0 Date sweetened gluten free brownies

These are amazing, trust me they are, purely fruit sweetened, naturally gluten free and very easy to make ( well as long as you have a decent food processor). I first spotted this recipe when it was shared by Jamie Oliver on Facebook, intrigued I popped over to the website only to find that the recipe originated from Elana Amsterdam  of Elana's pantry, one of my favourite American bloggers.

                   

In the last couple of weeks since discovering this recipe I must have made them at least half a dozen times, whipped up in about 45 minutes start to finish they are great and make a fabulous addition to any lunch box. I have now taken to bulk buying dates so I always have the ingredients in so I can whip up a batch if the mood so takes me, the recipe is rich in fibre, antioxidants and low in fat too.

I also a little bit addicted to using coconut oil in baking and this recipe being paleo in origin uses this ingredient too, you can't taste it but it seems to make your bakes more bouncy, its pricy but well worth the investment. Also please ensure you use a good quality dark chocolate so that you get the best antioxidant boost possible from your bake.

What you need

• 200g Dark chocolate (a good % of cocoa solids), broken up into squares
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 200g dates (whole stoned or chopped)
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup coconut oil - melted
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

A square cake tin, lined approximately 8" by 8"

What you do 

• Pre heat the oven to 180c
• Blitz the chocolate and bicarbonate of soda in your food processor until its the texture of coarse sand
• Next add the dates and continue to blitz until you are back to the coarse sand texture
• Add the eggs, coconut oil and vanilla to the procesor and pulse until incorporated
• Tip into your preprepared tin and smooth level in the tin
• Bake for 30 -35 minutes until risen and cooked through
• Cool initially in the tin and then on a wire rack
• Store in an airtight tin

I am entering this post in JibberJabberUK Love Cake campaign as this month's theme is "Giving Up" so as this brownie has no flour, no artifical sugar and is low fat its an appropraite entry.

                                               

And also We Should Cocoa created by Choclette and hosted this month by I'd much rather bake than..., the  theme this month being Coconut, well this recipe includes chocolate and coconut oil so I hope it qualifies.

                                                       

Detail: Date sweetened gluten free brownies

0 Jamie Oliver -squash and spinach rotolo from Save with Jamie

Mr Lancashire Food has been oh so kind and bought me an early christmas pressie already, the latest work from Jamie Oliver (JO). Save with Jamie, features a selection of frugal recipes which aim to be popular with all the family, first impressions suggest this will be as popular as all his other books, of which I have quite a few.

To a lot of people Jamie Oliver can be a bit like marmite, you either love him or you hate him, personally I think that despite JO being a multi millionaire he has his feet firmly placed on the ground and admire the works he has done with young people and also with families encouraging them to get home cooking again.

The first recipe I chose to attempt from this book was his squash and spinach rotolo, JO's books always have a good Italian content and this one is no different, he has re invented one of his previous recipes from Jamie's Italy and made it more frugal by upping the vegetable content and more healthy too.

The recipe for the rotolo can be found here and its a recipe I would definitely make again as it made tasty supper dish, as always JO recipes are generous. 

Its a lovely book, my only compliant is that its a bit lacking on the dessert front, otherwise it a great book and one that I am happy to have on my bookshelf. In the next few weeks I'll be cooking more from the book, again like some of his other books he uses mothership recipes to springboard to linked recipes using the leftovers from the mothership in other dishes. There is plenty of vegeterian choice as well as meat and fish dishes and most of these are pretty frugal. 

On another note this is a cracking photo by Mr LF, in my humble opinion even better than the one in the book by the mighty Mr David Loftus no less. 

                                   

Detail: Jamie Oliver -squash and spinach rotolo from Save with Jamie

0 Tosset Cakes

A couple of month's ago I was contacted by none other than Jamie Oliver's production company Fresh One. Once I had picked myself up off the floor, I had a lovely chat with one of their researchers about the long forgotten Lancashire delicacy of the "Tosset Cake", very similar to the now infamous Goosnargh cake.

          

After a bit of a chat I helped put them in contact with the local womens institute (WI) and also identified a St Oswalds church in the next village to where they where originally looking (having a bit of local knowledge you see !). The research team then came to check out the venue for later filming, so we met up for coffee and a further chat and discussed other local forgotten recipes too, at the same time I also mentioned it on one of my slots on BBC Radio Lancashire to see whether anyone knew more about the cake and its history.

Little did I know a few weeks later the man himself, that's Jamie Oliver is in Lancashire filming !! eek ! very exciting. Unfortunately, due to work commitments, I can't make it to the Tosset Fair at Parrox Hall, but I'm sure it will be a great event.

                             

The Tosset cake is supposedly linked to the festival of St Oswald and is said to have been celebrated in Stalmine, the community of Preesall is now claiming ownership to the cake, the recipe for the cake can be found here on the Foods of England website. Unlike the Goosnargh which is just traditionally caraway, the Tosset cake has with both caraway and coriander seeds

The programme is being recorded for later in the year and there is an open invite for the people of Lancashire to attend

Tosset Feast - Wednesday 14th August commencing 2.30 p.m.

Come along to a fun-filled free afternoon at Parrox Hall on Wednesday 14th August at 2.30pm. As part of their new Channel 4 series, Jamie Oliver and Jimmy Doherty are helping to revive the historic Tosset Feast and would like you to take part. They are inviting YOU the people from the villages of ‘Over Wyre’ to come together for this traditional feast to celebrate St Oswald’s Day. There will be food, drinks and plenty of fun activities in keeping with the Tosset Feasts of yester year! Bring along your home-baked Tosset Cakes to add to the original spirit of the feast. So please join in with this great day out and let’s make the Tosset Feast the biggest event on the local calendar, once more. 

N.B. Plenty of space of lots of people to attend but entry will be come on a first come first served basis.

Detail: Tosset Cakes

0 Crispy chicken thighs, roasted tomatoes and crushed new potatoes

Looking for a one pot dish that is satisfying and so so good, try this one ! we love this dish, great for entertaining or a family meal and so very easy. Its fabulous served along side a rocket salad (which is always good as we have a permanent glut when its in season in the garden) and a nice glass of a crisp Italian white wine. 

The dish uses one of the most under rated cuts from the chicken, the thigh. In casseroles, curries, roasts etc I don't think you can beat this cut plus its economical too, if you are squeamish about bones you can even buy them ready bone , personally I don't have a problem with removing the bones its pretty easy plus de boned are more expensive to buy , so I use the saving to buy free range meat instead.

What you need

• Chicken thighs, skin on, deboned, cut in to finger sized strips
• Tomatoes -fresh, cherry, baby plum, etc
• Baby new potatoes - skins on, cooked until tender
• Olive oil
• Red wine vinegar (or a fruit vinegar)
• Garlic - couple of cloves, peeled
• Sea salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• Fresh Oregano
• You will also need a flameproof casserole dish
• Pestle and mortar

What you do

• Pre heat the oven to 180c
• Heat the flameproof casserole dish and add a little olive oil
• Fry the chicken thigh strips in batches  skin side down initially and then turn until golden brown, remove to a plate whilst you cook  the others. Switch the heat off under the pan.
• Once this is done then add them back to the pan , along with the tomatoes, now add the baby new potatoes crushing them with your thumb.Ensure everything is nice and snug in the pan.
• In the pestle and mortar heavily bruise the garlic and most of the oregano reserving a few spring to garnish. Now add a good slug of olive oil about 2 tbsp and 1tbsp red wine vinegar, mix and season.
• Now drizzle this all over the chicken, potatoes and tomatoes, then place in the oven and bake uncovered for approximately an hour until all crisp and golden.
• Serve immediately with green salad and some great bread.

Detail: Crispy chicken thighs, roasted tomatoes and crushed new potatoes

0 Lancashire Summer and wow what a week !

I don't normally do a post without food pictures, recipes and the like, but I just felt the need to jot down what a busy week its been for Lancashire Food this week. The week started pretty calmly with the start of Slow Food Week, we have been working with Slow Food UK on their ark of Forgotten Foods and creating a post for their website and the blog about Goosnargh cakes. 

I then found out that we had a our tomato ketchup recipe featured in Modern Vintage Magazine, a popular online  vintage magazine.

On the same day we also received notification that the recipe for Chocolate courgette spelt cake (featuring Agave nectar) was to be used by the Groovy Food Company in their competition from the Clandestine Cake club.

Midweek, we also took part in our first live Google+ hangout with Booths and their #BoothsCookalong and had the great pleasure of virtually hanging out with non other than Edd Kimber, Winner of the First series of Great British Bake off , whilst the chef Rob produced delicious Trout, Formby asparagus and pico de gallo in their store in Media city. I just love how Booths have embraced modern communications despite being a very long established family grocery company.

Last but not least we had an email from non other than Jamie Oliver's production company requesting assistance in seeking out another "forgotten" Lancashire delicacy. So as you can see its been a busy week and remember that this is our hobby. So seeing its such beautiful weather here in Lancashire, were having a day off today ! and a trip to the seaside.

Detail: Lancashire Summer and wow what a week !