Farmersgirl Kitchen

Saturday, 1 June 2013

Forgotten Fatherland - a book for Father's Day?

"In 1886 Elisabeth Nietzsche, Friedrich's bigoted, imperious sister, founded a racially pure colony in Paraguay together with a band of blond haired fellow Germans. Over a century later, Ben MacIntyre sought out the survivors of Nueva Germania to discover the remains of their bizarre colony. Forgotten Fatherland vividly recounts his arduous adventure locating the survivors, while also tracing the colourful history of Elisabeth's return to Europe where she became a mentor to Hitler. Brilliantly researched and mordantly funny, this is an illuminating portrait of a forgotten people and a woman whose deep influence on the twentieth century can only now be fully understood"

I thought this would be a fascinating book and was expecting to read the story of a strong, if rather misguided woman, interspersed with an account of Ben Macintyre's journey to find Nueva Germania. Those two elements do feature in the book but I found the narrative confusing with too many different stories running alongside each other.

Not only do we hear about Elisabeth but also about the bizarre antics of Paraguayan Dictator Fransisco Solano Lopez and his Irish wife Eliza Lynch. Other historical characters are introduced and the story jumps between them without really concluding any of the stories. I read as far as page 63 in this 248 page paperback but found the style of writing difficult and frustrating to follow so have not finished the book.

I don't usually find it difficult to follow a complex plot and am generally very good at keeping track of a wide cast of characters, so I couldn't really explain why this particular book defeated me. My friend summed it up when she was describing a TV drama that she had abadoned, she said: "I didn't really care what happened to any of the characters" and that's exactly what I felt about the characters in this book, including the author!

There are very positive reviews from the Guardian, Sunday Times and Independent, so someone must have seen something in it that I didn't. If you have read Ben MacIntyre's other books "Operation Mincemeat" and "Double Cross" you may well enjoy this book too, but I'm afraid it just didn't do it for me.

RRP - £8.99
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Labels: Ben McIntyre, Bloomsbury Publishing, Book Reviews, Father's Day, Forgotten Fatherland, Nietzsche

Thursday, 18 October 2012

Cookies, Cookies and More Cookies - a Review

Now the Great British Bake Off has reached it's finale, thousands of fans are wondering just what they are going to do without Paul, Mary, Sue, Mel and the brave bakers. The answer, of course, is to get into the kitchen and BAKE!

To help you along you might want to get yourself a copy of Cookies, Cookies and more Cookies! by Lilach German. The book begins with a little history of cookies with the theory that the first cookie was actually a 'test' for a cake recipe. This introduction is followed by a chapter on tools and another on ingredients, it's full of really good tips and information. As this is an American book, it's really worth reading about the ingredients to be sure you are reading the recipes correctly.

I loved the Basic Recipes chapter, which has a range of cookie recipes that you could adapt yourself, including a dairy free recipe.

After the basic Recipes we get into the main chapters, there are more than 75 recipes to choose from covering Classic Cookies, Cookies for Kids, Cookies for Occasions, Cookies for the Health Conscious, Cookies for Chocolate Lovers and Cookies for the Connoisseur.

Put a smile on a child’s face with a Sprinkled Chocolate Ball or Nutella Thumbprint. Enjoy classic temptations like Madeleines and Linzer Sables, or decadent brownies and truffles. Satisfy the most discerning palate with icing-filled macaroons, lady fingers, or Scottish shortbread. Even the health-conscious will find yummy options, including energy bars and Oatmeal and Cranberry Cookies. Many of the recipes produce large batches, perfect for sharing with family and friends. Includes instructions for whipping up basic types of dough, icing, and meringue.

The book concludes with a useful page of conversion charts which I really appreciated.

I decided to make some Madeleines, I wouldn't really consider these to be cookies, more little sponge cakes, but they are in the book so I gave it a go. One of the reasons I wanted to make them was to try out my silicon madeleine mould I bought from Sew White. I'd really recommend visiting her website, as there are lots of unusual baking items and the customer service is excellent.

Madeleine Cookies

3 eggs

1/4 cup/ 48g sugar

1 tbsp honey

1/4 cup/ 60ml milk

2 tablespoons vanilla extract (I only used one and it was enough)

1 1/2 sticks butter/200g butter, melted

1 1/2 cups/210g all purpose (plain) flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Madeleine Pan Mould

1. Using a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, mix together the eggs and sugar for about 5 minutes, until light fluffy. Add the honey, milk, vanilla extract and butter, and whisk until all ingredients are combined. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder.

2. Gradually add the flour to the wet mixture and whisk until the mixture is smooth.

3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before baking.

4. Preheat the oven to 350F. Generously butter a Madeleine pan mould. (if using a silicon mould, there is no need to butter, really?)

5. Pour the chilled batter into the pan mould, filling each mould to the very top. Bake for 15 minutes, until a toothpick, placed in the centre, come out dry.

6. Allow to chill to room temperature before serving.

7. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

In true Bake Off Style I had a bit of a disaster...

Yes, the madeleines stuck to the silicon mould, so I lost the shell like definition. I think I will probably butter them a little next time. You can just about see what it would have been like on the closest madeleine.

Fortunately I had more batter than would fit in the mould, so I made some madeleines in muffin cases and they turned out perfectly. If the madeleine recipe is anything to go by, this is an excellent addition to any bakers bookshelf, I can't wait to make some more cookies.

Taste Test!

One of the advantages of the madeleines in the mould not turning out right, is that there are plenty of 'bits' of cake to test. I was really pleased with the light texture and buttery flavour of the madeleines, the 30 minute chilling time for the batter was very interesting, as it came out decidedly thicker and bubbling slightly. I'll report back on my next trial with the silicon baking mould.

Cookies, Cookies and more Cookies is written by Lilach German, the founder of Lilach: Food and Design, a successful gourmet catering company. Her sophisticated sense of style shines through clearly in the colourful photographs. Lilach studied at the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu School in Paris.

Published by Charlesbridge, RRP £8.99

Also available through a popular online bookshop for £5.39

Labels: Book Reviews, buns, cakes, cookies, Great British Bake Off, madeleines, Muffins

Wednesday, 11 July 2012

Walnut Brownie Cupcakes - Hello Cupcake!

Imagine a mouthful of rich, slightly gooey chocolate brownie, then suddenly you crunch into a bitter sweet walnut - you've just had a virtual Walnut Brownie Cupcake!

These little beauties come from a delightful little book called 'Hello Cupcake' by Leila Lindholm, published by New Holland. RRP is £12.99 although it's on sale at a popular on line bookshop for £7.14 but you have the chance to win a copy, right here on my blog. Scroll down to the bottom of the post and follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter widget.

The book is dedicated to cupcakes and whoopie pies and contains lots of very tempting recipes some classic combinations like Butterfly Lemon Cupcakes and Double Chocolate Whoopie Pies. Then there are some more unusual flavours like Rhubarb Cheesecake cupcakes, Sticky pecan upside down cupcakes and Nutella Whoopie Pies. Then there are some really fun recipes like S'mores whoopie pies, Elvis Presley Cupcakes and Miss Piggy cupcakes!

I really liked that every few pages there was a page of tips, for example tips about oven temperatures, or the story of the creation of Whoopie Pies. The photographs are stunning, both of the cupcakes and the many children who feature enjoying the cakes!

I decided to bake the Walnut Brownie Cupcakes, not only because they looked delicious but so I could enter them for this month's Alphabakes challenge - letter "W".

They would also be really popular at a cake stall so I am also entering the cupcakes for Tea Time Treats.

Walnut Brownie Cupcakes

200g walnuts
175g butter
150g light muscovado sugar
150g good quality cocoa powder (I used 100g and found that quite enough)
50ml golden syrup
1 pinch salt
3 free range eggs
150g plain (all purpose) flour
1 tsp baking powder
100g good quality 70& dark chocolate

1. Turn the oven to 175C
2. Toast the whole walnuts in a hot and dry frying pan
3. Whip the butter, sugar and muscovado sugar until creamy.
4. Add the cocoa, syrup and salt.
5. Whisk in one egg at a time.
6. Mix the flour with the baking powder and sift it into the other ingredients.
7. Coarsely chop the chocolate and add it and the whole walnuts to the batter.
8. Set out paper cups in a muffin tin and fill the cups with two-thirds full with the mixture.
9. Bake them in a middle of the oven for about 5-20 minutes. Test them with a toothpick, they should be a little sticky in the middle. Leave them to cool.

Leila suggests decorating the cupcakes with shipped cream and fresh raspberries, but I made up a little butter cream and piped a swirl on top!

The recipe was easy to make, there was just one thing...the recipe says that it makes 12 cupcakes and I made 24 normal sized cupcakes and 10 mini cupcakes! Not that I'm complaining but if you didn't have two cupcake tins you might find you had to bake this in two batches.

Alphabakes is run by Ros at The more than occasional baker and Caroline at Caroline Makes and Teatime Treats is run by Karen at Lavender and Lovage and Kate at What Kate Baked

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. I was not required to write a positive review and any opinion expressed is my own.

Labels: AlphaBakes, Book Reviews, brownies, cupcakes, Hello Cupcake, Tea Time Treats, Walnut Brownie Cupcakes

Friday, 11 March 2011

Cookery School - you saw the series, now read the book!

The Review

I haven't actually managed to watch any of the Cookery School programmes on Channel 4 with Richard Corrigan and Gizzi Erskine, it's on at 2.05pm and I'm at work all day. Our DVD recorder is dismantled because of work being done on in our living room and our internet connection is often very poor so watching on 4oD is not really an option as all I get is buffering every 20 seconds. Anyway enough of my moaning, I hope C4 decide to repeat it in the evening so I have a chance to see it.

Anyway I don't really think that has any bearing on my review of the book, perhaps it is even a good thing as I came to the book without any preconceptions. It's a hefty book, full of lovely photographs, I would say it is a book for someone who wants to learn basic techniques which they will be able to translate into their own cooking. What I really liked was the step-by-step technique photos, ideal if you are a visual learner.

The recipes are a little bit too cheffy for my tastes but if you are a novice or intermediate cook who is interested in impressing at dinner parties with your restaurant style food - then this is the book for you.

My son fits that category, so I am going to give him the book as I am sure he will be able to learn a lot from the technique sections and adapt the recipes to suit his vegetarian girlfriend too.

The Recipe

I decided to make the Cream of Onion Soup with Cheese and Ham Toasties

For the Cream of Onion Soup
50g unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1kg white onions, peeled and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon marjoram leaves
2 tablespoons thyme leaves
900ml chicken stock
150ml double cream (I used semi-skimmed milk)
salt and freshly ground pepper

Heat a large saucepan and add the butter and half the olive oil. Once the butter has melted, add the onions, marjoram and 1 tablespoon of the thyme. Soften the onions for 10-15 minute over a medium heat.

Add the chicken stock and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

For the Cheese and Ham Toasties
8 slices white bread (I used two mini pitta breads)
1 egg beaten
40g sliced honey-roast ham
40g Gruyere cheese, grated
40g unsalted butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Roll out the bread slices to 2mm thick and brush one side of each with beaten egg. Place a quarter of the ham and cheese in the middle. Lay another slice of bread on top and again brush with egg. Press together and pinch closed around the edges, then cut into a circle shape using an 8cm round pastry cutter. Repeat to make 3 more sandwich rounds

Or split open the mini pitta bread and fill with the ham and cheese then dip into the beaten egg.

Place a large frying pan on the heat, add the butter and oil. When melted fry the toastie round over a low to medium heat until golden brown and toasted on each side. Keep warm in a low oven. If you have a large pan you can do them all at the same time; if not, fry in batches, using a little of the butter and oil each time.

Meanwhile pour the soup into a blender and blitz until smooth. Remove and pass through a fine sieve into a clean pan (I used a stick blender and didn't bother with the sieve). Stir in the cream (or milk in my case) and season with salt and pepper.

Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a small pan until hot. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of thyme and cook for a minute then set aside.

Warm the soup through and pour into individual serving bowls. Drizzle with a little thyme oil and serve a warm toastie on the side.

Even without the cream and using dried rather than fresh herbs, the soup was delicious but the little toasties were definitely the stars of the show!

Cookery School is on Channel 4 every day for 10 weeks from the 31^st January at 2.05pm. The book to accompany the series ‘Cookery School’, with recipes by Richard Corrigan is available, published by Penguin Books, priced £20.

Labels: Book Reviews, Cookery School

Tuesday, 14 August 2007

I love food!

Yes, I really love food and lots of different food. Just as well I like cooking too!

I'm going to share some of my favourite recipes here and tell you all about what I am cooking and eating. Maybe some cookery book reviews too, I have too many cookbooks and have a tendency to do too much reading and not enough cooking.

Janice

Labels: Book Reviews, Cooking, Food

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