Rachel Allen - Recipes from My Mother

MAKES ABOUT 1.5KG (3LB 5OZ) GRANOLA

A deliciously crunchy, nutty start to the day. Make this recipe your own by adding your favourite seeds, nuts or dried fruit.

125g (4½oz) butter or coconut oil

150ml (5fl oz) honey or maple or agave syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

500g (1lb 2oz) oat flakes

100g (3½oz) almonds (preferably with skin), coarsely chopped

100g (3½oz) chopped hazelnuts

100g (3½oz) desiccated coconut

100g (3½oz) pumpkin or hemp seeds

100g (3½oz) sunflower seeds

300g (11oz) dried fruit (such as chopped dried dates, figs, apricots, raisins or sultanas – I like a mixture)

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F), Gas mark 3. Place the butter or coconut oil, the honey or syrup and the vanilla extract in a small saucepan and put on the heat to melt together.

2. Next, place the oat flakes, almonds, hazelnuts, desiccated coconut, pumpkin or hemp seeds and the sunflower seeds in a large bowl and mix. Add the melted butter (or coconut oil) and syrup mixture and stir really well to make sure it’s evenly combined.

3. Spread the mixture out in a large roasting tin, lined with baking parchment, if you like (but it’s not essential), and bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until the nuts and grains are a light golden brown. Stir the granola every 5 minutes so that it browns evenly in the oven.

4. Once brown, remove the granola from the oven and leave in the tray to cool, again stirring every now and then, scraping it from the bottom of the tray. If you transfer it into a bowl while it’s warm, it will go soggy.

5. When it has cooled down, mix in the dried fruit and cinnamon. Transfer to an airtight container and store at room temperature. It will keep well for up to one month.

How to make butter and buttermilk

MAKES ABOUT 225G (8OZ) BUTTER

If you’ve ever over-whipped cream, you’ve been on your way to making butter. We make butter every day at the Ballymaloe cookery school and people are often really surprised at how easy it is. You can flavour it how you like, too – with herbs, spices or seaweed.

1 litre (1¾ pints) regular or double cream

2 pinches of sea salt, or dairy salt (if you can get it)

your favourite flavourings – chopped herbs, garlic, dried seaweed, icing sugar or spices (optional)

1. Pour the cream into the bowl of a food mixer and, using the whisk, whip the cream for 5–10 minutes on a medium-high speed (but not so high that it splashes everywhere) until it starts to split (as if you’ve over-beaten it). Continue to beat until the yellow fat separates from the buttermilk (you can use this buttermilk for baking). It will look completely scrambled.

2. Sit a sieve over a large, clean bowl. Place a double layer of muslin in the sieve – you’ll need it to be larger than the sieve as you want to be able to gather up the edges – then pour the contents of the food mixer bowl into it. With the muslin still in the sieve, bring up the edges and squeeze really hard to remove all the buttermilk. When all the buttermilk has been squeezed out, place the butter that remains in the muslin in a bowl and wash well in cold water, squeezing it well to remove every last bit of buttermilk. If you don’t do this the butter will go rancid after a couple of days.

3. Now pat the butter dry with kitchen paper, put it into a bowl and mix in the salt and any other flavourings you like, such as chopped herbs, garlic, dried seaweed, or even icing sugar and spice for melting over pancakes.

4. Shape the butter into a sausage shape by rolling it up in baking parchment, or into a rectangle, or whatever shape you like. You can also place it in a mould that you’ve lined with muslin, if you have one. When you’re happy with the flavour and the shape of your butter, place it in the fridge until needed. It will keep for 10–12 days if you’ve washed it free of all the buttermilk.

How to make yoghurt

MAKES 1 LITRE (1¾ PINTS) YOGHURT

Yoghurt is fun and easy to make and allows you to flavour it how you like. I love the unsweetened tang and slightly irregular texture that comes from a homemade version.

1 litre (1¾ pints) full-cream milk

25g (1oz) skimmed milk powder

1 tbsp natural yoghurt, live active culture yoghurt will work best (see tip)

1. Pour the milk into a saucepan and set on a gentle heat. As the milk begins to warm up, add the milk powder and stir to dissolve. Heat the milk until it reads 90°C (194°F) on a cooking thermometer. (If judging by eye, the milk will be sweet-smelling and just coming to the boil – steaming and starting to froth around the edges.) Remove from the heat and leave to stand and cool for 30 minutes or until it reads 40°C (104°F) on the thermometer (or the milk has stopped steaming and feels just tepid when you dip your finger in and leave it there for a few seconds).

2. Stir in the yoghurt, cover the pan with a clean tea towel and leave in a warm place (or in a flask) until the mixture thickens – which will take 4–5 hours.

3. After this time, remove the tea towel and transfer the yoghurt to a jar or bowl, then cover and place in the fridge overnight.

TIP

For your next batch of yoghurt you can use 1 tablespoon of this homemade yoghurt instead of the shop-bought yoghurt.

Scrambled eggs back in the shell

SERVES 1

This is a cute way to give scrambled eggs to little ones. I think the best scrambled eggs are cooked slowly over a low heat until almost set but still creamy, then taken out of the pan straight away to avoid overcooking.

1–2 eggs, as preferred

1 tsp regular or double cream

a little knob of butter

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve

hot buttered toast

1. Using either an egg topper or a little knife or spoon, carefully open the egg at the top as you would a boiled egg. Pour the egg into a saucepan and add the cream and butter, season with salt and pepper and beat well with a fork or whisk. Place the empty eggshell in an eggcup (see tip).

2. Scramble the egg over a low heat, stirring all the time. When the egg is just cooked but still soft and a bit runny, spoon it carefully back into the eggshell. Serve with a teaspoon and lots of hot buttered toast.

TIP

You can rinse the eggshell and dry it in the oven, if you wish. Place it, cut side down, on kitchen paper in a very cool oven, preheated to 100°C (212°F), Gas mark ¼ for 10 minutes.

Sweet eggy bread

SERVES 4

Sweet, comforting and completely delicious, one taste of this brings me back to my childhood in an instant.

2 large eggs

4 tbsp regular or double cream

1–2 tbsp caster sugar, to taste

1 tsp vanilla extract or ½ tsp ground cinnamon

a little pinch of sea salt

50g (2oz) butter

4 large slices of white, wholemeal or sourdough bread

To serve

maple syrup, crispy bacon slices or icing sugar

1. In a bowl large enough to dip slices of bread into, whisk the eggs, cream, sugar and vanilla extract or cinnamon powder together with a pinch of salt.

2. Melt a knob of the butter in a frying pan over a medium-high heat until foaming. Dip both sides of a slice of bread into the egg mixture and then fry on both sides, adding more butter as needed, until golden. Keep warm in a low oven while you repeat with the remaining bread.