potatoes and veggies.  See chef Gordon Ramsay’s roast goose recipe here.  (Cook the goose on a raised rack in the roasting tin to keep it out of the fat …not mentioned in this recipe).

Those are the most obvious bird alternatives for your Christmas meal.  No rule book says, however, that you need a bird at all.  A tasty roast of beef or pork would be very nice and judging by the number of hits I’ve been getting to this site lately for ham cooked in coke, I’d say that if that takes your fancy then you’d be in good company!

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If you’re going down the turkey route, here is a quick reference chart to tell you what size turkey you’ll need to buy:

5 lb / 2.25 kg                    serves 4 – 6

8 lb / 3.6 kg                       serves 6 – 8

10-12 lb / 4.5 – 5.6 kg   serves 10 – 12

20 lb / 9 kg                        serves 12 – 15

Thawing a frozen turkey

THE GOLDEN RULE: Never thaw a frozen turkey at room temperature.

By far the best method is to thaw the bird in the refrigerator (set no higher than 40F)  and, be warned, this will probably take 3-4 days, depending on the size of bird you are dealing with. 

To do this: Leave the bird in its original wrapping and place on a tray in the bottom of your refrigerator.  Allow 5 hours per pound of bird – so for a bird of, say 14lbs, you would be looking at 70 hours (or just over 3 full days).  Be sure to keep an eye on it during that time because you will periodically have to empty liquid out of the bottom of the tray … you don’t want to flood your fridge with raw turkey juice!

Quick method: Check that the turkey is in leak-proof packaging.  If it is, put it, in its original wrapping, in a sink of cold water, breast side down.  In the same way that ice cubes transfer their low temperature to a drink, so your frozen turkey will lower the temperature of the water.  In other words, you’re going to have to change the water in the sink every half hour in order to maintain a consistent temperature.  Allow half an hour per pound of turkey so, for example, the 14lb bird mentioned above is still going to take 7 hours to defrost.  Cook as soon as you have completed this process. 

I wouldn’t recommend using a microwave.  The nature of microwave ovens means that the bones will become hotter quicker and the meat immediately around them may effectively start to cook, causing potential health hazards.  If you feel you absolutely must use a microwave, follow the manufacturer’s instructions precisely and, again, aim to cook the bird immediately after.

Here are a couple of charts which may help when calculating thawing times:

Refrigerator thawing (weights represent a whole bird)

8 – 12 pounds ……… 1 to 2 days

12 – 16 pounds …….. 2 to 3 days

16 – 20 pounds …….. 3 to 4 days

20 – 24 pounds …….. 4 to 5 days

Cold water thawing times

8 – 12 pounds ……… 4 to 6 hours

12 – 16 pounds …….. 6 to 8 hours

16 – 20 pounds …….. 8 to 10 hours

20 – 24 pounds …….. 10 to 12 hours

Storing food: Tin cans and aluminium

Whenever you open a tin of food, if you’re not going to use the whole amount put any spare in a bowl or other food container, cover and store in the fridge.  Never store food in an opened tin, either the original or re-using old, (cleaned!) tins.  This is because when a can has been opened and the food is exposed to the air the metal of the can may start to transfer.  (This doesn’t of course apply to tins specifically manufactured and supplied with a reasealable cap, such as cocoa).

Similarly, be careful when using kitchen foil to store food.  Acidic foods like rhubarb, tomatoes and many soft fruits may well react with aluminium foil, allowing trace metal to migrate into the food.  At best your food will have a metallic taste, at worst it could present a health risk.

Cooking dilemmas: Plain / All purpose / Self-raising flour

Anyone who bakes fairly regularly has probably come across a situation where your recipe calls for ‘self-raising flour’ and all you have is plain.  (Plain flour is ‘all purpose flour’ in the United States).  Self-raising flour is simply flour to which raising agents have been added during the packaging process.  So…to make your plain (or all purpose) flour into self raising flour:

UK VERSION:

Add 1-1/4 level teaspoons of baking powder to every 8 oz of flour (and a pinch of salt if your recipe doesn’t already include that).  Sieve well to mix before adding to your recipe.

US Version:

Add 1-1/4 level teaspoons of baking powder to every cup of all purpose flour (and a pinch of salt if your recipe doesn’t already include that).  Sieve well to mix before adding to your recipe.

To reverse the situation, i.e. you have self-raising flour when what you need is plain flour, use self-raising but reduce the baking powder and salt that it states in the recipe.