Lazy Early Autumn Days

I have been playing on the Nintendo Wii for the last 8 hours with only the odd brief hiatus for a toilet break or to eat, so my hand has now formed some sort of claw shape making typing some what challenging. I have to admit I have had a pretty unproductive day, although I was up at 8am which is unusual for me at the weekend, so I felt I had to redeem myself and tell you about the chutney I made with my abysmal tomato crop this year.



I harvested them a couple of weeks ago because the weather was so appalling that the plants were starting to die. I looked up a recipe for green tomato chutney and found this one. I pretty much followed it to the letter but, incapable as I am at sticking to a recipe, I substituted some of the caster sugar for dark muscovado. The result was a lovely sweet and spicy chutney that doesn't need much maturing, so we have been having it spread on some oven warmed ciabatta with delicious pork sausages.  

There is nothing better to ease you into autumn's colder days than chutney and of course my amazingly cosy new slippers.

Shortbread with Christmas spice

I made some shortbread and chutney for people to have at Christmas this year. I had had a go at making shortbread before, but it didn't really turn out quite as expected. I found a Jamie Oliver recipe, which he claimed was the best shortbread recipe in the world. Even though I didn't quite buy his bold statement, I do like his easy to follow recipes and thought that I couldn't go far wrong. This was a basic shortbread recipe which I tinkered with slightly (I can never leave things alone) to give it more of a festive edge.

Ingredients:

• 250g plain flour


• 250g unsalted butter


• 125g semolina or cornflour


• 125g golden caster sugar


• Finely grated zest of two oranges


• 1 tsp ground cinnamon


• Seeds from 1/2 vanilla pod (put the pod into a bag of caster sugar to flavour it after use or use in vanilla ice cream)


• More caster sugar and flour for dusting


• 8 inch square tin, greased

Simply cream the butter, sugar and orange zest together until light and fluffy, then sift in the flour and cornflour. Mix together lightly and then bring the mixture together with your hands and pat into a ball. Roll the mixture on a floured surface until it is the right size for the tin and press into the tin. Prick the top all over with a fork and cook at 150 deg centigrade for 50 minutes until slightly golden brown on top.

While the shortbread is cooking mix together a couple of tablespoons of caster sugar with the cinnamon and vanilla seeds. Once the shortbread is cooked sprinkle this over the top (it will give off the most amazing aroma). When the shortbread has cooled a little, cut into squares.