A Cornish Food Blog | Jam and Clotted Cream

Half term has finished and it's back to reality. I hope all those that braved the Royal Cornwall Show didn't get too wet. We decided to give it a miss this year, mainly due to the weather. Its not much fun walking miles in the wind and rain with 2 reluctant children. Instead, we did some gardening (when it wasn't raining), put up the children's trampoline, cleaned the house in preparation for a viewing today (not holding out much hope), baked some banana and chocolate chip bars (a Mary Berry recipe) and went for a couple of nice walks. I also did lots of cooking, one of the recipes being this Spanish Style Rice. I picked up some paella rice recently - you wouldn't believe how difficult it is to find in these parts of Cornwall - and decided to create something summery in the hope that Summer may actually arrive soon. The rice is flavoured with a pinch of saffron and the salty chorizo and sweet king prawns complement each other well. All in ...

An easy banana and coconut flapjack recipe, which makes a tasty and filling after-school snack for kids.

Baked Camembert with asparagus soldier make a great addition to any sharing platter.

Apologies for my absence over the last couple of months, things have been a bit hectic (read 'stressful') but normality is finally returning (for now anyway!). The camera is being charged as I type, I have a stack of new cookbooks on my counter for inspiration and I'm looking forward to a long hot summer full of picnics, BBQ's and parties This is a lovely light pasta dish for a summers day, perfect with a glass of white wine. If you don't like capers then just omit them. Some chopped crispy bacon on top would make a nice addition too. Enjoy! print recipe Creamy Tomato and Caper Spaghetti by Beth Sachs May-11-2012 Perfect for a warm summer evening Ingredients Glug of Oil 4 Spring Onions, chopped 2 Garlic Cloves, chopped 1 Green Chilli, deseeded and chopped 10 Cherry Tomatoes, halved 5 Sun Dried Tomatoes, chopped 2 TSP Capers, rinsed Splash of Red WIne Vinegar 2 TBSP Creme Fraiche 2 Handfuls Grated Parmes...

Well, we are back from a lovely week in Egypt (barring the flight home in which 2 year old was a nightmare) and I'm itching to get back into the kitchen having been fed and watered by other people for the last 7 days. Just before I went away I was lucky enough to be sent some local Cornish ales from award winning Driftwood Spars Micro Brewery in St Agnes. Landlady Louise Treseder is passionate about real ales and tries to encourage women to enjoy beer as a natural product with interesting flavours - no encouragement needed from this end! Not content with just drinking the ales I set about making some beer bread rolls using the Badlands Bitter. The recipe I used was from Jac's blog Tinned Tomatoes , although I made a few tweeks. They turned out lovely and malty, perfect with my Sweet Potato, Carrot and Coconut Soup . print recipe Cheddar and Beer Bread Rolls by Beth Sachs February-23-2012 Lovely with soup Ingredients 3 cups Plain Flour 1 TBSP...

My kids favourite meal from the Chinese takeaway is in their own words 'Chicken Balls and Sauce' aka Sweet and Sour Chicken. So, I thought I'd try and recreate a version at home, without all the additives, preservatives, excess salt and MSG that you find in proper takeaway versions. Despite my house smelling a bit 'deep fried' for a few hours it was most definitely worth it. The chicken turned out crispy and crunchy and the sauce was as good as any from a takeaway. print recipe Sweet and Sour Chicken by Beth Sachs February-10-2012 Better than any takeaway Ingredients 100ml Soda Water, chilled 100ml Cold Water 140g Self Raising Flour 1 TSP Salt 25g Cornflour, to coat chicken 4 Skinless Chicken breasts, cut into large pieces 2 Spring Onions, to serve For the sauce 1 Red Pepper, chopped 1 Red Chilli, chopped 400g Tin Pineapple Chunks, including juice 50g Tamarind paste 100g Caster Sugar 100ml Rice Win...

When I mentioned Haddock Curry on Twitter I got a few 'urghs' from people....but what you have to think here is kedgeree. Curry and white fish really do work amazingly well together- try this you will be convinced I promise! So, in this latest Fish is the Dish pack we received some lovely North Sea haddock fillets from Delish Fish based in Scotland. The fillets come individually vacuum packed which really helps with quantity control! I used the curry recipe that was provided to us in the pack, but changed the method slightly to make it quicker and easier to put together. Because the haddock cooks so quickly it really is a 20 minute meal so perfect for a weeknight! print recipe Haddock Curry by Beth Sachs January-27-2012 serve with rice and naan bread Ingredients Glug of Olive Oil 1 Onion, sliced 2 Garlic Cloves, chopped 1 Red Chili, chopped Thumb size piece of ginger, peeled and grated 4 TBSP Tikka Masala Paste Tin of Coconut...

I didn't expect much from this soup but it really packed a punch and I've been enjoying it for lunch this week as per the weekly meal plan . Baking the sweet potatoes in the oven before adding the soft flesh to the soup really helped with both the flavour and texture but it was the coconut milk that made it lovely and silky. The green chili (which I didn't de-seed before using) gave it a heady kick, but if you don't like a lot of heat you can just leave it out, or use half a de-seeded chili instead. print recipe Spicy Carrot, Sweet Potato and Coconut Soup by Beth Sachs January-25-2012 A winter warmer Ingredients 4 Sweet Potatoes, halved and flesh scored 1 Onion, chopped 1 Green Chili, chopped (I left the seeds in for added heat) 2 Cloves of Garlic, chopped 300g Carrots, peeled and chopped 1 Litre Vegetable Stock 1 Tin of Coconut Milk Salt and Pepper Instructions Step 1: Preheat the oven to 200c/180fan and place th...

I received lots of lovely foodie related gifts for my birthday last week, but the cooks blow torch and 4 Portmerion creme brulée dishes were top of my list. I'd never attempted creme brulee's before, partly because I lacked the necessary blow torch (you wouldn't get the same effect under a grill) and partly because I 'thought' it was complicated. As it turns out it really wasn't. On Saturday I set about making the creme brulée's and what I ended up with was one of the most wonderful creamy desserts I had ever tasted. Delicately flavoured with vanilla and with the all important crunchy sugar crust. The beauty with these is that you can make them (barring caramelising the crust) up to a day before and store them in the fridge until needed. When you're  ready to serve just pull out your blow torch to caramelise the sugary crust. Now I've cracked Creme Brulée's I'm wondering what else I can use my blow torch for. Suggestions most we...