Lemon and White Chocolate Easter Mini Eggs Blondies

Halloween Buns

Full of treacle and spice - old fashioned Halloween Buns

We Should Cocoa #38 - October 2013

I took the plunge a couple of months ago and asked the lovely Choclette of Chocolate Log Blog if I could be the guest host of her monthly chocolate cooking challenge We Should Cocoa. To my delight she said yes so here we are for my first blogging challenge hosting. Last month's challenge was the third anniversary of We Should Cocoa and appropriately the theme was Chocolate Showstopper Cake. 

We're now past the autumn equinox and this month the clocks will change bringing those dark nights ever earlier. It's time to start digging up the soil to reveal the goodies the land has grown for us. It's time to bring in the harvest so therefore the theme for October 2013's We Should Cocoa is:

Last October we had pumpkins on their own for We Should Cocoa but if you missed that or have another recipe here's your chance. It's not just about the big orange squashes though. Make the most of the wonderful seasonal produce that is in abundance this year. If you grow your own it's time to show it off and bring me your beetroot. Got a great local market or producer? Shout out about their swede. While we're thinking about local and seasonal let's just have a word about ugly vegetables. Some veg may not be lookers but that's no excuse to throw them away. If you have some odd looking aubergines or seen better days butternut squash I want to see what you have made with it.

To kick things off I've made a Chocolate and Potato Ring Cake using some leftover mashed potato. This goes to show that vegetables are a great ingredient to combine with chocolate. This year I've the pleasure of eating chocolate cakes made with aubergine and beetroot. It's not just about cake. You can keep it sweet or make it savoury just make sure your recipe includes chocolate and at least one vegetable.

To summarise, here are the rules:

Post your recipe on your blog. Remember, we all love a photograph too whether it's lovingly styled or snapped on your mobile, show us what you have made.

Link your recipe by the 25^th October to the linky below.

Mention We Should Cocoa in your post

Please link to me, JibberJabberUK, as this month's host and also Choclette at Chocolate Log Blog.

Please use the 'We Should Cocoa' logo in your post.

If you use Twitter please tweet your post to @jibberjabberuk and @Choclette8 with the hashtag #weshouldcocoa and we will endeavour to retweet it.

Please make sure you use this month's ingredient of vegetables and chocolate in your recipe.

A round-up of all your fabulous creations will be posted on JibberJibberUK after the closing date.

For any further details please look here.

Happy cooking!

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Asparagus and Bacon Quiche

Asparagus and Bacon Quiche

The British asparagus season is very short and starts at when the weather in the UK normally isn't that summery. This bacon and asparagus quiche is designed so that it can be served warm on colder days but still makes a great cold lunch or picnic dish for when the weather is good.

Asparagus really is a luxury item because of the short growing season and the fact that a lot of growing space is needed for a relatively low yield. Therefore you can understand my delight when I saw it reduced and snapped up a bunch quickly.

I use cooking bacon for this recipe. Some supermarkets now sell it pre-packed but you can also find it on butcher's and deli counters. Yes, it is cheaper but you normally get a mix of smoked and unsmoked bacon and big chunks which I think gives a better taste and texture when in dishes. Alternatively, you could use leftover gammon.

If you don't fancy the asparagus and bacon combination or the asparagus has gone out of season then use the pastry base and quiche but swap it for different ingredients. Another favourite of ours is smoked salmon and red onion. If you'd like an accompaniment to the quiche may I humbly suggest potato salad with chives.

As this uses seasonal British asparagus I am putting this forward for Ren Behan's Simple and In Season.

 

Equipment: 9in (23cm) flan case/tin, frying pan, rolling pin

Ingredients

6oz (170g) Wholemeal plain flour (I use Doves Farm)

3oz (85g) Butter or pastry spread (like Stork)

2-3 tbsp (30-45ml) Cold water

About 5 spears of asparagus (around 125g in weight)

10oz (300g) Bacon, cut in chunks

¼ pint (150ml) Milk

¼ pint (150ml) Low fat natural yoghurt

3 Large eggs

Salt & pepper to season, as required

4oz (110g) Cheese, grated (I use Cheddar)

Method

1. Either by hand or in a food processor mix the flour and butter together until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.

2. Add the water and then stir or process again until it comes together in a ball. Add more water if required.

3. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and put in the fridge.

4. Heat the oven to 170°C.

5. In a frying pan fry off the bacon in its own fat. Drain off any excess liquid if necessary.

6. Take out of the frying pan and put on a plate with some kitchen towel on it to soak up any fat.

7. Beat together the milk, yoghurt and eggs. Add 2oz (55g) of the cheese, seasoning to taste (I just use black pepper) and stir.

8. Roll out the dough to fit the flan tin.

9. Fold the pastry over the rolling pin and lift into the tin.

10. Trim the edges off with a knife.

11. Press down the sides with a fork and then stab holes in the base with the fork.

12. Arrange the bacon and the asparagus on the base.

13. Pour over the liquid mixture and then put the rest of the cheese on top.

14. Cook for 25 minutes until the quiche has set.

Serve either warm or cold ( makes a great 'leftovers' lunch the next day).

Rhubarb, Lemon & Ginger Friands

Rhubarb, lemon & ginger friands

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the tidy-up we had in our garden and one of the things I was looking forward to was the rhubarb growing so all the family could enjoy it in some tasty treats. All four of us are rhubarb fans and the brilliant thing about rhubarb is that it is so easy to grow. The variety we have is Timperley Early but due to the seemingly constant snow in the past months it hasn't been as early as usual. Despite living in Yorkshire we don't force it but simply let it die down at the end of the season and then wait for it to come back up the next year. That's it. The perfect crop for a lazy gardener.

I've recently acquired 8 mini loaf tins which I have been desperate to use. Therefore I decided to posh up my usual style and make some friands. You can buy special friand tins but these tins have worked just as well. My tins measure 9cm x 6cm around the top and have a depth of 4cm. You can also bake these in muffin cases. If you do use muffin cases or another sort of tin just make sure the mixture doesn't come any further than two-thirds of the way up the sides.

This month's Recipes for Life challenge for the Swallow charity is rhubarb, lemon and spice and since these contain the magical trio I will be submitting them to Vanesther at Bangers & Mash.

With the seasonal rhubarb I will also be sending this to Ren Behan for Simple and in Season. Although, I expect she is probably sick of the sight of rhubarb recipes by now. I'm sorry.

 

My tip for this recipe is don't melt the butter until you need it otherwise it will cool and turn back into its original state. Obviously this was done purely for recipe testing methods...If you are wondering what to do with the leftover 5 egg yolks I make a rich scrambled eggs with mine. Alternatively you could also buy cartons of egg whites in the supermarkets now. I've never tried them but I have heard very good reports about them.

Equipment: 8 friand/little loaf tins or muffin tin lined, electric whisk.

Ingredients

2½ oz (75g) Plain Flour

7oz (200g) Icing sugar

1 tsp (5ml) Ground ginger

4½ oz (125g) Ground almonds

Zest of 1 lemon

5 Egg whites

6oz (175g) unsalted butter, melted

1 stick (about 2oz/50g) Rhubarb, chopped into 1cm pieces.

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 200°C/Gas mark 6.

2. Grease the friand/loaf tins or line a muffin tin with paper cases.

3. In a large bowl sift the flour, icing sugar and ground ginger.

4. Stir in the ground almonds and lemon zest.

5. In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites until frothy – not stiff peaks!

6. Melt the butter.

7. Fold in the egg whites and butter into the dry ingredients.

8. Spoon the mixture into the tins or cases.

9. Place the rhubarb pieces on top of each friand.

10. Bake for about 20 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.

11. Leave in the tins for about 5 minutes to cool slightly and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.