Cherry's English Kitchen

Cheesy Buds

I don't really have a sweet tooth anymore, it seems to have been taken over by a savory tooth. Give me salt, cheese, olives, crisps and lashings of olive oil and balsamic vinegar and I shall be quiet and happy. Well happy, certainly!

Another thing I don't really have any more is any sort of working kitchen. My kitchen in is boxes, save for a bowl or two, cutlery and my mixer. So this past Friday I began work on a cheesy biscuit. The type of biscuit that goes great with cheese, be it Brie or Stilton, mature Cheddar or mozzarella and torn fresh basil leaves.

We spend good money on biscuits and crackers and I wanted to have a recipe in my armory that I would be able to pull out and pop in the oven should an occasion or guests warrant it.

So, people I give you these......

Herbed Cheese Bites

Whiz together 1 teaspoon of flat leaf parsley, 1 teaspoon of fresh rosemary, 1 teaspoon of fresh thyme, 2 cups of flour, 3 teaspoons of baking powder, a twist of freshly ground black pepper and half a cup of Stilton cheese. Use the blade tool on your mixer for this as you want the mixture to form crumbs while at the same time chopping the herbs very finely.

When this is done add 5 tablespoons of room temperature butter and just over half a cup of milk.  Place small balls of the mixture onto a greased baking sheet and press thinly to the sheet. Bake at 180 degrees c for between 12 & 15 mins, flipping over half way through cooking them if you have to. The great thing about these is that the shape of them really is of no consequence. I like that fact that each one was different in the batch I made. I thought they looked kinda rustic and 'Summer day picnic' in appearance!

I wanted my bites to be a golden brown in colour and in the end I got my wish. I also found these biscuits to be light enough to have with soup and cheese for lunch and LBH kindly pointed out that had I used a teeny, weeny cookie cutter I could have made bowls full of cheesy nibbles fit for any dinner party that is dedicated to Abigail's Party!

Hey ho! They satisfied my savory craving and look great in a zip lock bag that is ready for the freezer. You know, just in case you ever do fancy throwing that tribute party and have absolutely no time to prepare!

Balsamic 'Barb Puff

My kitchen is all but packed up right now, but feeling rather bereft I felt it was essential to my wellbeing to turn something out, and sharpish!

Rhubarb (forced) is in season right now and it has always been something that I have avoided cooking with. Images of sour, bitter, long stalks have been conjured up in my mind and I felt it was time to conquer them.

I cut 4 rhubarb stalks up into pieces about an inch long and placed them in to a pan. I added 4 tablespoons of aged balsamic vinegar, 1& a half teaspoons of ground cinnamon and 1 cup of packed brown sugar. I then turned the gas on to a low heat and began to cook the rhubarb down. I really does not take as long as you think and it's important not to let it burn or to cook it too fast. There is no standing there for hours stirring the stalks and waiting for sign of movement and it is one of the quickest seasonal desserts to prepare that I have come across. It also makes you look like you have been slaving over a hot pan and oven whipping up a magnificent rhubarb concoction! 

The first time around I added the cooked rhubarb to several uncooked ready- made puff pastry shells before popping it all into the oven in order for the pastry to cook around the rhubarb. This does not work and cooks the rhubarb and sugar juices hard onto your oven-ware, so much scrubbing is needed. The next time around I prepared a pizza shape of puff pastry and placed it into one half of a cake tin to bake in. I baked it and then transfered the rhubarb into said pastry shell and sprinkled with powdered sugar before serving.

I'd like to go on, but there really is no need. It is that simple.......and delicious of course!