Trying elderflower marshmallows

Last week was pretty rainy. I had to take the saucers out from under some of my outdoor pot plants for fear of root rot, because they have seemed pretty drenched all week.

So, in pottering around the house, doing indoor things like tracing commercial sewing patterns onto tracing paper to re-size them in more ways than the "multi-size" lines can cope with, drafting a corset pattern, and I also spent some time cooking. Unfortunately, due to having a day job that requires working 12 days in a row every few weeks, I didn't cook much interesting for dinner. Mostly basic pasta dishes and risotto (plus arancini with the leftovers).

However, a recipe for elderflower marshmallows popped up on my Pinterest feed while I was scrolling on my lunch break. Although it is not remotely close to elderflower season, this recipe used cordial, which I did have some of, and I had recently bought a sugar thermometer for jam-making as I'd never had one and always had to somewhat guess when making jam.

The original recipe was a recipe by Country Living. Here's the original recipe: https://www.countryliving.com/uk/create/food-and-drink/recipes/a384/fluffy-homemade-elderflower-marshmallows/
I did not colour them pastel green, as I didn't really see the purpose. I had never made marshmallow before, so had no baseline for how it would turn out. However, I think if I was to make it again, I would make a couple of changes.

The quantities were very small, but did create quite a lot of marshmallow. I had to use a tiny pan (and I mean tiny), or the sugar mixture did not cover enough of the jam thermometer to be accurate. My stand-mixer also couldn't really whip the single medium egg white, so I had to start with the hand-mixer to get it started, and swap back to the stand-mixer when I went to pour the sugar mix in because I couldn't hold a mixer and pour evenly at the same time. The tin needs to be greased *really* well, or it will get stuck. I did not wait overnight for it to set, as it had set itself within a couple of hours while I made dinner, so turned it out and cut it when we had finished eating.

Lastly, the elderflower taste was overpowering initially. I suspect it depends on the strength of the cordial you use (the bottle of mine suggests 1 part cordial to 12 parts water, but I use even less as that is a little strong for me), but in the 24 hours or so after making it, it was extremely strong. However, after two or three days in an airtight container, the taste mellowed, and became rather enjoyable. I think if I was making these for use within a day or two or making I'd probably cut down on the quantity or cordial, but leave it the same if I was preparing them in advance for something.

That said, they are gorgeous. I may have to take them into work to prevent me eating them all myself.

Banana Gingerbread

So this week, I have been ill, with a horrible cough that is set off every time I go out into the cold air, so I haven't been taking a walk out much recently. However, I wanted to bake something nice with some warming spices to drive out the cold.

I don't know where this recipe came from. I remember it being in one of my mum's recipe books growing up, and it being the only thing we ever made from that big chunky hard-back book, and the pages were always stuck together by remnants of treacle from the last batch.

Anyhow, it is a great-tasting cake that doesn't use any butter, which makes it a good one for people who can't have dairy products (though I'm afraid it is not vegan-friendly due to the eggs in it).

I have never had difficulty cooking this before, so long as it is cooked in a lower, wider tin, as when cooked in a loaf tin it will undoubtedly crack and sink in the middle after removing from the oven. However, this time was the first time trying to bake it in a gas oven. I have come to the conclusion that I far prefer electric fan ovens for baking, as they heat up much more reliably, to a more even temperature throughout. Ordinarily, this cake only takes 40 minutes to bake in an electric fan oven, but this time, it took almost an hour to cook through to the centre, meanwhile getting over-cooked at the edges. Ah well. Such is the joys of living in a rental - you take what you get.

In terms of the ingredients, there are a couple of oddities that you may have difficulty finding at your local supermarket. One of those is malt extract - the thick, sticky kind. It is slightly sweet but not as much as one might expect, but adds great depth of flavour to the cake. I have yet to experiment to find other things to use it in, but I should, as I think it would go well with many things. I have rarely seen it in supermarkets, but when it is, you are more likely to find it in the section with the "free-from" stuff and "health-foods" if your supermarket has one, next to the lentil pasta, hemp oil and such. My local Asda has introduced one of these sections, at the end of the aisle of tinned vegetables, and I spotted malt extract available there the last time I was passing. However, all the jars I have got so far have usually been from "health-food" stores, as it is more often sold as a dietary supplement. If you live in the UK, my last ditch attempt if I can't get it anywhere else has always been to stop in to Holland and Barrett - I don't often shop there, but when I needed it, they have always had a jar in the shop.
Secondly, there is black treacle. I use the Lyles Black Treacle that comes in the tins and is so thick it'll dribble off the spoon forever (measure the oil first in the same spoon and it makes the treacle just fall off later). It is not the same as blackstrap molasses - it is sweet and much less bitter. If you cannot find treacle, use a lighter/mild molasses. If all you have is blackstrap molasses, try mixing it 50/50 with glucose syrup or corn syrup.
Thirdly, there is mixed spice, which is a british spice mix similar to pumpkin pie spice in the US, but slightly different in its ratios. According to google, it is similar to koekkruiden in the Netherlands, but without the cardamom. You can make your own mixed spice by combining 1tbsp ground cinnamon, 1 tbsp ground nutmeg, 1 tbsp ground allspice, 1 tsp ground cloves, 1 tsp ground ginger, and1 tsp ground coriander seeds. Or for a slightly different, fresher flavour, you can grind your own from whole spices in a spice grinder, but make sure they are well and finely ground, and any larger pieces sieved out before mixing into your gingerbread.

Lastly, a word about measurements - with the move from imperial to metric system, our family recipes never kept up. As such, some of my recipes are in grams and ml, whilst others are in ounces, teaspoons and tablespoons. This is one of those recipes that never made it out of imperial. As such, I have tried to convert it, but I can only vouch for the accuracy of the imperial version as that's what I set my scale to. To make matters more complicated, tablespoons are not the same now in the UK as they always were, nor are they the same in the UK now as they are in other countries across the world. The tablespoons my family used in cooking were always grannys big old ones. I measured one day, and the one I have holds 25mL - much more than the 15mL standard today in the UK. Because this is what we have, this is what we have always used. However, I will say that the original recipe book this came from more than likely did use the standard 15mL tablespoon. So really, despite the finnicky nature of baking, it seems the quantities are not that essential. Perhaps, if you use normal volumetric measurements of the liquid ingredients rather than my collossal ones, it may cook better and sink less on cooling.

Ingredients:

• 10 oz (284g) plain flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda/baking soda
• 4 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp ground mixed spice
• 4 oz (115g) soft brown sugar
• 4 tbsp sunflower oil
• 2 tbsp black treacle
• 2 tbsp liquid malt extract
• 2 medium, room temperature eggs
• 4 tbsp orange juice
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed thoroughly
• 4 oz (115g) sultanas or raisins

Recipe:

1. Preheat oven to 180C/ 170C fan/ gas mark 4, and grease and line a 30x20m baking tray.
2. Sieve the Flour, bicarbonate of soda, and ground spices into a bowl. Place the sugar in the sieve, add some of the flour mix on top, and use to rub the sugar through the sieve. Keep adding more flour as neccesary (the sugar does need to be soft for this to work).
3. Make a well in the centre and add in all the wet ingredients. Mix well, incorporating a little at a time to avoid lumps.
4. Add the mashed banana and sultanas, and mix. Scrape the mixture into the baking tin, and bake for around 40 minutes. A skewer inserted into the centre should come out mostly clean, provided the bananas were mashed well, though some bits of re-hydrated sultana may stick to it. It should, however be free of batter.
5. When cooled, cut the gingerbread into slices or squares. This recipe usually makes around 20 for me.

Ox-tail stew recipe (Slow-cooker/Crock-pot)

Today, I made an ox-tail stew. Ox-tail is a wonderfully delicious, woefully underused piece of meat. I have always been of the opinion that most of us these days eat far too much meat, from too few areas of the animal. Go into a regular supermarket, and you're likely to find the same cuts of meat over and over - chicken breasts and thighs; beef brisket, sirloin, fillet; lamb chops, shoulder, leg; pork chops, medallions, streaky bacon, back bacon. Where are the rest of the animal? The livers, kidneys, hearts, tail, neck, cheeks? And good luck finding mutton anywhere, as it seems to have gone by the wayside in favour of younger lamb.

My parents grew up fairly poor on crofts in rural Scotland. Less desirable cuts of meat were not wasted or overlooked as it seems to be today.

I am lucky enough to have a wonderful butcher within 10-15 minutes walking distance of my house. They regularly stock less common cuts of meat, though it is not always on display as their counter, and shop in general, is fairly small. I have not yet asked if they stock mutton, or mutton bones, but they have had everything else I've asked for so far, including giving me what seemed like an entire knee joint with marrow for free when I asked if they had any beef bones. However, I went in yesterday to ask if they had any ox-tail, and they had some in the back, so I'm making a stew and thought I'd share my recipe. Ox-tail has a strong beefy flavour that many may not be accustomed to, but can be reduced and replaced with a larger quantity of the stewing beef if preferred to mellow the flavour of the overall stew.

Ingredients:

• approx 1kg ox-tail
• approx 250g stewing beef, cut into large cubes
• 1 very large onion (or 2-3 smaller ones), sliced
• 1 leek, halved lengthwise and sliced
• a few sticks of celery, sliced
• carrots (either as many fit in your slow-cooker/crock-pot, or as many as you want then top up with other seasonal veggies. I used about 500g), cut into chunks
• 1 litre beef stock
• a few springs rosemary + thyme
• seasoning
• flour/cornflour/bisto to thicken if desired
• A mushroom stock-cube (if you can find it - I get mine from the local polish shop, as they are much bigger on mushrooms than we seem to be in Britain)

Method:

1. Season both sides of the oxtail with salt and pepper, then place in a roasting tray and into a pre-heated oven at 180 C/gas mark 4. Roast for at least an hour, until well-coloured.
2. Place the sliced onions, leeks and celery in the bottom of a slow-cooker (Mine is a 3.5 litre model), and place the ox-tail pieces on top. Add the stewing beef on top.
3. Add as many carrots, or other seasonal veggies on top - as many as you want, or will fit in your slow cooker, but do not pack it down. Add some springs or rosemary and thyme to the top, and some seasoning.
4. A lot of fat will likely have come out into the roasting tray, and the ox-tail will continue to release more fat in the slow cooker. Juices and bone marrow will likely also have come out in the roasting tin. Tip the roasting tin so the fat and juices roll to one corner, and skim off the majority of the fat with a shallow spoon. Scrape the marrow off with a wooden spatula, or such like, and tip the juices and marrow into the slow-cooker. Pour the beef stock on top. Add water as required, but do not overfill - more liquid will come out of the veggies as they cook.
5. At this point, the inside ceramic bowl of the slow-cooker, with the contents can be placed into a fridge if you want to save it for the next day, or, since it was cold enough, I placed ours in our porch (it is uninsulated, with single-glazed glass and tiled floor, so gets pretty cold there in the night, and I can put it out there before the oxtail has completely cooled without worrying about the rest of the stuff in the fridge).
6. First thing in the morning, take it in from the porch, or out of the fridge. Put it straight in the slow-cooker, and turn it to high. After an hour or so, I turn it to low, and go about my day, leaving it for the better part of at least 8 hours. A few hours before we plan to eat, or when I get home, I turn the heat back up to high, and allow it to bubble away, and for the sauce to reduce. Give it a good stir, and test the meat for falling-apart-ness. 
7. Just before serving, you can give it a good stir, skim off the excess fat as needed, and try to remove the bones of the oxtail, which should be falling away from the meat by this point, and any large lumps of fat. It can be difficult to find all the bones, especially the smaller ones, in a big pot of stew. However, they're easy enough to spot when ladling onto plates. The gravy can be thickened if desired by mixing a little flour, cornflour, or bisto with cold water, adding to the pot, and stirring until thickened. Taste and season as necessary before serving.

This is delicious served with all kinds of mash, and green vegetables, such as Kale, brocolli, cabbage or brussel sprouts. Here, I served it with celeriac mash, and tender-stem broccoli. My partner says he wants to try it with pasta. This also freezes really well, so long as no turnips or parsnips are added in place of the carrots (parsnips and turnips can be added, but in my experience tend to take on a not-so-pleasant flavour after cooking then freezing). If the liquid in your stew has reduced significantly over the cooking time, it may become slightly jellied as it cools due to the high amounts of gelatine in the oxtail.