Lavender Shortbread

If we had a signature biscuit, this would be it. We have been tinkering with this recipe for years, and think it is ready to share – finally!

Ingredients (with measurements in American and UK styles!)

1 cup icing sugar

1 cup (8oz) softened butter

2 cups (280g) plain flour

2 Tblspn (30g) dried lavender flowers (if you prefer, grind them with a mortar and pestle)

1 Tblspn (15g) finely-chopped fresh rosemary

1 Tspn (15g) ground cinnamon

Caster sugar for sprinkling (consider keeping some flavoured with lavender)

Directions

Butter a 13” by 9” (or rough equivalent) baking tin.

Cream icing sugar with butter. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Spread evenly in the tin, and prick the surface with a fork. Sprinkle with caster sugar.

Bake at 180 for around 20 minutes (until browned to your satisfaction).

Slice into pieces while still warm, but leave to cool in the tin.

(This will keep perfectly well for several days if you use a reasonably tight container. You can also freeze it for later!)

Chicken with Olives And Capers

This is from Sweet Paul's terrific Eat & Make - Charming Recipes & Kitchen Crafts You Will Love. The book lives up to it's title; its filled with wonderful recipes, and inspiring craft ideas too! We like to add some artichoke hearts to this suppertime staple. Try it with this Lemon Feta Potato Salad.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

• 4 large or 8 small organic chicken thighs (about 2 pounds)

• 1 lemon, cut into wedges

• 1 cup mixed pitted olives

• 2 tablespoons drained nonpareil capers

• Juice of 1 lemon

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F, with a rack in the middle position.

2. Place the chicken skin side up in a baking dish. Scatter the lemon wedges, olives, and capers on top of the chicken.

3. Pour the lemon juice and olive oil over the chicken and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

4. Bake until golden, basting with the juices once, for 25 to 30 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a thigh reads 165°F. Serve.

Lemon Feta Potato Salad

Goes fabulously well with Sweet Paul's 'Chicken with Olives and Capers'!

Makes enough for 6 to 8 (side portions)

Ingredients

• 3 pounds small red potatoes, diced

• 2/3 cup olive oil

• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

• 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

• 3/4 teaspoon pepper

• 1/4 cup green onions, thinly sliced

• 4 ounces crumbled feta cheese

• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1. Place potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook uncovered for 15-20 minutes, until tender. Drain and place in a large bowl.

2. Whisk together oil and next 4 ingredients in a small bowl. Pour over potatoes and add green onions, parsley and feta. Toss gently to coat. Cover and chill.

Overnight coffee cake

Not cake with coffee in it; but, rather, cake that goes with coffee… or tea, Coke, water…

One of the bonuses of this recipe is that you mix the batter the night before baking - so you can produce a gorgeous snack without all the dishes. Easy!

Ingredients

(Measurements first in American; then English)          

• ¾ cup (6 oz.) softened butter

• 1 cup( 200 grams) granulated or caster sugar

• 2 large eggs           

• 1 cup (250g) plain yogurt or sour cream           

• 2 cups (350g) plain flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon nutmeg

• For the topping:

• Sugar

• Cinnamon

• Chocolate Chips

• Walnuts

• (Or something else - see directions)

Directions

1. Butter a baking pan - we have a trusty 13” by 9” by 2” pan we use, but anything close will do.

2. Cream sugar and butter for two to three minutes (it should be light and fluffy).

3. Add the eggs and yogurt (or sour cream) and mix thoroughly.

4. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg; then add to the batter and mix well. Pour into the pan and smooth out the batter.

5. Topping: I have put on various toppings through the years.  Our current favourite is a combination of sugar, cinnamon, chocolate chips and walnuts, in whatever proportion seems good to you and together equalling about 1 ¾ to 2 cups total. It is all very much according to taste. We've also enjoyed making it with brown sugar, nuts, a touch of cinnamon and blueberries or raspberries. Use your imagination - be creative (or pedantic)! Some day I’m going to try to just bake it and frost it later.

6. Whatever topping you come up with, Sprinkle it evenly over the batter. Cover tightly and chill overnight. Next day, uncover and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 to 35 minutes or until the cake tests done.  When cool, it can be dusted with icing sugar.

Hope you enjoy it!

Lettuce and Lovage Soup

Lovage is an old-fashioned herb that adds a bit of lemony zest to your cooking. We sometimes substitute it for celery – but take care if you try this, because its more zippy and potentially overpowering.

A perennial, the plant more or less takes care of itself. And it’s lovely in the garden, growing to a nice medium-high height with an architectural quality to the system of stalks and leaves.

The portions suggested here will serve a hungry pair, but you can increase the amounts to taste or to suit a larger number.

Ingredients

• Butter

• One white onion (or two, if small)

• A couple of potatoes (three or four, if you prefer a smaller variety)

• Cube of Chicken or vegetable stock (we recommend the organic brand Kallo)

• One head of lettuce (we like to use traditional British round lettuce, which has a bit of flavour. Try any you like, of course!)

• A bunch of lovage, to taste (about a third to a half the amount of lettuce)

Directions

1. Put 1 to 2 Tbspns of butter in a deep pan, and place it on the stove over a low to medium heat. Add the chopped onion, and stir occasionally until the onion starts to go translucent.

2. Meanwhile, cut up your potatoes into moderately small chunks – we usually don’t bother to peel them. When the onion is pale and interesting, add a little more butter and the potato; stir, from time to time.

3. After about 10 minutes, add a stock cube and water to just cover the vegetables. Stir, and simmer until the potatoes begin to soften.

4. While it simmers, clean and prepare the lettuce and lovage. Tear or cut the lettuce leaves from the base of the head; cut the larger leaves in half. Remove the lovage leaves from the stalks.

5. When the potato is soft, plop in the greens. Stir them into the soup; you’ll find the volume of leaves reduces quickly as you stir. Leave to simmer perhaps another five minutes, and remove from the heat.

6. Zip through a blender or use a hand blender to smooth the soup.

7. Serve, hot or cold, with a dash of cream.