apple spice cake with salted walnuts and caramel drizzle

some days are a real gift and you know it.
you feel it in your bones and in every breath you take.
other days - not so much.
on those days you burn your toast.
twice.
the honey jar smashes on the floor.
the fire doesnt seem to stay alight. once finally alight it goes out again because you forgot to top up the wood.
twice.
the computer has a nervous breakdown - causing you to begin to have one as well.

take a deep breath.

go out side and play in the garden with the little for a while.
wash the dirt from both your hands and the little's face, mouth and tongue.
go back inside and take another deep breath.
get your apples, chopping board and grater and begin to make the most delicious cake.
the sweet aroma of fresh apple will begin to sooth you as they leak their juice. shred and chop at them, working out the last of your issues, then, pour the excess juice from the chopping board into a cup and save it to sip with the little once the cake is in the oven.
out the music on.
feel her sticky hand holding your cheek as her other hand tries to puck your eyeball out with her thumb.
smell the apple and spice fill the kitchen as the cake starts to cook.
anything left of the anger will dissipate as you crack the walnuts.
hear the shell creak to crack inside the metal brace and crunch it until you have it just how you like it. prod and wriggle it apart, placing the old broken pieces of shell into the bowl as you work the nuts free, moving them to your right.
turn the music up.
crunch a few of the walnuts. 
laugh out loud as the little bangs on the kitchen window, scaring chester, the neighbors cat.

today is a gift.

this really is a bloody good bite.

moist and comforting - perfect for those not quiet right days and even better with yoghurt for a warm treat by the fire after dinner.

apple spice cake

75 grams butter, melted

1/2 cup white sugar

1  1/2 cups soft brown sugar

1 Tblsp cream cheese

2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1  1/2 cups finely diced apple

2  1/2 cups grated apple

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1  1/2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1  1/2 tsp mixed spice

1/2 tsp salt

put butter, sugars, cream cheese, vanilla and eggs into a bowl and cream until light.

mix the diced and grated apple into the butter sugar mixture.

add remaining ingredients and fold in until combined. 

place in to a greased cake tin and bake at 180'C for 60-75 minutes (you will know the cake is done when it begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.)

let cool slightly in the pan then, carefully turn out onto a cake rack to cool and top with salted walnuts and drizzle caramel sauce over top.

salted walnuts

1 - 2 dozen walnuts
1 Tblsp oil

ground rock salt

crack, de-shell and place walnuts. place in a roasting dish and toss with oil until evenly coated.
grate on salt to taste and roast in a pre heated oven at 200'C until golden.

caramel sauce

1/2 c melted butter
3/4 cup soft brown sugar

3/4 cup cream

place butter and sugar into a small saucepan and heat at a moderate to high heat untill it is boiling and begins to look like bubbling lava.
remove from heat and pour in cream, whisk frantically until well combined and smooth (if you fancy butterscotch now is the time to add vanilla aprox. 1 tsp)

the perfect weather for creamy lemon polenta

what shit weather.

i was planning on a sleep in.
i was planning on a horse ride.
i was planning on a sunny day.

instead of all these things i make creamy lemon polenta for breakfast, an attempt to get my day back on track.

it works.

one spoonful and i feel much better.

today is the last day for planting fruiting plants until the next moon phase in september. because of this i was planning on adding ten new strawberry plants into my patch and showering them with love and affection in the form of worm wease. once again the weather has stomped on my plans.

two spoonfuls and i have forgotten all about strawberries.

i am out for flour, and i need cream, cream cheese and brown sugar. i realize that today i will need to drive into town, to go the the supermarket, for just these 4 things.
total ball sack.

three spoonfuls and i think a trip into town sounds like a nice change of pace.

get your winter morning (or afternoon) off to a good start with some of this stuff.

it may just lift your spirits.


























CREAMY LEMON POLENTA

2 medium apples, peeled and diced
root ginger, about a small walnut sized section finely grated
1/2 cup water

zest of 1/2 lemon
juice of 1 lemon
1 cup milk (almond or soy milk if dairy free food is required)

1/3 cup polenta

1-2 tablespoons honey (sweetness to taste)
1/2 cup yoghurt or kefir (omit for dairy free)
extra yoghurt and lemon zest for garnishing

put apples, ginger and water into a saucepan. bring to the boil.
pop on the lid and boil for 5 minutes until apple is cooked.
puree with a whiz stick (very handy gadgets!) or in the blender and return to saucepan.
add milk, lemon zest and lemon juice, stir and return to boil (the milk will curdle as a result of the lemon juice, but do not fret, all good with the world and everything will turn out just fine!
grab a whisk and slowly pour in the polenta, whisking all the while to avoid lumps.
keep stirring for around 5 minutes to ensure the polenta cooks through and thickens. while doing this step be sure to avoid burning yourself on any exploding bubbles the may attempt to escape. they burn like a mother.
remove from heat and stir through honey, taste and add more if desired.
once sweetened sufficiently fold through yoghurt and serve with an extra dollop of yoghurt and a sprinkling of zest.

frosty mornings and ginger crushes

once green fields are lovingly coated in white, as ol' jack frost holds the earth in a wintery embrace. 
my old brown leather riding boots show our trail as the blades crunch beneath, like brittle sugar candy. i inhale and it burns the inside of my nostrils and top half of my lungs before shooting its way out past my lips like cigarette smoke, only without the stench. i am surrounded by icy air and the vast blue of a cloudless canterbury sky.
such a splendid feeling of fresh freedom is growing within me as i whistle for the horses and watch them trot up to the gate.
this is the coldest of morning so far.
after the ride i will go home and warm my toes by the fire, drink a hot cup of tea and chew on some delicious ginger cookies.

this is one of the first recipes i made while i was working at a top place called river valley lodge. 
it took me a few attempts to get them just how i wanted and i have to admit, i was rather smitten with them.
my first ginger crush. (followed by my second ginger crush on a boy that i met briefly while living in auckland helping out a friend on a look book shoot... but i digress, back to the cookies...) 
unfortunately, as i am so often doing, i continued 'tweeking'said recipe until the cookie that i so loved had changed into a very average bite indeed. it has taken me a while to get it back to its early and awsome glory, but i do believe i have finally done it! these darling treats are moist, chewy (or crunchy) and packed full of flavor. 
for an extra ginger kick i sometimes up the 2 tablespoons of ground ginger to 3, but i would recommend that you try the original first before doing this, as it may be a little too much ginger for you. 
i hope you like them as much as i do.

GINGER COOKIES

100g butter, melted
1 cups soft brown sugar
1 1/2 Tblsp molasses

1 tsp baking soda
1 Tblsp boiling water

75 g crystallized ginger, roughly chopped
2 Tblsp ground ginger
1 cup plain flour

preheat oven to 180'C

beat together butter, sugar and molasses until well combined.
dissolve baking soda in the boiling water and add to the butter mixture and beat.
add crystallized ginger and mix.
sift in the flour and powdered ginger, mixing until well combined. this may be easy, or, if the butter is beginning to harden you may have to work a little harder. sometimes the mixture looks very dry, but just keep mixing and it will absorb the flour and take on the usual cookie dough texture.

form into balls and flatten slightly once on the greased or paper lined tray.
bake these treats for 10-18 minutes.
if you want a more chewy cookie (which is my personal favourite for this recipe) you will want bake them for about 10-13 minutes. take them out of the oven just a fraction before they look completely done and leave them to cool on the tray before removing them. 
if you want a crunchy cookie, leave them in until they are just ever so slightly beginning to brown up around the edges then remove to a wire rack to cool.


happy indulging!

xx
jes

warm winter days followed by leek and potato soup with fococcia

we wake in the dark.
bo gets ready for work while i curl my knees up, hugging their warmth tight to my chest before slowly stretching out. fully flexed feet invading the cold and un-used parts of the duvet.
the kitchen curtains are opened and freya is stirring.
not yet, just a little bit longer....
unbidden, the morning chorus begins.
the kettle starts, moving a from soft whistle to a shrill scream, before being scooped off the element and returned to silence.
bo brings freya down the hallway to me.
she is all smiles and slobbery, open mouthed kisses and, when her bottle arrives, it is accompanied by a hot cup of tea which my fingers eagerly embrace. i draw from it ever so slowly and the wet steam moves across my face as i exhale and watch day unfold.
black fades to grey.
birds begin their daily salutation.
grey merges with blue.
i am still in bed.
clouds are kissed by the sun and blush the most outrageous shade of acid pink.
as the sky's shock wears away i ease my feet into their fur slippers and we begin.
the days are warmer lately, though night takes a while to remember that it no longer rules and the house is still cold.
we will have soup and bread for dinner tonight.


FOCACCIA BREAD WITH LEEK AND POTATO SOUP


focaccia bread
 
1 1/4 cups warm water
1 1/2 tsp yeast
1 tsp sugar

2 cups high grade flour
2 Tblsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt

rock salt
olive oil
fresh herbs

place the warm water, yeast and sugar in a warm bowl (if it is either too cold or too hot the yeast may not activate) give this mixture a quick swirl then add the flour, olive oil and salt.
mix thoroughly until no lumps remain.
cover and set in a warm place until doubled in size (usually about an hour)

 i leave the bread to rise on the window sill in the sun, its doughy glory steadily multiplying.
freyas legs kick wildly as i put on her slippers. she bops up and down on my hip while i stamp, stamp my feet into boots.
we walk in the sun towards the vege patch, looking to harvest the leeks.
they arent big enough really. i feel like a misbehaving child stealing them away at such a tender size, but my heart is set on leeks, and the heart wants what the heart wants.

leek and potato soup
 
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
good sized knob of butter
2-3 sprigs of thyme
1 bayleaf
2 medium sized leeks, green ends removed and white stalks diced
4 medium potatoes diced (i leave the skins on for extra nutrients)
1-2 ltrs good quality chicken or vege stock
100 mls/grms of either pouring cream or cream cheese
salt and pepper to season

in a saucepan saute the onions and garlic in the butter at a medium heat until translucent.
add thyme, bay leaf, leeks and potato. give a good stir insuring it is all mixed well then pop a lid on it at a medium to low heat to gently sweat for 5-10 minutes until the potatoes are just softening. shake every now and then to stop them sticking.
add 1 ltr chicken stock.
bring to boil, then lower heat to a gentle simmer.
once potatoes are soft and beginning to fall apart the soup is ready.
at this stage i shove a whizz stick in it to puree some of it, i usually leave chunks of potato though as freya loves to have something to grab with her hands when eating,and it gives a bit more texture variation, but you can choose to either puree some, all or none -its purely a matter of personal choice.
add cream or cream cheese and stir through (cream cheese may need a little whisk action to break it apart)
add remaining chicken stock to get desired thickness then leave on the lowest heat possible until the bread is ready.


speaking of....


back to the bread.



oil a skillet or tray and gently scoop the dough into it.
turn oven to 220 'C.
again, leave in a warm place for 5-10 minutes to relax.
drizzle with olive oil and poke holes in the dough with your fingers, sprinkle with rock salt and chosen herb.
once oven is up to temperature pop in your bread.
bake for 20-30 minutes (the thinner the bread the less cooking time, ie, if you have it on a tray it will cook quicker than if it is in a small skillet)
bread is done when nicely browned on top and it makes a hollow sound when you knock on it with your knuckles.

thank you for reading.
i would love to hear from you.
xx
jes