Sticky Marmalade Gingerbread

Sticky, moist and full of spices – who would guess this cake is the result of a raggle taggle band of leftovers? Once upon a time  it was the norm to use what was available…My grandmother would exclaim “wasting food is the work of the devil” and that war generation never could understand anything other than an empty plate at dinner.  Fast forward to our ludicrously imbalanced society where we are plagued by food waste.  They say charity begins at home so…. 

Not only does this cake use up whatever is lurking at the back of your cupboards, it really involves no method other than mixing the ingredients together.

Ingredients

makes 4 x small tins or 2 x 23cm circular, or 2 x brownie tins 

225ml sunflower oil

100ml yoghurt or “lapte batut”

400ml pureed leftover marmalade

200ml treacle or I used leftover slightly crystallized date syrup

2 eggs

400g flour (I used 100g wholemeal and 300g white)

100g of crystallised ginger (blended to give smallish pieces)

2tsp bicarbonate of soda

2tsp baking powder

6tsp powdered ginger

1/2 tsp ground cloves

3tsp cinnamon

How To

Blend the marmalade particularly if your chunks are on the haphazard side – like mine.  The resulting gloop will be opaque and rather creamy. 

If you are patient chop the crystallised ginger finely – I blend it

Measure the marmalade gloop, the oil, the yoghurt and the syrup (a neat trick is to measure the oil first and then nothing sticks as you measure the subsequent ingredients) and pour into a mixing bowl

Add the eggs and the spices

Add the flour

Finally add the bicarbonate and the baking powder.  Due to the yoghurt and the citrus in the marmalade the mixture does puff up in a slightly “honeycomb” fashion so its quite important to spoon it into prepared tins fastish. Fill the tins 2/3 full. 

Bake gently at 160C until a toothpick inserted in comes out clean.  This is a cake better eaten two days later when it is a little bit sticky. 

 

 

Porchetta

Before porchetta became a food craze served out of food trucks it was a regional dish made by farmers  “nose to tail” style, all parts of the pig being used. A few years ago I was fortunate enough to attend a salumi course in Italy and watch master “norcini” butcher pigs so elegantly I can only describe it as balletic. Here Franco Taruschio describes in his divine “Leaves from the Walnut Tree” book to take us back to what was. 

“Porchetta is the diminutive of porco, meaning pig. A porchetta is a pig which is halfway between a full grown pig and a suckling pig. In the area around Macerata on the east coast of central Italy, where this dish comes from, you can buy porchetta in every village and town. It is made for robust people, not weight watchers! The aroma of the garlic and herbs as the hot crackling pig is put on the wooden tables in the butcher’s shops is very tempting. Generally porchetta is eaten with unsalted bread. The farmers still keep their outside ovens to cook their porchettas in on special feast days.  they stuff them with a certain type of wild fennel, the provenenance of which is a feverishly guarded secret.” 

Franco’s recipe is for a whole small pig and his stuffing involves the loin and also the liver – a variation I would like to try.  My recipe involves plenty of garlic and aromatics and generally yields that all important crispy crackling. I cannot stress enough that the porchetta will only taste great if you buy the best meat possible no matter what fancypants herbs and garlic overload you use.  I use Marius in Obor or Andu Macelarie and dream of a Mangalita version from my friend Andras’ “Carne de Vanat”. Ask for “piept de porc degresat cu muschi cu sorici”. I generally do not bother making a small porchetta but am pretty sure this would work well for a smaller piece of pork , a pork roast at home. 

Ingredients

1 pork loin with enough pork belly left on to ensure a good roll and enough fat – this will be between 12-16kgs in my experience and serve up theory (after shrinkage in cooking) some 40 slices…except it is very very moreish. 

2-3 oranges sliced into discs (skin removed)

a generous handful of fresh thyme (leaves removed from the stalks)

a generous handful of fresh rosemary (leaves removed from the stalks)

a handful of fennel seeds, unless you have wild fennel fronds in which case use

4 heads of garlic – pureed

salt and pepper

Butcher’s string

How To

Make the puree. Sometimes if I remember I add some orange zest from the oranges too. Massage it into the meat. 

Sprinkle herbs and aromatics liberally over and season with salt and pepper

Place the oranges in a line down the middle (here I would add chopped liver too if using)

Roll up and tie with butchers string.  Helps to have a friend around especially if you are small. 

Roast at 240C for 1 hour and then 180C for 3 hours

How to eat

The meat is best eaten warm, when rested an hour or so after being cooked, but it also re-heats very well too.

With food this good any messing around simply misses the point. What is needed is good bread and a refreshing beer. Sauces are allowed tho (think harissa, chutney and even mayo). I quite like the sound of the gremolata mentioned in this Saveur article http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Porchetta-Sandwich

 

 

You say “syrniki” I say “nalangate” – East European sweet cheese pancakes

Syniki with roast plum compote

Impossibly moreish light little pancakes made from whey cheese, known as “Syrniki” in Ukraine, Russia, Belarussia, Latvia, Lithuania , Slovenia and “Nalangate” in Romania and traditionally served with sour cream and jam. Olia Hercules in Mamushka goes for maple syrup with hers, me? I like an apricot or plum compote with mine.

It is worth being daring with just the smallest hint of flour for lighter fluffier pancakes result. And about that cheese….high quality full fat cheese with a high protein content will give you the best tasting pancakes with great mouth feel and texture. 

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