Claire's Cake Bake & Other Foodiness

In this weeks vegetable box we got some Chicory. Its actually something I’ve never eaten before.  So after a quick flick through my vegetable guide - aka Sarah Ravens Garden Cookbook - I discovered that chicory, if eaten raw, can be quite bitter, but once cooked it can be delicious. I opted for the cooked version and we ended up with quite a pleasant Sunday lunch (though not in the traditional sense).

Braised Chicory for two - lunch sized portion

• 2 pieces of Chicory
• 4 slices prosciutto chopped into small strips
• Salt & Black pepper
• 15g unsalted butter
• 1 Tablespoon water
• Juice 1/2 lemon
• 100ml double cream

Method

1. Butter a small oven proof dish & put oven on a low heat (100°c)
2. Arrange chicory in the bowl and dot with little knobs of butter & the strips of prosciutto
3. Season with salt & pepper
4. Put a piece of greaseproof paper over the dish & put on lid (mine didn’t have one so I used tinfoil)
5. Braised in oven for 40 minutes until tender & lightly browned
6. Take out of oven and add lemon juice & cream
7. Serve with crusty bread

I just wanted to pop by & say Hello. Things in real life have been hectic the last few weeks for many various reasons - the best being I’ve started riding lessons on a Tuesday night with a lovely horse called Larry (in fact Tuesdays have been renamed Larryday in this household)

With everything going on I’ve not been making many exciting new dishes & resorting to quick, easy, tried & tested ones so I’ve not had much to report.

The only nice tasty meal I can report back about is a steak & cous cous salad we enjoyed a little while back…

Quite a simple cous cous with green beans, a little red onion and chickpeas served with a steak cut into slices & marinated in a little oil with some spicey herb rub.  Quick, simple but very nice.

Last weekend I made some Lamington cupcakes as a ‘Get Well Soon’ gesture for my brother who had just had an operation.

I had intended on following Bill Granger’s recipe for Lamingtons themselves but the sponge mix didn’t set and with 6 eggs in it I wasn’t overly surprised. So after a quick re-think I whizzed up a batch of Nigella’s trusty cupcakes and then topped each with lamington icing.

Carry on reading & leave a comment…