The Pengelly Belly is now on Twitter

Crikey, I really seem to be embracing technology! I've never used Twitter before, or tweeted! So I've had a bit of a play and I am delighted to say that The Pengelly Belly is now on Twitter! Come and follow me as I , um, Tweet! http://twitter.com/pengellybelly

Totally inspired by my project that I am currently managing at work, I am now embracing Web 2.0 technology, but I am far from a techno-geek!

If you can't beat them, join them!

Nic xoxo

The Best of Cornish Food and Drink Part 2 - Cheese

Cheese.

Need I say anymore?

Cornwall produces some amazing cheese and I am so lucky to have a wonderful selection of markets and delis that feed my need for cheese. You can't beat a good cheese board with some home made bread and chutney, all washed down with a nice glass or port (or a glass of Polgoon Aval!?)... I promise to take a photo of our next cheese board feast for you all to drool over.

I share my passion for cheese with Mr. P. He loves cheese more than I do. However, we do have to limit our cheese purchases or else we would end up with cheese hips!

So, what's available in Cornwall? A lot! Really, the choice is phenomenal! I could write a book about the cheese produced in Cornwall. So here are some of my favourites.

Lynher Dairy make the most amazing yarg. Yarg is a delicious semi-hard cheese that is creamy under the rind and slightly crumbly in the core. You buy then in lovely truckles that are wrapped in nettles. They also do a garlic yarg which is rather scrummy.

I do like a bit of Cornish Organic Brie...at room temperature of course, slightly over ripe so that it oozes out... (I do like Brie with chocolate spread - I can hear you all screaming at me - though for this I use a cheaper version for my indulgence!).

But my favourite is a nice bit of Cornish Blue which is actually in the local news today. Mr P doesn't do blue cheese (shame, more for me!) as he is scared of the mould, but I love it at room temperature spread on a nice digestive biscuit with some cranberry and shallot relish... homemade of course!

Tregida Smoke House (it's in the name) smoke local cheese which creates an amazing smooth smokey flavour. You can't beat a nice slab of smoked Cheddar. They smoke brie, Stilton and feta. We buy their cheese from Truro Market on a Saturday but you can buy on line.

Now there's another post heading! What do you put your cheese on? There are also a host of local companies in Cornwall that make savoury biscuits for cheese!

Anyway, then we go into the realms of the wonderfully Cornish named cheeses like Menallack, Keltic Gold, Miss Muffet... all made locally and all able to purchase from most good delis and cheese shops in Cornwall.

For those with a stronger pallet and, as I call it, like cheese with a rural farmy taste, try Worthy Mature Cheddar. Luckily for us they were stood right next to Polgoon at the Trereife Christmas Food and Craft Fair last week, so we sampled some cheese and washed it down with some Polgoon Aval! A winning combination.

We have to pop over the border as Godminster Organic Cheddar deserves a mention here as well and the  Welsh Black Bomber made in Snowdonia... celtic links and all that! These are amazing cheddars in there own right

Where to buy:
- The Cheese Shop, Truro
- The Cheese Shed - Westcountry Artisan Cheese
- Truro Market on Lemon Quay (Wednesday and Saturday)
- Trevaskis Farm Shop
- Lobbs Farm Shop
- Richards Farm Shop

My list could go on for ever, but I think you get the point. When you come to Cornwall you have to enjoy some of our local cheeses. I'm sorry if I missed off any producers or stockists from my post, the list can go on forever!

Part 3 coming soon... the good ole Cornish Pasty... which will be made by my own hands!

Nic xoxo

You either love it... or you hate it!

You guessed right! Marmite! Mmm I love it! I was really intrigued with Nigella's recipe from her newest book, Kitchen, when I came across a recipe for spaghetti with Marmite. Was I reading that right?


Love it or hate it?

The recipe was EASY. A quick supper made with four ingredients - marmite, spaghetti, Parmesan, butter - in 10 minutes! Bring a pan of water to the boil and cook your spaghetti. Two minutes before your spaghetti is ready, in another pan, melt a knob of butter, add a tsp of Marmite (or to your taste), add a little bit of pasta water and stir to combine. Drain pasta, pour over sauce, grate Parmesan... et voila! I did add some cracked black pepper and a sprinkle of fresh chopped parsley.

Did it work? Oh yeah! Tasty, quick and satisfying! Don't knock it until you have tried it! One word of warning, don't lick the spoon that you have been using to stir the sauce as it gets really HOT. Yes, I burnt my tongue! Ouch!

It's Rugby Sunday, time to bake some treats!

Mr P is an avid rugby supporter of our local team. You can guarantee that from September onwards every year that I become a rugby widow. I don't mind. It's free time for me... meaning that I can get on and be creative in the kitchen and spend some time tending to my crafty needs and desires. I love rugby, but Sunday afternoons are time for him to spend with his dad - bless. Nothing wrong with a bit of male bonding.

However, word got round that I'm a bit nifty in the kitchen and that I like to bake. Really!?! So this season I've started to send him to rugby with a tin of goodies for the crowd of people that he sits with. They get totally spoilt. It means I can fulfill my baking urges and not put any weight on... bake and give away! I like that (ok, we might keep a slice or two back for us to try!).

So far they have had Nigella's Guinness Gingerbread, Chocolate Brownies, Tiffin, Granola Bars, Muffins... and cake in general. I pack Mr P off with the tin and all the slices wrapped up in their little tinfoil packages to that they can be handed out. Feedback has been very good! I think his little crowd of rugby buddies are starting to look forward to the Rugby matches on a Sunday not just for the game, but for the cake! I like getting the feedback as well, it gives me that warm and fuzzy feeling. I can just see them all sat there in the cold with their flasks and cakes... mmm gonna have to pull something out of the bag for the Christmas / New Year matches!

This week I've made some date and almond crumble bars from Rachel Allen's "Bake" Book. I love this book. It's got some really good sound recipes in. I especially love the Mocha Cake which I actually turn into cupcakes, and the savoury cheese and chili scones which make quite a bit... but Mr P requested the date crumble bars, so date crumble bars it is!

I was really lucky to buy a new square cake tin the other week. My cake tin collection was lacking, and I got it for a steal - under £10.00 in the sale at Home Hardware in Truro. It's really good quality as well. Spring loaded and comes on it's own serving platter - good idea! So it got christened yesterday. The date bars are sooooo easy to make. I was actually multi-tasking in the kitchen with trying to put the shopping away, making falafel burgers (round 2! see earlier giraffe post - you'll be glad to know they worked this time, baked in the oven!)... and making these bars!

The recipe states for 200g of dates, but I actually use between 250-300g as I like to have a nice date layer in the middle. No scrimping there please! I am sure that you could adapt this recipe to use apricots... mmm there's an idea! I added some mixed spice to the mixture and I added flaked almonds and a sprinkling of demerara sugar to the top half of the crumble mixture to finish it off.

The smell coming from the kitchen was amazing! When they came out of the oven I had to beat Mr P off with a wooden spoon (don't worry, I didn't hit him hard!!!). He couldn't wait for them to cool down and was desperate to try a slab along with a cold glass of milk. Mr P's verdict - very good! So, fingers crossed they go down ok at rugby this afternoon!

Hope you had a good weekend!

Nic xoxo

The best of Cornish Food and Drink Produce - Part 1

I feel that I am really lucky to live here in Cornwall. Apart from the amazing landscapes; the history; the myths and legends; and the beaches (and surf!), we are really blessed with the most wonderfully gifted people who create, make, produce, and sell food and drink.

Whether it's from plough to plate; from orchard to bottle; from hand line to BBQ; or from Daisy producing milk for our famous clotted cream, we are truly spoilt with excellent quality goods that are affordable. You can tell that a lot of love and pride goes into Cornish Produce.

I prefer to buy local and support the local supply chain. I love to go to local markets and meet the people who produce and sell the goods. I don't like to think that I take it for granted, but you can become too complacent.

I thought it would be good to do a series of blog postings about some of my favourite food producers in the county to share my appreciation of them with the wider world. So, first up, I would like to introduce you to the wonderful people down on the farm at Polgoon!

Polgoon Vineyard is located near Penzance, just outside of the village of Heamoor, which is where I grew up (and insidently spent many a time exploring the footpaths that surround the area). My memory of Polgoon, pre Vineyard days, was a derelict farm with run down farm buildings and wild fields. However, new life has been breathed into the farm land and Polgoon Vineyard was born six years ago by the Coulson Family. It really is lovely to drive past and see that the land and the buildings have been rejuvenated.

Polgoon produce the most amazing array of quaffable drinks! I was lucky to have a selection of bottles from some very good friends as a birthday treat. I promise you I haven't drunk them all yet! From "capturing the essence of summer" roses, to berry-licious reds, to sparkling Aval (a champagne style cider!) and soft sparkling drinks including pear and elderflower, they really are a tipple to try! Not only do they produce the most amazing drinks, they have also won a whole host of awards which really seals their success.

It's worth heading down to Polgoon as well as they have open days and you can have a look around the vineyard, see how their produce is made... and have a little tipple... followed by some bottles to take home of course!

Proud to be Cornish, proud to support Polgoon! Hic! Lets raise a glass... cheers!

http://polgoonvineyard.vpweb.co.uk/default.html

Part 2 coming soon... Cornish Cheese... (to go with the Polgoon Wine of course!!) 

Giraffe Burgers

Have you ever had a Giraffe Burger? Don't worry, I'm not talking about those lovely long legged animals... I'm talking about the small ethical chain that make the most amazing food...and specialise in tasty burgers! Mr P, being a vegetarian, is quite partial to their Falafel Burger... however, we have to go on quite a trek to get one! There aren't any chains in Cornwall as yet, so everytime we cross the boarder we always make sure that we get our Giraffe fix! The food is always amazing, great quality, great value for money and the staff are always so welcoming.

I was so excited when I found out that they were releasing their own cookbook with some of the recipes from their restaurants! So this weekend, I thought I would treat Mr P to his favourite Giraffe Falafel Burger a la Pengelly Belly. And here is the story...

  

Easy recipe. I'm no stranger to making falafels, but each always has a different recipe or technique. Giraffe Falafels are made with chickpeas, onion, leeks, garlic and some nice herbs and spices which are placed into a blender and blitzed... Once blitzed the mixture is set aside for a while. I put into the fridge to set. They are then shaped into mini burgers and shallow fried. Now, I normally bake mine in the oven, but I thought I would follow their recipe... unfortunately they didn't hold and turned smushy. Mmm, I don't know why. I think next time I make them, I will not blitz them as much and keep some texture to them and bake them in the oven.

Anyway, they were still edible and Mr P said that if he didn't like them he would have sent them back into the kitchen!  Getting back to the burger... Giraffe Burgers are not just about the burger, they are also about the stack of goodies that go with them! The Falafel Burgers are sandwiched together with love between a lovely bap and halloumi cheese, roasted red peppers, hummus, tzatziki and rocket, in a particular order! Total heaven. We went with all the trimmings and Mr P requested extra cheddar! Oh the cheek! I also served up some home fried chips, with skins on, and some BBQ sauce. No harrisa for us and Mr P finds it too hot for his delicate mouth. All you have to do is show him a spice and he breaks out into a sweat!

Here's the blitzed falafel ingredients

The final Falafel Burger!

So, not a great success the first time round on the Falafel front, but I will give them another go with a few little tweeks to the recipe... I still love Giraffe though! Edamame beans next on the list!

Nothing like some squiddly diddlies!

When Mr P is away during the week for work I tend to eat food that I like and can indulge in. You see, Mr P is a vegetarian. Not that there is nothing wrong with that. I love vegetarian food. So, I eat vegetarian food 98% of the time... apart from when he is away and I fancy something from the realms of the ocean!

I can take or leave red meat; chicken I'm not to fussed about (unless its mum's roast dinner!); but I love fish and seafood... especially squid! One of my favourite restaurants in St.Ives serves local squid with the most amazing white citrus miso dressing with black spices. Unfortunately they only serve it in starter size servings. I could eat a bucket of the stuff and the sauce is amazing!

Anyway, when I want a quick and speedy supper, I like to make my polenta dusted squid rings, served with a nice salad and a lime mayonnaise. And it's cheap!

Start with some nice clean baby squid, tentacles and all (ok, you don't have to eat the tentacles if you don't like them!), and either score the squid on the inside in a criss-cross pattern so that they curl up when they hit the heat, or cut them into chunky rings - up to you.

Then place the little beauties into a plastic food bag and add 1 heaped tbsp of plain flour, and 2 tbsp of polenta. Add some ground black pepper, seal the bag and give it a good shake. Place in the fridge for 30minutes.

In a deep pan or large frying pan, heat up some ground nut oil. It only needs to be 1cm deep. Once the oil is hot, gently drop the squid into the hot oil. This is best done is small batches. After 2minutes, the squid should be done. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and place on a plate with some kitchen roll. Once all of the squid has been cooked, place some salad on a plate and scatter like golden jewels. Serve with some lime mayonnaise.

Delicious!

Nic xoxo

Birthday cake

It was my friends 50th birthday this week and they have just got back from a nice holiday. So to celebrate their return and belated birthday wishes I decided to have a go at making a birthday cake. Just a Victoria sponge with icing and butter cream...!? Interesting challenge as I have never really decorated a cake, only at Christmas.

So, I made the cake on Saturday morning and put the icing on in the afternoon. It nagged at me all night and I wasn't happy (not that I am a perfectionist). The cake was fine, but I wasn't happy with the icing. So on Sunday morning I made another Victoria sponge and instead of doing a a buttercream to stick the icing on the cake, I used apricot jam. The second cake was much more of a success.

I decided to do a polka dot theme and covered the kitchen totally in a thin layer of icing sugar... so now everything is sticky! I don't know how real cake makers have the patience! It took me ages to do the colouring, make the "dots" and stick them on! Anyway, the cake is complete.

Back to the first cake. I didn't want to waste it, so I decided to decorate it with the remaining "dots" and buttercream I had left... and it was fine, to be honest! SO the first cake would have been fine! Nevermind, I had fun trying to be creative!

This is the second cake that I made and was given to my friend for her birthday....

This was the first cake that is now going to the office tomorrow to be eaten!

I think I will leave cake making and decorating to the professionals! Time to get out a bucket of hot water to clean all the icing sugar from the kitchen floor!

Nic xoxo

Nigella's Beer Braised Pork Knuckles

Last night we had the family up for supper and I did Nigella's Beer Braised Pork Knuckles and they were AMAZING! The knuckles were brought from our local farm shop and butchery at Trevaskis Farm. They were beauties! And a total bargain at £4.80 for three! I had to do a double take at the price!

After rubbing them in garlic, caraway seed and seasalt, they were placed on a bed of sliced banana shallots (I used shallots instead of onions as they are a bit sweeter) and roasted for 30minutes before I added the potato wedges, apples and celeriac. The celeriac was my addition. And then they were bathed is some local amber ale from the Wooden Hand Brewery in Truro and popped back into the oven to cook slowly for 2 hours.

After 2 hours they were taken out of the oven and basted in the remaining beer and then returned to the oven for the final 30minutes.

The apples, potato and celeriac was decanted into a bowl and placed in the oven to keep warm whilst my dad did the honor of carving up the pork knuckles on my large wooden chopping board before being carried, like royalty into the dining room... somehow the knuckles were missing some crackling! I can't imagine where it went... dad!?!?!! The pork was succulent, juicy and just fell off the bone. Hardly any fat as well.

Served up with some seasonal local veg and gravy made with the juices from the pan and more ale it went down a treat! Luckily there was enough left for me today to have with bubble and squeak! I'd definitely do this one again! Embrace the pork knuckle!

Nicola xoxox

A little something to make in time for Christmas... for Eilidh across the pond!

Christmas for me is all about taking time out to spend with family and friends and enjoying good food. I like to stock up over the year with making the most use of seasonal produce to make jams and chutneys. I normally take loads of jars into work for colleagues at Christmas time to sell, all done up with lovely fabric covers and labels. One particular friend, Eilidh, now lives over in America and I don't think chutney will travel well via airmail, so I'm sharing the recipe!

This is one that I go back to year after year (so much so that I have to unstick the pages in the cookbook!) which never ceases to fail me and I have adapted it over the years. It is Cranberry and Roast Shallot Relish which goes beautifully with a roast dinner, cold cuts or cheese.

You will need:
450g shallots
45ml of olive oil
225g soft brown sugar
450g cranberries
1inch piece of fresh root ginger, peel and finely grated
1tbsp mustard seeds
150ml red wine
200ml red wine vinegar

1. Place the shallots in a pan of boiling water for 5 minutes to loosen the skin, then remove. When cool enough to handle, peel off the skins, leaving on a little bit of the root end to hold the shallots intact.

2. Now place the shallots in a roasting tin with the olive oil and 45g of the brown sugar. Roast at 200C / gas mark 6 for at least 30minutes, turning twice, until softened and caramelised. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Meanwhile, place cranberries in a heavy based saucepan, and the ginger, remaining sugar, mustard seeds, wine and vinegar and bring slowly to the boil. Simmer for 10-15minutes until the cranberries burst and the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat.

4. Stir in the shallots. Place the tin on your hob and deglaze with an little extra wine, reducing until it turns into a syrup. Pour this into the cranberry movement. Return to the heat and simmer gently for another 10-15minutes. Stir gently.

5. Spoon the relish into sterilised jars and use vinegar proof lids. Store in a cool place for upto 6months. Once open, keep in the fridge for upto a month.

Mmmmmm! Delicious!

Nic xoxo

Let me introduce you to...

... Charlotte of "Charlotte's Cake Designs". She is a very gifted and talented young lady with a gift for baking and decorating cakes. Charlotte has recently started her own businesses offering her creative services and her cake designs are amazing!

I asked her to make Mr. P a cake for his birthday this year and gave her the freedom to design the cake as long as it was "bike" orientated! She did an amazing job and the detail was spot on, plus the cake was very yummy.

Charlotte doesn't have a website yet, but you can contact her at charlottescakedesigns@hotmail.co.uk and check out her cakes on her Facebook page. She also does other catering including tarts and pastries, both sweet and savoury, on special request.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100001302383830

I'd like to wish her well with her venture!

Nic xoxo

Pengelly Belly Granola

I thought it would be mean of me not to share my recipe for my Pengelly Belly Granola for my Pengelly Belly Granola Bars!

Ingredients:
500g Porridge Oats
4heaped tbsp desiccated coconut
2tbsp chopped almonds
2tbsp chopped hazelnuts
2 tsp sunflower seeds
8 dried apricots finely chopped
8 dried and stoned dates finely chopped
2tbsp sultanas
8tbsp olive oil/hemp oil/groundnut oil
8tbsp honey

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C / gas mark 3.
2. Put all of the dried ingredients
(apart from the fruit) into a large roasting tin.
3. Put the oil and the honey into a saucepan and bring almost to the boil. Pour over the dried ingredients and stir well.
4. Place the roasting tin in the oven on the middle shelf for 30minutes. Check and stir twice during cooking.
5. When taken out of the oven, add the dried fruit and stir well. Leave to cool completely.
6. Store in an airtight container.

You can put what ever mixture of nuts/seeds/fruit in to the Granola. Serve sprinkled on top of porridge; with yogurt; as a breakfast cereal or eat on its own as a healthy snack!

Pengelly Belly Granola Bars

These are my secret weapon and are legendary in our house. I get requests to make them all the time and they never last very long. I have used muesli in the past to make them and my recipe appears on the Rude Health website as their muesli makes good Pengelly Belly Bars http://www.rudehealth.com/breakfast-club/recipes/pengelly-belly-bars.

Ingredients

400g granola

200g plain flour

200g caster sugar

200g butter, plus extra butter for greasing

2 tbsp golden syrup/honey

2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Method

Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Put the granola, flour and sugar in a bowl. Melt the butter in a large saucepan and stir in the golden syrup. Add the bicarbonate of soda to 2 tbsp boiling water, and then stir into the golden syrup and butter mixture.

Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the butter and golden syrup mixture. Stir gently to incorporate the dry ingredients.

Put the mixture into a lined and greased baking tray and press down firmly (like making flapjack!). Bake in oven for 12-15minutes until golden. Transfer to a wire rack to completely cool before cutting into slices! It will firm up and go nice and chewy in the middle when cold so don’t worry if it feels squidgy when it comes out of the oven.

I hope you like them! They are really irresistible!

Nic xoxo

Anna's Amazing Courgette Cake

My friend Anna made me an amazing cake for my birthday, and one of the main ingredients was courgette! I was really suprised at how moist it was. I thought I would share the recipe with you.

For the cake you need:
1 lb courgettes, grated
8fl oz vegetable oil
12oz sugar
3 egss, beaten
10oz plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarb
1 1/2 tsp gound cinnamon
1tsp grated nutmeg
1tsp salt
6oz walnuts

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F, Gas Mark 4
2. Mix together the courgettes, oil, sugar and eggs.
3. In another bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, bicarb, spices and salt.
4. Add the flour mix to the courgette mix and combine thoroughly. Stir in the walnuts.
5. Spoon into a greased and lined 2lb loaf tin and bake for 1hr 15mins (reduce if your oven is a fan assisted) or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. You can use a round tin.
6. Leave to cool in the tin for 15minutes before turning out and cool on a wire rack.

It really is lovely and is along the lines of a carrot cake. Don't worry, it doesn't turn green either! Though the flecks of the courgette skin make it very pretty to look at..... and to eat!

Enjoy!