Sweet and Salty Crunchy Nut Bars

These little treats - well not so little actually, are from Nigella's Kitchen, her latest TV series. The recipe is Googleable in several forms but not in original text yet. I'll leave you to find it. (There is a YouTube video to help).

My friend Foodycat made and recommended them. I can only endorse what she said. They are rich, very tasty and easier than pie to make.

My family almost gobbled the lot in one sitting and took home the remainder for today's lunchboxes.

Unlike Nigella I shopped in Lidl, not Waitrose. The result was scrummy and very calorific. I am making more tomorrow. By request.

And they will certainly feature as a staff treat at our Strings Festival next week.

Lunch at Paris House

It is half term so, naturally enough, I am due a food treat. My schoolfriend chum Liz and I decided to visit Paris House in the grounds of the Woburn Abbey for a leisurely lunch. Liz had dined there several times before as she has a friend who was a cousin of one of the previous owners. Liz really rated it and, as it's just gained a Michelin star under the Alan Merchison team, now seemed like a good time to try it.

It is approached through a deer park and looks slightly incongrous in its surroundings. The building itself was constructed in Paris in 1878 and then dismantled and brought to Woburn at the end of the 19th century. We loved the chickens in the adjacent pen (and Eglu) and the distant deer which were mostly white. Liz thought they must be albinos. I keep meaning to look them up.

I started with my first G&T for 3 weeks. All the more yummy for being mixed with Fevertree tonic which is absolutedly the best. It was accompanied by excellent olives and coated cashews. We then moved into the dining room for an amuse bouche of (Jerusalem) Artichoke Velouté with Hazelnut Foam. I don't do foam. It looked like spit and this one didn't taste of anything. The soup was gorgeous however and you could definitely taste hazelnuts in that. At the bottom was an unexpected prune which finished the dish off nicely, although seeing that written down it doesn't sound nice at all.

We had opted for the Lunch Tasting menu and the next dish was a Chicken Liver Parfait, Madeira Jelly and Crispy Brioche. It was runnier than I'd expected and garnished prettily with thin beetroot ribbons. Very smooth, very moreish. This was followed by a Smoked Haddock Risotto with Crispy Egg (and more blooming foam). Liz had reservations about this as she doesn't do eggs (so I had to oblige) and she felt that it wasn't risotto rice and therefore lacked something. I had no complaints but wondered what kind of eggs they were - smaller than your average chicken, bigger than quail. We both agreed though that it was very tasty.

Mains were a delight. Liz's Poached Pigeon Breast, Pea Parfait, Confit and Sherry Jus is pictured. I was allowed a taste of the pigeon. Totally melt-in-the-mouth. I am eyeing up the pigeons in my garden. It really was a sensational dish.



I went for the other option of Pan-Fried Skate, Dill Gnocchi, Brown Shrimp and Cockle Butter which was also wonderful. Perhaps the gnocchi were on the hefty side but the dish was no worse for that.

We decided then, to hell with the cost, to share a plate of cheese. Totally amazing and possibly the best cheese board I have seen outside Le Manoir. Liz waxed lyrical about the various goat cheeses. I loved the Epoisses and a wonderful cider-washed Welsh hard cheese whose name escapes me.

The chef's pre-desserts were miniature ice cream cones containing lemon parfait (I think) and coconut ice cream. Fortunately for me Liz can only take a little dairy before her allergy to whey kicks in so she insisted I had hers too. Again it was really good, the balance between the lemon and the coconut just perfect.

My dessert was a Marshmallow, Vanilla and Chocolate Sauce confection decorated with gold leaf. So pretty, so fabulous. I think Liz fared less well with the Rum Baba and Caramelised Pineapple but she certainly wasn't complaining. (I had to eat her Pina Colada ice cream too and that was very, very good).

We shared a bottle of (red) Rioja. The price for lunch including service and a supplement for the cheese was £146. Not cheap but I think it was special enough to warrant it.

The ambience is excellent, the building and decor nicely quirky. We left replete and vowing to return.

Highly recommended for a special lunch but you'll have to book well in advance.

Upside-down cheesecake

When I read this recipe in last Saturday's Guardian I thought it would do very nicely for supper on Sunday as we were due at least 2 of our offspring to be dining with us. In the event they went off to play squash and had a takeaway pizza. This sort of thing is normal chez Lark!

I thought the recipe promised much and the price of forced rhubarb has dropped a little, although cream cheese is pricey. Worth a punt though and better than a tin of mandarin oranges and a can of evaporated milk!

It was easy to make and it looked very pretty when I cut into it. (My photo of the inside does not do it justice, as per usual).

But. And it is a Big But. Mr Lepard's instruction to eat it straight from the oven or warm is So Wrong IMHO. The ginger crumbs and the rhubarb were lovely at that temperature but the filling was reminiscent of warm baby sick. (Our grandson has spent a lot of time with us this weekend so I know what I'm talking about here). My husband, aforementioned Mr Fussy Eater, thought it was horrible and even I had a problem with it.

On Monday we both ate it cold. And we both had a second portion. Fridged and set firm it was absolutely gorgeous.

So I have a new food on my "I don't like" list (which is a very small list and includes most goat cheese, gravy and Campari). Warm cheesecake. Bleeeurgh.

The yearly ritual

Every January since just before we were married I have made marmalade. This was inspired by three things. The first is that toast and marmalade is my husband's favourite breakfast apart from kippers. The second that we inherited a mechanical marmalade cutter from his mother which we felt obliged to use. The third, and most compulsive reason, is that my Norfolk aunt was and still is a champion marmalade maker and I had watched her go through the annual ritual many times.

I no longer use the cutter. I squeeze my Sevilles in a juicer and chop the peel in the Magimix. That part of the operation still takes about an hour and I wonder that I had the patience when I was younger to fiddle about with the old stuff!

The recipe is the one my aunt uses, very standard in the marmalade world.

3lbs Sevilles
2 lemons
6 pints water
6lbs granulated sugar

Put the water in the jam pan. Juice the fruit reserving the pips which you place in a piece of muslin (or part of an old school shirt if you are me) which you also place in the jam pan. Shred the peel. Bring fruit, water, peel and pips to the boil and simmer until the fruit is soft. This usually takes about an hour and a half.




Remove the pips, squeezing out any extra pectin before discarding. Add the sugar, dissolving it into the fruit/water mixture. Bring to the boil and cook until setting point is reached. There is received wisdom which says you should use a sugar thermometer and that you should keep testing dollops of the liquid on refrigerated cold saucers. I don't use a thermometer. I had one for years which never seemed to reach the setting point marker. In those days I seemed to get an awful lot of over-cooked marmalade. I test on saucers after 15 mins. I seldom go past 20. A badly timed phone call meant my first batch had to be reboiled. The second lot was fabulous.



There has been a lot in the press about the demise of marmalade. So I feel like a bit of a heroine!

Dad

Just to say that my dad died late Sunday evening, aged 82. This is him pictured on his 80th birthday. He hasn't looked that well for a very long time and his last few months were painful, frustrating and worrying for those of us who loved him.

He was a good and a generous man and a fabulous dad.

Even though we've been expecting it for some time it is still a massive shock. Brenda, his wife, is devastated, as is my mother Jo. It has hit my sister and I much harder than we thought it would. We had been expecting it for some time but it is very painful.

The funeral is on Monday in their village. Both he and his wife are atheists but there will still be a service and a burial in the local churchyard.

This will be my second funeral of 2011. I hope it's not an omen.

Rest in peace dad.

Christmas cooking and carving

Christmas comes but once a year. Which is a blooming good job as far as I'm concerned.

What with the very unusual sub-zero temperatures, the snow and ice, plus looking after the incapacitated, I for one, am very glad to see the back of it this year.

Chris's wrist developed into gout which was very painful indeed and he was not the jolliest of Festive companions. Unusually I had left making my Christmas cake until the last minute. As he always ices it (and there was no way I was going down that route) I showed him various alternatives amongst my recipes. He was not impressed and said he would rather do without. (Cue for a martyred expression).

We went to my sister's for Christmas Day whereupon it fell to me to carve the turkey because everyone else professed themselves to have absolutely no idea where to start. Since my elder son once trained as a chef my guess is that he had more than no idea but, as it was Christmas, I thought I'd have a go. It was dead easy. Just another thing for men make a fuss about!!

I also carved the ribs of beef that I (over)cooked for Boxing Day. I cannot imagine how I ever passed Maths O level. I made a right hash of calculating the cooking time following Delia's tried and trusted method. The trouble was the conversions from kgs to lbs etc. I thought I'd got it right but the meat, good though it was, was drier and greyer than I would have liked.

Nigella's ice cream cake made by my sister was star of the show on Christmas Day. If you are ever entertaining people with a sweet tooth then you must try this. Mind you, it may contain nuts . . .

I made her Franglico tiramisu again for Boxing Day. It was much better this time (and I put it in a prettier dish).

But my favourite recipe was one which I remember my aunt making years ago. She cooked Christmas lunch for my dad this year and said that he had 3 portions of Brandy ice cream. This is easy, decadent and absolutely the tops with Christmas pudding. And it doesn't need an ice cream maker.

Belinda's brandy ice cream

4 eggs

5 oz caster sugar

5 tbsp clear honey (aunt uses 3)

1 pint double cream

8 tbsp brandy (aunt uses max of 5)

You need 3 large bowls!

1. Separate eggs.

2. Beat egg yolks and sugar together until fluffy. Beat in honey.

3. In bowl 2 whisk cream until thick then fold in the brandy.

4. Fold cream into egg mixture.

5. In bowl 3 whisk egg whites until stiff then fold these into the egg/cream mixture.

6. Freeze.

It comes out of the freezer soft, smooth and ready to eat. Makes 2 litres.

(Belinda was my cousin's bridesmaid who once went on a very posh cookery course and made the recipe there - this will have been about 30 years ago).

It's absolutely gorgeous.

A Happy New Year to one and all.

P.S. I managed to pick up a half price iced Christmas cake from Waitrose this morning. Just as well because a certain person had been saying it was a shame we hadn't got one!!

Jumble

I would like to introduce Jumble. After the Batman episode I was initially determined never to have another cat. This modified into never having another kitten and then I happened upon the RSPCA website, saw Jumble and fell in love.

She is around 12 months old, possibly older, may have had a litter, and belonged to a family in Bushey well known to the local Constabulary! So she may have been a gangster in her former life.

Two weeks on and she has settled in brilliantly. Still not allowed outside (and desperate to do so) she makes an enormous fuss when she has to use the litter tray. It's quite a performance!

I took her to the vet today for her second lot of immunisation. He thought she was the loveliest cat he'd ever seen from the RSPCA. (Don't know whether this was a dig at them though). Another week and, as long as the weather is good, she can be let out. I tremble as I think of the foxes outside waiting for her . . . . What a shame there is no longer a Boxing Day Hunt!! (Only joking peeps).

It is not a good time here. My father remains very ill in hospital, Chris has broken his wrist and to complicate things now has man-flu. Josh goes to hospital tomorrow to have a ganglion removed from his wrist, bashing it with the family bible not having had much effect! Also my eldest niece has debillitating stomach problems and my sister is worried sick.

I suppose I shall do some cooking over the Festive period, but there have been an awful lot of ready meals and defrostings in the Lark household during the last fortnight. Thank heavens for freezers.

Oh, and did I mention that heavy snow is forecast for later in the week?

I blame Bing Crosby.