Mushroom Croustade - an easy-to-make favourite

Croustade is a general French term for a savoury pie. They come in various forms, most commonly a topping on a baked bread base and in individual servings. My version is like a straight veg tart but with a more interesting base I think, and of course toppings can be varied. 

The recipe would take 35-40 minutes from start to serving, and makes one croustade to serve two. The base should come out a little crispy and the topping soft and luscious. I'd recommend prepping all the ingredients at the start, then switching on the oven (to 180C) once that's done.

A medium bowl, a medium saucepan and a baking sheet lined with parchment are needed. I'm not a great fan of 'rubbing in' flour and butter, and using a mixer with whisk attachment at lowest speed seems to work just as well.

by Rae Allen

Mushroom Croustade

Ingredients

60g plain flour
30g + 10g softened butter
30g flaked almonds, chopped finely
1 tbsp fresh basil, finely snipped
1 medium egg separated
200g mushrooms, sliced coarsely
2 tbsp white wine, sherry or veg stock
1 tbsp double cream
1 tbsp fresh parsley, finely snipped
20g Cheddar cheese, grated

Method
1  Place the flour and 30g of the butter in the bowl and mix to breadcrumb consistency
          with fingertips or a slow beater.
2  Add the almonds, basil and egg yolk and use fingers or a blunt knife to blend the
          ingredients together to a dough consistency. (It it's still crumbly, add 1 tsp water.)
3  Either roll out thinly and place on the baking sheet, or put the dough directly on the
          sheet and press down by hand until thinly spread. Pinch up the edges to about
          15mm all the way round to make sure the filling won't spill over. Use a pastry 
          brush to make a very thin coating of egg white over the base.
4  Place in the middle of the heated oven for 8 mins, then remove but leave the oven on.
5  Meanwhile, melt the remaining 10g of butter in the pan and fry the mushrooms gently 
          for 5 mins, stirring occasionally. Stir in the wine/sherry/stock, cream and parsley
          and simmer for a further 5 mins. Use a slotted spoon to place this mixture on the
          base (so as to leave out any remaining liquid) and spread it evenly. Sprinkle the
          cheese over the croustade and bake for another 8-10 mins until the base is
          browning and the top sizzling.

Good 'sides' would be a green or mixed salad, battered onion rings (baked at the same time as the croustade), honey-roasted parsnips, or buttered Chantenay carrots tossed in dry-toasted pine nuts. Wine: could be a dry white or indeed a light red. For the Spanish touch, serve with a dry nutty fino sherry!

10 Facts About Sharon Fruits

This lovely orange-coloured fruit is currently my second favourite (after raspberries). It's available in most large supermarkets, occasionally sold loose but usually prepacked in twos or threes. Prices, per fruit, as I write vary from £1 each to three or four for a pound.

Not sure why they are used less often than pomegranates in restaurants or published recipes. Interestingly, at least according to Asda, sales of both are increasing at a great rate, and each outsells both mangoes and pineapples (although this is quantity rather than weight it seems).

The names Sharon fruit and persimmon are often used interchangeably. However, there are various kinds of Persimmon, so while a Sharon is a persimmon, the reverse is not always true. (Rushes for a primer on basic logic.) Anyway, here are ten facts about the luscious (when ripe) Sharon fruit.

by yellowcloud via flickr.com

 1  It's actually a berry (as are tomatoes), and can vary in diameter from tiny to about 
        9cm. Those in UK shops are very roughly between 5 and 7cm.

 2  Persimmons are native to China, which is the world's largest producer, turning out
        about ten times the amount from Korea, the second largest.

 3  Sharons are named after the Sharon plain in Israel as they were cultivated there
        originally.

 4  They usually contain no seed, and have no core. 

 5  They're relatively rich in potassium, magnesium and dietary fibre. They also have
        useful amounts of lycopene (like cooked tomatoes), thought to help lower
        cholesterol.

 6  There are two types of persimmons: astringent and non-astringent. Sharons are the
        former, characterised by looking ripe before they are, and needing to be soft
        before being eaten. The non-astringent type can be eaten while firm and crisp.

 7  The fruits are a good source of antioxidants.

 8  Calorie figures vary quite widely, but I'd estimate the average Sharon fruit we'd
        buy in the UK would have maybe 100 or so calories.

 9  One sizeable fruit would contain about 80% of daily Vitamin C requirement and 19%
        of the iron. They are also quite rich in betacarotene (a hydrocarbon and a primary
        source of Vitamin A, that gives the fruit its colour).

10  They grow on trees, which are developed from rootstock. The trees are of the

        genus Diospyros, apparently Greek for 'food of the gods'.

Lots of reasons there to adopt a Sharon habit, but the main one is that once ripe, they are absolutely delicious. The leaf bit has to be removed, then I like to cut them into 6 or 8 wedges and eat 'just like that'. If the skin's a bit tough, the top can be sliced off and the inside eaten with a spoon, leaving the skin. Reminds me of eating kiwi fruit. Which are as pretty as they are gorgeous.

How to Lose Weight - My Positive System

This article, my own idea, appeared originally on suite101 and was heavily viewed. I go back to the system about once a year if the scales 'go wrong' and record too much weight, and I have to say it always works for me if pitched at 1600 calories per day. Secret Eaters would be proud.

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So many people try formal diets, and many do lose weight on them. Thing is, many regimes are boring – they forbid this or that, suggest far-too-small portions of diet meals, and avoid all the things the dieter really likes. Then you feel rotten if you fall for something you're not supposed to have. A recipe for failure.

Weight Watching and Weight Loss Could Be Fun

Preparation is the key here. Everyone knows that cream cakes have more calories than cabbage. But how many more? For this plan to work, it's necessary to make a note of the approximate calories in everyday, convenience, and sometime-treat foods. The information will be on the pack, often quoted in cals per 100g. For most fresh fruit and veg, served without added fat or sauce, the count will be low (more detailed information is available on sites such as www.caloriecounting.co.uk).

For example, a medium pear may have 65-70 calories, a medium slice of wholemeal bread 80-90, and a medium tomato 12-15, but 12 Brazil nuts could have 275, a 70g Danish pastry 280-290, and 100g of mature Cheddar cheese 420-430.

Then check the quantity of a food in a realistic serving. For example, commercial cereals give a calorie count for 'a portion', but pouring your usual amount onto the weighing scales could give a surprise result – probably more than expected. Cheese may have the calorie count per 30g, which is equivalent to around one ounce, but it's a smaller amount than would usually be in a hearty sandwich or on a decent pizza.

Armed with the knowledge of the weight of a portion or item, its equivalent in calories, and a target intake (such as 1600 for a woman, 1900 for a man – check with the doctor or health clinic if there's any doubt), it's time to make a start.

Using Home-Made Tokens To Manage the Calories

It's a bit like playing shops as a child, but with calorie tokens instead of money. Design a set of tokens of different value and colour, the size of various coins, and mark them as 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 to add up to your total. Find two different small pots, one for cals used, one for cals still available.

At the start of each day, put the planned max value of tokens into the calories available pot. As the day goes on, each and every item should be calorie counted (approximately), and tokens transferred to the calories used pot. The aim, of course, is to make the tokens last all day and all evening, and if any are left over, that's excellent. However, any extra can't be carried over to the next day!  

Advantages of the Calorie Token Method

1  The preparation itself means that the calorie count of food in everyday meals becomes known.  More occasional food and drink can be researched as needed.

2  Knowing values means that some substitutions can be made. If there's an attack of the munchies, a biscuit or chocolate can be substituted by a desirable savoury snack which is greater in volume but has fewer cals.

3  Using the tokens shows where the bulk of calorie intake is coming from, which may be a surprise and something which can be addressed.

4  No food is therefore off limits, as long as there are tokens available for it.

5  There is no 'punishment' element, and no guilt since everything is paid for.

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And I have just noticed that, over a whole day, I could polish off two Soreen malt loaves in slices spread with Flora Light, and still finish off with a small glass of Pinotage. Cheers!

Caramelised Onion Tart with Cherry Tomatoes and Balsamic

Another of my favourites, easily adjusted to suit. It's a robust tart which serves 4 to 6 depending on appetites, and is very good at room temperature, too.

A sheet of ready-made short pastry can be used, rolled out a little more thinly maybe, or it can be made by rubbing in 90g softened butter and 130g plain flour then drawing into a dough with a little water. The tart in this picture had a base of ready-made puff pastry, rolled out very thinly.

Total time needed is about 35 minutes to prepare, then 35 minutes to bake. I use a flan dish diameter 21cm, lined with a circle of parchment. The oven should be at 160C, middle shelf, but need not be switched on until you get to state 3 of the method.

Caramelised Onion Tart with Cherry tomatoes and Balsamic

Ingredients

220g approx of short pastry (otherwise puff pastry)

2 tbsp oil (preferably rapeseed or olive)

knob of butter

600g onions (6-7 medium) peeled and coarsely chopped - looks a lot but they reduce on 

        cooking

2 level tbsp soft dark brown sugar

2 tbsp dark balsamic vinegar

2 medium eggs

120m cream - single or double

3 tbsp chopped fresh herbs - thyme, basil or rosemary

30g grated Cheddar cheese

6 cherry tomatoes, halved

Method

1  Roll out the pastry very thinly to a circle 4cm larger in diameter than the flan dish, then

          place carefully and centrally in the lined dish so the base and sides are covered. 

          Run a knife around the rim of the dish to trim the pastry.

2  Melt the butter with the oil in a large pan, and fry the onions gently for 15 mins, stirring

          occasionally.

3  Add the sugar and vinegar and cook for a further 8-10 mins until thickened. Use kitchen

          paper to mop up any remaining liquid.

4  Meanwhile, beat the eggs lightly, then use a pastry brush to put a very thin wash of egg 

          on the pastry to help seal it.

5  Place the flan dish in the oven just for 4 minutes. Add the cream, herbs and cheese to 

          the eggs and mix well.

6  Remove the dish from the oven and pile in the onions, spreading evenly. Pour the egg

          mixture over the onions, again spreading the components evenly. Place the tomato

          halves evenly around the edge, then bake for around 30 mins or until the top is

          browned. Remove from the oven, then leave for 5 mins before serving.

Accompaniments could include baby potatoes, tenderstem broccoli, buttered carrots, or whole green beans. A dry white wine goes really well, or a dry cider, otherwise perhaps apple juice.

Guilty Baking Secret

When I first made the Crunchy Pawprint Biscuits (see two posts previously), I unintentionally allowed the butter to melt in the microwave rather than just soften. Carried on with the recipe and all was well.

Same mistake when making the second, larger batch of Cranberry and Currant Scones (previous post). In this and similar recipes, method says to rub the butter into the flour until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. I find 'rubbing in' unrewarding, and since the butter had already melted ... The flour/butter mixture was slightly damp so I added a little more flour and carried on with the method. The baked scones were excellent, so I think my rubbing-in days might be over.

I can only hope that no professional chefs read this.

More Baking: Cranberry & Currant Scones

Yes, there are plenty of scone recipes around. Some I've tried didn't rise properly, others were dry, but this is my final version which has been, er, well received! They keep well in the freezer too.

Quantities and types of dried fruit can, of course, be altered, for example using sultanas instead of currants or all cranberries, but the recipe here has gone into my Special Folder for those that are definite keepers. The relative amounts of flour and milk work for the types I buy (organic plain flour and semi-skimmed organic milk), but if others are used they may need adjusting to make the dough doughy, not too sticky and not too dry.

The recipe makes about ten scones. A baking tray is used, preferably lined with parchment, and the oven should be at 175C, middle shelf. My preferred cutter is labelled 58mm diameter, but of course a little smaller or larger should work. (For larger ones, I've tried double the recipe and a 68mm cutter and this made 16 really excellent scones.)

Cranberry & Currant Scones

Ingredients
230g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
75g very soft or just melted butter
30g caster sugar
40g dried cranberries, snipped in half if large
50g currants
1 egg, lightly beaten
80ml milk

Method
1  Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl.
2  Rub in the butter with fingertips until the mixture has the look of breadcrumbs.
3  Stir in the sugar and dried fruit.
4  Add the egg and milk and gently work into a dough with hands or dough hooks just until
          it forms a single piece.
5  Place the dough on a floured board, pat down gently to about 25mm deep, then smooth
          over. Cut out the rounds, then pull together the left over dough and repeat.
6  Put the rounds onto the baking tray, brush lightly with a little milk, and bake for 12-14 
          minutes until risen and golden but without allowing the currants to char.

Traditionally these are served with butter, clotted (or whipped double) cream and strawberry jam. A nice change, though, is marmalade or another red jam, and I don't feel cream is necessary. Talking of changes, instead of the dried fruit I plan next to try finely grated lemon zest and a teaspoon of lemon essence, or chopped dried apricots and pistachios. Or blueberries. 

A Bit of Baking - Crunchy Pawprint Biscuits

For a change, a quick piece about my favourite biscuit recipe. These remind me of the prints left on soft surfaces by cats, hence the name. The recipe is based on, and adapted from, one from Biscuits by Miranda Gore Browne, although the name is my own.

Hettie

The quantities given make about 20-22 biscuits. Preparation takes 15-20 minutes, and baking 12-15. It's easy to manage, and needs no 'rubbing in' of butter with flour. The oven will need to be at 175C, and two baking trays should be ready, lined with parchment.

Pawprint Crunchy Biscuits
Ingredients

160g butter, warmed until just melting
160g caster sugar
Half teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg, beaten lightly
150g plain flour plus a separate teaspoonful
35g desiccated coconut
75g jam (strawberry is good) or marmalade

Not the best pic, but there were only
these two left by the time I took it!

Method
1  Put the butter, sugar and vanilla extract into a medium bowl and beat well until mixed
          to a very even consistency.
2  While still beating the mixture, add in the egg. Stir in the 150g of flour and coconut and
          mix to a soft, sticky dough. If it's very wet, mix in another level tablespoon of flour.
3  Place balls of the dough (about the size of a walnut in its shell) well apart on the baking
          trays.
4  Dipping your thumb into the extra flour each time (to avoid sticking), make a deep dent 
          in each ball, then fill the dents with the jam or marmalade.
5  Bake for 12-15 minutes until the biscuits are golden - keep an eye on them because
          they will quickly overcook around the edges. 
6  Once cold, keep any left over in a tin - they last well like that.