Last of the Blackberries - A Simple Jamie Oliver Recipe for Blackberry Tart

I reckon the blackberries are almost over in Devon.  There were still plenty on the bushes in Lustleigh today, but plenty of them were turning to mush in our purple-stained fingers.  There were a shameful amount of unpicked mouldy ones too.   Why doesn't everyone go brambling?  Maybe the walkers and residents in Lustleigh have had their fill.

In folklore, it is deemed unlucky to pick blackberries after September 29th, otherwise the devil has spat on them, so I guess we made a lucky escape today.

I made this:

 It's from Jamie Oliver's Italy and its Italian name is Torta di More and the full recipe is on his website here.

I cheated and used a pre-made all butter pastry case from Sainsbury's.  I'm totally useless with 'neat and tidy' pastry, so these cases are a godsend and magically keep for ages in your larder without any preservatives. Must be huge quantities of salt and sugar in them, or just Sainsbury pixie dust.

Then basically, you just whisk together in one go:

500g mascarpone,
3-4 tablespoonfuls of caster sugar,
the inside seeds of a vanilla pod,
100ml cream (supposed to be single, I used double)
a couple of tbsp of vino santo, grappa or other sweet liqueur.

Place that creamy mixture in the pastry case, sprinkle on some blackberries and then dob a few droplets of melted blackberry jam onto the fruit to make them sweet and sparkly.



My son said that there was far too much cream and he picked off all the berries (not much of a success for him then) but the rest of the family tucked in.  Delicious, and seasonal (just).

By the way, if you're ever near Lustleigh, try the Primrose Tea Rooms, a wonderful friendly place run by a mother and daughter team where I had a slice of fresh, light lemon drizzle cake for 80p.

This blog post has been entered in the Simple and in Season Blogging Event: http://www.renbehan.com/2011/09/simple-and-in-season-september-blogging-event.html

Two 11 Year Olds Play with the Hummingbird Cafe Cookbook

My 11 year old daughter and her friend wanted to make something from the Hummingbird Cafe Cookbook.  We had all the ingredients for the raspberry cheesecake brownies.  Including wonderful local, Devon raspberries from our local farm, Shute Fruit.  I was getting our house ready for some guests who were coming to stay, so just let them get on with it in the kitchen.  I was rather impressed when two hours later (including a bit of refrigeration time), they presented me with the finished product:

The recipe is fairly simple, but does involve three layers so I was impressed.  The chocolate brownie and vanilla cheesecake layers are baked together in the oven and then when cool, smothered with pink creamy muck muck.

I made it again today as a treat for my daughter as she started Secondary School today.  It's simple and very fattening, but delicious.  I recommend halving the quantities if you just want to feed 4-6 people.  The original version is enormous and serves 12.  Also, where the recipe says to beat the cream, sugar and raspberries together for the wonderful pink shaving foam topping, it's best to whip the cream lightly, then add the sugar and raspberries, otherwise the mixture won't thicken.

I've never been lucky enough to visit the actual Hummingbird Cafe in London, but we've made a couple of things from the cookbook - other notable favourites are: the vanilla cupcakes, and the double chocolate chip cookies

Making Strawberry Jam is Easy with the River Cottage Preserves Book by Pam Corbin

We picked a couple of kilos of strawberries at Netherton on the banks of the River Teign in Devon.  Their soft fruit season has been early this year and due to financial pressures, they're closing their Pick Your Own at the end of the season, which could be within a fortnight -so hurry to get your strawberries, tayberries, raspberries, blackcurrants and redcurrants.

It took four of us about half an hour to pick this lot - I think it was roughly 2kg strawbs and 1kg raspberries and it came to just under £20.

I used my regular River Cottage Preserves book by Pam Corbin (£8.99 from Amazon).  A simple to follow recipe, with a few tried and tested tips e.g. plenty of lemon juice added to the strawberry jam and use of jam sugar (with added pectin to help it set).

I was tired, it was sunny and I wasn't really in the mood for a long-winded jam making session but Pam insisted that fresh fruit are essential.  So I started at 9pm when it got a bit cooler in my sun-baked kitchen.  By 10:30pm I had finished a whole batch of strawberry jam - about 10 jars and a more modest 3 jars of raspberry jam.

Stage 1: just in the pan

Stage 2: bringing to the boil

Stage 3: almost on the boil, starting to break up

Stage 4: Scary hot sugar rolling boil that unexpectedly rises up the pan at an alarming rate - help!

This batch should see us through the year to go with our breakfast scones and toast. I thoroughly recommend 'Pam the Jam's' no-nonsense approach to preserving.  She got me hooked into it (even when over-tired, hot and bothered and not really in the mood.)

Michael Caines Restaurant at Abode Exeter: Amazing Graze

I was drawn to this 'Amazing Graze' menu offer by doing an internet search for my own website and stumbled upon this fantastic offer at Michael Caines' restaurant at Abode, Exeter:  three course lunch for £9.95.  A few days after our trip to Caines' other establishment, Gidleigh Park (more luxurious, more traditionally English country house) we treated ourselves to lunch at Abode overlooking Exeter Cathedral.  After the whopping bill from Gidleigh, we kidded ourselves that eating here would balance out the average of the two meals.

This restaurant is in the hotel (the left hand door half visible in the picture - not the cheaper cafe, MCs next door) and is modern: light and airy with wooden floors and no tablecloths.  The waiting staff were efficient with dealing with a jam-packed dining room.  A slight delay with bringing the bill, but I could hardly blame them as it was so busy.

I chose the confit salmon that I had enjoyed at Gidleigh a few nights previously, just to compare it.  It was not identical, but pretty damn close, and at a fraction of the cost.  My husband had the mushroom risotto - a small portion of deeply flavoured goo.  After this tasty morsel, he wanted to upgrade to five courses for an extra £8, but I wouldn't let him.  Still had to collect the kids from school at 3pm.

The mains were spot-on for lunchtime: seasonal, well-cooked and delicious.  Pollock with a creamy saffron sauce and pork with boulangere potatoes.  Desserts were lovely: glazed lemon tart with lemon confit sorbet (tres tangy) and pistachio nougat glace with chocolate grue.  Yes, we had to ask what 'grue' was - a type of cocoa bean, the waiter informed us.

The petits fours with the coffee were wonderful - two wonderfully large round, sugared fruit jellies that reminded me of the boxed sweets my grandparents used to get at Christmas.  These were passionfruit and apricot flavour served alongside two dinky little chocolate and pistachio madeleines.  These have got me seeking out a mini-madeleine mould on Amazon.  Going to have to mimic them at home.

Since yesterday the price of Amazing Graze has gone up a little.  At £9.95 for three courses, it represented exceptional, unbeatable value for money.  At the new price of £13.50 for three courses it's still highly competitive and for food, service and location like this, it's definitely worth it and recommended.

You can book a table online, which I really liked.  You can see all the times that are available and you get a confirmation email - and you get to see all the special offers - early dining in the evening (be seated by 7pm) also seems good value.