Oaty Cherry Crumble

Friends coming for lunch has forced me out of my cold hibernation in front of the fire, and back into the kitchen.

Luckily a thaw has arrived here, so the extreme temperatures (for us) have abated a little and we are no longer seeing –18C (about 0F), or anywhere near that cold.

All that being said, I still thought I ought to make a hot dessert to accompany my fairly traditional British main course of Cottage Pie

In the depths of my freezer I still have several bags of cherries from the summer, so I quickly decided on one of my favourite dishes Cherry Crumble.  But, as ever, I decided to look for a new twist.  My usual crumble Cherry Crumble was posted on here back in 2010.

At times like these, I tend to turn to the Internet for inspiration.  I don’t usually cook anything I find but pick off pieces and ideas from several sources  before combining them in my own version.  It usually works, although I’m sure you all realise that this is by no means a guaranteed route to success!!

On this occasion. after rejecting all the usual cherry tart recipes, one of which advocated taking a ready made pastry tart base and adding a can of Cherry tart mix!!!!  which, whilst I agree is simple, in my mind hardly represents the best of home baking and, to be honest, if you are going to do that why not just buy a delicious ready made cherry tart? 

Anyway, I digress.  I eventually came across a recipe for adding oats to the crumble.   I didn’t much like the recipe itself, but the idea of adding oats appealed, and so, my Oaty Cherry Crumble was born.

I took this photo before  cooking it, but when it came out of the oven, it went straight to table and, well, to be honest, there wasn’t enough left to photograph.  I suppose that is a compliment though.

A friend recently emailed me saying that she loved the way I often incorporate a bit of history in my pieces.  However, I don’t know very much about the origins of crumble.  But here goes.  It appears that what we call crumble is the same as crisp in the US.   I’m sad to admit, that from all my research I have to admit that it seems to have originated in the USA.   Many early settlers to the US came from England and other parts of Europe.  These settlers carried with them their favourite recipes, such as fruit pies.    Pies , in Europe, date back to Roman times when a mixture of  flour and olive oil was used to seal meats etc. and were very popular by the time the early settler to the US set sail.

These early settlers were, by necessity very resourceful and when they found that they didn’t really have the basic ingredients to make their pies, they compromised and came up with a simple mixture of flour, sugar and fat that they could easily combine into a coarse crumbly topping for fruits.    The topping goes crisp on baking, which is why in the USA it is know as Crisp.     Interestingly enough, many people suggest the crumble, now a traditional British dessert originates in the second World War.   I tend to disagree with this interpretation, merely suggesting that, in my opinion, the shortages caused by food rationing in Britain during the Second World War caused the same inventiveness in the Britsh that those early settlers had found.  And believe me, if I could have found a way to attribute it to Britain, I would have!    However, it is very likely that those early settlers were, in fact, British, trying to do what the British abroad continue doing to this day! 

Here is what you do…

Pick a bowl full of cherries, or, at this time of year, defrost them out of the freezer.

Remove stalks, wash and destone them

Enough cherries to half fill an ovenproof dish.

A few drops sweet white wine

A tablespoon of brown sugar.

Oaty Crumble Topping

150g  flour 
150g brown sugar 
150g butter 
75g rolled oats

Oven

180degrees C

15 + 20 minutes (pre-warmed oven)

This oaty crumble is a simple 1:1:1, flour, sugar, butter mix with 1/2 portion of oats added

and I find I like golden granulated sugar for this crumble....

I put the cherries in an oven proof dish.....oven to table dish...... and then sprinkle some sugar over them. The cherries will be wet from washing and destoning so I add only a few drops of sweet white wine.    Add a knob of butter and bake until the cherries are just cooked. (about 15 minutes).

To make the crumble topping I put everything in a blender and pulse for a few seconds until it appears, well,  “crumbly!”

Add the crumble mixture on top of the fruit...not underneath or it gets messy...on top of the cherries and return to the oven for a bit longer.... About 20 minutes

Cook for about a further 20-25 minutes until the crumble topping is golden brown.

Eat with lashings of a runny cream, or, even better, custard

Muesli

I love to have muesli for breakfast but prefer to make my own rather than use any factory produced blend.

I usually keep the muesli in a 2 litre Le Parfait storage jar (air tight).  I guess that is the equivalent of a half gallon mason jar.   I make it whenever I run out so that there is always a jar of it in the store cupboard.  I find it doesn't seem to suffer any storage problems although I've always eaten it long before it has time to go stale, usually in four to five weeks.  I do, however, keep it in my cool dark store cupboard.

I made some today:  Here's my recipe

I start with the empty storage jar and about half fill it with rolled oats.

Then I add a good layer of desiccated coconut.

Next goes in the dried fruit.  I just throw in about a handful of each fruit, always raisins and golden sultanas, and anything to hand.

Next it's time for nuts.  I love whole almonds but only add about a half handful. I do know, however, that lots of people prefer sliced almonds.  Personally, I love the crunchy texture form using whole ones.   I also add a handful of salted peanuts.   Lots of people turn their noses up at salted peanuts, but I love them in the dish so I use them!  In fact, I use salted peanuts in all sorts of recipes and they are a basic in my kitchen.

The last thing to go in is about a half handful of sunflower seeds.  I use the hulled ones as I can't eat the dry husks.

And that's it, close the jar, give it a good shake, and put it away for a delicious and very healthy breakfast cereal

Today, I didn't have dried apricots, or indeed any other fruits so I just added a few whole prunes to the bowl.  I sometimes add dried banana or dried cranberries or any other dried fruit that catches my eye at the market.

I usually just serve it by pouring the mix into a bowl and adding milk.  Some days, if I'm feeling particularly wicked, I'll add half and half or make my own by mixing cream and milk.  At the same time, If I'm feeling I ought to be good, I replace half the milk with plain yogurt.  Actually, I'm increasingly serving it with a mixture of milk and yogurt and I find that I have really got to like that taste.

Sometimes, I will soak the muesli overnight in apple juice, then just add yogurt in the morning.

I do like muesli, so I don't restrict myself to having it just at breakfast either!    I often have a bowlful as my evening snack, when I have eaten our main meal of the day at lunch time.

Traditional Burgers (Ian’s Recipe)

 

Serves 4

500gms minced (ground) beef
2 medium Onions
2 good tablespoons of rolled oats
1 Tbls worcestershire sauce 
2 Tbls of Tomato Ketchup
I Tbls Olive oil
a dash of sea salt
a medium egg

Method    In a food processor, mince the onion then add the Worcestershire sauce, tomato ketchup, sea salt and olive oil and mix a little more
Add the beef, oats and egg and whiz a little more to mix thoroughly.
Adjust the consistency by adding more oats if it's too wet

Take a small ball of the mixture and squeeze tight to compress the mixture together.  Flatten with a spatula and fry gently in a little olive oil
Serve immediately
Or allow to cool and freeze until needed

Spicy Sausage Rolls

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	Some friends are coming for aperitifs this evening, so I decided to make a few sausage rolls.   Here in France meat in pastry products are not common.   It is hard to find any of those traditional staples of British fare, such as Steak Pie or indeed the humble Sausage Roll. I also know from past experience that my French friends love the culinary differences between our two cultures and thoroughly enjoy some of the things I cook that they otherwise would have little knowledge of.  Of course, I'm never sure whether that's because of the difference in our cultures or simply because they can't recognise the food I have tried to prepare. So, this morning I made Spicy Sausage Rolls
	Here's the recipe, and it really is simple I use shortcrust pastry, but lots of people prefer puff pastry.  Either way, you should end up with a delicious, slightly different, sausage roll
For the Sausage Meat	400gms minced pork 100gms minced beef 2 good tablespoons of rolled oats a good dash of worcestershire sauce a couple of drops of tabasco (I put in 4) a dash of sea salt a beaten egg
For the Pastry	For the pastry I prefer to use a shortcrust pastry,  Here's a recipe I often follow: Jean's Shortcrust Pastry
Method	Pre heat the oven to 190°C Mix together the meat and then stir in the oats and salt. Beat the egg and add the worcestershire sauce and tabasco then stir this into the meat mixture, adjusting consistency by adding more oats if it's too wet Make the pastry and roll out into a thin sheet. Roll the meat mixture into a thin sausage and place on the sheet of pastry towards one end. Carefully roll the pastry around the meat and cut once it has enclosed it. Place this seam side down on a baking sheet and repeat for the next roll.   Continue until you run out of pastry....or of meat!!!! Brush with a little milk and make several pricks in the pastry to allow steam to escape Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes, or until brown.  Turn over and bake the bottoms for a further 5 minutes Allow to cool and then cut into bite sized pieces

If you're feeling lazy, you can simply use a pre-made pastry, like I often do.  and you can substitute sausage meat for the minced pork and beef, but if you do this, do pay attention to what you are actually getting in your sausage meat!!!!!