Bill Granger - Blueberry Breakfast Scones

I am the owner of the majority of Bill Granger's cookery books and seem to have watched most of his television programmes. 

These blueberry scones are from his book Bill Granger Holiday, they were light in texture and delicious.  The liquid measurement was far too generous, fortunately I held some liquid back, otherwise they would have been a failure.  They have to be fresh blueberries for this recipe, otherwise the scones will be coloured purple.  All you need to do is warm them in the microwave and slather them in butter - delicious.

I like Bill Granger and so obviously, I forgive him....

Blueberry Breakfast Scones

Makes 8 wedges

250g plain flour, 1 tablespoon caster sugar, 3 teaspoons baking powder, a pinch of salt, 100g cubed unsalted butter, 2 lightly beaten eggs, 125ml cream(I used plain yogurt), 85g blueberries.

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6. Grease a baking tray.
2. Put the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl and mix well. Rub in the butter until it resembles large flakes.
3. Mix together the eggs and cream (or plain yogurt). Toss the blueberries in a little flour and add to the dry ingredients. Pour in some of the egg and cream mix and keep adding until the dough is soft.
4. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and press into a 15cm square. Cut into quarters and then cut each quarter in half.
5. Place on the baking tray and brush some of the remaining egg and cream liquid to glaze.
6. Bake for 20 minutes until golden.

Peach and Raspberry Slice

Another Bill Granger recipe taken from his book, Bill Granger Every Day, there are so many great recipes you are spoilt for choice.

It's always good to cook with fruits that are in season, the raspberries were freshly picked from my garden, unfortunately the same can't be said about the peaches.

This is an unusual recipe and I kept my fingers crossed it would work out. Fortunately, it never let me down - the base is sticky with a cake layer on top. This is quite sweet and I would recommend cutting down on the sugar. The slice kept well in the fridge.

You will need: 20 x 30 cm greased and lined tin but a smaller tin will give you a thicker cake layer.

185g plain flour, 1½ teaspoons baking powder, plus ½ teaspoon extra, 125g chilled and cubed butter, 115g soft brown sugar, 115g caster sugar, 3 peeled and sliced peaches, 90g raspberries, 2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract, 1 lightly beaten egg, 185ml milk

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line the tin.
2. Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl and rub in the butter. Stir in both of the sugars. Press half the mixture over the base of the tin. Lay the peaches over the top and sprinkle over the raspberries.
3. Add the vanilla extract, the extra baking powder, egg and milk to the rest of the base mixture and stir well. Pour evenly over the top of the peaches and raspberries and bake for 1 hour. Cool in the tray, then cut into squares.

To peel peaches: score a cross in the skin with a sharp knife, then blanch the peaches in boiling water for 30 seconds, refresh in cold water and peel the skin away from the cross.

Apple and Cherry Tart

This recipe is from Bill Granger Every Day. On my bookshelf there is a gap just waiting to be filled with his latest book, Bill's Basics. I have all of his other books and started buying them before he was a recognised name in this country. It was his love of breakfast and brunch that attracted me to him, and also the fact that he has the ability to even make scrambled eggs seem glamorous.


I chose to make one large tart in my tarte tatin tin, it needs to be made in a metal pie dish of some sort otherwise the underneath pastry won't cook, soggy pastry bottoms are horrid. The individual tarts are a bit fiddly because you have to line the muffin tin holes with strips of baking parchment, to lift the tarts out after they are cooked, but they are worth every minute of your time. A more cost effective way is to put the filling in a tart tin and just top with the pastry which is something I have done in the past, so one recipe and lots of different ways to make the tart.



The sweet pastry is fabulous, although I think it would be a good idea to use less sugar, the pastry rolls out easily which is always something to be grateful for. I'm not a fan of sweet pastry because it can be sugar overload especially when the filling has already had sugar added to it.

According to my husband this tart is one of the best I have ever made and everyone should like it - I think I'll make this one again because I think it did the trick, he bought me some new furniture today!

The recipe can be found here on the Good Food Channel website. A couple of things regarding this link, the photograph doesn't look like cherry pies and also the mixed spice isn't in the original recipe.

INDIVIDUAL RASPBERRY CHEESECAKES

I came across an article at guardian.co.uk/TheObserver, written by Rachel Cooke, on her obsession with the Australian cook Bill Granger.

Now, I could in no way be described as having a Bill Granger obsession, but I am lets say 'quite fond of him!'

Rachel cooked a few recipes out of Bill's books without complaint from her family.


Making these cheesecakes wasn't a happy journey for her, and I believe her obsession with Bill came to a very abrupt ending. Oh well, such is life. These mini cheesecakes are in his book Feed Me Now! She says in her article they came out of the oven looking totally rubbish and nothing like the photograph in the book. Well - we've all been there haven't we! Apparently, she sulked badly, sat on the floor by the oven with gin in hand and quite possibly had a good cry!

I decided to take on the challenge of trying out this recipe. My little raspberry cheesecakes turned out perfectly! Sorry Rachel. Yours got stuck in the paper cases -
I, on the other hand was a clever clogs, and sprayed mine with oil to stop the sticking problem, and I guess that's what the home economists did with Bill's too!! Unfortunately, Bill forgot to pass this information on to us!

The recipe can be found here on the Good Food Channel website.

MERINGUES WITH PEACHES IN ROSE-WATER SYRUP

Have to admit I am more than 'a bit of a Bill Granger fan'! I have all of his books - and please don't tell my husband - but they really do earn their place on the bookshelf.

The peaches came from our new Lidl store and excellent they were too. I am trying out some of their fruit and vegetables at the moment and so far so good. The milk costs less than a pound for two litres and they sell some really great chocolate!

Our Lidl store is only a five minute car journey away and was built in what I would describe as Waitrose country. The residents who live nearby, first refused Waitrose and then Marks and Spencer. Waitrose took over our huge Safeway Supermarket and so as they say every cloud has a silver lining!

I didn't use Bill Granger's recipe for the meringues because I am hopelessly addicted to Nigella's mini pavlova recipe. Here is Bill's recipe for the peaches in rosewater syrup.


This was a really easy recipe to make and has the added advantage that it looks as though you spent the best part of the day preparing it. I hope you take advantage of the peaches at the moment and make this pretty desert!

Abel and Cole Organic Mixed Box

Abel and Cole have very kindly sent me an organic mixed fruit and vegetable box to 'try out on your behalf'!

Robert, the delivery driver, brought my very welcome box of goodies at 8.00 am on a Wednesday morning.


The box contained: oranges, apples, melon, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, courgettes, white onions, potatoes, carrots and a green pointed cabbage.

My first impression - everything in the box looked in excellent condition - always a good start - next step was to think about how I was going to use the produce, especially as I didn't want to 'mess about' with any of it.


I used the carrots and courgettes by cutting them on a mandolin to produce small strips of vegetables. These were topped with freshly ground pepper and a few small pieces of butter, then cooked for a few minutes in the microwave. Both vegetables were sweet and full of flavour.


For the red potatoes and white onions, I used a Bill Granger recipe, Parmesan-crusted fish with braised potatoes and peas. The potatoes were noticeably white and full of taste.


The oranges were very juicy and sweet, the apples were crisp but lacked in taste, although it is fair to say my husband disagreed with this. I thought the melon was ripe, cut into it and found it was under-ripe. The cabbage squeaked when I cut it (always a sure sign of freshness), also it had a superb taste and cooked well without going into mush. The cherry tomatoes, cucumber and melon I have yet to try.

One of the great advantages of using Abel and Cole, is that you are given online details regarding your next delivery and can change produce you don't like.

When you get a delivery of fresh produce it can be slightly daunting thinking about how best to store it. This is my way, for the onions and potatoes I use these food preserving bags, for the perishables I have found these stayfresh longer bags really do work, and the produce keeps for ages in the fridge.

An amusing Abel and Cole story here - my son, together with a housemate, were to interview prospective new housemates to share the house. One of the housemates had just started an Abel and Cole delivery, and insisted, if the interviewee hadn't heard of Able and Cole they wouldn't be considered!!! I'm still smiling now.........

TOASTED GRAIN AND NUT CEREAL

Bill Granger is famous for his breakfasts and you just know his recipes are going to taste good.

I love muesli and granola, and mostly only make enough to fill a large storage jar, so that I can quickly move on to the next recipe.

The recipe Bill gives, is a blueprint really, and one that you can easily adjust to suit any particular whims you may have at the time you make it.

I cooked the cereal on a conventional oven setting but it didn't seem to brown and crisp and so I popped the fan oven on and it very quickly browned and crisped up.

After going to Tom's Kitchen for brunch and eating granola, I wanted to reproduce something similar. This wasn't as rich as Tom's granola but tasted every bit as good!

Oh! nearly forgot - you will need a small dish of Greek yogurt drizzled with honey to go alongside!!

BILL'S SIDNEY FOOD

ISBN 0864119917 - Page 53

If you make the full quantity it will yield 1.5kg.

You will need: 125g unsalted butter, 6 fl oz honey, 1½ teaspoons vanilla essence, 500g rolled oats (I used jumbo oats), 1 cup sunflower seeds, 1 cup slivered almonds, 1 cup shredded coconut, ¾ cup pumpkin seeds, 1 cup rye flakes, 1 cup chopped dried fruit, such as sultanas, apricots, cranberries etc.

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C(325°F). Place butter, honey and vanilla in a small saucepan. Cook gently over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, or until the honey and butter are combined.
2. Place the remaining ingredients, except the fruit, in a large mixing bowl and mix well, Slowly stir in the butter mixture, making sure that each grain is evenly coated.
3. Spread the cereal over two baking trays and bake in the oven for 25 minutes, or until the grains are crisp and very lightly browned. Stir occasionally to prevent the mixture from sticking to the baking dish. Also, check that the grains aren't over browning.
4. Remove the cereal from the oven and allow to cool.
5. When the cereal has cooled, add the dried fruit and stir evenly through the grain mixture.
6. This can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

Here is a link to a couple of other granola recipes.

SIMPLE SCONES

These scones are wonderfully soft and light textured. The unusual thing about this recipe is that you melt the butter, rather than rub the butter into the flour.
I love watching them through the oven door as they miraculously puff up and become golden!
Afternoon Tea has become popular again in hotels, and scones are one of the stars on the cake stand.
I was fortunate, on a recent trip to London, to have Afternoon Tea at The Wolseley, a real girlie treat. They were very accommodating too, with Nanna, Mummy, baby and pushchair in tow, and made us all very welcome (in fact, I think baby made their day!).

BILLS FOOD - BILL GRANGER

ISBN 174045085 - PAGE 94

Makes 8

310g plain flour, 1 tbsp icing sugar, 1½ tablespoons baking powder, a pinch of salt, 250ml milk, 30g butter, melted.

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C(425°F/Gas 7). Sift the icing sugar, flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Add the melted butter and milk (you may not need all of the milk) and stir to combine. Knead quickly and lightly until smooth and then press out onto a floured surface.
2. Cut into rounds 5cm in diameter and 3cm deep and place them close together on a greased baking tray. Gather the scraps together, lightly knead again, then cut out more rounds.
3. Cook for 8-10 minutes, until puffed and golden.
4. Serve with jam and lightly whipped cream.

Yummy!