Parkin For Charity

The third Monday in September was a washout; weather wise that is. It was one of several Mondays in September I was having off work as some downtime to allow me to look after effectively two houses and two dogs during the month while keeping things going in my role as this year's president of my local rotary club. Yes I didn't think I was old enough to do the role either but it is an enjoyable one so far.

As I couldn't get much of a walk in with the dog and I was aware that my employer were taking part in the worthy cause of a MacMillan Coffee Morning that Friday I decided to do some baking in preparation for the coffee morning.

Even though it was only September I knew Summer was starting to float into a memory and the foul rain gave a taste of the no doubt cooler and wetter winter weather lurking ahead on the road to shorter nights and mornings spent de-frosting the car. This said the food I decided to make was Parkin.

It's true to say that Parkin originated in Lancashire which is the other end of Pennines from the city where my employer is based. It has a sweet yet charcoal like taste and is very fortifying in the winter months.

As the rain hammered down on the house that I was, rather reluctantly it has to be said, sitting in its owners' absence I got underway with the cooking. On the playlist was the Electric Light Orchestra's difficult second album the aptly titled "ELO 2". During the making of the album founding member Roy Wood left early on during the sessions to become a Christmas one hit wonder and Jeff Lynne meanwhile gradually asserted his leadership of the group. The record contains the King Crimson- like "In Old England Town" the folky "Mama" and some shimmering prog-rock workouts in the shape of "From the Sun to the World" and "Kuaima". After a few spins it becomes clear that it is a strong record and its highlight is a cover of Chuck Berry's "Roll Over Beethoven" featuring Jeff Lynne adapting a filthy rock and roll voice and some clever string arrangements.

I put one pound of self-raising flour in a mixing bowl with a tablespoon of ground ginger and six ounces of brown sugar. I mixed these ingredients together with a metal tablespoon until they were well combined.

I then melted two ounces of margarine in a warm pan on the hob before adding the melted margarine to the mixing bowl with a quarter of a pint of milk and a beaten egg. Finally I weighed out eight ounces of treacle and added this to the bowl. The treacle was like any good treacle should be- a dark colour, sticky and sweet.

I stirred all these new ingredients together with the flour, sugar and ginger until I got a thick paste that was the colour of melted dark chocolate. I added the ingredients to a high-sided baking tray lined with greased cooking foil.

The tray of uncooked Parkin was then placed in the oven heated at 170 degrees (180 for non-fan ovens) and cooked for an hour and five minutes. Until it was even darker than before and the surface of it was solid but still soft enough to spring back when touched lightly.

I turned it out in its foil onto the work surface to cool off.  After a couple of hours I cut it into cubes about 3cm x 3cm and then, as it wasn't to be consumed until Friday, put it in containers which I then put in the Freezer. A work colleague said this was a good way of keeping it until then without losing its flavour.

On Wednesday night it was out of the freezer and slowly defrosting. By Friday morning it had been transported to work and was sharing a table in the firm's kitchen with millionaire shortbread and marble cake amongst others in aid of the firm's MacMillan Coffee Morning.

The Parkin, with its rich ginger taste and surprisingly sweet flavours of treacle reminded me that bonfire night and winter were not far away. Quite a few of my colleagues took pieces and contributed money to the charity as well so it certainly helped the firm raise some money for a worthwhile cause.

Above- on the table at work ready for consumption by my colleagues

Egg timer

Last Sunday was a handy day to mark time part way through a long weekend that was thoroughly enjoyable, confusing and cathartic in equal measures. It had started off with an unexpected trip to a pub in town on Friday night that, aided by the consumption of some Leeds Brewery blonde beer which was the same colour as the hair of the person I was in the pub with,  seemed like a "crazy dream"- perhaps because of the beer. Saturday saw a surprise trip to the cinema with two of my close friends to see the excellent "Straight Outta Compton" a film that depicts superbly the rise and fall of Gangsta Rap's first super group N.W.A.

Sunday morning arrived around six hours after I had consumed my last post film beer and watched my last post evening out N.W.A. video on Youtube. I helped clear the cobwebs that morning with a fun seven and a half mile walk with one of my mates from the cinema trip as we set the world to rights and gave our dogs plenty of exercise in the stunning countryside we are so lucky to be able to live and walk in.

When I got back it was time for dinner and I noticed that the house I was looking after had a large number of eggs in the fridge and I decided that I needed some comfort food and as the eggs needed using up the end product of my cooking project was to be Eggs Benedict. Those of you who have followed this blog for a while may remember me posting about Eggs Benedict two years ago after I had it at the Glasgow Malmaison the morning after a day spent exploring the city with very good company.

Sunday's Eggs Benedict was a modified and even richer version than the one I made previously.

The album I listened to today was the first one I ever bought from a record shop. I bought it back  in Christmas 1998 when I was a scruffy-haired fifteen year old who's world hardly stretched passed my parents' back garden. The album was Dire Straits' third effort Making Movies which, save a throwaway song at the end, is flawless and songs like "Tunnel of Love" and "Skateaway" summed up well the weekend's events to date.

I started by putting a pan of water, laced with Red Wine Vinegar, on the hob and let it steadily come to the boil. While the water was coming the boil I melted eight ounces of margarine in a small frying pan on the hob and then added three eggs to the pan as well as around two tablespoons of red wine vinegar. The reason for this mixture was to make the Hollandaise Sauce that goes with the eggs. The trick with the sauce is to beat it thoroughly with a whisk continuously. This stops the sauce becoming lumpy and resembling a disturbing derivative of scrambled egg.

As the sauce came together I added the leaves of five sprigs of Rosemary to it and continued to stir the sauce. Meanwhile the water was coming to the boil and using a ladle I added the yolk and the white of one egg to the boiling water. As I lifted the egg into the water from the ladle I used the ladle to create a small whirlpool. 

I let the egg cook for 3-4 minutes in the pan and as the Hollandaise Sauce was ready I put it on the lowest light on the hob and stirred it vigorously on occasion to stop it becoming too lumpy. At the same time I put two slices of buttered bread with two slices of smoked ham on each slice under the grill and lightly grilled them for a couple of minutes.

After the first egg was done in the pan I lifted it out with the ladle and put it on top of the ham toasties on a serving plate. I then repeated the boiling process with two more egg yolks and their whites. I arranged these two eggs on the plate when they were done and poured the Hollandaise and Rosemary Sauce over the top of them to serve. I also sprinkled a little black pepper on the eggs.

Eggs Benedict has a reputation for being rich and overindulgent and this dish was in the best possible way. The taste of the Hollandaise Sauce was enriched by the extra red wine vinegar the texture of the rosemary while the boiled eggs were done for just enough time that they were solid while still giving out some flavoursome yolk when pierced.  The toasted ham and bread helped form a delicious base to the whole dish both literally in the way I had served it and with the taste it added to it.

Eggs smothered in Hollandaise Sauce with a base of ham and bread- the perfect post-dog walk and cinema night out meal.

Orange Broccoli Special

Yesterday I needed some serious wind down time after what had been a hectic and exciting summer that also had featured a painful low personal point in July (when things in my life seemed shot to pieces) which eventually was more than evened out by getting my own house at last, an unforgettable birthday party at the house and being made president of my local Rotary Club.

In the week and a bit preceding yesterday there had been no let up to the excitement with a trip to a wonderful Indian Restaurant (that used to be a dodgy drug-ridden pub in a previous life) for a colleague's leaving do, a fun evening watching old episodes of Shooting Stars at the house of two of my friends, a night out in our local town's new German Bar for an enjoyable Birthday Party, a seventeen mile walk in the driving rain through wonderful scenery with two old school friends and a Lakeland Terrier, a meal out in a country pub and a charity golf tournament in aid of Breast Cancer Research. I somehow managed to fit a working week in the city into all this and there was no wonder therefore I felt a little shattered.

I spent yesterday buying food for a fraternal buffet I am holding later today at my house, doing some gardening, cleaning and washing and generally being very domesticated while taking it super easy. Sometimes you need days like this to re-charge your batteries.

I had time for some cooking and today's piece, which is designed to ease me back into the world of food blogging, was a quite basic one but effective nonetheless. I grilled three chicken breasts that were flavoured with peppers and spices and a left-over lingering in my deep freeze from my birthday Barbecue (more of which in future blog posts). I also boiled some carrots, potatoes and broccoli up as a side dish.

I realised  that I wanted a sauce to go with the dish and I was reminded of a recipe in one of my parents' aged vegetarian cookbooks. Thinking back to this recipe I was inspired to make an orange white sauce to mix with the Broccoli.

The album on the media player for this project was the Electric Light Orchestra's excellent and underrated 1983 offering "Secret Messages" which includes the fifties throwback single "Rock & Roll is King" as well as first rate album tracks "Take me on and on" and the title track.

The secret to a good sauce is to make thick and creamy with the consistency of buttercream used in cakes. I melted around three ounces of margarine into a saucepan and once the margarine was almost melted I added a heaped wooden spoon's worth of corn flour. I turned off the heat on the hob and mixed all the melted butter into the margarine until it formed several golden coloured lumps. I then grated the zest of one whole Tangerine into the mixture and stirred the zest in thoroughly. I find that sauces, like sponge mixes and pastries, benefit from having all the dry ingredients including the spices mixed together before you add the wet ingredients.

I next added around 300 millilitres of semi-skimmed milk to the mixture and stirred it on the hob quickly over a medium heat until it was like a thick paste and there were no lumps. This took about two minutes. It is a tricky skill to master as if you use too much milk you end with a runny and lumpy sauce but if you do not use enough milk you end up with a very dry mixture  that's burnt and stuck to the bottom of the pan. If you avoid this however you get a sweet sauce that is surprisingly good at complimenting the rather soggy taste of the broccoli when the sauce is poured over the broccoli and served with it.

The Broccoli is shown here smothered in the sauce to enhance its taste. The orange sauce also set off the flavours in the grilled chicken well.