Baked chicken liver mousse (gluten and lactose or dairy free)

A savoury recipe today but it is baked so fits right in with a baking blog! It is so tasty and is packed full or things that are good for you, especially the liver, try not to be squeamish, once cooked it does not look like liver and did I mention it is exceedingly tasty and nutritious? If you need any more convincing chicken livers, even organic, are very very cheap!

Warm this is very very light and mousse like. When I ate this the next day it was completely cold and much firmer, like a very smooth pate. I think the best way to enjoy this is with oatcakes, or anything else with crunch.

I am going to enter this to this months alpha bakes as the letter is L!

Baked chicken liver mousse

serves 6

100g lactose or dairy free spread
1/2 apple, finely chopped
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
100g liver
2 medium eggs
pinch of salt
tablespoon of brandy

Preheat the oven to 150C/130FAN/GAS MARK 2 and grease and line a small loaf tin (14cm by 7cm) Alternatively use small ramekins, no need to grease and line these.

Gently melt the spread before adding in the chopped apple and onion, gently cook for 5 minutes until softened. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.

Put all the ingredients including the cooled spread, apple and onion mix into a food processor and blend until very smooth. 

Pour into your prepared loaf tin or ramekins, place these into a deep roasting dish and pour boiling water  into the roasting dish until it reaches halfway up the loaf tin or ramekins. 

Transfer the roasting tray to the oven (careful!) and cook for 25 minutes in the ramekins or 35 minutes in the loaf tin. It will be set around the edges with just a very very slight wobble in the centre.

Leave to cool for a least half an hour before eating, this is very important in the case of the loaf tin if you want any chance of getting it out neatly. 

Cover any leftovers and keep in the fridge, it is amazing cold the following day. 

Bake along with bake off- Filo pastry pie

Pies and tarts last week on the Great British bake off and I was inspired to make a filo pastry pie.

Full disclosure: I did not make my own filo pastry, for two reasons 1) My kitchen is not big enough to swing a cat and my longest work surface is less than a meter long. 2) Paul and Mary are not here to judge me!

I have made a few filo pies before but decided to make a competition worthy one. Even without making my own pastry it required some effort, not a quick week day meal!

It is adapted from a Tom Kerridge recipe. It is fish, surrounded by a mix of basmati and wild rice with garlic, lemon, dill and mozzarella, all tightly encased in spinach leaves then wrapped in crispy filo pastry.

I made two small pies instead of a big bake off style pie as there is only the two of us and I do not waste food.

Filo fish pie

Makes 2 individual sized.

75g basmati and wild rice (dry)

1 clove of garlic

Vegetable stock cube

Zest of one lemon

Small bunch of dill

125g of mozzarella

60g spinach leaves (bigger are better)

2 fillets of white fish, I used frozen hake fillets that had been defrosted.

2-4 sheet of filo pastry.

Melted butter or egg to coat the pastry.

First off this requires cooling and resting time so make sure you have enough time before starting!

Spritz a frying pan with a little oil and lightly fry the garlic, add the rice and fry for 30 seconds or so. Add 200ml of veg stock and turn down to lowest heat, allow to cook for 45 minutes until the rice is tender and all the stock absorbed. Note my low heat is quite hot still so I had to top up with a little more stock a couple of times, keep you eye on it.

Transfer the cooked rice to a bowl and allow to cool completely. Once the rice is completely cool stir through the zest of a lemon, the mozzarella and finely chop in a good tablespoon of dill and season with a little salt and pepper.

Blanch the spinach for 30 seconds or so in hot water, drain and transfer to cold water immediately to stop the cooking, drain again and lay out the spinach on kitchen towel of a clean tea towel to drain of most of the water.

Lay out a sheet of clingfilm. Lay out a layer of spinach leaves a little wider and longer than the size of your fish.

Add spoonfuls of the cooled rice on top of the spinach, flatten then add the fish on top. Add another few spoonfuls of the rice mix to cover the fish and then finish with another layer of the spinach leaves. Now carefully wrap the whole thing up tightly in clingfilm and pop into the fridge for at least one hour, or up to two.

Preheat the oven to 200C/180C FAN and lightly grease a baking sheet.

Lay out a sheet of filo on a work surface and fold in half (length ways). Alternatively if your pasty sheet is small, or your fish parcel is big simple lay two sheets on top of each other.

Gently transfer you fish parcel from the clingfilm to the centre of your filo pastry. Fold the short ends in and then wrap the rest of the filo around the fish. Glue the seam with a little beaten egg or melted butter. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Glaze the top of the pastry with melted butter or beaten egg.

Bake in a preheated oven for 25 minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden.

This was a little effort and a little fiddly in places but it does not involve too long in the kitchen, a lot of time is waiting and it is honestly not has tricky as I though it would be.

Its worth noting that I did not use all the rice mix, I packed a lot in but there was a little left over, it probably depends on the size of your fish.

The effort was worth it though, the flavours and textures in this pie are lovely and a little bit different. It was very filling too, only a salad was needed alongside and I was stuffed!  

Quince and Camembert flatbreads

The letter for this months alpha bakes is 'Q'. A tricky one perhaps but I knew immediately what I wanted to bake. I have had my eye on these little flatbreads for a while.

They contain quince paste, which I believe you can get all year round so no waiting for quince's to come into season.

These are a Paul Hollywood recipe and can be found here

A few notes.

1) I halved the recipe for the two of us.

2)We had some the day I made the dough, and some the next day and some the next! The dough kept really well wrapped up tight in clingfilm in the fridge.

3)Three I did no read properly and put in all the water at once. I do not think it made a blind but of difference apart from it was crazily messy to begin with.

These taste amazing, honestly they are my favourite flatbreads to date. Considering that Camembert has a pretty strong flavour I wondered if it would overpower the quince. I need not have worried the flavours balance beautifully. The texture of these flatbreads is lovely and soft, maybe because the dough is wet, maybe from melty cheese, either way it is very very  good.

Bake along with bake off - Chilli and paprika grissini

I thought the standard on this weeks bake off was very high. No complete bread catastrophes, Lucy only went because she showed only a basic skill level as opposed to a total raw/burnt/yucky bread disaster.

From this week I decided to make bread-sticks as I have made (simple) decorated loafs and English muffins before.

I made them to go alongside a salad containing Spanish flavours so decided to make chilli and paprika grissini.

Chilli and paprika grissini 

makes ~16

155g plain white bread flour
1/2 sachet yeast (3g)
3g salt
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp paprika
100ml lukewarm water
1/2 tablespoon olive oil

Mix the flour, yeast salt chilli powder and paprika in a bowl. Mix the olive oil and water together and add to the dry ingredients.

Bring the mix together with your hands until a dough forms. Put a little olive oil on a work surface and knead until smooth and elastic, this takes between 5 and 10 minutes. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave to rise for 90 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 175C/155C FAN and line a baking sheet with baking paper

Knock the risen dough back and divide into two equal pieces (yes I did weigh mine), Lightly flour  work surface and roll out one of the dough pieces into a rectangle measuring 16cm in width and 24cm in height. 

Cut the dough into 8 even strips, using a pizza cutter or dough cutter. Fold each strip of dough in on itself and pinch, then roll into a sausage shape.

Breadstick, halfway through folding and pinching

Put on the prepared baking sheet and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until golden and crispy. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

So what do I think Mary and Paul would have thought? We th dough looks beautiful. The paprika and chilli give it a lovely terracotta colour and I am very proud to say all of my grissini were evenly baked!

I waited with baited breath and eager ear but need not have worried as they were very crisp and snappy! Apart from one slightly fat one in the very centre of the centre where there was a teeny tiny bit of chew. I bet that is the one Paul would have picked up!

The flavours of chilli and paprika were present giving a nice warmth without blowing your head off. Mark picked on the flavours without being told what they were, hurrah!

All in all I was proud of my grissini and think they would have stood up to the other bakers efforts.

Rosemary, honey and poppy seed bread

Rosemary is on of those herbs that I have grown to like much more as I have gotten older. That said, a careful hand is needed, the right amount brings amount a lovely fragrance and taste, too much and the whole meal is left tasting of perfume and soap!

I recall one such instance in which the university cooked carrots in what appeared to be a whole rosemary bush, I honestly did not go near rosemary for over a year.

Thankfully I am over it or this bread would never have been born.

This loaf goes fantastically well with lamb. I had it alongside a lamb salad and also for a sandwich with lamb and pesto, both were equally delicious.

Rosemary, honey and poppy seed bread

makes 1 small loaf

125g white bread flour
125g wholemeal bread flour
1 sachet yeast
15g poppy seeds
1/2 tsp salt
Sprig of rosemary, finally chopped
175ml warm water
1 tbsp honey

Mix the flours, yeast, poppy seeds, salt and rosemary together in a large bowl. Stir the honey into the warm water to dissolve it.

Slowly add the water mix to the dry ingredients and combine to form a soft dough, The dough wants to be soft but not overly sticky, you may not need all the water, I had about a tablespoon leftover.

Lightly coat a worktop with olive oil and knead the bread for 5-10 minutes until smooth and springy. Place the kneaded dough into an oiled bowl, cover with film and allow to rise for 1-2 hours.

Knock back the dough and then shape it into a small loaf, any shape you like. I had a moment of creativiy so mine ended up braided!

Place onto a baking tray and allow to rise again for ~30  minutes. Preheat the oven to 220C/200C FAN. 

After the dough has risen for a second time place it in the preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until deep golden and the base sounds hollow when tapped.

Allow to cool on a wire rack and then enjoy!

This bread reminded me just how much I enjoy making and eating my own bread, the flavour is unlike that of the supermarket and the combinations are endless. 

p.s. sorry for the alarming photos, I had to take them with my phone but the camera will be back soon!

Garlic and coriander flatbreads

I am loving this hot weather and I love cooking but combining the two is not bringing me joy, especially in my small kitchen. I also love a salad but just because it is hot does not mean that sometimes I want a little bit more.

I made these flatbreads to go alongside a greek salad, a fast and delicious super for the summer time.

Garlic and coriander flatbread

makes 4

115g white bread flour
50g wholemeal bead flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground coriander
50g of greek yoghurt
200ml boiled water
2 cloves garlic
Tablespoon of olive oil

Crush one of the garlic cloves (either with a garlic press or use a pestle and mortar, add to the oil and set aside to infuse.

Put the flours, baking powder, salt and coriander into a bowl and briefly mix. Crush a garlic clove and add to the greek yoghurt and stir in the water.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry, a little at a time, mixing to form a dough. Knead the dough for a minute or two then leave to rest for a couple of minutes, this will make it easier to roll.

Flour a surface and roll out 1/4 of the dough a thin as possible. Heat a frying pan and add the flatbread to the pan (no oil). Cook for just over a minute on each side until browned and puffy, some flatbreads puff up alarmingly but do not worry.

 When cooked brush with the oil and store on a dinner plate covered with a clean tea towel while you cook the others.. This allows the flatbreads to steam and keeps them warm and soft.

The flatbreads are soft and full of favour, I will definitely be making again, and trying different flavour combinations. Enjoy them alongside salads, as part of a mezze or even wrapped around a burger!

I had half of the dough leftover. I wrapped it in clingfilm and stored it in the fridge until the next day when I made two more and wrapped them around homemade bean burgers and spicy relish. They were amazing but sadly no pictures as I was too busy stuffing my face and genuinely forgot!

I am going to enter these into this months alpha bakes as the letter if 'F'.

Savoury bacon scones

I should really call these leftover scones as I am going away for a week and a)wanted to clear the fridge and b) did not really want to buy much.

I made these scones as an accompaniment to go with soup and although they were just made with bits and bobs they were so delicious I will be making them again out of want, not necessity.

I did not want to be misleading and call them cheesy bacon scones even though they do have cheese in them. They contain a little grated parmesan which adds a fantastic depth of flavour and savoury edge. T hough I would not call them cheesy, it is definitely essential for the flavour.

Another added bonus of these is that they can be made and ready to devour in half an hour, perfect!

Savoury bacon scones

80-100g bacon
200g self raising flour
50g butter
25g oats
30-40g finely grated parmesan
150ml milk (I used skimmed)

Preheat the oven to 200C/180C FAN. Cook the bacon (grill, fry whatever your preference) and set aside to cool.

Rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the oats and cheese, chop up the cooled bacon and add this too. 

Add the milk gradually, mixing until a dough is formed, you may not need all the milk or may need a splash extra.

On a floured surface pat out the dough to a thickness of 2-3cm. Stamp out the scones with a cutter, trying not to twist. The trimmings can be re-patted into shape and more scones stamped out. 

Place the scones on a baking tray and bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes until risen and golden.

These were delicious warm from the oven. Mark had the leftovers for lunch the next day and they were still deemed a success.

Olive breadsticks

Olives are the most recent transfer from my disliked food list to my liked food list. It has to be said that leaves the hated food list pretty barren. It pretty much reads tripe and wasabi.

To celebrate this move I baked with them. In a very tasty moreish olive breadstick. These would work well alongside salad, as part of a mezze platter or as a snack/appetiser with drinks.

They take a few hours to make but do not require much effort on your part. This recipe is ever so slightly adapted from Mr Paul Hollywood

Olive breadsticks

makes 8

250g white bread flour
5g instant yeast
5g salt
200ml lukewarm water
2 tsps olive oil, plus extra for greasing
125g olives, de-stoned weight

Grease a square 2L container ready for the dough. You could use a tupperware or square cake tin. 

Put the flour in a bowl and add the yeast to one side of the bowl and the salt to the other. Add ~2/3 of the water and, using a dough hook, start to mix together. When the mixture is starting to come together as a dough add the remaining water to the bowl. Continue mixing with the dough hook for 5-8 minutes until the dough is soft and stretches easily. Add the olive oil and continue to mix for a couple more minutes. Finally add in the olive and mix until evenly dispersed.

Transfer the dough to the oiled container and leave to rise until doubled in size, ~1 1/2 hours.

Line to baking sheets with baking parchment and liberally flour a work surface ad tip the risen doughy out onto it, it will be a loose flowing dough. Gently stretch/pat into an even rectangle.

Cut the dough into 8 even strips. Gently stretch till 20-25cm long and carefully transfer to the prepared baking sheets. Leave to rise for a further 1-1 1/2 hours.  

Preheat the oven to 220C/200C FAN. Bake the breadsticks for 10-15 minutes until golden. Allow to cool on a wire rack. 

These are best eaten the day they are made, they become chewy the next day, though they can be refreshed in the oven for 5 minutes.

Chorizo, mozzarella and rocket rolls

I have really been enjoying the repeats of The Great British Bake Off on BBC. I download them, as I am at work, then spend a good few hours on the sofa armed with plenty of cake watching the re-runs.

It was especially fun watching series one as I had missed this first time round. I thought the bread rolls that Edd made looked delicious and by a wonderful coincidence they appeared on his blog a day later!

I copied his recipe word for word, it can be found here.

They were delicious the day they were made and just as fabulous a day later refreshed for a few minutes in the oven .

I do bake bread on a regular basis but these have certainly inspired me to experiment with some filled rolls of my own.

Garlic and chilli ficelles

What is a ficelle? Erm will my French is non existent so I am going to go with a kind of soft breadstick.

Whatever it is it is extremely tasty alongside soup, salad, your evening meal or as a nibble with a glass of wine. Yes, I tried all these combinations!

The recipe is adapted from Paul Hollyood. His involved truffle, I do not have truffle oil! Not yet anyway...

Garlic and chilli ficelles

250g white bread flour
packet of fast action yeast
tsp salt
200ml tepid water
garlic clove
2 tbsps chilli oil
dried oregano 

You will need a dough hook for this recipe. Either attached to a free stading mixer or as part of a hand held whisk. Put the flour, yeast and salt into a large bowl. Add ~2/3 of the water and using the dough hook mix slowly until a dough starts to come together. 

Add in the remaining water and continue to mix for at least 5 minutes, the dough should be smooth and stretchy. 

Either crush the garlic clove or finely grate it and add to the bowl along with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Mix for a further two minutes.

Oil a 2 litre rectangular container, I used a Tupperware, and transfer the dough. Leave in a warm place until doubled in size (mine took ~1 hour)

Flour a work surface well and tip the dough out. Do not knock it back, you want to keep as much of the air as possible. Gently stretch into an even rectangle.

Cut into 8 equal strips, then gently stretch each strip to ~25cm long. Be careful the dough is very soft and delicate.

Lay each ficelle onto a baking sheet, you will need two, lined with baking parchment. Use your finger to make a few indentations along the length of each one. Leave in a warm place until risen again. I left mine 1/2 hour. 

Preheat the oven to 220C/200C FAN. Brush each ficelle with the remaining chilli oil and sprinkle with a little dried oregano. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until golden.

These are wonderful warm from the oven. Paul says they are best eaten within 24 hours and I agree. I made them one evening and refreshed them through in the oven before having leftovers the following lunchtime.

Sausage rolls

The sausage roll, a staple of children's parties and buffets, not to mention Christmas party food. A bad sausage roll is often tasteless and stodgy but a good one is indeed a wonderful thing. And how to guarantee you have/serve a good one? Make your own!

By making your own you can spike your sausage meat with whatever flavours you wish. Here I have used apple and sage. You can use shop bought pastry, but the one I use is so quick and easy and tastes so good it is most definitely worth the small amount of effort.

Sausage rolls also begin with 'S' so I will be entering them into this months alpha bakes.

Sausage rolls

makes 12, easily doubled

for the pastry

4oz plain flour
pinch of salt
3oz butter

for the sausage meat

225g sausage meat
1 apple, grated
small handful of chopped sage
1 egg to seal

First off make the pastry. Your butter will need to be very cold so if it feels a little soft from the fridge pop it into the freezer half an hour before you start. Place the flour into the bowl and add the salt. Grate the butter into the bowl.

Using a knife stir the butter through the flour, making sure it is well  coated. Add enough ice cold water to make a dough that cleanly leaves the side of the bowl. I used 16 tsp. Wrap the pastry in clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile mix the sausage meat (I used regular sausages with the skins removed), the grated apple and finely chopped sage until everything is well distributed.

Preheat the oven to 220C/200C FAN. Roll out the pastry into a rectangle and cut it into two strips. Divide the sausage meat mix into two and place down the centre of each strip.

Brush beaten egg down one side of each strip and fold the pastry over the sausage meat, pinching to seal.

Turn so that the seal is on the underside and cut each long roll into six. Snip the top with scissors  to allow steam to escape. Place the sausage rolls on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, until golden and crisp. Transfer to a wire rack to fully cool.

These a very tasty and make a great lunch, they were fantastic paired with Mary Berry's Christmas chutney. I also took some to a party and they were snaffled pretty quickly. Like I said these can be flavoured how you wish, how about chilli? Or honey and mustard?

Mary Berry's Christmas Chutney

Now I know chutney is not baked or necessarily sweet but this recipe is from the queen of baking herself, Marry Berry. And so I am adding it to my blog.

I think that the reason its called Christmas chutney is that it goes well with leftover turkey, ham or cheeses, none of the ingredients themselves are particularly christmassy.

Mary Berry's Christmas chutney

makes two small jars

300g tomatoes
1 red pepper
1/2 green pepper
1/2 small aubergine
230g onion
115g granulated or caster sugar
100ml white wine vinegar
tsp salt
tsp coriander seeds, crushed
tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Peel the skins from the tomatoes. You can do this by scoring a cross at one end and placing them in boiling water for a minute, the skin should peel away easily. 

Chop the tomatoes, peppers, aubergine and onion. Pop into a large saucepan and, on a low heat, bring to the boil. You have read that correctly, no extra liquid is needed, the vegetables will release enough by themselves. Cover with a lid and simmer for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally  until the vegetables are tender.

Tip the sugar, white wine vinegar, salt, crushed coriander seeds, paprika and cayenne pepper into the pen.and bring to the boil over a medium heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved, continue to boil for 30 minutes until a chunky chutney consistency has been reached and all the watery liquid has evaporated. Make sure you stir from time to time, especially towards the end of cooking time to prevent the chutney catching on the pan base.

Spoon the chutney into sterile jars and seal while hot. 

Ideally leave this to mature for 4 weeks. The one I am giving as a gift will have matured but the spare one I cracked into after 1 week. Mind you it was still absolutely amazing, I had it in a sandwich with leftover roast chicken and it was the most fantastic lunch!

Pumpkin and poppy seed crispbreads

Phew scraping in by the skin of my teeth with a final, slightly more inventive, alpha bakes entry.

I made these to go with my lunches during the week. Me and M had one each to sample them and straight out he offered to pay me to bake a batch just for him. They are delicious and have a very satisfying crunch.

I have adapted a couple of recipes to make a mismatch.

Pumpkin and poppy seed crispbreads

makes 24

60g plain flour
110g wholegrain spelt flour
1 tsp baking powder
40g butter
115g 2% fat greek yoghurt
2 tablepoons milk
30g pumpkin seeds
15g poppy seed
1 egg
extra pumpkin seeds for decoration

Mix the flours and baking powder in a bowl, rub the butter in with your fingertips util the mix resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Lightly whisk the yoghurt and milk together with a fork. Add the yoghurt mix and the seeds to the bowl, mix together, then bring the dough together with your hands.

Divide the dough into two and wrap tightly in clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C FAN, and line two baking sheets with baking parchment. 

Take a piece of dough and divide it into twelve even pieces, pat into a rough oblong. Flour a surface, cover a piece of the dough with the clingfilm used to wrap the dough, and roll out as thin as possible.

Transfer the pieces to the baking parchment, glaze with beaten egg and sprinkle on a couple more pumpkin seeds.

Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes until golden. Leave to cool on a wire rack and then store in an airtight tin. 

I can confirm that these are exceedingly moreish, they are excellent as a nibble with a glass of wine and are a lovely accompaniment to soup, I cannot wait to try them with hummus.

Thyme, parsnip and cheddar bread

This is one of my favourite breads that can be whipped up in a hour when you decide you want it. It is fantastic warm from the oven served with fresh soup.

Thyme, parsnip and cheddar bread

1 loaf

175g grated parsnip
175g self raising flour
50g vintage cheddar, finely grated
fresh thyme leaves, at least 1 tsp, I tend to like more.
few twists of fresh black pepper
1 large egg
2-3 tablespoons of milk

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C FAN and lightly oil a baking sheet, I used a spray oil for a very light covering. 

Mix the parsnip, flour, cheese, thyme and pepper in a bowl. Lightly beat the egg with 2 tbsps of the milk and then add to the dry ingredients. Mix until all the ingredients come together as a dough, if the mix is still a little dry add the remaining milk.

Shape into a flattish ball and place onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake in the oven for ~45 minutes, until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped underneath. 

Cool on a wire rack for a couple of minutes before devouring warm!

This loaf is so delicious but unless there are more than two of you or you are VERY hungry you will probably have some left over. I store it in a tin and it is just as nice warmed through in the oven the next day.