Nut Roast & Chocolate Nut Lava Cake

I am not a big meat eater so was pleased to see a nut roast recipe from Margaret.

I discovered that Lidl sell 200g packets of the recommended selection of mixed nuts so two packets were required
4 shallots, thyme, sage, mint - I have plenty of herbs growing in the garden, but if you don't have access to fresh use dried
400g can of chopped tomatoes, drain away the juice
3 eggs, beaten
150g of strong cheese
1 veg. Oxo cube or a teaspn of bouillon powder
1 teaspn lemon juice
freshly ground black pepper
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toast the 250g of nuts in a dry pan being careful not to burn
Put the nuts, herbs, shallots, cheese and Oxo cube in the food processor to blitz until the mixture still has texture but is not pureed
combine the mixture with the drained tomatoes, beaten eggs, lemon juice, and ground black pepper
Place in a parchment lined loaf tin and cook for 45mins at 180℃ or fan oven 160℃ until golden brown - leave to cool in the tin
Serve either hot or cold

With the leftover nuts why not make a Cake. I found this easy recipe from a Turkish Airline inflight magazine whilst returning home from Cyprus.
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 Chocolate Nut Lava Cake
Ingredients 
75g chopped pecan nuts (I am substituting with the leftover mixed nuts)
100g dark chocolate
115g unsalted butter
175g sugar
75g plain flour
2 large beaten eggs
small teaspn vanilla extract

Break chocolate add butter and melt very gently in a bain marie. As soon as softening, remove from heat
add sugar,
then beaten eggs,
vanilla,
stir in flour and chopped nuts
Bake at 180℃ or fan oven 160℃  for 30 mins  

As indicated by the word 'lava' the cake is 
chocolatey and gooey inside     

eat it as it is or serve as a dessert topped off with cream or icecream

A Birthday Walk....

took us to the Slad Valley - made famous by Laurie Lee in his books "As I Walked out one Midsummer Morming" the sequel to his "Cider with Rosie".

Views of the Woolpack pub - his favourite haunt, his home, and the church where he now lies kept popping into view as we walked high above the valley.

The gardens and hillsides were heavily laden with flowers and fruit, and Quince trees rested their laden branches along the tops of Cotswold stone walls.

 Eventually I came across exactly what I was hoping to find - lots of juicy ripe Elderberries sparkling like jewels in the sunlight - the birds have already started devouring them but there were plenty for us all to share - their destination some homemade ice cream

The ground beneath the Hazelnut tree was thick with open shells and unripe nuts - it must have been a busy squirrel, but why did he throw them down before the're ripe? We debated are they hazel, cob, or filbert nuts? the quesion was unresolved.

turning on to the footpath that leads to Laurie's Wood we noticed that the wild Crab-apple branches were struggling with their heavy burden

We entered Laurie's wood and

stumbled across a secret place where the wee folk appear to live

back home a beautiful bouquet was waiting from the little family in Paris♡ and once the ice cream was made

we ate a slice of homemade Tarte aux Pignons (Pinenut Tart) served with the Elderberry ice cream

Bastani Ice Cream

Blogging friend Linda mentioned Persian Bastani ice cream to me, which I had never heard of before. The flavour comes from a combination of rose water, saffron, and pistachio nuts, which I added to my own ice cream recipe.
Ingredients  
3 teaspoons of rose water essence (mine is concentrated)
15/20 Saffron threads
1 handful chopped unsalted pistachio nuts,
300 grams condensed milk
300 grams creme fresh
300 grams Greek yogurt
yield 1 litre

Soak the saffron threads, which I cut into smaller pieces, in a little warm milk, stir and leave in fridge to chill before adding to the ice cream mixture.

Mix together the condensed milk, creme fresh, and Greek yogurt. Using yogurt and creme fresh rather than double cream reduces the sweetness of the condensed milk. Add the saffron milk including threads, the rose water, and chopped nuts. If using a 'concentrated rose water extract' carefully add one teaspoonful at first, taste and then use your own judgement - some rose waters are less concentrated and may require as much as two or even three tablespoonful. You want subtle background notes from the rose water. 

Pour all of the ingredients into your ice cream machine and churn as per instructions. 

Can also be made by putting straight into the freezer and churning with a spoon from time to time. 

It's delicious
I love making and trying out new flavours of ice cream.

You can find my moreish Apricot and Amaretto ice cream here, and our all time favourite, Damson and Sloe Gin ice cream here.