Seven On Sunday: 17.03.13

Curious cats, coffee splashes that look like wing waving owls, very wet farmers markets, chipping paint, cats against education, unimpressed houses, Buddha homeware.

Homemade Labneh

Every year Jim digs over the vegetable side of our garden. As he makes his way along it with a garden fork, he pulls out stones, tough roots, weeds, small bulbs and occasionally the rogue onion or beetroot which missed the harvests. He's fairly meticulous.

Yet every year, without fail, when that strip of land looks bare, in the middle of spring, a single plant sprouts up. Slap bang in the middle. Sending a thin bending-on-the-wind kind of green leaf up. Some sort of narcissus. Every year. No matter how thoroughly you dig. Or pluck. Or pull. It must grow slowly, yet I never notice it until it's at least eight inches tall. Like a chin hair. Not that they are ever 8 inches long. Unless you're going for that kind of look.

This year, rather than scowl at it, I'm going to let it grow. Give it a little bit of time, maybe it'll turn into something beautiful. Like this homemade strained yoghurt cheese. It transforms sour natural yoghurt, something I don't eat on its own (unless it has a copious amount of honey in/on it), into a soft spreadable creamy cheese with just the application of time and a little bit of gravity. Really.

You don't need fancy thermometers, muslin, pans or chemicals. Two ingredients.

Makes around 8 golf ball sized lumps

Ingredients
500ml natural full fat yoghurt (I used Yeo Valley)
Pinch of salt

You will also need:
A sieve
A large, fresh, clean jay-cloth folded in half
A large bowl
Kitchen string

Sterlised jars for storage
Olive oil
Herbs and spices for coating

Method
1, Lay your clean jay cloth into the base of the sieve creating a bowl. Place the sieve over a large bowl.
2, Gently stir the salt into the yoghurt and pour into the prepared sieve.Gather the edges and tie securely.
3,You now need to suspend the yoghurt over the bowl. I used a fruit bowl which had a banana hook. It's really important that you don't poke the bag or squish it - no matter how tempting that would be. The whey will start to drip out almost immediately.
4, You need to hang the yoghurt in a cool place for at least 18 hours or more if you want a firmer cheese. I left mine in a cool spot in the kitchen, but the fridge is good if your kitchen is a bit warm.

5, After 18 hours, you will have a ball of cheese which you can pick up. Cut into 8 pieces and roll into equal sized balls. A little splosh of olive oil on your hands will stop them sticking.

7, You can then roll them in herbs or spices. I rolled mine in rosemary, mint and black pepper.

8, Place them in a sterilised jar with enough olive oil to cover them. Store the labneh in the fridge, it will last a couple of weeks. You can also cover and store the whey, brilliant for baking bread. I used mine in Spelt & Pumpkin Seed Crackers.

Rum & Raisin Buns

I think decorating is like the sea. The ebb and the flow. The high tides and low tides. Of inspiration and of willingness. I'll binge in Homebase and Toast and scour the internet for the perfect dressing table mirror. Some days, I'll stare at the Ikea catalogue and then toddle off to make a cup of tea and play video games. If you're wallowing in wallpaper, tile and curtain samples, there is one thing you can do make it more interesting.

Jim and I have slowly been repairing and decorating the cottage. Ripping up carpets, laying wooden floors, fixing those dodgy DIY coverups from the last owners and painting.

But if you feel you are in an ebb, just grab some paint charts and laugh at the ridiculous names given to some paints.

They go from the obvious like Buttercup and Barely Beige to the downright crazy. Some of the best are Whisper of Rodeo Drive, Mizzle, Fluffy Bunny and Almost Oyster.

But there is one. One that stands out about all of the rest. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you:

Grandma's Refrigerator

Another problem is that you can run your finger across the paint charts and hit things like Rum & Raisin, and rather than sway me into buying brown paint, it just made me hungry.

Adapted from this recipe

Ingredients

Dough
600gr plain flour (plus a little more)
75gr butter
Pinch of salt
1 x 7gr sachet of easy blend dried yeast
250ml semi skimmed milk
70gr caster sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
2tbsp rum
3 eggs

Filling
130gr raisins
4tbsp rum
2tbsp boiling water
2tsbp melted butter
30gr caster sugar

Icing sugar for dusting

Method

1, Sift the flour into the bowl of your stand mixer. Rub in the butter until fully combined and stir through the salt and yeast.
2, In a medium saucepan over a low heat, stir the milk and sugar together until the sugar has dissolved and it has come to a lukewarm consistency.
3, Pour this into the flour and using a dough hook attachment, combine together.
4, Add in the rum, vanilla extract and crack in the eggs.
5, Knead the dough for a couple of minutes, you're aiming for a smooth dough that isnt sticky to the touch so you might need to add in more flour at this point. Add it slowly, spoonful by spoonful. When you've banished the stickiness, knead for a few more minutes or until your dough is stretchy and elastic.
6, Remove the dough from the mixer and place in a bowl. Cover with clingfilm and pop somewhere warm for an hour or until the dough had doubled in size.
7, Whilst the dough is proving, you need to make the filling. Ideally, if you can soak the raisins with the rum and hot water overnight that would be awesome but I'm not the most organised so we'll go with popping the raisins, rum and hot water in a small saucepan and setting over a really low heat. Stir until the raisins have plumped up a bit but you still have a little liquid in the pan. Let this go completely cold.

8, Knock the dough back with your fist and roll into a 30cm squareish shape.
9, Brush with the melted bitter and sprinkled on the caster sugar. Spread the rum and raisin mix all over the dough and press it in lightly with your hands.
10, Roll the dough up, trim off the edges and cut into 10 rolls.
11, I baked mine off in two batches, I put seven of my rolls in an 10 inch round tin and the remaining three in a 7 inch round tin. If you want to bake them on the same day you make them then simply cover with clingfilm, leave to rise for 30 minutes and then bake at 190o/c for 20-25minutes. If you want soft, raisin studded buns for the morning, cover with clingfilm and put in the fridge. You can leave these for up to 24 hours. To bake from the fridge, leave to stand for 30minutes at room temperature before baking as above.
12, Leave to cool slightly before dusting with icing sugar.

Damson Gin Ice Cream

I am Lady of the Leftovers. Baronness of the By-Product. Countess of Casserolling. Duchess of the dodgy looking bag of carrots in the back of the fridge.

Butternut squash seeds? I'll spice and toast them.

Scraps of pastry? Blatantly going to be re-rolled into cheese straws.

Potato peelings? Tossed in olive oil and baked into crisps.

My stock pot bubbleth over.

Bread to breadcrumbs. Wrinkly apple to crumble.

The leftover damsons from my Christmas Damson Gin are within my realm and they shall too be given a royal send off.

Into my mouth.

Makes around 1pint of ice cream

Ingredients

Damson Purée
325gr whole gin soaked damsons
40gr sugar
Couple of splashes of water

Ice Cream Base
2 egg yolks
50gr caster sugar
1/2 tsp cornflour
1/2tsp vanilla extract
150ml semi skimmed milk
200ml double cream

Method

1, Make the damson purée first by adding the damsons and sugar into a medium sized saucepan and simmering with a splash of water. Smoosh the damsons down with the back of a wooden spoon.
2, You need to simmer this until the damsons have broken down completely and have formed a light jam like consistency. Dependent on your damsons, you might have to add in more water.
3, Pass the cooked damsons through a sieve. I had around 115gr of thick purée at this point. Leave this to go completely cold.
4, Make the custard base of the ice cream by beating the eggs, sugar, corn flour and vanilla extract together in a large heatproof bowl.

5, Bring the milk and 150ml of the double cream to just below simmering point and pour slowly onto the beaten egg etc using a whisk to combine.
6, Pour back into the saucepan and set over a low heat. Stir continuously until the custard has thickened and you get a nice thick covering on the back of a wooden spoon. Do not allow to boil as this will give you lumps.
7, Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Pour in the rest of the double cream and stir through the cold fruit purée. Let this go completely cold before churning in an ice cream machine.
8, Spoon the churned ice cream into freezer proof container and freeze. Serve plain or with a splash of damson gin and chocolate covered cocoa nibs.

I'm entering this into Bloggers Scream For Ice Cream, a monthly frosty treat challenge from Kavey of Kavey Eats. To celebrate one year of the challenge, all previous categories have been opened up. My damson gin ice cream fits the categories of custard based, fruit and booze!

Q & A (a day)

I've been struggling with inspiration recently. A kind of writer's block of sorts. I sometimes try and give you a little more than "I had some apples, so I made a pie".

Someone told me that I should keep a journal or diary as it will help boost my creativity levels. I'm not big on sharing my deepest darkest with paper so went for an alternative.

This little 5 year journal poses you questions every day. Some are light and airy (What colours are you wearing? 7th April ) to the more profound (If you could go back in time and change something, what would it be? May 18th). It's also a handy size, measuring in at 11cm x 16cm x 3cm (w x h x d) so is perfect for slipping in your handbag.

I think 10th April will be an easy to fill entry.

Do you keep a journal or a diary? Does it help your creativity or is it a good outlet for the stresses of everyday life?