Now is the time to pick the last of the rhubarb and this recipe allows it to shine! Rhubarb and ginger jam is an autumn essential and makes a fantastic addition to hampers given as gifts at Christmas.

Photo Credit

Ingredients

1kg/2¼lb of rhubarb

750g/1½lb granulated or preserving sugar

125ml/4fl oz water

juice of half a lemon

5cm/2inch piece of root ginger, peeled and bruised (either bashed a bit in a pestle and mortar or with the end of a rolling pin – very satisfying!)

75g/2½oz stem ginger, finely chopped

Method

• Wash and trim the rhubarb and chop into small pieces
• Put the rhubarb, water and lemon juice into your preserving pan (or any deep, heavy bottomed pan) and bring to the boil
• Add the root ginger to the pan and simmer, stirring frequently, until the rhubarb is soft (you can leave it overnight here to get a deeper flavour but it’s not compulsory and I don’t usually)
• Remove the root ginger
• Add your sugar and stir until dissolved
• Add the stem ginger to the mixture, bring to the boil and boil rapidly for 10 -15 minutes until setting point is reached
• Skim off any scum from the surface of your jam
• Pour into warm, sterilised jars, seal and label.

We picked 2½lbs of blackberries yesterday so watch this space for blackberry jam – the preserving season is upon us!

There has been much jam making and preserving and I am looking forward to the smell of sunshine in the winter, but these were crying out to be popped into a cake.

I wanted the same sort of texture that I get with my rhubarb crumble muffins but this time I wanted it to be in a slicing cake. I made a cakey bottom into which I pressed the fruit and then scattered a rough crumble over the top. Not too sweet, it allows the natural sweetness of the cherries to shine through and it was all gone in seconds!

Ingredients

For the cake

150g Self Raising Flour

¼ tsp cinnamon

50g caster sugar

1 egg

4 tbsp milk

85g butter, melted

300g fresh cherries, pitted

For the crumble

25g plain flour

25g Demerara sugar

25g butter, diced

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180°C, grease and base line a 20cm shallow cake tin
• Whizz all the cake ingredients (apart from the cherries) together in a food mixer until creamy and well combined
• Pour into the prepared tin, scatter the cherries on top and press gently into the mixture
• Rub the butter pieces into the flour until you have a rough breadcrumb texture, stir in the sugar
• Scatter over the cake mixture and press down lightly
• Bake in the preheated oven for 30 – 40 minutes until a skewer poked into the cake comes out clean
• Cool in the tin for 5 mins then turn out onto a wire rack to allow to cool completely (we couldn’t wait that long and ate our first piece when it was still slightly warm)

This recipe has only been tested in the kitchen once so, if you make it, I would love any feedback!

1. Apple and Sultana Breakfast Muffins

Halfway between a cake and a bread these substantial muffins are a perfect start to the day. Not too sweet, not too fluffy they’ll keep you going until lunchtime.

2. Almost Eggs Florentine

A fabulous veggie savoury, this is a substantial dish which ticks all the boxes for breakfast being the most important meal of the day. Traditional Eggs Florentine doesn’t quite hit the spot for me so I add a delicious Portabella mushroom and serve it with homemade English muffins – it is to die for!

3. Banana Smoothie

Possibly the perfect accompaniment to those apple and sultana muffins, these take seconds to whip up and seconds to disappear. I know he’s set up for a day at school/adventuring/dragon fighting if he’s packed this away!

4. Proper Summer Porridge with Raspberries

Picking your own breakfast is hard to beat, so I sent him out into the garden with a cup while I whipped up some almond milk porridge. Porridge is his absolute favourite breakfast of choice so I will ring the changes with banana, apple and cinnamon, maple syrup, toasted nuts, stewed chopped apples or pears, golden syrup, blueberries or whatever else takes his fancy!

The Recipes

1. Apple and Sultana Muffins (makes 12)

250g wholemeal flour

300g plain flour

2 tsps salt

150g peeled chopped apple

75g sultanas

450ml almond milk

1 free range egg, whisked

100g unsalted butter, melted

100g runny honey

• Preheat your oven to 200°C, grease or line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper liners
• Sift the wholemeal flour and put the bran which remains in the sieve into a bowl
• Sift the plain flour into the wholemeal flour
• Add the salt, apples and sultanas
• Add the milk, melted butter, egg and honey to the bran and leave to soften while the oven heats
• Stir the flour mix into the ban mix with a fork until you have a thick lumpy batter. You don’t need to over mix, lumps bumps and bits are fine
• Spoon into the muffin cases and pop into the oven for about 25 minutes until lightly browned
• Serve warm with a banana smoothie, almond milk or fruit juice

2. Almost Eggs Florentine – Serves 2

200g washed spinach leaves

2 eggs

pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

2 large Portabella mushrooms

25g butter

25g plain flour

250 – 300ml almond milk

25- 30g strong cheddar, grated

½-1tsp grain mustard

salt and pepper

• Preheat the grill
• Put spinach into a pan with a few drops of water and cook until just wilted, leave to drain in a sieve
• Cook the mushrooms in butter until all liquid is released and then gently evaporated, keep warm in the pan
• Melt the butter in a small saucepan, add the flour and cook gently for one minute, whisk in the milk and cook on a low heat until the sauce thickens. Stir often and whisk again if you get lumps. Simmer for 3- 5 minutes.
• Add the cheese, mustard and salt & pepper to taste
• Poach eggs ( I poach mine in water at a rolling boil with a teaspoon of vinegar added. I stir dramatically until a whirlpool is achieved and then drop the egg in, folding its white around it with a spoon. I cook them for no more than two minutes before removing with a slotted spoon and popping them into a bowl of cold water. You do it your favourite way!)
• Season the spinach with nutmeg, salt and pepper and put it into individual shallow oven proof dishes, top with a mushroom then an egg, season and cover with the cheese sauce.
• Pop under the grill for a couple of minutes until the sauce is bubbling but remove before the yolk is set.

Serve with toasted English muffins (recipe to follow), soda bread or wholemeal toast. You can add a grilled, sliced, beef tomato on top of the mushroom and before the egg or serve with veggie sausages for dipping. Heaven.

3. Banana Smoothie – Serves 1

1 ripe banana peeled and sliced

250ml chilled almond milk

A drizzle of good runny honey

3 -5 drops of vanilla extract

• whizz everything together in a jug with a hand blender or in a food processor/blender
• Serve in a tall glass with an apple and sultana muffin!

4. Proper Summer Porridge with Raspberries – Serves 1

50g porridge oats

275ml almond milk

A handful of fresh raspberries

• place the oats in a small saucepan
• cover with cold milk and bring to the boil
• simmer for 4-5 minutes, stirring often
• Pour into a bowl and top with fresh raspberries

Why Almond Milk?

According to Blue Diamond:

‘It’s lactose free, dairy free and soya free and has no added sugars. Made using all natural ingredients, it contains all the superfood goodness of almonds. These little wonders of nature not only make it taste great, they also mean it’s a good source of calcium and low in saturated fat.

With no added sugars, Almond Breeze® Unsweetened is, wait for it…only 14 calories per 100mL – this is over a half less calories than skimmed milk and a half less calories than unsweetened soya milk whilst being naturally low in fat.’

That’s all lovely jubbly but, my boy doesn’t care about calories, fat or super foodiness! He cares whether it tastes good and he tells me that almond milk is better than cows’ milk (which we rarely buy) and even better than goats’ milk which we usually choose! I have a feeling that Blue Diamond Almond Milk may well be a feature on my weekly shopping list from now on!

Disclosure: I received a one litre carton of Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Almond Milk for the purposes of this review. For the purposes of the competition I am entering my ‘Almost Eggs Florentine’.

Ingredients

125g softened butter

2 tbsps icing sugar

100g plain (all purpose) flour

2 tbsps cornflour

1 tbsp cocoa powder

Nutella

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180°C
• Grease two baking trays
• Beat the butter and icing sugar together until light and fluffy (I use my Kitchen Aid obviously – any excuse!)
• Sift the remaining dry ingredients and fold into the buttery sugary fluffiness to form a soft dough
• Take small walnut sized pieces of the dough, roll into balls and place on the baking trays (this makes about 20)
• Dip a fork into cold water and squash each ball until about 1cm thick
• Bake for about 10 minutes
• Cool on a wire rack
• Sandwich two biscuits together with a generous blob of Nutella
• Watch them vanish at speed
• Explain to your husband why there are none left for him and promise to make another batch tomorrow

Ingredients

400g red lentils

1 litre of water

Large onion, diced

100-150g cheddar, grated ( I vary this according to how cheesy I want it)

1 heaped teaspoon Marmite

2 – 3 tsps sun-dried tomato pesto (or 1 tsp sun-dried tomato and chilli paste)

2 tsps dried mixed herbs

2 free range eggs, lightly beaten

Breadcrumbs (about 50g)

Method

• Cook the lentils in the water with the Marmite added until they are soft and you have a rough lentil puree with all water absorbed. (You may need to add more water, keep an eye on them, lentils can be unpredictable little devils and either boil over suddenly or dry out!)
• Stir in the tomato paste and dried herbs, the cheese, onion and the eggs and add enough breadcrumbs that the mixture is stiff but not rigid!
• Spoon into an oiled and base lined 2 lb loaf tin and level the surface
• Cook on the middle shelf at 200°C for about half an hour until firm and smelling delicious!
• Serve with roasted roots, gravy and veg or boiled potatoes and salad. I sometimes wrap the mixture in puff pastry with a lattice top and I also use it as the filling for veggie sausage rolls!

This is a really good protein meal for kids and the Marmite is a good source of B12. If you serve it with broccoli and potatoes and follow it with a good fruit salad (using orange juice as the liquid) you will have a really well balanced meal. I have yet to meet a visiting child who doesn’t love it and the veggie sausage roll version goes down very well at school Christmas parties.

If you have a vegetarian family friendly Friday filler you’d like to see featured on Fab Food email us admin@fabfood.org and we’ll be in touch!

Ingredients (serves 4 as a main course, 6 as a starter)

450g frozen chopped spinach

4 eggs, separated

½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

freshly ground black pepper

a pinch of salt

200g curd cheese

25g pine nuts

25g sunflower seeds

1tsp Dijon mustard

1tbsp soy sauce

30g fresh vegetarian parmesan, grated

Method

• Preheat the oven to 200°C, grease and line a 35cm x 25cm swiss roll tin with baking parchment
• Defrost the spinach according to packet instructions. Drain and squeeze as much water out as you can through the sieve with the back of a wooden spoon
• Mix the egg yolks, nutmeg, black pepper and salt into the spinach in a large bowl
• Whisk the egg whites until stiff and fold into the spinach mixture with a large metal spoon
• Spread the mixture into your tin and bake for 15 – 20 minutes until firm.  Allow to cool.
• Meanwhile pour a little oil into a small pan and toast the pine nuts and sunflower seeds lightly until golden brown, pour in the soy sauce and sizzle it off, cool slightly
• Mix the curd cheese and mustard together, add the nuts and seeds and a grind of black pepper
• Turn the roulade out onto a fresh piece of baking paper, spread the filling evenly over the surface leaving a gap of about 3cms  all around the edge so your filling doesn’t ooze out
• Sprinkle with the grated parmesan
• Roll the roulade up using the baking paper to help you

This can also be served hot if you miss out the cooling it down bit and fill it straight away. It is delicious served with buttery new potatoes a crisp fresh salad and freshly made tomato sauce or as part of a buffet feast.

My favourite meals are the ones where I can make one thing and everybody at the table can eat it. This isn’t always easy when catering for a toddler, who I politely describe as a careful and small eater and a nine month old who is like a mini human dustbin, but needs something he can eat with his hands.

Macaroni Cheese ticks all the boxes and you can make it even easier for a young baby by putting some in a small dish before oven baking, leaving this to go cold and then slicing into little bars of cheesy pasta deliciousness.

Picture by Emily D

The ingredients for this version were originally published in an Observer Magazine by Nigel Slater, but the way he makes his cheese sauce is so complicated it give me a headache and my way works just as well. I add no salt at all in cooking, making it suitable for babies under one. You can use some in the pasta water or cheese sauce if you wish, but I really don’t notice it’s absence. Please trust me on the addition of tomatoes, they really work.

Macaroni Cheese (serves 4-6)

Ingredients

175g mature cheddar
50g vegetarian Gruyère (or other melty cheese such as vegetarian Emmental)
50g vegetarian parmesan
50g white bread, crusts removed
280g macaroni
50g butter
50g flour
1tsp Dijon mustard
3 medium tomatoes, sliced

Method

• Grate all the cheeses, keeping on third of the parmesan and 25g cheddar separate.
• Tear bread into pieces and whizz in food processor to make fine breadcrumbs. Mix the breadcrumbs with the separated parmesan and cheddar.
• Preheat oven to 190°C/Gas mark 5
• Cook Macaroni as per packet instructions, when cooked drain and rinse briefly with very hot water to stop it sticking together.
• Melt butter in a saucepan. remove from heat and stir in flour to form a smooth paste.
• Return to a low heat and cook, stirring continuously for one minute.
• Start to add the milk gradually and keep stirring. If you do start to get lumps, don’t panic, there is no law against using a whisk, no-one will know!
• Keep stirring until sauce thickens, once it has add the mustard and stir in.
• Add the grated cheeses and stir until melted, mix in macaroni.
• Pour the macaroni cheese into a buttered dish, mine is a square one, 23cm across and 6cm deep.
• Sprinkle cheesy breadcrumbs on top and lay sliced tomatoes on the breadcrumbs.
• Bake in the oven for about 15mins and finish off with 3-5mins under a medium grill.

You could serve with salad but I prefer to partner this with leafy green vegetable or broccoli, because they are only improved by a bit of cheese sauce.

If you have a vegetarian family friendly Friday filler you’d like to see featured on Fab Food email us admin@fabfood.org and we’ll be in touch!

The cake itself is a delicious equal measures fruit cake.

Ingredients

225g (80z) soft butter

225g (80z) light brown sugar

225g (80z) self-raising flour

2 tsps mixed spice

4 eggs

225g (8oz) sultanas

100g (4oz) raisins

50g (2oz) currants

100g (40z) glacé cherries, rinsed, dried and chopped

grated rind of 2 lemons

500g  (about 1lb) marzipan (almond paste) I used white marzipan into which I squidged a couple of drops of yellow food colouring, you can buy yellow marzipan ready-made or you can leave it white – it’s up to you!

a little apricot jam

1 egg beaten to glaze

Method

Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F. Grease and line the base and sides of a 20cm (8 inch) deep round cake tin.

Put all the ingredients except the marzipan, jam and egg glaze into a large bowl and beat well until thoroughly combined. Cue gratuitous photo of my favourite gadget!

• Put half the cake mixture into the prepared tin.
• Roll out one-third of the marzipan into a circle the same size as your cake tin. Pop the tin on top, press down lightly and remove. Cut around the circle which should be stamped onto the marzipan.
• Put this circle of marzipan on top of the cake mix in the tin.
• Spoon the rest of the cake mix into the tin and level the surface
• Bake in the preheated oven for about 2½ hours until well risen, brown and firm to the touch. If it is browning too quickly cover the tin with foil after an hour or so.
• Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, turn onto a wire rack to cool completely
• When the cake is cool roll out half of the remaining marzipan into a circle to fit the top of your cake
• Warm a little apricot jam in a pan and brush over the surface of the cake
• Place your marzipan circle on top and crimp the edges with your fingers
• Make 11 marzipan balls or eggs by rolling pieces between your palms (these represent Jesus’ apostles minus Judas because of his betrayal)
• Brush the marzipan with a little of the beaten egg and place the balls/eggs on top, brush them with a little egg too
• Pop the cake under the grill to brown slightly

Serve with a nice cup of tea and a bit of chatter!

Soda bread doesn’t need all the kneading and proving of a yeast based bread which makes it a really valuable addition to your repertoire. It can be rustled up in an hour and makes a really good accompaniment to soups an stews. My lot ate this last night with slow cooked veggie sausage stew and they almost took the pattern off their plates! The cross in top either lets the devil or the fairies out depending upon your point of view!

Preheat your oven to 200°C

Basic Soda Bread

500g plain flour

2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp salt

400ml buttermilk

Sift the flour and bicarb together into a large bowl. Add the salt and stir. Make a well in the centre and pour in the buttermilk. Bring it all together to a loose dough (add a little milk if it is too dry but it shouldn’t be sticky and doughy it is rough and ready!) with a wooden spoon. Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly, forming it into a ball. Place it on a lightly greased baking tray and make a deep cross in the top. Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes until risen and crusty and the loaf sound hollow when you tap its bottom. Cool on a wire rack.

Half and Half Soda Bread

250g plain flour

250g wholemeal flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

350ml buttermilk

The method is exactly the same as for basic soda bread.

Ingredients

1 pack of By Sainsbury’s Shortcrust pastry (You’ll only need about half of this and you can wrap the other half and freeze it to use another day!)

1x 300ml pot of Crème Fraiche (you can use low fat fromage frais if the thought of this makes your arteries shudder)

1x 125g log of Abergavenny Goats’ Cheese (See? There’s the Welsh bit!)

2 Eggs, beaten

half a packet of fresh mint

freshly ground black pepper

sea salt

Method

• Preheat the oven to 200°C
• Roll out the pastry and use it to line a greased 23cm loose bottomed flan tin. Prick it all over with a fork and pop it into the fridge to rest and recover while you make the filling

• Whisk the goats’ cheese and the creme fraiche together
• Whisk in the eggs
• Chop half of the mint leaves and add them to the filling
• Add a good grinding of black pepper and a sprinkle of sea salt
• Line the tart case with tin foil or grease proof paper and fill it with baking beans (I use dried chick peas which I keep for this purpose and reuse again and again)
• Pop it into the oven for 10-15 minutes
• Remove the beans and foil and return to the oven for 5 minutes until the case is light golden and cooked
• Pour the filling into the case and top with the rest of the mint leaves (whole) and a grind of pepper
• Bake for 10 minutes until firm on top
• Grill for 5 minutes or so to brown

We ate this at room temperature. I boiled some baby new potatoes and added a knob of butter, I fried some chestnut mushrooms a red onion and some strips of red pepper and steamed some tenderstem broccoli. It was delicious! This tart also makes excellent picnic food and is delicious served cold with a selection of salads.

Sainsbury’s sent me a £5 voucher, the ingredients for the tart came to £4.25. It serves 6-8 people so that works out at between 53p and 70p per person which isn’t bad! (The crème fraiche is on offer at the moment at two for £1.80 which helped!)