Seasonal flavors

I missed posting last night for the first time in 40 days. D’oh! I’m blaming it on the head cold that arrived a couple of days ago. Or the whirlwind road trip to Wichita (a mere 3-hour drive each way) for a family party with my in-laws. Or tacking the Vintage Homes Tour (where all that bread was for sale) on to the end of it.

Seeing the bread (or what was left of it by the time we got there = not much) reminded me that I hadn’t posted all the recipes yet. And that I’d mentioned on the labels that people could find them here. So I thought I’d better buckle down and get to it.

Cranberry walnut bread
This used some of the huge amount of cranberry sauce I had left over from Thanksgiving. Adding in a scattering of toasted walnuts makes for an excellent combination of late autumn/early winter flavors.

8 oz/240 g all-purpose/plain flour
2 oz/60 g granulated/caster sugar
2 oz/60 g brown sugar
1 tsp/5 g kosher salt
2 tsp/10 g baking powder
8 oz/240 ml whole milk
2 large eggs
4oz/120 g/1 stick unsalted butter, melted and browned
½ cup cranberry sauce
½ cup walnuts, chopped and toasted

Preheat oven to 350F/180C and grease a 9 in/23 cm loaf pan.

Measure dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir or whisk to combine. Measure wet ingredients in a large measuring cup, jug, or similar, and whisk thoroughly until eggs are beaten in completely and liquid is of a uniform consistency.

Pour wet ingredients into dry, and mix until nearly combined. Add walnuts and fold through batter until evenly distributed. Scatter lumps of cranberry sauce on top of batter, and use a knife to swirl through.

Scrape the batter into loaf pan and bake for 45-50 minutes or until browned on top and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for at least 20 minutes in pan before turning out onto a rack to cool completely.

Makes 1 loaf.

Mixed nuts

On Sunday morning, I had a momentary panic that the seven menu items I had already decided on and begun preparing would not after all be enough food to adequately stuff the 40 or so Vintage Home Society members expected at SP’s that evening. This was brought on by observing the double batch of Cheddar-Pecan Shortbread I had just finished packing, rattling around loosely in the bottom of a medium-sized plastic storage box, looking thoroughly insufficient. Don’t caterers always have everything in enormous quantities? What was I doing showing up with one of the menu items packed in a lunchbox-sized container that wasn’t even full? Could I make my amateur status any more apparent?

I frantically took stock of my supplies, equipment, and recipe collection to see what I could rustle up that would supplement the paltry shortbread rations in the “nibbles” section of the menu, and maintain its autumn theme, all without throwing me completely off schedule (or kilter).

Once again the slow cooker saved the day. Aided and abetted by a bunch of nuts.

Oh, and by the way--there was more than enough food. Probably would have been even without the nuts. But over-catering is a security blanket, especially for a novice.

Sweet and spicy roasted mixed nuts
Adapted from Nigella Bites
Toasting nuts in the slow cooker is much easier than in the oven—no real need to worry about burning, which can happen very quickly in the oven or on the stovetop.

2 lbs/1 kg assorted unsalted nuts (I used almonds and hazelnuts because that’s what I had in the pantry)
4 tsp/20 ml maple syrup
2 Tbsp/30 g browned butter
2 4 in/8 cm sprigs of fresh rosemary
½ to 1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp/10 g kosher salt

Preheat the slow cooker to its highest setting. When hot, add the nuts and allow to cook with the lid somewhat ajar (to let any moisture escape) until they begin to smell toasted. Stir regularly while this is happening; it could take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the age and quality of your slow cooker—not to mention your nuts.

When nuts begin to smell toasted, lower the heat. In a small bowl, stir together the maple syrup, butter, and cayenne, and mix to your satisfaction. Chop the rosemary very finely and add.

Pour mixture over nuts in slow cooker and stir to coat each thoroughly. Sprinkle salt over and stir again. Shut slow cooker off and leave roasted nuts in, uncovered, to cool.

Makes about 2 lbs/1 kg of nuts. Supremely nibblable.

Grownup candy

As the stores fill up with Halloween stuff (really? already?), I am reminded once again of how I never eat candy bars anymore. And I wonder: when did they start tasting so awful? Were they always that bad, and I just had a less discriminating palate when I was younger? Or have they actually gotten worse?

Of course, I can’t answer those questions until someone drops by with a Tardis and I can zip back to 1976 to check. And I think it’s a bit soon to be starting down the Curmudgeon Way (“You kids today!”, etc.). Whatever the reason, the fact remains that most of the time I feel that candy bars aren’t worth the cash or the calories.